Soame, a distinguished English writer, was born in Great Ormond-street, London, in the year 1703-4. Sir Roger Jenyns, his father, was descended from the family of the Jenyns of Churchill in Somersetshire. The country residence of Sir Roger was at Ely, in the isle of the same name, where he turned his attention to such kinds of business as rendered him most beneficial to his neighbours, for which amiable deportment in particular the honour of knighthood was conferred upon him by William III. Our author's mother, a lady of rank, learning and piety, superintended his education till it was necessary to place him under a tutor, for which purpose a Mr Hill was taken into the family, by whom he was instructed in the first rudiments of language, with such other branches of knowledge as were suited to his years. At this time Mr Jenyns Hill was called to a situation more advantageous, and Mr White succeeded him in the office of tutor to young Jenyns, a man eminent for his learning, taste, and ingenuity, by whom he was qualified for attending the university.

He was admitted into St John's College, Cambridge, in the year 1722, under Dr Edmondson, who was at that time one of the leading tutors of the college. Here his diligence and regular deportment did him the greatest honour, and the strict discipline observed in the college was perfectly agreeable to his natural inclinations. After quitting the college, his winter residence was in London, and he lived in the country during the summer season, being chiefly employed in the prosecution of such studies as were of a literary nature. His first publication, a poetical essay on the art of dancing, appeared without his name in 1727; but he was very soon discovered, and it was considered as a prelude of his future eminence.

Soon after the death of his father, he was chosen in 1742 one of the members of parliament for the county of Cambridge, and from this period he retained his seat in the house of commons till the year 1780. The high opinion entertained by his constituents of his parliamentary conduct, may be learned from the unanimity of their choice; for he never but once experienced any opposition. He was chosen one of the commissioners of the board of trade and plantations in 1755, which office he retained till an alteration was made in the constitution of it by authority of parliament. He was married, first to the only daughter of Colonel Soame, of Dereham in Norfolk, who died without issue, and afterwards to the daughter of Henry Gray, Esq. of Hackney, who survived him. He died himself of a fever, after a few days illness, on the 18th of December, 1787, leaving no issue.

His temper was mild, sweet, and gentle, which he manifested indiscriminately to all. It was his earnest wish never to give offence to any; yet he made such liberal allowances for diversities of temper, that he was very rarely offended with others. He was punctual in the discharge of the duties of religion both in public and private, professing to be better pleased with the government and discipline of the church of England than of any other in Christendom, which, however, he considered as capable of important alterations and amendments, if it were previously and deliberately determined what these alterations should be. He possessed an uncommon vein of the most lively and genuine wit, which he never made use of to wound the feelings of others, but was rather very much offended with those who did, being convinced that distinguished endowments of the mind are as much intended to promote the felicity of others, as of those who possess them.

No man was ever a more genuine philanthropist, as he felt most sensibly for the miseries of others, and used every mean in his power to render them as happy as possible. His indigent neighbours in the country he viewed as a part of his family, in which light he considered them as entitled to his care and protection. As an author, Soame Jenyns certainly deserves a place among those who have excelled, whether we view him as a poet, or a writer of prose, in which latter capacity he ranks with the purest and most correct writers of the English language. He reasons with closeness and precision, and comes to the conclusion he means to establish by a regular chain of argument. His first publication, on account of which he was attacked, was his Free Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Evil; but in a preface to the second edition he fully vindicated it against all the calumny, slander, and misrepresentation which had been thrown out against it, with that temper and moderation which distinguished him so eminently upon all occasions. His view of the Internal Evidences of the Christian Religion was published without his name in the year 1776, which gave delight and satisfaction to many eminent judges, and made converts of numbers who had been infidels before.