John Lathrop, Jr.

Lathrop entered Harvard, class of 1789, and turned poet in his undergraduate years. His poetry reflected his imitative abilities, his strong patriotism and suspicion of authority, and a conviction that God would lead people toward happiness and universal peace. To support his poetic efforts, Lathrop became a lawyer. He found time, however, to edit literary magazines and write numerous poems. In 1800 he left New England for India, in search of wealth. He found little, and returned to Boston in 1809. There he resumed his career as an author of poems and essays, until his death in 1820. Based on Lathrop's writings, as published in the newspapers and magazines of his day.