LANGHORNE, RICHARD, BL.

Lay martyr; b. Bedford, England, c. 1635; d. hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn (London), July 14, 1679. Richard, son of the barrister William Langhorne and Lettice Needham, was himself admitted to the Inner Temple, November 1646, and the bar in 1654. He married a Protestant woman, Dorothy Legatt. Langhorne suffered persecution. He was arrested for the first time on June 15, 1667, but was later released. He was not so fortunate the second time, Oct. 7, 1678, when he was arrested in connection with the fallacious Titus Oates Plot. Without examination he was committed to Newgate Prison, where he was kept in solitary confinement for eight months. On June 14, 1679, he was brought before the bar at the Old Bailey and found guilty based on the perjury of several witnesses. Although he was offered a pardon if he confessed his guilt and disclosed the property of the Jesuits, he persisted in declaring his ignorance of any conspiracy. Thus, he was condemned to execution. His last words were to the hangman were "I am desirous to be with my Jesus. I am ready and you need stay no longer for me." He was beatified by Pius XI on Dec. 15, 1929.

Feast of the English Martyrs: May 4 (England).

See Also: england, scotland, and wales, martyrs of.

Bibliography: r. challoner, Memoirs of Missionary Priests, ed. j. h. pollen (rev. ed. London 1924; repr. Farnborough 1969), II, 388. j. h. pollen, Acts of English Martyrs (London 1891).

[k. i. rabenstein]