John Lawson

Alfred Webb

A Compendium of Irish Biography

1878

Lawson, John, D.D., was born in 1712 at Omagh, of which parish his father was curate. He early discovered a taste for study, and entered Trinity College as a sizar, became a scholar in 1729, a Fellow in 1735, Senior Fellow 1743, D.D. 1745, and Professor of Divinity in 1753. His acquaintance with the European languages was wide; he excelled in pulpit eloquence, and acquired some celebrity by his Lectures on Oratory. Allibone quotes the following remarks concerning his sermons: "It is surprising that sermons possessing such originality of thought, splendour of diction, knowledge of human nature, and forcible appeals to the heart, should not have been reprinted." Dr. Lawson died in January 1759, aged 47.

Sources

8. Anthologia Hibernica (2). 4vols. Dublin, 1793-'4.

16. Authors, Dictionary of British and American: S. Austin Allibone. 3 vols. Philadelphia, 1859-'71.

349. Worthies of Ireland, Biographical Dictionary of the: Richard Ryan. 2 vols. London, 1821. Wyse, Thomas, see No. 73.

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