The New International Encyclopædia/Ralph, James

RALPH, James (c.1698-1762). An American poet and pamphleteer, born in Philadelphia, Pa. He became an intimate friend of Benjamin Franklin, whom he accompanied to London in 1725. There he tried to support himself by writing, but with little success. Pope satirized his poem Night (1728) in the Dunciad. Afterwards Ralph attached himself to the Prince of Wales, and used his pen to assist his friends the Whigs in every possible way. When George III. ascended the throne, he was given a pension. His works include: Zeuma (1729), a poem; The Groans of Germany (1734), a political pamphlet; The Use and Abuse of Parliaments (1744); History of England During the Reigns of King William, Queen Anne, and George I. (1744); and some poems, essays, and plays.