English literature
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English Literature
LAUDER, SIR THOMAS DICK (1784-1848). —Novelist and miscellaneous writer, s. of a Scottish baronet, wrote two novels, Lochandhu (1825), and The Wolf of Badenoch (1827), but is best known for his Account of the Great Floods in Morayshire in 1829. He also wrote Legendary Tales of the Highlands, and contributed to scientific journals and magazines.
LAW, WILLIAM (1686-1761). —Divine, s. of a grocer at Kingscliffe, Northamptonshire, was ed. at Camb., and in 1727 became tutor to the f. of Edward Gibbon, the historian. About 1728 he pub. his best known book, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, a work which has had a profound influence upon the religious life of England, largely owing to the impression which it produced upon such minds as those of Dr. Johnson, the Wesleys, and others. In 1737 he became a student of the works of Jacob Boehmen, the German mystic, and devoted himself largely to the exposition of his views. The theological position of L. was a complicated one, combining High Churchism, mysticism, and Puritanism: his writings are characterised by vigorous thought, keen logic, and a lucid and brilliant style, relieved by flashes of bright, and often sarcastic, humour. His work attacking Mandeville's Fable of the Bees (1723) is perhaps that in which these qualities are best displayed in combination. He retired in 1740 to Kingscliffe, where he had founded a school for 14 girls.
LAWRENCE, GEORGE ALFRED (1827-1876). —Novelist, was a barrister. He wrote several novels, of which one—Guy Livingstone (1857)—had great popularity. On the outbreak of the American Civil War he went to America with the intention of joining the Confederate Army, but was taken prisoner and only released on promising to return to England.
LAYAMON (fl. 1200). —Metrical historian, the s. of Leovenath. All that is known of him is gathered from his own writings. He was a priest at Ernley (now Areley Regis), Worcestershire. In his day the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth and Wace, in French, were the favourite reading of the educated, and "it came to him in mind" that he would tell the story of Brut in English verse. He set out in search of books and, founding his poem on the earlier writers, he added so much from his own knowledge of Welsh and West of England tradition that while Wace's poem consists of 15,000 lines, his extends to 32,000. Among the legends he gives are those of Locrine, Arthur, and Lear. The poem is in the old English unrhymed, alliterative verse, and "marks the revival of the English mind and spirit."
LAYARD, SIR AUSTIN HENRY (1817-1894). —Explorer of Nineveh, b. at Paris, s. of a Ceylon civilian. After spending some years in the office of a London solicitor, he set out in search of employment in Ceylon, but passing through Western Asia, became interested in the work of excavating the remains of ancient cities. Many of his finds—human-headed bulls, etc.—were sent to the British Museum. Two books—Nineveh and its Remains (1848-49), and The Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon (1853)—brought him fame, and on his return home he received many honours, including the freedom of the City of London, the degree of D.C.L. from Oxf., and the Lord Rectorship of Aberdeen Univ. He entered Parliament, where he sat as a Liberal. He held the offices of Under-Foreign Sec. (1861-66), and Chief Commissioner of Works (1868-69), and was Ambassador to Spain 1869, and Constantinople 1877; and on his retirement in 1878 he was made G.C.B. He was a very successful excavator, and described his work brilliantly, but he was no great linguist, and most of the deciphering of the inscriptions was done by Sir H. Rawlinson. His last work was Early Adventures in Persia, etc., and he left an autobiography, pub. in 1903. He also wrote on Italian art.
LEAR, EDWARD (1812-1888). —Artist and miscellaneous author, b. in London, and settled in Rome as a landscape painter. He was an indefatigable traveller, and wrote accounts, finely illustrated, of his journeys in Italy, Greece, and Corsica. His best known works are, however, his Book of Nonsense (1840) (full of wit and good sense), More Nonsense Rhymes (1871), and Laughable Lyrics (1876). L. had also a remarkable faculty for depicting birds.
LECKY, WILLIAM EDWARD HARTPOLE (1838-1903). —Historian, the s. of a landed gentleman of Carlow, was b. near Dublin, and ed. at Cheltenham and Trinity Coll., Dublin. Originally intended for the Church, he devoted himself to a literary career. His first work of importance was Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland (1861) (essays on Swift, Flood, Grattan, and O'Connell). The study of Buckle's History of Civilisation to some extent determined the direction of his own writings, and resulted in the production of two important works, History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe (1865), and History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne (1869), both remarkable for learning, clearness, and impartiality. Both, however, gave rise to considerable controversy and criticism. His principal work is The History of England in the Eighteenth Century (1878-90). Characterised by the same sterling qualities as his preceding books, it deals with a subject more generally interesting, and has had a wide acceptance. His view of the American war, and the controversies which led to it, is more favourable to the English position than that of some earlier historians. Other works are Democracy and Liberty (1896), and The Map of Life (1899). Though of warm Irish sympathies, L. was strongly opposed to Home Rule. He sat in Parliament for his Univ. from 1895 until his death. He received many academical distinctions, and was a Corresponding Member of the Institute of France, and one of the original members of the Order of Merit.
LEE, NATHANIEL (1653?-1692). —Dramatist, s. of a clergyman at Hatfield, was ed. at Westminster School and Camb. After leaving the Univ. he went to London, and joined the stage both as actor and author. He was taken up by Rochester and others of the same dissolute set, led a loose life, and drank himself into Bedlam, where he spent four years. After his recovery he lived mainly upon charity, and met his death from a fall under the effects of a carouse. His tragedies, which, with much bombast and frequent untrained flights of imagination, have occasional fire and tenderness, are generally based on classical subjects. The principal are The Rival Queens, Theodosius, and Mithridates. He also wrote a few comedies, and collaborated with Dryden in an adaptation of Œdipus, and in The Duke of Guise.
LEE, SOPHIA (1750-1824), LEE, HARRIET (1757-1851). —Novelists and dramatists, dau. of John L., an actor, were the authors of various dramatic pieces and novels. By far their most memorable work was The Canterbury Tales, 5 vols. (1797-1805) which, with the exception of two, The Young Lady's and The Clergyman's, were all by Harriet. The most powerful of them, Kruitzner, fell into the hands of Byron in his boyhood, and made so profound an impression upon him that, in 1821, he dramatised it under the title of Werner, or the Inheritance. The authoress also adapted it for the stage as The Three Strangers. The tales are in general remarkable for the ingenuity of their plots. Harriet lived to the age of 94, preserving to the last her vigour of mind and powers of conversation. Godwin made her an offer of marriage to which, however, his religious opinions presented an insuperable barrier. Sophia's chief work was The Chapter of Accidents, a comedy, which had a great run, the profits of which enabled the sisters to start a school at Bath, which proved very successful, and produced for them a competence on which they were able to retire in their later years.
LE FANU, JOSEPH SHERIDAN (1814-1873). —Novelist, s. of a Dean of the Episcopal Church of Ireland, and grand-nephew of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, was ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin, and became a contributor and ultimately proprietor of the Dublin University Magazine, in which many of his novels made their first appearance. Called to the Bar in 1839, he did not practise, and was first brought into notice by two ballads, Phaudrig Croohoore and Shamus O'Brien, which had extraordinary popularity. His novels, of which he wrote 12, include The Cock and Anchor (1845), Torlough O'Brien (1847), The House by the Churchyard (1863), Uncle Silas (perhaps the most popular) (1864), The Tenants of Malory (1867), In a Glass Darkly (1872), and Willing to Die (posthumously). They are generally distinguished by able construction, ingenuity of plot, and power in the presentation of the mysterious and supernatural. Among Irish novelists he is generally ranked next to Lever.
LEIGHTON, ROBERT (1611-1684). —Divine, was the s. of Alexander L., physician, and writer on theology, who, on account of his anti-prelatic books, was put in the pillory, fined, and had his nose slit and his ears cut off. Robert was ed. at Edin., after which he resided for some time at Douay. Returning to Scotland he received Presbyterian ordination, and was admitted minister of Newbattle, near Edin. In 1653 he was appointed Principal and Prof. of Divinity in the Univ. of Edin., which offices he held until 1662 when, having separated himself from Presbyterianism, he was appointed Bishop of Dunblane, under the new Episcopal establishment. He repeatedly but unsuccessfully endeavoured to bring about an ecclesiastical union in Scotland on the basis of combining the best elements in each system. Discouraged by his lack of success in his well-meant efforts, he offered in 1665 to resign his see, but was persuaded by Charles II. to remain in it, and in 1669 was promoted to be Archbishop of Glasgow, from which position, wearied and disappointed, he finally retired in 1674, and lived with his widowed sister, Mrs. Lightmaker, at Broadhurst Manor, Sussex. On a visit to London he was seized with a fatal illness, and d. in the arms of his friend, Bishop Burnet, who says of him, "he had the greatest elevation of soul, the largest compass of knowledge, the most mortified and heavenly disposition that I ever saw in mortal." His sermons and commentaries, all pub. posthumously, maintain a high place among English religious classics, alike for thought and style. They consist of his Commentary on St. Peter, Sermons, and Spiritual Exercises, Letters, etc. His Lectures and Addresses in Latin were also pub.
LELAND, CHARLES GODFREY (1824-1903). —American humorist, b. at Philadelphia, was ed. at Princeton, and in Europe. In his travels he made a study of the gipsies, on whom he wrote more than one book. His fame rests chiefly on his Hans Breitmann Ballads (1871), written in the patois known as Pennsylvania Dutch. Other books of his are Meister Karl's Sketch-book (1855), Legends of Birds (1864), Algonquin Legends (1884), Legends of Florence (1895), and Flaxius, or Leaves from the Life of an Immortal.
LELAND or LEYLAND, JOHN (1506-1552). —Antiquary, b. in London, and ed. at St. Paul's School and at Camb., Oxf., and Paris. He was a good linguist, and one of the first Englishmen to acquire Greek, and he was likewise acquainted with French, Italian, Spanish, Welsh, and Anglo-Saxon. He became chaplain and librarian to Henry VIII., from whom he received the Rectory of Poppeling, near Calais, and in 1533 the appointment of King's Antiquary. Soon afterwards he was permitted to do his work in France by deputy, and was commissioned to go over England in search of documents and antiquities; and on the strength of this made his famous tour, which lasted for about six years. He was able to do something to stem the destruction of manuscripts on the dissolution of the monasteries, and made vast collections of documents and information regarding the monuments and general features of the country, which, however, he was unable fully to digest and set in order. They formed, nevertheless, an almost inexhaustible quarry in which succeeding workers in the same field, such as Stow, Camden, and Dugdale, wrought. In his last years he was insane, and hence none of his collections appeared in his lifetime. His Itinerary was, however, at length pub. by T. Hearne in 9 vols. (1710-12), and his Collectanea in 6 vols. (1715).
LEMON, MARK (1809-1870). —Journalist and humorist, b. in London, wrote many theatrical pieces, and a few novels, of which the best is Falkner Lyle, others being Leyton Hall, and Loved at Last. He also wrote stories for children, lectured and gave public readings, and contributed to various periodicals. He is best known as one of the founders and, from 1843 until his death, the ed. of Punch. His Jest Book appeared in 1864.
LENNOX, CHARLOTTE (RAMSAY) (1720-1804). —Was b. in New York, of which her f., Colonel Ramsay, was Governor. She wrote a novel, The Female Quixote (1752), which had considerable vogue in its day. Her other writings—novels, translations, and a play—are now forgotten. She was befriended by Dr. Johnson. Mrs. Thrale (q.v.) said that "everybody admired Mrs. L., but nobody liked her."
LESLIE, or LESLEY, JOHN (1527-1596). —Historian, studied at Aberdeen and Paris, at the former of which he became, in 1562, Prof. of Canon Law. He was a Privy Councillor 1565, and Bishop of Ross 1566, and was the confidential friend of Queen Mary, who made him her ambassador to Queen Elizabeth. He was thrown into the Tower for his share in promoting a marriage between Mary and the Duke of Norfolk, whence being released on condition of leaving England, he went first to Paris and then to Rome, where he busied himself on behalf of his mistress. He became Vicar-General of the diocese of Rouen in 1579, and d. at the monastery of Guirtenburg near Brussels. While in England he wrote in Scots vernacular his History of Scotland from the death of James I. (where Boece left off) to his own time. At Rouen he rewrote and expanded it in Latin (1575), from which it was re-translated into Scots by James Dalrymple in 1596.
L'ESTRANGE, SIR ROGER (1616-1704). —Journalist and pamphleteer, youngest s. of a Norfolk baronet, was probably at Camb., and in 1638 took arms for the King. Six years later he was captured, imprisoned in Newgate, and condemned to death. He, however, escaped, endeavoured to make a rising in Kent, and had to flee to Holland, where he was employed in the service of Charles II. On receiving a pardon from Cromwell he returned to England in 1653. In view of the Restoration he was active in writing on behalf of monarchy, and in 1663 pub. Considerations and Proposals in order to Regulating of the Press, for which he was appointed Surveyor of Printing-Presses and Licenser of the Press, and received a grant of the sole privilege of printing public news. His first newspaper, The Intelligencer, appeared in the same year, and was followed by The News and the City Mercury, or Advertisements concerning Trade. Thereafter his life was spent in ed. newspapers and writing political pamphlets in support of the Court and against the Whigs and Dissenters. In 1685 he was knighted. His controversies repeatedly got him into trouble, and after the Revolution he lost his appointments, and was more than once imprisoned. In addition to his political writings he translated Æsop's Fables, Seneca's Morals, and Cicero's Offices. His Æsop contains much from other authors, including himself. In his writings he was lively and vigorous but coarse and abusive.
LEVER, CHARLES JAMES (1806-1872). —Novelist, b. at Dublin, and ed. at Trinity Coll. there. He studied medicine at Göttingen, and practised at various places in Ireland. In 1837 he contributed to the Dublin University Magazine his first novel, Harry Lorrequer, and the immediate and wide acceptance which it found decided him to devote himself to literature. He accordingly followed it with Charles O'Malley (1840), his most popular book. After this scarcely a year passed without an addition to the list of his light-hearted, breezy, rollicking stories, among which may be mentioned Jack Hinton (1842), Tom Burke of Ours, Arthur O'Leary, and The Dodd Family Abroad. The O'Donoghue and The Knight of Gwynne (1847) are more in the nature of historical romances. In 1864 he contributed to Blackwood's Magazine a series of miscellaneous papers, Cornelius O'Dowd on Men, Women, and Things in General. L.'s life was largely spent abroad. After practising his profession in Brussels 1840-42 he returned to Dublin to ed. the Dublin University Magazine, which he did until 1845, after which he went to Italy, settled at Florence, and thereafter was British Consul successively at Spezzia and Trieste, at the latter of which he d. He continued to produce novels up to the end of his life. Among the later ones are Sir Brooke Fosbrooke, The Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly, and Lord Kilgobbin (1872).
LEWES, GEORGE HENRY (1817-1878). —Philosopher and miscellaneous writer, b. in London, and ed. at Greenwich, and in Jersey and Brittany. His early life was varied; he tried law, commerce, and medicine successively, and was then for two years in Germany, on returning from which he tried the London stage, and eventually settled down to journalism, writing for the Morning Chronicle, for the Penny Encyclopædia, and various periodicals. Thereafter he ed. the Leader (1851-54), and the Fortnightly Review (which he founded) (1865-66). His articles deal with an extraordinary variety of subjects—criticism, the drama, biography, and science, both physical and mental. His chief works are The History of Philosophy from Thales to Comte, Comte's Philosophy of the Sciences (1853), The Psychology of Common Life (1859), Studies in Animal Life (1862), Problems of Life and Mind (1873-79). L. was an exceptionally able dramatic critic, and in this department he produced Actors and the Art of Acting (1875), and a book on the Spanish Drama. By far his greatest work, however, is his Life and Works of Goethe (1855), which remains the standard English work on the subject, and which by the end of the century had, in its German translation, passed into 16 ed. He also wrote two novels, Ranthorpe (1847), and Rose, Blanche, and Violet (1848), neither of which attained any success. In his writings he is frequently brilliant and original; but his education and training, whether in philosophy or biology, were not sufficiently thorough to give him a place as a master in either. L.'s life was in its latter section influenced by his irregular connection with Miss Evans ("George Eliot"), with whom he lived for the last 24 years of it, in close intellectual sympathy. To his appreciation and encouragement were largely due her taking up prose fiction.
LEWIS, SIR GEORGE CORNEWALL (1806-1863). —Scholar and statesman, s. of Sir Thomas F.L., a Radnorshire baronet, was ed. at Eton and Oxf. He studied law, was called to the Bar in 1831, and entered Parliament in 1847, where his intellect and character soon gained him great influence. After serving on various important commissions and holding minor offices, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer 1855-58, Home Sec. 1859-61, and War Sec. 1861-63. His official labours did not prevent his entering into profound and laborious studies, chiefly in regard to Roman history, and the state of knowledge among the ancients. In his Inquiry into the Credibility of Ancient Roman History (1855), he combated the methods and results of Niebuhr. Other works are On the Use and Abuse of Political Terms, Authority in Matters of Opinion, The Astronomy of the Ancients, and a Dialogue on the best Form of Government. The somewhat sceptical turn of his mind led him to sift evidence minutely, and the labour involved in his wide range of severe study and his public duties no doubt shortened his valuable life.
LEWIS, MATTHEW GREGORY (1775-1818). —Novelist, s. of Matthew L., Deputy Sec. in the War Office, was ed. at Westminster and Oxf. Thereafter he went to Germany. From his childhood tales of witchcraft and the supernatural had a powerful fascination for him, and in Germany he had ample opportunities for pursuing his favourite study, with the result that at the age of 20 he became the author of The Monk, a tale in which the supernatural and the horrible predominate to an unprecedented extent, and from which he is known as "Monk L." The same characteristic appears in all his works, among which may be mentioned Tales of Terror (1779), Tales of Wonder (to which Sir W. Scott contributed), and Romantic Tales (1808). Though affected and extravagant in his manners, L. was not wanting in kindly and generous feelings, and in fact an illness contracted on a voyage to the West Indies to inquire into and remedy some grievances of the slaves on his estates there was the cause of his death.
LEYDEN, JOHN (1775-1811). —Poet and Orientalist, b. at Denholm, Roxburghshire, gave early evidence of superior ability, and his f., who was a shepherd, destined him for the Church. He accordingly entered the Univ. of Edin., where he had a brilliant career, showing a special aptitude for languages and natural history. In 1800 he became a licentiate of the Church, but continued his scientific and linguistic studies, and also began to write. In 1799 he had pub. a sketch of the Discoveries and Settlements of the Europeans in Northern and Western Africa, and he contributed to Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and to "Monk" Lewis's Tales of Wonder. His enthusiasm for Oriental learning led to application being made on his behalf to Government for some situation which would make his acquirements available for the public service, but the only opening which could be obtained was that of a ship's surgeon. By extraordinary exertions L. qualified himself for this in a few months, and set sail for the East, after finishing his poem, Scenes of Infancy. Soon after his arrival at Madras his health gave way, and after some time passed in Prince of Wales Island he visited the Malay Peninsula, and some of the East Indian Islands, collecting vast stores of linguistic and ethnographical information, on which was founded his great Dissertation on the Indo-Persian, Indo-Chinese, and Dekkan Languages (1807). Soon after this L. was appointed a prof. in the Bengal Coll., and a little later a judge in Calcutta. In 1811 he accompanied the Governor-General, Lord Minto, to Java. His health, however, had been undermined by his almost super-human exertions, and immediately after landing he contracted a fever, of which he d. in three days at the early age of 36. Two Oriental works translated by him, Sejârah Malâyu (Malay Annals) and Commentaries of Baber were pub. respectively in 1821 and 1826.
LIDDELL, HENRY GEORGE (1811-1898). —Historian, etc. Ed. at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxf., of which in 1855 he became Dean. He wrote a History of Ancient Rome (1855), and, along with R. Scott, pub. a Greek-English Lexicon (1843).
LIDDON, HENRY PARRY (1829-1890). —Divine, s. of a captain in the navy, was b. at North Stoneham, Hants, and ed. at King's Coll. School, London, and Oxf. He took orders 1853, was Vice-Principal of Cuddesdon Theological Coll. 1854-59, Prebendary of Salisbury 1864, and Canon of St. Paul's 1870. He was also Ireland Prof. of Exegesis at Oxf. 1870-82. In 1866 he delivered his Bampton Lectures on The Divinity of Our Lord, and came to be recognised as one of the ablest and most eloquent representatives of the High Church party. His sermons in St. Paul's were among the leading features of the religious life of London. L. was an ardent protagonist in the various controversies of his time bearing upon ecclesiastical and moral questions.
LIGHTFOOT, JOSEPH BARBER (1828-1889). —Theologian and scholar, b. at Liverpool, and ed. at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and Camb., entered the Church, and was successively Hulsean Prof. of Divinity 1861, Chaplain to Queen Victoria 1862, member of the New Testament Company of Revisers 1870-80, Margaret Prof. of Divinity, Camb., 1875, and Bishop of Durham 1879. He was probably the greatest scholar of his day in England, especially as a grammarian and textual critic. Among his works are Commentaries on several of the minor Pauline epistles, a fragmentary work on the Apostolic Fathers, Leaders in the Northern Church (1890), and The Apostolic Age (1892).
LILLO, GEORGE (1693-1739). —Dramatist, of Dutch descent, was b. in London, succeeded his f. in business as a jeweller, in which he had good speed, and devoted his leisure to the composition of plays in the line of what was known as the "domestic drama." He wrote in all seven of these, among which are The London Merchant, or the History of George Barnewell, acted 1731, The Christian Hero (1735), and Fatal Curiosity (1736). He was a friend of Fielding, who said of him that "he had the spirit of an old Roman joined to the innocence of a primitive Christian."
LINDSAY, or LYNDSAY, SIR DAVID (1490-1555). —Scottish poet and satirist, s. of David L. of Garmylton, near Haddington, was b. either there or at The Mount in Fife, and ed. at St. Andrews. Early in life he was at the Court of James IV., and on the King's death was appointed to attend on the infant James V., whose friend and counsellor he remained, though his advice was, unhappily for his country, not always given heed to. In 1529 he was knighted and made Lyon King at Arms. He was employed on various missions to the Emperor Charles V., and to Denmark, France, and England. He was always in sympathy with the people as against the nobles and the clergy, and was their poet, with his words in their mouths. He favoured the Reformers, and was one of those who urged Knox to become a preacher. He did not, however, adhere to the reformed congregation, and d. at least nominally in the Roman Church. Yet he lashed the vices of the clergy as they had never been lashed before, and only escaped their vengeance by the protection of the King, who also condoned the severities directed against himself. His latter days were spent at The Mount, where he d. His chief writings are The Dreme, written 1528, The Complaynt to the King (1529), The Testament and Complaynt of our Soverane Lord's Papyngo (Parrot) (1530), Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Three Estaitis, A Dialogue betwixt Experience and a Courtier (1552), The Monarchy (1554), and The History of Squyer Meldrum. L. was a true poet, gifted with fancy, humour, and a powerful satiric touch and a love of truth and justice. He had a strong influence in turning the minds of the common people in favour of the Reformation.
Works ed. by Chalmers (3 vols., 1806), and D. Laing (3 vols., 1879).
LINDSAY, or LINDESAY, ROBERT (1500?-1565?). —Historian, Laird or tenant of Pitscottie, Fife, wrote a history entitled The Chronicles of Scotland, intended as a continuation of that of Boece. It deals with the period 1436-1515, and though often inaccurate in detail, is often vivid and quaint.
LINGARD, JOHN (1771-1851). —Historian, b. at Winchester of humble Roman Catholic parentage, was in 1782 sent to the English Coll. at Douay, whence he escaped from the revolutionaries in 1793, and returning to England, went to Crookhall Coll., near Durham, and afterwards to Ushaw. Ordained a priest in 1795, he became Vice-Pres. and Prof. of Philosophy at the latter coll. In 1806 he pub. The Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, and while a missioner at Hornby, Lancashire, began his History of England to the Accession of William and Mary (8 vols., 1819-30). In the preparation of this work L. had access to material hitherto unpub., and not available for Protestant historians, such as documents in the Vatican and other Roman Catholic sources, and was consequently able to throw new light on various parts of his subject. The work was attacked by various writers from the Protestant standpoint. L. replied to his critics with the result that it is now generally admitted that the history, while in parts coloured by the theological and political point of view of the author, is generally an impartial and valuable work, and it remains a leading authority on the Reformation period viewed from the side of the enlightened Roman Catholic priesthood. This opinion is supported by the fact that the Ultramontane party among the Roman Catholics regarded the book as a dangerous one in respect of the interests of their Church.
LINTON, MRS. ELIZA LYNN (1822-1898). —Novelist and miscellaneous writer, dau. of a clergyman, settled in London in 1845, and next year produced her first novel, Azeth, the Egyptian; Amymone (1848), and Realities (1851), followed. None of these had any great success, and she then joined the staff of the Morning Chronicle, and All the Year Round. In 1858 she m. W.J. Linton, an eminent wood-engraver, who was also a poet of some note, a writer upon his craft, and a Republican. In 1867 they separated in a friendly way, the husband going to America, and the wife devoting herself to novel-writing, in which she attained wide popularity. Her most successful works were The True History of Joshua Davidson (1872), Patricia Kemball (1874), and Christopher Kirkland. She was a severe critic of the "new woman."
LISTER, THOMAS HENRY (1800-1842). —Novelist, ed. at Westminster and Camb., was latterly the first Registrar-General for England and Wales. He wrote several novels, among which are Granby (1826), Herbert Lacy (1828), Arlington (1832). He was also the author of a Life of Clarendon.
LITHGOW, WILLIAM (1582-1645). —Traveller, b. at Lanark, claimed at the end of his various peregrinations to have tramped 36,000 miles on foot. Previous to 1610 he had visited Shetland, Switzerland, and Bohemia. In that year he set out for Palestine and Egypt. His next journey, 1614-16, was in Tunis and Fez; but his last, 1619-21, to Spain, ended unfortunately in his apprehension at Malaga and torture as a spy. He gave an account of his travels in Rare Adventures and Paineful Peregrinations, and wrote The Siege of Breda, The Siege of Newcastle, and Poems.
LIVINGSTONE, DAVID (1813-1873). —Missionary explorer, b. at Blantyre, Lanarkshire, spent the years between 10 and 24 as an operative in a cotton mill there. Becoming interested in foreign missions he qualified himself, and entering the service of the London Missionary Society, set out in 1846 to South Africa. He subsequently made journeys into the interior, which ultimately developed into his great pioneering and exploration expeditions, in which he discovered Lake Ngami 1849, and the river Zambesi 1851. In 1856 he visited England, pub. his Missionary Travels (1857), and retired from the service of the London Missionary Society. He was Consul at Quilimane 1858-64, and in 1858 commanded an expedition for exploring Eastern and Central Africa, in the course of which he discovered Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa 1859. Again visiting England he pub. his second book, The Zambesi and its Tributaries (1865). Returning to Africa he organised an expedition to the Nile basin, discovered Lake Bangweolo, explored the cannibal country, enduring terrible sufferings and dangers, from which he was rescued just in time by H.M. Stanley. His last journey was to discover the sources of the Nile, but it proved fatal, as he d. at a village in Ilala. His remains were brought home and buried in Westminster Abbey. L. was a man of indomitable courage, and of a simple nobility of character. His writings are plain, unadorned statements of his work and experiences. He ranks among the greatest explorers and philanthropists. The diary which he kept was pub. as Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa (1874). His view of his duty in the circumstances in which he found himself was to be a pioneer opening up new ground, and leaving native agents to work it up.
LLOYD, ROBERT (1733-1764). —Poet, ed. at Westminster and Camb., pub. The Actor (1760), a poem which had considerable popularity, some miscellaneous verses, and a comic opera, The Conscious Lovers (1764). He was a friend of Churchill, who showed him much kindness in his frequent misfortunes; and on hearing of C.'s death he took to bed, and soon d., apparently of a broken heart.
LOCKE, DAVID Ross (PETROLEUM V. NASBY) (1833-1888). —Humorist, b. in New York State. His political satires really influenced opinion during the war. He was a printer and then a journalist, and his writings include Swingin' round the Cirkle, Struggles of P.V. Nasby, Nasby in Exile, and two novels, A Paper City and The Demagogue.
LOCKE, JOHN (1632-1704). —Philosopher, s. of a landsteward, was b. at Wrington, near Bristol, and ed. at Westminster School and Oxf. In 1660 he became lecturer on Greek, in 1662 on Rhetoric, and in 1664 he went as sec. to an Embassy to Brandenburg. While a student he had turned from the subtleties of Aristotle and the schoolmen, had studied Descartes and Bacon, and becoming attracted to experimental science, studied medicine, and practised a little in Oxf. At the same time his mind had been much exercised by questions of morals and government, and in 1667 he wrote his Essay on Toleration. In the same year he became known to Lord Ashley (afterwards 1st Earl of Shaftesbury), in whose house he went to reside. Here he made the acquaintance of Buckingham, Halifax, and other leading men of the time, and was entrusted by Ashley with the education of his s., and afterwards of his grandson, the famous 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (q.v.). He was also employed by him to draw up a constitution for the new colony of Carolina, the provisions of which in regard to religion were regarded as too liberal and were, at the instance of the Established Church, departed from. In 1672 when Ashley became Chancellor he bestowed upon L. the office of Sec. of Presentations, and afterwards a post at the Board of Trade. In 1675 L. graduated M.B., and in the same year went for the benefit of his health, which had always been delicate, to Montpelier, where there was then a celebrated medical school, and subsequently to Paris, where he became acquainted with most of the eminent Frenchmen of the day. Recalled by Shaftesbury in 1679 he returned to England but, his patron having in 1682 been obliged to take refuge in Holland from a prosecution for high treason, he followed him there. In consequence of this he became obnoxious to the Government, and was in 1684 deprived of his studentship at Christ Church. Shaftesbury having d. in Holland, L. remained there until the Revolution, when he returned to England in the fleet which carried the Princess of Orange. He was now in favour with Government, and had the offer of diplomatic employment which, on account of his health, he declined, but was appointed a Commissioner of Appeals. In 1698 he was an adviser of the Government on the question of the coinage, and was made a member of the newly instituted Council on Trade, which position he resigned in 1700. During his last years he lived with Sir Francis and Lady Masham at Gates in Essex, where Lady M., who was a dau. of Ralph Cudworth (q.v.), and an old friend, assiduously tended his last years. The services of L. to his country in civil and religious matters were various and great; but it is upon his philosophical writings, and chiefly on his Essay on the Human Understanding (1690) that his fame rests. It is divided into four books, of which the first treats of innate ideas (the existence of which he denies), the second traces the origin of ideas, the third deals with language, and the fourth lays down the limits of the understanding. Other works of his are Thoughts concerning Education (1693), On the Conduct of the Understanding (pub. posthumously), The Reasonableness of Christianity (1695), Treatise on Government, and Letters on Toleration. If not a very profound or original philosopher L. was a calm, sensible, and reasonable writer, and his books were very influential on the English thought of his day, as well as on the French philosophy of the next century. His style is plain and clear, but lacking in brightness and variety.
Lives by Lord King (1829), and Bourne (1876). Works ed. by Prof. A.C. Fraser (1894). See also T.H. Green's Introduction to Hume (1874).
LOCKER-LAMPSON, FREDERICK (1821-1895). —Poet, s. of the sec. of Greenwich Hospital, held appointments in Somerset House and the Admiralty. He wrote a number of clever vers de societé, which were coll. as London Lyrics (1857). He also compiled Lyra Elegantiarum, an anthology of similar verse by former authors, and Patchwork, a book of extracts, and wrote an autobiography, My Confidences (1896).
LOCKHART, JOHN GIBSON (1794-1854). —Novelist and biographer, s. of a minister of the Church of Scotland of good family, was b. at Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, and ed. at Glasgow and Oxf. He studied law at Edin., and was called to the Scottish Bar in 1816, but had little taste for the profession. Having, however, already tried literature (he had translated Schlegel's Lectures on the History of Literature), he devoted himself more and more to a literary life. He joined John Wilson, and became one of the leading contributors to Blackwood's Magazine. After bringing out Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk (1819), sketches mainly of Edinburgh society, he produced four novels, Valerius (1821), Adam Blair (1822), Reginald Dalton (1824), and Matthew Wald (1824). His Life of Burns appeared in 1828. He was ed. of the Quarterly Review 1824-53. In 1820 he had m. Sophia, dau. of Sir Walter Scott, which led to a close friendship with the latter, and to his writing his famous Life of Scott, undoubtedly one of the greatest biographies in the language. His later years were overshadowed with deep depression caused by the death of his wife and children. A singularly reserved and cold manner led to his being regarded with dislike by many, but his intimate friends were warmly attached to him.
LODGE, THOMAS (1558?-1625). —Poet and dramatist, s. of Sir Thomas L., Lord Mayor of London, was ed. at Merchant Taylor's School and Oxf. He was a student of Lincoln's Inn, but abandoned law for literature, ultimately studied medicine, and took M.D. at Oxf. 1603; having become a Roman Catholic, he had a large practice, chiefly among his co-religionists. In 1580 he pub. A Defence of Plays in reply to Gosson's School of Abuse; and he wrote poems, dramas, and romances. His principal dramatic works are The Wounds of Civil War, and (in conjunction with Greene, q.v.) A Looking-glass for London and England. Among his romances may be mentioned Euphues' Shadow, Forbonius and Prisceria (1584), and Rosalynde, Euphues' Golden Legacie (1590). His poems include Glaucus and Scilia (1589), Phillis honoured with Pastoral Sonnets, Elegies, and Amorous Delights (1593). Rosalynde, his best known work, and the source from which Shakespeare is said to have drawn As you like It, was written to beguile the tedium of a voyage to the Canaries. Robin the Divell and William Longbeard are historical romances. L. was also a voluminous translator. He was one of the founders of the regular English drama, but his own plays are heavy and tedious. His romances, popular in their day, are sentimental and over-refined in language, but are enlivened by lyrical pieces in which he is far more successful than in his dramatic work.
LOGAN, JOHN (1748-1788). —Poet, s. of a small farmer at Soutra, Midlothian, was destined for the ministry of a small Dissenting sect to which his f. belonged, but attached himself to the Church of Scotland, and became minister of South Leith in 1773. He read lectures on the philosophy of history in Edin., and was the author of a vol. of poems. He also ed. those of his friend, Michael Bruce (q.v.), in such a way, however, as to lead to a controversy, still unsettled, as to the authorship of certain of the pieces inserted. L., in fact, suppressed some of Bruce's poems and introduced others of his own. Unfortunately for the reputation of both poets the disputed authorship extends to the gem of the collection, the exquisite Ode to the Cuckoo, beginning "Hail, beauteous stranger of the grove," which Burke considered the most beautiful lyric in the language. L. fell into dissipated habits, resigned his ministerial charge, and went to London, where he took an active part in the controversy regarding the impeachment of Warren Hastings.
LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879). —Classical scholar, ed. at Camb. He was Prof. of Ancient Languages in the Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1824-28, of Greek at University Coll., London, 1828-31, and of Latin there, 1842-46. He did much for the diffusion of education, was one of the founders and sec. of the Royal Geographical Society, and ed. of the Penny Cyclopædia. He translated Marcus Aurelius (1862), and The Discourses of Epictetus (1877), and wrote Two Discourses on Roman Law (1847), a subject on which he was the greatest English authority.
LONGFELLOW, HENRY WADSWORTH (1807-1882). —Poet, was b. at Portland, Maine, the s. of Stephen L., a lawyer. From childhood he cared little for games, but was always devoted to reading. In 1822 he was sent to Bowdoin Coll., of which his f. was a Trustee, and after graduating was appointed to a new Chair of Modern Languages, which the coll. had decided to establish, and with the view of more completely qualifying him for his duties, he was sent to Europe for a three years' course of study. He accordingly went to France, Spain, and Italy. Returning in 1829 he commenced his professional duties, writing also in the North American Review. In 1831 he entered into his first marriage, and in 1833 he pub. his first books, a translation from the Spanish, followed by the first part of Outre Mer, an account of his travels. At the end of the year L. was invited to become Prof. of Modern Languages at Harvard, an offer which he gladly accepted. He paid a second visit to Europe accompanied by his wife, who, however, d. at Amsterdam. He returned to his duties in 1836, and in 1838 appeared Voices of the Night, containing the "Psalm of Life" and "Excelsior," which had extraordinary popularity, and gave him a place in the affections of his countrymen which he held until his death. The same year saw the publication of Hyperion. His next work was Ballads and other Poems, containing "The Wreck of the Hesperus" and "The Village Blacksmith." In 1843 he m. his second wife, and in the same year appeared The Spanish Student, a drama. The Belfry of Bruges and Evangeline (1847), generally considered his masterpiece, followed. In 1849 he pub. Kavanagh, a novel which added nothing to his reputation, and in 1851 Seaside and Fireside, and The Golden Legend. Having now a sufficient and secure income from his writings, he resigned his professorship, and devoted himself entirely to literature. Hiawatha appeared in 1855, and The Courtship of Miles Standish in 1858. In 1861 he lost his wife under tragic circumstances, a blow which told heavily upon him. His latest works were a translation of Dante's Divina Commedia, Tales of a Wayside Inn, The New England Tragedies, and The Divine Tragedy, the last two of which he combined with The Golden Legend into a trilogy, which he named Christus. In 1868 he paid a last visit to England, where he was received with the highest honour. Later works were Three Books of Song, Aftermath, and Ultima Thule. He d. on March 14, 1882. L. lacked the intensity of feeling and power of imagination to make him a great poet; but few poets have appealed to a wider circle of readers. If he never soars to the heights or sounds the deeps of feeling he touches the heart by appealing to universal and deep-seated affections. He was a man of noble and chivalrous character.
Lives by S. Longfellow in Riverside ed. of works (11 vols. 1886-90), Robertson (Great Writers Series), and Higginson (American Men of Letters).
LOVELACE, RICHARD (1618-1658). —Poet, b. at Woolwich, s. of Sir William L., was ed. at Oxf., where he is described by Anthony Wood as "the most amiable and beautiful person that eye ever beheld." He was an enthusiastic Royalist, and spent his whole fortune in support of that cause. For presenting "the Kentish petition" in favour of the King, he was imprisoned in 1642, when he wrote his famous song, When Love with unconfinéd wings. After his release he served in the French army, and was wounded at Dunkirk. Returning, he was again imprisoned, 1648, and produced his Lucasta: Epodes, Odes, etc. He lives in literature by a few of his lyrics which, though often careless, are graceful and tender. He d. in poverty.
LOVER, SAMUEL (1797-1868). —Song-writer and novelist, was a painter of portraits, chiefly miniatures. He produced a number of Irish songs, of which several—including The Angel's Whisper, Molly Bawn, and The Four-leaved Shamrock—attained great popularity. He also wrote some novels, of which Rory O'More (in its first form a ballad), and Handy Andy are the best known, and short Irish sketches, which, with his songs, he combined into a popular entertainment called Irish Nights. He joined with Dickens in founding Bentley's Magazine.
LOWELL, JAMES RUSSELL (1819-1891). —Poet and essayist, b. at Camb., Massachusetts, s. of a Unitarian minister, was ed. at Harvard. He began active life as a lawyer, but soon abandoned business, and devoted himself mainly to literature. In 1841 he pub. a vol. of poems, A Year's Life, and in 1843 a second book of verses appeared. He also wrote at this time political articles in the Atlantic and North American Review. In 1848 he pub. a third vol. of Poems, A Fable for Critics, The Biglow Papers, and The Vision of Sir Launfal; and he was in 1855 appointed Professor of Modern Languages at Harvard in succession to Longfellow. Among my Books appeared in 2 series, in 1870 and 1876. His later poems included various Odes in celebration of national events, some of which were coll. in Under the Willows, The Cathedral, and Heartsease and Rue. In 1877 he was appointed United States minister to Spain, and he held a similar appointment in England 1880-85. He d. at Elmwood, the house in which he was b. L. was a man of singularly varied gifts, wit, humour, scholarship, and considerable poetic power, and he is the greatest critic America has yet produced. He was a strong advocate of the abolition of slavery.
LOWTH, ROBERT (1710-1787). —Theologian and scholar, s. of William L., Prebendary of Winchester, and author of a Commentary on the Prophets, was b. at Winchester, and ed. there and at Oxf. Entering the Church he became Bishop successively of St. David's, Oxf., and London. In 1753 he pub. De Sacra Poesi Hebræorum. He also wrote a Life of William of Wykeham, the founder of Winchester Coll., and made a new translation of Isaiah.
LYDGATE, JOHN (1370?-1451?). —Poet, b. in Suffolk, was ordained a priest in 1397. After studying at Oxf., Paris, and Padua, he taught literature in his monastery at Bury St. Edmunds. He appears to have been a bright, clear-minded, earnest man, with a love of the beautiful, and a faculty of pleasant, flowing verse. He wrote copiously and with tiresome prolixity whatever was required of him, moral tales, legends of the saints, and histories, and his total output is enormous, reaching 130,000 lines. His chief works are Troy Book (1412-20), written at the request of Henry V. when Prince of Wales, The Falls of Princes (1430-38), and The Story of Thebes (c. 1420). These books were first printed in 1513, 1494, and c. 1500 respectively. L. also wrote many miscellaneous poems. He was for a time Court poet, and was patronised by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; but the greater part of his life was spent in the monastery at Bury St. Edmunds. He was an avowed admirer of Chaucer, though he largely follows the French romancists previous to him.
LYELL, SIR CHARLES (1797-1875). —Geologist and writer, s. of Charles L., of Kinnordy, Forfarshire (a distinguished botanist and student of Dante), was brought up near the New Forest. After going to school at various places in England, he was sent to Oxf., where under Buckland he imbibed a taste for science. He studied law, and was called to the Bar, but soon devoted himself to geology, and made various scientific tours on the Continent, the results of his investigations being pub. chiefly in the Transactions of the Geological Society, of which he was afterwards repeatedly Pres. His two chief works are The Principles of Geology (1830-33), and The Elements of Geology (1838). In these books he combated the necessity of stupendous convulsions, and maintained that the greatest geologic changes might be produced by remote causes still in operation. He also pub., among other works, Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man (1863). He was Prof. of Geology in King's Coll., London, 1831-33, Pres. of the British Association 1864, knighted in 1848, and cr. a Baronet in 1864. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. In his later years he was generally recognised as the greatest of living geologists.
LYLY, JOHN (1554?-1606). —Dramatist and miscellaneous writer, was b. in the Weald of Kent, and ed. at both Oxf. and Camb. He wrote several dramas, most of which are on classical and mythological subjects, including Campaspe and Sapho and Phao (1584), Endymion (1591), and Midas (1592). His chief fame, however, rests on his two didactic romances, Euphues, the Anatomy of Wit (1579), and Euphues and his England (1580). These works, which were largely inspired by Ascham's Toxophilus, and had the same objects in view, viz., the reform of education and manners, exercised a powerful, though temporary, influence on the language, both written and spoken, commemorated in our words "euphuism" and "euphuistic." The characteristics of the style have been set forth as "pedantic and far-fetched allusion, elaborate indirectness, a cloying smoothness and drowsy monotony of diction, alliteration, punning, and such-like puerilities, which do not, however, exclude a good deal of wit, fancy, and prettiness." Many contemporary authors, including Shakespeare, made game of it, while others, e.g. Greene, admired and practised it. L. also wrote light dramatic pieces for the children of the Chapel Royal, and contributed a pamphlet, Pappe with an Hatchet (1589) to the Mar-prelate controversy in which he supported the Bishops. He sat in Parliament for some years.
LYNDESAY, SIR D., (see LINDSAY.)
LYTE, HENRY FRANCIS (1793-1847). —Hymn-writer, b. at Ednam, near Kelso, of an ancient Somersetshire family, and ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin, took orders, and was incumbent of Lower Brixham, Devonshire. He pub. Poems: chiefly religious (1833). He is chiefly remembered for his hymns, one of which, Abide with Me, is universally known and loved.
LYTTELTON, GEORGE, 1ST LORD LYTTELTON (1709-1773). —Poet, s. of Sir Thomas L., of Hagley, Worcestershire, ed. at Eton and Oxf., was the patron of many literary men, including Thomson and Mallet, and was himself a somewhat voluminous author. Among his works are Letters from a Persian in England to his friend in Ispahan (1735), a treatise On the Conversion of St. Paul (1746), Dialogues of the Dead (1760), which had great popularity, and a History of the Reign of Henry II., well-informed, careful, and impartial, but tedious. He is chiefly remembered by his Monody on the death of his wife. The stanza in The Castle of Indolence in which Thomson is playfully described (canto 1, st. lxviii.), is by L., who is himself referred to in lxv. He took some part in public affairs, and was Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1756.
LYTTON, EDWARD GEORGE EARLE LYTTON-BULWER, 1ST LORD (1803-1873). —Novelist and statesman, third son of General Earle Bulwer of Heydon and Dalling, Norfolk, and of Elizabeth Lytton, heiress of Knebworth, Herts, was b. in London, and ed. privately and at Camb. He began to write when still a boy, and pub., in 1820, Ismael and other Poems. His marriage in 1825 to Rosina Wheeler, an Irish beauty, caused a quarrel with his mother, and the loss of his income, and thus incidentally gave the impulse to his marvellous literary activity. The marriage proved an unhappy one, and was terminated by a separation in 1836. During its continuance, however, his life was a busy and productive one, its literary results including Falkland (1827), Pelham (1828), Paul Clifford (1830), Eugene Aram (1832), The Pilgrims of the Rhine, Last Days of Pompeii, Rienzi (1835), besides England and the English, Athens its Rise and Fall, and innumerable tales, essays, and articles in various reviews and magazines, including the New Monthly, of which he became ed. in 1831. In the same year he entered Parliament as a Liberal, but gradually gravitated towards Conservatism, and held office in the second government of Lord Derby as Colonial Sec. 1858-59. As a politician he devoted himself largely to questions affecting authors, such as copyright and the removal of taxes upon literature. He continued his literary labours with almost unabated energy until the end of his life, his works later than those already mentioned including the Last of the Barons (1843), Harold (1848), the famous triad of The Caxtons (1850), My Novel (1853), and What will he do with it? (1859); and his studies in the supernatural, Zanoni (1842), and A Strange Story (1862). Later still were The Coming Race (1870) and Kenelm Chillingly (1873). To the drama he contributed three plays which still enjoy popularity, The Lady of Lyons, Richelieu, both (1838), and Money (1840). In poetry he was less successful. The New Timon, a satire, is the best remembered, largely, however, owing to the reply by Tennyson which it brought down upon the author, who had attacked him. In his works, numbering over 60, L. showed an amazing versatility, both in subject and treatment, but they have not, with perhaps the exception of the Caxton series, kept their original popularity. Their faults are artificiality, and forced brilliancy, and as a rule they rather dazzle by their cleverness than touch by their truth to nature. L. was raised to the peerage in 1866.
Life, Letters, etc., of Lord Lytton by his son, 2 vols., comes down to 1832 only. Political Memoir prefaced to Speeches (2 vols., 1874).
LYTTON, EDWARD ROBERT BULWER, 1ST EARL OF LYTTON (1831-1891). —Poet and statesman, s. of the above, was ed. at Harrow and Bonn, and thereafter was private sec. to his uncle, Sir H. Bulwer, afterwards Lord Dalling and Bulwer (q.v.), at Washington and Florence. Subsequently he held various diplomatic appointments at other European capitals. In 1873 he succeeded his f. in the title, and in 1876 became Viceroy of India. He was cr. an Earl on his retirement in 1880, and was in 1887 appointed Ambassador at Paris, where he d. in 1891. He valued himself much more as a poet than as a man of affairs; but, though he had in a considerable degree some of the qualities of a poet, he never quite succeeded in commanding the recognition of either the public or the critics. His writings, usually appearing under the pseudonym of "Owen Meredith," include Clytemnestra (1855), The Wanderer (1857), Lucile (1860), Chronicles and Characters (1868), Orval, or the Fool of Time (1869), Fables in Song (1874), and King Poppy (1892). As Viceroy of India he introduced important reforms, and his dispatches were remarkable for their fine literary form.
MACAULAY, MRS. CATHERINE (SAWBRIDGE) (1731-1791). —Dau. of a landed proprietor of Kent, was an advocate of republicanism, and a sympathiser with the French Revolution. She wrote a History of England from the Accession of James I. to the Elevation of the House of Hanover (8 vols., 1763-83), which had great popularity in its day, some critics, e.g. Horace Walpole, placing it above Hume. Though a work of no real research or authority, it is in the main well written.
MACAULAY, THOMAS BABINGTON, LORD (1800-1859). —Historian, essayist, and statesman, s. of Zachary M., a wealthy merchant, and one of the leaders of the anti-slavery party, was b. at Rothley Temple, Leicestershire, and ed. at a private school and at Trinity Coll., Camb., of which he became a Fellow in 1824, and where, though he gained distinction as a classical scholar and debater, he did not take a high degree, owing to his weakness in mathematics. About the time of his leaving the Univ. his prospects were entirely changed by the failure of his father's firm. He accordingly read law, and in 1826 was called to the Bar, which led to his appointment two years later as a Commissioner in Bankruptcy. He had by this time made his first appearance in print, in Knight's Quarterly Magazine, and in 1825 he formed the connection with the Edinburgh Review which redounded so greatly to the fame of both. His first contribution was the famous essay on Milton, which, although he afterwards said of it that "it contained scarcely a paragraph which his matured judgment approved," took the reading public by storm, and at once gave him access to the first society in London, in which his extraordinary conversational powers enabled him to take a leading place. He now began to turn his mind towards public life, and by favour of Lord Lansdowne sat in the House of Commons for his family borough of Calne. Entering the House in 1830 in the thick of the Reform struggle, M. at once leaped into a foremost place as a debater, and after the passage of the Reform Bill sat as one of the two members for the new borough of Leeds, and held office as Sec. to the Board of Control. The acquaintance with Indian affairs which he thus gained led to his appointment as a member of the Supreme Council of India, whither he went in 1834. Here his chief work was the codification of the criminal law, which he carried out with great ability, and by which he wrote his name on the history of the empire. By the regard for the rights of the natives which he showed, he incurred much ill-will in interested quarters. For this he consoled himself with the pleasures of literature, which gradually assumed the preponderance in his mind over political ambitions. In 1838 he returned to England. The next year he began The History of England, but for some time to come his energies were still divided between this task, the demands of the Edinburgh Review, and politics. He was elected for Edin., for which he sat until 1847, when he was thrown out on the Maynooth question, and from 1839-41 was Sec. for War. The Lays of Ancient Rome were pub. in 1842, and a collection of his essays in The Edinburgh the following year. In 1846 he joined the government of Lord John Russell as Paymaster-General, an office with light duties, his retirement from which, however, followed the loss of his seat in the next year. He was now finally set free for his great work, which became thenceforth the leading interest of his life. The first and second vols. appeared in 1848, and were received with extraordinary applause. In 1852 he was offered, but declined, a seat in the coalition government of Lord Aberdeen, accepting, however, the seat in Parliament which Edin., now repentant, gave him unsolicited. His health began about this time to show symptoms of failure, and he spoke in the House only once or twice. In 1855 the third and fourth vols. of the History came out, and meeting with a success both at home and in America unprecedented in the case of an historical work, were translated into various foreign languages. In 1857 M. was raised to the Peerage, a distinction which he appreciated and enjoyed. His last years were spent at Holly Lodge, Kensington, in comparative retirement, and there he d. on December 28, 1859. Though never m., M. was a man of the warmest family affections. Outside of his family he was a steady friend and a generous opponent, disinterested and honourable in his public life. Possessed of an astonishing memory, knowledge of vast extent, and an unfailing flow of ready and effective speech, he shone alike as a parliamentary orator and a conversationalist. In his writings he spared no pains in the collection and arrangement of his materials, and he was incapable of deliberate unfairness. Nevertheless, his mind was strongly cast in the mould of the orator and the pleader: and the vivid contrasts, antitheses, and even paradoxes which were his natural forms of expression do not always tend to secure a judicial view of the matter in hand. Consequently he has been accused by some critics of party-spirit, inaccuracy, and prejudice. He has not often, however, been found mistaken on any important matter of fact, and in what he avowedly set himself to do, namely, to give a living picture of the period which he dealt with, he has been triumphantly successful. Unfortunately, strength and life failed before his great design was completed. He is probably most widely known by his Essays, which retain an extraordinary popularity.
Life by his nephew, Sir G.O. Trevelyan. See also J.C. Monson's Life (English Men of Letters).
MACCARTHY, DENIS FLORENCE (1817-1882). —Poet, b. at Dublin, and ed. at Maynooth with a view to the priesthood, devoted himself, however, to literature, and contributed verses to The Nation. Among his other writings are Ballads, Poems, and Lyrics (1850), The Bell Founder (1857), and Under-Glimpses. He also ed. a collection of Irish lyrics, translated Calderon, and wrote Shelley's Early Life (1872).
M'COSH, JAMES (1811-1894). —Philosophical writer, s. of an Ayrshire farmer, was a minister first of the Church of Scotland, and afterwards of the Free Church. From 1851-68 he was Prof. of Logic at Queen's Coll., Belfast, and thereafter Pres. of Princeton Coll., New Jersey. He wrote several works on philosophy, including Method of the Divine Government (1850), Intuitions of the Mind inductively investigated (1860), Laws of Discursive Thought (1870), Scottish Philosophy (1874), and Psychology (1886).
M'CRIE, THOMAS (1772-1835). —Biographer and ecclesiastical historian, b. at Duns, and ed. at the Univ. of Edin., became the leading minister of one of the Dissenting churches of Scotland. His Life of Knox (1813) ranks high among biographies for the ability and learning which it displays, and was the means of vindicating the great Reformer from a cloud of prejudice and misunderstanding in which he had been enveloped. It was followed by a Life of Andrew Melville (1819), Knox's successor as the leader of the Reformers in Scotland, also a work of great merit. M'C. also pub. histories of the Reformation in Italy and Spain. He received the degree of D.D. in 1813.
MACDONALD, GEORGE (1824-1905). —Poet and novelist, s. of a farmer, was b. at Huntly, Aberdeenshire, and ed. at the Univ. of Aberdeen, and at the Independent Coll., Highbury. He became minister of a congregation at Arundel, but after a few years retired, on account partly of theological considerations, partly of a threatened, breakdown of health. He then took to literature, and pub. his first book, Within and Without (1856), a dramatic poem, Poems followed in 1857, and Phantasies, a Faerie Romance, in 1858. He then turned to fiction, and produced numerous novels, of which David Elginbrod (1862), Alec Forbes (1865), Robert Falconer (1868), The Marquis of Lossie (1877), and Sir Gibbie (1879), are perhaps the best. He also wrote stories for children of great charm and originality, including The Princess and the Goblin, At the Back of the North Wind, and Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood. As a novelist he had considerable narrative and dramatic power, humour, tenderness, a genial view of life and character, tinged with mysticism, and within his limits was a true poet. On retiring from the ministry he attached himself to the Church of England, but frequently preached as a layman, never accepting any remuneration for his sermons.
MACKAY, CHARLES (1814-1889). —Poet and journalist, s. of a naval officer, was b. at Perth, and ed. at the Royal Caledonian Asylum, London, and at Brussels, but much of his early life was spent in France. Coming to London in 1834, he engaged in journalism, pub. Songs and Poems (1834), wrote a History of London, Popular Delusions, and a romance, Longbeard. His fame, however, chiefly rests upon his songs, some of which, including Cheer, Boys, Cheer, were in 1846 set to music by Henry Russell, and had an astonishing popularity. In 1852 he became ed. of the Illustrated London News, in the musical supplement to which other songs by him were set to old English music by Sir H.R. Bishop. M. acted as Times correspondent during the American Civil War, and in that capacity discovered and disclosed the Fenian conspiracy. He had the degree of LL.D. from Glasgow in 1846.
MACKENZIE, SIR GEORGE (1636-1691). —Lawyer and miscellaneous writer, s. of Sir Simon M., of Lochslin, a brother of the Earl of Seaforth, was ed. at St. Andrews, Aberdeen, and Bourges, called to the Bar in 1659, in 1677 became Lord Advocate, in which capacity he was the subservient minister of the persecuting policy of Charles II. in Scotland, and the inhumanity and relentlessness of his persecution of the Covenanters gained for him the name of "Bloody Mackenzie." In private life, however, he was a cultivated and learned gentleman with literary tendencies, and is remembered as the author of various graceful essays, of which the best known is A Moral Essay preferring Solitude to Public Employment (1665). He also wrote legal, political, and antiquarian works of value, including Institutions of the Law of Scotland (1684), Antiquity of the Royal Line of Scotland (1686), Heraldry, and Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland from the Restoration of Charles II., a valuable work which was not pub. until 1821. M. was the founder of the Advocates' Library in Edin. He retired at the Revolution to Oxf., where he d.
MACKENZIE, HENRY (1745-1831). —Novelist and miscellaneous writer, s. of a physician in Edin., where he was b. and ed. He studied for the law, and became Controller of Taxes for Scotland. He was the author of three novels, The Man of Feeling (1771), The Man of the World (1773), and Julia de Roubigné (1777), all written in a strain of rather high-wrought sentimentalism, in which the influence of Sterne is to be seen. He was also a leading contributor to The Mirror and The Lounger, two periodicals somewhat in the style of the Spectator. In his later days he was one of the leading members of the literary society of Edinburgh.
MACKINTOSH, SIR JAMES (1765-1832). —Philosopher and historian, was b. at Aldowrie, Inverness-shire, s. of an officer in the army and landowner, ed. at Aberdeen, whence he proceeded to Edinburgh to study medicine, in which he grad. in 1787. In the following year he went to London, where he wrote for the press and studied law, and in 1791 he pub. Vindiciæ Gallicæ in answer to Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution, which was well received by those who, in its earlier stages, sympathised with the Revolution, and procured for him the friendship of Fox, Sheridan, and other Whigs. Called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1795, he delivered before that society in 1799 a brilliant course of lectures on The Law of Nature and Nations, which greatly increased his reputation. In 1804 he went out to India as Recorder of Bombay, and two years later was appointed a Judge of the Admiralty Court. He remained in India until 1811, discharging his official duties with great efficiency. After his return he entered Parliament in 1813 as member for Nairnshire, and attained a considerable reputation as a forcible and informing speaker on questions of criminal law and general politics. On the accession of the Whigs in 1830 he was made a member of the Board of Control for India. He also held from 1818-24 the Professorship of Law and General Politics at Haileybury. His true vocation, however, was to literature, and it is to be regretted that so much of his time and strength was withdrawn from it, his writings being confined to a Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy in the Encyclopædia Britannica, a sketch of the History of England for Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia, a Life of Sir Thomas More for the same, a fragment of a projected History of the Revolution of 1688, and some articles in the Edinburgh Review.
MACKLIN, CHARLES (1697?-1797). —Actor and dramatist, b. in the north of Ireland, was one of the most distinguished actors of his day, shining equally in tragedy and comedy. Having killed another actor in a quarrel he was tried for murder, but acquitted, and d. a centenarian. He wrote, among other comedies, Love à la Mode (1759) and The Man of the World (1781), which were the only ones printed. He was the creator of Sir Pertinax Macsycophant, a famous burlesque character.
M'LENNAN, JOHN FERGUSON (1827-1881). —Sociologist, b. at Inverness, and ed. at Aberdeen and Camb., was in 1857 called to the Scottish Bar, and was subsequently Parliamentary Draftsman for Scotland. His main contribution to literature is his original and learned book, Primitive Marriage (1865). Another work, The Patriarchal Theory, left unfinished, was completed by his brother (1884). These works and other papers by M. gave a great impulse to the study of the problems with which they deal, and cognate questions. M. received the degree of LL.D. from Aberdeen in 1874.
"MACLEOD, FIONA," (see SHARP, WILLIAM).
MACLEOD, NORMAN (1812-1872). —Scottish divine and miscellaneous writer, s. of the Rev. Norman M., D.D., a distinguished minister of the Scottish Church, studied at Edin., and was ordained in 1838. He became one of the most distinguished ministers, and most popular preachers of his Church, was made one of the Royal Chaplains in Scotland in 1857, and became a trusted friend of Queen Victoria. He was the first ed. of Good Words, to which he contributed many articles and stories, including Wee Davie, The Starling, and The Old Lieutenant and his Son.
MACNEILL, HECTOR (1746-1818). —Poet, was in the West Indies 1780-86, and clerk on a flagship. He wrote various political pamphlets, two novels, and several poems, The Harp (1789), The Carse of Forth, and Scotland's Skaith, the last against drunkenness, but is best known for his songs, such as My Boy Tammy, I lo'ed ne'er a Laddie but ane, and Come under my Plaidie.
MACPHERSON, JAMES (1736?-1796). —Alleged translator of the Ossianic poems, s. of a small farmer at Ruthven, Inverness-shire, studied for the Church at Aberdeen and Edin., became teacher of the school in his native parish, and afterwards tutor in a gentleman's family. In 1758 he pub. The Highlander, an ambitious poem in 6 cantos, which, however, attracted no attention. But in the following year he submitted to John Home (q.v.), the author of Douglas, certain writings which he represented to be translations from ancient Gaelic poems. By the help of Home and some of his friends M. was enabled to pub. a considerable number of his Fragments of Poetry translated from the Gaelic and Erse Languages. These were received with profound and widely-spread interest, and gave rise to a controversy which can hardly yet be said to be settled. While some authorities received them with enthusiastic admiration, others immediately called their genuineness in question. In the first instance, however, a subscription was raised to enable M. to make a journey in search of further poetic remains, the result of which was the production in 1761 of Fingal, an epic in 6 books, and in 1763 of Temora, also an epic, in 8 books. The fame which these brought to their discoverer was great, and the sales enormous. In 1764 M. went as sec. to the Governor of Pensacola in Florida. Returning in 1766 he settled in London, became an energetic pamphleteer in support of the Government, and in 1780 entered Parliament, and was next year appointed to the lucrative post of Agent for the Nabob of Arcot. He retired in 1789, and bought an estate in his native parish, where he d. in 1796. Great doubt still rests upon the subject of the Ossianic poems: it is, however, generally admitted that M. took great liberties with the originals, even if they ever really existed in anything at all resembling the form given in the alleged translations. No manuscripts in the original have ever been forthcoming. Few, however, will deny that M. either discovered, or composed, a body of poetry unlike anything that has preceded it, of unequal merit, indeed, but containing many striking and beautiful passages, and which unquestionably contributed to break up the tyranny of the classical school and thus prepare the way for the romantic revival.
MAGINN, WILLIAM (1793-1842). —Journalist and miscellaneous writer, b. at Cork, became a contributor to Blackwood's Magazine, and afterwards foreign correspondent to The Representative, a paper started by J. Murray, the publisher, and when its short career was run, one of the leading supporters of Fraser's Magazine. One of the most brilliant periodical writers of his time, he has left no permanent work behind him. In his later years he fell into intemperate habits, and d. in poverty.
MAHONY, FRANCIS SYLVESTER (FATHER PROUT) (1804-1866). —Humorist, b. at Cork, and ed. at the Jesuit Coll. at Clongoweswood, Co. Kildare, at Amiens, and at Rome, becoming a member of the society, was Prof. of Rhetoric at Clongoweswood, but was soon after expelled from the order. He then came to London, and became a leading contributor to Fraser's Magazine, under the signature of "Father Prout." He was witty and learned in many languages. One form which his humour took was the professed discovery of the originals in Latin, Greek, or mediæval French of popular modern poems and songs. Many of these jeux d'esprit were coll. as Reliques of Father Prout. He wittily described himself as "an Irish potato seasoned with Attic salt." Latterly he acted as foreign correspondent to various newspapers, and d. at Paris reconciled to the Church.
MAINE, SIR HENRY JAMES SUMNER (1822-1888). —Jurist, ed. at Christ's Hospital and at Camb., where he became Regius Prof. of Civil Law 1847-54. Called to the Bar in 1850, he went in 1862 to India as legal member of the Government. On his return he was in 1870 appointed Prof. of Comparative Jurisprudence at Oxf., which office he held until his election in 1878 as Master of Trinity Hall. He became Whewell Prof. of International Law at Camb. in 1887, and was the author of many valuable works on law and the history of political institutions, and profoundly influenced the study of jurisprudence. Among his writings are Ancient Law (1861), Village Communities (1871), Early History of Institutions (1875), and Dissertations on Early Law and Customs (1883).
MAIR, or MAJOR, JOHN (1469?-1550). —Historian, studied at Camb. and Paris, was the teacher of John Knox and George Buchanan. In 1506 he was a Doctor of the Sorbonne, and in 1519 became Prof. of Divinity at St. Andrews. He wrote, in Latin, treatises on divinity and morals, and a History of Greater Britain, in which the separate histories of England and Scotland were brought together, pub. at Paris (1521). In his writings, while upholding the doctrinal teaching of Rome, he was outspoken in condemning the corruptions of the clergy.
MAITLAND, SIR RICHARD (1496-1586). —Poet, f. of M. of Lethington, Sec. of State to Mary Queen of Scots. In his later years he was blind, and occupied himself in composing a History of the House of Seaton, and by writing poems, e.g. On the New Year, On the Queene's Maryage, etc. He held various offices, chiefly legal, but appears to have kept as far as possible out of the fierce political struggles of his time, and to have been a genially satirical humorist.
MALCOLM, SIR JOHN (1769-1833). —Indian soldier, statesman, and historian, b. at Burnfoot, Dumfriesshire, went to India in 1782, studied Persian, was employed in many important negotiations and held various distinguished posts, being Ambassador to Persia and Governor of Bombay 1826-30. He was the author of several valuable works regarded as authorities, viz., A History of Persia (1815), Memoir of Central India (1823), Political History of India from 1784 to 1823 (1826), and Life of Lord Clive (1836).
MALLET, originally MALLOCH, DAVID (1705-1765). —Poet and miscellaneous writer, ed. at Crieff parish school and the Univ. of Edin., where he became acquainted with James Thomson, and in 1723 went to London as tutor in the family of the Duke of Montrose. In the following year appeared his ballad of William and Margaret, by which he is chiefly remembered, and which made him known to Pope, Young, and others. In 1726 he changed his name to Mallet to make it more pronounceable by Southern tongues. His Excursion, an imitation of Thomson, was pub. in 1728. At the request of the Prince of Wales, whose sec. he had become, he wrote with Thomson a masque, Alfred (1740), in which Rule Britannia first appeared, which, although he claimed the authorship, is now generally attributed to Thomson. He also wrote a Life of Bacon; and on Bolingbroke bequeathing to him his manuscripts and library, he pub. an ed. of his works (1754). On the accession of George III., M. became a zealous supporter of Lord Bute, and was rewarded with a sinecure. In addition to the works above named M. wrote some indifferent dramas, including Eurydice, Mustapha, and Elvira. Dr. Johnson said of him that he was "the only Scotsman whom Scotsmen did not commend."
MALONE, EDMUND (1741-1812). —Critic, s. of an Irish judge, b. in Dublin, and ed. at Trinity Coll. there, studied for the law, but coming into a fortune, decided to follow a literary career. Acute, careful, and sensible, he was a useful contributor to the study of Shakespeare, of whose works he pub. a valuable ed. in 1790. He also aided in the detection of the Rowley forgeries of Chatterton, and the much less respectable Shakespeare ones of Ireland. At his death he was engaged upon another ed. of Shakespeare, which was brought out under the editorship of James Boswell (q.v.). M. also wrote Lives of Dryden and others, and was the friend of Johnson, Goldsmith, Reynolds, and Burke.
MALORY, SIR THOMAS (fl. 1470). —Translator of Morte d'Arthur. Very little is known of him. An endeavour has been made to identify him with a Sir Thomas Malory of Warwickshire, who fought successively on both sides in the Wars of the Roses, sat in Parliament 1444-45, and d. 1471. In his book he strove to make a continuous story of the Arthurian legends, and showed judgment alike in what he included and omitted.
MALTHUS, THOMAS ROBERT (1766-1834). —Economist, s. of a landed proprietor, was b. near Dorking, and ed.. at Jesus Coll., Camb., of which he became a Fellow. Taking orders he became incumbent of Albury, Essex. He travelled much on the continent, collecting information as to the means of livelihood and mode of life of various peoples. In 1798 the first ed. of his famous Essay on Population appeared, and in 1803 a second greatly enlarged. Its leading proposition, supported by much learning, is that while population increases approximately in a geometrical ratio, the means of subsistence do so in an arithmetical ratio only, which, of course, opened up an appalling prospect for the race. It necessarily failed to take into account the then undreamed-of developments whereby the produce of the whole world has been made available for all nations. The work gave rise to a great deal of controversy, much of it based on misunderstanding. M. was Prof. of Political Economy at Haileybury.
MANDEVILLE, BERNARD DE (1670-1733). —Satirist, a native of Dort in Holland, who having studied medicine at Leyden, came over to England to practise his profession. In 1705 he pub. a short poem, The Grumbling Hive, which in 1714 reappeared with a prose commentary, and various dissertations on the origin of moral virtue, etc., as The Fable of the Bees, or Private Vices Public Benefits, and in 1729 was made the subject of a persecution for its immoral tendency. It was also vigorously combated by, among others, Bishop Berkeley and William Law, author of The Serious Call. While the author probably had no intention of subverting morality, his views of human nature were assuredly cynical and degrading in a high degree. Another of his works, A Search into the Nature of Society (1723), appended to the later versions of the Fable, also startled the public mind, which his last works, Free Thoughts on Religion and An Enquiry into the Origin of Honour and the Usefulness of Christianity did little to reassure.
MANDEVILLE, SIR JOHN. —Was the ostensible author only of a book of travels bearing his name, written about the middle of the 14th century, giving an account of journeys in the East, including India and the Holy Land. It appears to have been compiled from the writings of William of Boldensele, Oderic of Pordenone, and Vincent de Beauvais. The name of Mandeville was probably fictitious.
MANGAN, JAMES CLARENCE (1803-1849). —Poet, b. at Dublin, s. of a small grocer, was brought up in poverty, and received most of his education from a priest who instructed him in several modern languages. He then became a lawyer's clerk, and was later an assistant in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. He contributed verses of very various merit to a number of Irish newspapers, and translations from the German to The Dublin University Magazine. By some critics his poetical powers were considered to be such as to have gained for him the first place among Irish poets; but his irregular and intemperate habits prevented him from attaining any sure excellence. His best work, generally inspired by the miseries of his country, often rises to a high level of tragic power, and had his strength of character been equal to his poetic gift it is difficult to say to what heights he might have attained. He d. of cholera.
MANLEY, MRS. MARY DE LA RIVIERE (1663 or 1672-1724). —Novelist, dramatist, and political writer, dau. of Sir Roger Manley, was decoyed into a bigamous connection with her cousin, John M. Her subsequent career was one of highly dubious morality, but considerable literary success. Her principal works are The New Atalantis (sic) (1709), a satire in which great liberties were taken with Whig notabilities, Memoirs of Europe (1710), and Court Intrigues (1711). She also wrote three plays, The Royal Mischief, The Lost Lover, and Lucius, and conducted the Examiner. In her writings she makes great havoc with classical names and even with spelling. She was a vivacious and effective political writer.
MANNING, ANNE (1807-1879). —Miscellaneous writer. Her best known works are Mistress Mary Powell, which first appeared in Sharpe's Magazine in 1849, and The Household of Sir Thomas More, a delightful picture of More's home life told in the form of a diary written by his daughter Margaret. Her writings have much literary charm, and show a delicate historical imagination.
MANNING, HENRY EDWARD (1808-1892). —Cardinal and theologian. B. at Totteridge, Herts, and ed. at Harrow and Oxf., where he became notable as an eloquent preacher, and as one of the ablest of the Tractarian party. He was rector of Woollavington-cum-Graffham 1833, and Archdeacon of Chichester 1840. In 1851 he entered the Church of Rome, in which he attached himself to the Ultramontane party. More even than Newman he was the leading spirit of the Roman Church in England. His writings consist of sermons, of which he pub. several vols. before his secession from the Church of England, and controversial works, including Petri Privilegium (1871), The Vatican Decrees (1875), in answer to Gladstone's Vaticanism, and The Eternal Priesthood (1883). He became Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster 1865, and Cardinal 1875.
MANNYNG, ROBERT, or ROBERT DE BRUNNE (fl. 1288-1338). —Was a Canon of the Gilbertine Order. His work, Handlynge Sinne (c. 1300), translated with original additions from the Manuel des Péchés, a book written in French verse by William of Waddington, is practically a collection of tales and short stories on the Commandments, Seven Deadly Sins, Sacraments, etc., and is of value as giving a contemporary picture of the time. He also made (c. 1335) a translation in verse of the French Chronicle of Peter Langtoft, the second and more interesting part of which covers the period from the death of Cadwallader to the end of the reign of Edward I.
MANSEL, HENRY LONGUEVILLE (1820-1871). —Metaphysician, s. of a clergyman, was b. at Cosgrave, Northamptonshire, and ed. at Merchant Taylors' School and Oxf. He took orders, was Reader in Theology at Magdalen Coll. 1855, Bampton Lecturer 1858, Prof. of Ecclesiastical History 1867, and Dean of St. Paul's 1869. Among his writings are Prolegomena Logica (1851), The Limits of Demonstrative Science (1853), Man's Conception of Eternity (1854), Limits of Religious Thought (1858), Philosophy of the Conditioned (1866). He was also joint ed. of Sir. W. Hamilton's Lectures.
MAP, or MAPES, WALTER DE (fl. 1200). —Ecclesiastical statesman and romancist. Most of the facts about him are gleaned from his De Nugis Curialium (Of the Trifles of the Courtiers), a miscellany of contemporary notes and anecdotes, throwing much light on the manners and opinions of the Court of Henry II. He was b. probably in Herefordshire, and had Celtic blood in his veins, his f. had rendered service to the King, and he had studied at Paris, and on his return attended the Court, where he found favour, and obtained preferment both in Church and State, and in 1173 was a travelling justice. Thereafter he attended the King, probably as chaplain, on his foreign wars, represented him at the French Court, and went to Rome to the Lateran Council of 1179. After the death of Henry II. he seems to have continued in favour under Richard I. and John, and was Archdeacon of Oxf. in 1196. M. is the reputed author of some at least of the Golias poems, rough satires on the vices of the clergy, but his great work, which has influenced the future of English literature, was his systematising and spiritualising the Arthurian legends with additions of his own, including the legends of Launcelot, of the Quest of the Holy Grail, and of the Morte d' Arthur.
MARKHAM, GERVASE (1568?-1637). —Translator and miscellaneous writer, served as a soldier in the Low Countries and Ireland. Retiring into civil life about 1593 he displayed extraordinary industry as a translator, compiler, and original writer. Among his original writings are a poem on the Revenge (1595) (Sir R. Grenville's ship), a continuation of Sidney's Arcadia, The Discourse of Horsemanshippe (1593), The Young Sportsman's Instructor, Country Contentments (1611), and various books on agriculture; also plays and poems, some of the latter of which are religious.
MARLOWE, CHRISTOPHER (1564-1593). —Dramatist, s. of a shoemaker at Canterbury, where he was b., was ed. at the King's School there, and in 1581 went to Benet's (now Corpus Christi) Coll., Camb., where he graduated B.A. 1583, and M.A. in 1587. Of his life after he left the Univ. almost nothing is known. It has, however, been conjectured, partly on account of his familiarity with military matters, that he saw service, probably in the Low Countries. His first play, Tamburlaine, was acted in 1587 or 1588. The story is drawn from the Spanish Life of Timur by Pedro Mexia. Its resounding splendour, not seldom passing into bombast, won for it immediate popularity, and it long held the stage. It was followed in 1604 by Faustus, a great advance upon Tamburlaine in a dramatic sense. The absence of "material horror" in the treatment, so different in this respect from the original legend, has often been remarked upon. M.'s handling of the subject was greatly admired by Goethe, who, however, in his own version, makes the motive knowledge, while M. has power, and the mediæval legend pleasure. In his next play, The Jew of Malta, M. continues to show an advance in technical skill, but the work is unequal, and the Jew Barabas is to Shylock as a monster to a man. In Edward II., M. rises to his highest display of power. The rhodomontade of Tamburlaine and the piled-up horror of The Jew are replaced by a mature self-restraint, and in the whole workmanship he approaches more nearly to Shakespeare than any one else has ever done. Speaking of it Lamb says, "The death scene of Marlowe's King moves pity and terror beyond any scene, ancient or modern, with which I am acquainted." M. is now almost certainly believed to have had a large share in the three parts of Henry VI., and perhaps also he may have collaborated in Titus Andronicus. His next plays, The Massacre of Paris and The Tragedy of Dido (written with Nash, q.v.), both show a marked falling off; and it seems likely that in his last years, perhaps, breaking down under the effects of a wild life, he became careless of fame as of all else. Greene, in his Groat's Worth of Wit, written on his deathbed, reproaches him with his evil life and atheistic opinions, and a few days before his hapless death an information was laid against him for blasphemy. The informer was next year hanged for an outrageous offence, and his witness alone might not be conclusive, but M.'s life and opinions, which he made no secret of, were notorious. On the other hand, his friends, Shakespeare, Nash, Drayton, and Chapman, all make kindly reference to him. To escape the plague which was raging in London in 1593, he was living at Deptford, then a country village, and there in a tavern brawl he received a wound in the head, his own knife being turned against him by a serving man, upon whom he had drawn it. The quarrel was about a girl of the town. The parish record bears the entry, "Christopher Marlowe, slain by ffrancis Archer, the 1 of June 1593." M. is the father of the modern English drama, and the introducer of the modern form of blank verse. In imagination, richness of expression, originality, and general poetic and dramatic power he is inferior to Shakespeare alone among the Elizabethans. In addition to his plays he wrote some short poems (of which the best known is Come live with me and be my love), translations from Ovid's Amores and Lucan's Pharsalia, and a glowing paraphrase of Musaeus' Hero and Leander, a poem completed by Chapman.
Ed. of Works by Dyce, Cunningham, and Bullen; Ingram's C. Marlowe and his Associates, etc.
MARMION, SHACKERLEY (1603-1639). —Dramatist, s. of a country gentleman of Northamptonshire, was ed. at Oxford. After a youth of extravagance, he fought in the Low Countries. His writings consist of an epic, Cupid and Psyche, and three comedies, Holland's Leaguer, A Fair Companion, and The Antiquary. His plays show some power of satire, and were popular, but he had little of the dramatist.
MARRYAT, FREDERICK (1792-1848). —Novelist, s. of a West India merchant, was b. in London. In 1806 he entered the navy as a midshipman under Lord Cochrane (afterwards Earl of Dundonald), and saw much service in the Mediterranean, at Walcheren, and in the Burmese War of 1824. He returned in 1830 as a Captain and C.B. The scenes and experiences through which he had passed were the preparation for and the foundation of his numerous novels, of which the first, Frank Mildmay, was pub. in 1829. It was followed by over 30 others, of which perhaps the best are Peter Simple, Jacob Faithful (1834), Mr. Midshipman Easy (1836), The Dog Fiend (1837), and The Phantom Ship (1839). M. is the prince of sea story-tellers; his knowledge of the sea, vigorous definition of character, and hearty and honest, if somewhat broad, humour never failing to please.
MARSH, HERBERT (1757-1839). —Theologian and controversialist, s. of a clergyman, ed. at Canterbury, Cambridge, and Leipsic, was the first to introduce the German methods of Biblical criticism into England, and gave lectures on the subject at Camb., which excited great interest and controversy. In 1816 he was made Bishop of Llandaff, and was translated to Peterborough in 1819. His critical views and his opposition to the evangelical party in the Church, to the Bible Society, to hymns in Divine service, and to Catholic emancipation, involved him in controversy with high, low, and broad churchmen alike. He was the author of a History of the Politics of Great Britain and France (1799), Comparative View of the Churches of England and Rome, and Horæ Pelasgicæ.
MARSTON, JOHN (1575?-1634). —Dramatist and satirist, b. at Coventry, was ed. at Oxf. In later life he gave up writing for the stage, took orders, and was incumbent of Christchurch, Hants, 1616-31. He began his literary career in 1598 with satire, The Scourge of Villanie and The Metamorphosis of Pygmalion's Image (1598), the latter of which was burned by order of Archbishop Whitgift. In 1602 appeared The History of Antonio and Mellida, and its sequel, Antonio's Revenge, ridiculed by Ben Jonson. In repayment of this M. co-operated with Dekker in attacking Jonson in Satiromastix (a Whip for the Satirist). A reconciliation, however, took place, and his comedy, The Malcontent (1604), was dedicated to J., another, Eastward Ho (1605), was written in collaboration with him and Chapman. Other plays of his are Sophonisba, What You Will (1607), and possibly The Insatiate Countess (1613). Amid much bombast and verbiage there are many fine passages in M.'s dramas, especially where scorn and indignation are the motives. Sombre and caustic, he has been called "a screech-owl among the singing birds."
MARSTON, PHILIP BOURKE (1850-1887). —Poet, was b. in London, and lost his sight at the age of 3. His poems, Song-tide, All in All, and Wind Voices bear, in their sadness, the impress of this affliction, and of a long series of bereavements. He was the friend of Rossetti and of Swinburne, the latter of whom has written a sonnet to his memory.
MARTIN, SIR THEODORE (1816-1909). —Poet, biographer, and translator, s. of James M., solicitor in Edin., where he was b. and ed. at the High School and Univ. He practised as a solicitor in Edin. 1840-45, after which he went to London and became head of the firm of Martin and Leslie, parliamentary agents. His first contribution to literature was The Bon Gaultier Ballads, written along with W.E. Aytoun (q.v.), full of wit and humour, which still retain their popularity; originally contributed to a magazine, they appeared in book form in 1855. His translations include Dante's Vila Nuova, Œhlenschläger's Correggio and Aladdin, Heine's Poems and Ballads, Schiller's Song of the Bell, and Hertz's King René's Daughter. He also pub. a complete translation of Horace with a Life, and one of Catullus. He is, however, perhaps best known for his Life of the Prince Consort (1874-80), the writing of which was committed to him by Queen Victoria, a work which he executed with such ability and tact as to win for him her lifelong friendship. He also wrote Lives of Prof. Aytoun and Lord Lyndhurst. He m. in 1851 Miss Helen Faucit (d. 1898), the well-known actress, and authoress of studies on Shakespeare's Female Characters, whose Life he pub. in 1901. M. kept up his intellectual activity into old age, pub. in 1905 a translation of Leopardi's poems, and Monographs (1906). He was Lord Rector of St. Andrews 1881, LL.D. of Edin. 1875, and K.C.B. 1880.
MARTINEAU, HARRIET (1802-1876). —Novelist and economist, b. at Norwich, where her f., descended from a French family, was a manufacturer. From her earliest years she was delicate and very deaf, and took to literary pursuits as an amusement. Afterwards, when her f. had fallen into difficulties, they became her means of support. Her first publication was Devotional Exercises for Young Persons (1823). Becoming interested in political economy, she endeavoured to illustrate the subject by tales, of which two were The Rioters and The Turn-out. Later she pub. a more serious treatment of it in Illustrations of Political Economy (1832-4), Poor Law and Paupers (1833), and Illustrations of Taxation (1834). About this time she went to London, and was regarded as an authority on economic questions, being occasionally consulted by Cabinet Ministers. Among her books of travel are Society in America (1837), and Eastern Life, Present and Past (1848), which she considered her best book: in it she declared herself no longer a believer in revelation. She also wrote two novels, Deerbrook (1839), and The Hour and the Man (1840), also a number of books for children. Perhaps her most important work is her History of England during the Thirty Years' Peace, 1816-46, which appeared in 1849. She translated Comte's Philosophy (1853), and pub. a collection of letters between herself and Mr. H.G. Atkinson On the Laws of Man's Nature and Development, which encountered severe criticism. In addition to her separate publications she wrote innumerable articles for newspapers, specially the Daily News, and for periodicals. In 1845 she settled in the Lake District, where she died.
MARTINEAU, JAMES (1805-1900). —Unitarian theologian, younger brother of the above, was b. at Norwich. Possessed of considerable inventive and mathematical talents, he was originally intended for engineering, but studied for the Unitarian ministry, to which he was ordained in 1828. After serving as pastor in various places he became in 1840 Prof. of Mental and Moral Philosophy in the Manchester New Coll. (subsequently removed to London), and Principal 1869-85. Among his writings, which were very influential, are Rationale of Religious Inquiry (1836), Ideal Substitutes for God (1879), Study of Spinoza (1882), Types of Ethical Theory (1885), Study of Religion (1888), Seat of Authority in Religion (1890), and religious poems and hymns. M. was a man of very elevated character and powerful intellect; of great acuteness, candour, and openness to new ideas. He was D.D. of Edin. 1884, and D.C.L. of Oxf. 1888.
MARVELL, ANDREW (1621-1678). —Poet and satirist, s. of the Rector of Winestead, Yorkshire, where he was b., ed. Camb., and thereafter travelled in various Continental countries. He sat in Parliament for Hull, proving himself an assiduous and incorruptible member, with strong republican leanings. In spite of this he was a favourite of Charles II., who took pleasure in his society, and offered him a place at Court, and a present of £1000, which were both declined. In his own day he was best known as a powerful and fearless political writer, and for some time from 1657 was assistant to Milton as Latin Sec. After the Restoration he wrote against the Government, his chief work in this kind being on the Growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government in England (1677). He was also the author of an Historical Essay regarding General Councils. His controversial style was lively and vigorous, but sometimes coarse and vituperative. His fame now rests on his poems which, though few, have many of the highest poetical qualities. Among the best known are The Emigrants in the Bermudas, The Nymph complaining for the Death of her Fawn, and Thoughts in a Garden. Of the last Palgrave says that "it may be regarded as a test of any reader's insight into the most poetical aspects of poetry," and his Horatian Ode on Cromwell's Return from Ireland. The town of Hull voted him a monument, which was, however, forbidden by the Court. His appearance is thus described, "He was of middling stature, pretty strong-set, roundish-faced, cherry-cheeked, hazel-eyed, brown-haired."
Life and Works by Cooke, 1726, reprinted 1772; Thomson, 1726; Dove, 1832; and specially Grosart (4 vols., 1872-74).
MASON, WILLIAM (1724-1797). —Poet, s. of a clergyman, was b. at Hull, and ed. at Camb. He took orders and rose to be a Canon of York. His first poem was Musæus, a monody on the death of Pope, and his other works include Elfrida (1752), and Caractacus (1759), dramas—an Heroic Epistle to Sir William Chambers, the architect, in which he satirised some modern fashions in gardening, The English Garden, his largest work, and some odes. He was a close friend of Gray, whose Life he wrote. His language was too magnificent for his powers of thought, but he has passages where the rich diction has a pleasing effect.
English literature
MASSEY, GERALD (1828-1907). —Poet, b. near Tring, Herts. As a boy he worked in a silk-factory, and as a straw-plaiter and errand boy. When he was 15 he came to London, where he was taken up by Maurice and Kingsley. His first book was pub. in 1851, but he first attracted attention by Babe Christabel (1854). This was followed by War Waits, Craigcrook Castle, and Havelock's March. A selection from these was pub. 1889, under the title of My Lyrical Life. Later he wrote and lectured on spiritualism, and produced prose works on the origin of myths and mysteries in The Book of Beginnings (1881), The Natural Genesis (1883), and Ancient Egypt: the Light of the World (1907). He also wrote a book on the sonnets of Shakespeare. M. had a true lyrical vein, but though often musical, he was at times harsh and rugged, and did not give sufficient attention to form and finish.
MASSINGER, PHILIP (1583-1640). —Dramatist, was probably b. at Salisbury. His f. appears to have been a retainer of the Earl of Pembroke, by whom and by Queen Elizabeth he was employed in a confidential capacity. M. was at Oxf., but quitted the Univ. suddenly without graduating. He is next found in London writing for the stage, frequently in collaboration with others. Few details of his life have come down, but it seems that he was on the whole unfortunate. He was found dead in bed on March 16, 1640, and was buried in St. Saviour's, Southwark, by some of the actors. The burial register has the entry, "buried Philip Massinger, a stranger." Of the many plays which he wrote or had a hand in, 15 believed to be entirely his are extant, other 8 were burned by a servant in the 18th century. He, however, collaborated so much with others—Fletcher, Dekker, etc., that much fine work probably his can only be identified by internal evidence. Among his plays may be mentioned The Unnatural Combat (pr. 1639), The Virgin Martyr (1622) (partly by Dekker), which contains perhaps his finest writing. His best plays on the whole, however, are The City Madam (1632), and A New Way to pay Old Debts (pr. 1633), which latter kept the stage until the 19th century. He is believed to have joined with Fletcher and Shakespeare in Henry VIII. and The Two Noble Kinsmen. Other plays which he wrote or had a hand in are The Duke of Milan, The Bondman, The Renegado, The Roman Actor, The Great Duke of Florence, The Maid of Honour, The Picture, and The Fatal Dowry. His verse is fluent and sweet, and in his grave and reflective passages he rises to a rich and stately music. He often repeats himself, has little humour, and is not seldom coarse. He has, however, much skill in the construction and working out of a story.
MASSON, DAVID (1822-1907). —Biographer and historian, b. at Aberdeen, and ed. at Marischal Coll. there and at Edin., where he studied theology under Chalmers. He did not, however, enter the Church, but began a literary career by ed. a newspaper in Aberdeen. He then returned to Edin., where he worked for the brothers Chambers, the eminent publishers, and where he became acquainted with Wilson, Sir William Hamilton, and Chalmers, for the last of whom he cherished an extraordinary veneration. Going to London in 1847 he wrote extensively in reviews, magazines, and encyclopædias. In 1852 he became Prof. of English Literature in Univ. Coll., and in 1858 ed. of Macmillan's Magazine. He was appointed in 1865 Prof. of English Literature in Edin., where he exercised a profound influence on his students, many of whom have risen to high positions in literature. Though a most laborious student and man of letters, M. took a warm interest in various public questions, including Italian emancipation, and the higher education of women. He was the author of many important works, including Essays Biographical and Critical (1856), British Novelists (1859), and Recent British Philosophy (1865). His magnum opus is his monumental Life of John Milton (6 vols., 1859-80) the most complete biography of any Englishman, dealing as it does not only with the personal life of the poet, but with the history, political, social, and religious of his time. Other books are Drummond of Hawthornden (1873), De Quincey (in English Men of Letters Series) (1878), Edinburgh Sketches and Memories (1892), and Carlyle Personally and in his Writings. He also ed. the standard ed. of De Quincey's works, and the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, his introductions in connection with which are of great historical value. He was appointed Historiographer for Scotland in 1893. M. was full of learning guided by sagacity, genial, broad-minded, and sane in his judgments of men and things, and thoroughly honest and sincere.
MATHER, COTTON (1663-1728). —Divine, s. of Increase M., a leading American divine, was ed. at Harvard, became a minister, and was colleague to his f. He was laborious, able, and learned, but extremely bigoted and self-sufficient. He carried on a persecution of so-called "witches," which led to the shedding of much innocent blood; on the other hand he was so much of a reformer as to advocate inoculation for small-pox. He was a copious author, his chief work being Magnalia Christi Americana (1702), an ecclesiastical history of New England. Others were Late Memorable Providences relating to Witchcraft and Possession (1689), and The Wonders of the Invisible World (1693). In his later years he admitted that "he had gone too far" in his crusade against witches.
MATHIAS, THOMAS JAMES (1754?-1835). —Satirist, ed. at Camb., and held some minor appointments in the Royal household. He was an accomplished Italian scholar, and made various translations from the English into Italian, and vice versâ. He also produced a fine ed. of Gray, on which he lost heavily. His chief work, however, was The Pursuits of Literature (1794), an undiscriminating satire on his literary contemporaries which went through 16 ed., but is now almost forgotten.
MATURIN, CHARLES ROBERT (1782-1824). —Novelist, b. in Dublin of Huguenot ancestry, was ed. at Trinity Coll. there, and taking orders held various benefices. He was the author of a few dramas, one of which, Bertram, had some success. He is, perhaps, better known for his romances in the style of Mrs. Radcliffe and "Monk" Lewis. The first of these, The Fatal Revenge appeared in 1807, and was followed by, among others, The Milesian Chief (1812), Women, which was the most successful, and lastly by Melmoth, in which he outdoes his models in the mysterious, the horrible, and indeed the revolting, without, except very occasionally, reaching their power. His last work, The Albigenses, in a somewhat different style, was pub. in the year of his death.
MAURICE, FREDERICK DENISON (1805-1872). —Divine, s. of a Unitarian minister, was b. at Normanston, near Lowestoft, and studied at Camb., but being then a Dissenter, could not graduate. He went to London, and engaged in literary work, writing for the Westminster Review and other periodicals, and for a short time ed. the Athenæum. His theological views having changed, he joined the Church of England, went to Oxf., graduated, and was ordained 1834. He became Chaplain to Guy's Hospital, and held other clerical positions in London. In 1840 he was appointed Prof. of English Literature and History at King's Coll., and subsequently Prof. of Theology. He became a leader among the Christian socialists, and for a short time ed. their paper. On the publication of his Theological Essays in 1853 he was asked to resign his professorship at King's Coll. In 1854 he was one of the founders of the Working Men's Coll., of which he became Principal, and in 1866 he was made Prof. of Moral Philosophy at Camb. Among his writings are The Religions of the World and their Relation to Christianity, Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy, The Prophets and Kings of the Old Testament (1853), The Doctrine of Sacrifice, and Theological Essays. M.'s style was copious, and was often blamed as obscure; nevertheless, he exercised an extraordinary influence over some of the best minds of his time by the originality of his views, and the purity and elevation of his character.
MAXWELL, WILLIAM HAMILTON (1792-1850). —Novelist, a Scoto-Irishman, b. at Newry, and ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin, entered the army, and saw service in the Peninsula, and at Waterloo. Afterwards he took orders, but was deprived of his living for non-residence. His novels, O'Hara, and Stories from Waterloo, started the school of rollicking military fiction, which culminated in the novels of Lever. M. also wrote a Life of the Duke of Wellington, and a History of the Irish Rebellion.
MAX-MÜLLER, FRIEDRICH (1823-1900). —Philologist, s. of the German poet, Wilhelm M., was b. at Dessau, and ed. at Leipzig, Berlin, and Paris. In 1846 he was requested by the East India Company to ed. the Rig Veda. He settled at Oxf. in 1848, and in 1850 was appointed deputy Taylorian Prof. of Modern European languages, becoming Prof. 4 years later, and Curator of the Bodleian Library in 1856. In 1868 he was elected first Prof. of Comparative Philology. He ed. Sacred Books of the East, and wrote in English Chips from a German Workshop (1867-75). He did much to stimulate the study of comparative religion and philology. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1896.
MAY, THOMAS (1595-1650). —Poet and historian, b. in Sussex, s. of Sir Thomas M., of Mayfield, went to Camb., and thence to Gray's Inn, but discarded law for literature. In 1622 he produced his first comedy, The Heir, and also a translation of Virgil's Georgics. Six years later, 1627, appeared his translation of Lucan, which gained him the favour of Charles I. at whose command he wrote two poems, The Reigne of King Henry II., and The Victorious Reigne of King Edward III., each in 7 books. When the Civil War broke out M., to the disappointment of his friends, took the side of the Parliament, and was made Sec. to the Long Parliament, the historian of which he became, pub. 1647, The History of the Parliament of England, which began Nov. 3, 1640. This work he prefaced with a short review of the preceding reigns from that of Elizabeth. The narrative closes with the Battle of Newbury, 1643, and is characterised by fulness of information and candour. M. was also the author of several tragedies, including Antigone, of no great merit.
MAY, SIR THOMAS ERSKINE, 1ST BARON FARNBOROUGH (1815-1886). —Jurist and historian, ed. at Bedford School, and after holding various minor offices became in 1871 clerk to the House of Commons, retiring in 1886, when he was raised to the peerage. He had previously, 1866, been made K.C.B. He was the author of a treatise on the laws, privileges, etc., of Parliament, which, first pub. in 1844, reached in 1901 its tenth ed., and was translated into various languages. His Constitutional History of England, 1760-1860 is practically a continuation of Hallam's great work. He also wrote Democracy in Europe. As an historical writer M. was learned, painstaking, and impartial.
MAYNE, JASPER (1604-1672). —Dramatist, was at Oxf., entered the Church, and became Archdeacon of Chichester. He wrote two dramas, The City Match (1639), and The Amorous War (1648), in neither of which did he sustain the clerical character. He had, however, some humour.
MAYNE, JOHN (1759-1836). —Poet, was b. in Dumfries. In 1780 he pub. the Siller Gun in its original form in Ruddiman's Magazine. It is a humorous poem descriptive of an ancient custom in Dumfries of shooting for the "Siller Gun." He was continually adding to it, until it grew to 5 cantos. He also wrote a poem on Hallowe'en, and a version of the ballad, Helen of Kirkconnel. His verses were admired by Scott.
MELVILLE, HERMAN (1819-1891). —Novelist, b. in New York, and took to the sea, which led to strange adventures, including an imprisonment of some months in the hands of cannibals in the Marquesas Islands. His first novel, Typee (1846), is based upon this experience. Omoo followed in 1847, Moby Dick, or the White Whale, a powerful sea story, in 1852, and Israel Potter in 1855. He was a very unequal writer, but occasionally showed considerable power and originality.
MELVILLE, JAMES (1556-1614). —Scottish divine and reformer, s. of the laird of Baldovie, in Forfarshire, and nephew of the great reformer and scholar, Andrew M., by whom, when Principal of the Univ. of Glasgow, he was chosen to assist him as a regent or professor. When, in 1580, Andrew became Principal of St. Mary's Coll., St. Andrews, James accompanied him, and acted as Prof. of Hebrew and Oriental Languages. He wrote many poems, but his chief work was his Diary, an original authority for the period, written with much naïveté, and revealing a singularly attractive personality. M., who for his part in Church matters, had been banished to England, d. at Berwick on his way back to Scotland.
MELVILLE, SIR JAMES (1535-1617). —Historian, s. of Sir John M., of Hallhill, was a page to Mary Queen of Scots at the French Court, and afterwards one of her Privy Council. He also acted as her envoy to Queen Elizabeth and the Elector Palatine. He was the author of an autobiography which is one of the original authorities for the period. The MS., which lay for long hidden in Edin. Castle, was discovered in 1660, and pub. 1683. A later ed. was brought out in 1827 by the Bannatyne Club. The work is written in a lively style, but is not always to be implicitly relied upon in regard either to facts or the characters attributed to individuals.
MEREDITH, GEORGE (1828-1909). —Novelist and poet, b. at Portsmouth, s. of Augustus M., a naval outfitter, who afterwards went to Cape Town, and ed. at Portsmouth and Neuwied in Germany. Owing to the neglect of a trustee, what means he had inherited were lost, and he was in his early days very poor. Articled to a lawyer in London, he had no taste for law, which he soon exchanged for journalism, and at 21 he was writing poetry for magazines, his first printed work, a poem on the Battle of Chillianwallah, appearing in Chambers's Journal. Two years later he pub. Poems (1851), containing Love in the Valley. Meantime he had been ed. a small provincial newspaper, and in 1866 he was war correspondent in Italy for the Morning Post, and he also acted for many years as literary adviser to Chapman and Hall. By this time, however, he had produced several of his novels. The Shaving of Shagpat had appeared in 1856, Farina in 1857, The Ordeal of Richard Feverel in 1859, Evan Harrington in 1861, Emilia in England (also known as Sandra Belloni) in 1864, its sequel, Vittoria, in 1866, and Rhoda Fleming in 1865. In poetry he had produced Modern Love and Poems of the English Roadside (1862), generally regarded as his best poetical work. These were followed by The Adventures of Harry Richmond (1871), Beauchamp's Career (1875), said to be the author's favourite, The Egoist (1879), which marks the beginning of a change in style characterised by an even greater fastidiousness in the choice of words, phrases, and condensation of thought than its predecessors, The Tragic Comedians (1880), and Diana of the Crossways, the first of the author's novels to attain anything approaching general popularity. The same period yielded in poetry, Poems and Lyrics of the Joy of Earth (1883), Ballads and Poems of Tragic Life (1887), and A Reading of Earth (1888). His later novels, One of our Conquerors (1891), Lord Ormont and his Aminta (1894), and The Amazing Marriage (1895), exhibit a tendency to accentuate those qualities of style which denied general popularity to all of M.'s works, and they did little to add to his reputation. The contemporary poems include The Empty Purse and Jump to Glory Jane (1892). In 1905 he received the Order of Merit, and he d. on May 19, 1909. He was twice m., his first wife, who d. 1860, being a dau. of Thomas Love Peacock (q.v.). This union did not prove in all respects happy. His second wife was Miss Vulliamy, who d. 1885. In his earlier life he was vigorous and athletic, and a great walker; latterly he lost all power of locomotion.
Though the writings of M. never were and probably never will be generally popular, his genius was, from the very first, recognised by the best judges. All through he wrote for the reader who brought something of mind, thought, and attention, not for him who read merely to be amused without trouble; and it is therefore futile to attribute failure to him because he did not achieve what he did not aim at. Nevertheless, the long delay in receiving even the kind of recognition which he sought was a disappointment to him. Few writers have striven to charge sentences and even words so heavily with meaning, or to attain so great a degree of condensation, with the result that links in the chain of thought are not seldom omitted and left for the careful reader to supply. There is also a tendency to adopt unusual words and forms of expression where plainness and simplicity would have served as well, and these features taken together give reason for the charges of obscurity and affectation so often made. Moreover, the discussion of motive and feeling is often out of proportion to the narrative of the events and circumstances to which they stand related. But to compensate us for these defects he offers humour, often, indeed, whimsical, but keen and sparkling, close observation of and exquisite feeling for nature, a marvellous power of word-painting, the most delicate and penetrating analysis of character, and an invincible optimism which, while not blind to the darker aspects of life, triumphs over the depression which they might induce in a weaker nature. In matters of faith and dogma his standpoint was distinctly negative.
MERES, FRANCIS (1565-1647). —Miscellaneous author, was of a Lincolnshire family, studied at Camb. and Oxf., and became Rector of Wing in Rutland. He pub. in 1598 Palladis Tamia: Wit's Treasury, containing a comparison of English poets with Greek, Latin, and Italian.
MERIVALE, CHARLES (1808-1893). —Historian, s. of John Herman M., a translator and minor poet, b. in London, ed. at Harrow, Haileybury, and Camb., he took orders, and among other preferments held those of chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, 1863-69, and Dean of Ely. From his college days he was a keen student of Roman history, and between 1850 and 1864 he pub. his History of the Romans under the Empire, an able and scholarly work, though considered by some critics to be too favourable to the Emperors, and the imperial idea. An earlier work was The Fall of the Roman Republic (1853).
MERRIMAN, H. SETON, (see SCOTT, H.S.).
MESTON, WILLIAM (1688?-1745). —S. of a blacksmith, was ed. at Marischal Coll., Aberdeen, took part in the '15, and had to go into hiding. His Knight of the Kirk (1723) is an imitation of Hudibras. It has little merit.
MICKLE, WILLIAM JULIUS (1735-1788). —Poet, s. of the minister of Langholm, Dumfriesshire, was for some time a brewer in Edin., but failed. He went to Oxf., where he was corrector for the Clarendon Press. After various literary failures and minor successes he produced his translation of the Lusiad, from the Portuguese of Camoens, which brought him both fame and money. In 1777 he went to Portugal, where he was received with distinction. In 1784 he pub. the ballad of Cumnor Hall, which suggested to Scott the writing of Kenilworth. He is perhaps best remembered, however, by the beautiful lyric, There's nae luck aboot the Hoose, which, although claimed by others, is almost certainly his.
MIDDLETON, CONYERS (1683-1750). —Divine and scholar, b. at Richmond, Yorkshire, and ed. at Camb. He was the author of several latitudinarian treatises on miracles, etc., which brought him into controversy with Waterland (q.v.) and others, and of a Life of Cicero (1741), largely plagiarised from William Bellenden, a Scottish writer of the 17th century. Another of his controversies was with Bentley on college administration. He was master of a very fine literary style.
MIDDLETON, THOMAS (1570-1627). —Dramatist, was a Londoner and city chronologer, in which capacity he composed a chronicle of the city, now lost. He wrote over 20 plays, chiefly comedies, besides masques and pageants, and collaborated with Dekker, Webster, and other playwrights. His best plays are The Changeling, The Spanish Gipsy (both with Rowley), and Women beware Women. Another, The Game of Chess (1624), got the author and the players alike into trouble on account of its having brought the King of Spain and other public characters upon the stage. They, however, got off with a severe reprimand. M. was a keen observer of London life, and shone most in scenes of strong passion. He is, however, unequal and repeats himself. Other plays are: The Phœnix, Michaelmas Term (1607), A Trick to Catch the old One (1608), The Familie of Love (1608), A Mad World, My Masters (1608), The Roaring Girl (1611) (with Dekker), The Old Law (1656) (with Massinger and Rowley), A Faire Quarrel (1617); and among his pageants and masques are The Triumphs of Truth (1613), The Triumphs of Honour and Industry (1617), The Inner Temple Masque (1619), etc.
MILL, JAMES (1773-1836). —Philosopher and historian, s. of a shoemaker, was b. at Montrose, and showing signs of superior ability, was sent to the Univ. of Edin. with a view to the ministry. He was licensed as a preacher in 1798, but gave up the idea of the Church, and going to London in 1802 engaged in literary work, ed. the St. James's Chronicle, and wrote for the Edinburgh Review. In 1806 he began his History of British India (1817-18), and in 1819 received the appointment of Assistant Examiner to the India Office, and in 1834 became head of the department. M. had meanwhile become the intimate friend of Jeremy Bentham, was perhaps the chief exponent of the utilitarian philosophy, and was also one of the founders of the London Univ. His philosophical writings include Elements of Political Economy (1821), and Analysis of the Human Mind (1824). M.'s intellect was powerful, though rigid and somewhat narrow; his style was clear and precise, and his conversational powers very remarkable, and influential in moulding the opinions of those who came into contact with him, especially his distinguished son, John Stuart (q.v.).
MILL, JOHN STUART (1806-1873). —Philosopher, s. of the above, b. in London, was ed. by his f. with the view of making him the successor of Bentham and himself, as the exponent of the Utilitarian philosophy. In all respects he proved an apt pupil, and by his 15th year had studied classical literature, logic, political economy, and mathematics. In that year he went to France, where he was under the charge of Sir S. Bentham, a brother of Jeremy. His studies had led him to the adoption of the utilitarian philosophy, and after his return he became acquainted with Grote, the Austins, and other Benthamites. In 1823 he entered the India House as a clerk, and, like his f., rose to be examiner of Indian correspondence; and, on the dissolution of the Company, retired on a liberal pension. In 1825 he ed. Bentham's Rationale of Judicial Evidence. During the following years he was a frequent contributor to Radical journals, and ed. the London Review. His Logic appeared in 1843, and produced a profound impression; and in 1848 he pub. Principles of Political Economy. The years between 1858 and 1865 were very productive, his treatises on Liberty, Utilitarianism, Representative Government, and his Examination of Sir W. Hamilton's Philosophy being pub. during this period. In 1865 he entered the House of Commons as one of the members for Westminster, where, though highly respected, he made no great mark. After this political parenthesis he returned to his literary pursuits, and wrote The Subjection of Women (1869), The Irish Land Question (1870), and an Autobiography. M. had m. in 1851 Mrs. Taylor, for whom he showed an extraordinary devotion, and whom he survived for 15 years. He d. at Avignon. His Autobiography gives a singular, and in some respects painful account of the methods and views of his f. in his education. Though remaining all his life an adherent of the utilitarian philosophy, M. did not transmit it to his disciples altogether unmodified, but, finding it too narrow and rigid for his own intellectual and moral requirements, devoted himself to widening it, and infusing into it a certain element of idealism.
Bain's Criticism with Personal Recollections (1882), L. Courtney's John Stuart Mill (1889), Autobiography, Stephens's Utilitarians, J. Grote's Examination of the Utilitarian Philosophy of Mill, etc.
MILLER, HUGH (1802-1856). —Geologist, and man of letters, b. at Cromarty, had the ordinary parish school education, and early showed a remarkable love of reading and power of story-telling. At 17 he was apprenticed to a stonemason, and his work in quarries, together with rambles among the rocks of his native shore, led him to the study of geology. In 1829 he pub. a vol. of poems, and soon afterwards threw himself as an ardent and effective combatant into the controversies, first of the Reform Bill, and thereafter of the Scottish Church question. In 1834 he became accountant in one of the local banks, and in the next year brought out his Scenes and Legends in the North of Scotland. In 1840 the popular party in the Church, with which he had been associated, started a newspaper, The Witness, and M. was called to be ed., a position which he retained till the end of his life, and in which he showed conspicuous ability. Among his geological works are The Old Red Sandstone (1841), Footprints of the Creator (1850), The Testimony of the Rocks (1856), and Sketch-book of Popular Geology. Other books are: My Schools and Schoolmasters, an autobiography of remarkable interest, First Impressions of England and its People (1847), and The Cruise of the Betsy. Of the geological books, perhaps that on the old red sandstone, a department in which M. was a discoverer, is the best: but all his writings are distinguished by great literary excellence, and especially by a marvellous power of vivid description. The end of his life was most tragic. He had for long been overworking his brain, which at last gave way, and in a temporary loss of reason, he shot himself during the night.
Life and Letters, P. Bayne (1871), etc.
MILLER, THOMAS (1807-1874). —Poet and novelist, of humble parentage, worked in early life as a basket-maker. He pub. Songs of the Sea Nymphs (1832). Going to London he was befriended by Lady Blessington (q.v.) and S. Rogers (q.v.), and for a time engaged in business as a bookseller, but was unsuccessful and devoted himself exclusively to literature, producing over 40 vols., including several novels, e.g., Royston Gower (1838), Gideon Giles the Roper, and Rural Sketches. In his stories he successfully delineated rural characters and scenes.
MILMAN, HENRY HART (1791-1868). —Poet and historian, s. of Sir Francis M., a distinguished physician, ed. at Eton and Oxf. Taking orders he became in 1835 Rector of St. Margaret's, Westminster, and in 1849 Dean of St. Paul's. He also held the professorship of Poetry at Oxf. 1821-31. Among his poetical works may be mentioned Fazio (drama) (1815), Samor (epic) (1818), The Fall of Jerusalem (1820), The Martyr of Antioch (1822), and Anne Boleyn (1826). It is, however, on his work as an historian that his literary fame chiefly rests, his chief works in this department being his History of the Jews (1830), History of Christianity (1840), and especially The History of Latin Christianity (6 vols. 1854-56), which is one of the most important historical works of the century, characterised alike by literary distinction and by learning and research. M. also brought out a valuable ed. of Gibbon's Decline and Fall, and wrote a History of St. Paul's Cathedral.
MILNES, R. MONCKTON, (see HOUGHTON).
MILTON, JOHN (1608-1674). —Poet, was b. 9th December 1608 in Bread Street, London. His f., also John, was the s. of a yeoman of Oxfordshire, who cast him off on his becoming a Protestant. He had then become a scrivener in London, and grew to be a man of good estate. From him his illustrious s. inherited his lofty integrity, and his love of, and proficiency in, music. M. received his first education from a Scotch friend of his father's, Thomas Young, a Puritan of some note, one of the writers of Smectymnuus. Thereafter he was at St. Paul's School, and in 1625 went to Christ's Coll., Camb., where for his beauty and his delicacy of mind he was nicknamed "the lady." His sister Anne had m. Edward Phillips, and the death of her first child in infancy gave to him the subject of his earliest poem, On the death of a Fair Infant (1626). It was followed during his 7 years' life at the Univ., along with others, by the poems, On the Morning of Christ's Nativity (1629), On the Circumcision, The Passion, Time, At a Solemn Music, On May Morning, and On Shakespeare, all in 1630; and two sonnets, To the Nightingale and On arriving at the Age of Twenty-three, in 1631. In 1632, having given up the idea of entering the Church, for which his f. had intended him, he lived for 6 years at Horton, near Windsor, to which the latter had retired, devoted to further study. Here he wrote L'Allegro and Il Penseroso in 1632, Arcades (1633), Comus in 1634, and Lycidas in 1637. The first celebrates the pleasures of a life of cheerful innocence, and the second of contemplative, though not gloomy, retirement, and the last is a lament for a lost friend, Edward King, who perished at sea. Arcades and Comus are masques set to music by Henry Lawes, having for their motives respectively family affection and maiden purity. Had he written nothing else these would have given him a place among the immortals. In 1638 he completed his education by a period of travel in France and Italy, where he visited Grotius at Paris, and Galileo at Florence. The news of impending troubles in Church and State brought him home the following year, and with his return may be said to close the first of three well-marked divisions into which his life falls. These may be called (1) the period of preparation and of the early poems; (2) the period of controversy, and of the prose writings; and (3) the period of retirement and of the later poems. Soon after his return M. settled in London, and employed himself in teaching his nephews, Edward and John Phillips, turning over in his mind at the same time various subjects as the possible theme for the great poem which, as the chief object of his life, he looked forward to writing. But he was soon to be called away to far other matters, and to be plunged into the controversies and practical business which were to absorb his energies for the next 20 years. The works of this period fall into three classes—(1) those directed against Episcopacy, including Reformation of Church Discipline in England (1641), and his answers to the writings of Bishop Hall (q.v.), and in defence of Smectymnuus (see under Calamy); (2) those relating to divorce, including The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643), and The Four Chief Places of Scripture which treat of Marriage (1645); and (3) those on political and miscellaneous questions, including the Tractate on Education (1644), Areopagitica (1644), A Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing (his greatest prose work), Eikonoklastes, an answer to the Eikon Basiliké of Dr. Gauden (q.v.), The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649), in defence of the execution of Charles I., which led to the furious controversy with Salmasius, the writing of Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio (1650), the second Defensio (1654), which carried his name over Europe, and The Ready and Easy Way to establish a Free Commonwealth, written on the eve of the Restoration. In 1643 M. had m. Mary Powell, the dau. of an Oxfordshire cavalier, a girl of 17, who soon found her new life as the companion of an austere poet, absorbed in severe study, too abrupt a change from the gay society to which she had been accustomed, and in a month returned to her father's house on a visit. When the time fixed for rejoining her husband arrived, she showed no disposition to do so, upon which he began to aim at a divorce, and to advocate in the works above mentioned "unfitness and contrariety of mind" as a valid ground for it, views which incurred for him much notoriety and unpopularity. A reconciliation, however, followed in 1645, and three dau. were born of the marriage. In 1649 the reputation of M. as a Latinist led to his appointment as Latin or Foreign Sec. to the Council of State, in the duties of which he was, after his sight began to fail, assisted by A. Marvell (q.v.) and others, and which he retained until the Restoration. In 1652 his wife d., and four years later he entered into a second marriage with Katharine Woodcock, who d. in child-birth in the following year. To her memory he dedicated one of the most touching of his sonnets. At the Restoration he was, of course, deprived of his office, and had to go into hiding; but on the intercession of Marvell (q.v.), and perhaps Davenant (q.v.), his name was included in the amnesty. In 1663, being now totally blind and somewhat helpless, he asked his friend Dr. Paget to recommend a wife for him. The lady chosen was Elizabeth Minshull, aged 25, who appears to have given him domestic happiness in his last years. She survived him for 53 years. The Restoration closed his second, and introduced his third, and for his fame, most productive period. He was now free to devote his whole powers to the great work which he had so long contemplated. For some time he had been in doubt as to the subject, had considered the Arthurian legends, but had decided upon the Fall of Man. The result was Paradise Lost, which was begun in 1658, finished in 1664, and pub. in 1667. A remark of his friend, Thomas Ellwood (q.v.), suggested to him the writing of Paradise Regained, which, along with Samson Agonistes, was pub. in 1671. Two years before he had printed a History of Britain, written long before, which, however, is of little value. The work of M. was now done. In addition to his blindness he suffered from gout, to which it was partly attributable, and, his strength gradually failing, but with mind unimpaired and serene, he d. peacefully on November 8, 1674. In M. the influences of the Renaissance and of Puritanism met. To the former he owed his wide culture and his profound love of everything noble and beautiful, to the latter his lofty and austere character, and both these elements meet in his writings. Leaving Shakespeare out of account, he holds an indisputable place at the head of English poets. For strength of imagination, delicate accuracy and suggestiveness of language, and harmony of versification, he is unrivalled, and almost unapproached; and when the difficulties inherent in the subject of his great masterpiece are considered, the power he shows in dealing with them appears almost miraculous, and we feel that in those parts where he has failed, success was impossible for a mortal. In his use of blank verse he has, for majesty, variety, and music, never been approached by any of his successors. He had no dramatic power and no humour. In everything he wrote, a proud and commanding genius manifests itself, and he is one of those writers who inspire reverence rather than affection. His personal appearance in early life has been thus described, "He was a little under middle height, slender, but erect, vigorous, and agile, with light brown hair clustering about his fair and oval face, with dark grey eyes."
SUMMARY.—B. 1608, ed. at St. Paul's School and Camb., and while at the latter wrote earlier poems including The Nativity and Sonnets, lived for 6 years at Horton and wrote L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Arcades, Comus, and Lycidas, travelled in France and Italy 1638, settled in London, entered on his political and controversial labours, and wrote inter alia on Reform of Discipline 1641, Divorce 1643-45, Education 1644, Areopagitica 1644, and the two Defences 1650 and 1654, appointed Latin Sec. 1649, this period closed by Restoration 1660, Paradise Lost written 1658-64, pub. 1667, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes 1671, d. 1674, m. first 1643 Mary Powell, second 1652 Katharine Woodcock, third 1663 Eliz. Minshull, who survived till 1727.
Life by Prof. Masson (6 vols. 1859-80), also short Lives by M. Patteson (1880), Garnett (1889). Ed. of Works by Boydell, Sir E. Brydges, and Prof. Masson.
MINOT, LAURENCE (1300?-1352?). —Poet. Nothing is certainly known of him. He may have been a soldier. He celebrates in northern English and with a somewhat ferocious patriotism the victories of Edward III. over the Scots and the French.
MINTO, WILLIAM (1845-1893). —Critic and biographer, b. at Alford, Aberdeenshire, and ed. at Aberdeen and Oxf., went to London, and became ed. of the Examiner, and also wrote for the Daily News and the Pall Mall Gazette. In 1880 he was appointed Prof. of Logic and Literature at Aberdeen. He wrote a Manual of English Prose Literature (1873), Characteristics of the English Poets (1874), and a Life of Defoe for the Men of Letters Series.
MITCHELL, JOHN (1815-1875). —Journalist and political writer, s. of a Presbyterian minister, was b. in Ulster. For some time he practised as a solicitor, but becoming acquainted with Thomas Davis (q.v.), he associated himself with the Young Ireland party, and was a leading contributor to the Nation newspaper. His political sympathies and acts were carried so far as to bring about in 1848 his trial for treason-felony, and his transportation for 14 years. After his release he resided chiefly at New York, and ed. various papers, and opposed the abolition of slavery; but in 1874 he was elected M.P. for Tipperary, for which, however, he was declared incapable of sitting. On a new election he was again returned, but d. before the resulting petition could be heard. He wrote a Jail Journal, a work of great power, The Last Conquest of Ireland (perhaps) (1860), and a History of Ireland of little value.
MITFORD, MARY RUSSELL (1787-1855). —Poetess and novelist, b. at Alresford, Hants, dau. of a physician, without practice, selfish and extravagant, who ran through three fortunes, his own, his wife's, and his daughter's, and then lived on the industry of the last. After a vol. of poems which attracted little notice, she produced her powerful tragedy, Julian. In 1812, what ultimately became the first vol. of Our Village appeared in the Lady's Magazine. To this four additional vols. were added, the last in 1832. In this work Miss M. may be said to have created a new branch of literature. Her novel, Belford Regis (1835), is somewhat on the same lines. She added two dramas, Rienzi (1828), and Foscari, Atherton and other Tales (1852), and Recollections of a Literary Life, and d. at her cottage at Swallowfield, much beloved for her benevolent and simple character, as well as valued for her intellectual powers.
MITFORD, WILLIAM (1744-1827). —Historian, e.s. of John M. of Exbury, Hants, descended from an old Northumbrian family, was b. in London, and ed. at Cheam School and Oxf. He studied law, but on succeeding to the family estates devoted himself to study and literature, and to his duties as an officer of the militia. His first pub. was an Essay on the Harmony of Language (1774). His great work, The History of Greece, is said to have been undertaken at the suggestion of Gibbon, who was a fellow-officer in the South Hants Militia. This work, the successive vols. of which appeared at considerable intervals between 1784 and 1810, was long a standard one, though it is now largely superseded by the histories of Thirwall and Grote. M. wrote with strong prejudices against democracy, and in defence of tyrants, but his style is forcible and agreeable, and he brought learning and research to bear on his subject. He sat for many years in Parliament.
MOIR, DAVID MACBETH (1798-1851). —Poet and miscellaneous writer, was a doctor at Musselburgh, near Edin., and a frequent contributor, under the signature of Δ, to Blackwood's Magazine in which appeared Mansie Waugh, a humorous Scottish tale. He also wrote The Legend of Genevieve (1824), Domestic Verses (1843), and sketches of the poetry of the earlier half of the 19th century. His poetry was generally grave and tender, but occasionally humorous.
MONBODDO, JAMES BURNETT, LORD (1714-1799). —Philosopher and philologist, b. at the family seat in Kincardineshire, was ed. at the Univ. of Aberdeen, Edin., and Groningen, and called to the Scottish Bar in 1737. Thirty years later he became a judge with the title of Lord Monboddo. He was a man of great learning and acuteness, but eccentric and fond of paradox. He was the author of two large works alike learned and whimsical, An Essay on the Origin and Progress of Language (6 vols. 1773-92), and Ancient Metaphysics (6 vols. 1779-99). He mooted and supported the theory that men were originally monkeys, and gradually attained to reason, language, and civilisation by the pressure of necessity. His doctrines do not sound so absurd now as they did in his own day. He was visited by Dr. Johnson at Monboddo.
MONTAGU, ELIZABETH (ROBINSON) (1720-1800). —Critic, dau. of a gentleman of Yorkshire, m. a grandson of Lord Sandwich. She was one of the original "blue-stockings," and her house was a literary centre. She wrote an Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespeare (1769), in which she compared him with the classical and French dramatists, and defended him against the strictures of Voltaire. It had great fame in its day, but has long been superseded.
MONTAGU, LADY MARY WORTLEY (PIERREPONT) (1690-1762). —Letter-writer, was the eldest dau. of the 1st Duke of Kingston. In her youth she combined the attractions of a reigning beauty and a wit. Her early studies were encouraged and assisted by Bishop Burnet, and she was the friend of Pope, Addison, and Swift. In 1712 she m., against the wishes of her family, Edward Wortley-Montagu, a cousin of the celebrated Charles Montagu, afterwards Earl of Halifax. Her husband having been appointed Ambassador to the Porte, she accompanied him, and wrote the sparkling Letters from the East which have given her a place high among the great letter-writers of the world. While in Turkey she became acquainted with the practice of inoculation against smallpox, which she did much to introduce into western countries. After her return to England she settled at Twickenham, and renewed her friendship with Pope, which, however, ended in a violent quarrel, arising out of her publication of Town Eclogues. She was furiously attacked by both Pope and Swift, and was not slow to defend herself. In 1737, for reasons which have never been explained, she left her husband and country, and settled in Italy. Mr. M. having d. 1761, she returned at the request of her dau., the Countess of Bute, but d. the following year.
MONTGOMERIE, ALEXANDER (1545?-1610?). —Poet, probably b. in Ayrshire, was in the service of the Regent Morton and James VI., by whom he was pensioned. He is sometimes styled "Captain," and was laureate of the Court. He appears to have fallen on evil days, was imprisoned on the Continent, and lost his pension. His chief work is The Cherrie and the Slae (1597), a somewhat poor allegory of Virtue and Vice, but with some vivid description in it, and with a comparatively modern air. He also wrote Flyting (scolding) betwixt Montgomerie and Polwart, pub. 1621, and other pieces.
MONTGOMERY, JAMES (1771-1854). —Poet, s. of a pastor and missionary of the Moravian Brethren, was b. at Irvine, Ayrshire, and ed. at the Moravian School at Fulneck, near Leeds. After various changes of occupation and abode, he settled in Sheffield in 1792 as clerk to a newspaper. In 1796 he had become ed. of the Sheffield Iris, and was twice imprisoned for political articles for which he was held responsible. In 1797 he pub. Prison Amusements; but his first work to attract notice was The Wanderer of Switzerland (1806). It was followed by The West Indies (1809), The World before the Flood (1812), Greenland (1819), and The Pelican Island (1828), all of which contain passages of considerable imaginative and descriptive power, but are lacking in strength and fire. He himself expected that his name would live, if at all, in his hymns, and in this his judgment has proved true. Some of these, such as For ever with the Lord, Hail to the Lord's Anointed, and Prayer is the Soul's sincere Desire, are sung wherever the English language is spoken. M. was a good and philanthropic man, the opponent of every form of injustice and oppression, and the friend of every movement for the welfare of the race. His virtues attained wide recognition.
MONTGOMERY, ROBERT (1807-1855). —Poet, a minister of the Scottish Episcopal Church, wrote some ambitious religious poems, including The Omnipresence of the Deity and Satan, which were at first outrageously puffed, and had a wide circulation. Macaulay devoted an essay to the demolition of the author's reputation, in which he completely succeeded.
MOORE, EDWARD (1712-1757). —Fabulist and dramatist, s. of a dissenting minister, was b. at Abingdon. After being in business as a linen-draper, in which he was unsuccessful, he took to literature, and wrote a few plays, of which The Gamester (1753) had a great vogue, and was translated into various languages. He is best known by his Fables for the Female Sex (1744), which rank next to those of Gay (q.v.).
MOORE, JOHN (1729 or 1730-1802). —Physician and miscellaneous writer, s. of an Episcopal minister, was b. in Stirling. After studying medicine at Glasgow, he acted as a surgeon in the navy and the army, and ultimately settled in Glasgow as a physician. In 1779 he pub. View of Manners and Society in France, Switzerland, and Germany, which was well received. A similar work, relating to Italy, followed in 1781. He is, however, chiefly remembered by his romance Zeluco (1786?). One or two other novels followed, and his last works are a Journal during a Residence in France (1792), and Causes and Progress of the French Revolution (1795), the latter of which was used both by Scott and Carlyle. M. was one of the friends of Burns, and was the f. of Sir John M., the hero of Corunna.
MOORE, THOMAS (1779-1852). —Poet, b. in Dublin, s. of a grocer and wine-merchant in a small way, was ed. at Trinity Coll., after which he went to London, and studied law at the Middle Temple, 1799. He took with him a translation of Anacreon, which appeared, dedicated to the Prince Regent, in 1800, was well received, and made a position for him. In the following year appeared Poems by Thomas Little. In 1803 he received the appointment of Admiralty Registrar at Bermuda, and after visiting the island and travelling in America, he committed his official duties to a deputy (an unfortunate step as it proved), and returned to England. The literary fruit of this journey was Epistles, Odes, and other Poems (1806). In 1807 M. found his true poetic vocation in his Irish-Melodies—the music being furnished by Sir John Stevenson, who adapted the national airs. The reception they met with was enthusiastic, and M. was carried at once to the height of his reputation. They continued to appear over a period of 25 years, and for each of the 130 songs he received 100 guineas. His charming singing of these airs, and his fascinating conversational and social powers made him sought after in the highest circles. In 1815 there appeared National Airs which, however, cannot be considered equal to the Melodies. After making various unsuccessful attempts at serious satire, he hit upon a vein for which his light and brilliant wit eminently qualified him—the satirical and pungent verses on men and topics of the day, afterwards coll. in The Twopenny Post Bag, in which the Prince Regent especially was mercilessly ridiculed, and about the same time appeared Fables for the Holy Alliance. In 1818 he produced the Fudge Family in Paris, written in that city, which then swarmed with "groups of ridiculous English." Lalla Rookh, with its gorgeous descriptions of Eastern scenes and manners, had appeared in the previous year with great applause. In 1818 the great misfortune of his life occurred through the dishonesty of his deputy in Bermuda, which involved him in a loss of £6000, and necessitated his going abroad. He travelled in Italy with Lord John Russell, and visited Byron. Thereafter he settled for a year or two in Paris, where he wrote The Loves of the Angels (1823). On the death of Byron his memoirs came into the hands of Moore, who, in the exercise of a discretion committed to him, destroyed them. He afterwards wrote a Life of Byron (1830), which gave rise to much criticism and controversy, and he also ed. his works. His last imaginative work was The Epicurean (1827). Thereafter he confined himself almost entirely to prose, and pub. Lives of Sheridan (1827), and Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1831). His last work, written in failing health, was a History of Ireland for Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia, which had little merit. Few poets have ever enjoyed greater popularity with the public, or the friendship of more men distinguished in all departments of life. This latter was largely owing to his brilliant social qualities, but his genuine and independent character had also a large share in it. He left behind him a mass of correspondence and autobiographical matter which he committed to his friend Lord John (afterwards Earl) Russell for publication. They appeared in 8 vols. (1852-56).
Memoir, Journal, and Correspondence, by Lord John Russell (1856).
MORE, HANNAH (1745-1833). —Miscellaneous and religious writer, was one of the five daughters of a schoolmaster at Stapleton, Gloucestershire. The family removed to Bristol, where Hannah began her literary efforts. Some early dramas, including The Search after Happiness and the Inflexible Captive brought her before the public, and she went to London in 1774, where, through her friend, Garrick, she was introduced to Johnson, Burke, and the rest of that circle, by whom she was highly esteemed. After publishing some poems, now forgotten, and some dramas, she resolved to devote herself to efforts on behalf of social and religious amelioration, in which she was eminently successful, and exercised a wide and salutary influence. Her works written in pursuance of these objects are too numerous to mention. They included Hints towards forming the Character of a young Princess (1805), written at the request of the Queen for the benefit of the Princess Charlotte, Cœlebs in search of a Wife (1809), and a series of short tales, the Cheap Repository, among which was the well-known Shepherd of Salisbury Plain. This enterprise, which had great success, led to the formation of the Religious Tract Society. The success of Miss M.'s literary labours enabled her to pass her later years in ease, and her sisters having also retired on a competency made by conducting a boarding-school in Bristol, the whole family resided on a property called Barley Grove, which they had purchased, where they carried on with much success philanthropic and educational work among the people of the neighbouring district of Cheddar. Few persons have devoted their talents more assiduously to the well-being of their fellow-creatures, or with a greater measure of success.
MORE, HENRY (1614-1687). —Philosopher, b. at Grantham, and ed. at Camb., took orders, but declined all preferment, including two deaneries and a bishopric; and also various appointments in his Univ., choosing rather a quiet life devoted to scholarship and philosophy, especially the study of writings of Plato and his followers. He led a life of singular purity and religious devotion, tinged with mysticism, and his writings had much popularity and influence in their day. Among them may be mentioned Psychozoia Platonica (1642), repub. (1647) as Philosophicall Poems, Divine Dialogues (prose) (1668), The Mystery of Godliness, and The Mystery of Iniquity. His life was written by his friend Richard Ward.
MORE, SIR THOMAS (1478-1535). —Historical and political writer, s. of Sir John M., a Justice of the King's Bench, was b. in London. In his 16th year he was placed in the household of Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was wont to say, "This child here waiting at the table ... will prove a marvellous man." In 1497 he went to Oxf., where he became the friend of Erasmus and others, and came in contact with the new learning. He studied law at New Inn and Lincoln's Inn, and for some time thought of entering the Church. He was, however, in 1504 sent up to Parliament, where his powerful speaking gained for him a high place. Meanwhile, he had brilliant success in the Law Courts, and was introduced by Wolsey to Henry VIII., with whom he soon rose into high favour. He became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Speaker of the House of Commons, 1523, and was sent on missions to Charles V. and Francis I. At length, on the fall of Wolsey, M. was, much against his will, appointed Lord Chancellor, an office which he filled with singular purity and success, though he was harsh in his dealings with persons accused of heresy. But differences with the King soon arose. M. disapproved of Henry's ecclesiastical policy, as well as of his proceedings in regard to the Queen, and in 1532 he resigned his office. In 1534 he refused the oath which pledged him to approval of the King's marriage to Anne Boleyn, and for this he was imprisoned in the Tower, and on July 7, 1535, beheaded. His body was buried in St. Peter's in the Tower, and his head exhibited on London Bridge, whence it was taken down and preserved by his dau., the noble Margaret Roper. All Catholic Europe was shocked at the news of what was truly a judicial murder. Among his works are a Life of Picus, Earl of Mirandula (1510), and a History of Richard III., written about 1513. His great work, Utopia, was written in Latin in two books—the second 1515, and the first 1516. It had immediate popularity, and was translated into French 1530, English 1551, German 1524, Italian 1548, and Spanish 1790. It gives an account of an imaginary island and people, under cover of which it describes the social and political condition of England, with suggested remedies for abuses. The opinions on religion and politics expressed in it are not, however, always those by which he was himself guided. M. wrote many works of controversy, among which are Dyaloge concerning Heresies, also epigrams and dialogues in Latin. His pure and religious character, his sweet temper, his wit, his constancy and fortitude under misfortune combine to render him one of the most attractive and admirable figures in English history.
Life by W. Roper (son-in-law), Lord Campbell, Lives of Chancellors, Utopia was translated by Robinson (1551, etc.), Bishop Burnet (1684, etc.), and ed. by Lupton (1895), and Michelis (1896).
MORGAN, LADY (SYDNEY OWENSON) (1780?-1859). —Novelist, dau. of Robert Owenson, an actor, was the author of several vivacious Irish tales, including The Wild Irish Girl (1806), O'Donnel (1814), and The O'Briens and the O'Flaherties (1827); also two books on society in France and in Italy characterised by "more vivacity and point than delicacy," and a Life of Salvator Rosa.
MORIER, JAMES JUSTINIAN (1780?-1849). —Traveller and novelist, s. of Isaac M., descended from a Huguenot family resident at Smyrna, where he was b., was ed. at Harrow. Returning to the East he became in 1809 Sec. of Legation in Persia. He wrote accounts of travels in Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor; also novels, in which he exhibits a marvellous familiarity with Oriental manners and modes of thought. The chief of these are The Adventures of Hajji Baba (1824), and Hajji Baba in England (1828), Zohrab the Hostage (1832), Ayesha (1834), and The Mirza (1841). All these works are full of brilliant description, character-painting, and delicate satire.
MORISON, JAMES COTTER (1832-1888). —Was ed. at Oxf. He wrote Lives of Gibbon (1878), and Macaulay (1882); but his best work was his Life of St. Bernard (1863). The Service of Man (1887) is written from a Positivist point of view.
MORLEY, HENRY (1822-1894). —Writer on English literature, s. of an apothecary, was b. in London, ed. at a Moravian school in Germany, and at King's Coll., London, and after practising medicine and keeping schools at various places, went in 1850 to London, and adopted literature as his profession. He wrote in periodicals, and from 1859-64 ed. the Examiner. From 1865-89 he was Prof. of English Literature at Univ. Coll. He was the author of various biographies, including Lives of Palissy, Cornelius Agrippa, and Clement Marot. His principal work, however, was English Writers (10 vols. 1864-94), coming down to Shakespeare. His First Sketch of English Literature—the study for the larger work—had reached at his death a circulation of 34,000 copies.
MORRIS, SIR LEWIS (1833-1907). —Poet, b. at Penrhyn, Carnarvonshire, and ed. at Sherborne and Oxf., was called to the Bar, and practised as a conveyancer until 1880, after which he devoted himself to the promotion of higher education in Wales, and became honorary sec. and treasurer of the New Welsh Univ. In 1871 he pub. Songs of Two Worlds, which showed the influence of Tennyson, and was well received, though rather by the wider public than by more critical circles. It was followed in 1876-77 by The Epic of Hades, which had extraordinary popularity, and which, though exhibiting undeniable talent both in versification and narrative power, lacked the qualities of the higher kinds of poetry. It deals in a modern spirit with the Greek myths and legends. Other works are A Vision of Saints, Gwen, The Ode of Life, and Gycia, a tragedy.
MORRIS, WILLIAM (1834-1896). —Poet, artist, and socialist, b. at Walthamstow, and ed. at Marlborough School and Oxf. After being articled as an architect he was for some years a painter, and then joined in founding the manufacturing and decorating firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Co., in which Rossetti, Burne-Jones, and other artists were partners. By this and other means he did much to influence the public taste in furnishing and decoration. He was one of the originators of the Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, to which he contributed poems, tales, and essays, and in 1858 he pub. Defence of Guenevere and other Poems. The Life and Death of Jason followed in 1867, The Earthly Paradise in 1868-70, and Love is Enough in 1875. In the last mentioned year he made a translation in verse of Virgil's Æneid. Travels in Iceland led to the writing of Three Northern Love Stories, and the epic of Sigurd the Volsung (1876). His translation of the Odyssey in verse appeared 1887. A series of prose romances began with The House of the Wolfings (1889), and included The Roots of the Mountains, Story of the Glittering Plain, The Wood beyond the World, The Well at the World's End (1896), and posthumously The Water of the Wondrous Isles, and Story of the Sundering Flood. In addition to poems and tales M. produced various illuminated manuscripts, including two of Fitzgerald's Omar Khayyam, and many controversial writings, among which are tales and tracts in advocacy of Socialism. To this class belong the Dream of John Ball (1888), and News from Nowhere (1891). In 1890 M. started the Kelmscott Press, for which he designed type and decorations. For his subjects as a writer he drew upon classic and Gothic models alike. He may perhaps be regarded as the chief of the modern romantic school, inspired by the love of beauty for its own sake; his poetry is rich and musical, and he has a power of description which makes his pictures live and glow, but his narratives sometimes suffer from length and slowness of movement.
Life by J.W. Mackail (2 vols., 1899), The Books of W. Morris, Forman, etc.
MORTON, THOMAS (1764-1838). —Dramatist, b. in Durham, came to London to study law, which he discarded in favour of play-writing. He wrote about 25 plays, of which several had great popularity. In one of them, Speed the Plough, he introduced Mrs. Grundy to the British public.
MOTHERWELL, WILLIAM (1797-1835). —Poet, b. and ed. in Glasgow, he held the office of depute sheriff-clerk at Paisley, at the same time contributing poetry to various periodicals. He had also antiquarian tastes, and a deep knowledge of the early history of Scottish ballad literature, which he turned to account in Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern (1827), a collection of Scottish ballads with an historical introduction. In 1830 he became ed. of the Glasgow Courier, and in 1832 he coll. and pub. his poems. He also joined Hogg in ed. the Works of Burns.
MOTLEY, JOHN LOTHROP (1814-1877). —Historian, b. at Dorchester, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, was ed. at Harvard, where O.W. Holmes (q.v.), afterwards his biographer, was a fellow-student. After graduating he went to Europe, studied at Göttingen and Berlin, and visited Italy. On his return he studied law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1837. He did not, however, practise, and was in 1840 sent to St. Petersburg as Sec. of Legation. Meanwhile, having pub. two novels, Morton's Hope and Merry Mount, which had little success, he turned to history, and attracted attention by some essays in various reviews. Having decided to write an historical work on Holland, he proceeded in 1851 to Europe to collect materials, and in 1856 pub. The Rise of the Dutch Republic. It was received with the highest approval by such critics as Froude and Prescott, and at once took its place as a standard work. It was followed in 1860 by the first two vols. of The United Netherlands. The following year M. was appointed Minister at Vienna, and in 1869 at London. His latest works were a Life of Barneveldt, the Dutch statesman, and A View of ... the Thirty Years' War. M. holds a high place among historical writers both on account of his research and accuracy, and his vivid and dramatic style, which shows the influence of Carlyle.
MOULTRIE, JOHN (1799-1874). —Poet, ed. at Eton and Camb., took orders and was Rector of Rugby. He wrote several books of poetry, his best known pieces are My Brother's Grave, and Godiva.
MULOCK, DINAH MARIA (MRS. CRAIK) (1826-1887). —Novelist, dau. of a Nonconformist minister of Irish descent. Beginning with stories for children, she developed into a prolific and popular novelist. Her best and most widely known book is John Halifax, Gentleman (1857), which had a wide popularity, and was translated into several languages. Others are The Head of the Family, Agatha's Husband, A Life for a Life, and Mistress and Maid. She also wrote one or two vols. of essays.
MUNDAY, ANTHONY (1553-1633). —Dramatist, poet, and pamphleteer, s. of a draper in London, appears to have had a somewhat chequered career. He went to Rome in 1578, and pub. The Englyshe Romayne Life, in which he gives descriptions of rites and other matters fitted to excite Protestant feeling; and he appears to have acted practically as a spy upon Roman Catholics. He had a hand in 18 plays, of which four only are extant, including two on Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (Robin Hood) (1598), and one on the Life of Sir John Oldcastle. He was ridiculed by Ben Jonson in The Case is Altered. He was also a ballad-writer, but nothing of his in this kind survives, unless Beauty sat bathing in a Spring be correctly attributed to him. He also wrote city pageants, and translated popular romances, including Palladino of England, and Amadis of Gaule. He was made by Stow the antiquary (q.v.) his literary executor, and pub. his Survey of London (1618).
MURE, WILLIAM (1799-1860). —Scholar, laird of Caldwell, Ayrshire, ed. at Westminster, Edin., and Bonn, sat in Parliament for Renfrewshire 1846-55. He was a sound classical scholar, and pub. A Critical History of the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece (5 vols., 1850-57). He held the view that the Iliad and Odyssey are now substantially as they were originally composed. M. was Lord Rector of Glasgow Univ. 1847-48.
MURPHY, ARTHUR (1727-1805). —Actor and dramatist, b. in Ireland, and ed. at St. Omer, went on the stage, then studied for the Bar, to which he was ultimately admitted after some demur on account of his connection with the stage. His plays were nearly all adaptations. They include The Apprentice (1756), The Spouter, and The Upholsterer. He also wrote an essay on Dr. Johnson, and a Life of Garrick.
MURRAY, LINDLEY (1745-1826). —Grammarian, was b. in Pennsylvania, and practised as a lawyer. From 1785 he lived in England, near York, and was for his last 16 years confined to the house. His English Grammar (1795) was long a standard work, and his main claim to a place in literature. His other writings were chiefly religious.
MYERS, FREDERIC WILLIAM HENRY (1843-1901). —Poet and essayist, s. of a clergyman, was b. at Keswick, and ed. at Cheltenham and Camb. He became an inspector of schools, and was the author of several vols. of poetry, including St. Paul (1867). He also wrote Essays Classical and Modern, and Lives of Wordsworth and Shelley. Becoming interested in mesmerism and spiritualism he aided in founding the Society for Psychical Research, and was joint author of Phantasms of the Living. His last work was Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (1903).
NABBES, THOMAS (fl. 1638). —Dramatist, was at Oxf. in 1621. He lived in London, and wrote comedies, satirising bourgeois society. He was most successful in writing masques, among which are Spring's Glory and Microcosmus. He also wrote a continuation of Richard Knolles' History of the Turks.
NAIRNE, CAROLINA (OLIPHANT), BARONESS (1766-1845). —B. at the House of Gask ("the auld house"), m. in 1806 her second cousin, Major Nairne, who on reversal of attainder became 5th Lord Nairne. On his death, after residing in various places in England, Ireland, and on the Continent, she settled at the new house of Gask (the old one having been pulled down in 1801). Of her songs—87 in number—many first appeared anonymously in The Scottish Minstrel (1821-24); a collected ed. with her name, under the title of Lays' from Strathearn, was pub. after her death. Although the songs, some of which were founded on older compositions, had from the first an extraordinary popularity, the authoress maintained a strict anonymity during her life. For direct simplicity and poetic feeling Lady N. perhaps comes nearer than any other Scottish song-writer to Burns, and many of her lyrics are enshrined in the hearts of her fellow-countrymen. Among the best of them are The Land of the Leal (1798), Caller Herrin', The Laird o' Cockpen, The Auld House, The Rowan Tree, The Hundred Pipers, and Will ye no come back Again? The Jacobitism of some of these and many others was, of course, purely sentimental and poetical, like that of Scott. She was a truly religious and benevolent character, and the same modesty which concealed her authorship withdrew from public knowledge her many deeds of charity.
NAPIER, MARK (1798-1879). —Historian, s. of a lawyer in Edinburgh, was called to the Bar, practised as an advocate, and was made Sheriff of Dumfries and Galloway. He pub. Memoirs of the Napiers, of Montrose, and of Graham of Claverhouse, the last of which gave rise to much controversy. N. wrote from a strongly Cavalier and Jacobite standpoint, and had remarkably little of the judicial spirit in his methods. His writings, however, have some historical value.
NAPIER, SIR WILLIAM FRANCIS PATRICK (1785-1860). —was one of the sons of Col. the Hon. George N. and Lady Sarah Lennox, dau. of the 2nd Duke of Richmond, and the object of a romantic attachment on the part of George III. One of his brothers was Sir Charles N., the conqueror of Scinde. Entering the army at 15, he served with great distinction in the Peninsula under Moore and Wellington. His experiences as a witness and participator in the stupendous events of the war combined with the possession of remarkable acumen and a brilliant style to qualify him for the great work of his life as its historian. The History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France from 1807-14 (1828-40) at once took rank as a classic, and superseded all existing works on the subject. Though not free from prejudice and consequent bias, it remains a masterpiece of historical writing, especially in the description of military operations. It was translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Persian. N. also pub. The Conquest of Scinde (1844-46), mainly a defence of his brother Charles, whose life he subsequently wrote. He became K.C.B. in 1848, and General 1859.
NASH, THOMAS (1567-1601). —Satirist, etc., b. at Lowestoft, ed. at Camb. A reckless life kept him in perpetual poverty, and a bitter and sarcastic tongue lost him friends and patrons. He cherished an undying hatred for the Puritans, and specially for Gabriel Hervey, with whom he maintained a lifelong controversy, and against whose attacks he defended Robert Greene (q.v.). Among his writings are Anatomy of Absurdities (1589), Have with you to Saffron Walden, and Pierce Pennilesse, his Supplication to the Divell (1592), all against the Puritans. In Summer's (a jester of Henry VIII.) Last Will and Testament occurs the well-known song, "Spring, the sweet Spring, is the year's pleasant King." Christ's Tears over Jerusalem (1593) may have indicated some movement towards repentance. Another work in a totally different style, The Unfortunate Traveller, or the Life of Jack Wilton (1594), a wild tale, may be regarded as the pioneer of the novel of adventure. It had, however, so little success that the author never returned to this kind of fiction. A comedy, The Isle of Dogs (now lost), adverted so pointedly to abuses in the state that it led to his imprisonment. His last work was Lenten Stuffe (1599), a burlesque panegyric on Yarmouth and its red herrings. N.'s verse is usually hard and monotonous, but he was a man of varied culture and great ability.
NAYLER, JAMES (1617?-1660). —Quaker theologian, s. of a Yorkshire yeoman, who, after serving in the Parliamentary army, joined the Quakers in 1651, became one of Foxe's most trusted helpers, and exercised a powerful influence. By some of the more enthusiastic devotees of the sect he was honoured with such blasphemous titles as "the Lamb of God," which, however, he did not arrogate to himself, but asserted that they were ascribed to "Christ in him." He was found guilty of blasphemy, pilloried, whipped, and branded, and cast into prison, from which he was not released until after the death of Cromwell, when he made public confession and resumed preaching. He was the author of a number of short works both devotional and controversial. He ranks high among the Quakers for eloquence, insight, and depth of thought.
NEAL, JOHN (1793-1876). —Novelist and poet, b. at Portland, Maine, was self-educated, kept a dry goods store, and was afterwards a lawyer. He wrote several novels, which show considerable native power, but little art, and are now almost forgotten. Among those which show the influence of Byron and Godwin are Keep Cool (1818), Logan (1822), and Seventy-six (1823). His poems have the same features of vigour and want of finish. In 1823 he visited England, and became known to Jeremy Bentham. He contributed some articles on American subjects to Blackwood's Magazine.
NEAVES, CHARLES, LORD (1800-1876). —Miscellaneous author, b. and ed. in Edinburgh, was called to the Bar, and became a judge. He was a frequent contributor to Blackwood's Magazine. His verses, witty and satirical, were coll. as Songs and Verses, Social and Scientific. He wrote also on philology, and pub. a book on the Greek Anthology.
NECKHAM, ALEXANDER (1157-1217). —Scholar, b. at St. Albans, was foster-brother to Richard Cœur de Lion. He went to Paris in 1180, where he became a distinguished teacher. Returning, to England in 1186 he became an Augustinian Canon, and in 1213 Abbot of Cirencester. He is one of our earliest men of learning, and wrote a scientific work in Latin verse. De Naturis Rerum (c. 1180-94) in 10 books. Other works are De Laudibus Divinæ Sapientiæ (in Praise of the Divine Wisdom), and De Contemptu Mundi (on Despising the World), and some grammatical treatises.
NEWCASTLE, MARGARET, DUCHESS of (1624?-1674). —Dau. of Sir Thomas Lucas, and a maid of honour to Queen Henrietta. Maria, m. in 1645 the 1st Duke of Newcastle (then Marquis), whom she regarded in adversity and prosperity with a singular and almost fantastic devotion, which was fully reciprocated. The noble pair collaborated (the Duchess contributing by far the larger share) in their literary ventures, which filled 12 vols., and consisted chiefly of dramas (now almost unreadable), and philosophical exercitations which, amid prevailing rubbish, contain some weighty sayings. One of her poems, The Pastimes and Recreations of the Queen of Fairies in Fairyland has some good lines. Her Life of her husband, in which she rates him above Julius Cæsar, was said by Lamb to be "a jewel for which no casket was good enough."
NEWMAN, FRANCIS WILLIAM (1805-1897). —Scholar and theological writer, brother of Cardinal N., b. in London, and ed. at Oxf. After spending three years in the East, he became successively classical tutor in Bristol Coll., Professor of Classical Literature in Manchester New Coll. (1840), and of Latin in Univ. Coll., London, 1846-63. Both brought up under evangelical influences, the two brothers moved from that standpoint in diametrically opposite directions, Francis through eclecticism towards scepticism. His writings include a History of the Hebrew Monarchy (1847), The Soul (1849), and his most famous book, Phases of Faith (1850), a theological autobiography corresponding to his brother's Apologia, the publication of which led to much controversy, and to the appearance of Henry Rogers' Eclipse of Faith. He also pub. Miscellanea in 4 vols., a Dictionary of modern Arabic, and some mathematical treatises. He was a vegetarian, a total abstainer, and enemy of tobacco, vaccination, and vivisection. Memoir by I.G. Sieveking, 1909.
NEWMAN, JOHN HENRY (1801-1890). —Theologian, s. of a London banker, and brother of the above, was ed. at Ealing and Trinity Coll., Oxf., where he was the intimate friend of Pusey and Hurrell Froude. Taking orders he was successively curate of St. Clement's 1824, and Vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford, 1828. He was also Vice-principal of Alban Hall, where he assisted Whately, the Principal, in his Logic. In 1830 he definitely broke with the evangelicalism in which he had been brought up; and in 1832, accompanied by H. Froude, went to the South of Europe, and visited Rome. During this lengthened tour he wrote most of his short poems, including "Lead Kindly Light," which were pub. 1834 as Lyra Apostolica. On his return he joined with Pusey, Keble, and others in initiating the Tractarian movement, and contributed some of the more important tracts, including the fateful No. xc., the publication of which brought about a crisis in the movement which, after two years of hesitation and mental and spiritual conflict, led to the resignation by N. of his benefice. In 1842 he retired to Littlemore, and after a period of prayer, fasting, and seclusion, was in 1845 received into the Roman Catholic Church. In the following year he went to Rome, where he was ordained priest and made D.D., and returning to England he established the oratory in Birmingham in 1847, and that in London in 1850. A controversy with C. Kingsley, who had written that N. "did not consider truth a necessary virtue," led to the publication of his Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864), one of the most remarkable books of religious autobiography ever written. N.'s later years were passed at the oratory at Birmingham. In 1879 he was summoned to Rome and cr. Cardinal of St. George in Velabro. Besides the works above mentioned he wrote, among others, The Arians of the Fourth Century (1833), Twelve Lectures (1850), Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics (1851), Idea of a University, Romanism and Popular Protestantism, Disquisition on the Canon of Scripture, and his poem, The Dream of Gerontius. Possessed of one of the most keen and subtle intellects of his age, N. was also master of a style of marvellous beauty and power. To many minds, however, his subtlety not seldom appeared to pass into sophistry; and his attitude to schools of thought widely differing from his own was sometimes harsh and unsympathetic. On the other hand he was able to exercise a remarkable influence over men ecclesiastically, and in some respects religiously, most strongly opposed to him. His sermons place him in the first rank of English preachers.
Lives or books about him by R.H. Hutton, E.A. Abbott. Works (36 vols., 1868-81), Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864), etc.
NEWTON, SIR ISAAC (1642-1727). —Natural philosopher, b. at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, the s. of a small landed proprietor, and ed. at the Grammar School of Grantham and at Trinity Coll., Camb. By propounding the binomial theorem, the differential calculus, and the integral calculus, he began in 1665 the wonderful series of discoveries in pure mathematics, optics, and physics, which place him in the first rank of the philosophers of all time. He was elected Lucasian Prof. of Mathematics at Camb. in 1669, and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1672, over which body he presided for 25 years from 1703. In the same year his new theory of flight was pub. in a paper before the society. His epoch-making discovery of the law of universal gravitation was not promulgated until 1687, though the first glimpse of it had come to him so early as 1665. The discovery of fluxions, which he claimed, was contested by Leibnitz, and led to a long and bitter controversy between the two philosophers. He twice sat in Parliament for his Univ., and was Master of the Mint from 1699, in which capacity he presented reports on the coinage. He was knighted in 1705, and d. at Kensington in 1727. For a short time, after an unfortunate accident by which a number of invaluable manuscripts were burned, he suffered from some mental aberration. His writings fall into two classes, scientific and theological. In the first are included his famous treatises, Light and Colours (1672), Optics (1704), the Principia (1687), in Latin, its full title being Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. In the second are his Observations upon the Prophecies of Holy Writ and An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of Scripture. In character N. was remarkable for simplicity, humility, and gentleness, with a great distaste for controversy, in which, nevertheless, he was repeatedly involved. Life by Sir D. Brewster, second ed., 1855, etc.
NEWTON, JOHN (1725-1807). —Divine and hymn-writer, s. of a shipmaster, was b. in London, and for many years led a varied and adventurous life at sea, part of the time on board a man-of-war and part as captain of a slaver. In 1748 he came under strong religious convictions, and after acting as a tide-waiter at Liverpool for a few years, he applied for orders in 1758, and was ordained curate of Olney in 1764. Here he became the intimate and sympathetic friend of Cowper, in conjunction with whom he produced the Olney Hymns. In 1779 he was translated to the Rectory of St. Mary, Woolnoth, London, where he had great popularity and influence, and wrote many religious works, including Cardiphonia, and Remarkable Passages in his Own Life. He lives, however, in his hymns, among which are some of the best and most widely known in the language, such as In evil long I took delight, Glorious things of Thee are Spoken, How Sweet the Name of Jesus sounds, and many others. In his latter years N. was blind.
NICHOL, JOHN (1833-1894). —Poet and biographer, s. of John P.N., Prof. of Astronomy in Glasgow, ed. at Glasgow and Oxf., and held the chair of English Literature in Glasgow, 1862-1889. Among his writings are Hannibal (1873), a drama, Death of Themistocles and other Poems (1881), Fragments of Criticism, and American Literature; also Lives of Bacon, Burns, Carlyle, and Byron.
NOEL, HON. RODEN BERKELEY WRIOTHESLEY (1834-1894). —Poet, s., of the 1st Earl of Gainsborough, was ed. at Camb. He wrote Behind the Veil (1863), The Red Flag (1872), Songs of the Heights and Deeps (1885), and Essays on various poets, also a Life of Byron.
NORRIS, JOHN (1657-1711). —Philosopher and poet, ed. at Oxf., took orders, and lived a quiet and placid life as a country parson and thinker. In philosophy he was a Platonist and mystic, and was an early opponent of Locke. His poetry, with occasional fine thoughts, is full of far-fetched metaphors and conceits, and is not seldom dull and prosaic. From 1692 he held G. Herbert's benefice of Bemerton. Among his 23 works are An Idea of Happiness (1683), Miscellanies (1687), Theory and Regulation of Love (1688), Theory of the Ideal and Intelligible World (1701-4), and a Discourse concerning the Immortality of the Soul (1708).
NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-1601?). —Translator, 2nd s. of the 1st Lord N., may have studied at Camb. He entered Lincoln's Inn 1557, but gave more attention to literature than to law. He is best known by his translation of Plutarch, from the French of Amyot, in fine, forcible, idiomatic English, which was the repertory from which Shakespeare drew his knowledge of ancient history: in Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus North's language is often closely followed. Another translation was from an Italian version of an Arabic book of fables, and bore the title of The Morale Philosophie of Doni.
NORTON, CAROLINE ELIZABETH SARAH (SHERIDAN) (1808-1877). —Grand-daughter of Richard Brinsley S. (q.v.), m. in 1827 the Hon. G.C. Norton, a union which turned out most unhappy, and ended in a separation. Her first book, The Sorrows of Rosalie (1829), was well received. The Undying One (1830), a romance founded upon the legend of the Wandering Jew, followed, and other novels were Stuart of Dunleath (1851), Lost and Saved (1863), and Old Sir Douglas (1867). The unhappiness of her married life led her to interest herself in the amelioration of the laws regarding the social condition and the separate property of women and the wrongs of children, and her poems, A Voice from the Factories (1836), and The Child of the Islands (1845), had as an object the furtherance of her views on these subjects. Her efforts were largely successful in bringing about the needed legislation. In 1877 Mrs. N. m. Sir W. Stirling Maxwell (q.v.).
NORTON, CHARLES ELIOT, LL.D., D.C.L., etc. (1827-1909). —American biographer and critic. Church Building in the Middle Ages (1876), translation of the New Life (1867), and The Divine Comedy of Dante (1891); has ed. Correspondence of Carlyle and Emerson (1883), Carlyle's Letters and Reminiscences (1887), etc.
OCCAM or OCKHAM, WILLIAM (1270?-1349?). —Schoolman, b. at Ockham, Surrey, studied at Oxf. and Paris, and became a Franciscan. As a schoolman he was a Nominalist and received the title of the Invincible Doctor. He attacked the abuses of the Church, and was imprisoned at Avignon, but escaped and spent the latter part of his life at Munich, maintaining to the last his controversies with the Church, and with the Realists. He was a man of solid understanding and sense, and a masterly logician. His writings, which are of course all in Latin, deal with the Aristotelean philosophy, theology, and specially under the latter with the errors of Pope John XXII., who was his bête-noir.
OCCLEVE, (see HOCCLEVE).
OCKLEY, SIMON (1678-1720). —Orientalist, b. at Exeter, and ed. at Camb., became the greatest Orientalist of his day, and was made in 1711 Prof. of Arabic in his Univ. His chief work is the Conquest of Syria, Persia, and Egypt by the Saracens (3 vols., 1708-57), which was largely used by Gibbon. The original documents upon which it is founded are now regarded as of doubtful authority. O. was a clergyman of the Church of England.
O'KEEFFE, JOHN (1747-1833). —Dramatist, wrote a number of farces and amusing dramatic pieces, many of which had great success. Among these are Tony Lumpkin in Town (1778), Wild Oats, and Love in a Camp. Some of his songs set to music by Arnold and Shield, such as I am a Friar of Orders Grey, and The Thorn, are still popular. He was blind in his later years.
OLDHAM, JOHN (1653-1683). —Satirist and translator, s. of a Nonconformist minister, was at Oxf., and was the friend of most of the literary men of his time, by whom his early death from smallpox was bewailed. He made clever adaptations of the classical satirists, wrote an ironical Satire against Virtue, and four severe satires against the Jesuits. He is cynical to the verge of misanthropy, but independent and manly.
OLDMIXON, JOHN (1673-1742). —Historical and miscellaneous writer, belonged to an old Somersetshire family, wrote some, now forgotten, dramas and poems which, along with an essay on criticism, in which he attacked Addison, Swift, and Pope, earned for him a place in The Dunciad. He was also the author of The British Empire in America (1708), Secret History of Europe (against the Stuarts), and in his Critical History (1724-26) attacked Clarendon's History of the Rebellion. All these works are partisan in their tone. O. was one of the most prolific pamphleteers of his day.
OLDYS, WILLIAM (1696-1761). —Antiquary, wrote a Life of Sir W. Raleigh prefixed to an ed. of his works (1736), a Dissertation on Pamphlets (1731), and was joint ed. with Dr. Johnson of the Harleian Miscellany. He amassed many interesting facts in literary history, the fruits of diligent, though obscure, industry. The only poem of his that still lives is the beautiful little anacreontic beginning "Busy, curious, thirsty Fly." O. held the office of Norroy-King-at-Arms. He produced in 1737 The British Librarian, a valuable work left unfinished.
OLIPHANT, LAURENCE (1829-1888). —Novelist and miscellaneous writer, s. of Sir Anthony O., Chief Justice of Ceylon. The first 38 years of his life were spent in desultory study, travel, and adventure, varied by occasional diplomatic employment. His travels included, besides Continental countries, the shores of the Black Sea, Circassia, where he was Times correspondent, America, China, and Japan. He was in the Crimean War, Indian Mutiny, Chinese War, the military operations of Garibaldi, and the Polish insurrection, and served as private sec. to Lord Elgin in Washington, Canada, and China, and as Sec. of Legation in Japan. In 1865 he entered Parliament, and gave promise of political eminence, when in 1867 he came under the influence of Thomas L. Harris, an American mystic of questionable character, went with him to America, and joined the Brotherhood of the New Life. In 1870-71 he was correspondent for the Times in the Franco-German War. Ultimately he broke away from the influence of Harris and went to Palestine, where he founded a community of Jewish immigrants at Haifa. After revisiting America he returned to England, but immediately fell ill and d. at Twickenham. O. was a voluminous and versatile author, publishing books of travel, novels, and works on mysticism. The most important are as follows: The Russian Shores of the Black Sea (1853), Minnesota and the Far West (1855), The Transcaucasian Campaign (1856), Patriots and Fillibusters (adventures in Southern States) (1860), Narrative of a Mission to China and Japan (1857-59), The Land of Gilead (1880), Piccadilly (1870), and Altiora Peto (1883) (novels), and Scientific Religion.
OLIPHANT, MRS. MARGARET OLIPHANT (WILSON) (1828-1897). —Novelist and miscellaneous writer, was b. near Musselburgh. Her literary output began when she was little more than a girl, and was continued almost up to the end of her life. Her first novel, Mrs. Margaret Maitland, appeared in 1849, and its humour, pathos, and insight into character gave the author an immediate position in literature. It was followed by an endless succession, of which the best were the series of The Chronicles of Carlingford (1861-65), including Salem Chapel, The Perpetual Curate, and Miss Marjoribanks, all of which, as well as much of her other work, appeared in Blackwood's Magazine, with which she had a lifelong connection. Others of some note were The Primrose Path, Madonna Mary (1866), The Wizard's Son, and A Beleaguered City. She did not, however, confine herself to fiction, but wrote many books of history and biography, including Sketches of the Reign of George II. (1869), The Makers of Florence (1876), Literary History of England 1790-1825, Royal Edinburgh (1890), and Lives of St. Francis of Assisi, Edward Irving, and Principal Tulloch. Her generosity in supporting and educating the family of a brother as well as her own two sons rendered necessary a rate of production which was fatal to the permanence of her work. She was negligent as to style, and often wrote on subjects to which her intellectual equipment and knowledge did not enable her to do proper justice. She had, however, considerable power of painting character, and a vein of humour, and showed untiring industry in getting up her subjects.
OPIE, MRS. AMELIA (ALDERSON) (1769-1853). —Novelist, dau. of a medical man, was b. at Norwich. In 1798 she m. John Opie, the painter. Her first acknowledged work was Father and Daughter (1801), which had a favourable reception, and was followed by Adeline Mowbray (1804), Temper (1812), Tales from Real Life (1813), and others, all having the same aim of developing the virtuous affections, the same merit of natural and vivid painting of character and passions, and the same fault of a too great preponderance of the pathetic. They were soon superseded by the more powerful genius of Scott and Miss Edgeworth. In 1825 she became a Quaker. After this she wrote Illustrations of Lying (1825), and Detraction Displayed (1828). Her later years, which were singularly cheerful, were largely devoted to philanthropic interests.
ORDERICUS VITALIS (1075-1143?). —Chronicler, b. near Shrewsbury, was in childhood put into the monastery of St. Evroult, in Normandy, where the rest of his life was passed. He is the author of a chronicle, Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy (c. 1142) in 13 books. Those from the seventh to the thirteenth are invaluable as giving a trustworthy, though not very clear, record of contemporary events in England and Normandy. It was translated into English in 1853-55.
ORM, or ORMIN (fl. 1200). —Was an Augustinian canon of Mercia, who wrote the Ormulum in transition English. It is a kind of mediæval Christian Year, containing a metrical portion of the Gospel for each day, followed by a metrical homily, largely borrowed from Ælfric and Bede. Its title is thus accounted for, "This boc iss nemmed the Ormulum, forthi that Orm it wrohhte."
ORME, ROBERT (1728-1801). —Historian, s. of an Indian army doctor, b. at Travancore, and after being at Harrow, entered the service of the East India Company. Owing to failure of health he had to return home in 1760, and then wrote his History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation in Indostan from 1745 (1763-78), a well-written and accurate work, showing great research. He also pub. Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, the Morattoes and English Concerns in Indostan from 1659 (1782). His collections relating to India are preserved at the India Office.
ORRERY, ROGER BOYLE, 1ST EARL of (1621-1679). —Statesman and dramatist, third s. of the Earl of Cork, was ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin. After having fought on the Royalist side he was, on the death of the King, induced by Cromwell to support him in his Irish wars and otherwise. After the death of the Protector he secured Ireland for Charles II., and at the Restoration was raised to the peerage. He wrote a romance in 6 vols., entitled Parthenissa, some plays, and a treatise on the Art of War. He has the distinction of being the first to introduce rhymed tragedies.
O'SHAUGHNESSY, ARTHUR WILLIAM EDGAR (1844-1881). —Poet, b. in London, entered the library of the British Museum, afterwards being transferred to the natural history department, where he became an authority on fishes and reptiles. He pub. various books of poetry, including Epic of Women (1870), Lays of France (1872), and Music and Moonlight (1874). Jointly with his wife he wrote Toyland, a book for children. He was associated with D.G. Rossetti and the other pre-Raphaelites. There is a certain remoteness in his poetry which will probably always prevent its being widely popular. He has a wonderful mastery of metre, and a "haunting music" all his own.
OTWAY, CÆSAR (1780-1842). —Writer of Irish tales. His writings, which display humour and sympathy with the poorer classes in Ireland, include Sketches in Ireland (1827), and A Tour in Connaught (1839). He was concerned in the establishment of various journals.
OTWAY, THOMAS (1651 or 1652-1685). —Dramatist, s. of a clergyman, was b. near Midhurst, Sussex, and ed. at Oxf., which he left without graduating. His short life, like those of many of his fellows, was marked by poverty and misery, and he appears to have d. practically of starvation. Having failed as an actor, he took to writing for the stage, and produced various plays, among which Don Carlos, Prince of Spain (1676), was a great success, and brought him some money. Those by which he is best remembered, however, are The Orphan (1680), and Venice Preserved (1682), both of which have been frequently revived. O. made many adaptations from the French, and in his tragedy of Caius Marius incorporated large parts of Romeo and Juliet. He has been called "the most pathetic and tear-drawing of all our dramatists," and he excelled in delineating the stronger passions. The grossness of his comedies has banished them from the stage. Other plays are The Cheats of Scapin, Friendship in Fashion, Soldier's Fortune (1681), and The Atheist.
OUIDA, (see RAMÉE).
OUTRAM, GEORGE (1805-1856). —Humorous poet, was a Scottish advocate, a friend of Prof. Wilson, and for some time ed. of the Glasgow Herald. He printed privately in 1851 Lyrics, Legal and Miscellaneous, which were pub. with a memoir in 1874. Many of his pieces are highly amusing, the Annuity being the best.
OVERBURY, SIR THOMAS (1581-1613). —Poet and miscellaneous writer, ed. at Oxf., became the friend of Carr, afterwards Earl of Rochester and Somerset, and fell a victim to a Court intrigue connected with the proposed marriage of Rochester and Lady Essex, being poisoned in the Tower with the connivance of the latter. He wrote a poem, A Wife, now a Widowe, and Characters (1614), short, witty descriptions of types of men. Some of those pub. along with his are by other hands.
OWEN, JOHN (1560-1622). —Epigrammatist, b. at Plas Dhu, Carnarvonshire, ed. at Winchester and Oxf., and became head master of King Henry VIII. School at Warwick. His Latin epigrams, which have both sense and wit in a high degree, gained him much applause, and were translated into English, French, German, and Spanish.
OWEN, JOHN (1616-1683). —Puritan divine, b. at Stadhampton, Oxfordshire, and ed. at Oxf., from which he was driven by Laud's statutes. Originally a Presbyterian, he passed over to Independency. In 1649 he accompanied Cromwell to Ireland, and in 1650 to Edinburgh. He was Dean of Christ Church, Oxf. (1651-60), and one of the "triers" of ministers appointed by Cromwell. After the Restoration he was ejected from his deanery, but was favoured by Clarendon, who endeavoured to induce him to conform to the Anglican Church by offers of high preferment. Strange to say Charles II. also held him in regard, and gave him money for the Nonconformists; and he was allowed to preach to a congregation of Independents in London. His great learning and ability rendered him a formidable controversialist, specially against Arminianism and Romanism. His works fill 28 vols; among the best known being The Divine Original, etc., of the Scriptures, Indwelling Sin, Christologia, or ... The Person of Christ, and a commentary on Hebrews.
OWEN, ROBERT (1771-1858). —Socialist and philanthropist, b. at Newton, Montgomeryshire, had for his object the regeneration of the world on the principles of socialism. His sincerity was shown by the fact that he spent most of the fortune, which his great capacity for business enabled him to make, in endeavours to put his theories into practice at various places both in Britain and America. He was sincerely philanthropic, and incidentally did good on a considerable scale in the course of his more or less impracticable schemes. He propounded his ideas in New Views of Society, or Essays on the Formation of the Human Character (1816).
OXFORD, EDWARD DE VERE, EARL of (1550-1604). —Was a courtier of Queen Elizabeth, who lost his friends by his insolence and pride, and his fortune by his extravagance. He m. a dau. of Lord Burghley, who had to support his family after his death. He had some reputation as a writer of short pieces, many of which are in the Paradise of Dainty Devices.
PAINE, THOMAS (1737-1809). —Political and anti-Christian writer, s. of a stay-maker and small farmer of Quaker principles at Thetford, became with large classes perhaps the most unpopular man in England. After trying various occupations, including those of schoolmaster and exciseman, and having separated from his wife, he went in 1774 to America where, in 1776, he pub. his famous pamphlet, Common Sense, in favour of American independence. He served in the American army, and also held some political posts, including that of sec. to a mission to France in 1781. Returning to England in 1787 he pub. his Rights of Man (1790-92), in reply to Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution. It had an enormous circulation, 1,500,000 copies having been sold in England alone; but it made it necessary for him to escape to France to avoid prosecution. Arrived in that country he was elected to the National Convention. He opposed the execution of Louis XVI., and was, in 1794, imprisoned by Robespierre, whose fall saved his life. He had then just completed the first part of his Age of Reason, of which the other two appeared respectively in 1795 and 1807. It is directed alike against Christianity and Atheism, and supports Deism. Becoming disgusted with the course of French politics, he returned to America in 1802, but found himself largely ostracised by society there, became embroiled in various controversies, and is said to have become intemperate. He d. at New York in 1809. Though apparently sincere in his views, and courageous in the expression of them, P. was vain and prejudiced. The extraordinary lucidity and force of his style did much to gain currency for his writings.
PAINTER, WILLIAM (1540?-1594). —Translator, etc., ed. at Camb., was then successively schoolmaster at Sevenoaks, and Clerk of the Ordnance, in which position his intromissions appear to have been of more advantage to himself than to the public service. He was the author of The Palace of Pleasure (1566), largely consisting of translations from Boccaccio, Bandello, and other Italian writers, and also from the classics. It formed a quarry in which many dramatists, including Shakespeare, found the plots for their plays.
PALEY, WILLIAM (1743-1805). —Theologian, s. of a minor canon of Peterborough, where he was b., went at 15 as a sizar to Christ's Coll., Camb., where he was Senior Wrangler, and became a Fellow and Tutor of his coll. Taking orders in 1767 he held many benefices, and rose to be Archdeacon of Carlisle, and Sub-Dean of Lincoln. P., who holds one of the highest places among English theologians, was the author of four important works—Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785), Horæ Paulinæ, his most original, but least popular, book (1790), View of the Evidences of Christianity (1794), and Natural Theology (1802). Though now to a large extent superseded, these works had an immense popularity and influence in their day, and are characterised by singular clearness of expression and power of apt illustration. The system of morals inculcated by P. is Utilitarian, modified by theological ideas. His view of the "divine right of Kings" as on a level with "the divine right of constables" was unpleasing to George III., notwithstanding which his ecclesiastical career was eminently successful. His manners were plain and kindly.
PALGRAVE, SIR FRANCIS (1788-1861). —Historian, s. of Meyer Cohen, a Jewish stockbroker, but at his marriage in 1823, having previously become a Christian, assumed his mother-in-law's name of Palgrave. He studied law, and was called to the Bar in 1827. From 1838 until his death in 1861 he was Deputy Keeper of the Records, and in that capacity arranged a vast mass of hitherto inaccessible documents, and ed. many of them for the Record Commission. His historical works include a History of England in Anglo-Saxon Times (1831), Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth (1832), and History of Normandy and England (4 vols., 1851-64), pub. posthumously. He was knighted in 1832. His works are of great value in throwing light upon the history and condition of mediæval England.
PALGRAVE, FRANCIS TURNER (1824-1897). —Poet and critic, s. of the above, ed. at Oxf., was for many years connected with the Education Department, of which he rose to be Assistant Sec.; and from 1886-95 he was Prof. of Poetry at Oxf. He wrote several vols. of poetry, including Visions of England (1881), and Amenophis (1892), which, though graceful and exhibiting much poetic feeling, were the work rather of a man of culture than of a poet. His great contribution to literature was his anthology, The Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics (1864), selected with marvellous insight and judgment. A second series showed these qualities in a less degree. He also pub. an anthology of sacred poetry.
PALTOCK, ROBERT (1697-1767). —Novelist, was an attorney, and wrote The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man (1751), admired by Scott, Coleridge, and Lamb. It is somewhat on the same plan as Robinson Crusoe, the special feature being the gawry, or flying woman, whom the hero discovered on his island, and married. The description of Nosmnbdsgrutt, the country of the flying people, is a dull imitation of Swift, and much else in the book is tedious.
PARDOE, JULIA (1806-1862). —Novelist and miscellaneous writer, b. at Beverley, showed an early bias towards literature, and became a voluminous and versatile writer, producing in addition to her lively and well-written novels many books of travel, and others dealing with historical subjects. She was a keen observer, and her Oriental travels had given her an accurate and deep knowledge of the peoples and manners of the East. Among her books are The City of the Sultan (1836), Romance of the Harem, Thousand and One Days, Louis XIV. and the Court of France, Court of Francis I., etc.
PARIS, MATTHEW (c. 1195-1259). —Chronicler, entered in 1217 the Benedictine Monastery of St. Albans, and continued the work of Roger de Wendover (q.v.) as chronicler of the monastery. In 1248 he went on the invitation of Hacon King of Norway to reform the Abbey of St. Benet Holm. In this he was successful, and on his return to England enjoyed the favour of Henry III., who conversed familiarly with him, and imparted information as to matters of state, which constitutes a valuable element in his histories. He had a high reputation for piety and learning, was a patriotic Englishman, and resisted the encroachments of Rome. His chief work is Historia Major, from the Conquest until 1259. In it he embodied the Flores Historiarum of his predecessor Roger, and the original part is a bold and vigorous narrative of the period (1235-59). He also wrote Historia Minor and Historia Anglorum, a summary of the events (1200-1250).
PARK, MUNGO (1771-1806). —Traveller, b. near Selkirk, studied medicine at Edin. As a surgeon in the mercantile marine he visited Sumatra, and on his return attracted the attention of various scientific men by his botanical and zoological investigations. In 1795 he entered the service of the African Association, and made a voyage of discovery on the Niger. His adventures were pub. in Travels in the Interior of Africa (1799), which had great success. He m. and set up in practice in Peebles; but in 1805 accepted an invitation by Government to undertake another journey in Africa. From this he never returned, having perished in a conflict with natives. His narratives, written in a straightforward and pleasing style, are among the classics of travel.
PARKER, THEODORE (1810-1860). —Theologian, b. at Lexington, Massachusetts, ed. at Harvard, was an indefatigable student, and made himself master of many languages. In 1837 he was settled at West Roxbury as a Unitarian minister, but the development of his views in a rationalistic direction gradually separated him from the more conservative portion of his co-religionists. He lectured on theological subjects in Boston in 1841, travelled in Europe, and in 1845 settled in Boston, where he lectured to large audiences, and exercised a wide influence. He took a leading part in the anti-slavery crusade, and specially in resisting the Fugitive Slave Act. In 1859 his health, which had never been robust, gave way; he went to Italy in search of restoration, but d. at Florence. Although he was a powerful theological and social influence, his writings are not of corresponding importance: it was rather as a speaker that he influenced his countrymen, and he left no contribution to literature of much permanent account, though his coll. works fill 14 vols. Among the most outstanding of his writings are A Discourse of Matters Pertaining to Religion, and Sermons for the Times.
PARKMAN, FRANCIS (1823-1893). —Historian, s. of a Unitarian minister in Boston, Massachusetts, graduated at Harvard, and qualified as a lawyer, but never practised, and though hampered by a state of health which forbade continuous application, and by partial blindness, devoted himself to the writing of the history of the conflict between France and England in North America. This he did in a succession of works—The Conspiracy of Pontiac (1851), The Pioneers of France in the New World (1865), The Jesuits in North America (1867), La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West (1869), The Old Regime in Canada (1874), Count Frontenac and New France (1877), Montcalm and Wolfe (1884), and A Half Century of Conflict (1892). In these the style, at first somewhat turgid, gradually improved, and became clear and forcible, while retaining its original vividness. P. spared no labour in collecting and sifting his material, much of which was gathered in the course of visits to the places which were the scenes of his narrative, and his books are the most valuable contribution in existence to the history of the struggle for Canada and the other French settlements in North America. He also wrote two novels, which had little success, and a book upon rose-culture.
English literature
PARNELL, THOMAS (1679-1718). —Poet, b. and ed. in Dublin, took orders in 1700, and was Vicar of Finglas and Archdeacon of Clogher. The death of his young wife in 1706 drove him into intemperate habits. He was a friend of Swift and Pope, a contributor to the Spectator, and aided Pope in his translation of the Iliad. He wrote various isolated poems showing a fine descriptive touch, of which the most important are The Hermit, The Night Piece, and The Hymn to Contentment. P. was a scholar, and had considerable social gifts. His Life was written by Goldsmith.
PARR, DR. SAMUEL (1747-1825). —Scholar, s. of an apothecary at Harrow, where and at Camb. he was ed. He was successively an assistant-master at Harrow and headmaster of schools at Colchester and Norwich, and having taken orders, finally settled down at Hatton, Warwickshire, where he took private pupils. He was undoubtedly a great Latinist, but he has left no work to account for the immense reputation for ability which he enjoyed during his life. His chief power appears to have been in conversation, in which he was bold, arrogant, and epigrammatic. He was nicknamed "the Whig Johnson," but fell very far short of his model. His writings, including correspondence, were pub. in 8 vols.
PATER, WALTER HORATIO (1839-1894). —Essayist and critic, s. of Richard G.P., of American birth and Dutch extraction, a benevolent physician, b. at Shadwell, and ed. at the King's School, Canterbury, and at Queen's Coll., Oxf., after leaving which he made various tours in Germany and Italy where, especially in the latter, his nature, keenly sensitive to every form of beauty, received indelible impressions. In 1864 he was elected a Fellow of Brasenose, and in its ancient and austere precincts found his principal home. As a tutor, though conscientious, he was not eminently successful; nevertheless his lectures, on which he bestowed much pains, had a fit audience, and powerfully influenced a few select souls. He resigned his tutorship in 1880, partly because he found himself not entirely in his element, and partly because literature was becoming the predominant interest in his life. In 1885 he went to London, where he remained for 8 years, continuing, however, to reside at Brasenose during term. The reputation as a writer which he had gained made him welcome in whatever intellectual circles he found himself. Leaving London in 1893 he settled in a house in St. Giles, Oxf. In the spring of 1894 he went to Glasgow to receive the honorary degree of LL.D., a distinction which he valued. In the summer he had an attack of rheumatic fever, followed by pleurisy. From these he had apparently recovered, but he succumbed to an attack of heart-failure which immediately supervened. Thus ended prematurely in its 55th year a life as bare of outward events as it was rich in literary fruit and influence.
P. is one of the greatest modern masters of style, and one of the subtlest and most penetrating of critics. Though not a philosopher in the technical sense, he deeply pondered the subjects with which philosophy sets itself to deal; but art was the dominating influence in his intellectual life, and it was said of him that "he was a philosopher who had gone to Italy by mistake instead of to Germany." He may also be called the prophet of the modern æsthetic school. His attitude to Christianity, though deeply sceptical, was not unsympathetic. As a boy he came under the influence of Keble, and at one time thought of taking orders, but his gradual change of view led him to relinquish the idea. Among his works may be mentioned an article on Coleridge, and others on Winckelmann, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, etc., which were coll. and pub. as Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873); Appreciations (1889) contained his great essays on Æsthetic Poetry and Style, various Shakespearian studies and papers on Lamb and Sir T. Browne; Imaginary Portraits, and Greek Studies (1894); Plato and Platonism (1893). His masterpiece, however, is Marius the Epicurean (1885), a philosophical romance of the time of Marcus Aurelius. The style of P. is characterised by a subdued richness, and complicated, but perfect structure of sentences. In character he was gentle, refined, and retiring, with a remarkable suavity of manner and dislike of controversy.
PATMORE, COVENTRY KERSEY DIGHTON (1823-1896). —Poet, s. of Peter George P., also an author, b. at Woodford, Essex, was in the printed book department of the British Museum. He pub. Tamerton Church Tower (1853), and between 1854 and 1862 the four poems which, combined, form his masterpiece, The Angel in the House, a poetic celebration of married love. In 1864 he entered the Church of Rome. Thereafter he pub. The Unknown Eros (1877), Amelia (1878), and Rod, Root, and Flower (1895), meditations chiefly on religious subjects. His works are full of graceful and suggestive thought, but occasionally suffer from length and discursiveness. He was successful in business matters, and in character was energetic, masterful, and combative. He numbered Tennyson and Ruskin among his friends, was associated with the pre-Raphaelites, and was a contributor to their organ, the Germ.
PATTISON, MARK (1813-1884). —Scholar and biographer, b. at Hornby, Yorkshire, s. of a clergyman, ed. privately and at Oxf., where in 1839 he became Fellow of Lincoln Coll., and acquired a high reputation as a tutor and examiner. At first strongly influenced by Newman and the Tractarian movement, he ultimately abandoned that school. In 1851, failing to be elected head of his coll., he threw up his tutorship, and devoted himself to severe study, occasionally writing on educational subjects in various reviews. In 1861, however, he attained the object of his ambition, being elected Rector of Lincoln Coll. In 1883 he dictated a remarkable autobiography, coming down to 1860. In 1875 he had pub. a Life of Isaac Casaubon, and he left materials for a Life of Scaliger, which he had intended to be his magnum opus. He also wrote Milton for the English Men of Letters Series, and produced an ed. of his sonnets.
PAULDING, JAMES KIRKE (1779-1860). —Novelist, etc., b. in the state of New York, was chiefly self-educated. He became a friend of W. Irving, and was part author with him of Salmagundi—a continuation of which by himself proved a failure. Among his other writings are John Bull and Brother Jonathan (1812), a satire, The Dutchman's Fireside (1831), a romance which attained popularity, a Life of Washington (1835), and some poems.
PAYN, JAMES (1830-1898). —Novelist, s. of an official in the Thames Commission, ed. at Eton, Woolwich, and Camb. He was a regular contributor to Household Words and to Chambers's Journal, of which he was ed. 1859-74, and in which several of his works first appeared; he also ed. the Cornhill Magazine 1883-96. Among his novels—upwards of 60 in number—may be mentioned Lost Sir Massingberd, The Best of Husbands, Walter's Word, By Proxy (1878), A Woman's Vengeance, Carlyon's Year, Thicker than Water, A Trying Patient, etc. He also wrote a book of poems and a volume of literary reminiscences.
PEACOCK, THOMAS LOVE (1785-1866). —Novelist, b. at Weymouth, the only child of a London merchant, was in boyhood at various schools, but from the age of 13 self-educated. Nevertheless, he became a really learned scholar. He was for long in the India Office, where he rose to be Chief Examiner, coming between James Mill and John Stuart Mill. He was the author of several somewhat whimsical, but quite unique novels, full of paradox, prejudice, and curious learning, with witty dialogue and occasional poems interspersed. Among them are Headlong Hall (1816), Nightmare Abbey (1818), Maid Marian (1822), Misfortunes of Elphin (1829), Crotchet Castle (1831), and Gryll Grange (1860). He was the intimate friend of Shelley, memoirs of whom he contributed to Fraser's Magazine.
PEARSON, CHARLES HENRY (1830-1894). —B. at Islington, ed. at Rugby and King's Coll., London, at the latter he became Prof. of Modern History. Owing to a threatened failure of sight he went to Australia, where he remained for 20 years, and was for a time Minister of Education of Victoria. Returning to England in 1892 he wrote his National Life and Character: a Forecast, in which he gave utterance to very pessimistic views as to the future of the race. He also wrote a History of England during the Early and Middle Ages (1867).
PEARSON, JOHN (1613-1686). —Theologian, s. of an archdeacon of Suffolk, b. at Great Snoring, Norfolk, ed. at Eton and Camb., took orders, and after holding various preferments, including the archdeaconry of Surrey, the mastership of Jesus Coll., and of Trinity Coll., Camb., was made, in 1673, Bishop of Chester. His Exposition of the Creed (1659) has always been regarded as one of the most finished productions of English theology, remarkable alike for logical argument and arrangement, and lucid style. He was also the author of other learned works, including a defence of the authenticity of the epistles of Ignatius. In his youth P. was a Royalist, and acted in 1645 as a chaplain in the Royal army. He was one of the commissioners in the Savoy Conference.
PECOCK, REGINALD (1395?-1460?). —Theologian, b. in Wales, entered the Church, and rose to be successively Bishop of St. Asaph 1444, and of Chichester 1450. He was a strenuous controversialist, chiefly against the Lollards; but his free style of argument, and especially his denial of the infallibility of the Church, led him into trouble, and on being offered the choice of abjuration or death at the stake, he chose the former, but nevertheless was deprived of his bishopric, had his books burned, and spent his latter days in the Abbey of Thorney, Cambridgeshire. His chief work is The Repressor of overmuch blaming of the Clergy (1455), which, from its clear, pointed style, remains a monument of 15th century English. The Book of Faith (1456) is another of his writings.
PEELE, GEORGE (1558?-1597?). —Dramatist and poet, s. of a salter in London, ed. at Christ's Hospital and Oxf., where he had a reputation as a poet. Coming back to London about 1581 he led a dissipated life. He appears to have been a player as well as a playwright, and to have come into possession of some land through his wife. His works are numerous and consist of plays, pageants, and miscellaneous verse. His best plays are The Arraignment of Paris (1584), and The Battle of Alcazar (1594), and among his poems Polyhymnia (1590), and The Honour of the Garter (1593). Other works are Old Wives' Tale (1595), and David and Fair Bethsabe (1599). P. wrote in melodious and flowing blank verse, with abundance of fancy and brilliant imagery, but his dramas are weak in construction, and he is often bombastic and extravagant.
PENN, WILLIAM (1644-1718). —Quaker apologist, s. of Sir William P., a celebrated Admiral, was b. in London, and ed. at Oxf., where he became a Quaker, and was in consequence expelled from the Univ. His change of views and his practice of the extremest social peculiarities imposed by his principles led to a quarrel with his f., who is said to have turned him out of doors. Thereafter he began to write, and one of his books, The Sandy Foundation Shaken (c. 1668), in which he attacked the doctrines of the Trinity, the atonement, and justification by faith, led to his being, in 1668, imprisoned in the Tower, where he wrote his most popular work, No Cross, No Crown (1668), and a defence of his own conduct, Innocency with her Open Face (1668), which resulted in his liberation. Shortly after this, in 1670, on the death of his f., who had been reconciled to him, P. succeeded to a fortune, including a claim against the Government amounting to £15,000, which was ultimately in 1681 settled by a grant of the territory now forming the state of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, however, he had again suffered imprisonment for preaching, and employed his enforced leisure in writing four treatises, of which one, The Great Cause of Liberty of Conscience (c. 1671), is an able defence of religious toleration. In 1682, having obtained the grant above referred to, he set sail for America, with the view of founding a community based upon the principles of toleration. Having established a Constitution and set matters in working order there, P. returned to England in 1684 and busied himself in efforts for the relief of those Quakers who had remained at home. The peculiar position of affairs when James II. was endeavouring to use the Dissenters as a means of gaining concessions to the Roman Catholics favoured his views, and he was to some extent successful in his efforts. His connection with the Court at that time has, however, led to his conduct being severely animadverted upon by Macaulay and others. In 1690 and for some time thereafter he was charged with conspiring against the Revolution Government, but after full investigation was completely acquitted. His later years were embittered by troubles in Pennsylvania, and by the dishonesty and ingratitude of an agent by whose defalcations he was nearly ruined, as a consequence of which he was imprisoned for debt. He d. soon after his release in 1718.
PENNANT, THOMAS (1726-1798). —Naturalist and traveller, b. in Flintshire, and ed. at Oxf., was one of the most distinguished naturalists of the 18th century, and pub., among other works on natural history, British Zoology (1768), and History of Quadrupeds (1781). In literature he is, however, best remembered by his Tours in Scotland (1771-75), which did much to make known the beauties of the country to England. He also travelled in Ireland and Wales, and on the Continent, and pub. accounts of his journeys. Dr. Johnson said of him, "he observes more things than any one else does."
PEPYS, SAMUEL (1633-1703). —Diarist, s. of John P., a London tailor, but of good family and connected with Sir E. Montague, afterwards Earl of Sandwich, was ed. at St. Paul's School and at Camb. After leaving the Univ. he entered the household of Montagu, who became his life long patron. He held various Government posts, including that of Surveyor-General of the Victualling Office, in which he displayed great administrative ability and reforming zeal, and in 1672 he became Sec. of the Admiralty. After being imprisoned in the Tower on a charge in connection with the Popish plot, and deprived of his office, he was in 1686 again appointed Sec. of the Admiralty, from which, however, he was dismissed at the Revolution. Thereafter he lived in retirement chiefly at Clapham. P. was a man of many interests, combining the characters of the man of business, man of pleasure, and virtuoso, being skilled in music and a collector of books, manuscripts, and pictures, and he was Pres. of the Royal Society for two years. He wrote Memoirs of the Royal Navy (1690), but his great legacy to literature is his unique and inimitable Diary, begun January 1, 1660, and coming down to May 31, 1669, when the failure of his sight prevented its further continuance. As an account by an eye-witness of the manners of the Court and of society it is invaluable, but it is still more interesting as, perhaps, the most singular example extant of unreserved self-revelation—all the foibles, peccadilloes, and more serious offences against decorum of the author being set forth with the most relentless naïveté and minuteness, it was written in a cypher or shorthand, which was translated into long-hand by John Smith in 1825, and ed. by Lord Braybrooke, with considerable excisions. Later and fuller ed. have followed. P. left his books, MSS., and collections to Magdalene Coll., Camb., where they are preserved in a separate library.
PERCIVAL, JAMES GATES (1795-1854). —Poet, b. at Berlin, Conn., was a precocious child, and a morbid and impractical, though versatile man, with a fatal facility in writing verse on all manner of subjects and in nearly every known metre. His sentimentalism appealed to a wide circle, but his was one of the tapers which were extinguished by Lowell. He had also a reputation as a geologist. His poetic works include Prometheus and The Dream of a Day (1843).
PERCY, THOMAS (1729-1811). —Antiquary and poet, s. of a grocer at Bridgnorth, where he was b., ed. at Oxf., entered the Church, and became in 1778 Dean of Carlisle, and in 1782 Bishop of Dromore. He pub. various antiquarian works, chiefly with reference to the North of England; but is best remembered for his great service to literature in collecting and ed. many ancient ballads, pub. in 1765 as Reliques of Ancient Poetry, which did much to bring back interest in the ancient native literature, and to usher in the revival of romanticism.
PHILIPS, AMBROSE (1675?-1749). —Poet, b. in Shropshire and ed. at Camb., wrote pastorals and dramas, was one of the Addison circle, and started a paper, the Freethinker, in imitation of the Spectator. He also made translations from Pindar and Anacreon, and a series of short complimentary verses, which gained for him the nickname of "Namby Pamby." His Pastorals, though poor enough, excited the jealousy of Pope, who pursued the unfortunate author with life-long enmity. P. held various Government appointments in Ireland.
PHILIPS, JOHN (1676-1709). —Poet, s. of an archdeacon of Salop, and ed. at Oxf. His Splendid Shilling, a burlesque in Miltonic blank verse, still lives, and Cyder, his chief work, an imitation of Virgil's Georgics, has some fine descriptive passages. P. was also employed by Harley to write verses on Blenheim as a counterblast to Addison's Campaign. He d. at 33 of consumption.
PHILLIPS, SAMUEL (1814-1854). —Novelist, of Jewish descent, studied for the Church at Göttingen and Camb., but his f. dying, he was obliged to give up his intention and take to business, in which, however, he was unsuccessful, and fell into great straits. He then tried writing, and produced some novels, of which the best known was Caleb Stukely, which appeared in Blackwood in 1842. He was latterly a leader-writer for the Times.
PICKEN, ANDREW (1788-1833). —Miscellaneous writer, b. in Paisley, was in business in the West Indies, and in Glasgow and Liverpool, but not being successful, went to London to try his fortunes in literature. His earlier writings, Tales and Sketches of the West of Scotland and The Sectarian (1829), gave offence in dissenting circles: his next, The Dominie's Legacy (1830), had considerable success, and a book on Travels and Researches of Eminent Missionaries (1830) did something to rehabilitate him with those whom he had offended. His last work, The Black Watch (1833), had just appeared when he d. of an apoplectic seizure. His best work is somewhat like that of Galt (q.v.).
PIERPONT, JOHN (1785-1860). —Poet, b. at Litchfield, Conn., was first a lawyer, then a merchant, and lastly a Unitarian minister. His chief poem is The Airs of Palestine.
PIKE, ALBERT (1809-1891). —Poet, b. at Boston, Mass., was in his early days a teacher, and afterwards a successful lawyer. His now little-remembered poems were chiefly written under the inspiration of Coleridge and Keats. His chief work, Hymns to the Gods, which appeared in Blackwood's Magazine, closely imitates the latter. He also wrote prose sketches.
PINDAR, PETER, (see WOLCOT, J.).
PINKERTON, JOHN (1758-1826). —Historian and Antiquary, b. in Edin., was apprenticed to a lawyer, but took to literature, and produced a number of works distinguished by painstaking research, but disfigured by a controversial and prejudiced spirit. His first publication was Select Scottish Ballads (1783), some of which, however, were composed by himself. A valuable Essay on Medals (1784) introduced him to Gibbon and Horace Walpole. Among his other works are Ancient Scottish Poems (1786), Dissertation on the Goths (1787), Medallic History of England (1790), History of Scotland (1797), and his best work, Treatise on Rocks (1811). One of his most inveterate prejudices was against Celts of all tribes and times. He d. in obscurity in Paris.
PINKNEY, EDWARD COATE (1802-1828). —B. in London, where his f. was U.S. ambassador. He wrote a number of light, graceful short poems, but fell a victim to ill-health and a morbid melancholy at 25. His longest poem is Rudolph (1825).
PIOZZI, HESTER LYNCH (SALUSBURY) (1741-1821). —Miscellaneous writer, m. Henry Thrale, a wealthy brewer, and, after his death, Gabriel Piozzi, an Italian musician. Her chief distinction is her friendship with Dr. Johnson, who was for a time almost domesticated with the Thrales. Her second marriage in the year of Johnson's death, 1784, broke up the friendship. She wrote Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson, a work which had a favourable reception, and gives a lifelike picture of its subject, and left an Autobiography. Her poem, The Three Warnings, is supposed to have been touched up by Johnson. Many details of her friendship with J. are given in the Diary of Madame D'Arblay (q.v.).
PLANCHÉ, JAMES ROBINSON (1796-1880). —Dramatist and miscellaneous writer, b. in London of Huguenot descent, was in the Herald Office, and rose to be Somerset Herald, in which capacity he was repeatedly sent on missions to invest foreign princes with the Order of the Garter. He produced upwards of 90 adaptations, and about 70 original pieces for the stage. He also wrote a History of British Costumes, The Pursuivant of Arms (1852), and The Conqueror and his Companions (1874), besides autobiographical Recollections (1872).
POE, EDGAR ALLAN (1809-1849). —Poet and writer of tales, was b. at Boston, where his parents, who were both actors, were temporarily living. He was left an orphan in early childhood in destitute circumstances, but was adopted by a Mr. Allan of Richmond, Virginia. By him and his wife he was treated with great indulgence, and in 1815 accompanied them to England, where they remained for five years, and where he received a good education, which was continued on their return to America, at the Univ. of Virginia. He distinguished himself as a student, but got deeply into debt with gaming, which led to his being removed. In 1829 he pub. a small vol. of poems containing Al Araaf and Tamerlane. About the same time he proposed to enter the army, and was placed at the Military Academy at West Point. Here, however, he grossly neglected his duties, and fell into the habits of intemperance which proved the ruin of his life, and was in 1831 dismissed. He then returned to the house of his benefactor, but his conduct was so objectionable as to lead to a rupture. In the same year P. pub. an enlarged ed. of his poems, and in 1833 was successful in a competition for a prize tale and a prize poem, the tale being the MS. found in a Bottle, and the poem The Coliseum. In the following year Mr. Allan d. without making any provision for P., and the latter, being now thrown on his own resources, took to literature as a profession, and became a contributor to various periodicals. In 1836 he entered into a marriage with his cousin Virginia Clemm, a very young girl, who continued devotedly attached to him notwithstanding his many aberrations, until her death in 1847. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym appeared in 1838, and in 1839 P. became ed. of the Gentleman's Magazine, in which appeared as Tales of the Arabesque and Grotesque many of his best stories. In 1845 his famous poem, The Raven, came out, and in 1848 Eureka, a Prose Poem, a pseudo-scientific lucubration. The death of his wife gave a severe shock to his constitution, and a violent drinking bout on a visit to Baltimore led to his death from brain fever in the hospital there. The literary output of P., though not great in volume, limited in range, and very unequal in merit, bears the stamp of an original genius. In his poetry he sometimes aims at a musical effect to which the sense is sacrificed, but at times he has a charm and a magic melody all his own. His better tales are remarkable for their originality and ingenuity of construction, and in the best of them he rises to a high level of imagination, as in The House of Usher, while The Gold Beetle or Golden Bug is one of the first examples of the cryptogram story; and in The Purloined Letters, The Mystery of Marie Roget, and The Murders in the Rue Morgue he is the pioneer of the modern detective story.
Life, Woodberry (American Men of Letters). Works ed. by Woodberry and Stedman (10 vols.), etc.
POLLOK, ROBERT (1789-1827). —Poet, b. in Refrewshire, studied for the ministry of one of the Scottish Dissenting communions. After leaving the Univ. of Glasgow he pub. anonymously Tales of the Covenanters, and in 1827, the year of his untimely death from consumption, appeared his poem, The Course of Time, which contains some fine passages, and occasionally faintly recalls Milton and Young. The poem went through many ed. in Britain and America. He d. at Shirley, near Southampton, whither he had gone in search of health.
POMFRET, JOHN (1667-1702). —Poet, s. of a clergyman, entered the Church. He wrote several rather dull poems, of which the only one remembered, though now never read, is The Choice, which celebrates a country life free from care, and was highly popular in its day.
POPE, ALEXANDER (1688-1744). —Poet, was b. in London, of Roman Catholic parentage. His f. was a linen-merchant, who m. as his second wife Edith Turner, a lady of respectable Yorkshire family, and of some fortune, made a competence, and retired to a small property at Binfield, near Windsor. P. received a somewhat desultory education at various Roman Catholic schools, but after the age of 12, when he had a severe illness brought on by over-application, he was practically self-educated. Though never a profound or accurate scholar, he had a good knowledge of Latin, and a working acquaintance with Greek. By 1704 he had written a good deal of verse, which attracted the attention of Wycherley (q.v.), who introduced him to town life and to other men of letters. In 1709 his Pastorals were pub. in Tonson's Miscellany, and two years later The Essay on Criticism appeared, and was praised by Addison. The Rape of the Lock, which came out in 1714, placed his reputation on a sure foundation, and thereafter his life was an uninterrupted and brilliant success. His industry was untiring, and his literary output almost continuous until his death. In 1713 Windsor Forest (which won him the friendship of Swift) and The Temple of Fame appeared, and in 1715 the translation of the Iliad was begun, and the work pub. at intervals between that year and 1720. It had enormous popularity, and brought the poet £5000. It was followed by the Odyssey (1725-26), in which he had the assistance of Broome and Fenton (q.v.), who, especially the former, caught his style so exactly as almost to defy identification. It also was highly popular, and increased his gains to about £8000, which placed him in a position of independence. While engaged upon these he removed to Chiswick, where he lived 1716-18, and where he issued in 1717 a coll. ed. of his works, including the Elegy on an Unfortunate Lady and the Epistle of Eloisa to Abelard. In 1718, his f. having d., he again removed with his mother to his famous villa at Twickenham, the adornment of the grounds of which became one of his chief interests, and where, now the acknowledged chief of his art, he received the visits of his friends, who included the most distinguished men of letters, wits, statesmen, and beauties of the day. His next task was his ed. of Shakespeare (1725), a work for which he was not well qualified, though the preface is a fine piece of prose. The Miscellanies, the joint work of Pope and Swift, were pub. in 1727-28, and drew down upon the authors a storm of angry comment, which in turn led to the production of The Dunciad, first pub. in 1728, and again with new matter in 1729, an additional book—the fourth—being added in 1742. In it he satirised with a wit, always keen and biting, often savage and unfair, the small wits and poetasters, and some of a quite different quality, who had, or whom he supposed to have, injured him. Between 1731 and 1735 he produced his Epistles, the last of which, addressed to Arbuthnot, is also known as the Prologue to the Satires, and contains his ungrateful character of Addison under the name of "Atticus;" and also, 1733, the Essay on Man, written under the influence of Bolingbroke. His last, and in some respects best, works were his Imitations of Horace, pub. between 1733 and 1739, and the fourth book of The Dunciad (1742), already mentioned. A naturally delicate constitution, a deformed body, extreme sensitiveness, over-excitement, and overwork did not promise a long life, and P. d. on May 30, 1744, aged 56.
His position as a poet has been the subject of much contention among critics, and on the whole is lower than that assigned him by his contemporaries and immediate successors. Of the higher poetic qualities, imagination, sympathy, insight, and pathos, he had no great share; but for the work which in his original writings, as distinguished from translations, he set himself to do, his equipment was supreme, and the medium which he used—the heroic couplet—he brought to the highest technical perfection of which it is capable. He wrote for his own age, and in temper and intellectual and spiritual outlook, such as it was, he exactly reflected and interpreted it. In the forging of condensed, pointed, and sparkling maxims of life and criticism he has no equal, and in painting a portrait Dryden alone is his rival; while in the Rape of the Lock he has produced the best mock-heroic poem in existence. Almost no author except Shakespeare is so often quoted. His extreme vanity and sensitiveness to criticism made him often vindictive, unjust, and venomous. They led him also into frequent quarrels, and lost him many friends, including Lady M. Wortley Montagu, and along with a strong tendency to finesse and stratagem, of which the circumstances attending the publication of his literary correspondence is the chief instance, make his character on the whole an unamiable one. On the other hand, he was often generous; he retained the friendship of such men as Swift and Arbuthnot, and he was a most dutiful and affectionate son.
SUMMARY.—B. 1688, ed. at various Romanist schools, introduced to Wycherley 1704, pub. Pastorals 1709, Essay on Criticism 1711, Rape of the Lock 1714, Windsor Forest and Temple of Fame 1713, translation of Iliad 1715-20, Odyssey 1725-26, coll. Works 1717, buys villa at Twickenham 1718, pub. ed. of Shakespeare 1725, Miscellanies 1727-28, Dunciad 1728 (fourth book 1742), Epistles 1731-35, Essay on Man 1733, Imitations of Horace 1733-39, d. 1744.
The best ed. of the Works is that of Elwin and Courthope, with Life by Courthope (10 vols., 1871-89).
PORDAGE, SAMUEL (1633-1691?). —Poet, s. of a clergyman in Berks, ed. at Merchant Taylor's School, studied law at Lincoln's Inn, and made various translations, wrote some poems, two tragedies, Herod and Mariamne (1673), and The Siege of Babylon (1678), and a romance, Eliana. He is best known by his Azaria and Hushai (1682), in reply to Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, distinguished from the other replies by its moderation and freedom from scurrility.
PORSON, RICHARD (1759-1808). —Scholar, s. of the parish clerk of E. Ruston, Norfolk, was distinguished from childhood by a marvellous tenacity of memory which attracted the attention of the curate of the parish, who ed. him, after which he was sent by a gentleman to Eton. Subsequently a fund was collected for the purpose of maintaining him at Camb., where he had a brilliant career, and became a Fellow of Trinity Coll. This position he lost by refusing to take orders. In 1792 he was appointed Prof. of Greek in the Univ., but resided for the most part in London, where he was much courted by literary men, but unfortunately fell into extremely intemperate habits. P. was one of the very greatest of Greek scholars and critics; but he has left little permanent work of his own. He ed. four plays of Euripides, viz., Hecuba, Orestes, Phœnissæ, and Medea. His most widely read work was his Letters to Archdeacon Travis on the disputed passage, 1 John v. 7, which is considered a masterpiece of acute reasoning. He is buried in the chapel of Trinity Coll.
PORTER, ANNA MARIA (1780-1832), PORTER, JANE (1776-1850). —Novelists, were the dau. of an Irish army surgeon, and sisters of Sir Robert Ker P., the painter and traveller. After the death of the f. the family settled in Edin., where they enjoyed the friendship of Scott. ANNA at the age of 12 pub. Artless Tales, the precursor of a series of tales and novels numbering about 50, the best being Don Sebastian (1809). JANE, though the elder by four years, did not pub. until 1803, when her first novel, Thaddeus of Warsaw, appeared. The Scottish Chiefs followed in 1810. Both of these works, especially the latter, had remarkable popularity, the Chiefs being translated into German and Russian. She had greater talent than her sister, but like her, while possessed of considerable animation and imagination, failed in grasping character, and imparting local verisimilitude. Both were amiable and excellent women. A romance, Sir Edward Seaward's Diary (1831), purporting to be a record of actual circumstances, and ed. by Jane, is generally believed to have been written by a brother, Dr. William Ogilvie P.
POWELL, FREDERICK YORK (1850-1904). —Historian, ed. at Rugby and Oxf., called to the Bar at the Middle Temple 1874, became an ardent student of history, and succeeded Froude as Prof. of Modern History at Oxf. in 1894. Absorbed in study, he wrote less than his wide and deep learning qualified him for. Among his works are A History of England to 1509, and he also wrote on Early England up to the Conquest, and on Alfred and William the Conqueror.
PRAED, WINTHROP MACKWORTH (1802-1839). —Poet, s. of a sergeant-at-law, was b. in London, ed. at Eton and Camb., and called to the Bar 1829. He sat in Parliament for various places, and was Sec. to the Board of Control 1834-35. He appeared to have a brilliant career before him, when his health gave way, and he d. of consumption in 1839. His poems, chiefly bright and witty skits and satirical pieces, were pub. first in America 1844, and appeared in England with a memoir by Derwent Coleridge in 1864. His essays appeared in 1887.
PRESCOTT, WILLIAM HICKLING (1796-1859). —Historian, b. at Salem, Massachusetts, the s. of an eminent lawyer, was ed. at Harvard, where he graduated in 1814. While there he met with an accident to one of his eyes which seriously affected his sight for the remainder of his life. He made an extended tour in Europe, and on his return to America he m., and abandoning the idea of a legal career, resolved to devote himself to literature. After ten years of study, he pub. in 1837 his History of Ferdinand and Isabella, which at once gained for him a high place among historians. It was followed in 1843 by the History of the Conquest of Mexico, and in 1847 by the Conquest of Peru. His last work was the History of Philip II., of which the third vol. appeared in 1858, and which was left unfinished. In that year he had an apoplectic shock, and another in 1859 was the cause of his death, which took place on January 28 in the last-named year. In all his works he displayed great research, impartiality, and an admirable narrative power. The great disadvantage at which, owing to his very imperfect vision, he worked, makes the first of these qualities specially remarkable, for his authorities in a foreign tongue were read to him, while he had to write on a frame for the blind. P. was a man of amiable and benevolent character, and enjoyed the friendship of many of the most distinguished men in Europe as well as in America.
PRICE, RICHARD (1723-1791). —Writer on morals, politics, and economics, s. of a dissenting minister, was b. at Tynton in Wales, ed. at a dissenting coll. in London, and was then for some years chaplain to a Mr. Streatfield, who left him some property. Thereafter he officiated as minister to various congregations near London. In 1758 his Review of the Principal Questions and Difficulties in Morals, a work of considerable metaphysical power, appeared; and it was followed in 1766 by a treatise on The Importance of Christianity. In 1769 his work on Reversionary Payments was pub., and his Northampton Mortality Table was about the same time constructed. These, though long superseded, were in their day most valuable contributions to economical science. His most popular work, Observations on Civil Liberty and the Justice and Policy of the War with America, appeared in 1776, had an enormous sale, and led to his being invited to go to America and assist in establishing the financial system of the new Government. This he declined chiefly on the score of age. Simplicity, uprightness, and toleration of opinions opposed to his own appear to have been marked traits in his character.
PRIDEAUX, HUMPHREY (1648-1724). —Divine and scholar, belonged to an ancient Cornish family, was b. at Padstow, and ed. at Westminster School and at Oxf. He first attracted notice by his description of the Arundel Marbles (1676), which gained for him powerful patrons, and he rose to be Dean of Norwich. Among his other works are a Life of Mahomet (1697), and The Old and New Testament connected in the History of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations (1715-17), long an important work, of which many ed. were brought out.
PRIESTLY, JOSEPH (1733-1804). —Chemist, theologian, and political writer, s. of a draper at Fieldhead, Yorkshire, where he was b. Brought up as a Calvinist, he gradually became a modified Unitarian, and after attending a dissenting academy at Daventry, he became minister to various congregations. About 1756 he pub. The Scripture Doctrine of Remission, denying the doctrine of atonement, and in 1761 succeeded Dr. Aiken as teacher of languages and belles-lettres in the dissenting academy at Warrington. About the same time he became acquainted with Franklin and Dr. Price (q.v.), and began to devote himself to science, the fruits of which were his History and Present State of Electricity (1767), and Vision, Light, and Colours. He also became a distinguished chemist, and made important discoveries, including that of oxygen. In 1773 he travelled on the Continent as companion to Lord Shelburne, where he was introduced to many men of scientific and literary eminence, by some of whom he was rallied upon his belief in Christianity. In reply to this he wrote Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever (1774), and in answer to the accusations of Atheism brought against him at home, he pub. (1777) Disquisition relating to Matter and Spirit. In 1780 he settled in Birmingham, in 1782 pub. his Corruptions of Christianity, and in 1786 his History of Early Opinions concerning Jesus Christ. He was one of those who wrote replies to Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution, one consequence of which was his election as a French citizen, and another the destruction of his chapel, house, papers, and instruments by a mob. Some years later he went to America, where he d. P. has been called the father of modern chemistry. He received many scientific and academic honours, being a member of the Royal Society, of the Academies of France, and of St. Petersburg, and an LL.D. of Edin. He was a man of powerful and original mind, of high character, and of undaunted courage in maintaining his opinions, which were usually unpopular.
PRINGLE, THOMAS (1789-1834). —Poet, b. in Roxburghshire, studied at Edin., and became known to Scott, by whose influence he obtained a grant of land in South Africa, to which he, with his f. and brothers, emigrated. He took to literary work in Cape Town, and conducted two papers, which were suppressed for their free criticisms of the Colonial Government. Thereupon he returned and settled in London, where he pub. African Sketches. He also produced a book of poems, Ephemerides.
PRIOR, MATTHEW (1664-1721). —Poet, b. near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, s. of a joiner who, having d., he was ed. by an uncle, and sent to Westminster School. Befriended by the Earl of Dorset he proceeded to Camb., and while there wrote, jointly with Charles Montague, The Town and Country Mouse, a burlesque of Dryden's Hind and Panther. After holding various diplomatic posts, in which he showed ability and discretion, he entered Parliament in 1700, and, deserting the Whigs, joined the Tories, by whom he was employed in various capacities, including that of Ambassador at Paris. On the death of Queen Anne he was recalled, and in 1715 imprisoned, but after two years released. In 1719 a folio ed. of his works was brought out, by which he realised £4000, and Lord Harley having presented him with an equal sum, he looked forward to the peace and comfort which were his chief ambition. He did not, however, long enjoy his prosperity, dying two years later. Among his poems may be mentioned Solomon, which he considered his best work, Alma, or the Progress of the Mind, The Female Phaeton, To a Child of Quality, and some prose tales. His chief characteristic is a certain elegance and easy grace, in which he is perhaps unrivalled. His character appears to have been by no means unimpeachable, but he was amiable and free from any trace of vindictiveness.
PROCTER, ADELAIDE ANN (1825-1864). —Poetess, eldest dau. of Bryan W.P. (q.v.). Many of her poems were first pub. in Household Words and All the Year Round, and afterwards coll. under the title of Legends and Lyrics (1858), of which many ed. appeared. In 1851 Miss P. became a Roman Catholic. She took much interest in social questions affecting women. She wrote the well-known songs, Cleansing Fires and The Lost Chord, and among her many hymns are, I do not ask, O Lord, that Life may be, and My God, I thank Thee who hast made.
PROCTER, BRYAN WALLER ("BARRY CORNWALL") (1787-1874). —Poet, b. at Leeds, and ed. at Harrow, went to London and practised successfully as a solicitor. Thereafter he became a barrister, and was, 1832-61, a Commissioner of Lunacy. By 1823 he had produced four vols. of poetry and a tragedy, Mirandola (1821). His works include Dramatic Scenes (1819), A Sicilian Story, Marcian Colonna (1820), The Flood of Thessaly (1823), and English Songs (1832), which last will perhaps survive his other writings. P. was the friend of most of his literary contemporaries, and was universally beloved.
PROUT, FATHER, (see MAHONY, F.S.).
PRYNNE, WILLIAM (1600-1669). —Controversial writer, b. near Bath, ed. at Oxf., studied law at Lincoln's Inn, of which he became a bencher, but soon became immersed in the writing of controversial pamphlets. After the Unloveliness of Lovelocks and Health's Sicknesse (1627-30) appeared his best known controversial work, Histrio-Mastix, or a Scourge for Stage Players (1633), a bitter attack on most of the popular amusements of the day. It was punished with inhuman severity. P. was brought before the Star Chamber, fined £5000, pilloried, and had both his ears cut off. Undeterred by this he issued from his prison a fierce attack upon Laud and the hierarchy, for which he was again fined, pilloried, and branded on both cheeks with the letters S.L. (seditious libeller). Removed to Carnarvon Castle he remained there until liberated in 1641 by the Long Parliament. He soon after became a member of the House, and joined with extreme, but not inexcusable, rancour in the prosecution of Laud. After this he turned his attention to the Independents, whom he hated scarcely less than the Prelatists, and was among those expelled from the House of Commons by Cromwell, whom he had opposed in regard to the execution of the King with such asperity that he again suffered imprisonment, from which he was released in 1652. He supported the Restoration, and was by Charles II. appointed Keeper of the Records in the Tower. Here he did good service by compiling the Calendar of Parliamentary Writs and Records. He pub. in all about 200 books and pamphlets.
PSALMANAZAR, GEORGE (1679?-1763). —Literary impostor. His real name is unknown. He is believed to have been a native of France or Switzerland, but represented himself as a native of the island of Formosa, and palmed off a Formosan language of his own construction, to which he afterwards added a description of the island. For a time he was in the military service of the Duke of Mecklenburg, and formed a connection with William Innes, chaplain of a Scottish regiment, who collaborated with him in his frauds, and introduced various refinements into his methods. Innes, however, was appointed chaplain to the forces in Portugal, and P. was unable to maintain his impositions, and was exposed. After a serious illness in 1728 he turned over a new leaf and became a respectable and efficient literary hack; his works in his latter days included a General History of Printing, contributions to the Universal History, and an Autobiography containing an account of his impostures.
PURCHAS, SAMUEL (1575?-1626). —Compiler of travels, b. at Thaxton, and ed. at Camb., took orders, and held various benefices, including the rectory of St. Martin's, Ludgate Hill. The papers of R. Hakluyt (q.v.) came into his hands, and he made several compilations relating to man, his nature, doings, and surroundings. His three works are (1) Purchas his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World and the Religions observed in all Ages and Places, etc.; (2) Purchas his Pilgrim, Microcosmus, or the History of Man, etc.; and (3) Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas his Pilgrimes, containing a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Land Travels, etc. Although credulous, diffuse, and confused, these works have preserved many interesting and curious matters which would otherwise have been lost.
PUSEY, EDWARD BOUVERIE (1800-1882). —Scholar and theologian, b. at Pusey, Berks, ed. at Eton and Oxf., belonged to the family of Lord Folkstone, whose name was Bouverie, his f. assuming that of P. on inheriting certain estates. After studying in Germany, he became in 1828 Regius Prof. of Hebrew at Oxf. His first important work was an Essay on the Causes of Rationalism in German Theology, and the arrest of similar tendencies in England became one of the leading objects of his life. He was one of the chief leaders of the Tractarian movement, and contributed tracts on Baptism and on Fasting. In consequence of a sermon on the Eucharist, he was in 1843 suspended from the office of Univ. Preacher which he then held. Later writings related to Confession and The Doctrine of the Real Presence, and in 1865 he issued an Eirenicon in support of union with the Church of Rome. He was prominent in all movements and controversies affecting the Univ., and was foremost among the prosecutors of Jowett (q.v.). Among his other literary labours are commentaries on Daniel and the minor Prophets, a treatise on Everlasting Punishment, and a Catalogue of the Arabic MS. in the Bodleian Library.
PUTTENHAM, GEORGE (1530?-1590). —Was one of the s. of Robert P., a country gentleman. There has been attributed to him the authorship of The Arte of Poesie, a treatise of some length divided into three parts, (1) of poets and poesy, (2) of proportion, (3) of ornament. It is now thought rather more likely that it was written by his brother RICHARD (1520?-1601). George was the author of an Apologie for Queen Elizabeth's treatment of Mary Queen of Scots.
PYE, HENRY JAMES (1745-1813). —A country gentleman of Berkshire, who pub. Poems on Various Subjects and Alfred, an Epic, translated the Poetics of Aristotle, and was Poet Laureate from 1790. In the last capacity he wrote official poems of ludicrous dulness, and was generally a jest and a byword in literary circles.
QUARLES, FRANCIS (1592-1644). —Poet, b. at the manor-house of Stewards near Romford, was at Camb., and studied law at Lincoln's Inn. Thereafter he went to the Continent, and at Heidelberg acted as cup-bearer to Elizabeth of Bohemia, dau. of James I. He next appears as sec. to Archbishop Ussher in Ireland, and was in 1639 Chronologer to the City of London. On the outbreak of the Civil War he sided with the Royalists, and was plundered by the Parliamentarians of his books and rare manuscripts, which is said to have so grieved him as to bring about his death. His first book of poems was A Feast for Worms (1620); others were Hadassa (Esther) (1621), Sion's Elegies (1625), and Divine Emblems (1635), by far his most popular book. His style was that fashionable in his day, affected, artificial, and full of "conceits," but he had both real poetical fire and genuine wit, mixed with much that was false in taste, and though quaint and crabbed, is seldom feeble or dull. He was twice m., and had by his first wife 18 children.
RADCLIFFE, MRS. ANN (WARD) (1764-1823). —Novelist, only dau. of parents in a respectable position, in 1787 m. Mr. William Radcliffe, ed. and proprietor of a weekly newspaper, the English Chronicle. In 1789 she pub. her first novel, The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne, of which the scene is laid in Scotland. It, however, gave little promise of the future power of the author. In the following year appeared The Sicilian Romance, which attracted attention by its vivid descriptions and startling incidents. Next came The Romance of the Forest (1791), followed by The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and The Italian (1797), a story of the Inquisition, the last of her works pub. during her life-time. Gaston de Blondeville, ed. by Sergeant Talfourd, was brought out posthumously. Mrs. R. has been called the Salvator Rosa of British novelists. She excels in the description of scenes of mystery and terror whether of natural scenery or incident: in the former displaying a high degree of imaginative power, and in the latter great ingenuity and fertility of invention. She had, however, little power of delineating character. Though her works belong to a type now out of fashion, they will always possess an historical interest as marking a stage in the development of English fiction.
"RAINE, ALLEN" (MRS. BEYNON PUDDICOMBE). —Novelist. A Welsh Singer (1897), Tom Sails (1898), A Welsh Witch (1901), Queen of the Rushes (1906), etc.
RALEIGH, SIR WALTER (1552?-1618). —Explorer, statesman, admiral, historian, and poet, s. of Walter R., of Fardel, Devonshire, was b. at Hayes Barton in that county. In 1568 he was sent to Oxf., where he greatly distinguished himself. In the next year he began his career of adventure by going to France as a volunteer in aid of the Huguenots, serving thereafter in the Low Countries. The year 1579 saw him engaged in his first voyage of adventure in conjunction with his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Their object was to discover and settle lands in North America; but the expedition failed, chiefly owing to opposition by the Spaniards. The next year he was fighting against the rebels in Ireland; and shortly thereafter attracted the notice of Queen Elizabeth, in whose favour he rapidly rose. In 1584 he fitted out a new colonising expedition to North America, and succeeded in discovering and occupying Virginia, named after the Queen. On his return he was knighted. In the dark and anxious days of the Armada, 1587-88, R. was employed in organising resistance, and rendered distinguished service in action. His favour with the Queen, and his haughty bearing, had, however, been raising up enemies and rivals, and his intrigue and private marriage with Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the maids of honour, in 1593, lost him for a time the favour of the Queen. Driven from the Court he returned to the schemes of adventure which had so great a charm for him, and fired by the Spanish accounts of the fabulous wealth of Guiana, he and some of his friends fitted out an expedition which, however, though attended with various brilliant episodes, proved unsuccessful. Restored to the favour of the Queen, he was appointed an Admiral in the expeditions to Cadiz, 1596, and in the following year was engaged in an attack on the Azores, in both of which he added greatly to his reputation. The death of Elizabeth in 1603 was the turning point in R.'s fortunes. Thenceforward disaster clouded his days. The new sovereign and his old enemies combined to compass his ruin. Accused of conspiring against the former he was, against all evidence, sentenced to death, and though this was not at the time carried out, he was imprisoned in the Tower and his estates confiscated. During this confinement he composed his History of the World, which he brought down to 130 B.C. It is one of the finest specimens of Elizabethan prose, reflective in matter and dignified and grave in style. Released in 1615 he set out on his last voyage, again to Guiana, which, like the former, proved a failure, and in which he lost his eldest s. He returned a broken and dying man, but met with no pity from his ungenerous King who, urged, it is believed, by the King of Spain, had him beheaded on Tower Hill, October 29, 1618. R. is one of the most striking and brilliant figures in an age crowded with great men. Of a noble presence, he was possessed of a commanding intellect and a versatility which enabled him to shine in every enterprise to which he set himself. In addition to his great fragment the History of the World, he wrote A Report of the Truth of the Fight about the Azores, and The Discoverie of the Empire of Guiana, besides various poems chiefly of a philosophic cast, of which perhaps the best known are The Pilgrimage, and that beginning "Go, Soul, the Body's Guest."
The most recent Lives are by Stebbing (1892), and Hume (1898). Works (1829), with Lives by Oldys and Birch.
RAMÉE, LOUISE DE LA ("OUIDA") (1840?-1908). —Novelist, b. at Bury St. Edmunds, dau. of an English f. and a French mother. For many years she lived in London, but about 1874 she went to Italy, where she d. She wrote over 40 novels, which had considerable popularity. Among the best known of them are Under Two Flags, Puck, Two Little Wooden Shoes, In a Winter City, In Maremma. She also wrote a book of stories for children, Bimbi. Occasionally she shows considerable power, but on the whole her writings have an unhealthy tone, want reality, and are not likely to have any permanent place in literature.
RAMSAY, ALLAN (1686-1758). —Poet, s. of a mine-manager at Leadhills, Dumfriesshire, who claimed kin with the Ramsays of Dalhousie. In his infancy he lost his f., and his mother m. a small "laird," who gave him the ordinary parish school education. In 1701 he came to Edinburgh as apprentice to a wig-maker, took to writing poetry, became a member of the "Easy Club," of which Pitcairn and Ruddiman, the grammarian, were members, and of which he was made "laureate." The club pub. his poems as they were thrown off, and their appearance soon began to be awaited with interest. In 1716 he pub. an additional canto to Christ's Kirk on the Green, a humorous poem sometimes attributed to James I., and in 1719 he became a bookseller, his shop being a meeting-place of the literati of the city. A coll. ed. of his poems appeared in 1720, among the subscribers to which were Pope, Steele, Arbuthnot, and Gay. It was followed by Fables and Tales, and other poems. In 1724 he began the Tea Table Miscellany, a collection of new Scots songs set to old melodies, and the Evergreen, a collection of old Scots poems with which R. as ed. took great liberties. This was a kind of work for which he was not qualified, and in which he was far from successful. The Gentle Shepherd, by far his best known and most meritorious work, appeared in 1725, and had an immediate popularity which, to a certain extent, it retains. It is a pastoral drama, and abounds in character, unaffected sentiment, and vivid description. After this success R., satisfied with his reputation, produced nothing, more of importance. He was the first to introduce the circulating library into Scotland, and among his other enterprises was an unsuccessful attempt to establish a theatre in Edin. On the whole his life was a happy and successful one, and he had the advantage of a cheerful, sanguine, and contented spirit. His foible was an innocent and good-natured vanity.
RAMSAY, EDWARD BANNERMAN (1793-1872). —A clergyman of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and Dean of Edinburgh in that communion from 1841, has a place in literature by his Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character, which had gone through 22 ed. at his death. It is a book full of the engaging personality of the author, and preserves many interesting and entertaining traits and anecdotes which must otherwise, in all probability, have perished. The Dean was deservedly one of the most popular men in Scotland.
RANDOLPH, THOMAS (1605-1635). —Poet and dramatist, ed. at Westminster School and Camb., was a friend of Ben Jonson, and led a wild life in London. He wrote six plays, including The Jealous Lovers, Amyntas, and The Muses' Looking-glass, and some poems. He was a scholar as well as a wit, and his plays are full of learning and condensed thought in a style somewhat cold and hard.
RAPIN DE THOYRAS, PAUL (1661-1725). —Historian, b. at Castres, Languedoc, belonged to a Protestant Savoyard family, and came to England on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1686. He afterwards served with William III. in Holland, and accompanied him to England in 1688. His History of England, written in French, was translated into English, and continued by various writers, and was the standard history until the appearance of Hume's.
RASPE, RUDOLF ERIC- (1737-1794). —B. in Hanover, was a prof. in Cassel, and keeper of the Landgrave of Hesse's antique gems and medals, in the purloining of some of which he was detected, and fled to England. Here he won for himself a certain place in English literature by the publication in 1785 of Baron Munchausen's Narrative. Only a small portion of the work in its present form is by R., the rest having been added later by another hand. He appears to have maintained more or less during life his character of a rogue, and is the prototype of Douster-swivel in Scott's Antiquary.
RAWLINSON, GEORGE (1812-1902). —Historian, b. at Chadlington. Oxfordshire, and ed. at Oxf., took orders, and was Canon of Canterbury from 1872. He held the Camden Professorship of Ancient History at Oxf. from 1861. Among his works are a translation of Herodotus (1858-62) (with his brother, Sir Henry R., q.v.), Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture Records, The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World (1862-67), Manual of Ancient History (1869), The Sixth and Seventh Great Oriental Monarchies (1873-77), History of Ancient Egypt (1881), Histories of the Phœnicians and Parthians, Memoirs of Sir H.C. Rawlinson (1898).
RAWLINSON, SIR HENRY CRESSWICKE (1810-1895). —Brother of the above, entered the service of the East India Company, and held many important diplomatic posts. He studied the cuneiform inscriptions, and pub. The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia (1861-80), Outlines of the History of Assyria (1852). He deciphered most of the inscriptions discovered by Sir A.H. Layard (q.v.).
RAY, JOHN (1627-1705). —Naturalist, s. of a blacksmith at Black Notley, Essex, was at Camb., where he became a Fellow of Trinity, and successively lecturer on Greek and mathematics. His first publication was a Latin catalogue of plants growing near Cambridge, which appeared in 1660. Thereafter he made a tour of Great Britain, and pub. in 1670 his Catalogue of the Plants of England and the adjacent Isles. In 1663 he had travelled on the Continent for three years with his pupil-friend, F. Willughby, and in 1673 appeared Observations on his journeys, which extended over the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and France, with a catalogue of plants not native to England. On the death of Willughby, R. ed. his sons, and in 1679 retired to his native village, where he continued his scientific labours until his death. These included the ed. of W.'s History of Birds and Fishes, a collection of English proverbs, Historia Plantarum Generalis (1686-1704), and Synopsis Methodica Animalium. He was for long popularly known by his treatise, The Wisdom of God manifested in the works of the Creation (1691), a precursor of Paley's Natural Theology. R. is the father of English botany, and appears to have grasped the idea of the natural classification of plants, afterwards developed by Jussieu and other later naturalists. His greatest successors, including Cuvier, highly commended his methods and acquirements.
READ, THOMAS BUCHANAN (1822-1872). —American poet, was a portrait-painter, and lived much abroad. He wrote a prose romance, The Pilgrims of the Great St. Bernard, and several books of poetry, including The New Pastoral, The House by the Sea, Sylvia, and A Summer Story. Some of the shorter pieces included in these, e.g., "Sheridan's Ride," "Drifting," and "The Closing Scene," have great merit.
READE, CHARLES (1814-1884). —Novelist, s. of a country gentleman of Oxfordshire, ed. at Oxf., and called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn 1843. He did not, however, practise, but began his literary career with some dramas, of which the most remarkable were Masks and Faces, Gold, and Drink. He afterwards rewrote the first of these as a novel, Peg Woffington (1852), which attained great popularity. It is never too late to Mend appeared in 1856, his historical novel, The Cloister and the Hearth, generally regarded as his masterpiece (1861), Hard Cash (1863), Griffith Gaunt (1867), Foul Play (1869), Put Yourself in his Place (1870), and A Terrible Temptation (1871). Critics have differed very widely as to the merits of R. as a novelist, and have attributed to, and denied him the same qualities; but it will be generally admitted that, while very unequal, he was at his best a writer of unusual power and vividness. Nearly all are agreed as to the great excellence of The Cloister and the Hearth, Mr. Swinburne placing it "among the very greatest masterpieces of narrative." Many of his novels were written with a view to the reformation of some abuse. Thus Hard Cash exposes certain private asylums, and Foul Play, written in collaboration with Dion Boucicault, is levelled against ship-knackers.
REED, HENRY (1808-1854). —Critic, was Prof. of English Literature in the Univ. of Pennsylvania. He d. in a shipwreck. He was a sympathetic and delicate critic, and was among the first of American men of letters to appreciate the genius of Wordsworth, of whose works he brought out an ed. in 1837. His lectures on English Literature, English History, and English Poets were pub.
REEVE, CLARA (1729-1807). —Novelist, was the author of several novels, of which only one is remembered—The Old English Baron (1777), written in imitation of, or rivalry with, H. Walpole's Castle of Otranto, with which it has often been printed.
REEVE, HENRY (1813-1895). —Editor, etc., s. of a physician, was on the staff of the Times, the foreign policy of which he influenced for many years. He was ed. of the Edinburgh Review 1855-95, and of the Greville Memoirs 1865. He held a leading place in society, and had an unusually wide acquaintance with men of letters all over the continent.
REID, MAYNE (1818-1883). —Novelist, b. in the north of Ireland, he set off at the age of 20 for Mexico to push his fortunes, and went through many adventures, including service in the Mexican War. He also was for a short time settled in Philadelphia engaged in literary work. Returning to this country he began a long series of novels of adventure with The Rifle Rangers (1849). The others include The Scalp Hunters, Boy Hunters, and Young Voyagers, and had great popularity, especially with boys.
REID, THOMAS (1710-1796). —Philosopher, was the s. of the minister of Strachan, Kincardineshire, where he was b. His mother was one of the gifted family of the Gregorys. At the age of 12 he was sent to Marischal Coll., Aberdeen, where he graduated, and thereafter resided for some time as librarian, devoting himself to study, especially of mathematics and the Newtonian philosophy. He was in 1737 ordained minister of New Machar, Aberdeen, and in 1748 he communicated to the Royal Society an Essay on Quantity. Four years later he became one of the Prof. of Philosophy (including mathematics and natural philosophy) in King's Coll., Aberdeen, and in 1763 he was chosen to succeed Adam Smith as Prof. of Moral Philosophy in Glasgow. In the following year he pub. his great work, Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense, directed against Hume's Essay on Human Nature. Up to the appearance of the latter work in 1739 R. had been a follower of Berkeley, but the conclusions drawn therein from the idealistic philosophy led him to revise his theories, and to propound what is usually known as the "common sense" philosophy, by which term is meant the beliefs common to rational beings as such. In 1785 he pub. his Essay on the Intellectual Powers, which was followed in 1788 by that On the Active Powers. R., who, though below the middle size, was strong and fond of exercise, maintained his bodily and mental vigour until his death at 86. His writings, distinguished by logical rigour of method and clearness of style, exercised a profound influence in France as well as at home; but his attempted refutation of Berkeley is now generally considered to have failed.
Works ed. by Sir W. Hamilton and H.L. Mansel. Sketch by Prof. A.C. Fraser (1898).
REID, SIR THOMAS WEMYSS (1842-1905). —Novelist and biographer, b. at Newcastle, and after being connected with various provincial newspapers came to London in 1887 as manager for Cassell and Co. Thereafter he was, 1890-99, ed. of The Speaker. Among his more permanent writings are The Land of the Bey (1882), Gladys Fane (1883), and Lives of W.E. Forster (1888), and Lords Houghton (1891), and Playfair (1899), and William Black (1902). He was knighted in 1894.
REYNOLDS, SIR JOSHUA (1723-1792). —Painter and writer on art, s. of a clergyman and schoolmaster at Plympton, Devonshire. After studying art in Italy, he settled in London, where he attained extraordinary fame as a portrait-painter. He is regarded as the greatest English representative of that art, and was first Pres. of the Royal Academy. He was the intimate friend of Johnson, Burke, Goldsmith, and indeed of most of the celebrated men of his time. He has also a place in literature for his Fifteen Discourses on painting, delivered to the Academy. He also contributed to the Idler, and translated Du Fresney's Art of Painting. He suffered from deafness, and in his latter years from failure of sight. He was a man of great worth and amiability. He was knighted in 1769.
RHODES, WILLIAM BARNES (1772-1826). —Dramatist, was in the Bank of England, of which he became Chief Teller. He wrote a burlesque, Bombastes Furioso, which achieved great popularity.
RHYMER, THOMAS THE, (see ERCILDOUN).
RICARDO, DAVID (1772-1823). —Political economist, s. of a Jewish stockbroker, himself followed the same business, in which he acquired a large fortune. On his marriage he conformed to Christianity. He was an original and powerful writer on economic subjects, his chief work being The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817). After retiring from business he entered the House of Commons, where, owing to his remarkable power of lucid exposition, combined with his reputation as a highly successful man of business, he acquired great influence. The writings of R. are among the classics of his subject.
RICE, JAMES (1844-1882). —Novelist, was ed. at Camb., and studied law, from which he drifted into literature. He wrote a number of successful novels in collaboration with W. Besant (q.v.).
RICH, BARNABE (1540?-1620?). —Writer of romances, b. in Essex, saw military service in the Low Countries. He began to write in 1574, and took Lyly's Euphues as his model. Among his numerous romances is The Strange and Wonderful Adventures of Simonides, a Gentleman Spaniard and Riche, his Farewell to the Military Profession (1581), which furnished Shakespeare with the plot for Twelfth Night.
RICHARDSON, SAMUEL (1689-1761). —Novelist, s. of a joiner, was b. at Derby. His f. had intended him for the Church, but means failed, and at the age of 17 he went to London, and was apprenticed to a printer. Careful and diligent, he prospered in business, became printer of the Journals of the House of Commons, and in the year before his death purchased the moiety of the patent of King's Printer. He was twice m., and each of his wives brought him six children, of whom, however, only four daughters were living at his death. R., who was the originator of the modern novel, did not take seriously to literature until he was past 50 when, in 1740, Pamela appeared. It originated in a proposal by two printers that R. should write a collection of model letters for the use of persons unaccustomed to correspondence, but it soon developed in his hands into a novel in which the story is carried on in the form of a correspondence. With faults and absurdities, it struck a true note of sentiment, and exploded the prevalent idea that dukes and princesses were the only suitable heroes and heroines (Pamela was a maid-servant), and it won immediate and phenomenal popularity. In 1748 Clarissa Harlow, his masterpiece, was pub., and in 1753 Sir Charles Grandison, in which the author embodies his ideal of a Christian gentleman. All these surfer from an elaboration of detail which often becomes tedious; but in deep acquaintance with the motives of conduct, and especially of the workings of the female heart, they are almost unrivalled; their pathos also is genuine and deep. R. had an unusual faculty as the platonic friend and counsellor of women, and was the centre of an admiring circle of the sex, who ministered to a vanity which became somewhat excessive. R. has also the distinction of evoking the genius of Fielding, whose first novel, Joseph Andrews, was begun as a skit or parody upon Pamela. R. is described as "a stout, rosy, vain, prosy little man." Life by Sir W. Scott in Ballantyne's Novelists Library. Works with preface by L. Stephen (12 vols., 1883), etc.
RITCHIE, LEITCH (1800?-1865). —Novelist, b. at Greenock and in business as a clerk in Glasgow, but about 1820 adopted literature as his profession. He wrote several novels of which the best known is Wearyfoot Common; others were The Robber of the Rhine and The Magician. In his later years he ed. Chambers's Journal.
RITSON, JOSEPH (1752-1803). —Antiquary and critic, b. at Stockton-on-Tees, settled in London as a conveyancer, at the same time devoting himself to the study of ancient English poetry. By his diligence as a collector and acuteness as a critic he rendered essential service to the preservation and appreciation of our ancient poetry. His chief works are A Collection of English Songs (1783), Ancient Songs from Henry III. to the Revolution (1790), A Collection of Scottish Songs (1794), and A Collection of all the Ancient Poems, etc., relating to Robin Hood (1795). Of a jealous and quarrelsome temper, R. was continually in controversy with his fellow-collectors and critics, including Johnson, Warton, and Percy. His acuteness enabled him to detect the Ireland forgeries. He d. insane.
ROBERTSON, FREDERICK WILLIAM (1816-1853). —Divine, s. of Captain Frederick R., of the Royal Artillery, was b. in London, and ed. at Edin. and Oxf. After holding various curacies he became in 1847 incumbent of Trinity Chapel, Brighton, where his preaching, though it brought him under the suspicion both of the High and Evangelical parties in the Church, had an extraordinary influence. Always of delicate and highly-strung constitution, his health gave way after his ministry in Brighton had extended to six years, and he d. in 1853. The beauty of his life and character had almost conquered the suspicion and dislike with which his views had inspired many. His sermons, of which five series were pub. posthumously, have had a very wide popularity.
ROBERTSON, THOMAS WILLIAM (1829-1871). —Dramatist, belonged to a family famous for producing actors. Never a successful actor himself, he produced a number of plays, which had unusual popularity. Among these are David Garrick, Society, Caste, and School.
ROBERTSON, WILLIAM (1721-1793). —Historian, s. of the parish minister of Borthwick, Midlothian, where he was b., received his earlier ed. at Dalkeith, which then had a school of some repute; but his f. being translated to Edin., he attended school, and afterwards the Univ. there, studying for the Church. In 1743 he became minister of Gladsmuir, near Prestonpans. In the '45 he showed his loyalty by offering himself to Sir J. Cope as a volunteer, a service which was, however, declined. He soon began to take a prominent part in the debates of the General Assembly, of which he rose to be the undisputed leader. In 1758 he became one of the city ministers of Edin., and in the following year pub. his History of Scotland, which had an extraordinary success, and at once raised him to a foremost place among British historians. Preferment immediately followed: he was made Chaplain of Stirling Castle 1759, King's Chaplain for Scotland 1760, Principal of the Univ. of Edin. 1761, and Historiographer for Scotland 1763. In 1769 appeared the History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V., in 1777 The History of America, and in 1791 Historical Disquisition on Ancient India. In 1780 R. retired from the management of Church affairs, in which he had shown conspicuous ability, and gave himself to study, and the society of his friends, among whom were most of his distinguished contemporaries. As a writer he possessed a finished style, clear, measured, and stately, which carried his well-arranged narrative as on a full and steady stream; he was also cool and sagacious but, like Hume, he was apt to take his facts at second hand, and the vast additional material which has been in course of accumulation since his day has rendered the value of his work more and more literary, and less and less historical.
Lives by Dugald Stewart (1801), Bishop Gleig (1812), and Lord Brougham in Men of Letters.
ROBINSON, HENRY CRABB (1775-1867). —Diarist, b. at Bury St. Edmunds, was articled to an attorney in Colchester. Between 1800 and 1805 he studied at various places in Germany, and became acquainted with nearly all the great men of letters there, including Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Wieland, etc. Thereafter he became war correspondent to the Times in the Peninsula. On his return to London he studied for the Bar, to which he was called in 1813, and became leader of the Eastern Circuit. Fifteen years later he retired, and by virtue of his great conversational powers and other qualities, became a leader in society, going everywhere and knowing everybody worth knowing. He d. unmarried, aged 91, and his Diary, Reminiscences and Correspondence, which stands in the forefront of its class, was pub. in 1869.
ROCHESTER, JOHN WILMOT (2ND EARL OF) (1647-1680). —Poet, s. of the 1st Earl, b. at Ditchley in Oxfordshire, and ed. at Oxf., saw some naval service when he showed conspicuous bravery. He became one of the most dissolute of the courtiers of Charles II., and wore himself out at 33 by his wild life. He was handsome, and witty, and possessed a singular charm of manner. He wrote a number of light, graceful poems, many of them extremely gross. Bishop Burnet, who attended him on his deathbed, believed him to have been sincerely repentant. In addition to his short pieces he wrote a Satyr against Mankind, and a tragedy, Valentinian, adapted from Beaumont and Fletcher.
ROGERS, HENRY (1806-1877). —Critic and theologian, was a minister of the Congregationalist Church, and ultimately Prof. of English Literature in Univ. Coll., London. He was a contributor to the Edinburgh Review, and is best known by his Eclipse of Faith (1852), a reply to F.W. Newman's Phases of Faith. This work, which displays remarkable acuteness and logical power, had great popularity.
ROGERS, SAMUEL (1763-1855). —Poet, s. of a banker in London, received a careful private education, and entered the bank, of which, on his father's death, he became the principal partner. From his early youth he showed a marked taste for literature and the fine arts, which his wealth enabled him to gratify; and in his later years he was a well-known leader in society and a munificent patron of artists and men of letters, his breakfasts, at which he delighted to assemble celebrities in all departments, being famous. He was the author of the following poems: The Pleasures of Memory (1792), Columbus (1810), Jacqueline (1814), Human Life (1819), and Italy (1822). R. was emphatically the poet of taste, and his writings, while full of allusion and finished description, rarely show passion or intensity of feeling; but are rather the reflections and memory-pictures of a man of high culture and refinement expressed in polished verse. He had considerable powers of conversation and sarcasm. He was offered, but declined, the laureateship.
ROLLE, RICHARD (1290?-1349). —Hermit and poet, b. at Thornton, Yorkshire, was at Oxf. Impressed by the uncertainty and the snares of life he decided to become a hermit, a resolution which he carried out with somewhat romantic circumstances. He wrote various religious treatises in Latin and English, turned the Psalms into English verse, and composed a poem—The Pricke of Conscience—in 7 books, in which is shown the attitude of protest which was rising against certain Papal pretensions and doctrines.
ROLLOCK, ROBERT (1555?-1599). —Theologian and scholar, b. in Stirlingshire, was first a Prof. in St. Andrews, and then the first Principal of the Univ. of Edin. He also held office as Prof. of Theology, and was one of the ministers of the High Church. He was one of the earliest of Protestant commentators. He wrote chiefly in Latin, but some of his sermons and commentaries are in vernacular Scotch.
ROPER, WILLIAM (1496-1578). —Biographer, s. of a Kentish gentleman, m. Margaret, dau. of Sir Thomas More. He has a place in literature for his excellent and appreciative biography of his father-in-law. He was a member of various Parliaments between 1529 and 1558. Although he remained a Roman Catholic, he was permitted to retain his office of prothonotary of the Court of King's Bench after the accession of Elizabeth.
ROSCOE, WILLIAM (1753-1831). —Historian, s. of a market-gardener near Liverpool, for a time assisted his f., devoting all his spare time to mental improvement. Subsequently he entered the office of an attorney, and in due time went into business on his own account, continuing, however, his literary studies. In 1799 he joined a local bank as partner and manager, which proved an unfortunate step, as the bank was obliged, in 1816, to suspend payment. In 1795 he rose into fame at a bound by his Life of Lorenzo de' Medici. It was followed in 1805 by the Life and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth, which, though also a work of great ability, had not the same success—his treatment of the Reformation offending Protestants and Roman Catholics alike. Both works were translated into various languages. He also wrote some poems, including The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast, and several pamphlets on political questions, including the slave-trade, of which he was a determined opponent. He also took a leading part in the public life of Liverpool, which he represented in Parliament for a few years. He was an accomplished botanist.
ROSCOMMON, WENTWORTH DILLON, 4TH EARL of (1633?-1685). —Poet, nephew of the famous Earl of Strafford, was b. in Ireland. He studied and travelled on the Continent, and enjoyed a considerable literary reputation in his own day on the strength of a poetical Essay on Translated Verse, and translations from Horace's Art of Poetry.
ROSE, WILLIAM STEWART (1775-1843). —Poet and translator, s. of George R., who held various Government offices, including that of Treasurer of the Navy. After being ed. at Eton and Camb., he was appointed Reading Clerk to the House of Lords. He translated the romance of Amadis de Gaul (1803), Partenopex de Blois (1807), etc., and from 1823-31 was occupied with the principal work of his life, his translations from the Italian, including the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto, in which he was encouraged by Sir W. Scott, whose friend he was. He also produced a vol. of poems, The Crusade of St. Louis (1810).
ROSSETTI, CHRISTINA GEORGINA (1830-1894). —Poetess, sister of Dante Gabriel R. (q.v.), was b. in London, where she lived all her life. She began to write poetry in early girlhood, some of her earliest verse appearing in 1850 in the Germ, the magazine of the pre-Raphaelites, of which her brother was one of the founders. Her subsequent publications were Goblin Market and other Poems (1862), The Prince's Progress (1866), A Pageant and other Poems (1881), and Verses (1893). New Poems (1896) appeared after her death. Sing-Song was a book of verses for children. Her life was a very retired one, passed largely in attending on her mother, who lived until 1886, and in religious duties. She twice rejected proposals of marriage. Her poetry is characterised by imaginative power, exquisite expression, and simplicity and depth of thought. She rarely imitated any forerunner, and drew her inspiration from her own experiences of thought and feeling. Many of her poems are definitely religious in form; more are deeply imbued with religious feeling and motive. In addition to her poems she wrote Commonplace and other Stories, and The Face of the Deep, a striking and suggestive commentary on the Apocalypse.
ROSSETTI, DANTE GABRIEL (1828-1882). —Poet and painter, was b. in London. His f. was Gabriele Rossetti, an Italian scholar, who came to England in 1824, and was Prof. of Italian in King's Coll., London. His mother was Frances Polidori, English on her mother's side, so that the poet was three-fourths Italian, and one-fourth English. He was ed. at King's Coll. School, and began the systematic study of painting in 1842, and in 1848, with Holman Hunt, Millais, and others, founded the pre-Raphaelite school of painting. In 1849 he exhibited the "Girlhood of Mary Virgin," and among his other pictures are "Beata Beatrix," "Monna Vanna," and "Dante's Dream." Simultaneously with art he worked hard at poetry, and by 1847 he had written The Blessed Damozel and Hand and Soul (both of which appeared in the Germ, the magazine of the pre-Raphaelites), Retro me Sathanas, The Portrait, and The Choice, and in 1861 he brought out a vol. of translations from the early Italian poets under the title of Dante and his Circle. The death of his wife in 1862, after a married life of less than two years, told heavily upon him, as did various attacks upon his poetry, including that of Robert Buchanan (q.v.)—The Fleshly School of Poetry—to which he replied with The Stealthy School of Criticism. His Poems which, in the vehemence of his grief, he had buried in the coffin of his wife, and which were afterwards exhumed, appeared in 1870; and his last literary effort, Ballads and Sonnets, containing the sonnets forming The House of Life, in 1881. In his later years he suffered acutely from neuralgia, which led to the habit of taking chloral. Rossetti was fastidious in composition; his poems are as remarkable for condensation, finish, and exact expression of the poet's thought as for their sumptuous colouring and rich concrete imagery. In later years he was subject to depression, and became somewhat embittered, and much of a recluse.
Life by A.C. Benson (English Men of Letters). Family Letters and Memoir by W.M. Rossetti. Poetical Works with preface by the same, etc.
ROUS, FRANCIS (1579-1659). —Versifier of the Psalms, a Cornishman, and a prominent Puritan, took a leading part in Parliament, was Provost of Eton, and wrote several theological and devotional works. His memory has, however, been chiefly kept green by his translation of the Psalms into verse, which with some modifications was adopted by the Church and Parliament of Scotland for use in public worship, a position which it held almost exclusively until the middle of the 19th century. It is still in universal use in the Presbyterian churches of that country, though now accompanied by hymns. Though rough, and sometimes, through the endeavour to maintain literalness, grotesque, it is strong and simple, and not seldom rises to a certain severe beauty; and association has endeared it to many generations of Scottish Christians.
ROW, JOHN (1568-1646). —Scottish ecclesiastical historian, b. at Perth, s. of John R., one of the Scottish Reformers, was minister of Carnock in Fife, and a leading opponent of Episcopacy. His Historie of the Kirk of Scotland, 1558-1637, left by him in manuscript, was printed in 1842 for the Wodrow Society. It is an original authority for the period.
ROWE, NICHOLAS (1674-1718). —Dramatist and poet, b. of a good family at Little Barford, Bedfordshire, was bred to the law, but inheriting an income of £300 a year, he devoted himself to literature, and produced several dramas, including The Ambitious Stepmother, The Fair Penitent, and Jane Shore. The last, which is his best, contains some scenes of true pathos, and holds its place. He also wrote some poems, and translated Lucan. R., who was a man of very engaging manners, was the friend of Pope, Swift, and Addison, and received many lucrative appointments, including that of Under-Sec. of State. He has the distinction of being the first ed. and biographer of Shakespeare (1709). He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, with an epitaph by Pope.
ROWLEY, WILLIAM (1585?-1642?). —Dramatist, was an actor in the Queen's Company 1610. He collaborated with Middleton in A Fair Quarrel and The Changeling, and in others with Dekker, Webster, etc., and wrote unassisted A New Wonder, A Match at Midnight, A Shoemaker, a Gentleman, and several others; also a picture of life in London called A Search for Money. R. was vigorous and humorous, but his verse lacked sweetness and smoothness.
RUDDIMAN, THOMAS (1674-1757). —Grammarian, b. in Banffshire, and ed. at King's Coll., Aberdeen, obtained a position in the Advocates' Library in Edin., of which in 1730 he became Librarian. In 1714 he pub. his Rudiments of the Latin Tongue, which was for long the recognised Latin grammar in the schools of Scotland. He was made printer to the Univ. in 1728. R., who was one of the greatest of Scottish Latinists, produced an ed. of the works of George Buchanan, and an ed. of Livy said to be "immaculate." He also reprinted, with notes, Gavin Douglas's version of the Æneid.
RUSKIN, JOHN (1819-1900). —Writer on art, economics, and sociology, was b. in London, the s. of a wealthy wine merchant, a Scotsman. Brought up under intellectually and morally bracing Puritan influences, his education was mainly private until he went to Oxf. in 1836; he remained until 1840, when a serious illness interrupted his studies, and led to a six months' visit to Italy. On his return in 1842 he took his degree. In 1840 he had made the acquaintance of Turner, and this, together with a visit to Venice, constituted a turning point in his life. In 1843 appeared the first vol. of Modern Painters, the object of which was to insist upon the superiority in landscape of the moderns, and especially of Turner, to all the ancient masters. The earnestness and originality of the author and the splendour of the style at once called attention to the work which, however, awakened a chorus of protest from the adherents of the ancients. A second vol. appeared in 1846, the third and fourth in 1856, and the fifth in 1860. Meanwhile he had pub. The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849), The Stones of Venice (1851-53), perhaps his greatest work, Lectures on Architecture and Painting (1854), Elements of Drawing (1856), and Elements of Perspective (1859). During the 17 years between the publication of the first and the last vols. of Modern Painters his views alike on religion and art had become profoundly modified, and the necessity of a radical change in the moral and intellectual attitude of the age towards religion, art, and economics in their bearing upon life and social conditions had become his ruling idea. He now assumed the rôle of the prophet as Carlyle, by whose teaching he was profoundly influenced, had done, and the rest of his life was spent in the endeavour to turn the mind of the nation in the direction he desired. The Political Economy of Art (1857) showed the line in which his mind was moving; but it was in Unto this Last, pub. in the Cornhill Magazine in 1860, that he began fully to develop his views. It brought down upon him a storm of opposition and obloquy which continued for years, and which, while it acted injuriously upon his highly sensitive nervous system, had no effect in silencing him or modifying his views. There followed Munera Pulveris (Gifts of the Dust), The Crown of Wild Olive, Sesame and Lilies (1865), Time and Tide by Wear and Tyne, and innumerable fugitive articles. In 1869 R. was appointed first Slade Prof. of the Fine Arts at Oxf., and endowed a school of drawing in the Univ. His successive courses of lectures were pub. as Aratra Pentelici (Ploughs of Pentelicus) (1870), The Eagle's Nest (1872), Ariadne Florentina (1872), and Love's Meinie (1873). Contemporaneously with these he issued with more or less regularity, as health permitted, Fors Clavigera (Chance the Club-bearer), a series of miscellaneous notes and essays, sold by the author himself direct to the purchasers, the first of a series of experiments—of which the Guild of St. George, a tea room, and a road-making enterprise were other examples—in practical economics. After the death of his mother in 1871 he purchased a small property, Brantwood, in the Lake district, where he lived for the remainder of his life, and here he brought out in monthly parts his last work, Præterita, an autobiography, 24 parts of which appeared, bringing down the story to 1864. Here he d. on January 20, 1900. R. was a man of noble character and generous impulses, but highly strung, irritable, and somewhat intolerant. He is one of our greatest stylists, copious, eloquent, picturesque, and highly coloured. His influence on his time was very great, at first in the department of art, in which he was for a time regarded as the supreme authority, later and increasingly in the realms of economics and morals, in which he was at first looked upon as an unpractical dreamer. He m. in 1848, but the union proved unhappy, and was dissolved in 1855.
For his Life see his own works, especially Præterita. Life and Works by Collingwood (2 vols., 1893). Bibliography, T.J. Wise (1889-93). Shorter works by Mrs. Meynell, J.A. Hobson, F. Harrison, etc.
RUSSELL, LORD JOHN, 1ST EARL RUSSELL (1792-1878). —Statesman, biographer, and historical writer, third s. of the 6th Duke of Bedford, was ed. at Westminster School and the Univ. of Edin. He entered Parliament in 1813, and became one of the most eminent English statesmen of the 19th century. He uniformly acted with the Whig and afterwards with the Liberal party, advocated all measures of progress, especially the removal of tests, the extension of education, and Parliamentary reform. He was the leader of his party in the House of Commons from 1834-55, represented the City of London from 1841 until his elevation to the peerage in 1861, and held the offices of Paymaster of the Forces, Home Sec., Colonial Sec., Foreign Sec., and Prime Minister, which last he held twice, 1846-52, and 1865-66. His contributions to literature were considerable, both in number and importance, and include Essay on the English Constitution (1821), Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht (1824), Correspondence of the 4th Duke of Bedford, Life, Diary, and Letters of Thomas Moore, Correspondence of Charles James Fox, and a Life of the same statesman, Essays on the Rise and Progress of the Christian Religion in the West of Europe (1873), and Recollections and Suggestions (1875).
RUSSELL, WILLIAM (1741-1793). —Historian, b. in Selkirkshire, and apprenticed to a bookseller in Edin., he was patronised by Lord Elibank, and went to London, where he followed literature as a profession. He wrote poems and fables, a History of America (1779), and a History of Modern Europe, which he left unfinished.
RUSSELL, SIR WILLIAM HOWARD (1821-1907). —War correspondent, b. in Co. Dublin, was called to the Bar in 1850. Having joined the staff of the Times, he was sent as war correspondent to the Crimea, his letters from which caused a profound sensation, and led to an improved condition of things in regard to the army. He was also correspondent in India during the Mutiny, in America during the Civil War, and during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and the Franco-German War of 1870-71, in South Africa in 1879, and in Egypt in 1883. Among his books are The Adventures of Dr. Brady (1868), Hesperothen (1882), A Visit to Chili (1890), and The Great War with Russia (1895). He was knighted in 1895, and also received various foreign decorations.
RUTHERFORD, SAMUEL (1600?-1661). —Theologian and controversialist, b. at Nisbet, Roxburghshire, ed. at Edin. Univ., where he became in 1623 Regent of Humanity (Prof. of Latin). In 1627 he was settled as minister of Anwoth in Galloway, whence he was banished to Aberdeen for nonconformity. On the re-establishment of Presbytery in 1638 he was made Prof. of Divinity at St. Andrews, and in 1651 Principal of St. Mary's Coll. there, and he was one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly. At the Restoration he was deprived of all his offices. He was a formidable controversialist, and a strenuous upholder of the divine right of Presbytery. Among his polemical works are Due Right of Presbyteries (1644), Lex Rex (1644), and Free Disputation against Pretended Liberty of Conscience. Lex Rex was, after the Restoration, burned by the common hangman, and led to the citation of the author for high treason, which his death prevented from taking effect. His chief fame, however, rests upon his spiritual and devotional works, such as Christ Dying and drawing Sinners to Himself, but especially upon his Letters, which display a fervour of feeling and a rich imagery which, while highly relished by some, repel others.
RYCAUT, or RICAUT, SIR PAUL (1628-1700). —Historian, was at Camb., and held various diplomatic positions. He wrote Present State of the Ottoman Empire (1668), and a continuation of Knolles's General Historie of the Turks, and translated Platina's Latin History of the Popes.
RYMER, THOMAS (1641-1713). —Archæologist and critic, ed. at Camb., became a barrister at Gray's Inn. He pub. in 1678 Tragedies of the last Age Considered, in which he passed judgments, very unfavourable, upon their authors, including Shakespeare. He was of much more use as the collector of English treaties, which he pub. under the title of Fædera, in 20 vols., the last 5 of which were ed. after his death by R. Sanderson (q.v.). R. also pub. poems and a play, Edgar. He held the office of historiographer to William III. His learning and industry have received the recognition of many subsequent historians.
ST. JOHN, H., (see BOLINGBROKE).
SALA, GEORGE AUGUSTUS HENRY (1828-1895). —Journalist and novelist, b. in London of Italian ancestry, began life as an illustrator of books and scene-painter, afterwards taking to literature. He contributed to many periodicals, including Household Words, and the Illustrated London News, and was the founder and first ed. of Temple Bar. Among his novels were The Buddington Peerage and Quite Alone. He also wrote books of travel, and an autobiographical work, his Life and Adventures (1895).
SALE, GEORGE (1697?-1736). —Orientalist, a Kentish man, and practising solicitor. In 1734 he pub. a translation of the Koran. He also assisted in the Universal History, and was one of the correctors of the Arabic New Testament issued by the S.P.C.K.
SANDERSON, ROBERT (1587-1663). —Theologian and casuist, b. of good family at Rotherham in Yorkshire, was at Oxf. Entering the Church he rose to be Bishop of Lincoln. His work on logic, Logicæ Artis Compendium (1615), was long a standard treatise on the subject. His sermons also were admired; but he is perhaps best remembered by his Nine Cases of Conscience Resolved (1678), in consideration of which he has been placed at the head of English casuists. He left large collections of historical and heraldic matter in MS.
SANDS, ROBERT CHARLES (1799-1832). —Miscellaneous writer, b. at New York, was a scholarly and versatile writer, but without much originality. His best work is in his short stories. His chief poem was Yamoyden, an Indian story written in collaboration with a friend.
SANDYS, GEORGE (1578-1644). —Traveller and translator, s. of an Archbishop of York, b. at Bishopsthorpe, and ed. at Oxf., is one of the best of the earlier travellers, learned, observant, and truth-loving. He pub. in 1615 an account of his journeys in the East which was highly popular. He also translated when in America the Metamorphoses of Ovid, produced a metrical Paraphrase on the Psalms, with music by Henry Lawes, and another on the Canticles, and wrote Christ's Passion, a tragedy. He held various public offices, chiefly in connection with the colony of Virginia.
SAVAGE, RICHARD (1697?-1743). —Poet, was probably of humble birth, but claimed to be the illegitimate s. of the Countess of Macclesfield. He was the friend of Johnson in the early and miserable days of the latter in London; and in The Lives of the Poets J. has given his story as set forth by himself, which is, if true, a singular record of maternal cruelty. There are strong reasons, however, for doubting whether it was anything but a tissue of falsehoods mingled with gross exaggerations of fact. He led a wildly irregular life, killed a gentleman in a tavern brawl, for which he was sentenced to death, but pardoned; and by his waywardness alienated nearly all who wished to befriend him. For a time he had a pension of £50 from Queen Caroline on condition of his writing an ode yearly on her birthday. He wrote Love in a Veil (1718) (comedy) and Sir Thomas Overbury (1723) (tragedy), and two poems, The Bastard (1728) and The Wanderer (1729). He d. in prison at Bristol.
SAVILE, SIR HENRY (1549-1622). —Scholar, ed. at Oxf., where he lectured on mathematics. He was afterwards Warden of Merton Coll. and Provost of Eton, and made a translation from Tacitus entitled, The Ende of Nero and Beginning of Galba, etc. (1581), and in the same year pub. Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores post Bedam Præcipui, a collection of some of the chronicles subsequent to Bede, William of Malmesbury, Roger of Hoveden, etc. He founded the Savilian Professorship of Astronomy and Geometry at Oxf.
SAXBY, EDWARD (d. 1658). —B. in Suffolk, and was in Cromwell's Horse. His extreme republican views, however, led him into the bitterest antagonism when C. assumed the Protectorship. This received expression in his extraordinary pamphlet, Killing no Murder, in which the assassination of C. is advocated, and which displays in a remarkable degree perverted ingenuity of argument combined with considerable literary power. S. d. demented in the Tower in 1658.
SCOTT, ALEXANDER (1525?-1584?). —Scottish poet. Almost nothing is known of his life, but he is believed to have spent most of his time in or near Edin. Thirty-six short poems are attributed to him, including Ane New Yeir Gift to Quene Mary, The Rondel of Love, and a satire, Justing at the Drum. He has great variety of metre, and is graceful and musical, but his satirical pieces are often extremely coarse.
SCOTT, HUGH STOWELL (1863?-1903). —Novelist (under the name of Henry Seton Merriman). He was an underwriter in Lloyd's, but having a strong literary bent, latterly devoted himself to writing novels, many of which had great popularity. They include The Slave of the Lamp (1892), The Sowers (generally considered his best) (1896), In Kedar's Tents (1897), Roden's Corner (1898), Isle of Unrest (1900), The Velvet Glove (1901), The Vultures (1902), and Barlasch of the Guard (1903). He worked with great care, and his best books hold a high place in modern fiction. He was unusually modest and retiring in character.
SCOTT, JOHN (1730-1783). —Poet, s. of a Quaker draper who in his later years lived at Amwell, a village in Herts, which the poet celebrates in his descriptive poem, Amwell. He wrote much other verse now forgotten.
SCOTT, LADY JOHN (ALICIA ANN SPOTTISWOODE) (1801-1900). —M. Lord John Scott. She was the writer of a number of Scottish songs characterised by true poetic feeling. Among them may be mentioned Annie Laurie, Douglas, and Durrisdeer. She also composed the music for them.
SCOTT, MICHAEL (1789-1835). —Novelist, b. near and ed. at Glasgow, and settled in business at Kingston, Jamaica, which led to his making frequent sea voyages, and thus yielded him experiences which he turned to account in two vivacious novels, Tom Cringle's Log and The Cruise of the Midge, both of which first appeared in Blackwood's Magazine, where they attained deserved popularity. They have frequently been reprinted. The author, however, maintained a strict incognito during his life.
SCOTT, SIR WALTER (1771-1832). —Poet, novelist, and biographer, s. of Walter S., a Writer to the Signet in Edinburgh, and Margaret Rutherford, dau. of one of the Prof. of Medicine in the Univ. there. Through both parents he was connected with several old Border families; his f. was a scion of the Scotts of Harden, well known in Border history. In early childhood he suffered from a severe fever, one of the effects of which was a permanent lameness, and for some time he was delicate. The native vigour of his constitution, however, soon asserted itself, and he became a man of exceptional strength. Much of his childhood was spent at his grandfather's farm at Sandyknowe, Roxburghshire, and almost from the dawn of intelligence he began to show an interest in the traditionary lore which was to have so powerful an influence on his future life, an interest which was nourished and stimulated by several of the older members of his family, especially one of his aunts. At this stage he was a quick-witted, excitable child, who required rather to be restrained than pressed forward. At the age of 7 he was strong enough to be sent to the High School of Edinburgh, where he was more remarkable for miscellaneous and out-of-the-way knowledge and his powers of story-telling than for proficiency in the ordinary course of study; and notwithstanding his lameness, he was to be found in the forefront wherever adventure or fighting were to be had. Thereafter he was for three sessions at the Univ., where he bore much the same character as at school. He was, however, far from idle, and was all the time following the irresistible bent, which ultimately led to such brilliant results, in a course of insatiable reading of ballads and romances, to enlarge which he had by the time he was 15 acquired a working knowledge of French and Italian, and had made the acquaintance of Dante and Ariosto in the original. Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry, pub. in 1765, came into his hands in 1784, and proved one of the most formative influences of this period. At 15 he was apprenticed to his f., but preferring the higher branch of the profession, he studied for the Bar, to which he was called in 1792. He did not, however, forego his favourite studies, but ransacked the Advocates' Library for old manuscripts, in the deciphering of which he became so expert that his assistance soon came to be invoked by antiquarians of much longer standing. Although he worked hard at law his ideal was not the attainment of an extensive practice, but rather of a fairly paid post which should leave him leisure for his favourite pursuits, and this he succeeded in reaching, being appointed first in 1799 Sheriff of Selkirk, and next in 1812 one of the Principal Clerks to the Court of Session, which together brought him an income of £1600. Meanwhile in 1795 he had translated Bürger's ballad of Lenore, and in the following year he made his first appearance in print by publishing it along with a translation of The Wild Huntsman by the same author. About the same time he made the acquaintance of "Monk" Lewis, to whose collection of Tales of Wonder he contributed the ballads of Glenfinlas, The Eve of St. John, and The Grey Brother; and he pub. in 1799 a translation of Goethe's Goetz von Berlichingen. In 1797 he was m. to Miss Charlotte Margaret Charpentier, the dau. of a French gentleman of good position. The year 1802 saw the publication of Scott's first work of real importance, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, of which 2 vols. appeared, the third following in the next year. In 1804 he went to reside at Ashestiel on the Tweed, where he ed. the old romance, Sir Tristrem, and in 1805 he produced his first great original work, The Lay of the Last Minstrel, which was received with great favour, and decided that literature was thenceforth to be the main work of his life. In the same year the first few chapters of Waverley were written; but the unfavourable opinion of a friend led to the MS. being laid aside for nearly 10 years. In 1806 S. began, by a secret partnership, that association with the Ballantynes which resulted so unfortunately for him 20 years later. Marmion was pub. in 1808: it was even more popular than the Lay, and raised his reputation proportionately. The same year saw the publication of his elaborate ed. of Dryden with a Life, and was also marked by a rupture with Jeffrey, with whom he had been associated as a contributor to the Edinburgh Review, and by the establishment of the new firm of J. Ballantyne and Co., of which the first important publication was The Lady of the Lake, which appeared in 1810, The Vision of Don Roderick following in 1811. In 1812 S. purchased land on the Tweed near Melrose, and built his famous house, Abbotsford, the adornment of which became one of the chief pleasures of his life, and which he made the scene of a noble and kindly hospitality. In the same year he pub. Rokeby, and in 1813 The Bridal of Triermain, while 1814 saw The Life and Works of Swift in 19 vols., and was made illustrious by the appearance of Waverley, the two coming out in the same week, the latter, of course, like its successors, anonymously. The next year, The Lord of the Isles, Guy Mannering, and The Field of Waterloo appeared, and the next again, 1816, Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk, The Antiquary, The Black Dwarf, and Old Mortality, while 1817 saw Harold the Dauntless and Rob Roy. The enormous strain which S. had been undergoing as official, man of letters, and man of business, began at length to tell upon him, and in this same year, 1817, he had the first of a series of severe seizures of cramp in the stomach, to which, however, his indomitable spirit refused to yield, and several of his next works, The Heart of Midlothian (1818), by many considered his masterpiece, The Bride of Lammermoor, The Legend of Montrose, and Ivanhoe, all of 1819, were dictated to amanuenses, while he was too ill to hold a pen. In 1820 The Monastery, in which the public began to detect a falling off in the powers of the still generally unknown author, appeared. The immediately following Abbot, however, showed a recovery. Kenilworth and The Pirate followed in 1821, The Fortunes of Nigel in 1822; Peveril of the Peak, Quentin Durward, and St. Ronan's Well in 1823; Redgauntlet in 1824, and Tales of the Crusaders (The Betrothed and The Talisman) in 1825. By this time S. had long reached a pinnacle of fame such as perhaps no British man of letters has ever attained during his lifetime. He had for a time been the most admired poet of his day, and though latterly somewhat eclipsed by Byron, he still retained great fame as a poet. He also possessed a great reputation as an antiquary, one of the chief revivers of interest in our ancient literature, and as the biographer and ed. of several of our great writers; while the incognito which he maintained in regard to his novels was to many a very partial veil. The unprecedented profits of his writings had made him, as he believed, a man of wealth; his social prestige was immense; he had in 1820 been made a baronet, when that was still a real distinction, and he had been the acknowledged representative of his country when the King visited it in 1822. All this was now to change, and the fabric of prosperity which he had raised by his genius and labour, and which had never spoiled the simplicity and generosity of his character, was suddenly to crumble into ruin with, however, the result of revealing him as the possessor of qualities even greater and nobler than any he had shown in his happier days. The publishing and printing firms with which he had been connected fell in the commercial crisis of 1826, and S. found himself at 55, and with failing health, involved in liabilities amounting to £130,000. Never was adversity more manfully and gallantly met. Notwithstanding the crushing magnitude of the disaster and the concurrent sorrow of his wife's illness, which soon issued in her death, he deliberately set himself to the herculean task of working off his debts, asking only that time might be given him. The secret of his authorship was now, of course, revealed, and his efforts were crowned with a marvellous measure of success. Woodstock, his first publication after the crash, appeared in the same year and brought £8000; by 1828 he had earned £40,000. In 1827 The Two Drovers, The Highland Widow, and The Surgeon's Daughter, forming the first series of Chronicles of the Canongate, appeared together with The Life of Napoleon in 9 vols., and the first series of Tales of a Grandfather; in 1828 The Fair Maid of Perth and the second series of Tales of a Grandfather, Anne of Geierstein, a third series of the Tales, and the commencement of a complete ed. of the novels in 1829; a fourth and last series of Tales, History of Scotland, and other work in 1830. Then at last the overworked brain gave way, and during this year he had more than one paralytic seizure. He was sent abroad for change and rest, and a Government frigate was placed at his disposal. But all was in vain; he never recovered, and though in temporary rallies he produced two more novels, Count Robert of Paris and Castle Dangerous, both in 1831, which only showed that the spell was broken, he gradually sank, and d. at Abbotsford on September 21, 1832.
The work which S. accomplished, whether looked at as regards its mass or its quality, is alike marvellous. In mere amount his output in each of the four departments of poetry, prose fiction, history and biography, and miscellaneous literature is sufficient to fill an ordinary literary life. Indeed the quantity of his acknowledged work in other departments was held to be the strongest argument against the possibility of his being the author of the novels. The achievement of such a result demanded a power of steady, methodical, and rapid work almost unparalleled in the history of literature. When we turn to its quality we are struck by the range of subject and the variableness of the treatment. In general there is the same fulness of mind directed by strong practical sense and judgment, but the style is often heavy, loose, and even slipshod, and in most of his works there are "patches" in which he falls far below his best. His poetry, though as a whole belonging to the second class, is full of broad and bold effects, picturesqueness, and an irresistible rush and freshness. As a lyrist, however, he stands much higher, and in such gems as "Proud Maisie" and "A weary lot is thine, Fair Maid," he takes his place among our greatest singers. His chief fame rests, of course, upon the novels. Here also, however, there is the same inequality and irregularity, but there is a singular command over his genius in virtue of which the fusing, creating imagination responds to his call, and is at its greatest just where it is most needed. For the variety, truth, and aliveness of his characters he has probably no equal since Shakespeare, and though, of course, coming far behind, he resembles him alike in his range and in his insight. The most remarkable feature in his character is the union of an imagination of the first order with practical sagacity and manly sanity, in this also resembling his great predecessor.
SUMMARY.—B. 1771, ed. Edin., called to Bar 1792, Sheriff of Selkirk 1799, Principal Clerk of Session 1812, first pub. translation of Lenore, etc., wrote ballads and made translation from German, pub. Minstrelsy of Scottish Border 1802-3, Lay of Last Minstrel 1805, began Waverley 1805, partner with Ballantynes 1806, pub. Marmion 1808, Lady of Lake 1810, began to build Abbotsford 1812, Waverley novels began and continued 1814-31, health began to fail 1817, made Baronet 1820, ruined by failure of Ballantynes 1826, devotes rest of his life to clearing off debt by novels and historical works, Tales of a Grandfather, Life of Napoleon, etc., health finally gave way 1830, d. 1832.
The great authority is the Life by Lockhart, but it has been supplemented by the Journal (1890) and Letters (1893). Short Lives by C. Gilfillan, R.H. Hutton, etc., etc.
SCOTT, WILLIAM BELL (1811-1890). —Poet and painter, s. of Robert S., an engraver, and brother of David S., painter, b. in Edin., settled in London, and painted chiefly historical subjects. He pub. five vols. of poetry, including Hades and The Year of the World, and many fine sonnets, a form of poetry in which he excelled, and in prose Half-hour Lectures on Art and The Little Masters in the Great Artists Series. He also ed. a series of "English Poets," and wrote a Life of his brother and one of Albrecht Dürer, etc.
SEDLEY, SIR CHARLES (1639?-1701). —Poet, s. and heir of a Kentish baronet, was at Oxf. and, coming to the Court of Charles II., became one of the most popular and brilliant members of its dissipated circles. He was the author of two tragedies and three comedies, now forgotten, though extravagantly lauded in their day, and of some poems and songs, of which the best known are Phyllis and Chloris. His only child was the witty and profligate Catherine S., mistress of James II., who created her Countess of Dorset. Bellamira and The Mulberry Garden, founded respectively on Terence and Molière, are his best plays. His prose in pamphlets and essays is better than his verse.
SEELEY, SIR JOHN ROBERT (1834-1895). —Historian and essayist, s. of a publisher in London, ed. at City of London School and Camb. In 1863 he became Prof. of Latin at Univ. Coll., London, and was Prof. of Modern History at Camb. from 1869 until his death. In 1865 appeared anonymously Ecce Homo, a work which created intense excitement and keen controversy in the theological and religious world. Other works were The Life and Times of Stein, the Prussian statesman (1879), Natural Religion (1882), The Expansion of England (1883), Life of Napoleon (1885), and a work on Goethe. The Growth of British Policy (1895) was left finished but unrevised at his death. In recognition of his services to the empire in his political writings he was, in 1894, made K.C.M.G.
English literature
SELDEN, JOHN (1584-1654). —Jurist and scholar, b. near Worthing, Sussex, the s. of a farmer who was also a musician, ed. at Chichester and Oxf., and studied law at Clifford's Inn and the Inner Temple. His learning soon attracted attention and, though practising little, he was consulted on points involving legal erudition. His first work, Analecton Anglo-Britannicon, a chronological collection of English records down to the Norman invasion, was written in 1606, though not pub. till 1615. In 1610 appeared a treatise on the Duello, or Single Combat; and in 1614 his largest English work on Titles of Honour, full of profound learning, and still a high authority. Three years later, 1617, he wrote in Latin his treatise, De Deis Syris (on the Gods of Syria), an inquiry into polytheism, specially with reference to the false deities mentioned in Scripture. His reputation as a scholar had now become European. In 1618 he incurred the indignation of the King and the clergy by his History of Tithes, in which he denied their claim to be a divine institution. Called before the High Commission he made a statement regretting the publication of the book though not withdrawing any of its statements. In 1621 he suffered a brief imprisonment for withstanding some of James's doctrines as to the privileges of Parliament. Two years later he was elected member for Lancaster. As a politician his views were moderate, and all along he endeavoured to repress the zeal of the extremists on both sides. He was imprisoned in the Tower for four years, 1630-34. During the final struggle of King and Parliament he was much employed; but like most men of moderate views, was frequently under suspicion, and after the execution of the King, to which he was strongly opposed, he took little to do with public matters. He was a lay member of the Westminster Assembly, 1643, where his profound knowledge of the original tongues made him somewhat of a terror to certain extremists among the divines. He had at an early age been appointed steward to the Earl of Kent, and at the house of his widow, with whom he had long lived in such close friendship as to give rise to the belief that they were m., he d. Among other works may be mentioned a description of the Arundel Marbles (1629), a treatise concerning the Jewish calendar (1646), and, specially, his Table Talk, pub. 1689, of which Coleridge said "there is more weighty bullion sense in this book than I can find in the same number of pages of any uninspired writer." He was likewise the author of various treatises on constitutional matters and the law of nations, including Mare Clausum (a Closed Sea), in defence of the property of England in its circumfluent seas. Most of these were written in Latin.
Coll. Works with Life, Dr. Wilkins (3 vols., folio, 1726), Aikin's Lives of Selden and Ussher.
SELLAR, WILLIAM YOUNG (1825-1890). —Scholar, b. in Sutherlandshire, his f. being factor to the Duke of Sutherland, ed. at Glasgow Univ. and Oxf., became in 1859 Prof. of Greek at St. Andrews and, in 1863, of Latin at Edin. He pub. a work on the Roman Poets of the Republic (1863), followed by The Roman Poets of the Augustan Age. Both of these hold a high place among modern works of scholarship.
SEMPILL, ROBERT (1530?-1595), SEMPILL, ROBERT (1595?-1659?), SEMPILL, FRANCIS (1616?-1682). —Scottish poets, all belonging to the same family, the last two being f. and s. The first was mainly a satirist, was in Paris at the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and belonged to the extremist division of the Reforming party, The Regente's Tragedy laments the death of Murray, Ane Complaint upon Fortoun, the fall of Morton. The second Robert wrote The Life and Death of Habbie Simson, the Piper, a humorous description of old Scottish life. Francis wrote occasional pieces. The song She Rose and let me in, formerly attributed to him, is now known to be by Tom D'Urfey (q.v.).
SENIOR, NASSAU WILLIAM (1790-1864). —Economist and essayist, s. of a clergyman, was b. at Compton Beauchamp, Berks, ed. at Eton and Oxf., studied law, and was called to the Bar in 1819. He twice held the Professorship of Political Economy at Oxf., 1825-30 and 1847-52, rendered important service as a member of the Poor Law Commission of 1833, and wrote its Report. S. holds a high position among English economists, and made many contributions to the literature of the science, including Outline of the Science of Political Economy (1836). He was, moreover, a writer of considerable versatility, his works in general literature including Essays on Fiction (1864), Historical and Philosophical Essays (1865), and specially his notes of conversations with many eminent persons, chiefly political, e.g., De Tocqueville, Thiers, and Guizot, which combine fulness of information with discretion; he also pub. journals of his travels in Turkey, Greece, Egypt, etc.
SETTLE, ELKANAH (1648-1724). —Poet and dramatist, ed. at Oxf., was the author of a number of turgid dramas, now unreadable and unread, but which in their day were held to rival Dryden, who pilloried S. as Doeg in the second part of Absalom and Achitophel. S. essayed a reply in Absalom Senior. He wrote against the Papists, but recanted, and made amends by a Narrative of the Popish Plot, in which he exposed the perjuries of Titus Oates. He was appointed City Poet. Latterly he had a booth in Bartholomew Fair. He d. in the Charterhouse. His plays include Cambyses (1666), Empress of Morocco (1671), Love and Revenge (1675), The Female Prelate, Distressed Innocence (1691), and the Ladies' Triumph (1718).
SHADWELL, THOMAS (1640 or 1642-1692). —Dramatist and poet, belonged to a good Staffordshire family, was b. in Norfolk, ed. at Camb., and after studying law travelled, and on his return became a popular dramatist. Among his comedies, in which he displayed considerable comic power and truth to nature, may be mentioned The Sullen Lovers (1668), Royal Shepherdess (1668), The Humourists (1671), and The Miser (1672). He attached himself to the Whigs, and when Dryden attacked them in Absalom and Achitophel and The Medal, had the temerity to assail him scurrilously in The Medal of John Bayes (1682). The castigation which this evoked in MacFlecknoe and in the second part of Absalom and Achitophel, in which S. figures as "Og," has conferred upon him an unenviable immortality. He may have found some consolation in his succession to Dryden as Poet Laureate when, at the Revolution, the latter was deprived of the office.
Other plays are Epsom Wells (1673), The Virtuoso (1676), Lancashire Witches (1681), The Volunteers (1693), etc.
SHAFTESBURY, ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER, 3RD EARL OF (1671-1713). —Philosopher, b. in London, grandson of the 1st Earl, the eminent statesman, the "Achitophel" of Dryden. After a private education under the supervision of Locke, and a short experience of Winchester School, he travelled much on the Continent. On succeeding to the earldom in 1699 he took a prominent part in the debates of the House of Lords, but devoted himself mainly to philosophical and literary pursuits. His coll. writings were pub. in 1711 under the title of Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times. In his philosophy he maintains, as against Hobbes, the existence of a moral sense, a view subsequently developed by the Scottish school of philosophy. The style of S. is stately and sonorous but laboured. He d. at Naples, whither he had gone in search of health, at the early age of 42. Though his writings are directed strongly against Atheism, they have been held to be hostile to a belief in revelation.
SHAIRP, JOHN CAMPBELL (1819-1885). —Poet and critic, ed. at Glasgow and Oxf., became Prof. of Latin at St. Andrews 1861. Principal of the United Coll. there 1868, and Prof. of Poetry at Oxf. 1877-87. Among his writings are Kilmahoe and other Poems (1864), Studies in Poetry and Philosophy (1868), Culture and Religion (1870), and a Life of Burns in the English Men of Letters Series. He also collaborated with Prof. Tait in writing the Life of Principal Forbes (q.v.), and ed. the Journal of Dorothy Wordsworth.
SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616). —Dramatist and poet, b. at Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, on 22nd or 23rd, and baptised on 26th April, 1564. On his father's side he belonged to a good yeoman stock, though his descent cannot be certainly traced beyond his grandfather, a Richard S., settled at Snitterfield, near Stratford. His f., John S., appears to have been a man of intelligence and energy, who set up in Stratford as a dealer in all kinds of agricultural produce, to which he added the trade of a glover. He became prosperous, and gained the respect of his neighbours, as is evidenced by his election in succession to all the municipal honours of his community, including those of chief alderman and high bailiff. He m. Mary, youngest dau. of Robert Arden, a wealthy farmer at Wilmcote, and a younger branch of a family of considerable distinction, and whose tenant Richard S. had been. On her father's death Mary inherited Asbies, a house with 50 acres of land attached to it. The first children of the marriage were two dau., who d. in infancy. William was the third, and others followed, of whom three sons, Gilbert, Richard, and Edmund, and a dau. Joan, reached maturity. He was ed. with his brother Gilbert at Stratford Grammar School, where he learned Latin from Lilly's Grammar, English, writing, and arithmetic. He probably read some of the Latin classics and may have got a little Greek, and though his learned friend Ben Jonson credits him with "little Latin and less Greek," Aubrey says he "knew Latin pretty well." This happy state of matters continued until he was about 13, when his f. fell into misfortune, which appears to have gone on deepening until the success and prosperity of the poet in later years enabled him to reinstate the family in its former position. Meanwhile, however, he was taken from school, and appears to have been made to assist his f. in his business. The next certain fact in his history is his marriage in November, 1582, when he was 18, to Ann Hathaway, dau. of a yeoman at the neighbouring hamlet of Shottery, and 8 years his senior. Various circumstances point to the marriage having been against the wishes of his own family, and pressed on by that of his wife, and that it was so urged in defence of the reputation of the lady, and as perhaps might be expected, they indicate, though not conclusively, that it did not prove altogether happy. The birth, in May, 1583, of his eldest child Susannah (who is said to have inherited something of his wit and practical ability, and who m. a Dr. John Hall), followed in the next year by that of twins, Hamnet and Judith, and the necessity of increased means, led to his departure from Stratford, whence he travelled on foot to London, where the next 23 years of his life were mainly spent. The tradition that his departure was also caused by trouble into which he had got by killing the deer of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlcote, is credible. Leaving Stratford in 1585 or the beginning of 1586, he seems at once to have turned to the theatres, where he soon found work, although, as Rowe, his first biographer, says, "in a very mean rank." It was not long, however, before he had opportunities of showing his capacities as an actor, with the result that he shortly became a member of one of the chief acting companies of the day, which was then under the patronage of the Earl of Leicester, and after being associated with the names of various other noblemen, at last on the accession of James I. became known as the King's Company. It played originally in "The Theatre" in Shoreditch, the first playhouse to be erected in England, and afterwards in the "Rose" on the Bankside, Southwark, the scene of the earliest successes of S. as an actor and playwright. Subsequently to 1594, he acted occasionally in a playhouse in Newington Butts, and between 1595 and 1599 in the "Curtain." In the latter year the "Globe" was built on the Bankside, and 10 years later the "Blackfriars:" and with these two, but especially with the former, the remainder of his professional life was associated. It is not unlikely that he visited various provincial towns; but that he was ever in Scotland or on the Continent is improbable. Among the plays in which he appeared were Jonson's Every Man in his Humour and Sejanus, and in Hamlet he played "The Ghost;" and it is said that his brother Gilbert as an old man remembered his appearing as "Adam" in As You Like It. By 1595 S. was famous and prosperous; his earlier plays had been written and acted, and his poems Venus and Adonis, and Lucrece, and probably most of the sonnets, had been pub. and received with extraordinary favour. He had also powerful friends and patrons, including the Earl of Southampton, and was known at Court. By the end of the century he is mentioned by Francis Meres (q.v.) as the greatest man of letters of the day, and his name had become so valuable that it was affixed by unscrupulous publishers to works, e.g. Locrine, Oldcastle, and The Yorkshire Tragedy, by other and often very inferior hands. He had also resumed a close connection with Stratford, and was making the restoration of the family position there the object of his ambition. In accordance with this he induced his f. to apply for a grant of arms, which was given, and he purchased New Place, the largest house in the village. With the income derived from his profession as an actor and dramatist, and his share of the profits of the Globe and Blackfriars theatres, and in view of the business capacity with which he managed his affairs, he may be regarded as almost a wealthy man, and he went on adding to his influence in Stratford by buying land. He had enjoyed the favour of Elizabeth, and her death in 1603 did nothing to disturb his fortunes, as he stood quite as well with her successor. His company received the title of the "King's Servants," and his plays were frequently performed before the Court. But notwithstanding this, the clouds had gathered over his life. The conspiracy of Essex in 1601 had involved several of his friends and patrons in disaster; he had himself been entangled in the unhappy love affair which is supposed to be referred to in some of his sonnets, and he had suffered unkindness at the hands of a friend. For a few years his dramas breathe the darkness and bitterness of a heart which has been sounding the depths of sad experience. He soon, however, emerged from this and, passing through the period of the great tragedies, reached the serene triumph and peace of his later dramas. In 1611 S. severed his long connection with the stage, and retired to Stratford, where the remaining five years of his life were spent in honour and prosperity. Early in 1616 his health began to give way, and he made his will. In the spring he received a visit from his friends, Jonson and Drayton, and the festivity with which it was celebrated seems to have brought on a fever, of which he d. on April 23. He was survived by his wife and his two dau., both of whom were married. His descendants d. out with his grand-daughter, Elizabeth Hall.
Immense research has been spent upon the writings of S., with the result of substantial agreement as to the order of their production and the sources from which their subjects were drawn; for S. rarely troubled himself with the construction of a story, but adopting one already existing reared upon it as a foundation one of those marvellous superstructures which make him the greatest painter and interpreter of human character the world has ever seen. His period of literary production extends from about 1588 to 1613, and falls naturally into four divisions, which Prof. Dowden has named, "In the Workshop" ending in 1596; "In the World" 1596-1601; "Out of the Depths" 1601-1608; and "On the Heights" 1608-1613. Of the 37 plays usually attributed to him, 16 only were pub. during his lifetime, so that the exact order in which they were produced cannot always be determined with certainty. Recent authorities are agreed to the extent that while they do not invariably place the individual plays in the same order, they are almost entirely at one as to which belong to the four periods respectively. The following list shows in a condensed form the order according to Mr. Sidney Lee (Dictionary of National Biography) with the most probable dates and the original sources on which the plays are founded.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS
- FIRST PERIOD—1588?-1596
- LOVE'S LABOUR LOST (1591)—Plot probably original.
- TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA (1591)—The Shepherdess Felismena in George of Montmayor's Diana.
- COMEDY OF ERRORS (1591)—Menæchmi of Plautus and earlier play.
- ROMEO AND JULIET (1591)—Italian romance in Painter's Palace of Pleasure and Broke's Romeus and Juliet.
- HENRY VI. 1, 2, and 3 (1592)—Retouched old plays, probably with Marlowe.
- RICHARD III. (1592-3)—Holinshed's Chronicle.
- RICHARD II. (1593-4?)— do.
- TITUS ANDRONICUS (1594)—Probably chiefly by Kyd, retouched.
- KING JOHN (1594)—Old play retouched.
- SECOND PERIOD—1596-1601-2
- MERCHANT OF VENICE (1594)—Italian novels, Gesta Romanorum, and earlier plays.
- MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1595)—North's Plutarch, Chaucer, Ovid.
- ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL (1595)—Painter's Palace of Pleasure.
- TAMING OF THE SHREW (1596?)—Old play retouched, and Supposes of G. Gascoigne, Shakespeare's in part only.
- HENRY IV. 1 and 2 (1597?)—Holinshed and earlier play.
- MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR (1597-8)—Italian novels (?).
- HENRY V. (1599).
- MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (1599)—Partly from Italian.
- AS YOU LIKE IT (1599)—Lodge's Rosalynde, Euphues' Golden Legacie.
- TWELFTH NIGHT (1599)—B. Riche's Apolonius and Silla.
- THIRD PERIOD—1602-1608
- JULIUS CÆSAR (1601)—North's Plutarch.
- HAMLET (1601-2)—Belleforest's Histoires Tragiques.
- TROILUS AND CRESSIDA (1603?)—Probably Chaucer's Troilus and Cresseide and Chapman's Homer.
- OTHELLO (1604)—Cinthio's Hecatommithi.
- MEASURE FOR MEASURE (1604?)—Cinthio's Epithia.
- MACBETH (1605-6?)—Holinshed.
- LEAR (1606)— do.
- TIMON OF ATHENS (1607?)—Palace of Pleasure and Plutarch written with G. Wilkins (?) and W. Rowley (?).
- PERICLES (1607-8)—Gower's Confessio Amantis, with G. Wilkins (?).
- ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (1608)—North's Plutarch.
- CORIOLANUS (1608)— do.
- FOURTH PERIOD—1608-1613
- CYMBELINE (1610-11?)—Holinshed and Ginevra in Boccaccio's Decamerone.
- WINTER'S TALE (1610-11)—Green's Dorastus and Fawnia.
- TEMPEST (1611?)—S. Jourdain's Discovery of the Bermudas.
- HENRY VIII. (1612-13)—Draft by S. completed by Fletcher and perhaps Massinger.
- POEMS
- VENUS AND ADONIS (1593).
- RAPE OF LUCRECE (1594).
- SONNETS (1591-94?).
The evidence as to chronology is three-fold—(1) External, such as entries in registers of Stationers' Company, contemporary references, or details as to the companies of actors; (2) External and internal combined, such as references in the plays to events or books, etc.; (3) Internal, content and treatment, progressive changes in versification, presence of frequency of rhyme, etc. The genius of S. was so intensely dramatic that it is impossible to say confidently when he speaks in his own character. The sonnets, written probably 1591-94 have, however, been thought to be of a more personal nature, and to contain indications as to his character and history, and much labour and ingenuity have been expended to make them yield their secrets. It is generally agreed that they fall into two sections, the first consisting of sonnets 1 to 126 addressed to a young man, probably Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, the friend and patron of S., and 9 years his junior; and the second from 127 to 154 addressed or referring to a woman in whose snares the writer had become entangled, and by whom he was betrayed. Some, however, have held that they are allegorical, or partly written on behalf of others, or that the emotion they express is dramatic and not personal.
There are contemporary references to S. which show him to have been generally held in high regard. Thus Ben Jonson says, "I loved the man, and do honour to his memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any," and Chettle refers to "His demeanour no lesse civil than exelent in the qualities he professes." The only exception is a reference to him in Greene's Groat's-worth of Wit, as "an upstart crow beautified with our feathers, that with his tyger's heart wrapt in a player's hide supposes he is as well able to bumbast out a blanke verse as the best of you ... and is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a countrie." He is said to have written rapidly and with facility, rarely requiring to alter what he had set down. In addition to his generally received works, others have been attributed to him, some of which have been already mentioned: the only two which appear to have serious claims to consideration are The Two Noble Kinsmen, partly by Fletcher, and Edward III., of which part of Act I. and the whole of Act II. have been thought to be Shakespeare's. On the other hand a theory has been propounded that none of the plays bearing his name were really his, but that they were written by Bacon (q.v.). This extraordinary view has been widely supported, chiefly in America, and has been sometimes maintained; with considerable ability and misplaced ingenuity.
SUMMARY.—B. 1564, ed. at Stratford School, f. falls into difficulties c. 1577, m. Ann Hathaway 1582, goes to London end of 1585, finds employment in theatres and acts in chief companies of the time, first in "The Theatre" afterwards the "Rose," the "Curtain," the "Globe" and "Blackfriars," appearing in Jonson's Every Man in his Humour and Sejanus. Venus and Adonis, Lucrece, earlier plays, and perhaps most of sonnets pub. by 1595, when he was friend of Southampton and known at Court, purchases New Place at Stratford, falls into trouble c. 1600, having lost friends in Essex's conspiracy, and has unfortunate love affair; emerges from this into honour and peace, retires to Stratford and d. 1616. Productive period c. 1588-1613, 4 divisions, first (1588-96), second (1596-1601), third (1601-1608), fourth (1608-1613). Of 37 plays usually attributed, only 16 pub. in his life.
As might have been expected, there is a copious literature devoted to Shakespeare and his works. Among those dealing with biography may be mentioned Halliwell Phillipps's Outline of the Life of Shakespeare (7th ed., 1887), Fleay's Shakespeare Manual (1876), and Life of Shakespeare (1886). Life by S. Lee (1898), Dowden's Shakespeare, his Mind and Art (1875), Drake's Shakespeare and his Times (1817), Thornberry's Shakespeare's England (1856), Knight's Shakespeare (1843). See also Works by Guizot, De Quincey, Fullom, Elze, and others. Criticisms by Coleridge, Hazlitt, Swinburne, T.S. Baynes, and others. Concordance by Mrs. Cowden Clarke. Ed., Rowe (1709), Pope (1725), Theobald (1733), Johnson (1765), Capell (1768), Steevens's improved re-issue of Johnson (1773), Malone (1790), Reed's 1st Variorum (1803), 2nd Variorum (1813), 3rd Variorum by Jas. Boswell the younger (1821), Dyce (1857), Staunton (1868-70), Camb. by W.G. Clark and Dr. Aldis Wright (1863-66), Temple (ed. I. Gollancz, 1894-96), Eversley Shakespeare (ed. Herford, 1899).
SHARP, WILLIAM ("FIONA MACLEOD") (1856-1905). —Wrote under this pseudonym a remarkable series of Celtic tales, novels, and poems, including Pharais, a Romance of the Isles, The Mountain Lovers, The Sin-Eater (1895), The Washer of the Ford, and Green Fire (1896), The Laughter of Peterkin (1897), The Dominion of Dreams (1899), The Divine Adventure (1900), Drostan and Iseult (1902). He was one of the earliest and most gifted promoters of the Celtic revival. In verse are From the Hills of Dream, Through the Ivory Gate, and The Immortal Hour (drama). Under his own name he wrote Earth's Voices, Sospiri di Roma, Sospiri d'Italia, poems, and books on Rossetti, Shelley, Browning, and Heine; also a few novels.
SHAW, HENRY WHEELER ("JOSH BILLINGS") (1818-1885). —Humorist, b. in Massachusetts. After working on steam-boats and farming, he became an auctioneer, and settled at Poughkeepsie. Stripped of the fantastic spelling by which he first succeeded in catching the public attention, the shrewd and droll maxims of his Farmers' Allminax have something in common with Franklin's Poor Richard. Other books with the same features are Josh Billings' Sayings, Everybody's Friend, Josh Billings' Trump Kards, etc.
SHELLEY, MRS. MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT (GODWIN) (1797-1851). —Novelist, b. in London, the only child of William Godwin (q.v.) and Mary Wollstonecraft, his wife (q.v.). In 1814 she went to the Continent with P.B. Shelley (q.v.), and m. him two years later. When abroad she saw much of Byron, and it was at his villa on the Lake of Geneva that she conceived the idea of her famous novel of Frankenstein (1818), a ghastly but powerful work. None of her other novels, including The Last Man and Lodore, had the same success. She contributed biographies of foreign artists and authors to Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia, and ed. her husband's poems.
SHELLEY, PERCY BYSSHE (1792-1822). —Poet, s. of Sir Timothy S., was b. at Field Place, near Horsham, Sussex, and ed. at Brentford, Eton, and Univ. Coll., Oxf., whence for writing and circulating a pamphlet, The Necessity of Atheism, he was expelled. One immediate result of this was a difference with his f., which was deepened into a permanent breach by his marriage in the following year to Harriet Westbrook, the pretty and lively dau. of a retired innkeeper. The next three years were passed in wandering about from place to place in Ireland, Wales, the Lake District, and other parts of the kingdom, and in the composition of Queen Mab (1813), the poet's first serious work. Before the end of that period he had separated from his wife, for which various reasons have been assigned, one being her previous desertion of him, and the discovery on his part of imperfect sympathy between them; the principal one, however, being that he had conceived a violent passion for Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (see Shelley, Mrs. M.W.), dau. of William Godwin (q.v.), with whom he eloped to Italy in 1814, and whom he m. in 1816, his first wife having drowned herself. The custody of his two children, whom he had left with their mother, was refused him by the Court of Chancery. In Switzerland he had made the acquaintance of Byron, with whom he afterwards lived in intimacy in Italy. Returning to England in 1815 he wrote his first really great poem, Alastor (1816), followed by the Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, Prince Athanase, Rosalind and Helen, and Laon and Cythna, afterwards called the Revolt of Islam (1817). In 1818 he left England never to return, and went to Italy, and in the next two years—while at Rome—produced his two greatest works, the tragedy of The Cenci (1819) and Prometheus Unbound (1820). He removed to Venice in 1820 in the company of Byron, and there wrote Julian and Maddalo, a poetic record of discussions between them. Epipsychidion, Hellas, and Adonais, a lament for Keats, were all produced in 1821. After a short residence at Pisa he went to Lerici on the Gulf of Spezzia, where he indulged in his favourite recreation of boating, and here on July 8, 1823, he went, in company with a friend, Mr. Williams, on that fatal expedition which cost him his life. His body was cast ashore about a fortnight later, and burnt, in accordance with the quarantine law of the country, on a pyre in the presence of Byron, Leigh Hunt, and Trelawny. His ashes were carefully preserved and buried in the Protestant cemetery at Rome near those of Keats. The character of S. is a singularly compounded one. By the unanimous testimony of his friends, it was remarkable for gentleness, purity, generosity, and strong affection: on the other hand he appears to have had very inadequate conceptions of duty and responsibility, and from his childhood seems to have been in revolt against authority of every kind. The charge of Atheism rests chiefly on Mab, the work of a boy, printed by him for private circulation, and to some extent repudiated as personal opinion. As a poet he stands in the front rank: in lyrical gift, shown in Prometheus, Hellas, and some of his shorter poems, such as "The Skylark," he is probably unsurpassed, and in his Cenci he exhibits dramatic power of a high order. Among his shorter poems are some which reach perfection, such as the sonnet on "Ozymandias," "Music when soft voices die," "I arise from dreams of thee," "When the lamp is shattered," the "Ode to the West Wind," and "O world! O life! O time!" During his short life of 30 years he was, not unnaturally, the object of much severe judgment, and his poetic power even was recognised by only a few. Posterity has taken a more lenient view of his serious errors of conduct, while according to his genius a shining place among the immortals.
The best ed. of the Works is that of Buxton Forman (4 vols.). There are ed. of the Poems by W.M. Rossetti (1894), Dowden (1891), etc. Lives by Medwin (1847), J.A. Symonds (1887), W.M. Rossetti, Prof. Dowden, T. Jefferson Hogg, and others.
SHENSTONE, WILLIAM (1714-1763). —Poet, s. of Thomas S., owner of a small estate at Hales Owen, Shropshire. At this place, called the Leasowes, the poet was b. In 1732 he went to Oxf. On his father's death he retired to the Leasowes where he passed his time, and ran through his means in transforming it into a marvel of landscape gardening, visited by strangers from all parts of the kingdom. The works of S. consist of poems and prose essays. Of the former two, The Schoolmistress, a humorous imitation of Spenser, with many quaint and tender touches, and the Pastoral Ballad in four parts, perhaps the best of its kind in the language, survive. The essays also display good sense and a pointed and graceful style. The last years of S. were clouded by financial embarrassments and perhaps also by disappointed affections. After his death his works, were coll. and pub. by Dodsley.
SHERIDAN, RICHARD BRINSLEY (1751-1816). —Dramatist and orator, b. in Dublin, the s. of an actor, was ed. at Harrow. In 1772 he eloped with Miss Linley, a famous singer, went with her to France, fought two duels, and m. her in 1773. S. has a reputation of the highest in two distinct walks, those of the dramatist and the Parliamentary orator. By his three great comedies, The Rivals (1775), The School for Scandal (1777), and The Critic (1779), he raised himself to the first place among the writers of the comedy of manners; and by his speeches, specially those in support of the impeachment of Warren Hastings, he has a position among the greatest of Parliamentary orators. Unfortunately he had little turn for business, and too great a love of pleasure and conviviality, which led to lifelong pecuniary embarrassment, completed by the destruction by fire of Drury Lane Theatre, of which he had become proprietor. As a politician S. supported the Whig party, and held the offices of Under-Sec. for Foreign Affairs, Sec. to the Treasury, and Treasurer of the Navy. He was also confidential adviser to George IV. when Prince of Wales, but like everybody else who had to do with him suffered from the ingratitude of "the first gentleman in Europe." The accounts long prevalent of the poverty and misery of his last years have been shown to be greatly exaggerated, though he was in reduced circumstances. As a dramatist S. shines in the construction of amusing situations, and in a sparkling flow of witty dialogue which never flags. His only other play was Pizarro (1799), a patriotic melodrama.
Lives by Walkins (1817), T. Moore (1825), and Mrs. Oliphant (1883).
SHERLOCK, WILLIAM (1641?-1707). —Divine and controversialist, b. at Southwark, ed. at Eton and Camb., took orders, and became in 1684 Master of the Temple, and in 1691 Dean of St. Paul's. He exercised a powerful influence in the Church. His most popular work was his Discourse concerning Death, and his principal controversial effort was his Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity. Other works were on Future Judgment and on The Divine Providence. His son, THOMAS SHERLOCK (1678-1761), who was also Master of the Temple, became Bishop successively of Bangor, Salisbury, and London, and was, like his f., a noted controversialist. His best known work is his Tryal of the Witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus (1729).
SHERWOOD, MRS. MARY MARTHA (BUTT) (1775-1851). —Writer of children's books, m. in 1803 Captain H. Sherwood, and went to India, where she took much interest in soldiers' children. Among her books, many of which attained great popularity, are Susan Gray, Little Henry and his Bearer, and The Fairchild Family.
SHIRLEY, JAMES (1596-1666). —Dramatist, b. in London, ed. at Merchant Taylor's School, London, and at Oxf. and Camb., became a master of St. Alban's Grammar School, and afterwards joined the Roman Catholic Church, and going to London wrote for the stage, producing 39 plays. His talents and his religion recommended him to Queen Henrietta Maria, and he appears to have led a fairly prosperous life until the interdict of plays by Parliament in 1642. In the Civil War he bore arms on the Royalist side, and during the Commonwealth he returned to his occupation of schoolmaster. The Restoration does not appear to have improved his fortunes much; he was burnt out in the great fire of 1666, and very soon afterwards he and his wife d. on the same day. The plays of S. include The Traitor (1631), The Cardinal (1641), The Gamester (1633), Hyde Park (1632), and The Lady of Pleasure (1635). He also wrote poems, including the well-known lines beginning "The Glories of our mortal State." S. has fancy, liveliness, and the style of a gentleman, but he lacks depth and interest. He is less gross than most of his contemporaries.
Other plays are The Ball (1632), The Maid's Revenge (1626), The Grateful Servant (1629), Bird in a Cage (1633), The Example (1634). The Constant Maid (c. 1640), Doubtful Heir, or Rosania (1640), Court Secret (1653), Contention of Ajax and Ulysses (1659), etc.
SHORTHOUSE, JOSEPH HENRY (1834-1903). —Novelist, b. at Birmingham, where he was a chemical manufacturer. Originally a Quaker, he joined the Church of England. His first, and by far his best book, John Inglesant, appeared in 1881, and at once made him famous. Though deficient in its structure as a story, and not appealing to the populace, it fascinates by the charm of its style and the "dim religious light" by which it is suffused, as well as by the striking scenes occasionally depicted. His other novels, The Little Schoolmaster Mark, Sir Percival, The Countess Eve, and A Teacher of the Violin, though with some of the same characteristics, had no success comparable to his first. S. also wrote an essay, The Platonism of Wordsworth.
SIBBES, RICHARD (1577-1635). —Divine, was at Camb., where he held various academic posts, of which he was deprived by the High Commission on account of his Puritanism. He was the author of several devotional works expressing intense religious feeling—The Saint's Cordial (1629), The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax, etc. He was a man of great learning.
SIDNEY, or SYDNEY, ALGERNON (1622-1683). —Political writer, s. of the 2nd Earl of Leicester, and grand-nephew of Sir Philip S., in his youth travelled on the Continent, served against the Irish Rebels, and on the outbreak of the Civil War, on the side of the Parliament. He was one of the judges on the trial of Charles I., and though he did not attend, he thoroughly approved of the sentence. He opposed the assumption of the supreme power by Cromwell. After the Restoration he lived on the Continent, but receiving a pardon, returned in 1677 to England. He, however, retained the republican principles which he had all his life advocated, fell under the suspicion of the Court, and was in 1683, on the discovery of the Rye House Plot, condemned to death on entirely insufficient evidence, and beheaded on Tower Hill, December 7, 1683. Though no charge of personal venality has been substantiated, yet it appears to be certain that he received money from the French King for using his influence against war between the two countries, his object being to prevent Charles II. from obtaining command of the war supplies. S. was deeply versed in political theory, and wrote Discourses concerning Government, pub. in 1698.
SIDNEY, SIR PHILIP (1554-1586). —Poet and romancist, s. of Sir Henry S., Deputy of Ireland, and Pres. of Wales, b. at the family seat of Penshurst, and ed. at Shrewsbury School and Oxf. He was at the French Court on the fateful August 24, 1572—the massacre of St. Bartholomew—but left Paris soon thereafter and went to Germany and Italy. In 1576 he was with his f. in Ireland, and the next year went on missions to the Elector Palatine and the Emperor Rudolf II. When his father's Irish policy was called in question, he wrote an able defence of it. He became the friend of Spenser, who dedicated to him his Shepherd's Calendar. In 1580 he lost the favour of the Queen by remonstrating against her proposed marriage with the Duke of Anjou. His own marriage with a dau. of Sir Francis Walsingham took place in 1583. In 1585 he was engaged in the war in the Low Countries, and met his death at Zutphen from a wound in the thigh. His death was commemorated by Spenser in his Astrophel. S. has always been considered as the type of English chivalry; and his extraordinary contemporary reputation rested on his personal qualities of nobility and generosity. His writings consist of his famous pastoral romance of Arcadia, his sonnets Astrophel and Stella, and his Apologie for Poetrie, afterwards called Defence of Poesie. The Arcadia was originally written for the amusement of his sister, afterwards Countess of Pembroke, the "Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother," of Ben Jonson. Though its interest now is chiefly historical, it enjoyed an extraordinary popularity for a century after its appearance, and had a marked influence on the immediately succeeding literature. It was written in 1580-81 but not pub. until 1590, and is a medley of poetical prose, full of conceits, with occasional verse interspersed. His Defence of Poesie, written in reply to Gosson (q.v.), is in simple and vigorous English. S. also made a translation of the Psalms.
Poems ed. by Grosart, Apologie by Arber and others, Astrophel by Gray, Arber, and others. Life by Fulke Greville (1652), ed. by Sir E. Brydges (1816). Arcadia (facsimile), by Somner. Lives by J.A. Symonds, Fox Bourne, and others.
SIGOURNEY, MRS. LYDIA (HUNTLEY) (1791-1865). —American verse writer, was an extraordinarily copious writer of smooth, sentimental verse, which had great popularity in its day. Her most ambitious effort was a blank verse poem, Traits of the Aborigines of America (1822). Other books were Connecticut Forty Years Since, Pocahontas, etc.
SIMMS, WILLIAM GILMORE (1806-1870). —Novelist, etc., b. at Charleston, South Carolina, began his literary life with journalism. He then for some time tried poetry, but without any distinct success except occasionally in Southern Passages and Pictures (1839). But in fiction, which he began in 1833 with Martin Faber, he was more successful, though rather an imitator of Cooper. The Yemassee (1835) is generally considered his best novel. He was less happy in his attempts at historical romance, such as Count Julian and The Damsel of Darien. During the war, in which he was naturally a strong partisan of the South, he was ruined, and his library was burned; and from these disasters he never recovered. He had a high repute as a journalist, orator, and lecturer. He was the first Southerner to achieve any name in literature.
SKELTON, JOHN (1460?-1529). —Poet, b. in Norfolk, and ed. at Oxf. and Camb., of both of which he was cr. Poet Laureate, and perhaps held the same office under the King. He was appointed tutor to Henry VIII., and notwithstanding his sharp tongue, enjoyed some favour at Court. In 1498 he entered the Church, and became Rector of Diss in his native county. Hitherto he seems to have produced some translations only, but about this time he appears to have struck upon the vein which he was to work with such vigour and popularity. He turned his attention to abuses in Church and State, which he lashed with caustic satire, conveyed in short doggerel rhyming lines peculiar to himself, in which jokes, slang, invectives, and Latin quotations rush out pell-mell. His best works in this line are Why come ye not to Court? and Colin Clout, both directed against the clergy, and the former against Wolsey in particular. Piqued at his inconstancy (for S. had previously courted him) the Cardinal would have imprisoned him, had he not taken sanctuary in Westminster, where he remained until his death. Other works of his are The Tunning (brewing) of Elynor Rummynge, a coarsely humorous picture of low life, and the tender and fanciful Death of Philip Sparrow, the lament of a young lady over her pet bird killed by a cat.
SKELTON, SIR JOHN (1831-1897). —Miscellaneous writer. B. in Edinburgh, ed. at the Univ. there, and called to the Scottish Bar 1854, he was Sec. and ultimately Chairman of the Local Government Board for Scotland. He wrote Maitland of Lethington and the Scotland of Mary Stuart (1887), The Crookit Meg (1880), and The Table Talk of Shirley. He contributed to Fraser's and Blackwood's Magazines. He received the degree of LL.D. from Edin. 1878, and was made K.C.B. 1897.
SKENE, WILLIAM FORBES (1807-1892). —Historian, 2nd s. of James S. of Rubislaw, friend of Sir Walter Scott, was a Writer to the Signet in Edinburgh, and Clerk of the Bills in the Court of Session. He wrote and ed. historical works of considerable authority, The Highlanders of Scotland (1837), and his most important work, Celtic Scotland (1876-80), and ed. of The Four Ancient Books of Wales (1868), and other Celtic writings.
SKINNER, JOHN (1721-1807). —Historian and song-writer, s. of a schoolmaster at Birse, Aberdeenshire, was ed. at Marischal Coll. Brought up as a Presbyterian, he became an Episcopalian and ministered to a congregation at Longside, near Peterhead, for 65 years. He wrote The Ecclesiastical History of Scotland from the Episcopalian point of view, and several songs of which The Reel of Tullochgorum and The Ewie wi' the Crookit Horn are the best known, and he also rendered some of the Psalms into Latin. He kept up a rhyming correspondence with Burns.
SKIPSEY, JOSEPH (1832-1903). —Poet, b. near North Shields, and from childhood worked in the mines. He pub. a few pieces of poetry in 1859, and soon after left working underground and became caretaker of Shakespeare's house at Stratford-on-Avon. During the last 30 years of his life he pub. several vols. of poetry, including The Collier Lad and Carols from the Coal Fields; and he ed. some vols. for the "Canterbury Poets." Memoir by R.S. Watson (1908).
SMART, CHRISTOPHER (1722-1771). —Poet, s. of the steward to Lord Vane, was b. at Shipbourne, Kent, and by the bounty of the Duchess of Cleveland sent to Camb. Here his ill-balanced mind showed itself in wild folly. Leaving the Univ. he came to London and maintained himself by conducting and writing for periodicals. His Poems on Several Occasions, which contained "The Hop Garden," was issued in 1752, and The Hilliad in 1753 against "Sir" John Hill, a notoriety of the day who had attacked him. His mind ultimately gave way, and it was in confinement that he produced by far his most remarkable work, the Song to David, a most original and powerful poem. Unfortunate to the last, he d. in the King's Bench prison, to which he had been committed for debt. He also translated Horace.
SMEDLEY, FRANK (1818-1864). —Novelist, was the author of several novels which had considerable popularity, including Frank Fairleigh (1850), Lewis Arundel (1852), and Harry Coverdale's Courtship (1855). S. was a life-long cripple.
SMILES, SAMUEL (1812-1904). —Biographer and miscellaneous writer, b. at Haddington, ed. at the Grammar School there, studied medicine at Edin., and settled in practice in his native town. Subsequently he betook himself to journalism, and ed. a paper in Leeds. Afterwards he was sec. to various railways. His leisure was devoted to reading and writing, and his first publication was The Life of George Stephenson (1857). Self-Help, his most popular work, followed in 1859; it had an immense circulation, and was translated into 17 languages. It was followed up by Character (1871), Thrift (1875), and Duty (1880). The Lives of the Engineers and Industrial Biography appeared in 1863, The Huguenots, their Settlements, Churches, and Industries in England and Ireland (1867), and The Huguenots in France a little later. He also wrote biographies of Telford and James Watt, and of the Scottish naturalists, Edwards the shoemaker and Dick the baker. He received the degree of LL.D. from Edin. in 1878.
SMITH, ADAM (1723-1790). —Philosopher and economist, b. at Kirkcaldy, Fife, the s. of the Controller of Customs there. His f. d. shortly before his birth. The first and only adventure in his tranquil life was his being kidnapped by gipsies. After being at the Grammar School of Kirkcaldy, he went to the Univ. of Glasgow, whence he proceeded to Oxf. On the conclusion of his Univ. course he returned to Kirkcaldy, going subsequently to Edinburgh, where he was soon recognised as a man of unusual intellect. In 1751 he was appointed to the Chair of Logic at Glasgow, which he next year exchanged for that of Moral Philosophy, and in 1759 he pub. his Theory of the Moral Sentiments. He received in 1762 the degree of LL.D. from his Univ., and two years later resigned his chair and became travelling tutor to the young Duke of Buccleuch, accompanying him to the Continent. He remained for nearly a year in Paris, and made the acquaintance of the brilliant circle of savans in that city. Returning to Kirkcaldy in 1766 he lived there with his mother for nearly ten years in retirement and close study, the results of which were given to the world in 1776 in the publication of his epoch-making work, Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). This book may be said to have founded the science of political economy, and to have created a new department of literature; and very few works have, to the same extent, influenced the practical history of the world. In 1778 S. was made a Commissioner of Customs, and settled in Edinburgh; and in 1787 he was elected Lord Rector of the Univ. of Glasgow. In addition to the works above mentioned, he wrote various essays on philosophical subjects, and an account of the last days of David Hume. The style of his works was plain and lucid, and he had a remarkable faculty of apt illustration.
SMITH, ALBERT (1816-1860). —Humorous writer, studied medicine, and for a short time assisted his f. in practice. He was one of the original contributors to Punch, and among his books are The Adventures of Mr. Ledbury and The Scattergood Family. He also lectured and gave entertainments, including The Ascent of Mont Blanc, which were highly popular.
SMITH, ALEXANDER (1830-1867). —Poet and essayist, s. of a Paisley pattern-designer, at first followed the same occupation in Glasgow, but having become known as a poet of promise was, in 1854, appointed Sec. of Edin. Univ. After contributing to the Glasgow Citizen he pub. A Life Drama (1853), which received much admiration. Thereafter appeared War Sonnets (in conjunction, with S. Dobell, q.v.), City Poems (1857), and Edwin of Deira (1861). In prose he wrote Dreamthorpe (essays), A Summer in Skye, and two novels, Alfred Hagart's Household and Miss Dona M'Quarrie. His poems were in a rich and glowing style, but by some good judges were held to show fancy rather than imagination. He belonged to what was called the "spasmodic" school of poetry.
SMITH, MRS. CHARLOTTE (TURNER) (1749-1806). —Was m. at 15 to a West Indian merchant, who by a series of misfortunes and imprudences was reduced from affluence to poverty. She had in her youth shown considerable promise as a poetess, and in her misfortunes she was able to maintain herself and her family by her pen. In addition to a poem, Beachy Head, and sonnets, she wrote several novels of more than usual merit, including Emmeline (1788), and, her best work, The Old English Manor House.
SMITH, HORACE (1779-1849), SMITH, JAMES (1775-1839). —Humorists, s. of a London lawyer who was solicitor to the Board of Ordnance. James succeeded his f.; Horace became a successful stockbroker. Both brothers were distinguished for brilliant wit and humour. Their first great hit was Rejected Addresses (1812), extremely clever parodies on leading contemporary poets. To this jeu d'esprit James contributed among others imitations of Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Crabbe, while Horace's share included Scott and Moore. James pub. little more, but anonymously gave Charles Matthews assistance in his entertainments. Horace pub. several novels which, with perhaps the exception of Brambletye House, are now forgotten. He also wrote The Address to a Mummy, a remarkable poem in which wit and true sentiment are admirably combined. Both brothers were highly esteemed not only for their social qualities, but for their benevolence and goodness of heart.
SMITH, SYDNEY (1771-1845). —Miscellaneous writer, b. at Woodford, Essex, the s. of a gentleman of independent means, and ed. at Winchester and Oxf., took orders 1794, becoming curate of Amesbury. He came to Edinburgh as tutor to a gentleman's s., was introduced to the circle of brilliant young Whigs there, and assisted in founding the Edinburgh Review. He then went to London, where he was for a time preacher at the Foundling Hospital, and lectured on moral philosophy at the Royal Institution. His brilliant wit and general ability made him a favourite in society, while by his power of clear and cogent argument he exercised a strong influence on the course of politics. His Plymley Letters did much to advance the cause of Catholic emancipation. He received various preferments, and became a canon of St. Paul's. In politics he was a Whig, in his Church views an Erastian; and in the defence of his principles he was honest and courageous. Though not remarkable for religious devotion he was a hard-working and, according to his lights, useful country parson. By the death of a younger brother he in his later years came into a considerable fortune.
SMITH, WALTER CHALMERS (1824-1908). —B. in Aberdeen and ed. there and at Edin., was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland at Orwell, Glasgow, and Edinburgh successively, a distinguished preacher and a man of kindly nature and catholic sympathies. He attained considerable reputation as a poet. Among his works are The Bishop's Walk (1861), Olrig Grange (1872), Hilda among the Broken Gods (1878), Raban (1880), Kildrostan (1884), and A Heretic (1890). Some of these were written under the names of "Orwell" and Hermann Kunst. He received the degrees of D.D. and LL.D.
SMITH, SIR WILLIAM (1813-1893). —Lexicographer, ed. at Univ. Coll., London, was a contributor to the Penny Magazine and compiled or ed. many useful works of reference, including Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1842), and dictionaries of the Bible, of Christian Antiquities, and Christian Biography, etc., also various school series and educational handbooks, including The Classical Dictionary. He held various academical degrees, including Ph.D. of Leipsic, and was knighted in 1892.
SMITH, WILLIAM ROBERTSON (1846-1894). —Theologian and Semitic scholar, s. of the Free Church minister of Keig, Aberdeenshire, studied for the ministry of that Church. In 1870 he was appointed Prof. of Hebrew, etc., in its coll. at Aberdeen, a position which he had to resign on account of his advanced critical views. He became joint ed. of The Encyclopædia Britannica, and in 1883 Prof. of Arabic at Camb. S. was a man of brilliant and versatile talents, a mathematician as well as a scholar, somewhat uncompromising and aggressive in the exposition and defence of his views. His works include The Old Testament in the Jewish Church (1881), and The Religion of the Semites (1889).
SMOLLETT, TOBIAS GEORGE (1721-1771). —Novelist, 2nd s. of Archibald S., of Dalquhurn, Dumbartonshire, and ed. at Glasgow, proceeded to London in 1739 with the view of having a tragedy, The Regicide, put on the stage, in which, however, he failed. In this disappointment he took service as surgeon's mate on one of the vessels of the Carthagena expedition, 1741, an experience which he turned to account in his novels. On his return he settled in London, and endeavoured to acquire practice as a physician, but was not very successful, and having discovered where his talent lay, he thenceforth devoted himself to literature. Roderick Random appeared in 1748, The History of an Atom (1749), Peregrine Pickle in 1751, Ferdinand, Count Fathom in 1753, Sir Lancelot Greaves in 1766, and Humphrey Clinker, generally considered his best novel, in 1770. Besides these works, however, he translated Voltaire, wrote a History of England in continuation of Hume's, an Ode to Independence, travels and satires, and contributed to various periodicals. He was repeatedly involved in acrimonious controversy, and on one occasion fined and imprisoned for a libel, which, with various private misfortunes, embittered his life, and he d. disappointed and worn out near Leghorn. Had he lived four years longer he would have succeeded to his grandfather's estate of Bonhill. The novels of S. display great narrative power, and he has a remarkable comic vein of a broad type, which enables him to present ludicrous scenes and circumstances with great effect. There is, however, a strong infusion of coarseness in his treatment of his subjects.
SOMERVILLE, MRS. MARY (FAIRFAX) (1780-1872). —Mathematician and writer on science, dau. of Admiral Sir William G. Fairfax, b. at Jedburgh, was twice m., first to Mr. Greig, an officer in the Russian Navy, and second to her cousin Dr. William S. Although she had early manifested a taste for study, and specially for science, she had, until after the death of her first husband, little opportunity of following out her favourite subjects. With Dr. S., who was in full sympathy with her scientific tastes, she went to reside in London, and there her talents made her known in scientific circles. In 1823 she was requested by Lord Brougham to popularise the Mechanique Celeste of La Place. This she did with great success, publishing her work as The Celestial Mechanism of the Heavens (1830). She also pub. The Connection of the Physical Sciences (1834), and other works. She received a pension from Government, and d. aged 92 at Naples, where she had resided for the last ten or twelve years of her life.
SOMERVILLE, WILLIAM (1675-1742). —Poet, a Warwickshire squire of literary tastes, wrote among others a poem, The Chase, in 4 books, which has some passages of considerable descriptive power.
SOTHEBY, WILLIAM (1757-1833). —Poet and translator, belonged to a good family, and was ed. at Harrow. In early life he was in the army. He pub. a few dramas and books of poems, which had no great popularity, and are now forgotten; his reputation rests upon his admirable translations of the Oberon of Wieland, the Georgics of Virgil, and the Iliad and Odyssey. The last two were begun when he was upwards of 70, but he lived to complete them. His Georgics is considered one of the best translations from the classics in the language.
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634-1716). —Divine, s. of a London merchant, was b. at Hackney, and ed. at Westminster School and Oxf., where in 1660 he was appointed Univ. Orator. He became domestic chaplain to the Lord Chancellor Clarendon, and in 1663 the degree of D.D. was conferred upon him. After accompanying an embassy to Poland he became Rector of Islip, and a chaplain to Charles II. Thereafter he steadily declined higher preferment, including the bishopric of Rochester. He was opposed to the Romanising measures of James II., but owing to his views as to the duty of passive obedience he declined to associate himself in any way with the Revolution, to which nevertheless he submitted. He was an expert controversialist, but it is chiefly by his sermons, which are among the classics of English divinity, that he is remembered. He has the reputation of being the wittiest of English preachers, and this characteristic is sometimes present to a degree not quite suitable to the subjects treated.
SOUTHERNE, THOMAS (1660-1746). —Dramatist, b. in Dublin, and ed. at Trinity Coll. there, came to London and studied law at the Middle Temple. Afterwards he entered the army and saw service. He wrote ten plays, of which two were long acted and are still remembered, The Fatal Marriage (1694) and Oroonoko (1696), in the latter of which he appeals passionately against the slave-trade. Unlike most preceding dramatists he was a practical man, succeeded in his theatrical management, and retired on a fortune. Other plays are The Loyal Brother (1682), The Disappointment (1684), The Wives' Excuse (1692), The Spartan Dame (1719), etc.
SOUTHEY, MRS. CAROLINE ANNE (BOWLES) (1786-1854). —Poetess, dau. of a captain in the navy, submitted a poem, Ellen Fitzarthur to Southey (q.v.), which led to a friendship, and to a proposed joint poem on Robin Hood, not, however, carried out, and eventually to her becoming the poet's second wife. She wrote various other works, including Chapters on Churchyards and Tales of the Factories.
SOUTHEY, ROBERT (1774-1843). —Poet, biographer, etc., s. of an unsuccessful linen-draper in Bristol, where he was b., was sent to Westminster School, and in 1792 went to Oxf. His friendship with Coleridge began in 1794, and with him he joined in the scheme of a "pantisocracy" (see Coleridge). In 1795 he m. his first wife, Edith Fricker, and thus became the brother-in-law of Coleridge. Shortly afterwards he visited Spain, and in 1800 Portugal, and laid the foundations of his thorough knowledge of the history and literature of the Peninsula. Between these two periods of foreign travel he had attempted the study of law, which proved entirely uncongenial; and in 1803 he settled at Greta Hall, Keswick, to which neighbourhood the Coleridges had also come. Here he set himself to a course of indefatigable literary toil which only ended with his life. Thalaba had appeared in 1801, and there followed Madoc (1805), The Curse of Kehama (1810), Roderic, the Last of the Goths (1814), and A Vision of Judgment (1821); and in prose a History of Brazil, Lives of Nelson (1813), Wesley (1820), and Bunyan (1830), The Book of the Church (1824), History of the Peninsular War (1823-32), Naval History, and The Doctor (1834-37). In addition to this vast amount of work he had been from 1808 a constant contributor to the Quarterly Review. In 1839 when he was failing both in body and mind he m., as his second wife, Miss Caroline Ann Bowles, who had for 20 years been his intimate friend, and by whom his few remaining years were soothed. Though the name of S. still bulks somewhat largely in the history of our literature, his works, with a few exceptions, are now little read, and those of them (his longer poems, Thalaba and Kehama) on which he himself based his hopes of lasting fame, least of all. To this result their length, remoteness from living interests, and the impression that their often splendid diction is rather eloquence than true poetry, have contributed. Some of his shorter poems, e.g., "The Holly Tree," and "The Battle of Blenheim" still live, but his fame now rests on his vigorous prose and especially on his classic Life of Nelson. Like Wordsworth and Coleridge, S. began life as a democratic visionary, and was strongly influenced by the French Revolution, but gradually cooled down into a pronounced Tory. He was himself greater and better than any of his works, his life being a noble record of devotion to duty and unselfish benevolence. He held the office of Poet Laureate from 1813, and had a pension from Government. He declined a baronetcy.
Life and Correspondence (6 vols., 1849-50) by his younger son, Rev. C. Southey. Life by Dowden in Men of Letters (1880).
SOUTHWELL, ROBERT (1561?-1595). —Poet, b. at Horsham St. Faith's, Norfolk, of good Roman Catholic family, and ed. at Douay, Paris, and Rome, he became a Jesuit, and showed such learning and ability as to be appointed Prefect of the English Coll. In 1586 he came to England with Garnett, the superior of the English province, and became chaplain to the Countess of Arundel. His being in England for more than 40 days then rendered him liable to the punishment of death and disembowelment, and in 1592 he was apprehended and imprisoned in the Tower for three years, during which he was tortured 13 times. He was then put on trial and executed, February 22, 1595. He was the author of St. Peter's Complaint and The Burning Babe, a short poem of great imaginative power, and of several prose religious works, including St. Mary Magdalene's Teares, A Short Rule of Good Life, The Triumphs over Death, etc.
SPEDDING, JAMES (1808-1881). —Editor of Bacon's works, s. of a Cumberland squire, and ed. at Bury St. Edmunds and Camb., was for some years in the Colonial Office. He devoted himself to the ed. of Bacon's works, and the endeavour to clear his character against the aspersions of Macaulay and others. The former was done in conjunction with Ellis and Heath, his own being much the largest share in their great ed. (1861-74); and the latter, so far as possible, in The Life and Letters, entirely his own. In 1878 he brought out an abridged Life and Times of Francis Bacon. He strongly combated the theory that B. was the author of Shakespeare's plays. His death was caused by his being run over by a cab. He enjoyed the friendship of many of his greatest contemporaries, including Carlyle, Tennyson, and Fitzgerald.
SPEED, JOHN (1552?-1629). —Historian, b. at Farington, Cheshire, and brought up to the trade of a tailor, had a strong taste for history and antiquities, and wrote a History of Great Britain (1611), which was long the best in existence, in collecting material for which he had assistance from Cotton, Spelman, and other investigators. He also pub. useful maps of Great Britain and Ireland, and of various counties, etc. In 1616 appeared his Cloud of Witnesses confirming ... the truth of God's most holie Word. His maps were coll. and with descriptions pub. in 1611 as Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain.
SPEKE, J.H., (see under GRANT, J.A.)
SPELMAN, SIR HENRY (1564?-1641). —Historian and antiquary, b. at Congham, Norfolk, studied at Camb., and entered Lincoln's Inn. He wrote valuable works on legal and ecclesiastical antiquities, including History of Sacrilege (pub. 1698), Glossarium Archæologicum (1626 and 1664), a glossary of obsolete law-terms, A History of the English Councils (1639), and Tenures by Knight-service (1641). His writings have furnished valuable material for subsequent historians. He sat in Parliament and on various commissions, and in recompense of his labours was voted a grant of £300.
SPENCE, JOSEPH (1699-1768). —Anecdotist, b. at Kingsclere, Hants, and ed. at Winchester and Oxf., he entered the Church, and held various preferments, including a prebend at Durham, and was Prof. of Poetry at Oxf. He wrote an Essay on Pope's Odyssey, which gained for him the friendship of the poet, of whose conversation he made notes, collecting likewise anecdotes of him and of other celebrities which were pub. in 1820, and are of great value, inasmuch as they preserve much matter illustrative of the literary history of the 18th century which would otherwise have been lost.
SPENCER, HERBERT (1820-1903). —Philosopher, b. at Derby, the s. of a teacher, from whom, and from his uncle, mentioned below, he received most of his education. His immediate family circle was strongly Dissenting in its theological atmosphere, his f., originally a Methodist, having become a Quaker, while his mother remained a Wesleyan. At 13 he was sent to the care of his uncle, Thomas S., a clergyman, near Bath, but a Radical and anti-corn-law agitator. Declining a Univ. career he became a school assistant, but shortly after accepted a situation under the engineer of the London and Birmingham railway, in which he remained until the great railway crisis of 1846 threw him out of employment. Previous to this he had begun to write political articles in the Nonconformist; he now resolved to devote himself to journalism, and in 1848 was appointed sub-ed. of the Economist. Thereafter he became more and more absorbed in the consideration of the problems of sociology and the development of the doctrine of evolution as applied thereto, gradually leading up to the completion of a system of philosophy which was the work of his life. His fundamental proposition is that society, like the individual, is an organism subject to evolution, and the scope of this idea is gradually expanded so as to embrace in its sweep the whole range of cognisible phenomena. Among the books which he pub. in exposition of his views may be mentioned Social Statics (1850), Principles of Psychology (1855), First Principles (1862), Principles of Biology (1867), Data of Ethics (1879), Principles of Sociology (1877), Political Institutions (1882), and Man versus the State (1884). His works have been translated into most European languages—some of them into Chinese and Japanese. The most characteristic qualities of S. as a thinker are his powers of generalisation and analysis. He left an autobiography, in which he subjects his own personality to analysis with singular detachment of mind.
Life by David Duncan, LL.D., Life by A.J. Thompson. See also Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Fishe (1874), and books on S. and his philosophy by Hudson (1894), White (1897), and Macpherson (1890).
SPENCER, WILLIAM ROBERT (1769-1834). —Poet, ed. at Harrow and Oxf., belonged to the Whig set of Fox and Sheridan. He wrote graceful vers de societé, made translations from Bürger, and is best remembered by his well-known ballad of Gelert. After a life of extravagance he d. in poverty in Paris.
SPENSER, EDMUND (1552?-1599). —Poet, was b. in East Smithfield, London, the s. of John S., described as gentleman and journeyman in the art of cloth-making, who had come to London from Lancashire. In 1561 the poet was sent to Merchant Taylor's School, then newly opened, and in 1569 he proceeded to Pembroke Hall, Camb., as a sizar, taking his degree in 1576. Among his friends there were Edward Kirke, who ed. the Shepheard's Calendar, and Gabriel Harvey, the critic. While still at school he had contributed 14 sonnet-visions to Van de Noot's Theatre for Worldlings (1569). On leaving the Univ. S. went to the north, probably to visit his relations in Lancashire, and in 1578, through his friend Harvey, he became known to Leicester and his brother-in-law, Philip Sidney. The next year, 1579, saw the publication of The Shepheard's Calendar in 12 eclogues. It was dedicated to Sidney, who had become his friend and patron, and was received with acclamation, all who had ears for poetry perceiving that a new and great singer had arisen. The following year S. was appointed sec. to Lord Grey of Wilton, Deputy for Ireland, a strict Puritan, and accompanied him to Ireland. At the same time he appears to have begun the Faerie Queen. In 1581 he was appointed Registrar of Chancery, and received a grant of the Abbey and Castle of Enniscorthy, which was followed in 1586 by a grant of the Castle of Kilcolman in County Cork, a former possession of the Earls of Desmond with 3000 acres attached. Simultaneously, however, a heavy blow fell upon him in the death of Sidney at the Battle of Zutphen. The loss of this dear friend he commemorated in his lament of Astrophel. In 1590 he was visited by Sir Walter Raleigh, who persuaded him to come to England, and presented him to the Queen, from whom he received a pension of £50, which does not, however, appear to have been regularly paid, and on the whole his experiences of the Court did not yield him much satisfaction. In the same year his reputation as a poet was vastly augmented by the publication of the first three books of the Faerie Queen, dedicated to Elizabeth. The enthusiasm with which they were received led the publisher to bring out a collection of other writings of S. under the general title of Complaints, and including Mother Hubbard's Tale (a satire on the Court and on the conflict then being waged between the old faith and the new), Teares of the Muses, and The Ruins of Time. Having seen these ventures launched, S. returned to Kilcolman and wrote Colin Clout's come Home Again, one of the brightest and most vigorous of his poems, not, however, pub. until 1595. In the following year appeared his Four Hymns, two on Love and Beauty and two on Heavenly Love and Beauty, and the Prothalamion on the marriage of two daughters of the Earl of Worcester. He also pub. in prose his View of Ireland, a work full of shrewd observation and practical statesmanship. In 1594 he was m. to Elizabeth Boyle, whom he had courted in Amoretti, and his union with whom he now celebrated in the magnificent Epithalamion, by many regarded as his most perfect poem. In 1595 he returned to England, taking with him the second part of the Faerie Queen, pub. in 1596. In 1598 he was made Sheriff of Cork, and in the same year his fortunes suffered a final eclipse. The rebellion of Tyrone broke out, his castle was burned, and in the conflagration his youngest child, an infant, perished, he himself with his wife and remaining children escaping with difficulty. He joined the President, Sir T. Norris, who sent him with despatches to London, where he suddenly d. on January 16, 1599, as was long believed in extreme destitution. This, however, happily appears to be at least doubtful. He was buried in Westminster Abbey near Chaucer, and a monument was erected to his memory in 1620 by the Countess of Dorset.
The position of S. in English poetry is below Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton only. The first far excels him in narrative and constructive power and in humour, and the last in austere grandeur of conception; but for richness and beauty of imagination and exquisite sweetness of music he is unsurpassed except by Shakespeare. He has been called the poets' poet, a title which he well merits, not only by virtue of the homage which all the more imaginative poets have yielded him, but because of the almost unequalled influence he has exercised upon the whole subsequent course and expression of English poetry, which he enriched with the stanza which bears his name, and which none since him have used with more perfect mastery. His faults are prolixity, indirectness, and want of constructive power, and consequently the sustained sweetness and sumptuousness of his verse are apt to cloy. His great work, the Faerie Queen, is but a gorgeous fragment, six books out of a projected twelve; but probably few or none of its readers have regretted its incompleteness. In it Protestantism and Puritanism receive their most poetic and imaginative presentation and vindication.
SUMMARY.—B. 1552, ed. Merchant Taylor's School and Camb., became known to Leicester and Sir P. Sidney 1578, pub. Shepheard's Calendar 1579, appointed sec. to Lord Deputy of Ireland 1580, and began Faerie Queen, receives various appointments and grants 1581-6, pub. Astrophel in memory of Sidney 1586, visited by Raleigh and by him presented to Queen Elizabeth, who pensioned him 1590, and in same year pub. first three books of Faerie Queen, Teares of Muses, etc., writes Colin Clout, pub. 1595, and in 1596 pub. Four Hymns and Prothalamion, m. E. Boyle 1594, whom he had courted in Amoretti, and now celebrated in the Epithalamion, returned to England 1595, Sheriff of Cork 1598, in which year the rebellion broke out and ruined his fortunes, returned to London and d. 1599.
There have been very numerous ed. of the works, among which may be mentioned the Globe (1899), and Dr. Grosart's (10 vols., 1882-84). There is an excellent biography by Dean Church (1879).
SPOTTISWOOD, JOHN (1565-1639). —Historian, s. of John S., minister of Midcalder and Superintendent of Lothian. Entering the Church he gained the favour of James VI., and was his chief instrument in his endeavours to restore Episcopal church-government in Scotland. He became Archbishop successively of Glasgow and St. Andrews, and in 1635 Lord Chancellor of Scotland. On the rising caused by the introduction of the service-book, he had to flee from Scotland, and was excommunicated by the General Assembly (1638). He wrote a History of the Church and State of Scotland, pub. 1655. It is, of course, written from the Episcopalian standpoint, as Calderwood's is from the Presbyterian.
SPRAGUE, CHARLES (1791-1875). —Poet, b. at Boston, Mass., had some reputation as a writer of prize poems, odes, and domestic poems. To the first class belong Curiosity and Shakespeare Ode, and to the latter, The Family Meeting and I see Thee Still, an elegy on his sister.
SPRAT, THOMAS (1635-1713). —Divine and writer of memoirs, b. at Beaminster, Dorset, ed. at Oxf., was a mathematician, and one of the group of scientific men among whom the Royal Society, of which he was one of the first members and the historian, had its origin. He wrote a Life of his friend Cowley the poet, and an account of Young's plot for the restoration of James II. His History of the Royal Society is his principal work, but he also wrote poems, and had a high reputation as a preacher. His literary style gives him a distinguished place among English writers. He held various, high preferments, and d. Bishop of Rochester.
SPURGEON, CHARLES HADDON (1834-1892). —B. at Kelvedon, Essex, left the Independents and joined the Baptist communion and became, at the age of 20, pastor of New Park Street Chapel, London, where he attained an unprecedented popularity. In 1859 the Metropolitan Tabernacle was erected for him. He was a decided Calvinist in his theological views, and was strongly opposed to modern critical movements. He possessed in an eminent degree two of the great requisites of effective oratory, a magnificent voice and a command of pure idiomatic Saxon English. His sermons, composed and pub. weekly, had an enormous circulation, and were regularly translated into several languages. In addition to his pastoral labours he superintended an almshouse, a pastor's coll., and an orphanage; and he was likewise a voluminous author, publishing, in addition to his sermons, numerous works, including The Treasury of David (a commentary on the Psalms).
STANHOPE, PHILIP HENRY, 5TH EARL STANHOPE (1805-1875). —Historian, was b. at Walmer, and ed. at Oxf. He sat in the House of Commons for Wootton Bassett and Hertford, held some minor official appointments under Peel, and identified himself with many useful measures, specially in regard to literature and art. His writings, which are all remarkable for industrious collection of facts, careful and impartial sifting and weighing of evidence, and a clear, sober, and agreeable style, include History of England from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles (1836-63), and histories of the War of the Spanish Succession (1832), and of the Reign of Queen Anne (1870), besides Lives of the younger Pitt (1861) and of Lord 'Chesterfield. As an author he is best known as Viscount Mahon.
STANLEY, ARTHUR PENRHYN (1815-1881). —Historian, biographer, and theologian, s. of Edward S., Bishop of Norwich, b. at Alderley, Cheshire, of which his f. was then rector, ed. at Rugby and Oxf., became a Fellow of Univ. Coll. Taking orders in 1839 he became Canon of Canterbury 1851, and of Christ Church 1858, and Dean of Westminster 1864. He was also Prof. of Ecclesiastical History at Oxf. 1856. His ecclesiastical position was Erastian and latitudinarian, and his practical aim in Church politics comprehension. He gave great offence to the High Church party by his championing of Colenso, W.G. Ward, Jowett, and others, by his preaching in the pulpits of the Church of Scotland and in other ways, and his latitudinarianism made him equally obnoxious to many others. On the other hand, his singular personal charm and the fascination of his literary style secured for him a very wide popularity. He was a prolific author, his works including Life of Dr. Arnold (of Rugby) (1844), whose favourite pupil he was, and Memorials of Canterbury (1854), Sinai and Palestine (1855), Lectures on the Eastern Church (1861), History of the Jewish Church (1863, etc.), Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey (1867), Lectures on the History of the Church of Scotland (1872), besides various commentaries. In his historical writings he aimed rather at conveying a vivid and picturesque general effect than at minute accuracy of detail or philosophical views. His masterpiece is his Life of Dr. Arnold, which is one of the great biographies in the language. His wife was Lady Augusta Bruce, to whom he was m. in 1868.
STANLEY, SIR HENRY MORTON (1841-1904). —Traveller in Africa, b. in America, went to find, and found, Livingstone, and wrote an account of his adventures in the quest, How I found Livingstone. Other works were In Darkest Africa and Through the Dark Continent.
STANLEY, THOMAS (1625-1678). —Philosopher and scholar, connected with the Derby family, ed. at Camb., was the author of some poems and of a biographical History of Philosophy (4 vols., 1655-62). He was learned in the classics, and translated from the Latin and late Greek as well as from the Italian and Portuguese, and ed. Æschylus. His poetry is thoughtful and gracefully expressed.
STANYHURST, RICHARD (1547-1618). —Translator, was at Oxf., and studied law at Furnivall's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. He collaborated with Holinshed (q.v.). His principal literary achievement was a grotesquely stiff, clumsy, and prosaic translation of the first four books of the Æneid into English hexameters. He also translated some of the Psalms.
STEDMAN, EDMUND CLARENCE, L.H.D., LL.D., (1833-1908). —American poet and critic. Poems Lyric and Idyllic (1860), Alice of Monmouth (1864), The Blameless Prince (1869), Victorian Poets (1875-87), Lyrics and Idylls (1879), Poets of America (1885), Victorian Anthology (1896), American Anthology (1896), etc.
STEELE, SIR RICHARD (1672-1729). —Essayist and dramatist, s. of a Dublin attorney, who d. when his s. was 5 years old, was on the nomination of the Duke of Ormond, sent to the Charterhouse School, where his friendship with Addison began, and thence went to Oxf., but left without taking a degree, and enlisted in the Horse Guards, for which he was disinherited by a rich relation. He, however, gained the favour of his colonel, Lord Cutts, himself a poet, and rose to the rank of captain. With the view of setting before himself a high ideal of conduct (to which unhappily he was never able to attain), he at this time wrote a treatise on morals entitled The Christian Hero (1701). Abandoning this vein, he next produced three comedies, The Funeral, or Grief à la Mode (1702), The Tender Husband (1703), and The Lying Lover (1704). Two years later he was appointed Gentleman Waiter to Prince George of Denmark, and in 1707 he was made Gazetteer; and in the same year he m. as his second wife Mary Scurlock, his "dear Prue," who seems, however, to have been something of a termagant. She had considerable means, but the incorrigible extravagance of S. soon brought on embarrassment. In 1709 he laid the foundations of his fame by starting the Tatler, the first of those periodicals which are so characteristic a literary feature of that age. In this he had the invaluable assistance of Addison, who contributed 42 papers out of a total of 271, and helped with others. The Tatler was followed by the Spectator, in which Addison co-operated to a still greater extent. It was even a greater success, and ran to 555 numbers, exclusive of a brief revival by Addison in which S. had no part, and in its turn was followed by the Guardian. It is on his essays in these that the literary fame of S. rests. With less refinement and delicacy of wit than Addison, he had perhaps more knowledge of life, and a wider sympathy, and like him he had a sincere desire for the reformation of morals and manners. In the keen political strife of the times he fought stoutly and honestly on the Whig side, one result of which was that he lost his office of Gazetteer, and was in 1714 expelled from the House of Commons to which he had just been elected. The next year gave a favourable turn to his fortunes. The accession of George I. brought back the Whigs, and S. was appointed to various offices, including a commissionership on forfeited estates in Scotland, which took him to Edinburgh, where he was welcomed by all the literati there. Nothing, however, could keep him out of financial embarrassments, and other troubles followed: his wife d.; differences, arose with Addison, who d. before a reconciliation could be effected. The remaining years were clouded by financial troubles and ill-health. His last work was a play, The Conscious Lovers (1722). He left London and lived at Hereford and at Carmarthen, where he d. after a partial loss of his faculties from paralysis.
Lives by Austin Dobson (1886) and G.A. Aitken (1889). Ed., Plays by Aitken (1893), Essays (selected) Clarendon Press (1885), Tatler, Aitken (1898), Spectator, H. Morley (1868), Gregory Smith (1897-8), Aitken (1898).
STEEVENS, GEORGE (1736-1800). —Shakespearian commentator, ed. at Eton and Camb. He issued various reprints of quarto ed. of Shakespeare, and assisted Dr. Johnson in his ed., and also in his Lives of the Poets. In 1793 he himself brought out a new ed. of Shakespeare, in which he dealt somewhat freely with the text. He was in constant controversy with Ritson and other literary antiquaries, and was also an acute detector of literary forgeries, including those of Chatterton and Ireland.
STEEVENS, GEORGE WARRINGTON (1869-1900). —Journalist and miscellaneous writer, b. at Sydenham, and ed. at City of London School and Oxf., took to journalism, in which he distinguished himself by his clearness of vision and vivid style. Connected successively with the National Observer, the Pall Mall Gazette, and the Daily Mail, he utilised the articles which appeared in these and other publications in various books, such as The Land of the Dollar (America) (1897), With Kitchener to Kartoum, and The Tragedy of Dreyfus. His most striking work, however, was Monologues of the Dead (1895). He went as war correspondent to South Africa in 1900, and d. of enteric fever at Ladysmith.
English literature
STEPHEN, SIR JAMES (1789-1859). —Statesman and historical writer, s. of James S., Master in Chancery, ed. at Camb., and called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn 1811. After practising with success, accepted appointment of permanent counsel to Colonial Office and Board of Trade 1825, and was subsequently, 1826-47, permanent Under-Sec. for the Colonies, in which capacity he exercised an immense influence on the colonial policy of the empire, and did much to bring about the abolition of the slave trade. Impaired health led to his resignation, when he was made K.C.B. and a Privy Councillor. He was afterwards Prof. of Modern History at Camb. 1849-59, and of the same subject at the East India Coll. at Haileybury 1855-57. He wrote Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography (1849) and Lectures on the History of France (1852).
STEPHEN, SIR LESLIE (1832-1904). —Biographer and critic, s. of the above, was b. in London, and ed. at Eton, King's Coll., London, and Camb., where he obtained a tutorial Fellowship, and took orders. He came under the influence of Mill, Darwin, and H. Spencer, and devoted himself largely to the study of economics. His religious views having undergone a change, he gave up the clerical character and his Fellowship, and became a pronounced Agnostic. In 1865 he definitely adopted a literary career, and contributed to the Saturday Review, Fraser's Magazine, and other periodicals. In 1873 he pub. a collection of his essays as Free Thinking and Plain Speaking, which he followed up with An Agnostic's Apology (1893). He became ed. in 1871 of the Cornhill Magazine, in which appeared the essays afterwards coll. as Hours in a Library (3 series, 1874-79). His chief work was The History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century (1876-81). He also wrote Science of Ethics (1882), and biographies of Dr. Johnson (1878), Pope (1880). Swift (1882), and George Eliot (English Men of Letters Series). In 1882 he became ed. of the Dictionary of National Biography, to which he devoted much labour, besides contributing many of the principal articles. The English Utilitarians appeared in 1900. As a biographical and critical writer he holds a very high place. His first wife was a dau. of Thackeray. In recognition of his literary eminence he was made a K.C.B.
Life and Letters by F.W. Maitland (1906).
STEPHENS, THOMAS (1821-1875). —Welsh historian and critic, b. at Pont Nedd Fechan, Glamorganshire, s. of a shoemaker. His works include The Literature of the Kymry (1849), The History of Trial by Jury in Wales, and an essay in which he demolished the claim of the Welsh under Madoc to the discovery of America. He also wrote on the life and works of the bard Aneurin. The critical methods which he adopted in his works often made him unpopular with the less discriminating enthusiasts for the glory of Wales, but he earned the respect of serious scholars.
STERLING, JOHN (1806-1844). —Essayist and miscellaneous writer, s. of Edward S., a well-known writer in the Times, was b. in Bute, and ed. at Glasgow and Camb. At the latter he became acquainted with a group of brilliant men, including F.D. Maurice, Trench, and Monckton Milnes. He took orders and became curate to Julius Hare (q.v.); but intellectual difficulties and indifferent health led to his resignation within a year, and the rest of his life was passed in alternating between England and warmer climes. He wrote for Blackwood's Magazine, the London and Westminster, and Quarterly Reviews, and pub. Essays and Tales, The Election, a humorous poem, Strafford, a tragedy, and Richard Cœur de Lion, a serio-comic poem of which three books out of eight were pub. His memory, perpetuated in a remarkable memoir by Carlyle, lives rather by what he was than by anything he did. His character and intellect appear to have exercised a singular influence on the eminent men he numbered among his friends.
STERNE, LAURENCE (1713-1768). —Novelist, s. of an officer in the army, and the great-grandson of an Archbishop of York, was b. at Clonmel, where his father's regiment happened to be stationed, and passed part of his boyhood in Ireland. At the age of 10 he was handed over to a relation, Mr. Sterne of Elvington in Yorkshire, who put him to school at Halifax, and thereafter sent him to Camb. He entered the Church, a profession for which he was very indifferently fitted, and through family influence procured the living of Sutton, Yorkshire. In 1741 he m. a lady—Miss Lumley—whose influence obtained for him in addition an adjacent benefice, and he also became a prebendary of York. It was not until 1760 that the first two vols. of his famous novel, Tristram Shandy, appeared. Its peculiar and original style of humour, its whimsicality, and perhaps also its defiance of conventionality, and even its frequent lapses into indecorum, achieved for it an immediate and immense popularity. S. went up to London and became the lion of the day. The third and fourth vols. appeared in 1761, the fifth and sixth in 1762, the seventh and eighth in 1765, and the last in 1767. Meanwhile he had pub. the Sermons of Mr. Yorick (1760), and his remaining work, The Sentimental Journey appeared in 1768. From the time of his finding himself a celebrity his parishioners saw but little of him, his time being passed either in the gaieties of London or in travelling on the Continent. Latterly he was practically separated from his wife and only dau., to the former of whom his behaviour had been anything but exemplary. His health, which had begun to give way soon after his literary career had commenced, finally broke down, and he fell into a consumption, of which he d. in London on March 18, 1768, utterly alone and unattended. His body was followed to the grave by one coach containing his publisher and another gentleman; and it was exhumed and appeared in a few days upon the table of the anatomical professor at Camb. He d. in debt, but a subscription was raised for his wife and dau., the latter of whom m. a Frenchman, and is said to have perished under the guillotine. Worthless as a man, S. possessed undoubted genius. He had wit, originality, and pathos, though the last not seldom runs into mawkishness, and an exquisitely delicate and glancing style. He has contributed some immortal characters to English fiction, including Uncle Toby and Corporal Trim. His great faults as a writer are affectation and a peculiarly deliberate kind of indecency, which his profession renders all the more offensive; and he was by no means scrupulous in adopting, without acknowledgment, the good things of previous writers.
Works ed. by Prof. Saintsbury (6 vols., 1894). See also Macmillan's Library of English classics. Lives by P. Fitzgerald (1896); and H.D. Traill in English Men of Letters Series.
STERNHOLD, THOMAS (1500-1549), HOPKINS JOHN (d. 1570). —Were associated in making the metrical version of the Psalms, which was attached to the Prayer-book, and was for 200 years the chief hymn-book of the Church of England. It is a commonplace and tame rendering. The collection was not completed until 1562. It was gradually superseded by the version of Tate and Brady.
STEVENSON, ROBERT LOUIS (1850-1894). —Novelist and essayist, was b. at Edin., the s. of Thomas S., a distinguished civil engineer. His health was extremely delicate. He was destined for the engineering profession, in which his family had for two generations been eminent, but having neither inclination nor physical strength for it, he in 1871 exchanged it for law, and was called to the Bar in 1875, but never practised. From childhood his interests had been literary, and in 1871 he began to contribute to the Edinburgh University Magazine and the Portfolio. A tour in a canoe in 1876 led to the publication in 1878 of his first book, An Inland Voyage. In the same year, The New Arabian Nights, afterwards separately pub. appeared in magazines, and in 1879 he brought out Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes. In that year he went to California and m. Mrs. Osbourne. Returning to Europe in 1880 he entered upon a period of productiveness which, in view of his wretched health, was, both as regards quantity and worth, highly remarkable. The year 1881 was marked by his unsuccessful candidature for the Chair of Constitutional Law and History at Edin., and by the publication of Virginibus Puerisque. Other works followed in rapid succession. Treasure Island (1882), Prince Otto and The Child's Garden of Verse (1885), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Kidnapped (1886), Underwoods (poetry), Memories and Portraits (essays), and The Merry Men, a collection of short stories (1887), and in 1888 The Black Arrow. In 1887 he went to America, and in the following year visited the South Sea Islands where, in Samoa, he settled in 1890, and where he d. and is buried. In 1889 The Master of Ballantrae appeared, in 1892 Across the Plains and The Wrecker, in 1893 Island Nights Entertainments and Catriona, and in 1894 The Ebb Tide in collaboration with his step-son, Mr. Lloyd Osbourne. By this time his health was completely broken, but to the last he continued the struggle, and left the fragments St. Ives and Weir of Hermiston, the latter containing some of his best work. They were pub. in 1897. Though the originality and power of S.'s writings was recognised from the first by a select few, it was only slowly that he caught the ear of the general public. The tide may be said to have turned with the publication of Treasure Island in 1882, which at once gave him an assured place among the foremost imaginative writers of the day. His greatest power is, however, shown in those works which deal with Scotland in the 18th century, such as Kidnapped, Catriona, and Weir of Hermiston, and in those, e.g., The Child's Garden of Verse, which exhibit his extraordinary insight into the psychology of child-life; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a marvellously powerful and subtle psychological story, and some of his short tales also are masterpieces. Of these Thrawn Janet and Will of the Mill may be mentioned as examples in widely different kinds. His excursions into the drama in collaboration with W.E. Henley—Deacon Brodie, Macaire, Admiral Guinea, Beau Austin,—added nothing to his reputation. His style is singularly fascinating, graceful, various, subtle, and with a charm all its own.
Works, Edinburgh ed. (28 vols., 1894-98). Life by Grahame Balfour (1901), Letters, S. Colvin (1899).
STEWART, DUGALD (1753-1828). —Philosopher, s. of Matthew S., Prof. of Mathematics at Edin., was b. in the Coll. buildings, and at the age of 19 began to assist his f. in his classes, receiving the appointment of regular assistant two years later. In 1785 he became Prof. of Moral Philosophy, and rendered the chair illustrious by his learning and eloquence, his pupils including Lords Palmerston, Russell, and Lansdowne. S. was, however, rather a brilliant expositor than an original thinker, and in the main followed Reid (q.v.). His works include Philosophy of the Human Mind, in three vols., pub. respectively in 1792, 1813, and 1827, Outlines of Moral Philosophy (1793), Philosophical Essays (1810), Dissertation on the Progress of Metaphysical and Ethical Philosophy (1815, part II. 1821), and View of the Active and Moral Powers of Man. He also wrote memoirs of Robertson the historian, Adam Smith, and Reid. The Whig party, which he had always supported, on their accession to power, created for him the office of Gazette-writer for Scotland, in recognition of his services to philosophy. His later years were passed in retirement at Kinneil House on the Forth. His works were ed. by Sir William Hamilton.
STILLINGFLEET, EDWARD (1635-1699). —Theologian, b. at Cranbourne, Dorsetshire, ed. at Camb., entered the Church, and held many preferments, including a Royal Chaplaincy, the Deanery of St. Paul's (1678), and the Bishopric of Worcester (1689). He was a frequent speaker in the House of Lords, and had considerable influence as a Churchman. A keen controversialist, he wrote many treatises, including The Irenicum (advocating compromise with the Presbyterians), Antiquities of the British Churches, and The Unreasonableness of Separation. S. was a good and honest man and had the respect of his strongest opponents.
STIRLING, JAMES HUTCHISON (1820-1909). —Philosopher, b. in Glasgow, and ed. there and at Edin., where he studied medicine, which he practised until the death of his f. in 1851, after which he devoted himself to philosophy. His Secret of Hegel (1865) gave a great impulse to the study and understanding of the Hegelian philosophy both at home and in America, and was also accepted as a work of authority in Germany and Italy. Other works, all characterised: by keen philosophical insight and masterly power of exposition are Complete Text-book to Kant (1881), Philosophy and Theology (1890), What is Thought? or the Problem of Philosophy (1900), and The Categories (1903). Less abstruse are Jerrold, Tennyson, and Macaulay (1868), Burns in Drama (1878), and Philosophy in the Poets (1885).
STIRLING, WILLIAM ALEXANDER, EARL of (1567-1640). —Poet, s. of A. of Menstrie, and cr. Earl of S. by Charles I., 1633, was a courtier, and held many offices of state. He studied at Glasgow and Leyden, and wrote among other poems, partly in Latin, sonnets and four Monarchicke Tragedies, Darius, Crœsus, The Alexandræan Tragedy, and Julius Cæsar (1603-7), the motive of which is the fall of ambition, and which, though dignified, have little inspiration. He also assisted James I. in his metrical version of the Psalms. He d. insolvent in London. The grant of Nova Scotia which he had received became valueless owing to the French conquests in that region.
STIRLING-MAXWELL, SIR WILLIAM (1818-1878). —Historian and writer on art, s. of Archibald Stirling of Keir, succeeded to the estates and title of his uncle, Sir John Maxwell of Pollok, as well as to Keir, ed. at Camb., afterwards travelled much. He sat in the House of Commons for Perthshire, which he twice represented, 1852-68 and 1874-80, served on various commissions and public bodies, and was Lord Rector successively of the Univ. of St. Andrews and Edin. and Chancellor of that of Glasgow. His works include Annals of the Artists of Spain (1848), The Cloister Life of the Emperor Charles V. (1852), and Don John of Austria, pub. posthumously in 1885. They were all distinguished by research and full information, and the last two are standard authorities He m. as his second wife the Hon. Mrs. Norton (q.v.).
STOCKTON, FRANCIS RICHARD (1834-1902). —B. at Philadelphia, was an engraver and journalist. He became well known as a writer of stories for children, and of amusing books of which Rudder Grange (1879) is the best known. The Lady and the Tiger was also highly popular. Others are Adventures of Captain Horne, Mrs. Null, Casting Away of Mrs. Leeks and Mrs. Aleshine, The Hundredth Man, Great Stone of Sardis, Captain's Toll-gate, etc. His work was very unequal in interest.
STODDARD, RICHARD HENRY (1825-1903). —Poet, b. at Hingham, Mass., worked in a foundry, and afterwards in New York Custom House, wrote a Life of Washington, but is chiefly known as a poet, his poetical works including Songs in Summer (1857), The King's Bell, The Lions Cub, etc.
STORER, THOMAS (1571-1604). —Poet, b. in London, and ed. at Oxf., wrote a long poem, The Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal.
STORY, WILLIAM WETMORE (1819-1895). —Sculptor, poet, etc., b. at Salem, Mass., was intended for the law, but became a sculptor and an eminent man of letters. His writings include Roba di Roma (1862), The Tragedy of Nero (1875), The Castle of St. Angelo (1877), He and She (1883), Conversations in a Studio, A Poet's Portfolio (1894), etc.
STOW, JOHN (1525-1605). —Historian and antiquary, b. in London, s. of a tailor, and brought up to the same trade. He had, however, an irresistible taste for transcribing and collecting ancient documents, and pursuing antiquarian and historical researches, to which he ultimately entirely devoted himself. This he was enabled to do partly through the munificence of Archbishop Parker. He made large collections of old books and manuscripts, and wrote and ed. several works of importance and authority, including The Woorkes of Geoffrey Chaucer, Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles (1561), afterwards called Annales of England, ed. of the chronicles of Matthew Paris and others, of Holinshed's Chronicle, and A Survey of London (1598). It is sad to think that the only reward of his sacrifices and labours in the public interest was a patent from James I. to collect "among our loving subjects their voluntary contributions and kind gratuities."
STOWE, MRS. HARRIET BEECHER (1811?-1896). —Novelist and miscellaneous writer, dau. of Dr. Lyman Beecher, a well-known American clergyman, and sister of Henry Ward B., one of the most popular preachers whom America has produced, was b. at Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1811 or 1812. After spending some years as a teacher, she m. the Rev. Calvin E. Stowe. Up till 1852 all she had written was a little vol. of stories which failed to attract attention. In that year, at the suggestion of a sister-in-law, she decided to write something against slavery, and produced Uncle Tom's Cabin, which originally appeared in serial form in a magazine, The National Era. It did not at the time receive much attention, but on its appearance in a separate form it took the world by storm. Its sale soon reached 400,000 copies, and the reprints have probably reached a far greater number. It was translated into numerous foreign languages, and had a powerful effect in hurrying on the events which ultimately resulted in emancipation. Her later works include Dred, The Minister's Wooing, Agnes of Sorrento, The Pearl of Orr's Island, and Old Town Folks. Some of these, especially the last, are in a literary sense much superior to Uncle Tom's Cabin, but none of them had more than an ordinary success. In 1869 an article on Lord Byron involved her in a somewhat unfortunate controversy.
STRICKLAND, AGNES (1796 or 1806-1874). —Historical writer, dau. of Thomas S., of Royden Hall, Suffolk, was ed. by her f., and began her literary career with a poem, Worcester Field, followed by The Seven Ages of Woman and Demetrius. Abandoning poetry she next produced among others Historical Tales of Illustrious British Children (1833), The Pilgrims of Walsingham (1835), Tales and Stories from History (1836). Her chief works, however, are Lives of the Queens of England from the Norman Conquest, and Lives of the Queens of Scotland, and English Princesses, etc. (8 vols., 1850-59), Lives of the Bachelor Kings of England (1861), and Letters of Mary Queen of Scots, in some of which she was assisted by her sister Elizabeth. Though laborious and conscientious she lacked the judicial faculty, and her style does not rise above mediocrity.
STRODE, WILLIAM (1600-1645). —Poet, only s. of Philip S., who belonged to an old Devonshire family, he was b. at Plympton, Devonshire, and showing studious tendencies, was sent to Westminster School and Oxf. While at the Univ. he began to manifest his poetic talents, and generally distinguished himself, being elected in 1629 Public Orator. He took orders and, on Richard Corbet (q.v.) becoming Bishop of Oxf., became his chaplain. Later he was Rector of E. Bredenham, Norfolk, and of Badley, Northants, and Canon of Christ Church. On the outbreak of the Civil War he attached himself warmly to the cause of the King. He was a High Churchman, and had a reputation as "a witty and sententious preacher, an exquisite orator, and an eminent poet." It is therefore singular that, until the recovery of his poems by Mr. B. Dobell, he had fallen into absolute oblivion. As a poet he shines most in lyrics and elegies. With much of the artificiality of his age he shows gracefulness, a feeling for the country, and occasional gleams of tenderness. His play, The Floating Island, a political allegory, was produced in 1633 and played before the Court then on a visit to Oxf., where it was a subject of complaint that it had more moralising than amusement. Mr. Dobell, who ed. his poems in 1907, claims for S. the poem on "Melancholy" ("Hence all you vain delights"), hitherto attributed to Fletcher.
STRYPE, JOHN (1643-1737). —Ecclesiastical historian, b. at Hackney, and ed. at St. Paul's School and Camb., took orders and, among other livings, held the Rectory of Low Leyton, Essex, for upwards of 60 years. He made a large collection of original documents, chiefly relating to the Tudor period, and was a voluminous author. Among his works are Memorials of Archbishop Cranmer (1694), Life of Sir Thomas Smith, Secretary of State to Edward VI. and Elizabeth (1698), Annals of the Reformation (1709-31), and Ecclesiastical Memorials (1721); besides Lives of Bishop Aylmer and Archbishops Grindal, Parker, and Whitgift. S., who was a painstaking and honest, but dull and unmethodical, writer, remains an authority.
STUART, GILBERT (1742-1786). —Historical writer, s. of George S., Prof. of Humanity (Latin) at Edin. Among his publications were An Historical Dissertation on the English Constitution (1768), Discourse on the Government and Laws of England (1772), A View of Society in Europe (1778), and a History of Scotland (1782). He was a man of extremely jealous and implacable temper, and made venomous attacks on the historical works of Robertson and Henry. His own writings, though well-written, are inaccurate.
STUBBS, WILLIAM (1825-1901). —Historian, s. of a solicitor, b. at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and ed. there and at the Grammar School of Ripon, and Oxf. In 1848 he became a Fellow of Trinity Coll., and in the same year took orders and was appointed to the coll. living of Navestock in Essex, where he remained for 16 years, during which he began his historical researches, and pub. his earlier works. His first publication was Hymnale Secundum Usum Sarum. In 1858 appeared Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum, a calendar of English bishops from Augustine; and then followed ed. of several Chronicles in the Rolls Series. The learning and critical insight displayed in these works commanded the attention and admiration of historical scholars both at home and on the Continent. In 1862 he was appointed librarian of Lambeth Palace, and in 1866 Prof. of Modern History at Oxf. There he pub. in 1870 his Select Charters, and his chief work, The Constitutional History of England (3 vols., 1874-78), which at once became the standard authority on its subject. It deals with the period preceding that with which the great work of Hallam begins. In 1879 he was appointed a Canon of St. Paul's, and in 1884 Bishop of Chester, whence he was translated five years later to Oxf. As an active prelate he was necessarily largely withdrawn from his historical researches; but at Chester he ed. two vols. of William of Malmesbury. S. was greater as a historian than as a writer, but he brought to his work sound judgment, insight, accuracy, and impartiality. He was a member of the French and Prussian Academies, and had the Prussian Order "Pour le Mérite" conferred upon him. Since his death his prefaces to the Rolls Series have been pub. separately.
STUKELEY, WILLIAM (1687-1765). —Antiquary, ed. at Camb., and after practising as a physician took orders in 1729 and held benefices at Stamford and in London. He made antiquarian tours through England, and was one of the founders of the Society of Antiquaries, to which he acted as sec. He pub. Itinerarium Curiosum (1724) and Stonehenge (1740). He made a special study of Druidism, and was called "the Arch-Druid."
SUCKLING, SIR JOHN (1609-1642). —Poet, s. of a knight who had held office as Sec. of State and Comptroller of the Household to James I., was b. at Whitton, Middlesex, ed. at Camb., and thereafter went to Gray's Inn. On the death of his f. in 1627, he inherited large estates. After travelling in France and Italy, he is said to have served for a short time under Gustavus Adolphus. On his return he was knighted, and went to Court, where his wealth, generosity, and wit made him a general favourite. When Charles I. was moving against the Scots S. fitted out a gorgeously appointed troop for his service which, however, were said to have fled at first sight of the Scots army at Duns, an exploit which is ridiculed in the ballad of Sir John Suckling's Campaign. He got into trouble in connection with a plot to rescue Strafford from the Tower, and fled to the Continent. He d. at Paris, it is now believed by his own hand. He was a noted gambler, and has the distinction of being the inventor of the game of cribbage. He wrote four plays, Aglaura (1637), Brennoralt (1646), The Goblins, and The Sad One (unfinished), now forgotten; his fame rests on his songs and ballads, including The Wedding, distinguished by a gay and sparkling wit, and a singular grace of expression.
SURREY, HENRY HOWARD, EARL of (1517?-1547). —Poet, s. of Thomas H., 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was ed. by John Clerke, a learned and travelled scholar, and sec. to his f. He became attached to the Court, was cup-bearer to the King (Henry VIII.), ewerer at the Coronation, and Earl Marshall at the trial of Anne Boleyn. In 1542 he was made a Knight of the Garter a few weeks after the execution of his cousin, Queen Catherine Howard. He suffered imprisonment more than once for being implicated in quarrels and brawls, did a good deal of fighting in Scotland and France, and was the last victim of Henry's insensate jealousy, being beheaded on a frivolous charge of conspiring against the succession of Edward VI. The death of Henry saved Norfolk from the same fate. S. shares with Sir Thomas Wyatt (q.v.) the honour of being the true successor of Chaucer in English poetry, and he has the distinction of being, in his translation of the Æneid, the first to introduce blank verse, and, with Wyatt, the sonnet. The poems of S., though well known in courtly circles, were not pub. during his life; 40 of them appeared in Tottel's Miscellany in 1557. He also paraphrased part of Ecclesiastes and a few of the Psalms. The Geraldine of his sonnets was Elizabeth Fitzgerald, dau. of the Earl of Kildare, then a lonely child at Court, her f. being imprisoned in the Tower.
SURTEES, ROBERT SMITH (1802-1864). —Sporting novelist, a country gentleman of Durham, who was in business as a solicitor, but not succeeding, started in 1831 the Sporting Magazine. Subsequently he took to writing sporting novels, which were illustrated by John Leech. Among them are Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour, Ask Mamma, Plain or Ringlets, and Mr. Facey Romford's Hounds.
SWIFT, JONATHAN (1667-1745). —Satirist, was b. at Dublin of English parents. Dryden was his cousin, and he also claimed kin with Herrick. He was a posthumous child, and was brought up in circumstances of extreme poverty. He was sent to school at Kilkenny, and afterwards went to Trinity Coll., Dublin, where he gave no evidence of ability, but displayed a turbulent and unruly temper, and only obtained a degree by "special grace." After the Revolution he joined his mother, then resident at Leicester, by whose influence he was admitted to the household of Sir William Temple (q.v.) at Moor Park, Lady T. being her distant kinswoman. Here he acted as sec., and having access to a well-stocked library, made good use of his opportunities, and became a close student. At Moor Park he met many distinguished men, including William III., who offered him a troop of horse; he also met Esther Johnson (Stella), a natural dau. of Sir William, who was afterwards to enter so largely into his life. Dissatisfied, apparently, that Temple did not do more for his advancement, he left his service in 1694 and returned to Ireland, where he took orders, and obtained the small living of Kilroot, near Belfast. While there he wrote his Tale of a Tub, one of the most consummate pieces of satire in any language, and The Battle of the Books, with reference to the "Phalaris" controversy (see Bentley), which were pub. together in 1704. In 1698 he threw up his living at the request of Temple, who felt the want of his society and assistance, and returned to Moor Park. On the death of his patron in 1699 he undertook by request the publication of his works, and thereafter returned to Ireland as chaplain to the Lord Deputy, the Earl of Berkeley, from whom he obtained some small preferments, including the vicarage of Laracor, and a prebend in St. Patrick's Cathedral. At this time he made frequent visits to London and became the friend of Addison, Steele, Congreve, and other Whig writers, and wrote various pamphlets, chiefly on ecclesiastical subjects. In 1710, disgusted with the neglect of the Whigs, alike of himself and of the claims of his Church, he abandoned them and attached himself to Harley and Bolingbroke. The next few years were filled with political controversy. He attacked the Whigs in papers in the Examiner in 1710, and in his celebrated pamphlets, The Conduct of the Allies (1712), The Barrier Treaty (1713), and The Public Spirit of the Whigs (1714). In 1713 he was made Dean of St. Patrick's, the last piece of patronage which he received. The steady dislike of Queen Anne had proved an insurmountable obstacle to his further advancement, and her death proved the ruin of the Tories. On the destruction of his hopes S. retired to Ireland, where he remained for the rest of his life a thoroughly embittered man. In 1713 he had begun his Journal to Stella, which sheds so strange a light upon his character, and on his return to Ireland his marriage to her is now generally believed to have taken place, though they never lived together. Now also took place also his final rupture with Miss Van Homrigh (Vanessa), who had been in love with him, with whom he had maintained a lengthened correspondence, and to whom he addressed his poem, Cadenus and Vanessa (1726). Though he disliked the Irish and considered residence in Ireland as banishment, he interested himself in Irish affairs, and attained extraordinary popularity by his Drapier's Letters, directed against the introduction of "Wood's halfpence." In 1726 he visited England and joined with Pope and Arbuthnot in publishing Miscellanies (1727). In the same year, 1726, he pub. Gulliver's Travels, his most widely and permanently popular work. His last visit to England was paid in 1727 and in the following year "Stella," the only being, probably, whom he really loved, d. Though he had a circle of friends in Dublin, and was, owing to his championing the people in their grievances, a popular idol, the shadows were darkening around him. The fears of insanity by which he had been all his life haunted, and which may account for and perhaps partly excuse some of the least justifiable portions of his conduct, pressed more and more upon him. He became increasingly morose and savage in his misanthropy, and though he had a rally in which he produced some of his most brilliant, work—the Rhapsody on Poetry, Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift, and; the Modest Proposal (a horrible but masterly piece of irony)—he gradually sank into almost total loss of his facilities, and d. on October 19, 1745.
The character of S. is one of the gloomiest and least attractive among English writers. Intensely proud, he suffered bitterly in youth and early manhood from the humiliations of poverty and dependence, which preyed upon a mind in which the seeds of insanity were latent until it became dominated by a ferocious misanthropy. As a writer he is our greatest master of grave irony, and while he presents the most humorous ideas, the severity of his own countenance never relaxes. The Tale of a Tub and Gulliver's Travels are the greatest satires in the English language, although the concluding part of the latter is a savage and almost insane attack upon the whole human race. His history is a tragedy darkening into catastrophe, and as Thackeray has said, "So great a man he seems that thinking of him is like thinking of an Empire falling."
S. was tall and powerfully made. His eyes, blue and flashing under excitement, were the most remarkable part of his appearance.
SUMMARY.—B. 1667, ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin, entered household of Sir W. Temple at Moor Park 1692, and became his sec., became known to William III., and met E. Johnson (Stella), left T. in 1694 and returned to Ireland, took orders and wrote Tale of a Tub and Battle of Books (pub. 1704), returned to Sir W.T. 1698, and on his death in 1699 pub. his works, returned to Ireland and obtained some small preferments, visits London and became one of the circle of Addison, etc., deserts the Whigs and joins the Tories 1710, attacking the former in various papers and pamphlets, Dean of St. Patrick's 1713, death of Anne and ruin of Tories destroyed hopes of further preferment, and he returned to Ireland and began his Journal to Stella, Drapier's Letters appeared 1724, visits England, and joins with Pope and Arbuthnot in Miscellanies 1726, pub. Gulliver's Travels 1727, "Stella" d. 1728, gradually lost his faculties and d. 1745.
Lives by Craik (1882), Leslie Stephen (1882), Churton Collins (1893), etc. Works ed. by Sir Walter Scott (19 vols., 1814, etc.) Bonn's Standard Library (1897-1908).
SWINBURNE, ALGERNON CHARLES (1837-1909). —Poet, s. of Admiral S. and of Lady Jane Ashburnham, dau. of the 3rd Earl of A., b. in London, received his early education in France, and was at Eton and at Balliol Coll., Oxf., where he attracted the attention of Jowett, and gave himself to the study of Latin, Greek, French, and Italian, with special reference to poetic form. He left Oxf. without graduating in 1860, and in the next year pub. two plays, The Queen Mother and Rosamund, which made no impression on the public, though a few good judges recognised their promise. The same year he visited Italy, and there made the acquaintance of Walter Savage Landor (q.v.). On his return he lived for some time in Cheyne Row, Chelsea, with D.G. Rossetti (q.v.), and G. Meredith (q.v.). The appearance in 1865 of Atalanta in Calydon led to his immediate recognition as a poet of the first order, and in the same year he pub. Chastelard, a Tragedy, the first part of a trilogy relating to Mary Queen of Scots, the other two being Bothwell (1874), and Mary Stuart (1881). Poems and Ballads, pub. in 1866, created a profound sensation alike among the critics and the general body of readers by its daring departure from recognised standards, alike of politics and morality, and gave rise to a prolonged and bitter controversy, S. defending himself against his assailants in Notes on Poems and Reviews. His next works were the Song of Italy (1867) and Songs before Sunrise (1871). Returning to the Greek models which he had followed with such brilliant success in Atalanta he produced Erechtheus (1876), the extraordinary metrical power of which won general admiration. Poems and Ballads, second series, came out in 1878. Tristram of Lyonnesse in heroic couplets followed in 1882, A Midsummer Holiday (1884), Marino Faliero (1885), Locrine (1887), Poems and Ballads, third series (1889), The Sisters (1892), Astrophel (1894), The Tale of Balen (1896), Rosamund, Queen of the Lombards (1899), A Channel Passage (1904), and The Duke of Gandia (1908). Among his prose works are Love's Cross Currents (1905) (fiction), William Blake, a Critical Essay (1867), Under the Microscope (1872), in answer to R. Buchanan's Fleshly School of Poetry, George Chapman, a Critical Essay (1875), A Study of Shakespeare (1879), A Study of Victor Hugo (1886), and A Study of Ben Jonson (1889).
S. belongs to the class of "Poets' poets." He never became widely popular. As a master of metre he is hardly excelled by any of our poets, but it has not seldom been questioned whether his marvellous sense of the beauty of words and their arrangement did not exceed the depth and mass of his thought. The Hymn to Artemis in Atalanta beginning "When the hounds of Spring are on Winter's traces" is certainly one of the most splendid examples of metrical power in the language. As a prose writer he occupies a much lower place, and here the contrast between the thought and its expression becomes very marked, the latter often becoming turgid and even violent. In his earlier days in London S. was closely associated with the pre-Raphaelites, the Rossettis, Meredith, and Burne-Jones: he was thus subjected successively to the classical and romantic influence, and showed the traces of both in his work. He was never m., and for the last 30 years of his life lived with his friend, Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton, at the Pines, Putney Hill. For some time before his death he was almost totally deaf.
SYLVESTER, JOSHUA (1563-1618). —Poet and translator, is chiefly remembered by his translation from the French of Du Bartas' Divine Weeks and Works, which is said to have influenced Milton and Shakespeare. He seconded the Counterblast against Tobacco of James I. with his Tobacco Battered and the Pipes Shattered ... by a Volley of Holy Shot thundered from Mount Helicon (1620), and also wrote All not Gold that Glitters, Panthea: Divine Wishes and Meditations (1630), and many religious, complimentary, and other occasional pieces. S., who was originally engaged in commerce, acted later as a sort of factor to the Earl of Essex.
SYMONDS, JOHN ADDINGTON (1840-1893). —Writer on art and literature, s. of a physician in Bristol, was ed. at Harrow and Oxf. His delicate health obliged him to live abroad. He pub. (1875-86) History of the Italian Renaissance, and translated the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini. He also pub. some books of poetry, including Many Moods (1878) and Animi Figura (1882), and among his other publications were Introduction to the Study of Dante (1872), Studies of the Greek Poets (1873 and 1876), Shakespeare's Predecessors in the English Drama (1884), and Lives of various poets, including Ben Jonson, Shelley, and Walt Whitman. He also made remarkable translations of the sonnets of Michelangelo and Campanella, and wrote upon philosophical subjects in various periodicals.
SYNGE, JOHN MILLINGTON (1871-1909). —Miscellaneous writer, b. near Dublin, ed. privately and at Trinity Coll., Dublin. He wrote Riders to the Sea, In the Shadow of the Glen (1905), The Well of the Saints (1905), The Play Boy of the Western World (1907), and The Aran Islands (1907).
TABLEY DE, JOHN BYRON LEICESTER WARREN, 3RD LORD (1835-1895). —Poet, eldest s. of the 2nd Lord, ed. at Eton and Oxf., was for a time attached to the British Embassy at Constantinople. He wrote poems of a very high order, some of them pub. under the pseudonyms of "George F. Preston" and "William Lancaster." They include Ballads and Metrical Sketches, The Threshold of Atrides, Glimpses of Antiquity, etc. These were followed by two dramas, Philoctetes (1866) and Orestes (1868). Later works in his own name were Rehearsals (1870), Searching the Net (1873), The Soldier's Fortune, a tragedy. Poems, Dramatic and Lyrical (1893) included selections from former works. After his death appeared Orpheus in Thrace (1901). He was a man of sensitive temperament, and was latterly much of a recluse. He was an accomplished botanist, and pub. a work on the Flora of Cheshire.
TALFOURD, SIR THOMAS NOON (1795-1854). —Poet and biographer, s. of a brewer at Reading, where he was b., and which he represented in Parliament, 1835-41, was ed. at Mill Hill School. He studied law, was called to the Bar in 1821, and became a Judge in 1849. He d. suddenly of apoplexy while charging the Grand Jury at Stafford. He wrote much for reviews, and in 1835 produced Ion, a tragedy, followed by The Athenian Captive (1838), and The Massacre of Glencoe, all of which were acted with success. T. was the friend and literary executor of Charles Lamb (q.v.), and pub. in two sections his Memoirs and Letters. In 1837 he introduced the Copyright Bill, which was passed with modifications in 1842.
TANNAHILL, ROBERT (1774-1810). —Poet, b. in Paisley where he was a weaver. In 1807 he pub. a small vol. of poems and songs, which met with success, and carried his hitherto local fame over his native country. Always delicate and sensitive, a disappointment in regard to the publication of an enlarged ed. of his poems so wrought upon a lowness of spirits, to which he was subject, that he drowned himself in a canal. His longer pieces are now forgotten, but some of his songs have achieved a popularity only second to that of some of Burns's best. Among these are The Braes of Balquhidder, Gloomy Winter's now awa' and The Bonnie Wood o' Craigielea.
TATE, NAHUM (1652-1715). —Poet, s. of a clergyman in Dublin, was ed. at Trinity Coll. there. He pub. Poems on Several Occasions (1677), Panacea, or a Poem on Tea, and, in collaboration with Dryden, the second part of Absalom and Achitophel. He also adapted Shakespeare's Richard II. and Lear, making what he considered improvements. Thus in Lear Cordelia is made to survive her f., and marry Edgar. This desecration, which was defended by Dr. Johnson, kept the stage till well on in the 19th century. He also wrote various miscellaneous poems, now happily forgotten. He is best remembered as the Tate of Tate and Brady's metrical version of the Psalms, pub. in 1696. T., who succeeded Shadwell as Poet Laureate in 1690, figures in The Dunciad. NICHOLAS BRADY (1659-1726).—Tate's fellow-versifier of the Psalms, b. at Bandon, and ed. at Westminster and Oxf., was incumbent of Stratford-on-Avon. He wrote a tragedy, The Rape, a blank verse translation of the Æneid, an Ode, and sermons, now all forgotten.
TATHAM, JOHN (fl. 1632-1664). —Dramatist. Little is known of him. He produced pageants for the Lord Mayor's show and some dramas, Love Crowns the End, The Distracted State, The Scots Figgaries, or a Knot of Knaves, The Rump, etc. He was a Cavalier, who hated the Puritans and the Scotch, and invented a dialect which he believed to be their vernacular tongue.
TAUTPHOEUS, BARONESS (MONTGOMERY) (1807-1893). —Dau. of an Irish gentleman, m. the Baron T., Chamberlain at the Court of Bavaria. She wrote several novels dealing with German life of which the first, The Initials (1850), is perhaps the best. Others were Cyrilla (1883), Quits (1857), and At Odds (1863).
TAYLOR, BAYARD (1825-1878). —Poet, b. in Pennsylvania of Quaker descent, began to write by the time he was 12. Apprenticed to a printer, he found the work uncongenial and, purchasing his indentures, went to Europe on a walking tour, and thereafter he was a constant and enterprising traveller. After his return from Europe he ed. a paper, got on the staff of the New York Tribune, and pub. several books of travel and poetry, among which are Views Afoot (1846), an account of his travels in Europe, and El Dorado (1850), which described the Californian gold-fields. After some experience and some disappointments in the diplomatic sphere, he settled down to novel-writing, his first venture in which, Hannah Thurston (1863), was very successful, and was followed by John Godfrey's Fortunes (1864), partly autobiographical, and The Story of Kenneth (1866). His poetic works include Poems of the Orient (1854), Poet's Journal (1862), Masque of the Gods (1872), Lars (1873), The Prophet (1874), a tragedy, Prince Deucalion, and Home Pastorals (1875). In 1878 he was appointed to the German Embassy, and d. in Berlin in the following year. His translation of Goethe's Faust is perhaps his best work. He was a man of untiring energy and great ability and versatility, but tried too many avenues to fame to advance very far in any of them.
TAYLOR, SIR HENRY (1800-1886). —Dramatist, s. of a gentleman farmer in the county of Durham. After being at sea for some months and in the Naval Stores Department, he became a clerk in the Colonial Office, and remained there for 48 years, during which he exercised considerable influence on the colonial policy of the Empire. In 1872 he was made K.C.M.G. He wrote four tragedies—Isaac Comnenus (1827), Philip van Artevelde (1834), Edwin the Fair (1842), and St. Clement's Eve (1862); also a romantic comedy, The Virgin Widow, which he renamed A Sicilian Summer, The Eve of the Conquest and other Poems (1847). In prose he pub. The Statesman (1836), Notes from Life (1847), Notes from Books (1849), and an Autobiography. Of all these Philip van Artevelde was perhaps the most successful. T. was a man of great ability and distinction, but his dramas, with many of the qualities of good poetry, lack the final touch of genius.
TAYLOR, ISAAC (1787-1865). —Philosophical and historical writer, artist, and inventor, was the most eminent member of a family known as the Taylors of Ongar, which has shown a remarkable persistence of ability in various departments, but especially in art and literature. His grandfather and f., who bore the same name, were both eminent engravers, and the latter was the author of various books for children. T. was brought up to the hereditary art of engraving, in which he displayed pre-eminent skill, his work gaining the admiration of D.G. Rossetti. He decided, however, to devote himself to literature, and for 40 years continued to produce works of originality and value, including Elements of Thought (1823), Natural History of Enthusiasm (1829), Spiritual Despotism (1831), Ancient Christianity (1839), Restoration of Belief (1855), The Physical Theory of Another Life, History of Transmission of Ancient Books, and Home Education, besides numerous contributions to reviews and other periodicals. Besides his literary and artistic accomplishments T. was an important inventor, two of his inventions having done much to develop the manufacture of calico. Two of his sisters had considerable literary reputation. ANN T., afterwards MRS. GILBERT (1782-1866), and JANE (1783-1824) were, like their brother, taught the art of engraving. In 1804-5 they jointly wrote Original Poems for Infant Minds, followed by Rhymes for the Nursery and Hymns for Infant Minds. Among those are the little poems, "My Mother" and "Twinkle, twinkle, little Star," known to all well-conditioned children. Jane was also the author of Display, a tale (1815), and other works, including several hymns, of which the best known is "Lord, I would own Thy tender Care." The hereditary talents of the family were represented in the next generation by CANON ISAAC T. (1829-1901), the s. of Isaac last mentioned, who, in addition to The Liturgy and the Dissenters, pub. works in philology and archæology, including Words and Places and Etruscan Researches; and by JOSIAH GILBERT, s. of Ann T., an accomplished artist, and author of The Dolomite Mountains, Cadore, or Titian's Country, and ed. of the Autobiography of his mother.
TAYLOR, JEREMY (1613-1667). —Divine, was b. at Camb. His f., though of gentle descent, followed the trade of a barber, and Jeremy entered Caius Coll. as a sizar. After his graduation in 1634 he was asked to preach in London, where his eloquence attracted the attention of Laud, who sent him to Oxf., caused him to be elected a Fellow of All Souls Coll., and made him his chaplain. He also became a chaplain to the King, and soon attaining a great reputation as a preacher, was presented to the living of Uppingham. In 1639 he m. his first wife, and in 1643 he was made Rector of Overstone. On the outbreak of the Civil War T. sided with the King, and was present, probably as a chaplain, at the battle fought in 1645 near Cardigan Castle, when he was taken prisoner. He was soon released, but the Royalist cause being practically lost, he decided to remain in Wales, and with two friends started a school at Newtonhall, Caermarthenshire, which had some success. T. also found a friend in Lord Carbery, whose chaplain he became. During the period of 13 years from 1647-60, which were passed in seeming obscurity, he laid the foundations and raised the structure of his splendid literary fame. The Liberty of Prophesying (that is, of preaching), one of the greatest pleas for toleration in the language, was pub. in 1647, The Life of Christ in 1649, Holy Living in 1650, and Holy Dying in 1651. These were followed by various series of sermons, and by The Golden Grove (1655), a manual of devotion which received its title from the name of the seat of his friend Lord Carbery. For some remarks against the existing authorities T. suffered a short imprisonment, and some controversial tracts on Original Sin, Unum Necessarium (the one thing needful), and The Doctrine and Practice of Repentance involved him in a controversy of some warmth in which he was attacked by both High Churchmen and Calvinists. While in Wales T. had entered into a second marriage with a lady of some property which, however, was seriously encroached upon by the exactions of the Parliamentarians. In 1657 he ministered privately to an Episcopalian congregation in London, and in 1658 accompanied Lord Conway to Ireland, and served a cure at Lisburn. Two years later he pub. Ductor Dubitantium, or the Rule of Conscience in all her General Measures, a learned and subtle piece of casuistry which he dedicated to Charles II. The Restoration brought recognition of T.'s unswerving devotion to the Royalist cause; he was made Bishop of Down and Connor, and to this was added the administration of the see of Dromore. In his new position, though, as might have been expected, he showed zeal, diligence, and benevolence, he was not happy. He did not, probably could not, entirely practise his own views of absolute toleration, and found himself in conflict with the Presbyterians, some of whose ministers he had extruded from benefices which they had held, and he longed to escape to a more private and peaceful position. He d. at Lisburn of a fever caught while ministering to a parishioner. T. is one of the great classical writers of England. Learned, original, and impassioned, he had an enthusiasm for religion and charity, and his writings glow with an almost unequalled wealth of illustration and imagery, subtle argument, and fullness of thought. With a character of stainless purity and benevolence, and gracious and gentle manners, he was universally beloved by all who came under the spell of his presence.
TAYLOR, JOHN (1580-1653). —Known as the "Water Poet," b. at Gloucester of humble parentage, was apprenticed to a London waterman, and pressed for the navy. Thereafter he returned to London and resumed his occupation on the Thames, afterwards keeping inns first at Oxf., then in London. He had a talent for writing rollicking verses, enjoyed the acquaintance of Ben Jonson, and other famous men, superintended the water pageant at the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth 1613, and composed the "triumphs" at the Lord Mayor's shows. He made a journey on foot from London as far as to Braemar, of which he wrote an account, The Pennyless Pilgrimage ... of John Taylor, the King's Majesty's Water Poet (1618). He visited the Queen of Bohemia at Prague in 1620, and made other journeys, each of which was commemorated in a book. His writings are of little literary value, but have considerable historical and antiquarian interest.
TAYLOR, PHILIP MEADOWS (1808-1876). —Novelist, b. at Liverpool, s. of a merchant there. When still a boy went out to a mercantile situation in Calcutta, but in 1826 got a commission in the army of the Nizam of Hyderabad. From this he rose to a high civil position in the service of the Nizam, and entirely reorganised his government. He wrote several striking novels dealing with Indian life, including Confessions of a Thug (1639), Tara, and A Noble Queen. He left an autobiography, The Story of my Life, ed. by his dau.
TAYLOR, THOMAS (1758-1835). —Translator, b. in London and ed. at St. Paul's School, devoted himself to the study of the classics and of mathematics. After being a bank clerk he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Society for the encouragement of Arts, etc., in which capacity he made many influential friends, who furnished the means for publishing his various translations, which include works of Plato, Aristotle, Proclus, Porphyry, Apuleius, etc. His aim indeed was the translation of all the untranslated writings of the ancient Greek philosophers.
TAYLOR, TOM (1817-1880). —Dramatist, b. at Sunderland, ed. at Glasgow and Camb., and was Prof. of English Literature in London Univ. from 1845-47. In 1846 he was called to the Bar, and from 1854-71 he was Sec. to the Local Government Board. He was the author of about 100 dramatic pieces, original and adapted, including Still Waters run Deep, The Overland Route, and Joan of Arc. He was likewise a large contributor to Punch, of which he was ed. 1874-80, and he ed. the autobiographies of Haydon and Leslie, the painters, and wrote Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds.
TAYLOR, WILLIAM (1765-1836). —Translator, etc., s. of a merchant, travelled on the Continent, learned German, and became an enthusiastic student of German literature, which he was one of the first to introduce to his fellow-countrymen. His articles on the subject were coll. and pub. as Historic Survey of German Poetry (1828-30). He translated Bürger's Lenore, Lessing's Nathan, and Goethe's Iphigenia. He also wrote Tales of Yore (1810) and English Synonyms Described (1813).
TEMPLE, SIR WILLIAM (1628-1699). —Statesman and essayist, s. of Sir John T., Master of the Rolls in Ireland, was b. in London, and ed. at Camb. He travelled on the Continent, was for some time a member of the Irish Parliament, employed on various diplomatic missions, and negotiated the marriage of the Prince of Orange and the Princess Mary. On his return he was much consulted by Charles II., but disapproving of the courses adopted, retired to his house at Sheen, which he afterwards left and purchased Moor Park, where Swift was for a time his sec. He took no part in the Revolution, but acquiesced in the new régime, and was offered, but refused, the Secretaryship of State. His works consist for the most part of short essays coll. under the title of Miscellanea, but longer pieces are Observations upon the United Provinces, and Essay on the Original and Nature of Government. Apart from their immediate interest they mark a transition to the simpler, more concise, and more carefully arranged sentences of modern composition.
TENNANT, WILLIAM (1784-1848). —Poet and scholar, a cripple from his birth, was b. at Anstruther (commonly called Anster) in Fife. As a youth he was clerk to his brother, a corn-merchant, but devoted his leisure to the study of languages, and the literature of various countries. In 1813 he became parish schoolmaster of Lasswade, near Edinburgh, thereafter classical master at Dollar Academy, and in 1835 Prof. of Oriental Languages at St. Andrews. In 1812 he pub. Anster Fair, a mock-heroic poem, in ottava rima, full of fancy and humour, which at once brought him reputation. In later life he produced two tragedies, Cardinal Beaton and John Baliol, and two poems, The Thane of Fife and Papistry Stormed. He also issued a Syriac and Chaldee Grammar.
TENNYSON, ALFRED, 1ST LORD (1809-1892). —Poet, was the fourth s. of George T., Rector of Somersby, Lincolnshire, where he was b. His f. was himself a poet of some skill, and his two elder brothers, Frederick T. (q.v.) and Charles T. Turner (q.v.), were poets of a high order. His early education was received from his f., after which he went to the Grammar School of Louth, whence in 1828 he proceeded to Trinity Coll., Camb. In the previous year had appeared a small vol., Poems by Two Brothers, chiefly the work of his brother Charles and himself, with a few contributions from Frederick, but it attracted little attention. At the Univ. he was one of a group of highly gifted men, including Trench (q.v.), Monckton Milnes, afterwards Lord Houghton (q.v.), Alford (q.v.), Lushington, his future brother-in-law, and above all, Arthur Hallam, whose friendship and early death were to be the inspiration of his greatest poem. In 1829 he won the Chancellor's medal by a poem on Timbuctoo, and in the following year he brought out his first independent work, Poems chiefly Lyrical. It was not in general very favourably received by the critics, though Wilson in Blackwood's Magazine admitted much promise and even performance. In America it had greater popularity. Part of 1832 was spent in travel with Hallam, and the same year saw the publication of Poems, which had not much greater success than its predecessor. In the next year Hallam d., and T. began In Memoriam and wrote The Two Voices. He also became engaged to Emily Sellwood, his future wife, but owing to various circumstances their marriage did not take place until 1850. The next few years were passed with his family at various places, and, so far as the public were concerned, he remained silent until 1842, when he pub. Poems in two volumes, and at last achieved full recognition as a great poet. From this time the life of T. is a record of tranquil triumph in his art and of the conquest of fame; and the publication of his successive works became almost the only events which mark his history. The Princess appearing in 1847 added materially to his reputation: in the lyrics with which it is interspersed, such as "The Splendour Falls" and "Tears, idle Tears" he rises to the full mastery of this branch of his art. The year 1850 was perhaps the most eventful in his life, for in it took place his marriage which, as he said, "brought the peace of God into his life," his succession to the Laureateship on the death of Wordsworth, and the publication of his greatest poem, In Memoriam. In 1852 appeared his noble Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington; and two years later The Charge of the Light Brigade. The publication of Maud in 1855 gave his rapidly growing popularity a perceptible set-back, though it has since risen in favour. But this was far more than made up for by the enthusiasm with which the first set of The Idylls of the King was received on its appearance four years later. Enoch Arden, with the Northern Farmer, came out in 1864; The Holy Grail and Gareth and Lynette, both belonging to the Idyll series, in 1869 and 1872 respectively. Three years later in 1875 T. broke new ground by beginning a series of dramas with Queen Mary, followed by Harold (1876), The Falcon (1879), The Cup (1881), The Promise of May (1882), Becket (1884), and Robin Hood (1891). His later poems were The Lovers' Tale (1879) (an early work retouched), Tiresias (1885), Locksley Hall—60 Years after (1886), Demeter and other Poems (1889), including "Crossing the Bar," and The Death of Œnone (1892). T., who cared little for general society, though he had many intimate and devoted friends, lived at Farringford, Isle of Wight, from 1853-69, when he built a house at Aldworth, near Haslemere, which was his home until his death. In 1884 he was raised to the peerage. Until he had passed the threescore years and ten he had, with occasional illnesses, enjoyed good health on the whole. But in 1886 the younger of his two sons d., a blow which told heavily upon him; thereafter frequent attacks of illness followed, and he d. on October 6, 1892, in his 84th year, and received a public funeral in Westminster Abbey.
The poetry of T. is characterised by a wide outlook, by intense sympathy with the deepest feelings and aspirations of humanity, a profound realisation of the problems of life and thought, a noble patriotism finding utterance in such poems as The Revenge, the Charge of the Light Brigade, and the Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington, an exquisite sense of beauty, marvellous power of vivid and minute description often achieved by a single felicitous phrase, and often heightened by the perfect matching of sense and sound, and a general loftiness and purity of tone. No poet has excelled him in precision and delicacy of language and completeness of expression. As a lyrist he has, perhaps, no superiors, and only two or three equals in English poetry, and even of humour he possessed no small share, as is shown in the Northern Farmer and in other pieces. When the volume, variety, finish, and duration of his work are considered, as well as the influence which he exercised on his time, a unique place must be assigned him among the poets of his country.
SUMMARY.—B. 1809, ed. Camb., Poems by Two Brothers 1827, Poems chiefly Lyrical 1830, his chief works Poems in two Volumes 1842, Princess 1847, In Memoriam 1850, Maud 1855, Idylls of the King 1869-72, Poet Laureate 1850, d. 1892.
Life by his s. (2 vols., 1897). There are also numerous books, biographical and critical, by, among others, W.E. Wace (1881), A.C. Benson, A. Lang, F. Harrison, Sir A. Lyell, C.F.G. Masterman (T. as a Religious Teacher), Stopford Brooke, Waugh, etc.
TENNYSON, FREDERICK (1807-1898). —Poet, was the eldest s. of the Rector of Somersby, Lincolnshire, and brother of Alfred T. (q.v.). Ed. at Eton and Camb., he passed most of his life in Italy and Jersey. He contributed to the Poems by Two Brothers, and produced Days and Hours (lyrics) (1854), The Isles of Greece (1890), Daphne (1891), and Poems of the Day and Night (1895). All his works show passages of genuine poetic power.
TENNYSON TURNER, CHARLES (1808-1879). —Poet, elder brother of Alfred T. (q.v.), ed. at Camb., entered the Church, and became Vicar of Grasby, Lincolnshire. The name of Turner he assumed in conformity with the will of a relation. He contributed to Poems by Two Brothers, and was the author of 340 sonnets, which were greatly admired by such critics as Coleridge, Palgrave, and his brother Alfred.
THACKERAY, WILLIAM MAKEPEACE (1811-1863). —Novelist, s. of Richmond T., who held various important appointments in the service of the East India Company, and who belonged to an old and respectable Yorkshire family, was b. at Calcutta, and soon after the death of his f., which took place in 1816, sent home to England. After being at a school at Chiswick, he was sent to the Charterhouse School, where he remained from 1822-26, and where he does not appear to have been very happy. Meanwhile in 1818 his mother had m. Major H.W.C. Smythe, who is believed to be, in part at any rate, the original of Colonel Newcome. In 1829 he went to Trinity Coll., Camb., where he remained for a year only, and where he did not distinguish himself particularly as a student, but made many life-long friends, including Spedding (q.v.), Tennyson, Fitzgerald (q.v.), and Monckton Milnes (see Houghton), and contributed verses and caricatures to two Univ. papers, "The Snob" and "The Gownsman." The following year, 1831, was spent chiefly in travelling on the Continent, especially Germany, when, at Weimar, he visited Goethe. Returning he entered the Middle Temple, but having no liking for legal studies, he soon abandoned them, and turning his attention to journalism, became proprietor, wholly or in part, of two papers successively, both of which failed. These enterprises, together with some unfortunate investments and also, it would seem, play, stripped him of the comfortable fortune, which he had inherited; and he now found himself dependent on his own exertions for a living. He thought at first of art as a profession, and studied for a time at Paris and Rome. In 1836, while acting as Paris correspondent for the second of his journals, he m. Isabella, dau. of Colonel Shawe, an Irish officer, and the next year he returned to England and became a contributor to Fraser's Magazine, in which appeared The Yellowplush Papers, The Great Hoggarty Diamond, Catherine, and Barry Lyndon, the history of an Irish sharper, which contains some of his best work. Other works of this period were The Paris Sketch-book (1840) and The Irish Sketch-book (1843). His work in Fraser, while it was appreciated at its true worth by a select circle, had not brought him any very wide recognition: it was his contributions to Punch—the Book of Snobs and Jeames's Diary—which first caught the ear of the wider public. The turning point in his career, however, was the publication in monthly numbers of Vanity Fair (1847-48). This extraordinary work gave him at once a place beside Fielding at the head of English novelists, and left him no living competitor except Dickens. Pendennis, largely autobiographical, followed in 1848-50, and fully maintained his reputation. In 1851 he broke new ground, and appeared, with great success, as a lecturer, taking for his subject The English Humourists of the Eighteenth Century, following this up in 1855 with the Four Georges, first delivered in America. Meanwhile Esmond, perhaps his masterpiece, and probably the greatest novel of its kind in existence, had appeared in 1852, and The Newcomes (1853), The Virginians, a sequel to Esmond, which, though containing much fine work, is generally considered to show a falling off as compared with its two immediate predecessors, came out in 1857-59. In 1860 the Cornhill Magazine was started with T. for its ed., and to it he contributed Lovell the Widower (1860), The Adventures of Philip (1861-62), The Roundabout Papers, a series of charming essays, and Denis Duval, left a mere fragment by his sudden death, but which gave promise of a return to his highest level of performance. In addition to the works mentioned, T. for some years produced Christmas books and burlesques, of which the best were The Rose and the Ring and The Kickleburys on the Rhine. He also wrote graceful verses, some of which, like Bouillabaisse, are in a strain of humour shot through with pathos, while others are the purest rollicking fun. For some years T. suffered from spasms of the heart, and he d. suddenly during the night of December 23, 1863, in his 53rd year. He was a man of the tenderest heart, and had an intense enjoyment of domestic happiness; and the interruption of this, caused by the permanent breakdown of his wife's health, was a heavy calamity. This, along with his own latterly broken health, and a sensitiveness which made him keenly alive to criticism, doubtless fostered the tendency to what was often superficially called his cynical view of life. He possessed an inimitable irony and a power of sarcasm which could scorch like lightning, but the latter is almost invariably directed against what is base and hateful. To human weakness he is lenient and often tender, and even when weakness passes into wickedness, he is just and compassionate. He saw human nature "steadily and saw it whole," and paints it with a light but sure hand. He was master of a style of great distinction and individuality, and ranks as one of the very greatest of English novelists.
SUMMARY.—B. 1811, ed. at Charterhouse and Camb., after trying law turned to journalism, in which he lost his fortune, studied art at Paris and Rome, wrote for Fraser's Magazine and Punch, Barry Lyndon, Book of Snobs, and Jeames's Diary, pub. Vanity Fair 1847-8, Pendennis (1848-50), lectured on Humourists 1851, and on Four Georges in America 1855, pub. Esmond 1852, Newcomes 1853, Virginians 1857-59, ed. Cornhill Magazine 1860, his last great work, Denis Duval, left unfinished, d. 1863.
Lives by Merivale and Marzials (Great Writers), A. Trollope (English Men of Letters), Whibley (Modern English Writers). Article in Dictionary of National Biography by Leslie Stephen.
THEOBALD, LEWIS (1688-1744). —Editor of Shakespeare, and translator, originally an attorney, betook himself to literature, translated from Plato, the Greek dramatists, and Homer, and wrote also essays, biographies, and poems. In 1715 he pub. Shakespeare Restored, etc., in which he severely criticised Pope's ed., and was in consequence rewarded with the first place in The Dunciad, and the adoption of most of his corrections in Pope's next ed. Though a poor poet, he was an acute and discriminating critic, made brilliant emendations on some of the classics, and produced in 1734 an ed. of Shakespeare which gave him a high place among his ed.
THIRWALL, CONNOP (1797-1875). —Historian, was b. at Stepney, the s. of a clergyman, and ed. at the Charterhouse and Camb. He studied law, was called to the Bar in 1825, and in the same year pub. a translation of Schleiermacher's Critical Essay on the Gospel of St. Luke. After this, having changed his mind, he took orders in 1827, and the next year translated, with Julius Hare (q.v.), the first vol. of Niebuhr's History of Rome, and pub., also with him, The Philological Museum (1831-33). He was an advocate for the admission of Dissenters to degrees, and in consequence of his action in the matter had to resign his Univ. tutorship. Thereupon Lord Brougham, then Lord Chancellor, presented him to the living of Kirkby Underdale. Between 1835 and 1847 he wrote his great History of Greece, which has a place among historical classics. In 1840 he was made Bishop of St. David's, in which capacity he showed unusual energy in administering his see. The eleven charges which he delivered during his tenure of the see were pronouncements of exceptional weight upon the leading questions of the time affecting the Church. As a Broad Churchman T. was regarded with suspicion by both High and Low Churchmen, and in the House of Lords generally supported liberal movements such as the admission of Jews to Parliament. He was the only Bishop who was in favour of the disestablishment of the Irish Church.
THOMS, WILLIAM JOHN (1803-1885). —Antiquary and miscellaneous writer, for many years a clerk in the secretary's office of Chelsea Hospital, was in 1845 appointed Clerk, and subsequently Deputy Librarian to the House of Lords. He was the founder in 1849 of Notes and Queries, which for some years he also ed. Among his publications are Early Prose Romances (1827-28), Lays and Legends (1834), The Book of the Court (1838), Gammer Gurton's Famous Histories (1846), Gammer Gurton's Pleasant Stories (1848). He also ed. Stow's London, and was sec. of the Camden Society. He introduced the word "folk-lore" into the language.
THOMSON, JAMES (1700-1748). —Poet, s. of the minister of Ednam, Roxburghshire, spent most of his youth, however, at Southdean, a neighbouring parish, to which his f. was translated. He was ed. at the parish school there, at Jedburgh, and at Edin., whither he went with the view of studying for the ministry. The style of one of his earliest sermons having been objected to by the Prof. of Divinity as being too flowery and imaginative, he gave up his clerical views and went to London in 1725, taking with him a part of what ultimately became his poem of Winter. By the influence of his friend Mallet he became tutor to Lord Binning, s. of the Earl of Haddington, and was introduced to Pope, Arbuthnot, Gay, and others. Winter was pub. in 1726, and was followed by Summer (1727), Spring (1728), and Autumn (1730), when the whole were brought together as The Seasons. Previous to 1730 he had produced one or two minor poems and the tragedy of Sophonisba, which, after promising some success, was killed by the unfortunate line, "Oh! Sophonisba, Sophonisba, oh!" being parodied as "Oh! Jemmy Thomson, Jemmy Thomson, oh!" In 1731 T. accompanied Charles Talbot, s. of the Lord Chancellor, to the Continent, as tutor, and on his return received the sinecure Secretaryship of Briefs which, however, he lost in 1737, through omitting to apply for its continuance to Talbot's successor. He then returned to the drama and produced Agamemnon in 1738, and Edward and Eleanora in 1739. The same year he received from the Prince of Wales a pension of £100, and was made Surveyor-General of the Leeward Islands which, after providing for a deputy to discharge the duties, left him £300 a year. He was now in comfortable circumstances and settled in a villa near Richmond, where he amused himself with gardening and seeing his friends. In conjunction with Mallet he wrote, in 1740, the masque of Alfred, in which appeared Rule Britannia, which M. afterwards claimed, or allowed to be claimed, for him, but which there is every reason to believe was contributed by T. In 1745 appeared Tancred and Sigismunda, the most successful of his dramas, and in 1748 Coriolanus. In May of the latter year he pub. The Castle of Indolence, an allegorical poem in the Spenserian stanza, generally considered to be his masterpiece. In August following he caught a chill which developed into a fever, and carried him off in his 48th year. Though T. was undoubtedly a poet by nature, his art was developed by constant and fastidious polishing. To The Seasons, originally containing about 4000 lines, he added about 1400 in his various revisions. He was the first to give the description of nature the leading place, and in his treatment of his theme he showed much judgment in the selection of the details to be dwelt upon. His blank verse, though not equal to that of a few other English poets, is musical and wielded in a manner suitable to his subject. In all his poems he displays the genial temper and kindly sympathies by which he was characterised as a man. He was never m., and lived an easy, indolent life, beloved by his many friends. (See also Lyttelton, Lord)
THOMSON, JAMES (1834-1882). —Poet, b. at Port Glasgow and brought up in the Royal Caledonian Asylum, was for some years an army teacher, but was dismissed for a breach of discipline. He became associated with Charles Bradlaugh, the free-thought protagonist, who introduced him to the conductors of various secularist publications. His best known poem is The City of Dreadful Night, deeply pessimistic. Others are Vane's Story and Weddah and Omel-Bonain. His views resulted in depression, which led to dipsomania, and he d. in poverty and misery. His work has a certain gloomy power which renders it distinctly noteworthy.
THOREAU, HENRY DAVID (1817-1862). —Essayist, poet, and naturalist, was b. at Concord, Massachusetts. His f., of French extraction, from Jersey, was a manufacturer of lead-pencils. He was ed. at Harvard, where he became a good classical scholar. Subsequently he was a competent Orientalist, and was deeply versed in the history and manners of the Red Indians. No form of regular remunerative employment commending itself to him, he spent the 10 years after leaving coll. in the study of books and nature, for the latter of which he had exceptional qualifications in the acuteness of his senses and his powers of observation. Though not a misanthropist, he appears in general to have preferred solitary communion with nature to human society. "The man I meet," he said, "is seldom so instructive as the silence which he breaks;" and he described himself as "a mystic, a transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher." He made such money as his extremely simple mode of life called for, by building boats or fences, agricultural or garden work, and surveying, anything almost of an outdoor character which did not involve lengthened engagement. In 1837 he began his diaries, records of observation with which in ten years he filled 30 vols. In 1839 he made the excursion the record of which he in 1845 pub. as A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers. Two years later, in 1841, he began a residence in the household of Emerson, which lasted for two years, when he assisted in conducting the Dial, and in 1845, after some teaching in New York, he retired to a hut near the solitary Walden Pond to write his Week on the Concord, etc. Later works were Walden (1854), and The Maine Woods (1864), and Cape Cod (1865), accounts of excursions and observations, both pub. after his death. T. was an enthusiast in the anti-slavery cause, the triumph of which, however, he did not live to see, as he d. on May 6, 1862, when the war was still in its earlier stages. The deliberate aim of T. was to live a life as nearly approaching naturalness as possible; and to this end he passed his time largely in solitude and in the open air. As he says, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach." To his great powers of observation he added great powers of reflection, and two of the most characteristic features of his writings are immediateness and individuality in his descriptions of nature, and a remarkable power of giving permanent and clear form to the most subtle and evanescent mental impressions.
TICKELL, THOMAS (1686-1740). —Poet, b. at Bridekirk Vicarage, Cumberland, and ed. at Oxf. became the friend of Joseph Addison (q.v.), contributed to the Spectator and Guardian, and accompanied him when he went to Ireland as sec. to the Lord Lieutenant. His translation of the first book of the Iliad came out at the same time as Pope's, and led to a quarrel between the latter and Addison, Pope imagining that the publication was a plot to interfere with the success of his work. On Addison becoming Sec. of State in 1717 he appointed T. Under-Sec. Among the writings of T. are the well-known ballad, Colin and Lucy, Kensington Gardens, a poem, and an Elegy on the death of Addison, of which Macaulay says that it "would do honour to the greatest name in our literature." In 1725 he became sec. to the Lords Justices of Ireland, and retained the post until his death.
TICKNOR, GEORGE (1791-1871). —Historian and biographer, s. of a rich man, was b. at Boston, Mass., and ed. for the law. He, however, gave himself to study and writing, and also travelled much. After being a Prof. at Harvard, 1819-35, he went in the latter year to Europe, where he spent some years collecting materials for his magnum opus, The History of Spanish Literature (1849). He also wrote Lives of Lafayette and Prescott, the historian. His Letters and Journals were pub. in 1876, and are the most interesting of his writings.
TIGHE, MARY (BLACKFORD) (1772-1810). —Poet, dau. of a clergyman, made an unhappy marriage, though she had beauty and amiable manners, and was highly popular in society. She wrote a good deal of verse; but her chief poem was a translation in Spenserian stanza of the tale of Cupid and Psyche, which won the admiration of such men as Sir J. Mackintosh, Moore, and Keats.
TILLOTSON, JOHN (1630-1694). —Divine, s. of a Presbyterian clothier, was b. near Halifax, and ed. at Camb., where his originally Puritan views became somewhat modified. At the Savoy Conference in 1661 he was still a Presbyterian, but submitted to the Act of Uniformity, and became next year Rector of Keddington, and in 1664 preacher at Lincoln's Inn, where he became very popular. In 1672 he was made Dean of Canterbury. He vainly endeavoured to secure the comprehension of the Nonconformists in the Church. After the Revolution he gained the favour of William III., who made him Clerk of the Closet, and Dean of St. Paul's, and in 1691 he succeeded Sancroft as Archbishop of Canterbury. His sermons, which had extraordinary popularity, give him a place in literature, and he was one of those writers who, by greater simplicity and greater attention to clearness of construction, helped to introduce the modern style of composition.
TIMROD, HENRY (1829-1867). —Poet, b. at Charleston, S. Carolina, of German descent, was ruined by the Civil War, and d. in poverty. He wrote one vol. of poems, pub. 1860, which attained wide popularity in the South. He had notable descriptive power.
TOBIN, JOHN (1770-1804). —Dramatist, was for long unsuccessful, but in the year of his death made a hit with The Honey Moon, which had great success, and maintained its place for many years. Other plays were The Curfew and The School for Authors.
TOLAND, JOHN (1670?-1722). —Deistical writer, b. in Ireland of Roman Catholic parentage, completed his education at Glasgow, Edin., and Leyden. Very early in life he had become a Protestant, and at Leyden he studied theology with the view of becoming a Nonconformist minister, but imbibed Rationalistic views. He then resided for some time at Oxf., and in 1696 pub. his first work, Christianity not Mysterious, which was censured by Convocation and gave rise to much controversy. Next year he returned to Ireland, where, however, he was not more popular than in England, and where his book was burned by the common hangman. Returning to England he took to writing political pamphlets, including one, Anglia Libera, in support of the Brunswick succession, which gained him some favour at Hanover, and he was sent on some political business to the German Courts. He then served Harley in Holland and Germany practically as a political spy. His later years were passed in literary drudgery and poverty. Among his numerous writings may be mentioned Account of Prussia and Hanover, Origines Judaicæ, History of the Druids, and a Life of Milton prefixed to an ed. of his prose works.
TOOKE, JOHN HORNE (1736-1812). —Philologist, s. of a poulterer called Horne, added the name of Tooke in 1782 in anticipation of inheriting from his friend W. Tooke, of Purley. He was at Camb. and took orders, but disliking the clerical profession, travelled abroad. Returning he became prominent as a radical politician, and espoused the cause of Wilkes, with whom, however, he afterwards quarrelled. He also supported the revolted American colonists, and was fined and imprisoned for endeavouring to raise a subscription for them. An effort to be admitted to the Bar was unsuccessful; and in 1786 he published his Diversions of Purley, a work on philology which brought him great reputation, and which, containing muck that has been proved to be erroneous, showed great learning and acuteness. T. twice endeavoured unsuccessfully to enter Parliament for Westminster, but ultimately sat for the rotten burgh of Old Sarum, making, however, no mark in the House. He was the author of numerous effective political pamphlets.
TOPLADY, AUGUSTUS MONTAGUE (1740-1778). —Hymn-writer, s. of an officer in the army, was b. at Farnham, ed. at Westminster and Trinity Coll., Dublin, after which he took orders and became incumbent of Broad Hembury. He was a strong Calvinist and entered into a bitter controversy with Wesley. His controversial works are forgotten; but he will always be remembered as the author of "Rock of Ages," perhaps the most widely known of English hymns.
TOURNEUR, or TURNER, CYRIL (1575?-1626). —Dramatist, perhaps s. of Richard T., Lieutenant of the Brill, served in the Low Countries, and was sec. to Sir Edward Cecil in his unsuccessful expedition to Cadiz, returning from which he was disembarked with the sick at Kinsale, where he d. He wrote two dramas, The Revenger's Tragedy (pr. 1607), and The Atheist's Tragedy (pr. 1611), in both of which, especially the former, every kind of guilt and horror is piled up, the author displaying, however, great intensity of tragic power. Of The Revenger Lamb said that it made his ears tingle. Another play of his, Transformed Metamorphosis, was discovered in 1872.
TRAHERNE, THOMAS (1636?-1674). —Poet and theological writer, s. of a shoemaker at Hereford where, or at Ledbury, he was probably b. Very few facts concerning him have been preserved, and indeed his very existence had been forgotten until some of his MS. were discovered on a bookstall in 1896, without, however, anything to identify the author. Their discoverer, Mr. W.T. Brooke, was inclined to attribute them to Henry Vaughan (q.v.), in which he was supported by Dr. Grosart (q.v.), and the latter was about to bring out a new ed. of Vaughan's poems in which they were to be included. This was, however, prevented by his death. The credit of identification is due to Mr. Bertram Dobell, who had become the possessor of another vol. of MS., and who rejecting, after due consideration, the claims of Vaughan, followed up the very slender clues available until he had established the authorship of Traherne. All the facts that his diligent investigations were successful in collecting were that T. was "entered as a commoner at Brasenose Coll., Oxf., in 1652, took one degree in arts, left the house for a time, entered into the sacred function, and in 1661 was actually created M.A. About that time he became Rector of Crednell, near Hereford ... and in 1669 Bachelor of Divinity;" and that after remaining there for over 9 years he was appointed private chaplain to the Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, who on his retirement from office retained him as a member of his household at Teddington until his death in 1674, T. himself dying three months later. T. also appears to have been incumbent of Teddington, or perhaps more probably, curate to a pluralist incumbent. The complete oblivion into which T. had fallen is the more remarkable when the quality of his poetry, which places him on a level with Herbert, Vaughan, and Crashaw, is considered; and that he appears in his own day to have had some reputation as a scholar and controversialist. His Roman Forgeries (1673) achieved some note. His next work, Christian Ethics, which was not pub. until after his death, appears to have fallen dead, and is extremely rare: it is described by Mr. Dobell as "full of eloquence, persuasiveness, sagacity, and piety." Centuries of Meditations consists of short reflections on religious and moral subjects, etc. The Poems constitute his main claim to remembrance and, as already stated, are of a high order. With occasional roughness of metre they display powerful imagination, a deep and rich vein of original thought, and true poetic force and fire. It has been pointed out that in some of them the author anticipates the essential doctrines of the Berkeleian philosophy, and in them is also revealed a personality of rare purity and fascination.
TRELAWNY, EDWARD JOHN (1792-1881). —Biographer, entered the navy, from which, however, he deserted, after which he wandered about in the East and on the Continent. In Switzerland he met Byron and Shelley, and was living in close friendship with the latter when he was drowned, and was one of the witnesses at the cremation of his remains. He took part in the Greek war of independence, and m. the sister of one of the insurgent chiefs. After various adventures in America he settled in London, where he was a distinguished figure in society, and enjoyed the reputation of a picturesque, but somewhat imaginative, conversationalist. He wrote The Adventures of a Younger Son (1831), a work of striking distinction, and the intensely interesting Records of Shelley, Byron, and the Author (1858). The last survivor of that brilliant group, he was buried by the side of Shelley.
TRENCH, RICHARD CHENEVIX (1807-1886). —Poet and theologian, b. in Dublin, and ed. at Harrow and Camb., took orders, and after serving various country parishes, became in 1847 Prof. of Theology in King's Coll., London, in 1856 Dean of Westminster, and in 1864 Archbishop of Dublin. As Primate of the Irish Church at its disestablishment, he rendered valuable service at that time of trial. In theology his best known works are his Hulsean Lectures, Notes on the Parables, and Notes on the Miracles. His philological writings, English Past and Present and Select Glossary of English Words are extremely interesting and suggestive, though now to some extent superseded. His Sacred Latin Poetry is a valuable collection of mediæval Church hymns. He also wrote sonnets, elegies, and lyrics, in the first of which he was specially successful, besides longer poems, Justin Martyr and Sabbation.
TREVISA, JOHN of (1326-1412). —Translator, a Cornishman, ed. at Oxf., was Vicar of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, and chaplain to the 4th Lord Berkeley, and Canon of Westbury. He translated for his patron the Polychronicon of Ranulf Higden, adding remarks of his own, and prefacing it with a Dialogue on Translation between a Lord and a Clerk. He likewise made various other translations.
TROLLOPE, ANTHONY (1815-1882). —Novelist, s. of Thomas Anthony T., a barrister who ruined himself by speculation, and of Frances T. (q.v.), a well-known writer, was b. in London, and ed. at Harrow and Winchester. His childhood was an unhappy one, owing to his father's misfortunes. After a short time in Belgium he obtained an appointment in the Post Office, in which he rose to a responsible position. His first three novels had little success; but in 1855 he found his line, and in The Warden produced the first of his Barsetshire series. It was followed by Barchester Towers (1857), Doctor Thorne (1858), Framley Parsonage (1861), The Small House at Allington (1864), and The Last Chronicle of Barset (1867), which deal with the society of a small cathedral city. Other novels are Orley Farm, Can you forgive Her?, Ralph the Heir, The Claverings, Phineas Finn, He knew he was Right, and The Golden Lion of Grandpré. In all he wrote about 50 novels, besides books about the West Indies, North America, Australia, and South Africa, a translation of Cæsar, and monographs on Cicero and Thackeray. His novels are light of touch, pleasant, amusing, and thoroughly healthy. They make no attempt to sound the depths of character or either to propound or solve problems. Outside of fiction his work was generally superficial and unsatisfactory. But he had the merit of providing a whole generation with wholesome amusement, and enjoyed a great deal of popularity. He is said to have received £70,000 for his writings.
TROLLOPE, MRS. FRANCES (MILTON) (1780-1863). —Novelist and miscellaneous writer, b. at Stapleton near Bristol, m. in 1809 Thomas A.T., a barrister, who fell into financial misfortune. She then in 1827 went with her family to Cincinnati, where the efforts which she made to support herself were unsuccessful. On her return to England, however, she brought herself into notice by publishing Domestic Manners of the Americans (1832), in which she gave a very unfavourable and grossly exaggerated account of the subject; and a novel, The Refugee in America, pursued it on similar lines. Next came The Abbess and Belgium and Western Germany, and other works of the same kind on Paris and the Parisians, and Vienna and the Austrians followed. Thereafter she continued to pour forth novels and books on miscellaneous subjects, writing in all over 100 vols. Though possessed of considerable powers of observation and a sharp and caustic wit, such an output was fatal to permanent literary success, and none of her books are now read. She spent the last 20 years of her life at Florence, where she d. in 1863. Her third s. was Anthony T., the well-known novelist (q.v.). Her eldest s., Thomas Adolphus, wrote The Girlhood of Catherine de Medici, a History of Florence, and Life of Pius IX., and some novels.
TRUMBULL, JOHN (1750-1831). —Poet, b. at Waterbury, Conn., was a lawyer, and became a judge. He wrote much verse, his principal productions being The Progress of Dulness (1772) and McFingal (1782), written in support of the Revolution in imitation of Hudibras.
TUCKER, ABRAHAM (1705-1774). —Philosophic writer, b. in London, and ed. at Oxf., was a country gentleman, who devoted himself to the study of philosophy, and wrote under the name of Edward Search, a work in 7 vols., The Light of Nature Followed (1768-78). It is rather a miscellany than a systematic treatise, but contains much original and acute thinking.
TUCKER, GEORGE (1775-1861). —Economist, etc., b. in Bermuda, became Prof., of Moral Philosophy, etc., in the Univ. of Virginia. He wrote a Life of Jefferson, Political History of the United States, Essays Moral and Philosophical, The Valley of the Shenandoah, a novel, A Voyage to the Moon (satire), and various works on economics.
TUCKER, NATHANIEL BEVERLY (1784-1851). —B. in Virginia, became a Prof., of Law in William and Mary Coll. He wrote a novel, The Partisan Leader (1836), a prophecy of the future disunion which led to the Civil War. It was re-pub. in 1861 as A Key to the Southern Conspiracy. Another novel was George Balcombe.
TUCKERMAN, HENRY THEODORE (1813-1871). —Essayist, etc., b. in Boston, Mass. He was a sympathetic and delicate critic, with a graceful style. He lived much in Italy, which influenced his choice of subjects in his earlier writings. These include The Italian Sketch-book, Isabel, or Sicily, Thoughts on the Poets, The Book of the Artists, Leaves from the Diary of a Dreamer, etc.
TULLOCH, JOHN (1823-1886). —Theologian and historical writer, b. at Bridge of Earn, Perthshire, studied at St. Andrews and Edin. He was ordained to the ministry of the Church of Scotland at Dundee, whence he was translated to Kettins, Forfarshire, and became in 1854 Principal and Prof. of Theology in St. Mary's Coll., St. Andrews. He was a leader of the liberal party in the Church of Scotland, and wrote Literary and Intellectual Revival of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century (1883), Movements of Religious Thought in the Nineteenth Century (1884-85), Rational Theology and Christian Philosophy in England in the Seventeenth Century, and a book on Pascal, etc.
TUPPER, MARTIN FARQUHAR (1810-1889). —Versifier, s. of a surgeon, was b. in London, ed. at Charterhouse School and Oxf., and called to the Bar in 1835. He, however, believed that literature was his vocation, and wrote many works in prose and verse, only one of which, Proverbial Philosophy, had much success. But the vogue which it had was enormous, especially in America. It is a singular collection of commonplace observations set forth in a form which bears the appearance of verse, but has neither rhyme nor metre, and has long since found its deserved level. He also wrote War Ballads, Rifle Ballads, and Protestant Ballads, various novels, and an autobiography. T. was likewise an inventor, but his ideas in this kind had not much success.
TURBERVILLE, or TURBERVILE, GEORGE (1540?-1610). —Poet, belonging to an ancient Dorsetshire family, was b. at Whitchurch, and ed. at Winchester and Oxf. He became sec. to Thomas Randolph, Ambassador to Russia, and made translations from the Latin and Italian, and in 1570 pub. Epitaphes, Epigrams, Songs, and Sonets. He also wrote books on Falconrie and Hunting, and was one of the first to use blank verse.
TURNER, SHARON (1768-1847). —Historian, b. in London, was a solicitor, and becoming interested in the study of Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon literature, pub. the results of his researches in his History of the Anglo-Saxons (1799-1805). Thereafter he continued the narrative in History of England (1814-29), carrying it on to the end of the reign of Elizabeth. These histories, especially the former, though somewhat marred by an attempt to emulate the grandiose style of Gibbon, were works of real research, and opened up, and to a considerable extent developed, a new field of inquiry. T. also wrote a Sacred History of the World, and a poem on Richard III.
TUSSER, THOMAS (1524?-1580). —Versifier on agriculture, was an Essex man. Having a good voice he was trained in music, and was a chorister in St. Paul's, and afterwards in Norwich Cathedral, and held the post of musician to Lord Paget. He tried farming at different places, but unsuccessfully, which did not, however, prevent his undertaking to instruct others. This he does with much shrewdness and point in his Hundreth Goode Pointes of Husbandrie (1557), expressed in rude but lively verse; thereafter he added Hundreth Goode Pointes of Husserie (Housewifery). The two joined, and with many additions, were repeatedly reprinted as Five Hundredth Pointes of Goode Husbandrie united to as many of Goode Huswifery. Many proverbs may be traced back to the writings of T., who, in spite of all his shrewdness and talent, d. in prison as a debtor.
TYNDALE, WILLIAM (1484?-1536). —Translator of the Bible, belonged to a northern family which, migrating to Gloucestershire during the Wars of the Roses, adopted the alternative name of Huchyns or Hychins, which T. himself bore when at Oxf. in 1510. After graduating there, he went to Camb., where the influence of Erasmus, who had been Prof. of Theology, still operated. He took orders, and in 1522 was a tutor in the household of Sir John Walsh of Old Sodbury, and was preaching and disputing in the country round, for which he was called to account by the Chancellor of the diocese. At the same time he translated a treatise by Erasmus, the Enchiridion Militis Christiani (Manual of the Christian Soldier), and in controversy with a local disputant prophesied that he would cause that "a boye that driveth the plough" should know the Scriptures better than his opponent. Having formed the purpose of translating the New Testament T. went in 1523 to London, and used means towards his admission to the household of Tunstal, Bishop of London, but without success; he then lived in the house of a wealthy draper, Humphrey Monmouth, where he probably began his translation. Finding, however, that his work was likely to be interfered with, he proceeded in 1524 to Hamburg, whence he went to visit Luther at Wittenberg. He began printing his translation at Cologne the following year, but had to fly to Worms, where the work was completed. The translation itself is entirely T.'s work, and is that of a thorough scholar, and shows likewise an ear for the harmony of words. The notes and introduction are partly his own, partly literal translations, and partly the gist of the work of Luther. From Germany the translation was introduced into England, and largely circulated until forcible means of prevention were brought to bear in 1528. In this year T. removed to Marburg, where he pub. The Parable of the Wicked Mammon, a treatise on Justification by Faith, and The Obedience of a Christian Man, setting forth that Scripture is the ultimate authority in matters of faith, and the King in matters of civil government. Thereafter, having been at Hamburg and Antwerp, T. returned to Marburg, and in 1530 pub. his translation of the Pentateuch and The Practice of Prelates, in which he attacked Wolsey and the proposed divorce proceedings of Henry VIII., the latter of whom endeavoured to have him apprehended. Thereafter he was involved in a controversy with Sir Thomas More. In 1533 he returned to Antwerp, Henry's hostility having somewhat cooled, and was occupied in revising his translations, when he was in 1535 betrayed into the hands of the Imperial officers and carried off to the Castle of Vilvorde, where the next year he was strangled and burned. T. was one of the most able and devoted of the reforming leaders, and his, the foundation of all future translations of the Bible, is his enduring monument. He was a small, thin man of abstemious habits and untiring industry.
TYNDALL, JOHN (1820-1893). —Scientific writer, b. at Leighlin Bridge, County Carlow, was in early life employed in the ordnance survey and as a railway engineer. He was next teacher of mathematics and surveying at Queenwood Coll., Hampshire, after which he went to Marburg to study science, and while there became joint author of a memoir On the Magneto-optic Properties of Crystals (1850). After being at Berlin he returned in 1851 to Queenwood, and in 1853 was appointed Prof. of Natural Philosophy in the Royal Institution, which in 1867 he succeeded Faraday as Superintendent. With Huxley (q.v.) he made investigations into the Alpine glaciers. Thereafter he did much original work on heat, sound, and light. In addition to his discoveries T. was one of the greatest popularisers of science. His style, remarkable for lucidity and elegance, enabled him to expound such subjects with the minimum of technical terminology. Among his works are The Glaciers of the Alps (1860), Mountaineering (1861), Fragments of Science, two vols. (1871), including his address to the British Association at Belfast, which raised a storm of controversy and protest in various quarters, Hours of Exercise on the Alps, etc. T. d. from an overdose of chloral accidentally administered by his wife.
TYTLER, ALEXANDER FRASER (1747-1813). —Historian, s. of William T. (q.v.), studied at Edin., was called to the Bar in 1770 and raised to the Bench as Lord Woodhouselee in 1802. He was Prof. of History in Edin., and wrote Elements of General History (1801), An Essay on the Principles of Translation (1791), besides various legal treatises.
TYTLER, PATRICK FRASER (1791-1849). —Historian, s. of the above, studied at Edin., and was called to the Bar in 1813. Among his many writings are an Essay on the History of the Moors in Spain, The Life of the Admirable Crichton (1819), History of Scotland (1828-43), and England under the Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary (1839). His History of Scotland, which was the result of 20 years of study and research, is still authoritative.
TYTLER, WILLIAM (1711-1792). —Historical writer, was a lawyer in Edin., and wrote An Inquiry into the Evidence against Mary Queen of Scots, in which he combated the views of Robertson. He discovered the King's Quhair of James I., and pub. in 1783 The Poetical Remains of James I., King of Scotland, with a Life.
UDALL, NICOLAS (1505-1556). —Dramatist and scholar, b. in Hampshire, and ed. at Oxf. In 1534 he became headmaster of Eton, from which he was dismissed for misconduct, 1541. In 1537 he became Vicar of Braintree, in 1551 of Calborne, Isle of Wight, and in 1554 headmaster of Westminster School. He translated part of the Apophthegms of Erasmus, and assisted in making the English version of his Paraphrase of the New Testament. Other translations were Peter Martyr's Discourse on the Eucharist and Thomas Gemini's Anatomia, but he is best remembered by Ralph Roister Doister (1553?), the first English comedy, a rude but lively piece.
UNDERDOWN, THOMAS (fl. 1566-1587). —Translator. He translated the Æthiopian History of Heliodorus 1566; also from Ovid.
UNDERWOOD, FRANCIS HENRY (1825-1894). —Critic and biographer, b. in Massachusetts, was American Consul at Glasgow and Leith. He wrote Hand-books of English Literature, Builders of American Literature, etc., some novels, Lord of Himself, Man Proposes, and Dr. Gray's Quest, and biographies of Lowell, Longfellow, and Whittier.
URQUHART, SIR THOMAS (1611-1660). —Eccentric writer and translator, was ed. at King's Coll., Aberdeen, after leaving which he travelled in France, Spain, and Italy. He was bitterly opposed to the Covenanters, and fought against them at Turriff in 1639. His later life was passed between Scotland, England (where he was for some time a prisoner in the Tower), and the Continent, where he lived, 1642-45. A man of considerable ability and learning, his vanity and eccentricity verged upon insanity, and he is said to have d. from the effects of an uncontrollable fit of joyful laughter on hearing news of the Restoration. Among his extravagances was a genealogy of his family traced through his f. to Adam, and through his mother to Eve, he himself being the 153rd in descent. He pub. Trissotetras, a work on trigonometry (1645), an invective against the Presbyterians (1652), a scheme for a universal language, Logopandecteision (1653), and a partial translation of Rabelais (1653), a further portion being pub. in 1693. In the last he was assisted by Peter Anthony Motteux, a Frenchman who had established himself in England, who continued the work.
USK, THOMAS (d. 1388). —Poet, b. in London, was sec. to John of Northampton, the Wyclifite Lord Mayor of London, whom he betrayed to save himself, in which, however, he failed, being executed in 1388. During his imprisonment, which lasted from 1384 until his death, he composed The Testament of Love, a didactic poem long attributed to Chaucer.
USSHER, JAMES (1581-1656). —Divine and scholar, b. in Dublin, the s. of a lawyer there, and ed. at Trinity Coll., took orders, and became Chancellor of St. Patrick's, Dublin, 1605, and Prof. of Divinity, 1607-21. On the Irish clergy, in 1715, deciding to assert themselves as an independent church, U. had the main hand in drawing up the constitution, certain features of which led to the suspicion of his being in favour of Puritanism. To defend himself he went in 1619 to England, and had a conference with the King (James I.), in which he so completely succeeded that he was in 1621 made Bishop of Meath, and four years later Archbishop of Armagh. He constantly used his influence in favour of reform, and endeavoured to introduce such modifications of Episcopacy as would conciliate and comprehend the Presbyterians. During the troubles which led to the Civil War U. maintained the unlawfulness of taking up arms against the King. The Rebellion in Ireland in 1641 drove him away, and he settled first at Oxf., but ultimately at the house of Lady Peterborough at Reigate, where he d. in 1656. His works dealt chiefly with ecclesiastical antiquities and chronology, his magnum opus being Annales, a chronology of the world from the creation to the dispersion of the Jews in the reign of Vespasian, a work which gained him great reputation on the Continent as well as at home. The date of the creation was fixed as 4004 B.C., which was long universally received. It has, of course, been altogether superseded, alike by the discovery of ancient records, and by geology.
VANBRUGH, SIR JOHN (1664-1726). —Dramatist and architect, b. in London of Flemish descent, was in France from 1683 to 1685, studying architecture, for which he had early shown a taste. The next year he got a commission in the army, and in 1690 he was a prisoner first at Vincennes and then in the Bastille. In 1696 he began his dramatic career with The Relapse, which had great success. Æsop followed in 1697, and The Provoked Wife in the same year. The latter was severely handled by Jeremy Collier (q.v.) in his Short View, etc., which produced a vindication by the author. In addition to these he wrote or collaborated in various other plays. His leading features as a dramatist are the naturalness of his dialogue and his lively humour. Like all his contemporaries he is frequently extremely gross. He obtained great fame as an architect, as well as a dramatist. Among his most famous designs are Castle Howard, Blenheim Palace, and Dalkeith Palace. He was knighted by George I., was controller of the Royal works, and succeeded Wren as architect to Greenwich Hospital. In addition to the plays above mentioned V. wrote The Confederacy and The Country House. He was a handsome and jovial person, and highly popular in society.
VAUGHAN, HENRY (1622-1695). —Poet, b. in the parish of Llansaintffraed, Brecknock, and as a native of the land of the ancient Silures, called himself "Silurist." He was at Jesus Coll., Oxf., studied law in London, but finally settled as a physician at Brecon and Newton-by-Usk. In his youth he was a decided Royalist and, along with his twin brother Thomas, was imprisoned. His first book was Poems, with the Tenth Satire of Juvenal Englished. It appeared in 1646. Olor Iscanus (the Swan of Usk), a collection of poems and translations, was surreptitiously pub. in 1651. About this time he had a serious illness which led to deep spiritual impressions, and thereafter his writings were almost entirely religious. Silex Scintillans (Sparks from the Flint), his best known work, consists of short poems full of deep religious feeling, fine fancy, and exquisite felicities of expression, mixed with a good deal that is quaint and artificial. It contains "The Retreat," a poem of about 30 lines which manifestly suggested to Wordsworth his Ode on the Intimations of Immortality, and "Beyond the Veil," one of the finest meditative poems in the language. Flores Solitudinis (Flowers of Solitude) and The Mount of Olives are devout meditations in prose. The two brothers were joint authors of Thalia Rediviva: the Pastimes and Diversions of a Country Muse (1678), a collection of translations and original poems.
VAUGHAN, ROBERT (1795-1868). —A minister of the Congregationalist communion, Prof. of History in London Univ., 1830-43, and Pres. of the Independent Coll., Manchester, 1843-57. He founded, and for a time ed. the British Quarterly. He wrote, among various other works, A History of England under the Stuarts, Revolutions of History, and a Life of Wycliffe.
VEITCH, JOHN (1829-1894). —Philosophic and miscellaneous writer, b. at Peebles, ed. at Univ. and New Coll., Edin., was assistant to Sir Wm. Hamilton (q.v.), 1856-60, Prof. of Logic at St. Andrews, 1860-64, and Glasgow, 1864-94. He was a voluminous and accomplished writer, his works including Lives of Dugald Stewart (1857) and Sir W. Hamilton (1869), Tweed and other Poems (1875), History and Poetry of the Scottish Border (1877), Feeling for Nature in Scottish Poetry (1887), Merlin and other Poems (1889), Border Essays (1896), and Dualism and Monism (1895).
VERY, JONES (1813-1880). —Essayist and poet, b. at Salem, Mass., where he became a clergyman and something of a mystic. He pub. one small volume, Essays and Poems, the latter chiefly in the form of the Shakespearian sonnet. Though never widely popular, he appealed by his refined, still thoughtfulness to a certain small circle of minds.
WACE (fl. 1170). —Chronicler, b. in Jersey, and ed. at Caen, was influenced by the Chronicle of Geoffrey of Monmouth (q.v.), and based upon it a French metrical romance, Brut. Later, at the command of Henry II., he rewrote with additions a chronicle of the life of William the Conqueror and entitled it Roman de Rou.
WADE, THOMAS (1805-1875). —Poet, b. at Woodbridge, pub. poems, dramas, sonnets, and a translation of Dante's Inferno. Among his writings are Tasso and the Sisters (1825), Mundi et Cordis Carmina (1835); Duke Andrea (1828), and The Jew of Arragon (1830), both tragedies, and the Phrenologists (1830), a farce.
WAKEFIELD, GILBERT (1756-1801). —Scholar and controversialist, b. at Nottingham, ed. at Camb., took orders, but becoming a Unitarian renounced them and acted as classical tutor in various Unitarian academies. He was a strong defender of the French Revolution, and was imprisoned for two years for writing a seditious pamphlet. He pub. ed. of various classical writers, and among his theological writings are Early Christian Writers on the Person of Christ (1784), An Examination of Paine's Age of Reason (1794), and Silva Critica (1789-95), illustrations of the Scriptures.
WALLACE, LEWIS (1827-1905). —Novelist, b. at Brookville, Indiana, served with distinction in the Mexican and Civil Wars, and rose to the rank of General. He was also a politician of some note, and was Governor of Utah and Minister to Turkey. His novel, Ben Hur (1880), dealing with the times of Christ, had great popularity, and was followed by The Fair God, The Prince of India, and other novels, and by a work on the Boyhood of Christ.
WALLER, EDMUND (1606-1687). —Poet, b. at Coleshill, Herts, and ed. at Eton and Camb., belonged to an old and wealthy family, and in early childhood inherited the estate of Beaconsfield, Bucks, worth £3500 a year. He was related to John Hampden, and was distantly connected with Oliver Cromwell, his own family, however, being staunch Royalists. He studied law at Lincoln's Inn, and at the age of 16 became a member of Parliament, in which he sat for various constituencies for the greater part of his life, and in which his wit and vivacity, as well as his powers of adapting his principles to the times, enabled him to take a prominent part. In 1631 he added to his fortune by marrying Anne Banks, a London heiress, who d. in 1634, and he then paid assiduous but unsuccessful court to Lady Dorothea Sidney, to whom, under the name of Sacharissa, he addressed much of his best poetry. Though probably really a Royalist in his sympathies, W. supported the popular cause in Parliament, and in 1641 conducted the case against Sir Francis Crawley for his opinion in favour of the legality of ship-money. His speech, which was printed, had an enormous circulation and brought him great fame. Two years later, however, he was detected in a plot for seizing London for the King, was expelled from the House, fined £10,000, and banished. On this occasion he showed cowardice and treachery, humiliating himself in the most abject manner, and betraying all his associates. He went to the Continent, living chiefly in France and Switzerland, and showing hospitality to Royalist exiles. Returning by permission in 1652 he addressed some laudatory verses, among the best he wrote, to Cromwell, on whose death nevertheless he wrote a new poem entitled, On the Death of the late Usurper, O.C. On the Restoration the accommodating poet was ready with a congratulatory address to Charles II., who, pointing out its inferiority as a poem to that addressed to Cromwell, elicited the famous reply, "Poets, Sire, succeed better in fiction than in truth." The poem, however, whatever its demerits, succeeded in its prime object, and the poet became a favourite at Court, and sat in Parliament until his death. In addition to his lighter pieces, on which his fame chiefly rests, W. wrote an epic, The Summer Islands (Bermudas), and a sacred poem, Divine Love. His short poems, such as "On a Girdle," often show fancy and grace of expression, but are frequently frigid and artificial, and exhibit absolute indifference to the charms of Nature. As a man, though agreeable and witty, he was time-serving, selfish, and cowardly. Clarendon has left a very unflattering "character" of him. He m. a second time and had five sons and eight daughters.
English literature
WALLER, JOHN FRANCIS (1810-1894). —Poet, b. at Limerick, and ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin, became a contributor to and ultimately ed. of the Dublin University Magazine, usually writing under the pseudonym of "Jonathan Freke Slingsby." His works include Ravenscroft Hall (1852), The Dead Bridal (1856), and Peter Brown (1872).
WALPOLE, HORATIO or HORACE (1717-1797). —Miscellaneous writer, third s. of Sir Robert W., the great minister of George II., was b. in London, and ed. at Eton and Camb., after which he travelled on the Continent with Gray, the poet (q.v.). His f. bestowed several lucrative appointments upon him, and he sat in Parliament for various places, but never took any prominent part in public business. By the death of his nephew, the 3rd Earl, he became in 1791 4th Earl of Orford. In 1747 he purchased the villa of Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, the conversion of which into a small Gothic Castle and the collection of the works of art and curios with which it was decorated was the main interest of his subsequent life. His position in society gave him access to the best information on all contemporary subjects of interest, and he was as successful in collecting gossip as curios. He also erected a private press, from which various important works, including Gray's Bard, as well as his own writings, were issued. Among the latter are Letter from Xo Ho to his Friend Lien Chi at Pekin (1757), The Castle of Otranto, the forerunner of the romances of terror of Mrs. Radcliffe and "Monk" Lewis, The Mysterious Mother (1768), a tragedy of considerable power, Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors, Anecdotes of Painting, Catalogue of Engravers (1763), Essay on Modern Gardening, Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of George II., Memoirs of the Reign of George III., and above all his Letters, 2700 in number, vivacious, interesting, and often brilliant. W. never m.
WALPOLE, SIR SPENCER (1839-1907). —Historian, s. of the Right Hon. Spencer W., Home Sec. in the three Derby Cabinets, belonged to the same family as Sir Robert W. Ed. at Eton he became a clerk in the War Office, and was thereafter successively Inspector of Fisheries 1867, Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man 1882, and Sec. to the Post Office, where he made a reputation as an efficient administrator, and was made K.C.B. in 1898. He pub. History of England from 1815 in 6 vols., bringing the story down to 1858, and followed it up with The History of Twenty-five Years. He also wrote Lives of Spencer Percival, Prime Minister 1809-12, who was assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons in the latter year, and who was his maternal grandfather, and of Earl Russell. His latest book was Studies in Biography. He wrote with much knowledge, and in a clear and sober style.
WALTON, IZAAK (1593-1683). —Biographer, and author of The Compleat Angler, s. of a yeoman, was b. at Stafford. Of his earlier years little is known. He carried on business as a hosier in London, in which he made a modest competence, which enabled him to retire at 50, the rest of his long life of 90 years being spent in the simple country pleasures, especially angling, which he so charmingly describes. He was twice m., first to Rachel Floud, a descendant of Archbishop Cranmer, and second to Ann Ken, half-sister of the author of the Evening Hymn. His first book was a Life of Dr. Donne (1640), followed by Lives of Sir Henry Wotton (1651), Richard Hooker (1662), George Herbert (1670), and Bishop Sanderson (1678). All of these, classics in their kind, short, but simple and striking, were coll. into one vol. His masterpiece, however, was The Compleat Angler, the first ed. of which was pub. in 1653. Subsequent ed. were greatly enlarged; a second part was added by Charles Cotton (q.v.). With its dialogues between Piscator (angler), Venator (hunter), and Auceps (falconer), full of wisdom, kindly humour, and charity, its charming pictures of country scenes and pleasures, and its snatches of verse, it is one of the most delightful and care-dispelling books in the language. His long, happy, and innocent life ended in the house of his son-in-law, Dr. Hawkins, Prebendary of Winchester, where in the Cathedral he lies buried.
WARBURTON, BARTHOLOMEW ELIOT GEORGE (1810-1852). —Miscellaneous writer, b. in County Galway, travelled in the East, and pub. an account of his experiences, The Crescent and the Cross, which had remarkable success, brought out an historical work, Memoirs of Prince Rupert and the Cavaliers (1849), and ed. Memoirs of Horace Walpole and his Contemporaries. He perished in the burning of the steamer Amazon.
WARBURTON, WILLIAM (1698-1779). —Theologian, b. at Newark, where his f. was an attorney. Intended for the law, he was for a few years engaged in its practice, but his intense love of, and capacity for, study led him to enter the Church, and in 1728 he was presented to the Rectory of Brand-Broughton, where he remained for many years. His first important work was The Alliance between Church and State (1736), which brought him into notice. But it was entirely eclipsed by his Divine Legation of Moses, of which the first part appeared in 1737, and the second in 1741. The work, though learned and able, is somewhat paradoxical, and it plunged him into controversies with his numerous critics, and led to his publishing a Vindication. It, however, obtained for him the appointment of chaplain to Frederick, Prince of Wales. In 1739 W. gained the friendship of Pope by publishing a defence of The Essay on Man. Through Pope he became acquainted with most of the men of letters of the time, and he was made by the poet his literary executor, and had the legacy of half his library, and the profits of his posthumous works. On the strength of this he brought out an ed. of Pope's works. He also pub. an ed. of Shakespeare with notes, which was somewhat severely criticised, and his Doctrine of Grace, a polemic against Wesley. He became Dean of Bristol in 1757 and Bishop of Gloucester in 1759. W. was a man of powerful intellect, but his temper was overbearing and arrogant.
"WARD, ARTEMUS", (see BROWN, C.F.).
WARD, ROBERT PLUMER (1765-1846). —Novelist and politician, b. in London, ed. at Oxf., and called to the Bar 1790, held various political offices, and wrote some books on the law of nations; also three novels, Tremaine, or the Man of Refinement, full of prolix discussions; De Vere, or the Man of Independence, in which Canning is depicted under the character of Wentworth; and De Clifford, or the Constant Man.
WARD, WILLIAM GEORGE (1812-1882). —Theologian, ed. at Winchester and Oxf., and came under the influence of J.H. Newman, whose famous Tract No. XC. he defended, and whom he followed into the Church of Rome. In 1844 he pub. The Ideal of a Christian Church from the Romanist point of view, whence his soubriquet of "Ideal Ward." He was lecturer on Moral Philosophy at St. Edward's Coll., Ware, and wrote various treatises on controversial theology.
WARDLAW, ELIZABETH, LADY (1677-1727). —Poetess, dau. of Sir Charles Halkett of Pitfirrane, and wife of Sir Henry Wardlaw of Pitreavie, is believed to have written the pseudo-ancient ballad of "Hardyknute." The ballad of "Sir Patrick Spens" and others have also, but doubtfully, been attributed to her.
WARNER, SUSAN (1819-1885). —Writer of tales, b. at New York, and wrote, under the name of "Elizabeth Wetherell," a number of stories, of which The Wide, Wide World (1851) had an extraordinary popularity. Others were Queechy (1852), The Old Helmet (1863), and Melbourne House (1864). They have no particular literary merit or truth to nature, and are rather sentimental and "gushy."
WARNER, WILLIAM (1558-1609). —Poet, b. in London or Yorkshire, studied at Oxf., and was an attorney in London. In 1585 he pub. a collection of seven tales in prose entitled Pan his Syrinx, and in 1595 a translation of the Menæchmi of Plautus. His chief work was Albion's England, pub. in 1586 in 13 books of fourteen-syllabled verse, and republished with 3 additional books in 1606. The title is thus explained in the dedication, "This our whole island anciently called Britain, but more anciently Albion, presently containing two kingdoms, England and Scotland, is cause ... that to distinguish the former, whose only occurrants I abridge from our history, I entitle this my book Albion's England." For about 20 years it was one of the most popular poems of its size—it contains about 10,000 lines—ever written, and he and Spenser were called the Homer and Virgil of their age. They must, however, have appealed to quite different classes. The plain-spoken, jolly humour, homely, lively, direct tales, vigorous patriotic feeling, and rough-and-tumble metre of Warner's muse, and its heterogeneous accumulation of material—history, tales, theology, antiquities—must have appealed to a lower and wider audience than Spenser's charmed verse. The style is clear, spirited, and pointed, but, as has been said, "with all its force and vivacity ... fancy at times, and graphic descriptive power, it is poetry with as little of high imagination in it as any that was ever written." In his narratives W. allowed himself great latitude of expression, which may partly account for the rapidity with which his book fell into oblivion.
WARREN, SAMUEL (1807-1877). —Novelist, b. in Denbighshire, s. of a Nonconformist minister. After studying medicine at Edin. he took up law, and became a barrister, wrote several legal text-books, and in 1852 was made Recorder of Hull. He sat in the House of Commons for Midhurst 1856-59, and was a Master in Lunacy 1859-77. He was the author of Passages from the Diary of a late Physician, which appeared (1832-37) first in Blackwood's Magazine, as did also Ten Thousand a Year (1839). Both attracted considerable attention, and were often reprinted and translated. His last novel, Now and Then, had little success. W. entertained exaggerated ideas as to the importance of his place in literature.
WARTON, JOSEPH (1722-1800). —Critic, elder s. of the Rev. Thomas W., Prof. of Poetry at Oxf., was ed. at Basingstoke School, (of which his f. was headmaster), Winchester, and Oxf. He took orders, held various benefices, and became headmaster of Winchester Coll., and Prebendary of Winchester and of St. Paul's. He pub. miscellaneous verses, 2 vols. of Odes (1744 and 1746), in which he displayed a then unusual feeling for nature, and revolted against the critical rules of Pope and his followers. He was a good classical scholar, and made an approved translation of the Eclogues and Georgics of Virgil. He and his brother Thomas (q.v.) were friends of Johnson, and members of the Literary Club. His last work of importance was an Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope, of which the first vol. appeared in 1757, and the second in 1782, and which gave an impulse to the romantic movement in English literature. He also ed. Pope's works, and had begun an ed. of Dryden when he d.
WARTON, THOMAS (1728-1790). —Literary historian and critic, younger s. of Thomas W., Prof. of Poetry at Oxf., and brother of the above, was ed. under his f. at Basingstoke and at Oxf. At the age of 19 he pub. a poem of considerable promise, The Pleasures of Melancholy, and two years later attracted attention by The Triumph of Isis (1749), in praise of Oxf., and in answer to Mason's Isis. After various other poetical excursions he pub. Observations on Spenser's Faery Queen (1754), which greatly increased his reputation, and in 1757 he was made Prof. of Poetry at Oxf., which position he held for 10 years. After bringing out one or two ed. of classics and biographies of college benefactors, he issued, from 1774-81, his great History of English Poetry, which comes down to the end of the Elizabethan age. The research and judgment, and the stores of learning often curious and recondite, which were brought to bear upon its production render this work, though now in various respects superseded, a vast magazine of information, and it did much to restore our older poetry to the place of which it had been unjustly deprived by the classical school. His ed. of Milton's minor poems has been pronounced by competent critics to be the best ever produced. W. was a clergyman, but if the tradition is to be believed that he had only two sermons, one written by his f. and the other printed, and if the love of ease and of ale which he celebrates in some of his verses was other than poetical, he was more in his place as a critic than as a cleric. As a poet he hardly came up to his own standards. He was made Poet Laureate in 1785, and in the same year Camden Prof. of History, and was one of the first to detect the Chatterton forgeries, a task in which his antiquarian lore stood him in good stead.
WATERLAND, DANIEL (1683-1740). —Theologian, b. at Waseley Rectory, Lincolnshire, and ed. at Camb., took orders, and obtained various preferments, becoming Master of Magdalene Coll., Camb. 1713, Chancellor of York 1722, and Archdeacon of Middlesex 1730. He was an acute and able controversialist on behalf of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, on which he wrote several treatises. He was also the author of a History of the Athanasian Creed (1723).
WATERTON, CHARLES (1782-1865). —Naturalist, belonged to an old Roman Catholic family in Yorkshire, and was ed. at Stonyhurst Coll. Sent out in 1804 to look after some family estates in Demerara, he wandered through the wildest parts of Guiana and Brazil, in search of plants and animals for his collections. His adventures were related in his highly-spiced and entertaining Wanderings in South America, etc. (1825), in which he details certain surprising episodes in connection with the capture of serpents, and specially of a cayman, on the back of which he rode. He also wrote an interesting account of his family.
WATSON, JOHN (1850-1907) "IAN MACLAREN". —Novelist and theological writer, b. at Manningtree, where his f. was an Inland Revenue official, ed. at Stirling and Edin., and the New Coll. there. He came, after serving in a country charge, to Sefton Park Presbyterian Church, Liverpool, where he was a popular preacher, and took a prominent part in the social and religious life of the city. He wrote, under the name of "Ian Maclaren," several novels belonging to the "Kailyard" school, including Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush and The Days of Auld Lang Syne, which had great popularity both at home and in America. He also wrote religious works, of which The Mind of the Master is the best known.
WATSON, ROBERT (1730-1781). —Historian, s. of an apothecary in St. Andrews, where and at Edin. and Glasgow, he was ed. He became Prof. of Logic, and afterwards Principal of St. Salvador's Coll., at St. Andrews, and wrote a History of Philip II. of Spain, and part of a continuation on Philip III., which were long standard works.
WATSON, THOMAS (1557?-1592). —Poet, b. in London, was at Oxf., and studied law. He was a scholar, and made translations, one of which was a Latin version of the Antigone of Sophocles. In 1582 he pub. Hecatompathia, or The Passionate Centurie of Love, consisting of 100 eighteen-line poems, which he called sonnets. It was followed by Amyntas (1585) and Teares of Fansie (1593).
WATTS, ALARIC ALEXANDER (1797-1864). —Poet, b. in London, had an active career as a journalist. He founded the United Service Gazette, and ed. various newspapers and an annual, the Literary Souvenir. His poems were coll. as Lyrics of the Heart. His numerous journalistic ventures finally resulted in bankruptcy.
WATTS, ISAAC (1674-1748). —Poet and theologian, b. at Southampton, where his f. kept a school, and ed. at a Nonconformist academy at Stoke Newington, became minister of an Independent congregation in Mark Lane; but his health proving insufficient for his pastoral duties, he resigned, and gave himself chiefly to literary work, continuing to preach occasionally. For the last 36 years of his life he resided at Theobald's, the house of his friend, Sir Thomas Abney. Among his writings were various educational treatises, including those on Logic and The Improvement of the Mind, and some works on theological subjects. But his fame rests on his sacred poems and his hymns, which number over 500, and with much that is prosaic comprised "There is a Land of Pure Delight," "O God our Help in Ages Past," and "When I survey the Wondrous Cross," which has been called "the most majestic hymn in English speech." His Horæ Lyricæ was pub. in 1706, Hymns (1707), Divine Songs (for children) (1715), Metrical Psalms (1719). Some of his poems, such as his exquisite cradle song, "Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber" have a perfect beauty and tenderness.
WAUGH, EDWIN (1817-1890). —Poet, s. of a shoemaker, was b. at Rochdale and, after a little schooling, apprenticed to a printer. He read eagerly, and became assistant sec. to the Lancashire Public School Association. He first attracted attention by his sketches of Lancashire life and character in the Manchester Examiner. He wrote also in prose Factory Folk, Besom Ben Stories, and The Chimney Corner. His best work was, perhaps, his dialect songs, coll. as Poems and Songs (1859), which brought him great local fame. He was possessed of considerable literary gift, and has been called "the Lancashire Burns."
WEBBE, WILLIAM (b. 1550). —Critic and translator. Almost nothing is known of him except that he was at Camb. and acted as tutor in certain distinguished families, and was a friend of Spenser. He wrote a Discourse of English Poetrie (1586), in which he discusses metre, rhyme (the use of which he reprehends), and reviews English poetry up to his own day. He also translated the first two of the Eclogues of Virgil in singularly unmelodious hexameters.
WEBSTER, MRS. AUGUSTA (DAVIES) (1837-1894). —Poet and translator, dau. of Admiral Davies, m. Mr. Thomas Webster, a solicitor. She wrote a novel, Lesley's Guardians, and several books of poetry of distinguished excellence, including Blanche Lisle, Dramatic Studies (1866), Portraits (1870), A Book of Rhyme (1881), and some dramas, including The Auspicious Day (1874), Disguises, and The Sentence (1887). She also made translations of Prometheus Bound and Medea.
WEBSTER, DANIEL (1782-1852). —Orator, s. of a farmer in New Hampshire, was a distinguished advocate in Boston, and afterwards a member of the United States Senate and Sec. of State 1841-43 and 1850-52. He was the greatest orator whom America has produced, and has a place in literature by virtue of his pub. speeches.
WEBSTER, JOHN (1580?-1625?). —Dramatist. Though in some respects he came nearest to Shakespeare of any of his contemporaries, almost nothing has come down to us of the life of W. Even the dates of his birth and death are uncertain. He appears to have been the s. of a London tailor, to have been a freeman of the Merchant Taylor's Company, and clerk of the parish of St. Andrews, Holborn. Four plays are known to be his, The White Devil, or the Life and Death of Vittoria Corombona (1612), Appius and Virginia (1654), The Devil's Law Case (1623), and The Duchess of Malfi (1623), and he collaborated with Drayton, Middleton, Heywood, Dekker, etc., in the production of others. He does not appear to have been much regarded in his own day, and it was only in the 19th century that his great powers began to be appreciated and expounded by such critics as Lamb and Hazlitt, and in later days Swinburne. The first says, "To move a horror skilfully, to touch a soul to the quick, to lay upon fear as much as it can bear, to wean and weary a life till it is ready to drop, and then step in with mortal instruments to take its last forfeit, this only a Webster can do." W. revels in the horrible, but the touch of genius saves his work from mere brutality, and evokes pity and sorrow where, without it, there would be only horror and disgust. His work is extremely unequal, and he had no power of construction, but his extraordinary insight into motives and feelings redeem all his failings and give him a place second only to Marlowe and Ben Jonson among the contemporaries of Shakespeare.
WEBSTER, NOAH (1758-1843). —Lexicographer, etc., b. at Hartford, Conn., and ed. at Yale. His long life was spent in unremitting diligence as teacher, lawyer, and man of letters. His great work is his American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), for which he prepared himself by 10 years' study of philology. Many abridgments of it have appeared, and in 1866 a new and enlarged ed. was pub. His Elementary Spelling Book is believed to have attained a circulation of 70,000,000 copies. He also pub. A Philosophical and Practical Grammar of the English Language (1807), and many other works.
WELLS, CHARLES JEREMIAH (1800?-1879). —Poet, b. in London, where he practised as a solicitor, pub. in 1822 Stories after Nature, written in poetic prose, which attracted no attention, and a biblical drama, Joseph and his Brethren (1824), which had an almost similar fate until D.G. Rossetti called attention to it in 1863, giving it a high meed of praise. In 1874, stung by want of appreciation, he had burned his manuscripts of plays and poems; but on the new interest excited in his Joseph he added some new scenes. In his later years he lived in France. Joseph and his Brethren ed. in the World's Classics, 1909.
WENDOVER, ROGER DE (d. 1236). —Chronicler, a monk of St. Albans, became Prior of Belvoir, from which he was deposed for extravagance, but was recalled to St. Albans, where he d. He wrote Flores Historiarum (Flowers of History), a history of the world in 2 books, the first from the creation to the incarnation, the second to the reign of Henry III., his own time. The latter is of value as a contemporary authority, and is an impartial and manly account of his own period.
WESLEY, CHARLES (1707-1788). —Hymn-writer, younger brother of John W. (q.v.), was b. at Epworth, and ed. at Westminster School and Oxf. He was all his life closely associated with his elder and greater brother, one of whose most loyal helpers he was, though not agreeing with him in all points. His chief fame is founded upon his hymns, of which he is said to have written the almost incredible number of 6500, many of them among the finest in the language. They include "Jesus, Lover of my Soul," "Love Divine all Loves excelling," "Come, oh Thou Traveller Unknown," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," and "Come, let us join our Friends above."
WESLEY, JOHN (1703-1791). —Theological writer, diarist, and founder of Methodism, was the second surviving s. of the Rev. Samuel W., Rector of Epworth, Lincolnshire. The name was also written Westley and Wellesley, and the family appears to be the same as that to which the Duke of Wellington and his brother the Marquis Wellesley belonged. W. was ed. at the Charterhouse and at Oxf., and was ordained deacon in 1725, and priest in 1728. After assisting his f. for a short time as curate, he returned to Oxf., where he found that his brother Charles, along with G. Whitefield (q.v.) and others, had begun that association for religious improvement from which sprang the great religious movement known as Methodism. About the same time the two brothers came under the influence of William Law (q.v.), author of the Serious Call, and in 1735 John went on a mission to Georgia to preach to the Indians and colonists, and became closely associated with the Moravian Brethren. Difficulties of a personal character, however, led to his return in 1738 to London, where he continued to associate with the Moravians. It was at this time that, hearing Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans read at a meeting, he found his religious and ecclesiastical views revolutionised. Hitherto holding strong High Church views in some directions, he now assumed a position which ultimately led to his abandoning the doctrine of Apostolical succession, and ordaining pastors and bishops, and finally creating a separate ecclesiastical organisation. Consequences soon followed; the pulpits of the Church were closed against him, and he began his marvellous career of itinerant and out-of-door preaching, which was continued to the close of his long life. He soon became a mighty power in the land; vast crowds waited on his ministrations, which were instrumental in producing a great revival of religious interest, and improved morality among the people. At the same time violent opposition was aroused, and W. was often in danger of his life from mobs. In the end, however, he lived down this state of things to a large extent, and in his old age was the object of extraordinary general veneration, while in his own communion he exercised a kind of pontifical sway. During the 50 years of his apostolic journeyings he is said to have travelled 250,000 miles in Britain, Ireland, and the Continent; but notwithstanding this phenomenal activity he was able, by extreme economy of time, to write copiously, his works including educational treatises, translations from the classics, histories of Rome and England, a history of the Church, biblical commentaries, manifold controversial treatises and ed. of religious classics. Most of them had an enormous circulation and brought him in £30,000, all of which he expended on philanthropic and religious objects. The work, however, on which his literary fame chiefly rests is his Journal, extending from 1735-90, which is one of the most graphic and interesting records of its kind in existence. He also wrote many hymns, largely translations from the German, and he had a considerable, hand in giving their final form to the almost innumerable hymns of his brother Charles. W. was a man of practical and organising ability of the first order, of intense religious earnestness and sincerity, benevolent feelings, and agreeable manners. At the same time he was of an autocratic temper, and often showed keenness and even intolerance in his controversies, which were largely against the extreme Calvinism of his old friend and fellow-labourer, Whitefield, and Toplady, the author of the hymn "Rock of Ages," himself a bitter polemic. In 1740 he had formally withdrawn from association with the Moravians. W. was m. in 1751 to a widow, Mrs. Vazeille, with whom, however, he did not live happily, and who separated from him in 1776.
WESTALL, WILLIAM (1834-1903). —Novelist, was originally in business, but later betook himself to journalism, and also wrote a large number of novels, including The Old Factory, Strange Crimes, Her Ladyship's Secret, etc., which, while healthy in tone and interesting, have no literary distinction.
WHARTON, THOMAS WHARTON, 1ST MARQUIS of (1648-1715). —Statesman and writer of "Lillibullero," s. of the 4th Baron W., was one of the most profligate men of his age. He was a supporter of the Exclusion Bill, and consequently obnoxious to James II. His only contribution to literature was the doggerel ballad, "Lillibullero" (1688), which had so powerful a political effect that its author claimed to have sung a King out of three kingdoms. He was generally disliked and distrusted, but held for a short time, from 1708, the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland, when he had Addison as his chief sec.
WHATELEY, RICHARD (1787-1863). —Theologian and economist, s. of the Rev. Dr. Joseph W., b. in London, and ed. at a school in Bristol, and at Oxf., where he became a coll. tutor. Taking orders he became Rector of Halesworth, Suffolk. In 1822 he delivered his Bampton lectures on The Use and Abuse of Party Feeling in Religion. Three years later he was made Principal of St. Alban's Hall, in 1829 Prof. of Political Economy, and in 1831 Archbishop of Dublin. As head of a coll. and as a prelate W. showed great energy and administrative ability. He was a vigorous, clear-headed personality, somewhat largely endowed with contempt for views with which he was not in sympathy, and with a vein of caustic humour, in the use of which he was not sparing. These qualities made him far from universally popular; but his honesty, fairness, and devotion to duty gained for him general respect. He had no sympathy with the Oxf. movement, was strongly anti-Calvinistic, and somewhat Latitudinarian, so that he was exposed to a good deal of theological odium from opposite quarters. He was a voluminous writer, and among his best known works are his treatises on Logic (1826) and Rhetoric (1828), his Historic Doubts relative to Napoleon Buonaparte (1819), intended as a reductio ad absurdum of Hume's contention that no evidence is sufficient to prove a miracle, Essays on some Peculiarities of the Christian Religion (1825), Christian Evidences (1837), and ed. of Bacon's Essays with valuable notes, and of Paley's Evidences.
WHETSTONE, GEORGE (1544?-1587?). —Dramatist, one of the early, roistering playwrights who frequented the Court of Elizabeth, later served as a soldier in the Low Countries, accompanied Sir Humphrey Gilbert's expedition to Newfoundland in 1578, and was at the Battle of Zutphen in 1586. He was a trenchant critic of the contemporary drama, contending for greater reality and rationality. His play, Promos and Cassandra, translated from Cinthio's Hecatomithi, was used by Shakespeare in Measure for Measure.
WHEWELL, WILLIAM (1794-1866). —Philosopher, theologian and mathematician, s. of a joiner at Lancaster, where he was b., ed. at Camb., where he had a brilliant career. He became Prof. of Mineralogy at Camb. 1828, of Moral Theology 1838, was Master of Trinity from 1841 until his death, and he held the office of Vice-Chancellor of the Univ. in 1843 and 1856. W. was remarkable as the possessor of an encyclopædic fund of knowledge, perhaps unprecedented, and he was the author of a number of works of great importance on a variety of subjects. Among the chief of these may be mentioned his Bridgewater Treatise on Astronomy and General Physics considered with Reference to Natural Theology (1833), History of the Inductive Sciences (1837), The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (1840), Essay on Plurality of Worlds (anonymously), Elements of Morality (1845), History of Moral Philosophy in England (1852), and Platonic Dialogues. In addition to these he wrote innumerable articles, reviews, and scientific papers. It was as a co-ordinator of knowledge and the researches of others that W. excelled; he was little of an original observer or discoverer. He is described as a large, strong, erect man with a red face and a loud voice, and he was an overwhelming and somewhat arrogant talker.
WHICHCOTE, BENJAMIN (1609-1683). —Divine, belonged to a good Shropshire family, and was at Camb., where he became Provost of King's Coll., of which office he was deprived at the Restoration. He was of liberal views, and is reckoned among the Camb. Platonists, over whom he exercised great influence. His works consist of Discourses and Moral and Religious Aphorisms. In 1668 he was presented to the living of St. Lawrence, Jewry, London, which he held until his death.
WHIPPLE, EDWIN PERCY (1819-1886). —Essayist and critic, b. in Massachusetts, was a brilliant and discriminating critic. His works include Character and Characteristic Men, Literature and Life, Success and its Conditions, Literature of the Age of Elizabeth, Literature and Politics, etc.
WHISTON, WILLIAM (1667-1752). —Theologian, and man of science, b. at Norton, Leicestershire, and ed. at Camb., where he succeeded Newton as Lucasian Prof. of Mathematics, was a prominent advocate of the Newtonian system, and wrote a Theory of the Earth against the views of Thomas Burnet (q.v.). He also wrote several theological works, Primitive Christianity Revived and the Primitive New Testament. The Arian views promulgated in the former led to his expulsion from the Univ. His best known work was his translation of Josephus. He was a kindly and honest, but eccentric and impracticable man, and an insatiable controversialist.
WHITE, GILBERT (1720-1793). —Naturalist, b. at Selborne, Hants, and ed. along with the Wartons (q.v.) at their father's school at Basingstoke, and thereafter at Oxf., entered the Church, and after holding various curacies settled, in 1755, at Selborne. He became the friend and correspondent of Pennant the naturalist (q.v.), and other men of science, and pub. in the form of letters the work which has made him immortal, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789). He was never m., but was in love with the well-known bluestocking Hester Mulso, afterwards Mrs. Chapone, who rejected him. He had four brothers, all more or less addicted to the study of natural history.
WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806). —Poet, s. of a butcher at Nottingham. At first assisting his f., next a stocking weaver, he was afterwards placed in the office of an attorney. Some contributions to a newspaper introduced him to the notice of Capel Lofft, a patron of promising youths, by whose help he brought out a vol. of poems, which fell into the hands of Southey, who wrote to him. Thereafter friends raised a fund to send him to Camb., where he gave brilliant promise. Overwork, however, undermined a constitution originally delicate, and he d. at 21. Southey wrote a short memoir of him with some additional poems. His chief poem was the Christiad, a fragment. His best known production is the hymn, "Much in sorrow, oft in Woe."
WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841). —Poet, s. of a merchant, an Irish Roman Catholic resident at Seville, where he was b., became a priest, but lost his religious faith and came to England, where he conducted a Spanish newspaper having for its main object the fanning of the flame of Spanish patriotism against the French invasion, which was subsidised by the English Government. He again embraced Christianity, and entered the Church of England, but latterly became a Unitarian. He wrote, among other works, Internal Evidences against Catholicism (1825), and Second Travels of an Irish Gentleman in search of a Religion, in answer to T. Moore's work, Travels, etc. His most permanent contribution to literature, however, is his single sonnet on "Night", which Coleridge considered "the finest and most grandly conceived" in our language.
WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885). —Shakespearian scholar, b. in New York State, was long Chief of the Revenue Marine Bureau, and was one of the most acute students and critics of Shakespeare, of whose works he pub. two ed., the first in 1865, and the second (the Riverside) in 1883. He also wrote Words and their Uses, Memoirs of Shakespeare, Studies in Shakespeare, The New Gospel of Peace (a satire), The Fate of Mansfield Humphreys (novel), etc.
WHITEHEAD, CHARLES (1804-1862). —Poet, novelist, and dramatist; is specially remembered for three works, all of which met with popular favour: The Solitary (1831), a poem, The Autobiography of Jack Ketch (1834), a novel, and The Cavalier (1836), a play in blank verse. He recommended Dickens for the writing of the letterpress for R. Seymour's drawings, which ultimately developed into The Pickwick Papers.
WHITEHEAD, WILLIAM (1715-1785). —Poet, s. of a baker at Camb., and ed. at Winchester School and Camb., became tutor in the family of the Earl of Jersey, and retained the favour of the family through life. In 1757 he succeeded Colley Cibber as Poet Laureate. He wrote plays of only moderate quality, including The Roman Father and Creusa, tragedies, and The School for Lovers, a comedy; also poems, The Enthusiast and Variety. His official productions as Laureate were severely attacked, which drew from him in reply A Charge to the Poets.
WHITMAN, WALTER or WALT (1819-1892). —Poet, was b. at Huntingdon, Long Island, New York. His mother was of Dutch descent, and the farm on which he was b. had been in the possession of his father's family since the early settlement. His first education was received at Brooklyn, to which his f. had removed while W. was a young child. At 13 he was in a printing office, at 17 he was teaching and writing for the newspapers, and at 21 was editing one. The next dozen years were passed in desultory work as a printer with occasional literary excursions, but apparently mainly in "loafing" and observing his fellow-creatures. It was not till 1855 that his first really characteristic work, Leaves of Grass, appeared. This first ed. contained only 12 poems. Notwithstanding its startling departures from conventionality both in form and substance it was well received by the leading literary reviews and, with certain reserves to be expected, it was welcomed by Emerson. It did not, however, achieve general acceptance, and was received with strong and not unnatural protest in many quarters. When a later ed. was called for Emerson unsuccessfully endeavoured to persuade the author to suppress the more objectionable parts. On the outbreak of the Civil War W. volunteered as a nurse for the wounded, and rendered much useful service. The results of his experiences and observations were given in verse in Drum Taps and The Wound Dresser, and in prose in Specimen Days. From these scenes he was removed by his appointment to a Government clerkship, from which, however, he was soon dismissed on the ground of having written books of an immoral tendency. This action of the authorities led to a somewhat warm controversy, and after a short interval W. received another Government appointment, which he held until 1873, when he had a paralytic seizure, which rendered his retirement necessary. Other works besides those mentioned are Two Rivulets and Democratic Vistas. In his later years he retired to Camden, New Jersey, where he d. W. is the most unconventional of writers. Revolt against all convention was in fact his self-proclaimed mission. In his versification he discards rhyme almost entirely, and metre as generally understood. And in his treatment of certain passions and appetites, and of unadulterated human nature, he is at war with what he considered the conventions of an effeminate society, in which, however, he adopts a mode of utterance which many people consider equally objectionable, overlooking, as he does, the existence through all the processes of nature of a principle of reserve and concealment. Amid much that is prosaic and rhetorical, however, it remains true that there is real poetic insight and an intense and singularly fresh sense of nature in the best of his writings.
Works, 12 vols., with Life. See Stedman's Poets of America. Monographs by Symonds, Clarke, and Salter.
WHITNEY, WILLIAM DWIGHT (1827-1894). —Philologist, b. at Northampton, Mass., was Prof. of Sanskrit, etc., at Yale, and chief ed. of the Century Dictionary. Among his books are Darwinism and Language and The Life and Growth of Language.
WHITTIER, JOHN GREENLEAF (1807-1892). —Poet, was b. at Haverhill, Massachusetts, of a Quaker family. In early life he worked on a farm. His later years were occupied partly in journalism, partly in farming, and he seems also to have done a good deal of local political work. He began to write verse at a very early age, and continued to do so until almost his latest days. He was always a champion of the anti-slavery cause, and by his writings both as journalist and poet, did much to stimulate national feeling in the direction of freedom. Among his poetical works are Voices of Freedom (1836), Songs of Labour (1851), Home Ballads (1859), In War Time (1863), Snow Bound (1866), The Tent on the Beach (1867), Ballads of New England (1870), The Pennsylvania Pilgrim (1874). W. had true feeling and was animated by high ideals. Influenced in early life by the poems of Burns, he became a poet of nature, with which his early upbringing brought him into close and sympathetic contact; he was also a poet of faith and the ideal life and of liberty. He, however, lacked concentration and intensity, and his want of early education made him often loose in expression and faulty in form; and probably a comparatively small portion of what he wrote will live.
WHYTE-MELVILLE, GEORGE JOHN (1821-1878). —Novelist, s. of a country gentleman of Fife, ed. at Eton, entered the army, and saw service in the Crimea, retiring in 1859 as Major. Thereafter he devoted himself to field sports, in which he was an acknowledged authority, and to literature. He wrote a number of novels, mainly founded on sporting subjects, though a few were historical. They include Kate Coventry, The Queen's Maries, The Gladiators, and Satanella. He also wrote Songs and Verses and The True Cross, a religious poem. He d. from an accident in the hunting-field.
WICLIF, or WYCLIF, JOHN (1320?-1384). —Theologian and translator of the Bible, b. near Richmond, Yorkshire, studied at Balliol Coll., Oxf., of which he became in 1361 master, and taking orders, became Vicar of Fillingham, Lincolnshire, when he resigned his mastership, and in 1361 Prebendary of Westbury. By this time he had written a treatise on logic, and had won some position as a man of learning. In 1372 he took the degree of Doctor of Theology, and became Canon of Lincoln, and in 1374 was sent to Bruges as one of a commission to treat with Papal delegates as to certain ecclesiastical matters in dispute, and in the same year he became Rector of Lutterworth, where he remained until his death. His liberal and patriotic views on the questions in dispute between England and the Pope gained for him the favour of John of Gaunt and Lord Percy, who accompanied him when, in 1377, he was summoned before the ecclesiastical authorities at St. Paul's. The Court was broken up by an inroad of the London mob, and no sentence was passed upon him. Another trial at Lambeth in the next year was equally inconclusive. By this time W. had taken up a position definitely antagonistic to the Papal system. He organised his institution of poor preachers, and initiated his great enterprise of translating the Scriptures into English. His own share of the work was the Gospels, probably the whole of the New Testament and possibly part of the Old. The whole work was ed. by John Purvey, an Oxf. friend, who had joined him at Lutterworth, the work being completed by 1400. In 1380 W. openly rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation, and was forbidden to teach at Oxf., where he had obtained great influence. In 1382 a Court was convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, which passed sentence of condemnation upon his views. It says much for the position which he had attained, and for the power of his supporters, that he was permitted to depart from Oxf. and retire to Lutterworth, where, worn out by his labours and anxieties, he d. of a paralytic seizure on the last day of 1384. His enemies, baffled in their designs against him while living, consoled themselves by disinterring his bones in 1428 and throwing them into the river Swift, of which Thomas Fuller (q.v.) has said, "Thus this brook has conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the Narrow Seas, they into the main ocean, and thus the ashes of Wicliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over." The works of W. were chiefly controversial or theological and, as literature, have no great importance, but his translation of the Bible had indirectly a great influence not only by tending to fix the language, but in a far greater degree by furthering the moral and intellectual emancipation on which true literature is essentially founded.
WILBERFORCE, WILLIAM (1759-1833). —Philanthropist and religious writer, s. of a merchant, was b. at Hull, ed. at Camb., entered Parliament as member for his native town, became the intimate friend of Pitt, and was the leader of the crusade against the slave-trade and slavery. His chief literary work was his Practical View of Christianity, which had remarkable popularity and influence, but he wrote continually and with effect on the religious and philanthropic objects to which he had devoted his life.
WILCOX, CARLES (1794-1827). —Poet, b. at Newport, N.H., was a Congregationalist minister. He wrote a poem, The Age of Benevolence, which was left unfinished, and which bears manifest traces of the influence of Cowper.
WILDE, OSCAR O'FLAHERTY (1856-1900). —Poet and dramatist, s. of Sir William W., the eminent surgeon, was b. at Dublin, and ed. there at Trinity Coll. and at Oxf. He was one of the founders of the modern cult of the æsthetic. Among his writings are Poems (1881), The Picture of Dorian Gray, a novel, and several plays, including Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of no Importance, and The Importance of being Earnest. He was convicted of a serious offence, and after his release from prison went abroad and d. at Paris. Coll. ed. of his works, 12 vols., 1909.
WILKES, JOHN (1727-1797). —Politician, s. of a distiller in London, was ed. at Leyden. Witty, resourceful, but unprincipled and profligate, he became from circumstances the representative and champion of important political principles, including that of free representation in Parliament. His writings have nothing of the brilliance and point of his social exhibitions, but his paper, The North Briton, and especially the famous "No. 45," in which he charged George III. with uttering a falsehood in his speech from the throne, caused so much excitement, and led to such important results that they give him a place in literature. He also wrote a highly offensive Essay on Woman. W. was expelled from the House of Commons and outlawed, but such was the strength of the cause which he championed that, notwithstanding the worthlessness of his character, his right to sit in the House was ultimately admitted in 1774, and he continued to sit until 1790. He was also Lord Mayor of London.
WILKIE, WILLIAM (1721-1772). —Poet, b.. in Linlithgowshire, s. of a farmer, and ed. at Edin., he entered the Church, and became minister of Ratho, Midlothian, in 1756, and Prof. of Natural Philosophy at St. Andrews in 1759. In 1757 he pub. the Epigoniad, dealing with the Epigoni, sons of the seven heroes who fought against Thebes. He also wrote Moral Fables in Verse.
WILKINS, JOHN (1614-1672). —Mathematician and divine, s. of a goldsmith in Oxf., but b. at Daventry and ed. at Oxf., entered the Church, held many preferments, and became Bishop of Chester. He m. a sister of Oliver Cromwell, and being of an easy temper and somewhat accommodating principles, he passed through troublous times and many changes with a minimum of hardship. He was one of the band of learned men whom Charles II. incorporated as the Royal Society. Among his writings are The Discovery of a World in the Moon, Mathematical Magic, and An Essay towards ... a Philosophical Language.
WILKINSON, SIR JOHN GARDNER (1797-1875). —Egyptologist, s. of a Westmoreland clergyman, studied at Oxf. In 1821 he went to Egypt, and remained there and in Nubia exploring, surveying, and studying the hieroglyphical inscriptions, on which he made himself one of the great authorities. He pub. two important works, of great literary as well as scholarly merit, Materia Hieroglyphica (1828) and Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (6 vols., 1837-41). He wrote various books of travel, and was knighted in 1839.
WILLIAM of MALMESBURY (fl. 12th cent.). —Historian, was an inmate of the great monastery at Malmesbury. His name is said to have been Somerset, and he was Norman by one parent and English by the other. The date of his birth is unknown, that of his death has sometimes been fixed as 1142 on the ground that his latest work stops abruptly in that year. His history, written in Latin, falls into two parts, Gesta Regum Anglorum (Acts of the Kings of the English), in five books, bringing the narrative down from the arrival of the Saxons to 1120, and Historia Novella (Modern History), carrying it on to 1142. The work is characterised by a love of truth, much more critical faculty in sifting evidence than was then common, and considerable attention to literary form. It is dedicated to Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the champion of Queen Matilda. Other works by W. are De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum, Lives of the English Bishops, and a history of the Monastery of Glastonbury.
WILLIAM of NEWBURGH, or NEWBURY (1136-1198?). —Historian, belonged to the monastery of Newburgh in Yorkshire. His own name is said to have been Little. His work, Historia Rerum Anglicarum (History of English affairs), is written in good Latin, and has some of the same qualities as that of William of Malmesbury (q.v.). He rejects the legend of the Trojan descent of the early Britons, and animadverts severely on what he calls "the impudent and impertinent lies" of Geoffrey of Monmouth (q.v.). His record of contemporary events is careful.
WILLIAMS, SIR CHARLES HANBURY (1708-1759). —Diplomatist and satirist, s. of John Hanbury, a Welsh ironmaster, assumed the name of Williams on succeeding to an estate, entered Parliament as a supporter of Walpole, held many diplomatic posts, and was a brilliant wit with a great contemporary reputation for lively and biting satires and lampoons.
WILLIS, BROWNE (1682-1760). —Antiquary, ed. at Westminster and Oxf., entered the Inner Temple 1700, sat in the House of Commons 1705-8. He wrote History of the Counties, Cities, and Boroughs of England and Wales (1715), Notitia Parliamentaria, etc.
WILLIS, NATHANIEL PARKER (1806-1867). —Poet, b. at Portland, and ed. at Yale, was mainly a journalist, and conducted various magazines, including the American Monthly; but he also wrote short poems, many of which were popular, of which perhaps the best is "Unseen Spirits," stories, and works of a more or less fugitive character, with such titles as Pencillings by the Way (1835), Inklings of Adventure, Letters from under a Bridge (1839), People I have Met, The Rag-Tag, The Slingsby Papers, etc., some of which were originally contributed to his magazines. He travelled a good deal in Europe, and was attached for a time to the American Embassy in Paris. He was a favourite in society, and enjoyed a wide popularity in uncritical circles, but is now distinctly a spent force.
WILLS, JAMES (1790-1868). —Poet and miscellaneous writer, younger s. of a Roscommon squire, was ed. at Trinity Coll., Dublin, and studied law in the Middle Temple. Deprived, however, of the fortune destined for him and the means of pursuing a legal career by the extravagance of his elder brother, he entered the Church, and also wrote largely in Blackwood's Magazine and other periodicals. In 1831 he pub. The Disembodied and other Poems; The Philosophy of Unbelief (1835) attracted much attention. His largest work was Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen, and his latest publication The Idolatress (1868). In all his writings W. gave evidence of a powerful personality. His poems are spirited, and in some cases show considerable dramatic qualities.
WILLS, WILLIAM GORMAN (1828-1891). —Dramatist, s. of above, b. in Dublin. After writing a novel, Old Times, in an Irish magazine, he went to London, and for some time wrote for periodicals without any very marked success. He found his true vein in the drama, and produced over 30 plays, many of which, including Medea in Corinth, Eugene Aram, Jane Shore, Buckingham, and Olivia, had great success. Besides these he wrote a poem, Melchior, in blank verse, and many songs. He was also an accomplished artist.
WILSON, ALEXANDER (1766-1813). —Poet and ornithologist, b. at Paisley, where he worked as a weaver, afterwards becoming a pedlar. He pub. some poems, of which the best is Watty and Maggie, and in 1794 went to America, where he worked as a pedlar and teacher. His skill in depicting birds led to his becoming an enthusiastic ornithologist, and he induced the publisher of Rees's Cyclopædia, on which he had been employed, to undertake an American ornithology to be written and illustrated by him. Some vols. of the work were completed when, worn out by the labour and exposure entailed by his journeys in search of specimens, he succumbed to a fever. Two additional vols. appeared posthumously. The work, both from a literary and artistic point of view, is of high merit. He also pub. in America another poem, The Foresters.
WILSON, SIR DANIEL (1816-1892). —Archæologist and miscellaneous writer, b. and ed. in Edin., and after acting as sec. of the Society of Antiquaries there, went to Toronto as Prof. of History and English Literature. He was the author of Memorials of Edinburgh in the Olden Time, The Archeology and Pre-historic Annals of Scotland (1851), Civilisation in the Old and the New World, a study on "Chatterton," and Caliban, the Missing Link, etc.
WILSON, JOHN ("CHRISTOPHER NORTH") (1785-1854). —Poet, essayist, and miscellaneous writer, s. of a wealthy manufacturer in Paisley, where he was b., was ed. at Glas. and Oxf. At the latter he not only displayed great intellectual endowments, but distinguished himself as an athlete. Having succeeded to a fortune of £50,000 he purchased the small estate of Elleray in the Lake District, where he enjoyed the friendship of Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, and De Quincey. In 1812 he pub. The Isle of Palms, followed four years later by The City of the Plague, which gained for him a recognised place in literature, though they did not show his most characteristic gifts, and are now almost unread. About this time he lost a large portion of his fortune, had to give up continuous residence at Elleray, came to Edinburgh, and was called to the Scottish Bar, but never practised. The starting of Blackwood's Magazine brought him his opportunity, and to the end of his life his connection with it gave him his main employment and chief fame. In 1820 he became Prof. of Moral Philosophy in the Univ. of Edin. where, though not much of a philosopher in the technical sense, he exercised a highly stimulating influence upon his students by his eloquence and the general vigour of his intellect. The peculiar powers of W., his wealth of ideas, felicity of expression, humour, and animal spirits, found their full development in the famous Noctes Ambrosianæ, a medley of criticism on literature, politics, philosophy, topics of the day and what not. Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life and The Trials of Margaret Lyndsay are contributions to fiction in which there is an occasional tendency to run pathos into rather mawkish sentimentality. In 1851 W. received a Government pension of £300. The following year a paralytic seizure led to his resignation of his professorial chair, and he d. in 1854. He was a man of magnificent physique, of shining rather than profound intellectual powers, and of generous character, though as a critic his strong feelings and prejudices occasionally made him unfair and even savage.
WILSON, JOHN (1804-1875). —Missionary and orientalist, b. at Lauder, Berwickshire, and ed. at Edin. for the ministry of the Church of Scotland, went in 1828 to India as a missionary, where, besides his immediate duties, he became a leader in all social reform, such as the abolition of the slave-trade and suttee, and also one of the greatest authorities on the subject of caste, and a trusted adviser of successive Governors-General in regard to all questions affecting the natives. He was in addition a profound Oriental scholar as to languages, history, and religion. He was D.D., F.R.S., and Vice-Chancellor of Bombay Univ. Among his works are The Parsi Religion (1812), The Lands of the Bible (1847), India Three Thousand Years Ago, and Memoirs of the Cave Temples of India.
WILSON, THOMAS (1525?-1581). —Scholar and statesman, b. in Lincolnshire, was at Camb., and held various high positions under Queen Elizabeth. He was the author of The Rule of Reason containing the Arte of Logique (1551), and The Arte of Rhetorique (1553), and made translations from Demosthenes. He endeavoured to maintain the purity of the language against the importation of foreign words.
WINGATE, DAVID, (1828-1892). —Poet, was employed in the coal-pits near Hamilton from the time he was 9. He pub. Poems and Songs (1862), which was favourably received, and followed by Annie Weir (1866). After this he studied at the Glasgow School of Mines, became a colliery manager, and devoted his increased leisure to study and further literary work. Lily Neil appeared in 1879, followed by Poems and Songs (1883), and Selected Poems (1890). W. was a man of independent character. He was twice m., his second wife being a descendant of Burns.
WINTHROP, THEODORE (1828-1861). —Novelist, b. at New Haven, Conn., descended through his f. from Governor W., and through his mother from Jonathan Edwards, ed. at Yale, travelled in Great Britain and on the Continent, and far and wide in his own country. After contributing to periodicals short sketches and stories, which attracted little attention, he enlisted in the Federal Army, in 1861, and was killed in the Battle of Great Bethel. His novels, for which he had failed to find a publisher, appeared posthumously—John Brent, founded on his experiences in the far West, Edwin Brothertoft, a story of the Revolution War, and Cecil Dreeme. Other works were The Canoe and Saddle, and Life in the Open Air. Though somewhat spasmodic and crude, his novels had freshness, originality, and power, and with longer life and greater concentration he might have risen high.
WITHER, GEORGE (1588-1667). —Poet, b. near Alton, Hampshire, was at Oxf. for a short time, and then studied law at Lincoln's Inn. In 1613 he pub. a bold and pungent satire, Abuses Stript and Whipt, with the result that he was imprisoned for some months in the Marshalsea. While there he wrote The Shepheard's Hunting, a pastoral. Wither's Motto, Nec Habeo, nec Careo, nec Curo (I have not, want not, care not) was written in 1618, and in 1622 he coll. his poems as Juvenilia. The same year he pub. a long poem, Faire Virtue, the Mistress of Philarete, in which appears the famous lyric, "Shall I wasting in despair." Though generally acting with the Puritans he took arms with Charles I. against the Scotch in 1639; but on the outbreak of the Civil War he was on the popular side, and raised a troop of horse. He was taken prisoner by the Royalists, and is said to have owed his life to the intercession of a fellow-poet, Sir John Denham. After the establishment of the Commonwealth he was considerably enriched out of sequestrated estates and other spoils of the defeated party; but on the Restoration was obliged to surrender his gains, was impeached, and committed to the Tower. In his later years he wrote many religious poems and hymns, coll. as Hallelujah. Before his death his poems were already forgotten, and he was referred to by Pope in The Dunciad as "the wretched Withers". He was, however, disinterred by Southey, Lamb, and others, who drew attention to his poetical merits, and he has now an established place among English poets, to which his freshness, fancy, and delicacy of taste well entitle him.
WODROW, ROBERT (1679-1734). —Church historian, s. of James W., Prof. of Divinity in Glasgow. Having completed his literary and theological education there, he entered the ministry of the Church of Scotland, and was ordained to the parish of Eastwood, Renfrewshire. Here he carried on the great work of his life, his History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland 1660 to 1688. W. wrote when the memory of the persecutions was still fresh, and his work is naturally not free from partisan feeling and credulity. It is, however, thoroughly honest in intention, and is a work of genuine research, and of high value for the period with which it deals. It was pub. in two folio vols. in 1721 and 1722. W. made large collections for other works which, however, were not pub. in his lifetime. The Lives of the Scottish Reformers and Most Eminent Ministers and Analecta, or a History of Remarkable Providences, were printed for the Maitland Club, and 3 vols. of his correspondence in 1841 for the Wodrow Society. The Analecta is a most curious miscellany showing a strong appetite for the marvellous combined with a hesitating doubt in regard to some of the more exacting narratives.
WOLCOT, JOHN (1738-1819). —Satirist, b. near Kingsbridge, Devonshire, was ed. by an uncle, and studied medicine. In 1767 he went as physician to Sir William Trelawny, Governor of Jamaica, and whom he induced to present him to a Church in the island then vacant, and was ordained in 1769. Sir William dying in 1772, W. came home and, abandoning the Church, resumed his medical character, and settled in practice at Truro, where he discovered the talents of Opie the painter, and assisted him. In 1780 he went to London, and commenced writing satires. The first objects of his attentions were the members of the Royal Academy, and these attempts being well received, he soon began to fly at higher game, the King and Queen being the most frequent marks for his satirical shafts. In 1786 appeared The Lousiad, a Heroi-Comic Poem, taking its name from a legend that on the King's dinner plate there had appeared a certain insect not usually found in such exalted quarters. Other objects of his attack were Boswell, the biographer of Johnson, and Bruce, the Abyssinian traveller. W., who wrote under the nom-de-guerre of "Peter Pindar," had a remarkable vein of humour and wit, which, while intensely comic to persons not involved, stung its subjects to the quick. He had likewise strong intelligence, and a power of coining effective phrases. In other kinds of composition, as in some ballads which he wrote, an unexpected touch of gentleness and even tenderness appears. Among these are The Beggar Man and Lord Gregory. Much that he wrote has now lost all interest owing to the circumstances referred to being forgotten, but enough still retains its peculiar relish to account for his contemporary reputation.
WOLFE, CHARLES (1791-1823). —Poet, s. of a landed gentleman in Kildare, was b. in Dublin, where he completed his ed. at Trinity Coll., having previously been at Winchester. He took orders, and was Rector of Donoughmere, but his health failed, and he d. of consumption at 32. He is remembered for one short, but universally known and admired poem, The Burial of Sir John Moore, which first appeared anonymously in the Newry Telegraph in 1817.
WOOD, or À WOOD, ANTHONY (1632-1695). —Antiquary, was b. at Oxf., where he was ed. and spent most of his life. His antiquarian enthusiasm was awakened by the collections of Leland, and he early began to visit and study the antiquities of his native county. This with history, heraldry, genealogies, and music occupied his whole time. By 1669 he had written his History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford, which was translated into Latin not to his satisfaction by the Univ. authorities, and he wrote a fresh English copy which was printed in 1786. His great work was Athenæ Oxonienses; an exact History of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the University of Oxford, to which are added the Fasti or Annals of the said University (1691-92). For an alleged libel on the Earl of Clarendon in that work the author was expelled in 1694. He also wrote The Ancient and Present State of the City of Oxford, and Modius Salium, a Collection of Pieces of Humour, generally of an ill-natured cast.
WOOD, MRS. ELLEN (PRICE) (1814-1887). —Novelist, writing as "Mrs. Henry Wood," was b. at Worcester. She wrote over 30 novels, many of which, especially East Lynne, had remarkable popularity. Though the stories are generally interesting, they have no distinction of style. Among the best known are Danesbury House, Oswald Cray, Mrs. Halliburton's Troubles, The Channings, Lord Oakburn's Daughters, and The Shadow of Ashlydyat. Mrs. W. was for some years proprietor and ed. of the Argosy.
WOOD, JOHN GEORGE (1827-1889). —Writer on natural history, s. of a surgeon, b. in London, and ed. at home and at Oxf., where he worked for some time in the anatomical museum. He took orders, and among other benefices which he held was for a time chaplain to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He was a very prolific writer on natural history, though rather as a populariser than as a scientific investigator, and was in this way very successful. Among his numerous works may be mentioned Illustrated Natural History (1853), Animal Traits and Characteristics (1860), Common Objects of the Sea Shore (1857), Out of Doors (1874), Field Naturalist's Handbook (with T. Wood) (1879-80), books on gymnastics, sport, etc., and an ed. of White's Selborne.
WOOLMAN, JOHN (1720-1772). —Quaker diarist, b. at Burlington, New Jersey, began life as a farm labourer, and then became a clerk in a store. He underwent deep religious impressions, and the latter part of his life was devoted to itinerant preaching and doing whatever good came to his hand. To support himself he worked as a tailor. He was one of the first to witness against the evils of slavery, on which he wrote a tract, Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes (1753). His Journal "reveals his life and character with rare fidelity" and, though little known compared with some similar works, gained the admiration of, among other writers, Charles Lamb, who says, "Get the writings of John Woolman by heart." In 1772 he went to England, where he d. of smallpox in the same year.
WOOLNER, THOMAS (1826-1892). —Sculptor and poet, b. at Hadleigh, attained a high reputation as a sculptor. He belonged to the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and contributed poems to their magazine, the Germ. He wrote several vols. of poetry, including My Beautiful Lady (1863), Pygmalion, Silenus, Tiresias, and Nelly Dale. He had a true poetic gift, though better known by his portrait busts.
WORDSWORTH, CHRISTOPHER (1774-1846). —Biographer, etc., was a younger brother of the poet, ed. at Camb., took orders, and became Chaplain to the House of Commons, and Master of Trinity Coll., Camb. 1820-41. He was also Vice-Chancellor of the Univ. 1820-21 and 1826-27. He pub. Ecclesiastical Biography (1810), and Who wrote Eikon Basiliké? in which he argued for the authorship of Charles I.
WORDSWORTH, CHRISTOPHER (1807-1885). —S. of above, ed. at Camb., took orders and became a Canon of Westminster 1844, and Bishop of Lincoln 1868. He travelled in Greece, and discovered the site of Dodona. His writings include in theology a commentary on the Bible (1856-70), Church History to A.D. 451 (1881-83), and in other fields, Athens and Attica (1836), and Theocritus (1844).
WORDSWORTH, DOROTHY (1771-1855). —Diarist, etc., was the only sister of the poet, and his lifelong and sympathetic companion, and endowed in no small degree with the same love of and insight into nature as is evidenced by her Journals. Many of her brother's poems were suggested by scenes and incidents recorded by her, of which that on Daffodils beginning "I wandered lonely as a cloud" is a notable example.
WORDSWORTH, WILLIAM (1770-1850). —Poet, s. of John W., attorney and agent to the 1st Lord Lonsdale, was b. at Cockermouth. His boyhood was full of adventure among the hills, and he says of himself that he showed "a stiff, moody, and violent temper." He lost his mother when he was 8, and his f. in 1783 when he was 13. The latter, prematurely cut off, left little for the support of his family of four sons and a dau., Dorothy (afterwards the worthy companion of her illustrious brother), except a claim for £5000 against Lord Lonsdale, which his lordship contested, and which was not settled until his death. With the help, however, of uncles, the family were well ed. and started in life. William received his earlier education at Penrith and Hawkshead in Lancashire; and in 1787 went to St. John's Coll., Camb., where he graduated B.A. in 1791. In the preceding year, 1790, he had taken a walking tour on the Continent, visiting France in the first flush of the Revolution with which, at that stage, he was, like many of the best younger minds of the time, in enthusiastic sympathy. So much was this the case that he nearly involved himself with the Girondists to an extent which might have cost him his life. His funds, however, gave out, and he returned to England shortly before his friends fell under the guillotine. His uncles were desirous that he should enter the Church, but to this he was unconquerably averse; and indeed his marked indisposition to adopt any regular employment led to their taking not unnatural offence. In 1793 his first publication—Descriptive Sketches of a Pedestrian Tour in the Alps, and The Evening Walk—appeared, but attracted little attention. The beginning of his friendship with Coleridge in 1795 tended to confirm him in his resolution to devote himself to poetry; and a legacy of £900 from a friend put it in his power to do so by making him for a time independent of other employment. He settled with his sister at Racedown, Dorsetshire, and shortly afterwards removed to Alfoxden, in the Quantock Hills, to be near Coleridge, who was then living at Nether Stowey in the same neighbourhood. One result of the intimacy thus established was the planning of a joint work, Lyrical Ballads, to which Coleridge contributed The Ancient Mariner, and W., among other pieces, Tintern Abbey. The first ed. of the work appeared in 1798. With the profits of this he went, accompanied by his sister and Coleridge, to Germany, where he lived chiefly at Goslar, and where he began the Prelude, a poem descriptive of the development of his own mind. After over a year's absence W. returned and settled with Dorothy at Grasmere. In 1800 the second ed. of Lyrical Ballads, containing W.'s contributions alone, with several additions, appeared. In the same year Lord Lonsdale d., and his successor settled the claims already referred to with interest, and the share of the brother and sister enabled them to live in the frugal and simple manner which suited them. Two years later W.'s circumstances enabled him to marry his cousin, Mary Hutchinson, to whom he had been long attached. In 1804 he made a tour in Scotland, and began his friendship with Scott. The year 1807 saw the publication of Poems in Two Volumes, which contains much of his best work, including the "Ode to Duty," "Intimations of Immortality," "Yarrow Unvisited," and the "Solitary Reaper." In 1813 he migrated to Rydal Mount, his home for the rest of his life; and in the same year he received, through the influence of Lord Lonsdale, the appointment of Distributor of Stamps for Westmoreland, with a salary of £400. The next year he made another Scottish tour, when he wrote Yarrow Visited, and he also pub. The Excursion, "being a portion of The Recluse, a Poem." W. had now come to his own, and was regarded by the great majority of the lovers of poetry as, notwithstanding certain limitations and flaws, a truly great and original poet. The rest of his life has few events beyond the publication of his remaining works (which, however, did not materially advance his fame), and tokens of the growing honour in which he was held. The White Doe of Rylstone appeared in 1815, in which year also he made a collection of his poems; Peter Bell and The Waggoner in 1819; The River Duddon and Memorials of a Tour on the Continent in 1820; Ecclesiastical Sonnets 1822; and Yarrow Revisited in 1835. In 1831 he paid his last visit to Scott; in 1838 he received the degree of D.C.L. from Durham, and in 1839 the same from Oxf. Three years later he resigned his office of Distributor of Stamps in favour of his s., and received a civil list pension of £300. The following year, 1843, he succeeded Southey as Poet Laureate. His long, tranquil, and fruitful life ended in 1850. He lies buried in the churchyard of Grasmere. After his death the Prelude, finished in 1805, was pub. It had been kept back because the great projected poem of which it was to have been the preface, and of which The Excursion is a part, was never completed.
The work of W. is singularly unequal. When at his best, as in the "Intimations of Immortality," "Laodamia," some passages in The Excursion, and some of his short pieces, and especially his sonnets, he rises to heights of noble inspiration and splendour of language rarely equalled by any of our poets. But it required his poetic fire to be at fusing point to enable him to burst through his natural tendency to prolixity and even dulness. His extraordinary lack of humour and the, perhaps consequent, imperfect power of self-criticism by which it was accompanied, together with the theory of poetic theme and diction with which he hampered himself, led him into a frequent choice of trivial subjects and childish language which excited not unjust ridicule, and long delayed the general recognition of his genius. He has a marvellous felicity of phrase, an unrivalled power of describing natural appearances and effects, and the most ennobling views of life and duty. But his great distinguishing characteristic is his sense of the mystic relations between man and nature. His influence on contemporary and succeeding thought and literature has been profound and lasting. It should be added that W., like Milton, with whom he had many points in common, was the master of a noble and expressive prose style.
SUMMARY.—B. 1770, ed. at Camb., sympathiser with French Revolution in earlier stages, first publication Tour in the Alps and Evening Walk 1793, became acquainted with Coleridge 1795, pub. with him Lyrical Ballads 1798, visits Germany and begins Prelude, returns to England and settles at Grasmere, pub. second ed. of Lyrical Ballads, entirely his own, 1800, m. Mary Hutchinson 1802, visits Scotland 1804 and becomes acquainted with Scott, pub. Poems in Two Volumes 1807, goes to Rydal Mount 1813, appointed Distributor of Stamps, revisits Scotland, writes Yarrow Visited and pub. The Excursion 1814, White Doe and coll. works 1815, Waggoner, Ecclesiastical Sonnets, etc., 1819-35, pensioned 1842, Poet Laureate 1843, d. 1850.
There are numerous good ed. of the poems, including his own by Moxon (1836, 1845, and 1850), and those by Knight (1882-86), Morley (1888), Dowden (1893), Smith (1908). Another by Knight in 16 vols. includes the prose writings and the Journal by Dorothy (1896-97). Lives by Christopher Wordsworth (1857), Myers (1880), and others. See also criticism by W. Raleign (1903).
WOTTON, SIR HENRY (1568-1639). —Diplomatist and poet, s. of a Kentish gentleman, was b. at Boughton Park, near Maidstone, and ed. at Winchester and Oxf. After spending 7 years on the Continent, he entered the Middle Temple. In 1595 he became sec. to the Earl of Essex, who employed him abroad, and while at Venice he wrote The State of Christendom or a Most Exact and Curious Discovery of many Secret Passages and Hidden Mysteries of the Times, which was not, however, printed until 1657. Afterwards he held various diplomatic appointments, but Court favour latterly failed him and he was recalled from Venice and made Provost of Eton in 1624, to qualify himself for which he took deacon's orders. Among his other works were Elements of Architecture (1624) and A Survey of Education. His writings in prose and verse were pub. in 1651 as Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. His poems include two which are familiar to all readers of Elizabethan verse, The Character of a Happy Life, "How happy is he born and taught," and On his Mistress, the Queen of Bohemia, beginning "Ye meaner Beauties of the Night." He was the originator of many witty sayings, which have come down.
WRAXALL, SIR NATHANIEL WILLIAM (1751-1831). —Historical writer, b. at Bristol, was for a few years in the service of the East India Company, and thereafter employed on diplomatic missions, and sat for some years in the House of Commons. In addition to a book of travels and some historical works relating to the French and other foreign Courts, he wrote Historical Memories of my own Time 1772-84, pub. in 1815. The work was severely criticised by both political parties, and in particular by Macaulay; but W. made a reply which was considered to be on the whole successful. A continuation bringing the narrative down to 1790 was pub. in 1836. The Memoirs are valuable for the light they throw on the period, and especially for the portraits of public men which they give.
WRIGHT, THOMAS (1810-1877). —Antiquary, b. near Ludlow, of Quaker parentage, was ed. at Camb. His first work was a History of Essex (1831-36). In 1836 he went to London, and adopted literature as a profession, devoting himself specially to archæology, history, and biography. He held office in various societies such as the "Camden," "Percy," and "Shakespeare," and ed. many works for them. In all he was the author of over 80 publications, of which some of the chief are The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, Biographia Britannica Literaria, Queen Elizabeth and her Times, and History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England during the Middle Ages. He was superintendent of the excavation of the Roman city at Wroxeter in 1859.
WYATT, SIR THOMAS (1503-1542). —Poet, s. of Sir Henry W., a servant of Henry VII., and ed. at St. John's Coll., Camb., came to Court and was frequently employed by Henry VIII. on diplomatic missions. He is said to have been an admirer of Anne Boleyn before her marriage, and on her disgrace was thrown into the Tower for a short time. In 1537 he was knighted, and two years later was against his will sent on a mission to the Emperor Charles V. On the death in 1540 of Thomas Cromwell, to whose party he belonged, W. was accused of misdemeanours during his embassy and again imprisoned in the Tower, where he wrote a defence which resulted in his release. In 1542 he was sent to meet the Spanish Ambassador at Falmouth, and conduct him to London, but on the way caught a chill, of which he d. W. shares with the Earl of Surrey (q.v.) the honour of being the first real successor of Chaucer, and also of introducing the sonnet into England. In addition to his sonnets, which are in a more correct form than those of Surrey, W. wrote many beautiful lyrics; in fact he may be regarded as the reviver of the lyrical spirit in English poetry which, making its appearance in the 13th century, had fallen into abeyance. In the anthology known as Tottel's Miscellany, first pub. in 1557, 96 pieces by W. appear along with 40 by Surrey, and others by different hands. W. has less smoothness and sweetness than Surrey, but his form of the sonnet was much more difficult as well as more correct than that invented by the latter, and afterwards adopted by Shakespeare, and his lyrical gift is more marked.
WYCHERLEY, WILLIAM (1640?-1716). —Dramatist, was b. at Clive, near Shrewsbury, where his f. had an estate. He was at the Inner Temple in 1659, and at Oxf. in 1660. Part of his youth had been spent in France, where he became a Roman Catholic, but at the Restoration he returned to Protestantism. He wrote four comedies, Love in a Wood, The Gentleman Dancing Master, The Country Wife, and The Plain Dealer, all produced in the reign of Charles II., and nothing of consequence afterwards, a vol. of poems doing little to add to his reputation. About 1679 he m. the widowed Countess of Drogheda, who d. in 1681, and he entered into a second marriage eleven days before his death. In his later years he formed a friendship with Pope, then a boy of 16. W. was one of the founders of the Comedy of Manners. The merit of his plays lies in smart and witty dialogue rather than in construction. The Plain Dealer, his best, is founded upon Molière's Misanthrope. His plays are notoriously coarse.
WYNTOUN, ANDREW of (1350?-1420?). —Chronicler, was a canon of St. Andrews, who became Prior of St. Serf's island in Loch Leven. His work, entitled The Orygynale Cronykil, begins with the creation of angels and men and comes down to 1406. It is poetic in form though rarely so in substance, and is of considerable historical value in its later parts and as regards the see of St. Andrews.
YALDEN, THOMAS (1670-1736). —Poet, s. of an exciseman at Oxf., and ed. at Magdalen Coll., entered the Church, in which he obtained various preferments. He was the author of a considerable number of poems, including a Hymn to Darkness, Pindaric Odes, and translations from the classics.
YATES, EDMUND (1831-1894). —Novelist and dramatist, b. at Edin., held for some years an appointment in the General Post Office. He did much journalistic work, mainly as a dramatic writer, and wrote many dramatic pieces and some novels, including Running the Gauntlet and The Black Sheep. He was perhaps best known as ed. of The World society journal.
YONGE, CHARLOTTE MARY (1823-1901). —Novelist, only dau. of a landed gentleman of Hampshire, was b. near Winchester, and in her girlhood came under the influence of Keble, who was a near neighbour. She began writing in 1848, and pub. during her long life about 100 works, chiefly novels, interesting and well-written, with a High Church tendency. Among the best known are The Heir of Redclyffe, Heartsease, and The Daisy Chain. She also wrote Cameos from English History, and Lives of Bishop Patteson and Hannah More. The profits of her works were devoted to religious objects.
YOUNG, ARTHUR (1741-1820). —Writer on agriculture, was b. in London, the s. of a Suffolk clergyman. In his early years he farmed, making many experiments, which though they did not bring him financial success, gave him knowledge and experience, afterwards turned to useful account. Various publications had made his name known, and in 1777 he became agent to Lord Kingsborough on his Irish estates. In 1780 he pub. his Tour in Ireland, and four years later started the Annals of Agriculture, 47 vols. of which appeared. His famous tours in France were made 1787-90, the results of his observations being pub. in Travels in France (1792). He was in 1793 appointed sec. to the newly founded Board of Agriculture, and pub. many additional works on the subject. He is justly regarded as the father of modern agriculture, in which, as in all subjects affecting the public welfare, he maintained an active interest until his death. In his later years he was blind.
YOUNG, EDWARD (1683-1765). —Poet, s. of the Rector of Upham, Hampshire, where he was b. After being at Winchester School and Oxf. he accompanied the Duke of Wharton to Ireland. Y., who had always a keen eye towards preferment, and the cult of those who had the dispensing of it, began his poetical career in 1713 with An Epistle to Lord Lansdowne. Equally characteristic was the publication in the same year of two poems, The Last Day and The Force of Religion. The following year he produced an elegy On the Death of Queen Anne, which brought him into notice. Turning next to the drama he produced Busiris in 1719, and The Revenge in 1721. His next work was a collection of 7 satires, The Love of Fame, the Universal Passion. In 1727 he entered the Church, and was appointed one of the Royal Chaplains, and Rector of Welwyn, Herts, in 1730. Next year he m. Lady Elizabeth Lee, the widowed dau. of the Earl of Lichfield, to whom, as well as to her dau. by her former marriage, he was warmly attached. Both d., and sad and lonely the poet began his masterpiece, The Complaint, or Night Thoughts (1742-44), which had immediate and great popularity, and which still maintains its place as a classic. In 1753 he brought out his last drama, The Brothers, and in 1761 he received his last piece of preferment, that of Clerk to the Closet to the Princess Dowager of Wales. Four years later, in 1765, he d. The poems of Y., though in style artificial and sometimes forced, abound in passages of passion and power which sometimes reach the sublime. But the feelings and sentiments which he expresses with so much force as a poet form an unpleasantly harsh contrast with the worldliness and tuft-hunting of his life.
APPENDIX OF LIVING WRITERS
The number of writers included in this Appendix, and their bibliographies, are necessarily limited, but it is hoped that despite the difficulties of selection the list will be found fairly representative.
ABBOTT, REV. EDWIN ABBOTT, D.D. (1838). —Writer on Biblical and literary subjects. Shakespearian Grammar (1870), ed. of Bacon's Essays (1876), Bacon and Essex (1877), Francis Bacon ... his Life and Works (1885), Flatland, a Romance of Many Dimensions (1884), St. Thomas of Canterbury (1898), Paradosis (1904), Johannine Vocabulary (1905), Silanus the Christian (1906), etc.
ALLEN, JAMES LANE (1849). —American novelist. A Kentucky Cardinal, The Choir Invisible, A Summer in Arcady, Blue Grass Region of Kentucky, The Increasing Purpose, Aftermath, part ii. of A Kentucky Cardinal, The Mettle of the Pasture, The Reign of Law.
ANSON, SIR WILLIAM REYNELL, BART., D.C.L. (1843). —Legaland constitutional writer, etc., Law and Custom of the Constitution, ed. Memoirs of the third Duke of Grafton, etc.
ANSTEY, F., (see GUTHRIE).
ARBER, EDWARD, D.Litt. —Literary antiquary. Has issued many reprints of rare books. English Reprints, English Scholars' Library, ed. An English Garner (1880-83), British Anthologies (1899-1901), A Christian Library (1907).
ARCHER, WILLIAM (1856). —Writer on the drama and translator of Ibsen; ed. Ibsen's Prose Dramas, 5 vols., Collected Works of Ibsen, 11 vols., translated with his brother, Major Chas. A., Ibsen's Peer Gynt, Life of Macready, Masks or Faces, Study and Stage, Real Conversations (1904), etc.
ARNIM, COUNTESS VON (BEAUCHAMP). —Elizabeth and her German Garden, A Solitary Summer, The April Baby's Book of Tunes, The Benefactress, Elizabeth's Adventures in Ruegen, Fraulein Schmidt and Mr. Anstruther.
ASHTON, JOHN (1834). —Literary antiquary, etc. History of Chap-books of Eighteenth Century (1882), Humour, Wit, and Satire of Seventeenth Century (ed. 1883), Adventures and Discoveries of Capt. John Smith (1884), Romances of Chivalry (1886), Social England under the Regency (1890), etc.
AUSTIN, ALFRED (1835). —Poet Laureate 1896. The Human Tragedy, Lyrical Poems, Narrative Poems, Fortunatus the Pessimist, Alfred the Great, Flodden Field: a Tragedy (1903), etc. Prose works include The Garden that I Love, In Veronica's Garden, Lamia's Winter Quarters, Sacred and Profane Love (1908).
AVEBURY, JOHN LUBBOCK, 1ST LORD, P.C., D.C.L., etc. (1834). —Miscellaneous writer. Use of Life, Beauties of Nature, Pleasures of Life (two parts), British Wild Flowers considered in relation to Insects, Ants, Bees, and Wasps, The Origin of Civilisation, and many other works on Natural History, Sociology, and Economics.
BAGOT, RICHARD (1860). —Novelist. A Roman Mystery (1899), Casting of Nets (1901), Donna Diana (1903), Temptation (1907), etc.
BALFOUR, RIGHT HON. ARTHUR JAMES, P.C., LL.D., D.C.L., etc. (1848). —Statesman and philosophic writer. A Defence of Philosophic Doubt (1879), Essays and Addresses (1893), The Foundations of Belief (1895), Reflections suggested by the New Theory of Matter (1904).
BALL, SIR ROBERT STAWELL, LL.D., F.R.S. (1840). —Scientific writer. The Story of the Heavens (1885), Starland (1889), The Story of the Sun (1893), The Earth's Beginning (1901), etc.
BARING-GOULD, SABINE (1834). —Novelist and folk-lorist, etc. Iceland, its Scenes and Sagas (1862), Curious Myths of the Middle Ages (1866), Origin and Development of Religious Belief (1869-70), Lives of the Saints (1872-77). Novels, Mehalah (1880), Richard Cable (1888), The Pennycomequicks (1889), Domitia (1898), Pabo the Priest (1899), Crock of Gold (1899), Nebo the Nailer (1902), Devonshire Characters (1908), etc.; also books on Folk-lore.
BARRIE, JAMES MATTHEW, LL.D. (1860). —Novelist and dramatist. Auld Licht Idylls, When a Man's Single (1888), A Window in Thrums (1889), My Lady Nicotine (1890), The Little Minister (1891), Sentimental Tommy, Margaret Ogilvy (1896), The Little White Bird (1902), Peter Pan (1906), etc. Dramatic works include The Professor's Love Story, The Little Minister, The Wedding Guest (1900), The Admirable Crichton (1903), Peter Pan (1904), What Every Woman Knows (1908).
BARRY, REV. WILLIAM (FRANCIS), D.D. (1849). —Novelist, etc. The New Antigone (1887), Two Standards (1898), Arden Massiter (1900), The Wizard's Knot (1901), The Dayspring (1903), etc.
BATTERSBY, HARRY FRANCIS PREVOST ("FRANCIS PREVOST"). —Poet, novelist, and war correspondent. Poems, Melilot (1886), Fires of Greenwood (1887). Novels, Rust of Gold (1895), The Avenging Hour (1896), False Dawn (1897), The Plague of the Heart (1902), etc.; joint translator of Tolstoi's Christ's Christianity and What to Do. Plays, The Way of War (1902), and Voice of Duty (1904).
BAX, ERNEST BELFORT (1854). —Writer on philosophy and socialism. Kant's Prolegomena with Biography and Introduction (1882), Handbook to the History of Philosophy (1884), Religion of Socialism (1886), Ethics of Socialism (1889), The Problem of Reality (1893), Socialism, its Growth and Outcome (with W. Morris) (1894), The Roots of Reality (1907), etc.
BEAZLEY, CHARLES RAYMOND, F.R.G.S. (1868). —Historical geographer, James of Aragon (1870), Henry the Navigator (1895), Dawn of Modern Geography, 3 vols. (1897-1906), etc.
BECKE, GEORGE LOUIS (1848). —Novelist. By Reef and Palm (1890), A First Fleet Family (1896), Pacific Tales (1897), Tom Wallis (1900), Yorke, the Adventurer (1901), Chinkie's Flat (1903), etc.; and with W. Jeffery, His Native Wife (1896), The Mutineer, Admiral Phillip (1899), The Tapu of Benderah, etc.
BEECHING, REV. HENRY CHARLES, D.Litt. (1859). —Miscellaneous writer. In a Garden and other Poems (1895), Pages from a Private Diary (1898), various vols. of sermons, etc., including Seven Sermons to Schoolboys (1894), The Grace of Episcopacy (1906); has ed. A Paradise of English Poetry (1892), Lyra Sacra (1894), and various English classics, etc.
BEERBOHM, MAX (1872). —Essayist and dramatic critic, The Works of Max Beerbohm, The Happy Hypocrite, Caricatures of Twenty-five Gentlemen, More (1898), Yet Again (1909), etc.
BEESLY, EDWARD SPENCER (1831). —Writer on history and philosophy. Catiline, Clodius, and Tiberius (1878), Queen Elizabeth (1892), has translated various works of Aug. Comte, etc.
BELL, HENRY THOMAS MACKENZIE (1856). —Poet and critic. Spring's Immortality and other Poems, Christina Rossetti, Pictures of Travel and other Poems (1898), Collected Poems (1901).
BELLOC, HILAIRE (1870). —Miscellaneous writer. The Bad Child's Book of Beasts (1896), More Beasts for Worse Children (1897), The Moral Alphabet, Danton (1899), Lambkin's Remains (1900), Robespierre (1901), Caliban's Guide to Letters (1903), Mr. Burden (1904), Esto Perpetua (1906), The Historic Thames (1907), The Path to Rome, etc.
BENNETT, ENOCH ARNOLD (1867). —Novelist, etc. A Man from the North (1898), Polite Farces (1899), Anna of the Five Towns (1902), A Great Man (1904), The Grim Smile of the Five Towns (1907), Buried Alive (1908), Old Wives' Tale (1908), etc.
BENSON, ARTHUR CHRISTOPHER (1862). —Poet, biographer and miscellaneous writer. Poems (1893), Lyrics (1895), The Professor and other Poems (1900), The House of Quiet (1903), Peace and other Poems (1905), From a College Window (1906), Beside Still Waters (1907), books on Tennyson, Rossetti, E. Fitzgerald, Walter Pater, etc.
BENSON, EDWARD FREDERIC (1867). —Novelist. Dodo (1893), Rubicon (1894), Judgment Books (1895), The Babe B.A. (1897), Vintage (1898), Scarlet and Hyssop (1902), Image in the Sand (1905). Plays, Aunt Jeannie (1902), House of Defence (1907), etc.
BERDOE, EDWARD (1836). —Writer on Browning, etc. Browning's Message to his Time (1890), Browning Cyclopædia (1891), Biographical and Historical Notes to Browning's Complete Works (1894), Browning and the Christian Faith (1896), A Browning Primer (1904), and various books on medicine, etc.
BERENSON, BERNHARD (1865). —Writer on art. Venetian Painters of the Renaissance (1894), Lorenzo Lotto, an Essay on Constructive Art Criticism (1895), Florentine Painters of the Renaissance (1896), Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance (1897), Study and Criticism of Italian Art (1901), North Italian Painters of the Renaissance, A Sienese Painter of the Franciscan Legend (1910), etc.
BESANT, MRS. ANNIE (1847). —Theosophist. Re-incarnation (1892), Death and After (1893), Karma (1895), The Self and its Sheaths (1895), Ancient Wisdom (1897), Dharma (1899), Esoteric Christianity (1901), Pedigree of Man (1903), Wisdom of the Upanishats (1906), etc.
BINYON, LAURENCE (1869). —Poet and art critic. Lyric Poems (1894), London Visions, Book I. (1895), Book II. (1898), The Praise of Life (1896), Porphyrion and other Poems (1898), Odes (1900), Penthesilea (1905), Paris and Ænone (1906), etc.
BIRRELL, AUGUSTINE, M.P., LL.D. (1850). —Essayist, etc. Obiter Dicta (1884), Res Judicatæ (1892), Men, Women, and Books (1894), Collected Essays (1900), Miscellanies (1901). Books on Charlotte Bronté, Hazlitt, etc. Ed. Boswell's Johnson (1907).
BLAIKIE, JOHN ARTHUR (1849). —Poet and journalist. Madrigals, Songs, and Sonnets (1870), Love's Victory (1890), and A Sextet of Singers (1895).
BLAND, MRS. HUBERT ["E. NESBIT"] (1858). —Poet and novelist. Lays and Legends (1886), second series (1892), A Pomander of Verse (1895), In Homespun (1896), Secret of Kyriels (1898), Book of Dragons (1900), Five Children and It (1902), The Phœnix and the Carpet (1904), The Railway Children (1906), Salome and the Head (1908), etc.
BLOUNDELLE-BURTON, JOHN EDWARD (1850). —Novelist. Silent Shore (1886), Desert Ship (1890), Denounced (1896), A Bitter Heritage (1899), A Branded Name (1903), A Woman from the Sea (1907), and Last of her Race (1908), etc.
BLUNT, WILFRID SCAWEN (1840). —Poet, etc. Love Sonnets of Proteus (1880), Future of Islam (1882), The Wind and the Whirlwind (1883), Esther (1892), The Stealing of the Mare (1892), Seven Golden Odes of Pagan Arabia (1903), Secret History of the English Occupation of Egypt (1907), etc.
BOAS, FREDERICK S. (1862). —Scholar. Shakespeare and his Predecessors (1896), ed. works of T. Kyd, and of Giles and Phineas Fletcher, etc.
BODLEY, JOHN EDWARD COURTENAY, D.C.L. (1853). —Historian. France, vol. i. The Revolution and Modern France, vol. ii. The Parliamentary System, The Coronation of Edward VII. (1903), The Church in France (1906), etc.
"BOLDREWOOD, ROLF," (see BROWNE).
BOURDILLON, F.W. (1852). —Poet, etc. Among the Flowers (1878), Sursum Corda (1893), Nephelé (1896), etc.
BRADDON, MARY ELIZABETH (1837). —Novelist. Lady Audley's Secret, Aurora Floyd (1862), Henry Dunbar (1864), Only a Clod (1865), The Lady's Mile (1866), Dead Sea Fruit (1869), Robert Ainsleigh (1872), Hostages to Fortune (1875), Vixen (1870), Wyllard's Weird (1886), Rough Justice (1898), His Darling Sin (1895), The White House (1906), and many others.
BRADLEY, ANDREW CECIL, L.L.D., Litt.D., etc. —Critic. A Commentary on Tennyson's In Memoriam (1901), Shakespearian Tragedy (1904), Oxford Lectures on Poetry (1909).
BRADLEY, FRANCIS HERBERT (1846). —Philosopher. The Presuppositions of Critical History (1874), Ethical Studies (1876), The Principles of Logic (1883), and Appearance and Reality (1893).
BRIDGES, ROBERT (1844). —Poet. Essay on Milton's Prosody, Critical Essay on Keats. Poems, The Growth of Love, Prometheus the Firegiver, Eros and Psyche. Plays, Nero, Ulysses, Christian Captives, Achilles in Scyros, Feast of Bacchus, etc.
BROOKE, REV. STOPFORD AUGUSTUS, LL.D. (1832). —Writer on English literature and theology, etc. Theology of the English Poets (1874), Primer of English Literature (1876), Riquet of the Tuft (1880), (drama), Unity of God and Man (1886), Poems (1888), History of Early English Literature (1892), History of English Literature (1894), and Gospel of Joy (1898).
BROUGHTON, RHODA (1840). —Novelist. Cometh up as a Flower (1867), Not Wisely but too Well (1867), Red as a Rose is She (1870), Goodbye, Sweetheart, Goodbye (1872), Dr. Cupid (1886), Scylla or Charybdis? (1895), Dear Faustina (1897), The Game and the Candle (1899), Foes in Law (1901), etc.
BROWN, PETER HUME, LL.D. (1850). —Historian. George Buchanan, Humanist and Reformer (1890), Early Travellers in Scotland (1891), Scotland before 1700 (1893), John Knox, a Biography (1895), History of Scotland (1898-1909), etc.
BROWNE, THOMAS ALEXANDER (1826). —Australian novelist. Robbery under Arms (1888), The Miner's Right (1890), A Sydney-side Saxon (1891), A Modern Buccaneer (1894), The Squatter's Dream, The Crooked Stick, Old Melbourne Memories (1895), A Canvas Town Romance (1898), Babes in the Bush (1900), A Tale of the Golden West (1906), etc.
BROWNING, OSCAR (1837). —Historian, etc. Modern England (1879), Modern France (1880), England and Napoleon in 1803 (1887), History of England, in four vols. (1890), True Stories from English History (1886), Guelphs and Ghibellines (1894), Wars of the Nineteenth Century (1899), History of Europe 1814-1843 (1901), and also Lives of George Eliot, Dante, Goethe, Bartolommeo Colleoni, and Napoleon.
BRYCE, RIGHT HON. JAMES, P.C., D.C.L., etc. (1838). —Historical and political writer, etc. The Holy Roman Empire (1862), Transcaucasia and Ararat (1877), The American Commonwealth (1888), Studies in History and Jurisprudence (1901), Studies in Contemporary Biography (1903), etc.
BUCHAN, JOHN (1875). —Novelist, etc. Musa Piscatrix (1896), Scholar-Gipsies (1896), John Burnet of Barns (1898), The Watcher by the Threshold (1902), and A Lodge in the Wilderness (1906).
BUDGE, ERNEST A. WALLIS, Litt.D., etc. —Orientalist, etc. Has produced ed. of numerous Assyrian and Egyptian texts. The Dwellers on the Nile (1885), Excavations at Aswân (1888), Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys, etc. (1891), Book of the Dead (1895), The Laughable Stories of Bar-Hebræus (1896), A History of Egypt, etc. (1902), The Gods of Egypt (1903), The Egyptian Sûdân (1907), etc.
BULLEN, ARTHUR HENRY (1857). —Ed. of Old English writers. Ed. Works of John Day, dramatist (1881), Collection of Old English Plays (1882-84), Selections from Poems of Michael Drayton (1883), ed. Works of Marlowe, Middleton, Marston, Peele, Campion, Lyrics from the Song Books of Elizabethan Age (1886), England's Helicon (1887), works of Thos. Traherne, W. Strode, etc.
BULLEN, FRANK THOMAS (1857). —Writer of nautical romances. The Cruise of the Cachalot, Idylls of the Sea, With Christ at Sea, A Whaleman's Wife, Sea Wrack, Sea Puritans, A Son of the Sea, Frank Brown, etc.
BURNAND, SIR FRANCIS COWLEY (1836). —Humorist and dramatist, ed. of Punch (1880-1906), to which he contributed Mokeanna, Strapmore, Happy Thoughts, etc. Has written over 120 plays, including Black-eyed Susan, The Colonel, Contrabandista, His Majesty, etc.
BURNETT, MRS. FRANCES HODGSON (1849). —Novelist and dramatist. That Lass o' Lowrie's (1877), Haworths (1879), A Fair Barbarian (1881), Through One Administration (1883), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), A Lady of Quality (1896), Making of a Marchioness (1901), etc. Plays, Phyllis, The Showman's Daughter, Esmeralda, Little Lord Fauntleroy, etc.
BURY, JOHN B., LL.D., etc. (1861). —Historian. History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene (1889), History of Greece to Death of Alexander the Great (1900), Life of St. Patrick (1905); has ed. Pindar's Nemean Odes and Isthmian Odes, Gibbon's Decline and Fall, and part of E.A. Freeman's works.
BUTCHER, SAMUEL HENRY, LL.D., etc. (1850). —Scholar. Prose Translation of the Odyssey (1879), with A. Lang, Some Aspects of the Greek Genius (1891-1904), Aristotle's Theory of Poetry, (1895, 1903). etc.
BUTLER, SIR WILLIAM FRANCIS, G.C.B. (1838). —Traveller and biographer. The Great Lone Land (1872), The Wild North Land (1873), The Campaign of the Cataracts (1887), From Naboth's Vineyard (1907), Lives of Gen. Gordon, Sir. C. Napier, Sir G.P. Colley, etc.
CABLE, GEORGE WASHINGTON (1844). —American novelist. Old Creole Days (1879), The Grandissimes (1880), Madame Delphine (1881), Dr. Sevier (1884), John March (1884), The Cavalier (1901), Bylow Hill (1902), etc.
CAINE, HALL (1853).—Novelist. —Shadow of a Crime (1885), Son of Hagar (1886), The Deemster (1887), The Bondman (1890), The Scapegoat (1891), The Manxman (1894), The Christian (1897), The Eternal City (1901), The Prodigal Son (1904), several of which have been dramatised. Has also written books on Rossetti and Coleridge.
CAMBRIDGE, ADA (MRS. CROSS) (1844). —Australian novelist. A Marked Man (1891), The Three Miss Kings (1891), A Little Minx (1893), Fidelis (1895), Materfamilias (1898), The Devastators (1901), A Happy Marriage (1906), The Eternal Feminine (1907), etc.
CAMPBELL, WILFRED, LL.D. (1861). —Poet. Lake Lyrics (1889), Dread Voyage Poems (1893), Mordred and Hildebrand Tragedies (1895), Beyond the Hills of Dream (1899), Ian of the Orcades (1906) (novel), etc.
CASTLE, EGERTON (1858). —Novelist. Consequences (1891), The Light of Scarthey (1895), The Jerningham Letters (1896), The Pride of Jennico (1898), Desperate Remedies (play), Young April (1899), The Secret Orchard (1899), Incomparable Bellairs (1904), Wroth (1908) (with Agnes Castle), etc.
CHAMBERS, ROBERT WILLIAM (1865). —American novelist. In the Quarter (1895), The Red Republic (1896), Lorraine, The Cambric Mask, The Maids of Paradise (1903), A Young Man in a Hurry (1906), The Fighting Chance (1907), etc.
CHESTERTON, GILBERT KEITH (1874). —Essayist, etc. The Wild Knight, Greybeards at Play, Twelve Types, The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904), Club of Queer Trades (1905), Heretics (1905), All Things Considered (1908), books on R. Browning, Dickens, G.F. Watts, G.B. Shaw, etc.
CHOLMONDELEY, MARY. —Novelist. Diana Tempest, Red Pottage, Moth and Rust (1902), Prisoners (1906), etc.
CHURCHILL, WINSTON (1871). —American novelist. The Celebrity, Richard Carvel (1899), The Crisis (1901), The Crossing (1903), Coniston (1906), Mr. Crewe's Career (1908).
CLEMENS, SAMUEL LANGHORNE, (see "TWAIN").
CLIFFORD, MRS. W.K. (LANE). —Novelist, etc. Mrs. Keith's Crime (1885), Love Letters of a Worldly Woman (1891), Aunt Anne (1893), A Woman Alone (1901), The Modern Way (1906), etc., and various plays.
CLODD, EDWARD (1840). —Scientific writer, etc. The Childhood of the World (1872), The Childhood of Religions (1875), Myths and Dreams (1885), Story of Primitive Man (1895), Primer of Evolution (1895), Animism (1906), etc.
COLERIDGE, CHRISTABEL ROSE (1843). —Novelist. Lady Betty (1869), The Face of Carlyon (1875), An English Squire (1881), A Near Relation (1886), Waynflete (1893), The Winds of Cathrigg (1901), etc.
COLVIN, SIDNEY, D.Litt. (1845). —Writer on art, etc. A Florentine Picture-Chronicle (1898), Early Engraving and Engravers in England (1906), Lives of Keats, Landor; ed. Letters of Keats and R.L. Stevenson, and the Edinburgh ed. of the latter's works, etc.
"CONNOR, RALPH" (Rev. C.W. GORDON) (1860). —Novelist, etc. The Sky Pilot, The Man from Glengarry, The Doctor of Crow's Nest, etc.
CONRAD, JOSEPH. —Novelist. Almayer's Folly (1895), An Outcast of the Islands (1896), Tales of Unrest (1898), Lord Jim (1900), Typhoon (1903), Nostromo (1904), The Mirror of the Sea (1906), The Secret Agent (1907).
CORELLI, MARIE (1864). —Novelist. A Romance of Two Worlds (1886), Vendetta (1886), Thelma (1887), Soul of Lilith (1892), Sorrows of Satan (1895), Mighty Atom (1896), Murder of Delicia (1896), Ziska (1897), The Master Christian (1900), God's Good Man (1904), The Treasure of Heaven (1906), Holy Orders (1908).
COTES, MRS. EVERARD (DUNCAN) (1861). —Novelist. A Social Departure (1890), American Girl in London (1891), The Simple Adventures of a Mem Sahib, Story of Sunny Sahib, His Honour and a Lady, Pool in the Desert (1903), Set in Authority (1906), etc.
COURTHOPE, WILLIAM JOHN, C.B., LL.D., etc. (1842). —Critic, biographer, etc. Ludibria Lunæ (1869), Paradise of Birds (1870), History of English Poetry (vol. vi. 1910), and Lives of Addison and Pope.
COURTNEY, Wm. LEONARD, LL.D. (1850). —Critic, etc. Studies New and Old (1888), Dramas and Diversions (1900), The Literary Man's Bible (1909), etc.
CRADDOCK, CHARLES EGBERT (see MURFREE).
CROCKETT, SAMUEL RUTHERFORD (1860). —Novelist and poet. The Stickit Minister (1893), The Raiders (1894), Lilac Sunbonnet (1894), Bog, Myrtle, and Peat (1895), Men of the Moss Hags (1895), Grey Man (1896), Standard Bearer (1898), Joan of the Sword Hand (1900), Love Idylls (1901), Me and Myn (1907), Bloom of the Heather (1908).
CROMMELIN, MAY DE LA CHEROIS. —Novelist. Queenie, My Love She's but a Lassie, Orange Lily, For the Sake of the Family, Crimson Lilies, I Little Knew, etc.
CUNNINGHAM, WILLIAM, D.D. (1849). —Economist, etc. Growth of English Industry and Commerce, Western Civilisation, Modern Civilisation, Use and Abuse of Money, Path Towards Knowledge, Rise and Decline of Free Trade, etc.
CUNNINGHAME-GRAHAM, ROBERT BONTINE (1852). —Traveller, essayist, etc. Father Archangel of Scotland (1896), with Mrs. C.-G. Aurora la Cugini, Mogreb el Acksa, Journey in Morocco (1898), Thirteen Stories (1900), A Vanished Arcadia (1901), Life of Hernando de Soto (1903), etc.
DAVIS, RICHARD HARDING (1864). —American novelist, etc. Soldiers of Fortune, The Princess Aline, In the Fog, Captain Macklin, Real Soldiers of Fortune (1906), also books on his adventures in Venezuela, Cuba, South Africa, etc.
DE MORGAN, WILLIAM FREND (1839). —Novelist. Joseph Vance: An Ill-written Autobiography (1906), Alice-for-short: A Dichronism (1907), Somehow Good (1908), It Never can Happen Again (1909).
DICKINSON, GOLDSWORTHY LOWES. —Historical writer. Revolution and Reaction in Modern France, The Development of Parliament in the Nineteenth Century, The Greek View of Life, The Meaning of Good, Letters of John Chinaman, A Modern Symposium, Justice and Liberty (1909), etc.
DILKE, SIR CHARLES WENTWORTH, BART., P.C., LL.D., etc. (1843). —Political writer. Greater Britain (1868), The Fall of Prince Floristan of Monaco, Problems of Greater Britain (1890), etc.
DOBSON, HENRY AUSTIN, LL.D. (1840). —Poet and biographer. Poems, Vignettes in Rhyme (1873), Proverbs in Porcelain (1877), Old World Idylls (1883), At the Sign of the Lyre (1885). Prose, Thomas Bewick and his Pupils (1884), Eighteenth Century Vignettes (3 series, 1892, 1894, and 1896), Lives of Fielding (1883), Steele (1886), Goldsmith (1888), H. Walpole (1890), Hogarth (1891), Richardson (1892), etc. Ed. Diaries of Madame D'Arblay, J. Evelyn, etc.
DOUGHTY, ARTHUR. —Historical and miscellaneous writer. Life and Works of Tennyson (1893), Song Story of Francesca and Beatrice (1896), The Siege of Quebec and Battle of the Plains of Abraham (6 vols. 1901-2), The Fortress of Quebec (1904), etc.
DOUGHTY, CHARLES MONTAGUE. —Traveller and poet. Wanderings in Arabia (1908) (new ed. abridged from Arabia Deserta), The Dawn in Britain, Adam Cast Forth (1906), The Cliffs (1909).
DOUGLAS, SIR GEORGE BRISBANE SCOTT, BART. (1856). —Poet and miscellaneous writer. Poems (1880), The Fireside Tragedy (1896), New Border Tales (1892), Poems of a Country Gentleman (1897), History of Border Counties, Lives of James Hogg and General Wauchope, etc.
DOUGLAS, JAMES (1869). —The Man in the Pulpit (1905), The Unpardonable Sin (1907), Theodore Watts-Dunton.
DOWDEN, EDWARD, LL.D., D.C.L. (1843). —Literary critic, etc. Shakespeare, his Mind and Art (1875), Shakespeare Primer (1877), Studies in Literature (1878), The French Revolution and English Literature (1897), A History of French Literature (1897), books on Shelley, Browning, Montaigne; ed. Shakespeare's Sonnets, The Passionate Pilgrim (1883), the Correspondence of Henry Taylor, Works of Shelley, Wordsworth, etc.
DOYLE, SIR ARTHUR CONAN, LL.D. (1859). —Novelist. A Study in Scarlet (1887), Micah Clarke (1888), The Sign of Four (1889), White Company (1890), Firm of Girdlestone (1890), Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1891), Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1893), Exploits of Brigadier Gerard (1896), Uncle Bernac (1897), Sir Nigel (1906), etc.
DUCLAUX, MADAME, (see ROBINSON, A.M.F.)
DUDENEY, MRS. HENRY (WHIFFIN) (1866). —Novelist. A Man with a Maid (1897), Folly Corner, Men of Marlowe's, Robin Brilliant, Wise Words, The Orchard Thief (1907), etc.
EDWARDS, MATILDA BETHAM. —Novelist, etc. The White House by the Sea, Dr. Jacob, John and I, The Sylvesters, France of To-day, The Golden Bee (ballads) (1896), Anglo-French Reminiscences (1899), A Suffolk Courtship (1900), and Home Life in France (1905).
EDWARDS, OWEN MORGAN (1858). —Writer on Welsh history and literature. Story of Wales (1902), and several books (Tro yn yr Eidal, etc.) in Welsh, and has ed. various Welsh texts, etc.
ELLIS, ROBINSON (1834). —Scholar. The Poems and Fragments of Catullus in the Metres of the Original (1871), A Commentary on Catullus (1876), The Ibis of Ovid, etc. (1881), The Fables of Avianus (1887), Noctes Manilianæ (1891), many separate lectures on classical subjects, etc.
ELTON, OLIVER (1861). —Critical writer, etc. The Augustan Ages (Periods of European Literature) (1890), Michael Drayton (1906); has ed. some of Milton's poems and translated Mythical Books of Saxo Grammaticus' Historia Danica.
ESLER, MRS. ERMINDA (RENTOUL). —Novelist. The Way of Transgressors (1890), The Way they loved at Grimpat (1894), 'Mid Green Pastures (1895), Youth at the Prow (1898), Awakening of Helena Thorpe (1901), The Trackless Way (1904), etc.
EVERETT-GREEN, Miss EVELYN (1856). —Novelist, etc. Last of the Dacres (1886), Dare Lorimer's Heritage (1892), French and English (1898), Heir of Hascombe Hall (1899), Dufferin's Keep (1905), etc.
"FIELD, MICHAEL". —Poet (pen-name adopted by two ladies, understood to be Miss Bradley and Miss Cooper). Callirrhoé (1884), Brutus Ultor (1887), Fair Rosamund (1884), The Father's Tragedy (1885), Stephania (1892), Canute the Great (1887), Anna Ruina (1899), Julia Danna (1903), and Wild Honey (1908).
FINDLATER, JANE HELEN. —Novelist. Green Graves of Balgowrie, A Daughter of Strife, Rachel, Tales that are Told (with Mary Findlater), Story of a Mother, Stones from a Glass House, The Affair at the Inn (with K.D. Wiggin), The Ladder to the Stars (1906), etc.
FISHER, HERBERT ALBERT LAURENS (1865). —Historian. The Mediæval Empire (1898), Studies in Napoleonic Statesmanship (1903), A Political History of England (1906), etc.
FISON, LORIMER, D.D. (1832). —Anthropologist. Kamilaroi and Kurnai, Group Marriage and Marriage by Elopement (with A.W. Hewitt), Land Tenure in Fiji, Tales from Old Fiji, etc.
FITZMAURICE-KELLY, JAMES (1858). —Writer on Spanish literature. Life of Cervantes (1892), History of Spanish Literature (1898), Lope de Vega and the Spanish Drama (1902), Cervantes in England (1905), ed. complete Works of Cervantes, etc.
FLEMING, DAVID HAY, LL.D. (1849). —Historian and antiquary. Charters of St. Andrews (1883), Martyrs and Confessors of St. Andrews (1887), Scotland after the Union of the Crowns (1890), Mary Queen of Scots (1897), Scottish History and Life (3 sections, 1902), Story of the Scottish Covenants.
FLINT, ROBERT, D.D., LL.D. (1838). —Writer on philosophy, sociology, and theology. Philosophy of History in Europe (1874), Theism (1877), Anti-Theistic Theories (1879), Historical Philosophy in France (1894), Socialism (1894), Agnosticism (1903), etc.
FORMAN, HARRY BUXTON, C.B. (1842). —Biographer, etc. Our Living Poets (1871), ed. Works of Shelley (1876-80), Letters of John Keats to Fanny Brawne (1878), Poetical Works of John Keats, and books on E.B. Browning, W. Morris, etc.
FOWLER, ELLEN THORNEYCROFT (MRS. FELKIN). —Novelist, etc. Concerning Isabel Carnaby (1898), A Double Thread (1899), The Farringdons (1900), Fuel of Fire (1902), and with A.L. Felkin, Kate of Kate Hall (1904), In Subjection (1906), also some books of verse, etc.
FOX, JOHN (1863). —American novelist. A Cumberland Vendetta, The Kentuckians, Blue Grass, Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, etc.
FRASER, ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, LL.D., D.C.L. (1819). —Philosopher. Essays in Philosophy (1846-56), Collected Works of Bishop Berkeley, annotated (1871), Life and Letters of Berkeley (1871), Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding with Prolegomena, etc. (1894), Philosophy of Theism (1898), Biographia Philosophica (1904), etc.
FRAZER, JAMES GEORGE, LL.D., D.C.L., (1854). —Writer on comparative religion, etc. Totemism (1887), The Golden Bough (1890), Lectures on the Early History of the Kingship (1905), Adonis, Attis, Osiris, Studies in the History of Oriental Religion (1906), Questions on the Customs, Beliefs, and Languages of Savages (1907), etc.
FURNESS, HORACE HOWARD, Ph.D., LL.D. (1833). —Shakespearian scholar. Variorum ed. of Shakespeare (1871).
FURNIVALL, FREDERICK JAMES, Ph.D., D.Litt., (1825). —Scholar. Has ed. many publications in connection with the Early English Text, Chaucer, Ballad, New Shakespeare, and similar Societies, of several of which he was the founder.
GAIRDNER, JAMES, C.B., LL.D. (1828). —Historian. Ed. in Rolls Series Memorials of Henry VII., Letters and Papers of the Reigns of Richard III. and Henry VII., Calendar of Henry VIII., vols. v. to xx., ed. the Paston Letters (1900), and various vols. for the Camden Society, author of England in the Early Chroniclers of Europe Series, a Life of Richard III., The English Church in the Sixteenth Century to the Death of Mary (1902), etc.
GALSWORTHY, JOHN (1867). —Novelist and playwright. Novels: Jocelyn (1898), Villa Rubein (1900), The Island Pharisees (1904), The Man of Property (1906), The Country House (1907), A Commentary (1908), Fraternity (1909). Plays: The Silver Box (1906), Joy (1907), and Strife (1909), Justice (1910).
GALTON, SIR FRANCIS, F.R.S., D.C.L. (1822). —Traveller and anthropologist. Tropical South Africa (1853), Hereditary Genius (1869), English Men of Science, their Nature and Nurture (1874), Human Faculty (1883), Natural Inheritance (1889), Finger Prints (1893), Noteworthy Families (with E. Schuster) (1906), etc.
GARDNER, EDMUND GARRATT (1869). —Miscellaneous writer. Dante's Ten Heavens (1898), Story of Florence (1900), Dukes and Ports in Ferrara (1904), The King of Court Poets (1906), Saint Catherine of Siena (1907), Lyrical Poetry of Dante Alighieri (1910), etc.
GARDNER, ERNEST ARTHUR (1862). —Writer on Greek antiquities. Chapter on Inscriptions in Naukratis I. (1886), Naukratis II. (1888), Handbook of Greek Sculpture (1896-97), A Companion to Greek Studies (1905), etc.
GARDNER, PERCY, Litt.D., LL.D. (1846). —Writer on Greek art, etc. Part ed. of the British Museum Coin Catalogues (1873-86), The Parthian Coinage (1877), Samos and Samian Coinage (1882), The Types of Greek Coins (1883), New Chapters in Greek History (1892), Sculptured Tombs of Hellas (1896), Historic View of the New Testament (1901). etc.
GARNETT, CONSTANCE (1862). —Translator of Novels and Tales of Turgenev (1895-99), etc.
GARNETT, EDWARD (1868). —Dramatic critic, etc. An Imaged World (1894), The Breaking Point (a censored play, 1907).
GASQUET, RIGHT REV. FRANCIS AIDAN, D.D. (1846). —Historical writer. Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries (1888-89), Edward VI. and the Book of Common Prayer (1890), The Great Pestilence (1893), Sketch of Monastic Constitutional History (1896), Short History of the Catholic Church in England (1903), Lord Acton and his Circle, Parish Life in Mediæval England (1906), etc.
GIBERNE, AGNES. —Novelist and scientific writer. Tales, Conlyng Castle, Life Tangles, Roy, Stories of the Abbey Precincts, Rowena (1906), Astronomy, Sun, Moon, and Stars, Starry Skies, The World's Foundations, Radiant Suns, etc.
GILBERT, SIR WILLIAM SCHWENK (1836). —Dramatist and humorist. The Palace of Truth (1870), Pygmalion and Galatea (1871), Trial by Jury (1878), Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance, Patience, Iolanthe, The Mikado, Yeomen of the Guard, Bab Ballads.
GOLLANCZ, ISRAEL, Litt.D. (1864). —Scholar. Ed. Cynewulf's Christ (1892), Exeter Book of Anglo-Saxon Poetry (Early English Text Society), and ed. Temple Shakespeare (1894-96).
GORDON-STABLES, WILLIAM (1840). —Novelist and writer of boys' books. Has written 136 books, including Cruise of the "Snowbird," Every Inch a Sailor, Our Humble Friends and Fellow-Mortals, Pirates' Gold, Frank Hardinge, The Rose o' Allandale, etc.
GOSSE, EDMUND, LL.D. (1849). —Poet and critic. On Viol and Flute (1873), King Erik (1876), New Poems (1879), Firdausi in Exile (1885), Collected Poems (1896), Seventeenth Century Studies (1883), History of Eighteenth Century Literature (1889), Secret of Narcisse (1892), The Jacobean Poets (1894), History of Modern English Literature (1897), French Profiles (1905), Father and Son (1908), and Lives of Gray (1882), Congreve (1888), P.H. Gosse (1890), Donne (1899), Jeremy Taylor (1904), C. Patmore (1905), Sir Thomas Browne (1905), etc.
GOULD, NATHANIEL (1857). —Sporting novelist. The Double Event (1891), Running it Off (1892), Thrown Away (1894), The Miner's Cup (1896), A Gentleman Rider (1898), A Stable Mystery (1900), The Rajah's Racer (1904), A Sporting Squatter (1906), A Run of Luck (1907), etc., and many others.
GRAHAME, KENNETH. —Novelist. Pagan Papers (1893), The Golden Age (1895), Dream Days (1898), and The Headswoman (1898).
GRAND, SARAH (CLARKE). —Novelist. Singularly Deluded, Ideala, The Heavenly Twins (1893), Our Manifold Nature (1894), The Modern Man and Maid (1898), Babs the Impossible (1900), etc.
GRAVES, ALFRED PERCEVAL (1846). —Writer of Irish songs, etc. Songs of Killarney (1872), Irish Songs and Ballads (1879), Father O'Flynn and other Irish Lyrics (1889), Irish Song Book (1894), The Post Bag (1902), etc.
"GRAY, MAXWELL" (TUTTIETT). —Novelist. The Silence of Dean Maitland (1886), Reproach of Annesley (1888), An Innocent Impostor (1892), Sweethearts and Friends (1897), Four-leaved Clover (1891), The Great Refusal (1906), and several vols. of poetry, etc.
GRUNDY, SYDNEY (1848). —Dramatist. Mammon (1877), Silver Shield (1885), A White Lie (1889), A Fool's Paradise (1889), Sowing the Wind (1893), The New Woman (1894), A Marriage of Convenience (1897), The Black Tulip (1899), etc.
GUTHRIE, THOMAS ANSTEY ("F. ANSTEY") (1856). —Novelist. Vice-Versa (1882), The Giant's Robe (1883), The Black Poodle (1884), The Tinted Venus (1885), The Pariah (1889), Voces Populi, The Statement of Stella Maberley, Baboo Jabberjee, Love Among the Lions, The Travelling Companions, The Brass Bottle (1900), Salted Almonds (1906), etc.
HAGGARD, HENRY RIDER (1856). —Novelist, etc. The Witch's Head (1885), King Solomon's Mines (1886), She (1887), Jess (1887), Allan Quatermain (1887), Maiwa's Revenge (1888), Cleopatra (1889), Beatrice (1890), Nada the Lily (1892), Montezuma's Daughter (1894), Joan Haste (1895), A Farmer's Year (1899), Lysbeth (1901), Rural England (1902), The Brethren (1904), A Gardener's Year (1905), Ayesha (1905), The Poor and the Land (1905), Fair Margaret (1907), etc.
English literature
HALES, JOHN WESLEY (1836). —Scholar, co-ed. of Percy's folio MS., ed. Longer English Poems, author of Shakespeare Essays and Notes, etc.
HARDY, ERNEST GEORGE, D.Litt. (1852). —Writer on Roman History. Christianity and the Roman Government, A History of Jesus College, Studies in Roman History, ed. Plato's Republic, book i. Juvenal's Satires, etc.
HARDY, THOMAS, LL.D. (1840). —Novelist. A Short Story (1865), Desperate Remedies (1871), Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), A Pair of Blue Eyes (1872-73), Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), Hand of Ethelberta (1876), Return of the Native (1878), The Trumpet Major (1879), A Laodicean (1870-71), Two on a Tower (1882), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1884-85), The Woodlanders (1886-87), Wessex Tales (1888), A Group of Noble Dames (1891), Tess of the D'Urberville's (1891), Life's Little Ironies (1894), Jude, the Obscure (1895), The Well-Beloved (1897), Wessex Poems (1898), Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), The Dynasts (drama), part i. (1904), and part ii. (1906), Time's Laughing Stocks (1909).
HARRADEN, BEATRICE (1864). —Novelist. Ships that Pass in the Night (1893), In Varying Moods (1894), Hilda Strafford (1897), The Fowler (1899), Katharine Frensham (1903), The Scholar's Daughter (1903), also tales for children, etc.
HARRIS, FRANK (1856). —Novelist, etc. Elder Conklin, The Man William Shakespeare (1898), Montes the Matador (1900). Play: Mr. and Mrs. Daventry. Formerly editor of Saturday Review and Fortnightly Review.
HARRISON, FREDERIC, Litt.D. (1831). —Historical and miscellaneous writer. Meaning of History (1862), enlarged (1894), Order and Progress (1875), The Choice of Books (1886), Oliver Cromwell (1888), Annals of an Old Manor-house (1893), Victorian Literature (1895), Introduction to Comte's Positive Philosophy, Tennyson, Ruskin, Mill, and Others (1899), Byzantine History in the Early Middle Ages (1900), Life of Ruskin (1902), Theophano (1904), Nicephorus, a Tragedy of New Rome (1906), The Creed of a Layman (1907), etc.
HARRISON, MISS JANE ELLEN, LL.D., etc. (1850). —Writer on Greek art and religion. Myths of the Odyssey in Art and Literature (1882), Introductory Studies in Greek Art (1885), Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens (1890) (with Mrs. A.W. Verrall), Prolegomena to Study of Greek Religion, etc.
HARRISON, MARY ST. LEGER ("LUCAS MALET"). —Novelist. Mrs. Lorimer (1882), Colonel Enderby's Wife (1885), A Counsel of Perfection (1888), The Wages of Sin (1891), The Carissima (1896), History of Sir Richard Calmady (1901), etc.
HASSALL, ARTHUR (1853). —Historian. Handbook of European History (1897), The Balance of Power (1715-89), in Periods of European History, of which he is ed. (1896), A Class Book of English History (1901), History of France (1901), The French People (1901), The Tudor Dynasty (1904), arranged Stubbs' Introductions in Rolls Series, and other works of his, author of Lives of Bolingbroke, Louis XIV., Mazarin, etc.
HAWKINS, ANTHONY HOPE ("ANTHONY HOPE") (1863). —Novelist. The Prisoner of Zenda, The God in the Car, Dolly Dialogues, Rupert of Hentzau, Tristram of Blent, The King's Mirror, The Intrusions of Peggy, Double Harness, Sophie of Kravonia, two plays, etc.
HAWTHORNE, JULIAN (1846). —Novelist, etc. Saxon Studies (1874), Archibald Malmaison (1878), Dust (1882), Fortune's Fool (1883), Fool of Nature (1897), a Life of his f., Nathaniel H., etc.
HAYES, ALFRED (1857). —Poet. Death of St. Louis (1885), The Last Crusade and other Poems (1886), The Vale of Arden (1895), etc.
HAZLITT, WILLIAM CAREW (1834). —Critic, etc. The Venetian Republic (1900), ed. Warton's History of English Poetry, Biographical Collections and Notes (8 vols. 1876-1904), ed. Letters of Charles Lamb, Memoirs of William Hazlitt, The Lambs (1897), Shakespeare, the Man and his Works, Coins of Europe (1893-97), etc.
HERFORD, CHARLES HAROLD, Litt.D. (1853). —Scholar and critical writer. Studies in the Literary Relations of England and Germany in the Sixteenth Century (1886), The Age of Wordsworth (1897), English Tales in Verse (1902), The Social History of the English Drama (1881); has done much work on Shakespeare, ed. Eversley Shakespeare (10 vols. 1899), and has made translations from Ibsen, etc.
HEWLETT, MAURICE HENRY (1861). —Poet and novelist. Earthwork out of Tuscany (1895), The Masque of Dead Florentines (1895), Songs and Meditations (1897), Pan and the Young Shepherd (1898), The Forest Lovers (1898), Little Novels of Italy (1899), The Queen's Quair (1904), The Stooping Lady (1907), etc.
HICHENS, ROBERT SMYTHE (1864). —Novelist, etc. The Green Carnation, An Imaginative Man (1895), Tongues of Conscience (1900), Prophet of Berkeley Square (1901), The Call of the Blood (1906), and various plays, etc.
HIGGINSON, THOMAS WENTWORTH (1823). —American essayist, etc. Outdoor Papers, Malbone (a romance), Army Life in a Black Regiment, Oldport Days, Young Folks' History of the United States, Common Sense about Women, Concerning all of Us, Cheerful Yesterdays (autobiography), Tales of the Enchanted Islands, etc.
HOCKING, REV. JOSEPH. —Novelist. Zillah (1892), The Birthright (1897), Esau (1904), Chariots of the Lord (1905), A Strong Man's Vow (1907), etc.
HOCKING, REV. SILAS KITTO (1850). —Novelist. Ivy (1881), Real Grit (1887), In Spite of Fate (1897), Gripped (1902), A Modern Pharisee (1907), etc.
HODGKIN, THOMAS, D.C.L., etc. (1831). —Historian. Italy and her Invaders, 8 vols. (1880-1899), Letters of Cassiodorus (1886), Dynasty of Theodosius (1889), Life of Theodoric (1891), Life of Charles the Great (Foreign Statesmen Series) (1897), etc.
"HOPE, ANTHONY," (see HAWKINS, ANTHONY HOPE).
HORNUNG, ERNEST WILLIAM (1866). —Novelist. A Bride from the Bush (1890), The Boss of Taroomba, The Unbidden Guest (1894), Dead Men tell no Tales (1899), The Amateur Cracksman (1899), The Black Mask, A Thief in the Night (1905), etc.
HOUSMAN, ALFRED EDWARD (1859). —Scholar, etc. A Shropshire Lad (1896), ed. Juvenal and other classics.
HOUSMAN, LAURENCE (1867). —Artist, poet, etc. The Writings of William Blake (1893), A Farm in Fairyland (1894), The House of Joy (1895), Green Arras (1896), Gods and their Makers (1897), Spikenard (1898), The Field of Clover (1898), Rue (1899), Sabrina Warham (1904), Prunella, or Love in a Dutch Garden (1906); has illustrated "Goblin Market," "The Were Wolf," "Jump to Glory Jane," etc.
HOWELLS, WILLIAM DEAN, D.Litt. (1837). —American novelist, etc. A Foregone Conclusion, A Chance Acquaintance, A Counterfeit Presentment, The Undiscovered Country, Modern Italian Poets, Indian Summer, Heroines of Fiction (1901), Miss Bellard's Inspiration (1905), Through the Eye of the Needle (1907), etc.
HUDSON, W.H. (1862). —Naturalist and traveller. The Purple Land (1885), The Naturalist in La Plata (1892), Idle Days in Patagonia (1893), British Birds (1895), Green Mansions (1904), A Crystal Age (1906), etc.
HUEFFER, FORD MADOX (1873). —Novelist, etc. The Brown Owl, The Inheritors and Romance (both with J. Conrad), The Face of the Night (1904), The Soul of London (1905), An English Girl (1907), A Call (1910), Life of Madox Brown, etc.
HUTTON, EDWARD (1875). —Writer on Italian Art, etc. Italy and the Italians (1902), The Cities of Umbria (1905), The Cities of Spain (1906), Sigismondo Malatesta (1906), Giovanni Boccaccio (1910), etc.
HUTTON, REV. WILLIAM HOLDEN, B.D. (1860). —Historian, The Misrule of Henry III., The Church of the Sixth Century, Short History of the Church in Great Britain, The English Church (1625-1714), and Lives of Simon de Montfort, Laud, Sir T. More, etc.
HYDE, DOUGLAS, LL.D. —Irish scholar. Beside the Fire, Love Songs of Connacht (1894), Three Sorrows of Story-telling (1895), Story of Early Irish Literature (1897), A Literary History of Ireland (1899), and various works in Irish; has ed. various Irish texts, and made translations into English.
JACOBS, JOSEPH (1854). —Writer on folk-lore and Jewish history. English Fairy Tales (1890), Celtic Fairy Tales (1891), Indian Fairy Tales (1892), Reynard the Fox (1895), Jews of Angevin England (1893), Sources of the History of the Jews in Spain (1895); has ed. various English classics, e.g., Caxton's "Æsop" and Howell's "Familiar Letters," and many modern works, etc.
JACOBS, WILLIAM WYMARK (1863). —Novelist. Many Cargoes (1896), The Skipper's Wooing (1897), A Master of Craft (1900), At Sunwich Port (1902), Odd Craft (1903), Dialstone Lane (1904), Short Cruises (1907). Plays (with Louis N. Parker), Beauty and the Barge, The Monkey's Paw, etc.
JAMES, HENRY (1843). —American novelist and critic. A Passionate Pilgrim (1875), The American (1877), The Europeans (1878), Daisy Miller (1878), A Bundle of Letters (1879), Washington Square (1880), The Bostonians (1886), A London Life (1889), Terminations (1896), What Maisie Knew (1897), The Two Magics (1898), The Sacred Fount (1901), The Ambassador (1903), The American Scene (1907); in criticism, French Poets and Novelists (1878), Partial Portraits, etc.
JAMES, WILLIAM, LL.D., etc. (1842). —Psychologist. Principles of Psychology (1890), Human Immortality (1897), The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), Pragmatism (1907), and The Meaning of Truth (1909).
JEROME, JEROME KLAPKA (1860). —Novelist, playwright, etc. On the Stage and Off (1885), Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1889), Three Men in a Boat (1891), Sketches in Lavender (1897), Paul Kelver (1902), Tommy & Co. (1904). Plays, The Passing of the Third Floor Back (1907), etc.
JESSOP, REV. AUGUSTUS, D.D. (1824). —Historian. One Generation of a Norfolk House (1878), History of the Diocese of Norwich (1879), Arcady for Better or Worse (1881), The Coming of the Friars (1885), Random Roaming (1896), Before the Great Pillage (1901), ed. works by Donne, etc.
JEWETT, SARAH ORME (1849). —American novelist. Deephaven, The Country Doctor, etc.
JONES, HENRY ARTHUR (1851). —Dramatist. A Clerical Error (1879), The Silver King (1882), Saints and Sinners (1884), The Middleman (1889), The Case of Rebellious Susan (1894), The Liars (1897), The Hypocrites (1906), etc.
KIDD, BENJAMIN (1858). —Sociologist, etc. Social Evolution (1894), Principles of Western Civilisation (1902), etc.
KIPLING, RUDYARD (1865). —Novelist, etc. Departmental Ditties (1886), Plain Tales from the Hills (1887), Soldiers Three, The Light that Failed (1891), The Jungle Books (1894 and 1895), Kim (1901), Puck of Pook's Hill, etc. Also poems, Barrack-Room Ballads, The Seven Seas, and The Five Nations.
LANG, ANDREW, D.Litt., etc. (1844). —Poet, critic, and folklorist. Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (1872), Ballads in Blue China (1880), Custom and Myth (1884), Books and Bookmen (1886), Mark of Cain (1886), Myth, Ritual, and Religion (1887), "Blue," "Red," "Green," "Yellow," "Pink," and "Olive" Fairy Books (ed. 1889-1907), Sir Stafford Northcote (1890), Prince Ricardo of Pantouflia (1893), Homer and the Epic (1893), Life of J.G. Lockhart (1896), translation of Odyssey (with Prof. Butcher), and of Iliad (with Mr. Myers and Mr. W. Leaf), The Making of Religion (1898), History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation, vol. i., Prince Charles Edward (1901), The Mystery of Mary Stuart (1901), The Valet's Tragedy (1903), John Knox and the Reformation (1905), etc.
LANE-POOLE, STANLEY, Litt.D., etc. (1854). —Historian and archæologist. Histories of the Moors in Spain (7th ed. 1904), The Mohammedan Dynasties (1893), The Mogul Emperors (1892), Art of the Saracens of Egypt (1886), The Story of Cairo, Lives of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, E.W. Lane, Aurangzib Saladin, etc., edit. Lane's Arabic Lexicon, etc.
LAUGHTON, SIR JOHN KNOX (1830). —Writer on naval subjects, etc. Physical Geography in relation to the Prevailing Winds and Currents (1870), Studies in Naval History (1887), Nelson (English Men of Action) (1895), Nelson and his Companions in Arms (1896), Sea Fights and Adventures (1901); ed. Letters and Dispatches of Lord Nelson, From Howard to Nelson (1899), etc.
LAW, WILLIAM ARTHUR (1844). —Dramatic author. A Night Surprise (1877), Enchantment (1878), Castle Botherem (1880), Nobody's Fault (1882), A Mint of Money (1884), The Judge (1890), Country Mouse (1902), Three Blind Mice (1906), etc.
LAWLESS, THE HON. EMILY. —Novelist. Hurrish (1886), Story of Ireland (1887), Plain Frances Mowbray (1889), With Essex in Ireland (1890), A Garden Diary (1901), Book of Gilly (1906), etc.
LEAF, WALTER, Litt.D. (1852). —Scholar and translator. The Iliad of Homer translated into English Prose (with A. Lang and E. Myers) (1882), Companion to the Iliad (1892), etc.
LEE, SIDNEY, D.Litt., LL.D. (1859). —Ed. of The Dictionary of National Biography (with Sir L. Stephen), Stratford on Avon from the Earliest Times to the Death of Shakespeare (1885), Life of Shakespeare (1898), A Life of Queen Victoria (1902), Shakespeare and the Modern Stage (1906), etc. Has also ed. various English texts.
LE GALLIENNE, RICHARD (1866). —Novelist and poet. Volumes in Folio (1888), The Religion of a Literary Man (1893), Quest of the Golden Girl (1896), Romance of Zion Chapel (1898), Sleeping Beauty (1900), New Poems (1909), etc.
LILLY, WILLIAM SAMUEL (1840). —Philosopher, etc. Ancient Religion and Modern Thought (1884), Chapters in European History (1886), A Century of Revolution (1889), The Great Enigma (1893), Four English Humorists of the Nineteenth Century (1895), Renaissance Types (1901), Studies in Religion and Literature (1904).
LOCKE, WILLIAM JOHN (1863). —Novelist. At the Gate of Samaria (1895). The Demagogue and Lady Phayre (1896), A Study in Shadows (1896), The White Dove (1900), The Usurper (1901), The Beloved Vagabond (1906), etc.; also dramas, The Morals of Marcus, The Palace of Puck, Idols, etc.
LOCKYER, SIR JOSEPH NORMAN, K.C.B., F.R.S. (1836). —Astronomer. Elementary Lessons in Astronomy (1870), Studies in Spectrum Analysis (1878), Star-gazing, Past and Present (1878), Chemistry of the Sun (1887), Dawn of Astronomy (1894), The Sun's Place in Nature (1897), Stonehenge and other British Stone Monuments Astronomically Considered (1906-1907), etc.
LODGE, SIR OLIVER JOSEPH, F.R.S., LL.D. (1851). —Scientist and psychologist. Elementary Mechanics (1881), Modern Views of Electricity (1888, 1892, 1907), Signalling through Space without Wires (1894), Life and Matter: A Short Treatise on Fundamental Problems (1905), Electrons, or the Nature of Negative Electricity (1906), The Substance of Faith (1907), Man and the Universe: A Study of the Influence of Modern Discoveries on our Conception of Christianity (1908), The Ether of Space (1909), Survival of Man: A Study in Unrecognised Human Faculty (1909), etc.
LODGE, RICHARD, LL.D., etc. (1855). —Historian. Students' Modern Europe, Richelieu (Foreign Statesmen Series), The Close of the Middle Ages, etc.
LONDON, JACK (1876). —American novelist. The Son of the Wolf (1900), The God of his Fathers, Children of the Frost, People of the Abyss, Call of the Wild, Tales of the Fish Patrol (1905), The Road (1908), etc.
LOW, SIDNEY JAMES. —Journalist and miscellaneous writer. The Governance of England (1904), A Vision of India (1906), Dictionary of English History, etc.
LUCAS, EDWARD VERALL (1868). —Novelist. Ed. of Lamb, etc. The Open Road (1899), Old-fashioned Tales (1905), The Friendly Town (1905), Forgotten Tales of Long Ago (1906); ed. Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, Life of C. Lamb (1905), books for children, etc.
LYALL, SIR ALFRED COMYN, K.C.B., etc. (1835). —Poet and biographer. Verses written in India, British Dominion in India, Asiatic Studies, Lives of Warren Hastings, Lord Dufferin, etc.
M'CARTHY, JUSTIN (1830). —Novelist and historian. Novels, Miss Misanthrope, Dear Lady Disdain, Maid of Athens, Red Diamonds, Mononia, etc.; historical works, History of our Own Times, Four Georges and William IV., Modern England, Reign of Queen Anne, Lives of Sir R. Peel, Pope, etc., Reminiscences, etc.
MCCARTHY, JUSTIN HUNTLY (1860). —Novelist and dramatist. Novels, Dolly, Marjorie, Flower of France, Needles and Pins, etc.; Ireland since the Union; plays, The candidate, My Friend the Prince, If I were King, etc.
MACKAIL, JOHN WILLIAM, LL.D., etc. (1859). —Scholar, etc. Select Epigrams from the Greek Anthology (1890), Latin Literature (1895), Life of William Morris (1899), and translated Homer's Odyssey in verse.
MAHAFFY, JOHN PENTLAND, LL.D., D.C.L., etc. (1839). —Scholar and writer on philosophy. Twelve Lectures on Primitive Civilisation (1868), Prolegomena to Ancient History (1871), Kant's Critical Philosophy for English Readers (1871), History of Greek Literature (1880), Greek Life and Thought from Alexander to the Roman Conquest (1887), Empire of the Ptolemies (1896), The Silver Age of the Greek World (1906), etc.
MAHAN, ALFRED THAYER, D.C.L., LL.D. (1840). —American writer on naval history. Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890), Influence of Sea Power upon French Revolution and Empire (1892), The Interest of the United States in Sea Power (1897), Lessons of the War with Spain (1899), etc.
"MALET, LUCAS," (see HARRISON, MRS. MARY ST. LEGER).
MALLOCK, WILLIAM HURRELL (1849). —Novelist and writer on politics, evolution, etc. The New Republic (1877), The New Paul and Virginia (1878), Studies of Contemporary Superstitions, Social Equality, Property and Progress, Classes and Masses (1896), Aristocracy and Evolution (1898), Religion as a Credible Doctrine (1902), Reconstruction of Belief (1905); novels, A Romance of the Nineteenth Century, The Old Order Changes, A Human Document, The Individualist, The Veil of the Temple.
"MATHERS, HELEN" (MRS. HENRY REEVES) (1853). —Novelist. Comin' through the Rye, Cherry Ripe, My Lady Green-sleeves, Venus Victrix, Griff of Griffiths Court, The Ferryman, etc.
MATTHEWS, JAMES BRANDER, Litt.D., D.C.L., etc. (1852). —American critic, etc. French Dramatists of the Nineteenth Century, Introduction to the Study of American Literature, Aspects of Fiction, His Father's Son, etc.
MAUGHAM, WILLIAM SOMERSET (1874). —Novelist. Liza of Lambeth (1897), The Making of a Saint (1898), The Hero (1901), Mrs. Craddock (1902), The Land of the Blessed Virgin (1905), The Bishop's Apron (1906). Plays: Lady Frederick, Mrs. Dot, Smith, etc.
MAXWELL, SIR HERBERT EUSTACE, F.R.S., LL.D., etc. (1845). —Novelist, essayist, etc. Novels, Sir Lucian Elphin (1889), The Letter of the Law (1890), A Duke of Britain (1895), Chevalier of the Splendid Crest (1905), etc.; other writings, Meridiana, Noontide Essays (1892), Scottish Land Names (1894), Afternoon Essays (1895), Rainy Days in a Library (1896), Bruce and the Struggle for Scottish Independence, Memories of the Months (4 series), Story of the Tweed (1905), Lives of W.H. Smith, Wellington, Romney, etc.
"MEADE, L.T." (MRS. TOULMIN SMITH). —Novelist. Scamp and I, A World of Girls, The Medicine Lady, Wild Kitty, Brotherhood of the Seven Kings, From the Hand of the Hunter, etc.
MEYNELL, MRS. ALICE (THOMPSON). —Poet and essayist. Preludes, The Rhythm of Life (1893), The Colour of Life (1896), The Flower of the Mind, Anthology of English Poetry (ed.), The Spirit of Place (1898), Later Poems (1901), a book on Ruskin, etc.
MITCHELL, SILAS WEIR, M.D., LL.D. (1830). —American poet, novelist, and physician. Hephzibah Guinness (1880), Roland Blake (1886), Masque and other Poems (1888), Cup of Youth (poems), Characteristics (1892), When all the Woods are Green (1894), Adventures of François, etc., besides various medical works.
MITFORD, BERTRAM. —Novelist. Romance of the Cape Frontier, Wind of Deadly Hollow, A Veldt Official, Ruby Sword, A Veldt Vendetta, etc.
MOLESWORTH, MRS. MARY LOUISA (STEWART) (1839). —Novelist and writer for children. Carrots, Cuckoo Clock, Herr Baby, The Boys, etc.; novels, Hathercourt Rectory, The Laurel Walk, etc.
MOORE, FRANK FRANKFORT (1855). —Novelist and dramatist. Dawn (verse), Told by the Sea, I forbid the Banns (1893), The Jessamy Bride (1897), A Damsel or Two (1902), The King's Messenger (1907), etc.; plays, A March Hare, The Queen's Room, Kitty Clive, The Food of Love (1909), etc.
MOORE, GEORGE (1857). —Novelist, playwright, and art critic. Flowers of Passion (verse) (1877), A Mummer's Wife (1884), Literature at Nurse (1885), Vain Fortune (1890), Ideals in Ireland (1891), Modern Painting (1893), Esther Waters (1894), The Bending of the Bough (play), etc.
MORLEY, JOHN, 1ST LORD MORLEY of BLACKBURN, P.C., O.M., F.R.S., etc. (1838). —Biographer and essayist. Edmund Burke (1867), Critical Miscellanies (1871-77) (two series), Voltaire (1871), Rousseau (1873), On Compromise (1874), Diderot and the Encyclopædists (1878), Studies in Literature (1891), Oliver Cromwell (1900), Life of Gladstone (1903), etc.
MORRISON, ARTHUR (1863). —Novelist. Tales of Mean Streets (1894), Martin Hewitt (1894), A Child of the Jago (1896), The Hole in the Wall (1902), etc.
MULLINGER, JAMES BASS (1834). —Historian. Cambridge Characteristics in the Seventeenth Century (1867), The Ancient African Church (1869), The New Reformation (1875), The Schools of Charles the Great (1876), The University of Cambridge from the Earliest Times to the Accession of Charles I., Introduction to English History (with S.R. Gardiner), History of St. John's College, Cambridge (1901), etc.
MUNRO, NEIL (1864). —Novelist, etc. The Lost Pibroch (1896), John Splendid (1898), Gillian the Dreamer (1899), Doom Castle (1901), The Shoes of Fortune (1901), Children of the Tempest (1903), The Daft Days (1907), etc.
MURFREE, MARY NOAILLES ("CHARLES EGBERT CRADDOCK"). —American novelist. In the Tennessee Mountains (1884), Down the Ravine (1885), The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains (1886), Story of Keedar Bluffs (1887), His Vanished Star (1894), The Juggler (1897), The Bushwhackers (1899), etc.
MURRAY, GEORGE GILBERT AIMEE, LL.D. (1866). —Scholar. History of Ancient Greek Literature (1897), Euripidis Fabulæ adnotatione critica instructæ (1901 and 1904), Euripides, Verse Translations, Rise of the Greek Epic (1907), etc.
MURRAY, SIR JAMES AUGUSTUS HENRY, LL.D., D.C.L., etc. (1837). —Philologist. Ed. of New English Dictionary, Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland, has ed. various works for the Early English Text Society, etc.
"NESBIT, E.," (see BLAND, MRS. HUBERT).
NICOLL, SIR WILLIAM ROBERTSON, LL.D. (1851). —Journalist, poet, and essayist, etc. Literary Anecdotes of the Nineteenth Century (1895), Songs of Rest (two series), ed. Letters on Life, The Church's One Foundation; has ed. Works of C. Bronté, Expositors' Greek Testament, etc. Editor of British Weekly.
NORRIS, WILLIAM EDWARD (1846). —Novelist. Heaps of Money (1877), Mademoiselle de Mersac, My Friend Jim, The Dancer in Yellow (1896), An Octave (1900), The Credit of the County (1902), Harry and Ursula (1907), etc.
NOYES, ALFRED (1880). —Poet, etc. The Loom of Years (1902), The Flower of Old Japan (1903), Poems (1904), The Forest of Wild Thyme (1905), Drake (an English epic) (1906), William Morris (1907), The Enchanted Island (1909).
O'GRADY, STANDISH (1846). —Writer on Irish history and literature. History of Ireland, Heroic Period, vols. i. and ii., History of Ireland, Critical and Philosophical, vol. i., The Flight of the Eagle, The Bog of Stars, Finn and his Companions, Ulrick the Ready, The Chain of Gold, The Coming of Cuculain, etc.
OKEY, THOMAS. —Writer on topography and art. Venice and its Story, Paris and its Story, Venetian Palaces and Old Venetian Folk, Translator of Dante's Purgatorio.
OMAN, CHARLES WILLIAM CHADWICK, (1860). —Historian. A History of Greece (1888), Warwick the Kingmaker (1891), Short History of the Byzantine Empire (1892), A History of Europe, 476-918 (1893), Short History of England (1895), History of the Peninsular War, vols. i. and ii., etc.
OPPENHEIM, E. PHILLIPS (1866). —Novelist. The Master Mummer, Mysterious Mr. Sabin, A Prince of Sinners, Conspirators, etc.
"ORCZY, BARONESS" (MRS. MONTAGU BARSTOW). —Novelist and playwright. The Emperor's Candlesticks, The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905), A Son of the People (1906), I will Repay (1906), etc.
OXENHAM, JOHN. —Novelist. God's Prisoner (1898), John of Gerisau (1902), White Fire (1905), Giant Circumstance, The Long Road, etc.
PATRICK, DAVID, LL.D. (1849). —Ed. of Chambers' Encyclopædia (1888-92), Chambers' Cyclopædia of English Literature (1901-3), and Chambers's Biographical Dictionary (with F.H. Groome) (1897).
PAIN, BARRY (1868). —Novelist, etc. In a Canadian Canoe (1891), Stories and Interludes (1892), Graeme and Cyril (1893), Kindness of the Celestial (1894), The Romantic History of Robin Hood (1898), Lindley Kays (1904), Wilhelmina in London (1906), Shadow of the Unseen (1907), etc.
PASTURE, MRS. HENRY DE LA (BONHAM). —Novelist and dramatist. The Little Squire (1894), A Toy Tragedy, Deborah of Tod's (1897), Catherine of Calais (1901), Peter's Mother (1905), The Tyrant (1909).
PAUL, HERBERT WOODFIELD (1853). —Historian and biographer. Men and Letters (1901), History of Modern England, Stray Leaves (1906), Queen Anne (1906), Lives of W.E. Gladstone, Matthew Arnold (English Men of Letters), Lord Acton, and Froude.
PEARS, SIR EDWIN (1835). —War correspondent, etc, Fall of Constantinople (1885), The Destruction of the Greek Empire (1903), etc.
PEMBERTON, MAX (1863). —Novelist. The Sea Wolves (1894), The Impregnable City (1895), Christine of the Hills (1897), Pro Patria (1901), Dr. Xavier (1903), Red Morn (1904), The Hundred Days (1905), The Fortunate Prisoner (1909), etc.
PHELPS, ELIZABETH STUART (MRS. H.D. WARD) (1844). —American novelist. The Gates Ajar (1869), Hedged In (1870), Story of Avis (1877), An Old Maid's Paradise (1879), Beyond the Gates (1883), The Madonna of the Tubs (1887), The Gates Between (1887), Struggle for Immortality (1889), Come Forth (with H.D. Ward, 1890), Avery, Trixy (1904), etc.
PHILLIPS, CLAUDE. —Writer on art. Picture Gallery of Charles I., The Earlier Work of Titian, The Later Work of Titian, Lives of Reynolds, Watteau, etc.
PHILLIPS, STEPHEN (1868). —Poet. Marpessa (1890), Eremus (1894), Christ in Hades (1896), Poems (1897), Paolo and Francesca (1899), Herod (1900), Ulysses (1902), The Sin of David (1904), Nero (1906), etc.
PHILLPOTTS, EDEN (1862). —Novelist. Down Dartmoor Way (1894), Lying Prophets (1896), Children of the Mist (1898), Sons of the Morning (1900), The River (1902), The Secret Woman (1905), The Whirlwind (1907), etc.
PINERO, SIR ARTHUR WING (1855). —Dramatist. The Magistrate, Sweet Lavender, The Profligate, The Weaker Sex, Lady Bountiful, The Second Mrs. Tanqueray, The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith, The Benefit of the Doubt, The Princess and the Butterfly, The Gay Lord Quex, His House in Order, Mid Channel, etc.
POLLARD, ALBERT FREDERICK, F.R.Hist.S. (1869). —Historical writer. The Jesuits in Poland (1892), England under Protector Somerset (1900), Henry VIII. (Gougiel Series, 1902), Life of Thomas Cranmer (1904), etc., and has contributed largely to The Dictionary of National Biography, and to the Cambridge Modern History, and ed. Political Pamphlets, Tudor Tracts, etc.
POLLARD, ALFRED WILLIAM (1859). —Bibliographer, etc. Books about Books (1893), Bibliographica (1894-96), Early Illustrated Books (1893), Italian Book Illustrations (1894), etc.; and has ed. English Miracle Plays (1890), Herrick, Chaucer (Globe ed.), etc.
POLLOCK, WALTER HERRIES (1850). —Poet and miscellaneous writer. The Modern French Theatre (1878), Verse, Old and New, Sealed Orders and other Poems, Lectures on French Poets, A Nine Men's Morrice, King Zub, Jane Austen, her Contemporaries and Herself, etc.
POOLE, REGINALD LANE, Ph.D. (1857). —Historical writer. History of the Huguenots of the Dispersion (1880), Illustrations of the History of Modern Thought (1884), Wycliffe and Movements for Reform (1889), Historical Atlas of Modern Europe (1897-1902), etc.
PRAED, MRS. ROSA CAROLINE MACKWORTH ("MRS. CAMPBELL PRAED") (1851). —Australian novelist. Policy and Passion (1881), Nadine (1882), The Head Station (1885), Miss Jacobsen's Chance (1887), December Roses (1893), The Insane Root, The Luck of the Leura (1907), etc.
PREVOST, FRANCIS, (see BATTERSBY).
PROTHERO, GEORGE WALTER, Litt.D., LL.D., etc. (1848). —Historian. Life and Times of Simon de Montfort (1877), Memoir of Henry Bradshaw (1889), ed. Voltaire's Louis Quatorze, Select Statutes, etc., of Elizabeth and James I., co-ed. of Cambridge Modern History, etc.
PROTHERO, ROWLAND EDMUND, M.V.O. (1852). —Biographer, etc. Life and Correspondence of Dean Stanley (1893), ed. Letters of Edward Gibbon, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron, The Psalms in Human Life, etc.
QUILLER-COUCH, ARTHUR THOMAS ("Q") (1863). —Novelist. Dead Man's Rock (1887), Troy Town (1888), The Splendid Spur (1889), The Blue Pavilions (1891), The Golden Pomp (1895), The Ship of Stars (1899), Shining Ferry (1905), finished R.L. Stevenson's St. Ives, etc.
"RAIMOND, C.E.," (see ROBINS, ELIZABETH).
RALEIGH, WALTER (1861). —Biographer and critic. The English Novel (1894), Robert Louis Stevenson (1895), Style (1897), books on Shakespeare, Milton, and Wordsworth, etc.
REEVES, MRS. H., (see MATHERS, HELEN).
RHYS, ERNEST (1859). —Poet, novelist, etc. A London Rose (verse), The Fiddler of Carne (1896), Welsh Ballads (1898), The Whistling Maid (1900), The Man at Odds, Gwenevere (play); has ed. the Camelot Series (1886-91), Dekker's Plays in Mermaid Series, etc.
RHYS, MRS. GRACE (1865). —Novelist and essayist. Mary Dominic (1898), The Wooing of Sheila (1901), The Bride (1909), Five Beads on a String (essays) (1907), etc.
RHYS, SIR JOHN, D.Litt. (1840). —Celtic philologist. Celtic Britain (1882), Studies in the Arthurian Legend (1891), Celtic Folklore (1901), etc.
RIDGE, WILLIAM PETT. —Novelist. A Clever Wife (1895), Mord Em'ly (1898), A Son of the State (1899), Erb (1903), Mrs. Galer's Business (1905), The Wickhamses (1906), Name of Garland (1907), etc.
RILEY, JAMES WHITCOMB (1858). —American poet and humorist. The Old Swimmin' Hole (1883), Pipes o' Pan at Zekesbury (1887), Rhymes of Childhood (1889), Old-fashioned Roses (1891), Green Fields and Running Brooks (1893), A Child World (1896), While the Heart beats Young (1906), etc.
RITCHIE, MRS. ANNE ISABELLA (THACKERAY) (1837). —Novelist, etc. The Story of Elizabeth (1863), The Village on the Cliff (1865), To Esther (1869), Old Kensington (1873), Blue Beard's Keys (1874), Miss Angel (1875), Mrs. Dymond (1885), etc.
ROBERTS, CHARLES GEORGE DOUGLAS (1860). —Canadian poet and naturalist. In verse, Orion (1880), In Divers Tones (1887), Songs of the Common Day (1893), New York Nocturnes (1898), Book of the Rose (1903); prose, The Raid from Beauséjour (1894), Around the Camp Fire (1896), The Forge in the Forest (1897), The Kindred of the Wild (1902), Haunters of the Silences (1907), etc.
ROBERTSON, JOHN MACKINNON (1856). —Critic, etc. Buckle and his Critics, Montaigne and Shakespeare, The Dynamics of Religion, History of Free Thought, Christianity and Mythology, Introduction to English Politics, Short History of Christianity, Essays in Ethics and Sociology, etc.
ROBINS, ELIZABETH ("C.E. RAIMOND"). —American novelist and actress. New Moon (1895), Below the Salt (1896), The Open Question (1898), The Convert (1907), etc.
ROBINSON, AGNES MARY FRANCES (MME. DUCLAUX) (1857). —Poetess. A Handful of Honeysuckles (1878), The Crowned Hippolytus (1881), Arden (novel) (1883), The New Arcadia (1884), Italian Garden (songs) (1886), A Mediæval Garland (1897), The Fields of France (1903), The End of the Middle Ages, books in French on Froissart, Renan, etc.
ROSE, JOHN HOLLAND, Litt.D. (1855). —Historical and biographical writer. A Century of Continental History, The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era, Napoleonic Studies, Life of Napoleon I. (1902), The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1900 (1905), etc.
ROSEBERY (ARCHIBALD PHILIP PRIMROSE), 5TH EARL of, K.G., K.T., LL.D., etc. (1847). —Statesman and biographical writer. Pitt (1891), Appreciations and Addresses (1899), Sir Robert Peel (1899), Napoleon, the Last Phase (1900), and Oliver Cromwell (1900).
ROSSETTI, WILLIAM MICHAEL (1829). —Biographer, ed., etc. Translator of Dante's Hell (1865), Lives of Famous Poets (1878), Life of Keats (1887), Memoir of Dante G. Rossetti, and has ed. many poets, etc.
RUSSELL, WILLIAM CLARK (1844). —Novelist. John Holdsworth, Chief Mate (1874), A Sailor's Sweetheart (1877), An Ocean Tragedy (1881), The Convict Ship (1895), List, ye Landsmen (1897), Overdue (1903), The Yarn of Old Harbour Town (1905), etc.
SAINTSBURY, GEORGE EDWARD BATEMAN, LL.D., D.Litt., etc. (1845). —Critic and biographer. Short History of French Literature, etc. (1882), Essays in English Literature (1890), Nineteenth Century Literature (1896), A History of Criticism (1900-4), History of English Prosody, vol. i. (1906), etc., Lives of Dryden (English Men of Letters) and Sir W. Scott, etc.
SANDYS, JOHN EDWIN, Litt.D. (1844). —Scholar; joint ed. of Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Religion, etc. (1891), History of Classical Scholarship from Sixth Century, B.C., to the End of the Middle Ages (1903), History of Classical Scholarship from Revival of Learning to Present Day (1907), etc.; has produced many ed. of classics.
SAYCE, ARCHIBALD HENRY, D.Litt., LL.D., etc. (1846). —Orientalist and philologist, etc. Principles of Comparative Philology (1874), Babylonian Literature (1877), Monuments of the Hittites (1881), Ancient Empires of the East (1884), Races of the Old Testament (1891), Babylonians and Assyrians (1900), Archæology of Cuneiform Inscriptions (1907), etc.
SEAMAN, OWEN (1861). —Parodist, etc. Œdipus and the Wreck (1888), Horace at Cambridge (1894), In Cap and Bells (1899), A Harvest of Chaff (1904), etc. Ed. of Punch since 1906.
SECCOMBE, THOMAS (1866). —Miscellaneous writer. Twelve Bad Men (1894), The Age of Johnson (1900), The Age of Shakespeare (with J.W. Allen, 1903), Bookman History of English Literature (1905-6), In Praise of Oxford, etc.; was assistant ed. of The Dictionary of National Biography.
SETON, ERNEST THOMPSON ("SETON THOMPSON") (1860). —Naturalist. Wild Animals I have Known (1898), Biography of a Grizzly, Two Little Savages, books on natural history of Manitoba, etc.
SHAW, GEORGE BERNARD (1856). —Novelist, critic, and dramatist. Novels, The Irrational Knot, Cashel Byron's Profession, etc.; Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant (1898), Three Plays for Puritans (1900), Man and Superman (1903), The Doctor's Dilemma (1906), The Devil's Disciple (1907), etc.
SHIEL, MATTHEW PHIPPS (1865). —Novelist. The Rajah's Sapphire, Shapes in the Fire, The Yellow Danger, Unto the Third Generation, etc.
SHORTER, CLEMENT KING (1858). —Journalist and biographer. Charlotte Bronté and her Circle (1896), Sixty Years of Victorian Literature (1897), Charlotte Bronté and her Sisters (1905), The Brontés and their Correspondents (1907), Life of George Borrow (1907); is ed. of the Sphere.
SHORTER, DORA SIGERSON. —Poetess. The Fairy Changeling and other Poems (1897), Ballads and Poems (1899), The Father Confessor (1900), As the Sparks Fly Upward (1904), Through Wintry Terrors (1907), etc.
SIMS, GEORGE ROBERT (1847). —Novelist and dramatist, etc. The Dagonet Ballads, Memoirs of Mary Jane, Ten Commandments, Once upon a Christmas Time (1898), Joyce Pleasantry, etc.; plays, Crutch and Tooth-pick, Mother-in-Law, The Lights o' London, Harbour Lights, etc.
SINCLAIR, MISS MAY. —Novelist, etc. Nakietas and other Poems, Audrey Craven, Two Sides of a Question, The Divine Fire, The Helpmate, etc.
SKEAT, REV. WALTER WILLIAM, Litt.D., LL.D. (1835). —Philologist and Early English scholar; has ed. Langland's Piers Plowman, The Lay of Havelock, Barbour's Bruce, and other early English texts, a complete ed. of Chaucer, 6 vols. (1894), and of many of his works separately, and is author of An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, Principles of English Etymology, and books on the place-names of the counties of Cambridge, Huntingdon, Herts, and Bedford, etc.
SMEATON, WM. HENRY OLIPHANT, M.A. (1856). —Novelist, etc. By Adverse Winds (1895), Our Laddie (1897), Treasure Cave of the Blue Mountains (1899), A Mystery of the Pacific (1899), William Dunbar and his Times (1898), English Satires and Satirists (Warwick Library, 1899), The Medici and the Italian Renaissance (1901), and has ed. numerous English classics.
SMITH, MRS. BURNETT ("ANNIE S. SWAN"). —Novelist. Aldersyde, Carlowrie, A Lost Ideal, A Divided House, Not Yet (1898), etc.
SMITH, GEORGE ADAM, D.D., LL.D. (1856). —Biblical scholar, etc. The Book of Isaiah (1888-90), Historical Geography of the Holy Land (1894), Jerusalem (1907), etc.
SMITH, GEORGE GREGORY (1865). —Critic, etc. The Days of James IV., The Transition Period (of European literature of the fifteenth century), Specimens of Middle Scots (1902), Elizabethan Critical Essays (1904), etc.
SMITH, GOLDWIN, D.C.L. (1823). —Essayist and writer on politics, etc. Three English Statesmen, Lectures on the Study of History, Rational Religion and Rationalistic Objections, The Political Destiny of Canada, Guesses at the Riddle of Existence, Revolution or Progress, etc.; books on Cowper, Miss Austen, etc.
SMITH, MRS. TOULMIN, (see "L.T. MEADE").
STACPOOLE, H. DE VERE. —Novelist. Fanny Lambert, The Crimson Azaleas, The Blue Lagoon (1907), Patsy (1908), The Pools of Silence (1909).
STANNARD, MRS. ARTHUR ("JOHN STRANGE WINTER") (1856). —Novelist. Bootle's Baby, Army Society, Beautiful Jim, The Soul of the Bishop, Grip, He went for a Soldier, The Truth-tellers, A Name to Conjure With, A Blaze of Glory, Marty, Jimmy, The Ivory Box (1909), etc.
STEEL, MRS. FLORA ANNIE (WEBSTER) (1847). —Novelist. Wide-awake Stories (1884), From the Five Rivers (1893), The Potter's Thumb (1894), Tales from the Punjab (1894), Red Rowans (1895), On the Face of the Waters (1896), Voices in the Night (1900), A Sovereign Remedy (1906), etc.
STEWART, JOHN ALEXANDER, LL.D. (1846). —Scholar. The English MSS. of the Nicomachean Ethics (1882), Notes on the Nicomachean Ethics (1902), article Ethics in Encyclopædia Britannica (1902), and The Myths of Plato (1905).
"SWAN, ANNIE S.," (see MRS. BURNETT SMITH).
SYMONDS, MISS E.M. ("GEORGE PASTON"). —Novelist, etc. A Modern Amazon (1894), A Bread and Butter Miss (1894), The Career of Candida (1896), A Fair Deceiver (1897), Little Memoirs of the Eighteenth Century (1901), Little Memoirs of the Nineteenth Century (1902), Side-Lights on the Georgian Period (1902), books on Mrs. Delaney, G. Romney, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, etc.
SYMONS, ARTHUR (1865). —Poet and critic. An Introduction to the Study of Browning (1886), Days and Nights (1889), London Nights (1895), The Symbolist Movement in Literature (1899), Images of Good and Evil (1900), Studies in Seven Arts (1906), etc.
TEMPLE, SIR RICHARD CARNAC, C.I.E. (1850). —Orientalist, etc. Wide-awake Stories (Punjab Folk Tales) (1884), with Mrs. F.A. Steel, Legends of the Punjab (1883-90), ed. various works dealing with the religions and geography of India, etc.
THOMAS, ANNIE (MRS. PENDER CUDLIP). —Novelist. Sir Victor's Choice, Denis Doune (1862), Comrades True (1900), The Diva (1901), The Cleavers of Cleaver (1902), Social Ghosts (1903), etc.; has written over 100 novels and tales.
THOMAS, EDWARD. —Reviewer and miscellaneous writer. Book of the Open Air, Horæ Solitaræ, Oxford, Beautiful Wales, The Heart of England, Life and Writings of Richard Jefferies.
TOUT, THOMAS FREDERICK (1855). —Historian. Analysis of English History (1891), Edward I. (12 English Statesmen series) (1893), The Empire and the Papacy (1898), History of Great Britain (1902-6), Germany and the Empire (Cambridge Modern History), etc.
TRENCH, HERBERT (1865). —Poet, etc. Deirdre Wedded (1901), Apollo and the Seaman, The Questioners (1907), etc.
TREVELYAN, GEORGE MACAULAY (1876). —Historical writer. England in the Age of Wycliffe (1899), England under the Stuarts (1904), The Poetry and Philosophy of George Meredith (1906), Garibaldi's Defence of the Roman Republic (1907), etc.
TREVELYAN, SIR GEORGE OTTO, P.C., LL.D., etc. (1838). —Statesman, biographer, etc. The Competition Wallah (1864), Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay (1876), The Early History of C.J. Fox (1880), Interludes in Prose and Verse (1905).
TROWBRIDGE, JOHN TOWNSEND (1827). —American poet, etc. Poems, The Vagabonds, The Book of Gold, The Emigrant's Story, A Home Idyll, The Lost Earl; books for the young, The Little Master, Tide Mill, The Pocket Rifle, The Kelp Gatherers, Jack Hazard Stories, Fortunes of Toby Trafford, etc.; novels, Neighbours' Wives, Coupon Bonds, etc.
"TWAIN, MARK" (SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS), D.Litt. (1835). —American humorist. The Jumping Frog (1867), The Innocents Abroad (1869), Roughing It (1872), Sketches New and Old (1873), Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), A Tramp Abroad (1880), The Prince and the Pauper (1880), Life on the Mississippi (1883), Huckleberry Finn (1885), The American Claimant (1892), Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894), Christian Science (1907), etc.
TYLOR, EDWARD BURNETT, LL.D., F.R.S. (1832). —Anthropologist. Anahuac, Mexico, and the Mexicans (1859), Researches into the Early History of Mankind (1865), Primitive Culture (1871), and Anthropology (1881).
"TYNAN, KATHARINE" (MRS. TYNAN HINKSON) (1861). —Novelist and verse writer. Louise de la Vallière (1885), Shamrocks (1887), Ballads and Lyrics (1890), Cuckoo Songs (1894), A Cluster of Nuts (1894), An Isle in the Water, The Way of a Maid (1895), Miracle Plays (1896), A Lover's Breast Knot (1896), The Handsome Brandons, The Wind in the Trees (poems) (1898), The Dear Irish Girl, She Walks in Beauty (1899), Three Fair Maids (1900), That Sweet Enemy (1901), Love of Sisters (1902), A Red Red Rose (1903), Judy's Lovers (1905), A Yellow Domino (1906), For Maisie (1907), Her Mother's Daughter (1909), etc.
TYRRELL, ROBERT YELVERTON, LL.D., D.C.L. (1844). —Scholar. Has translated Acharnians of Aristophanes into English verse (1883), author of Cicero in his Letters (1896), Latin Poetry (1893), Echoes of Kottabos (with Sir E. Sullivan) (1906), has ed. various classics.
UPWARD, ALLEN (1863). —Novelist, etc. Songs in Zïklag (1888), The Prince of Balkistan (1895), A Crown of Straw (1896), Secrets of the Courts of Europe (1897), A Day's Tragedy (1897), Treason (1903), Secret History of To-day (1904), A Flash in the Pan (comedy) (1896).
VACHELL, HORACE ANNESLEY (1861). —Novelist. Romance of Judge Kitchener (1894), Quicksands of Pactolus (1896), A Drama in Sunshine (1897), The Procession of Life (1899), John Charity (1900), The Pinch of Prosperity (1903), The Hill (1905), The Face of Clay (1906), and Her Son (1907).
VAMBERY, ARMINIUS, C.V.O., etc. (1832). —Traveller, etc. Travels in Central Asia (1864), Sketches of Central Asia (1867), History of Bokhara (1873), The Coming Struggle for India (1885), Western Culture in Eastern Lands (1906), Arminius Vambery, his Life and Adventures (1883).
VIZETELLY, ERNEST ALFRED (1853). —Novelist, etc. The Scorpion (1894), A Path of Thorns (1901), The Lover's Progress (1902), has ed. most of E. Zola's works, etc.
WALFORD, MRS. LUCY BETHIA (1845). —Novelist. Mr. Smith (1874), Pauline (1877), Troublesome Daughters (1880), The Baby's Grandmother (1885), The History of a Week (1886), A Stiff-necked Generation (1888), A Sage of Sixteen (1889), The Mischief of Monica (1891), The Matchmaker (1893), Frederick (1895), The Intruders (1898), A Dream's Fulfilment (1892), The Enlightenment of Olivia (1907), etc.
WALLACE, ALFRED RUSSEL, F.R.S., LL.D., etc. (1823). —Naturalist and evolutionist. Travels on the Amazon (1853), Palm Trees of the Amazon (1853), The Malay Archipelago (1869), Natural Selection (1870), The Geographical Distribution of Animals (1876), Tropical Nature (1878), Australasia (1879), Island Life (1880), Darwinism (1889), Studies Scientific and Social (1900), Man's Place in the Universe (1903), My Life (1905), etc.
WARD, ADOLPHUS WILLIAM, Litt.D., LL.D. (1837). —Historian and critic. The House of Austria in the Thirty Years' War (1869), A History of English Dramatic Literature to the Death of Queen Anne (1875), Lives of Chaucer (1880) and Dickens (1882) (English Men of Letters Series), The Counter Reformation (1888), translated Curtius's History of Greece, ed. Pope's poetical works (Globe), Poems of John Byrom, and various other works, etc.
WARD, MRS. HUMPHREY (ARNOLD) (1851). —Novelist. Milly and Olly (1881), Miss Bretherton (1886), Robert Elsmere (1888), The History of David Grieve (1892), Marcella (1894), Sir George Tressady (1896), Helbeck of Bannisdale (1898), Lady Rose's Daughter (1903), The Marriage of William Ashe (1905) Fenwick's Career (1906); plays, Eleanor (1902), Agatha (1905), etc.
WATSON, HENRY BRERETON MARRIOTT (1863). —Novelist, etc. Lady Faintheart (1890), The Web of the Spider (1891), Diogenes of London (1893), At the First Corner (1895), The Heart of Miranda (1897), The Princess Xenia (1899), The House Divided (1901), Captain Fortune (1904), Twisted Eglantine (1905), The Privateers (1907), etc.
WATSON, WILLIAM, LL.D. (1858). —Poet. The Prince's Quest (1880), Epigrams of Art, Life and Nature (1884), Wordsworth's Grave (1890), Lachrymæ Musarum (1892), Lyric Love (1892), The Eloping Angels (1893), Excursions in Criticism (1893), Odes and other Poems (1894), The Father of the Forest (1895), The Purple East (1896), The Year of Shame (1896), The Hope of the World (1897), Collected Poems (1898), Ode on the Coronation of King Edward VII. (1902), For England (1903), and New Poems (1909).
WATTS-DUNTON, THEODORE (1832). —Poet, novelist, and critic. The Coming of Love, Rhona Boswell's Story (1897), Aylwin (1898), Christmas at the Mermaid, The Renascence of Wonder (1903), ed. Borrow's Lavengro and Romany Rye; article Poetry in Encyclopædia Britannica, and many other articles in the same.
WAUGH, ARTHUR (1866). —Critic. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, a Study (1892), Robert Browning (in Westminster Biographies), has ed. Johnson's Lives of the Poets, Dickens, Milton, Lamb, Tennyson, etc.
WEDMORE, FREDERICK (1844). —Writer on art, etc. Pastorals of France, Renunciations, English Episodes, Orgeás and Miradou, Studies in English Art, Méryon, Etching in England, Whistler's Etchings, Fine Prints, On Books and Arts, The Collapse of the Penitent (novel), etc.
WELLS, HERBERT GEORGE, B.Sc., etc. (1866). —Novelist. Select Conversations with an Uncle (1895), The Time Machine (1895), The Stolen Bacillus (1895), The Wonderful Visit, The Wheels of Chance, The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), When the Sleeper Wakes (1899), The First Men in the Moon (1901), Mankind in the Making (1903), The Food of the Gods (1904), A Modern Utopia (1905), The War in the Air (1908), Tono-Bungay, Ann Veronica (1909), etc.
WENDELL, BARRETT (1855). —American critic, etc. William Shakespeare (1894), A Literary History of America (1900), Raleigh in Guiana, etc. (1902), The Temper of the Seventeenth Century in English Literature (1904), The France of To-day (1907), etc.
WERNER, ALICE (1859). —Miscellaneous writer. A Time and Times (poems) (1886), O'Driscoll's Weird (1892), The Humour of Italy (1892), The Humour of Holland (1893), The Captain of the Locusts (1899), Chapinga's While Man (1901), Native Races of British Central Africa (1906).
WEYMAN, STANLEY JOHN (1855). —Novelist. The House of the Wolf (1890), Francis Cludde (1891), A Gentleman of France (1893), Under the Red Robe (1894), My Lady Rotha (1894), The Red Cockade (1895), The Man in Black (1896), Shrewsbury (1897), The Castle Inn (1898), Sophia (1900), The Long Night (1903), The Abbess of Vlaye (1904), Starvecrow Farm (1905), Laid up in Lavender (1907).
WHARTON, EDITH (JONES) (1862). —American novelist. The Great Inclination (1889), A Gift from the Grave, Crucial Instances (1901), The Valley of Decision (1902), Sanctuary (1903), Italian Backgrounds (1905), The House of Mirth (1905), Madame de Treymes (1907), The Fruit of the Tree (1907).
WHIBLEY, CHARLES. —Critic and reviewer. A Book of Scoundrels, Studies in Frankness, The Pageantry of Life, Thackeray (1903), William Pitt (1906).
WHISHAW, FRED. —Novelist. The Emperor's Englishman, Out of Doors in Tsarland, Boris the Bear-Hunter, The Romance of the Woods, Harold the Norseman (1896), The White Witch (1897), A Race for Life (1898), The Diamond of Evil (1902), A Splendid Impostor (1903), The Great Green God (1906), The Secret Syndicate (1907).
WHITE, WILLIAM HALE (c. 1830). —Novelist, etc. The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford (1885), Mark Rutherford's Deliverance (1885), The Revolution in Tanner's Lane (1887), Miriam's Schooling (1890), Catherine Furze (1889), Clara Hopgood (1896), translated Spinoza's Ethics, Pages from a Journal (1900).
WHITEING, RICHARD (1840). —Novelist, etc. The Democracy (1876), No. 5 John Street (1899), The Yellow Van (1903), Ring in the New (1906), All Moonshine (1907).
WHITNEY, ADELINE DUTTON (TRAIN) (1824). —American novelist. Faith Gartney's Girlhood, The Gayworthys, Hitherto, Leslie Goldthwaite, Real Folks, Homespun Yarns; poems, Pansies, Daffodils, Holy Tides, Bird Talk, etc.
WICKSTEED, REV. PHILIP HENRY (1844). —Writer on Dante, political economy, etc. Translation of the Bible for Young People (1882), Alphabet of Economic Science (1888), Henrik Ibsen (1892), Dante, Six Sermons (1895), Trans.: De Witte's Select Essays on Dante (with C.M. Laurence) (1898), Trans.: Dante's Paradiso (1899), Dante and Del Virgilio (with E.G. Gardner) (1901), Studies in Theology (with J.E. Carpenter) (1903), Further Translations of Dante's Convivio (1903), Early Lives of Dante (1904), Dante's Latin Works (1904), etc.
WIGGIN, KATE DOUGLAS (MRS. GEORGE C. RIGGS). —American novelist. Timothy's Quest, Polly Oliver's Problem, The Story of Patsy, Penelope's Experiences, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, etc.
WILKINS, MARY ELEANOR (MRS. C.M. FREEMAN) (1862). —American story-writer. A New England Nun, Young Lucretia, A Humble Romance, A Faraway Melody, Giles Cory, The Wind in the Rosebush, The Debtor, etc.
"WINTER, JOHN STRANGE," (see MRS. ARTHUR STANNARD).
WINTER, WILLIAM (1836). —American critic, etc. Shakespeare's England, Grey Days and Gold, Old Shrines and Ivy Brown Heath and Blue Bells, Life and Art of Edwin Booth, The Stage Life of Mary Anderson, etc.
WRIGHT, WILLIAM ALDIS, LL.D., etc. —English scholar. Joint ed. of Globe Shakespeare and of the Cambridge Shakespeare. Bible Word-Book and many other English Classics, Letters and Literary Remains of Edward Fitzgerald (1889), The Works of Edward Fitzgerald (7 vols. 1903), etc.
YEATS, WILLIAM BUTLER (1865). —Poet. The Wanderings of Oisin (1889), The Countess Kathleen (1892), The Celtic Twilight (1893), A Book of Irish Verse (1895), Poems (1895), The Secret Rose (1897), The Wind Among the Reeds (1899), The Shadowy Waters (1900), Ideas of Good and Evil (1903), etc.
ZANGWILL, ISRAEL (1864). —Novelist. Children of the Ghetto (1892), Merely Mary Ann (1893), Ghetto Tragedies (1893), The King of Schnorrers (1894), Dreamers of the Ghetto (1898), They that Walk in Darkness (1899), The Mantle of Elijah (1900), The Grey Wig (1903), Blind Children (verse) (1903), Ghetto Comedies (1907); plays, Children of the Ghetto, The Moment of Death, The Revolted Daughter, Merely Mary Ann, The Serio-Comic Governess, etc.
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English literature
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