BIRD, ROBERT MONTGOMERY (1803-1854).–Novelist, an American physician, wrote three tragedies, _The Gladiator_, _Oraloosa_, and _The Broker of Bogota_, and several novels, including _Calavar_, _The Infidel_, _The Hawks of Hawk Hollow_, _Peter Pilgrim_, and _Nick of the Woods_, in the first two of which he gives graphic and accurate details and descriptions of Mexican history.
BISHOP, SAMUEL (1731-1795).–Poet, _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Merchant Taylor’s School and Oxf., took orders and became Headmaster of Merchant Taylor’s School. His poems on miscellaneous subjects fill two quarto vols., the best of them are those to his wife and _dau._ He also _pub._ essays.
BLACK, WILLIAM (1841-1898).–Novelist. After studying as a landscape painter, he took to journalism in Glasgow. In 1864 he went to London, and soon after _pub._ his first novel, _James Merle_, which made no impression. In the Austro-Prussian War he acted as a war correspondent. Thereafter he began afresh to write fiction, and was more successful; the publication of _A Daughter of Heth_ (1871) at once established his popularity. He reached his highwater-mark in _A Princess of Thule_ (1873). Many other books were added before his death in 1898, among which may be mentioned _In Silk Attire_ (1869), _The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton_ (1872), _Macleod of Dare_ (1878), _White Wings_ (1880), _Shandon Bells_ (1882), _Yolande_ (1883), _Judith Shakespeare_ (1884), _White Heather_ (1886), _Stand Fast Craig-Royston!_ (1890), _Green Pastures and Piccadilly_, _Three Feathers_, _Wild Eelin_ (1898).
BLACKIE, JOHN STUART (1809-1895).–Scholar and man of letters, _b._ in Glasgow, and _ed._ at the Universities of Aberdeen and Edin., after which he travelled and studied in Germany and Italy. Returning to Scotland he was, in 1834, admitted to the Scottish Bar, but did not practise. His first work was his translation of _Faust_ (1834), which won the approbation of Carlyle. From 1841-52 B. was Prof. of Humanity (Latin) in Aberdeen, and from 1852-82, when he retired, of Greek in Edinburgh. His literary activity was incessant, his works consisting of translations of _AEschylus_ and of the _Iliad_, various books of poetry, including _Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece_, and treatises on religious, philosophical, and political subjects, among which may be mentioned _Self-Culture_ (1873), _Horae Hellenicae_, and a life of Burns. He was an enthusiastic champion of Scottish nationality. Possessed of great conversational powers and general versatility, his picturesque eccentricity made him one of the most notable members of Scottish society. It was owing to his efforts that a Chair of Celtic Language and Literature was established in Edinburgh University.
BLACKLOCK, THOMAS (1721-1791).–Poet, _b._ near Annan of humble parentage, lost his sight by smallpox when 6 months old. He began to write poetry at the age of 12, and studied for the Church. He was appointed Minister of Kirkcudbright, but was objected to by the parishioners on account of his blindness, and gave up the presentation on receiving an annuity. He then retired to Edinburgh, where he took pupils. He _pub._ some miscellaneous poems, which are now forgotten, and is chiefly remembered for having written a letter to Burns, which had the effect of dissuading him from going to the West Indies. He was made D.D. in 1767.
BLACKMORE, SIR RICHARD (_c._ 1650, _d._ 1729).–Poet, one of the Court Physicians to William III. and Anne, wrote several very long and well-intentioned, but dull and tedious, poems, which, though praised by Addison and Johnson, are now utterly forgotten. They include _Prince Arthur_, _Creation_, _Redemption_, _Alfred_. As may be imagined, they were the subject of derision by the profaner wits of the day. B. was a successful physician and an excellent man.
BLACKMORE, RICHARD DODDRIDGE (1825-1900).–Novelist and poet, _b._ at Longworth, Berks, _ed._ at Tiverton School and Oxf., practised for a short time as a lawyer but, owing to his health, gave this up, and took to market-gardening and literature at Teddington. His first _pub._ was _Poems by Melanter_ (1853), followed by _Epullia_ (1855), _The Bugle of the Black Sea_ (1855), etc.; but he soon found that fiction, not poetry, was his true vocation. Beginning with _Clara Vaughan_ in 1864, he produced fifteen novels, all of more than average, and two or three of outstanding merit. Of these much the best in the opinion of the public, though not of the author, is _Lorna Doone_ (1869), the two which rank next to it being _The Maid of Sker_ (1872) (the author’s favourite) and _Springhaven_ (1887). Others are _Cradock Nowell_ (1866), _Alice Lorraine_ (1875), _Cripps the Carrier_ (1876), _Mary Anerley_ (1880), and _Christowell_ (1882). One of the most striking features of B.’s writings is his marvellous eye for, and sympathy with, Nature. He may be said to have done for Devonshire what Scott did for the Highlands. He has been described as “proud, shy, reticent, strong-willed, sweet-tempered, and self-centred.”
BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM (1723-1780).–Legal Writer, posthumous _s._ of a silk mercer in London, was _ed._ at Charterhouse School and Oxf., and entered the Middle Temple in 1741. His great work is his _Commentaries on the Laws of England_, in 4 vols. (1765-1769), which still remains the best general history of the subject. It had an extraordinary success, and is said to have brought the author L14,000. B. was not a man of original mind, nor was he a profound lawyer; but he wrote an excellent style, clear and dignified, which brings his great work within the category of general literature. He had also a turn for neat and polished verse, of which he gave proof in _The Lawyer’s Farewell to his Muse_.
BLAIR, HUGH (1718-1800).–Divine, and man of letters, _b._ and _ed._ at Edin. After being minister at Collessie in Fife, he was translated to Edinburgh, where he filled various pulpits, latterly that of the High Church. In 1759 he commenced a series of lectures on composition, and soon after the Chair of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres was founded, to which he was appointed. His _Lectures_ were _pub._ on his resignation of the chair in 1783. His chief fame, however, rests upon his _Sermons_, in 4 vols., which had an extraordinary popularity, and obtained for him a pension of L200. Time has not sustained the opinion of his contemporaries: they have been described as feeble in thought though elegant in style, and even as “a bucket of warm water.” B. was amiable, kind to young authors, and remarkable for a harmless, but rather ridiculous vanity and simplicity.
BLAIR, ROBERT (1699-1746).–Poet, _b._ at Edin., where his _f._ was a clergyman, became minister of Athelstaneford, Haddingtonshire. His sole work was _The Grave_, a poem in blank verse extending to 767 lines of very various merit, in some passages rising to great sublimity, and in others sinking to commonplace. It was illustrated by William Blake (_q.v._) B.’s _s._, Robert, was a very distinguished Scottish judge and Lord President of the Court of Session; and his successor in his ministerial charge was Home, the author of _Douglas_.
BLAKE, WILLIAM (1757-1827).–Poet and painter, _b._ in London, was from earliest youth a seer of visions and a dreamer of dreams, seeing “Ezekiel sitting under a green bough,” and “a tree full of angels at Peckham,” and such he remained to the end of his days. His teeming imagination sought expression both in verse and in drawing, and in his 14th year he was apprenticed to James Basire, an eminent engraver, and thereafter studied at the Royal Academy. Among his chief artistic works were illustrations for Young’s _Night Thoughts_, Blair’s _Grave_, “Spiritual Portraits,” and his finest work, “Inventions to the Book of Job,” all distinguished by originality and imagination. In literature his _Songs of Innocence_ appeared in 1789, _Songs of Experience_ in 1794. These books were literally made by Blake and his heaven-provided wife; poems and designs alike being engraved on copper by B. and bound by Mrs. B. In like fashion were produced his mystical books, _The Book of Thel_ (1789), _The Marriage of Heaven and Hell_ (1790), _The Gates of Paradise_, _Visions of the Daughters of Albion_, _Europe_, _The Book of Urizen_ (1794), _The Book of Los_ and _The Book of Ahania_ (1795). His last books were _Jerusalem_ and _Milton_. His earlier and shorter pieces, _e.g._ “The Chimney-Sweeper,” “Holy Thursday,” “The Lamb,” “The Sun-flower,” “The Tiger,” etc., have an exquisite simplicity arising from directness and intensity of feeling–sometimes tender, sometimes sublime–always individual. Latterly he lost himself in clouds of mysticism. A truly pious and loving soul, neglected and misunderstood by the world, but appreciated by an elect few, he led a cheerful and contented life of poverty illumined by visions and celestial inspirations.
BLAMIRE, SUSANNA (1747-1794).–Poetess, was of good Cumberland family, and received the sobriquet of “The Muse of Cumberland.” Her poems, which were not collected until 1842, depict Cumbrian life and manners with truth and vivacity. She also wrote some fine songs in the Scottish dialect, including “Ye shall walk in Silk Attire,” and “What ails this Heart o’ Mine.”
BLESSINGTON, MARGARET (POWER), COUNTESS of (1789-1849).–Married as her second husband the 1st Earl of B., with whom she travelled much on the Continent, where she met Lord Byron, her _Conversations_ with whom she _pub._ in 1834. This is the only one of her books which has any value. The others were slight works on Travel, such as _The Idler in Italy_, annuals, and novels. She became bankrupt and went to Paris, where she lived under the protection of the Count d’Orsay.
BLIND HARRY or HENRY THE MINSTREL (_fl._ 1470-1492).–Is spoken of by John Major in his _History of Scotland_ as a wandering minstrel, skilled in the composition of rhymes in the Scottish tongue, who “fabricated” a book about William Wallace, and gained his living by reciting it to his own accompaniment on the harp at the houses of the nobles. Harry claims that it was founded on a Latin _Life of Wallace_ written by Wallace’s chaplain, John Blair, but the chief sources seem to have been traditionary. Harry is often considered inferior to Barbour as a poet, and has little of his moral elevation, but he surpasses him in graphic power, vividness of description, and variety of incident. He occasionally shows the influence of Chaucer, and is said to have known Latin and French.
BLIND, MATHILDE (1841-1896).–Poetess, _b._ at Mannheim, but settled in London about 1849, and _pub._ several books of poetry, _The Prophecy of St. Oran_ (1881), _The Heather on Fire_ (1886), _Songs and Sonnets_ (1893), _Birds of Passage_ (1895), etc. She also translated Strauss’s _Old Faith and New_, and other works, and wrote Lives of George Eliot and Madame Roland. Her own name was Cohen, but she adopted that of her stepfather, Karl Blind.
BLOOMFIELD, ROBERT (1766-1823).–Poet, _b._ at Honington in Suffolk, lost his _f._ when he was a year old, and received the rudiments of education from his mother, who kept the village school. While still a boy he went to London, and worked as a shoemaker under an elder brother, enduring extreme poverty. His first and chief poem, _The Farmer’s Boy_, was composed in a room where half a dozen other men were at work, and the finished lines he carried in his head until there was time to write them down. The manuscript, after passing through various hands, fell into those of Capel Lofft, a Suffolk squire of literary tastes, by whose exertions it was _pub._ with illustrations by Bewick in 1800. It had a signal success, 26,000 copies having been sold in three years. The Duke of Grafton obtained for him an appointment in the Seal Office, and when, through ill-health, he was obliged to resign this, allowed him a pension of 1s. a day. Other works were _Rural Tales_ (1804), _Wild Flowers_ (1806), _The Banks of the Wye_ (1811), and _May Day with the Muses_ (1817). An attempt to carry on business as a bookseller failed, his health gave way, his reason was threatened, and he _d._ in great poverty at Shefford in 1823. B.’s poetry is smooth, correct, and characterised by taste and good feeling, but lacks fire and energy. Of amiable and simple character, he was lacking in self-reliance.
BODENHAM, JOHN (_fl._ 1600).–Anthologist, is stated to have been the ed. of some of the Elizabethan anthologies, viz., _Politeuphuia_ (_Wits’ Commonwealth_) (1597), _Wits’ Theater_ (1598), _Belvidere, or the Garden of the Muses_ (1600), and _England’s Helicon_ (1600). Mr. Bullen says that B. did not himself ed. any of the Elizabethan miscellanies attributed to him by bibliographers: but that he projected their publication, and he befriended the editors.
BOECE, or BOETHIUS, HECTOR (1465?-1536).–Historian, probably _b._ at Dundee, and _ed._ there and at Paris, where he was a regent or professor, 1492 to 1498. While there he made the acquaintance of Erasmus. Returning to Scotland he co-operated with Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, in founding the univ. there of which he was the first Principal. His literary fame rests on two works, his _Lives of the Bishops of Mortlach and Aberdeen_, in which his friend Elphinstone figures prominently, and his _History of Scotland_ to the accession of James III. These works were, of course, composed in Latin, but the _History_ was translated into Scottish prose by John Bellenden, 1530 to 1533, and into English for Hollinshed’s _Chronicle_. The only predecessor of the work was the compendium of Major, and as it was written in a flowing and pleasing style it became very popular, and led to ecclesiastical preferment and Royal favour. B. shared in the credulity of his age, but the charge of inventing his authorities formerly brought against him has been shown to be, to some extent at any rate, unfounded.
BOKER, GEORGE HENRY (1823-90).–Poet, was in the American Diplomatic Service. Among his dramas, generally tragedies, are _Anne Boleyn_, _The Betrothed_, and _Francesca da Rimini_, and among his books of poetry, _Street Lyrics_, _Koenigsmark_, and _The Book of the Dead_. His dramas combine poetic merit with adaptability for acting.
BOLINGBROKE, HENRY ST. JOHN, 1ST VISCOUNT (1678-1751).–Statesman and philosopher, _s._ of Sir Henry St. J., _b._ at Battersea, and _ed._ at Eton and perhaps Oxf., was during his youth noted chiefly for dissipation, but entering Parliament in 1701 as a supporter of Harley, soon made himself a name by his eloquence and talent. He held office as War and Foreign Sec. successively, became a peer in 1712, intrigued successfully against Harley, and formed an administration during the last days of Queen Anne, with the intention of bringing back the Stuarts, which was frustrated by the Queen’s death. On the arrival of George I. and the accession to power of the Whigs, B. was impeached, and his name erased from the Roll of Peers. He went to France, and became Sec. of State to the Pretender James, who, however, dismissed him in 1716, after which he devoted himself to philosophy and literature. In 1723 he was pardoned and returned to England, and an act was passed in 1725 restoring his forfeited estates, but still excluding him from the House of Lords. He thereupon retired to his house, Dawley, near Uxbridge, where he enjoyed the society of Swift and Pope, on the latter of whom he exerted a strong influence. After some ineffectual efforts to regain a position in political life, he returned to France in 1735, where he remained for 7 years, and wrote most of his chief works.
B. was a man of brilliant and versatile talents, but selfish, insincere, and intriguing, defects of character which led to his political ruin. His writings, once so much admired, reflect his character in their glittering artificiality, and his pretensions to the reputation of a philosopher have long been exploded; the chief of them are _Reflections upon Exile_, _Letters on the Study of History_ (in which he attacked Christianity), _Letters on the Spirit of Patriotism_, and _Idea of a Patriot King_. He left his MSS. to David Mallet (_q.v._), who _pub._ a complete ed. of his works in 5 vols. (1753-54).
BONAR, HORATIUS (1808-1889).–Divine and poet, _s._ of James B., Solicitor of Exise for Scotland, _b._ and _ed._ in Edin., entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland, and was settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the Disruption in 1843, and in 1867 was translated to Edin. In 1853 he was made D.D. of Aberdeen. He was a voluminous and highly popular author, and in addition to many books and tracts wrote a number of hymns, many of which, _e.g._, “I heard the voice of Jesus say,” are known all over the English-speaking world. A selection of these was _pub._ as _Hymns of Faith and Hope_ (3 series). His last vol. of poetry was _My Old Letters_.
BOORDE, or BORDE, ANDREW (1490?-1549).–Traveller, _b._ near Cuckfield, Sussex, was brought up as a Carthusian, and held ecclesiastical appointments, then practised medicine at various places, including Glasgow, and was employed in various capacities by T. Cromwell. He travelled widely, going as far as Jerusalem, and wrote descriptions of the countries he had visited. His _Dyetary_ is the first English book of domestic medicine. The _Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge_ describes his journeys on the Continent. Other works are _The Boke of Berdes_ (Beards), _Handbook of Europe_, and _Itinerary of England_.
BORROW, GEORGE (1803-1881).–Philologist and miscellaneous author, and traveller, _b._ at East Dereham, Norfolk, _s._ of a recruiting officer, had a somewhat wandering childhood. He received most of his education in Edin., and showed a peculiar talent for acquiring languages. After being for a short time in the office of a solicitor in Norwich, he travelled widely on the Continent and in the East, acquainting himself with the people and languages of the various countries he visited. He specially attached himself to the Gipsies, with whose language he became so familiar as to _pub._ a dictionary of it. His learning was shown by his publishing at St. Petersburg _Targum_, a work containing translations from 30 languages. B. became a travelling agent of the Bible Society, and his book, _The Bible in Spain_ (1843), giving an account of his remarkable adventures in that country, made his literary reputation. It was followed by _Lavengro_ (1851), and its sequel, _Romany Rye_ (1857), and _Wild Wales_ (1862), which, though works of originality and extreme interest, and now perhaps his most popular books, were received with less public favour. The two first give a highly coloured picture of his own story. He translated the New Testament into Manchu. In his latter years he settled at Oulton Broad, Norfolk, where he _d._ B. was a man of striking appearance and great vigour and originality of character and mind. His writings hold a unique place in English literature.
BOSTON, THOMAS (1677-1732).–Scottish divine, was successively schoolmaster at Glencairn, and minister of Simprin in Berwickshire, and Ettrick in Selkirkshire. In addition to his best-known work, _The Fourfold State_, one of the religious classics of Scotland, he wrote an original little book, _The Crook in the Lot_, and a learned treatise on the Hebrew points. He also took a leading part in the Courts of the Church in what was known as the “Marrow Controversy,” regarding the merits of an English work, _The Marrow of Modern Divinity_, which he defended against the attacks of the “Moderate” party in the Church. B., if unduly introspective, was a man of singular piety and amiability. His autobiography is an interesting record of Scottish life, full of sincerity and tenderness, and not devoid of humorous touches, intentional and otherwise.
BOSWELL, SIR ALEXANDER (1775-1822).–Antiquary and song writer, _s._ of James B., of Auchinleck, Johnson’s biographer, was interested in old Scottish authors, some of whose works he reprinted at his private press. He wrote some popular Scotch songs, of which _Jenny’s Bawbee_ and _Jenny dang the Weaver_ are the best known. B. _d._ in a duel with Mr. Stuart of Dunearn.
BOSWELL, JAMES (1740-1795).–Biographer, _s._ of Alexander B. of Auchinleck, Ayrshire, one of the judges of the Supreme Courts of Scotland, was _ed._ at the High School and Univ. of Edin., and practised as an advocate. He travelled much on the Continent and visited Corsica, where he became acquainted with the patriot General Paoli. Fortunately for posterity he was in 1763 introduced to Dr. Johnson, and formed an acquaintance with him which soon ripened into friendship, and had as its ultimate fruit the immortal _Life_. He was also the author of several works of more or less interest, including an _Account of Corsica_ (1768), and _Journal of Tour to the Hebrides_ (in the company of Johnson) (1786). Vain and foolish in an exceptional degree, and by no means free from more serious faults, B. has yet produced the greatest biography in the language. _The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D._ appeared in 1791, and at once commanded an admiration which has suffered no diminution since. But by this time a cloud had fallen upon the author. He had lost his excellent wife, his health had given way, the intemperance to which he had always been subject had mastered him, and he _d._ four years after the appearance of his great work. B. was called to the English as well as to the Scottish Bar, but his various foibles prevented his reaching any great success, and he had also vainly endeavoured to enter on a political career. The question has often been raised how a man with the characteristics of B. could have produced so unique a work, and has been discussed at length by Macaulay and by Carlyle, the former paradoxically arguing that his supreme folly and meanness themselves formed his greatest qualifications; the latter, with far deeper insight, that beneath these there lay the possession of an eye to discern excellence and a heart to appreciate it, intense powers of accurate observation and a considerable dramatic faculty. His letters to William Temple were discovered at Boulogne, and _pub._ 1857.
BOUCICAULT, DION (1820-90).–Actor and dramatist, _b._ in Dublin and _ed._ in London, joined Macready while still young, and made his first appearance upon the stage with Benj. Webster at Bristol. Soon afterwards he began to write plays, occasionally in conjunction, of which the first, _London Assurance_ (1841) had an immediate success. He was an excellent actor, especially in pathetic parts. His plays are for the most part adaptations, but are often very ingenious in construction, and have had great popularity. Among the best known are _The Colleen Bawn_, _Arrah-na-Pogue_, _Faust and Marguerite_, and _The Shaughraun_. B. _d._ in America.
BOWDLER, THOMAS (1754-1825).–Editor of _The Family Shakespeare_, _b._ near Bath, _s._ of a gentleman of independent fortune, studied medicine at St. Andrews and at Edin., where he took his degree in 1776, but did not practise, devoting himself instead to the cause of prison reform. In 1818 he _pub._ his _Family Shakespeare_ in 10 vols., “in which nothing is added to the original text, but those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family.” The work had considerable success, 4 editions having been _pub._ before 1824, and others in 1831, 1853, and 1861. It was, however, subjected to some criticism and ridicule, and gave rise to the expression “bowdlerise,” always used in an opprobrious sense. On the other hand, Mr. Swinburne has said, “More nauseous and foolish cant was never chattered than that which would deride the memory or depreciate the merits of B. No man ever did better service to Shakespeare than the man who made it possible to put him into the hands of intelligent and imaginative children.” B. subsequently essayed a similar enterprise in regard to Gibbon, which, however, was not so successful.
BOWER, ARCHIBALD (1686-1766).–Historian, _b._ at Dundee, and _ed._ at the Scots Coll., Douay, became a Jesuit, but afterwards joined the Church of England, and again became a Jesuit. He wrote a _History of Rome_ (1735-44), a _History of the Popes_ (1748-66). These works are ill-proportioned and inaccurate. His whole life appears to have been a very discreditable one.
BOWER, or BOWMAKER, WALTER (_d._ 1449).–Was Abbot of Inchcolm, and continued and enlarged Fordun’s _Scotichronicon_.
BOWLES, WILLIAM LISLE (1762-1850).–Poet and antiquary, _b._ at King’s Sutton, Northamptonshire, of which his _f._ was vicar, and _ed._ at Winchester and Oxf., was for the most of his life Vicar of Bremhill, Wilts, and became Prebendary and Canon Residentiary of Salisbury. His first work, _pub._ in 1789, was a little vol. containing 14 sonnets, which was received with extraordinary favour, not only by the general public, but by such men as Coleridge and Wordsworth. It may be regarded as the harbinger of the reaction against the school of Pope, in which these poets were soon to bear so great a part. B. _pub._ several other poems of much greater length, of which the best are _The Spirit of Discovery_ (1805), and _The Missionary of the Andes_ (1815), and he also enjoyed considerable reputation as an antiquary, his principal work in that department being _Hermes Britannicus_ (1828). In 1807 he _pub._ a _Life of Pope_, in the preface to which he expressed some views on poetry which resulted in a rather fierce controversy with Byron, Campbell, and others. He also wrote a _Life of Bishop Ken_. B. was an amiable, absent-minded, and rather eccentric man. His poems are characterised by refinement of feeling, tenderness, and pensive thought, but are deficient in power and passion.
Other works are _Coombe Ellen and St. Michael’s Mount_ (1798), _The Battle of the Nile_ (1799), _The Sorrows of Switzerland_ (1801), _St. John in Patmos_ (1833), etc.
BOWRING, SIR JOHN (1792-1872).–Linguist, writer, and traveller, was _b._ at Exeter. His talent for acquiring languages enabled him at last to say that he knew 200, and could speak 100. He was appointed editor of the _Westminster Review_ in 1824; travelled in various countries with the view of reporting on their commercial position; was an M.P. 1835-37 and 1841-49, and held various appointments in China. His chief literary work was the translation of the folk-songs of most European nations, and he also wrote original poems and hymns, and works on political and economic subjects. B. was knighted in 1854. He was the literary executor of Jeremy Bentham (_q.v._).
BOYD, ANDREW KENNEDY HUTCHISON (1825-1899).–Miscellaneous writer, _s._ of Rev. Dr. B. of Glasgow, was originally intended for the English Bar, but entered the Church of Scotland, and was minister latterly at St. Andrews, wrote in _Fraser’s Magazine_ a series of light, chirping articles subsequently collected as the _Recreations of a Country Parson_, also several books of reminiscences, etc., written in a pleasant chatty style, and some sermons. He was D.D. and LL.D.
BOYD, ZACHARY (1585-1653).–Divine, belonged to the family of B. of Pinkhill, Ayrshire, was _ed._ at Glasgow and at Saumur. He translated many parts of Scripture into uncouth verse. Among his works are _The Garden of Zion_ and _Zion’s Flowers_.
BOYLE, THE HON. ROBERT (1627-1691).–Natural Philosopher and chemist, 7th _s._ of the 1st Earl of Cork, was _b._ at Lismore, Co. Waterford, and _ed._ at Eton and by private tutors, after which he pursued his studies on the Continent. On his return to England he devoted himself to the study of science, especially natural philosophy and chemistry. He was one of the founders of the Royal Society, and, by his experiments and observations added to existing knowledge, especially in regard to pneumatics. He at the same time devoted much study to theology; so much indeed that he was strongly urged by Lord Clarendon to enter the Church. Thinking, however, that he could serve the cause of religion better as a layman, he declined this advice. As a director of the East India Co. he did much for the propagation of Christianity in the East, and for the dissemination of the Bible. He also founded the “Boyle Lectures” in defence of Christianity. He declined the offer of a peerage. B. was a man of great intellectual acuteness, and remarkable for his conversational powers. Among his writings are _Origin of Forms and Qualities_, _Experiments touching Colour_, _Hydrostatical Paradoxes_, and _Observations on Cold_; in theology, _Seraphic Love_. His complete works were _pub._ in 5 vols. in 1744.
BRADLEY, EDWARD (1827-1889).–Novelist, was a clergyman. He wrote under the name of “Cuthbert Bede” a few novels and tales, _Fairy Fables_ (1858), _Glencraggan_ (1861), _Fotheringhay_ (1885), etc.; but his most popular book was _Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman_, which had great vogue.
BRADWARDINE, THOMAS (1290?-1349).–Theologian, was at Oxf., where he became Prof. of Divinity and Chancellor, and afterwards Chaplain to Edward III., whom he attended in his French wars. He was twice elected Archbishop of Canterbury by the monks, and on the second occasion accepted, but _d._ of the plague within 40 days. He wrote on geometry, but his great work was _De Causa Dei_ (on the Cause of God against Pelagius), in which he treated theology mathematically, and which earned for him from the Pope the title of the Profound Doctor.
BRAITHWAITE, or BRATHWAITE, RICHARD (1588-1673).–Poet, _b._ near Kendal, and _ed._ at Oxf., is believed to have served with the Royalist army in the Civil War. He was the author of many works of very unequal merit, of which the best known is _Drunken Barnaby’s Four Journeys_, which records his pilgrimages through England in rhymed Latin (said by Southey to be the best of modern times), and doggerel English verse. _The English Gentleman_ (1631) and _English Gentlewoman_ are in a much more decorous strain. Other works are _The Golden Fleece_ (1611) (poems), _The Poet’s Willow_, _A Strappado for the Devil_ (a satire), and _Art Asleepe, Husband?_
BRAMSTON, JAMES (_c._ 1694-1744).–Satirist, _ed._ at Westminster School and Oxf., took orders and was latterly Vicar of Hastings. His poems are _The Art of Politics_ (1729), in imitation of Horace, and _The Man of Taste_ (1733), in imitation of Pope. He also parodied Phillips’s _Splendid Shilling_ in _The Crooked Sixpence_. His verses have some liveliness.
BRAY, ANNA ELIZA (1790-1883).–Novelist, _dau._ of Mr. J. Kempe, was married first to C.A. Stothard, _s._ of the famous R.A., and himself an artist, and secondly to the Rev. E.A. Bray. She wrote about a dozen novels, chiefly historical, and _The Borders of the Tamar and Tavy_ (1836), an account of the traditions and superstitions of the neighbourhood of Tavistock in the form of letters to Southey, of whom she was a great friend. This is probably the most valuable of her writings. Among her works are _Branded_, _Good St. Louis and his Times_, _Trelawney_, and _White Hoods_.
BRETON, NICHOLAS (1545-1626).–Poet and novelist. Little is known of his life. He was the _s._ of William B., a London merchant, was perhaps at Oxf., and was a rather prolific author of considerable versatility and gift. Among his poetical works are _A Floorish upon Fancie, Pasquil’s Mad-cappe_ (1626), _The Soul’s Heavenly Exercise_, and _The Passionate Shepherd_. In prose he wrote _Wit’s Trenchmour_, _The Wil of Wit_ (1599), _A Mad World, my Masters_, _Adventures of Two Excellent Princes_, _Grimello’s Fortunes_ (1604), _Strange News out of Divers Countries_ (1622), etc. His mother married E. Gascoigne, the poet (_q.v._). His lyrics are pure and fresh, and his romances, though full of conceits, are pleasant reading, remarkably free from grossness.
BREWSTER, SIR DAVID (1781-1868).–Man of science and writer, _b._ at Jedburgh, originally intended to enter the Church, of which, after a distinguished course at the Univ. of Edin., he became a licentiate. Circumstances, however, led him to devote himself to science, of which he was one of the most brilliant ornaments of his day, especially in the department of optics, in which he made many discoveries. He maintained his habits of investigation and composition to the very end of his long life, during which he received almost every kind of honorary distinction open to a man of science. He also made many important contributions to literature, including a _Life of Newton_ (1831), _The Martyrs of Science_ (1841), _More Worlds than One_ (1854), and _Letters on Natural Magic_ addressed to Sir W. Scott, and he also edited, in addition to various scientific journals, _The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia_ (1807-29). He likewise held the offices successively of Principal of the United Coll. of St. Salvator and St. Leonard, St. Andrews (1838), and of the Univ. of Edin. (1859). He was knighted in 1831. Of high-strung and nervous temperament, he was somewhat irritable in matters of controversy; but he was repeatedly subjected to serious provocation. He was a man of highly honourable and fervently religious character.
BROKE, or BROOKE, ARTHUR (_d._ 1563).–Translator, was the author of _The Tragicall Historie of Romeus and Juliett_, from which Shakespeare probably took the story of his _Romeo and Juliet_. Though indirectly translated, through a French version, from the Italian of Bandello, it is so much altered and amplified as almost to rank as an original work. The only fact known regarding him is his death by shipwreck when crossing to France.
BROME, RICHARD (_d._ 1652?).–Dramatist, the servant and friend of Ben Jonson, produced upwards of 20 plays, some in conjunction with Dekker and others. Among them are _A Fault in Friendship_, _Late Lancashire Witches_ (with Heywood and Dekker), _A Jovial Crew_ (1652), _The Northern Lass_ (1632), _The Antipodes_ (1646), _City Wit_ (1653), _Court Beggar_ (1653), etc. He had no original genius, but knew stage-craft well.
BRONTE, CHARLOTTE (1816-1855).–Novelist, _dau._ of the Rev. Patrick B., a clergyman of Irish descent and of eccentric habits who embittered the lives of his children by his peculiar theories of education. Brought up in a small parsonage close to the graveyard of a bleak, windswept village on the Yorkshire moors, and left motherless in early childhood, she was “the motherly friend and guardian of her younger sisters,” of whom two, Emily and Anne, shared, but in a less degree, her talents. After various efforts as schoolmistresses and governesses, the sisters took to literature and _pub._ a vol. of poems under the names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, which, however, fell flat. Charlotte then wrote her first novel, _The Professor_, which did not appear until after her death, and began _Jane Eyre_, which, appearing in 1847, took the public by storm. It was followed by _Shirley_ in 1849, and _Villette_ in 1852. In 1854 she was married to her father’s curate, the Rev. A. Nicholls, but after a short though happy married life she _d._ in 1855. EMILY B. (1818-1848).–a woman of remarkable force of character, reserved and taciturn, _pub._ in 1848 _Wuthering Heights_, a powerful, but somewhat unpleasing, novel, and some striking poems; and ANNE (1820-1849), was the authoress of _The Tenant of Wildfell Hall_ and _Agnes Grey_ (1848). She had not the intellectual force of her sisters. The novels of Charlotte especially created a strong impression from the first, and the _pub._ of _Jane Eyre_ gave rise to much curiosity and speculation as to its authorship. Their strength and originality have retained for them a high place in English fiction which is likely to prove permanent. There is a biography of Charlotte by Mrs. Gaskell (_q.v._).
Complete ed. of the works of Charlotte B. have been issued by Mrs. Humphrey Ward (7 vols. 1899-1900), and by Sir W.R. Nicoll, LL.D. (1903). _Note on Charlotte Bronte_, A.C. Swinburne, 1877. A short _Life_ in Great Writers Series by A. Birrell.
BROOKE, FULKE GREVILLE, LORD (1554-1628).–Poet and statesman, _b._ at Beauchamp Court, Warwickshire, and _ed._ at Shrewsbury and Camb., was a Privy Councillor, and held various important offices of state, including that of Chancellor of the Exchequer (1614-21). In the latter year he was created a peer. He was murdered by a servant. His works, which were chiefly _pub._ after his death, consist of tragedies and sonnets, and poems on political and moral subjects, including _Caelica_ (109 sonnets). He also wrote a Life of Sir P. Sidney, whose friend he was. His style is grave and sententious. He is buried in the church at Warwick, and the inscription on his tomb, written by himself, is a compendious biography. It runs: “Fulke Greville, servant to Queen Elizabeth, counsellor to King James, friend to Sir Philip Sidney.”
BROOKE, HENRY (1703-1783).–Novelist and dramatist, _b._ in Ireland, _s._ of a clergyman, studied law, but embraced literature as a career. He wrote poems, dramas, and novels; but the only work which has kept its place is _The Fool of Quality_ (5 vols. 1766-70), which was a favourite book with John Wesley. His now forgotten poem, _Universal Beauty_ (1735) was admired by Pope. His _dau._, CHARLOTTE, the only survivor of 22 children, tended him to his last days of decay, and was herself a writer, her principal work being _Reliques of Irish Poetry_ (1789). She _d._ 1793.
BROOKS, CHARLES WILLIAM SHIRLEY (1816-1874).–Journalist and novelist, _b._ in London, began life in a solicitor’s office. He early, however, took to literature, and contributed to various periodicals. In 1851 he joined the staff of _Punch_, to which he contributed “Essence of Parliament,” and on the death of Mark Lemon (_q.v._) he succeeded him as editor. He _pub._ a few novels, including _Aspen Court_ and _The Gordian Knot_.
BROOKS, MARIA (GOWAN) (1795?-1845).–American poetess, was early _m._ to a merchant, who lost his money, and left her a young widow, after which she wrote highly romantic and impassioned poetry. Her chief work, _Zophiel or The Bride of Swen_, was finished under the auspices of Southey, who called her “Maria del Occidente,” and regarded her as “the most impassioned and imaginative of all poetesses,” but time has not sustained this verdict.
BROOME, WILLIAM (1689-1745).–Poet and translator, _b._ at Haslington, Cheshire, and _ed._ at Eton and Camb., entered the Church, and held various incumbencies. He translated the _Iliad_ in prose along with others, and was employed by Pope, whom he excelled as a Greek scholar, in translating the _Odyssey_, of which he Englished the 8th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 18th, and 23rd books, catching the style of his master so exactly as almost to defy identification, and thus annoying him so as to earn a niche in _The Dunciad_. He _pub._ verses of his own of very moderate poetical merit.
BROUGHAM AND VAUX, HENRY, 1ST LORD (1778-1868).–_S._ of Henry B. of Brougham Hall, Westmoreland, _b._ in Edin., and _ed._ at the High School and Univ. there, where he distinguished himself chiefly in mathematics. He chose a legal career, and was called to the Scottish Bar in 1800, and to the English Bar in 1808. His chief forensic display was his defence of Queen Caroline in 1822. In 1810 he entered Parliament, where his versatility and eloquence soon raised him to a foremost place. The questions on which he chiefly exerted himself were the slave trade, commercial, legal, and parliamentary reform, and education, and in all of these he rendered signal service. When, in 1830, the Whigs, with whom he had always acted, attained power, B. was made Lord Chancellor; but his arrogance, selfishness, and indiscretion rendered him a dangerous and unreliable colleague, and he was never again admitted to office. He turned fiercely against his former political associates, but continued his efforts on behalf of reform in various directions. He was one of the founders of London Univ. and of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. In literature he has a place as one of the original projectors of and most voluminous contributors to _The Edinburgh Review_, and as the author of a prodigious number of treatises on science, philosophy, and history, including _Dialogues on Instinct_, Lives of Statesmen, Philosophers, and Men of Science of the Time of George III., Natural Theology, etc., his last work being an autobiography written in his 84th year, and _pub._ 1871. His writings were far too numerous and far too diverse in subject to be of permanent value. His fame now rests chiefly on his services to political and specially to legal reform, and to the diffusion of useful literature, which are his lasting monuments.
BROUGHTON, JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE, 1ST LORD (1786-1869).–Eldest _s._ of Sir Benjamin H., _b._ at Redland near Bristol, _ed._ at Westminster School and at Camb., where he became intimate with Byron, and accompanied him in his journeys in the Peninsula, Greece, and Turkey, and acted as his “best man.” In 1816 he was with him after his separation from his wife, and contributed notes to the fourth canto of _Childe Harold_, which was dedicated to him. On his return he threw himself into politics with great energy as an advanced Radical, and wrote various pamphlets, for one of which he was in 1819 imprisoned in Newgate. In the following year he entered Parliament, sitting for Westminster. After the attainment of power by the Whigs he held various offices, including those of Sec. at War, Chief Sec. for Ireland, and Pres. of the Board of Control. He _pub._ _Journey through Albania_ (1813), _Historical Illustrations of the Fourth Canto of Childe Harold_ (1818), and _Recollections of a Long Life_ (1865), for private circulation, and he left in MS. _Diaries, Correspondence, and Memoranda, etc., not to be opened till 1900_, extracts from which were _pub._ by his _dau._, Lady Dorchester, also under the title of _Recollections from a Long Life_ (1909).
BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-1810).–Novelist, _b._ in Philadelphia, belonged to a Quaker family, became a lawyer, but exchanged law for literature, and has the distinction of being the first American to adopt a purely literary career. He wrote several novels, including _Wieland_ (1798), _Ormond_ (1799), _Arthur Mervyn_ (1800-1), and his last, _Jane Talbot_ (1801). With a good deal of crudeness and sentimentality he has occasional power, but dwells too much on the horrible and repulsive, the result, perhaps, of the morbidity produced by the ill-health from which he all his life suffered.
BROWN, GEORGE DOUGLAS (1869-1902).–Novelist, wrote _The House with the Green Shutters_, which gives a strongly outlined picture of the harder and less genial aspects of Scottish life and character. It may be regarded as a useful supplement and corrective to the more roseate presentations of the kail-yard school of J.M. Barrie and “Ian Maclaren.” It made a considerable impression. The author _d._ almost immediately after its publication. There is an ed. with a memoir by Mr. Andrew Lang.
BROWN, DR. JOHN (1810-1882).–Physician and essayist, _s._ of John B., D.D., a distinguished dissenting minister in Edin. _B._ at Biggar, he was _ed._ at the High School and Univ. of Edin., where practically the whole of his uneventful life was spent as a physician, and where he was revered and beloved in no common degree, and he was the cherished friend of many of his most distinguished contemporaries, including Thackeray. He wrote comparatively little; but all he did write is good, some of it perfect, of its kind. His essays, among which are _Rab and his Friends_, _Pet Marjorie_, _Our Dogs_, _Minchmoor_, and _The Enterkine_, were collected along with papers on art, and medical history and biography, in _Horae Subsecivae_ (Leisure Hours), 3 vols. In the mingling of tenderness and delicate humour he has much in common with Lamb; in his insight into dog-nature he is unique. His later years were clouded with occasional fits of depression.
BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820).–Metaphysician, _s._ of the Rev. Samuel B., minister of Kirkinabreck, practised for some time as a physician in Edin., but his tastes and talents lying in the direction of literature and philosophy, he devoted himself to the cultivation of these, and succeeded Dugald Stewart as Professor of Moral Philosophy in the Univ. of Edin., in which position he had remarkable popularity as a lecturer. His main contribution to literature is his _Lectures_, _pub._ after his death. B. was a man of attractive character and considerable talents, but as a philosopher he is now largely superseded. He also wrote poetry, which, though graceful, lacked force, and is now forgotten.
BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897).–Poet, _b._ at Douglas, Isle of Man, _s._ of a clergyman, and _ed._ there and at Oxf., entered the Church and held various scholastic appointments, including a mastership at Clifton. His later years were spent in his native island. He had a true lyrical gift, and much of his poetry was written in Manx dialect. His poems include _Fo’c’sle Yarns_ (1881), _The Doctor_ (1887), _The Manx Witch_ (1889), and _Old John_ (1893). He was also an admirable letter-writer, and 2 vols. of his letters have been _pub._
BROWN, TOM (1663-1704).–Satirist, was _ed._ at Oxf., and there composed the famous epigram on Dr. Fell. He was for a few years schoolmaster at Kingston-on-Thames, but owing to his irregularities lost the appointment, and went to London, where he wrote satires, epigrams, and miscellaneous pieces, generally coarse and scurrilous.
BROWNE, CHARLES FARRAR (1834-1867).–Humorist (Artemus Ward), _b._ in Maine, U.S., worked as a compositor and reporter, and became a highly popular humorous writer, his books being _Artemus Ward his Book_, _A.W. His Panorama_, _A.W. among the Mormons_, and _A.W. in England_.
BROWNE, ISAAC HAWKINS (1705-1760).–Is remembered as the author of some clever imitations of contemporary poets on the theme of _A Pipe of Tobacco_, somewhat analogous to the _Rejected Addresses_ of a later day. He also wrote a Latin poem on the immortality of the soul. B., who was a country gentleman and barrister, had great conversational powers. He was a friend of Dr. Johnson.
BROWNE, SIR THOMAS (1605-1682).–Physician and miscellaneous and metaphysical writer, _s._ of a London merchant, was _ed._ at Winchester and Oxf., after which he studied medicine at various Continental univs., including Leyden, where he _grad._ He ultimately settled and practised at Norwich. His first and perhaps best known work, _Religio Medici_ (the Religion of a Physician) was _pub._ in 1642. Other books are _Pseudodoxia Epidemica: Enquiries into Vulgar Errors_ (1646), _Hydriotaphia, or Urn-burial_ (1658); and _The Garden of Cyrus_ in the same year. After his death were _pub._ his _Letter to a Friend_ and _Christian Morals_. B. is one of the most original writers in the English language. Though by no means free from credulity, and dealing largely with trivial subjects of inquiry, the freshness and ingenuity of his mind invest everything he touches with interest; while on more important subjects his style, if frequently rugged and pedantic, often rises to the highest pitch of grave and stately eloquence. In the Civil War he sided with the King’s party, and was knighted in 1671 on the occasion of a Royal visit to Norwich. In character he was simple, cheerful, and retiring. He has had a profound if indirect influence on succeeding literature, mainly by impressing master-minds such as Lamb, Coleridge, and Carlyle.
There is an ed. of B.’s works by S. Wilkin (4 vols., 1835-6), _Religio Medici_ by Dr. Greenhill, 1881. _Life_ by Gosse in Men of Letters Series, 1903.
BROWNE, WILLIAM (1590?-1645?).–Poet, _b._ at Tavistock, _ed._ at Oxf., after which he entered the Inner Temple. His poems, which are mainly descriptive, are rich and flowing, and true to the phenomena of nature, but deficient in interest. Influenced by Spenser, he in turn had an influence upon such poets as Milton and Keats. His chief works were _Britannia’s Pastorals_ (1613), and _The Shepheard’s Pipe_ (1614).
BROWNING, ELIZABETH BARRETT (1806-1861).–Poetess, was the _dau._ of Edward Barrett Moulton Barrett, who assumed the last name on succeeding to the estates of his grandfather in Jamaica. She was _b._ at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, but spent her youth at Hope End, near Great Malvern. While still a child she showed her gift, and her _f._ _pub._ 50 copies of a juvenile epic, on the Battle of Marathon. She was _ed._ at home, but owed her profound knowledge of Greek and much mental stimulus to her early friendship with the blind scholar, Hugh Stuart Boyd, who was a neighbour. At the age of 15 she met with an injury to her spine which confined her to a recumbent position for several years, and from the effects of which she never fully recovered. In 1826 she _pub._ anonymously _An Essay on Mind and Other Poems_. Shortly afterwards the abolition of slavery, of which he had been a disinterested supporter, considerably reduced Mr. B.’s means: he accordingly disposed of his estate and removed with his family first to Sidmouth and afterwards to London. At the former Miss B. wrote _Prometheus Bound_ (1835). After her removal to London she fell into delicate health, her lungs being threatened. This did not, however, interfere with her literary labours, and she contributed to various periodicals _The Romaunt of Margaret_, _The Romaunt of the Page_, _The Poet’s Vow_, and other pieces. In 1838 appeared _The Seraphim and Other Poems_ (including “Cowper’s Grave.”) Shortly thereafter the death, by drowning, of her favourite brother gave a serious shock to her already fragile health, and for a time she hovered between life and death. Eventually, however, she regained strength, and meanwhile her fame was growing. The _pub._ about 1841 of _The Cry of the Children_ gave it a great impulse, and about the same time she contributed some critical papers in prose to R.H. Horne’s _New Spirit of the Age_. In 1844 she _pub._ two vols. of _Poems_, which comprised “The Drama of Exile,” “Vision of Poets,” and “Lady Geraldine’s Courtship.” In 1845 she met for the first time her future husband, Robert Browning (_q.v._). Their courtship and marriage, owing to her delicate health and the extraordinary objections entertained by Mr. B. to the marriage of any of his children, were carried out under somewhat peculiar and romantic circumstances. After a private marriage and a secret departure from her home, she accompanied her husband to Italy, which became her home almost continuously until her death, and with the political aspirations of which she and her husband both thoroughly identified themselves. The union proved one of unalloyed happiness to both, though it was never forgiven by Mr. Barrett. In her new circumstances her strength greatly increased. Her husband and she settled in Florence, and there she wrote _Casa Guidi Windows_ (1851)–by many considered her strongest work–under the inspiration of the Tuscan struggle for liberty. _Aurora Leigh_, her largest, and perhaps the most popular of her longer poems, appeared in 1856. In 1850 _The Sonnets from the Portuguese_–the history of her own love-story, thinly disguised by its title–had appeared. In 1860 she issued a _coll._ ed. of her poems under the title, _Poems before Congress_. Soon thereafter her health underwent a change for the worse; she gradually lost strength, and _d._ on June 29, 1861. She is generally considered the greatest of English poetesses. Her works are full of tender and delicate, but also of strong and deep, thought. Her own sufferings, combined with her moral and intellectual strength, made her the champion of the suffering and oppressed wherever she found them. Her gift was essentially lyrical, though much of her work was not so in form. Her weak points are the lack of compression, an occasional somewhat obtrusive mannerism, and frequent failure both in metre and rhyme. Though not nearly the equal of her husband in force of intellect and the higher qualities of the poet, her works had, as might be expected on a comparison of their respective subjects and styles, a much earlier and wider acceptance with the general public. Mrs. B. was a woman of singular nobility and charm, and though not beautiful, was remarkably attractive. Miss Mitford (_q.v._) thus describes her as a young woman: “A slight, delicate figure, with a shower of dark curls falling on each side of a most expressive face; large, tender eyes, richly fringed by dark eyelashes, and a smile like a sunbeam.”
_Life_ by J.H. Ingram (1889); _Letters of R. Browning and E.B. Browning_ (1889). _Coll._ ed. of her works, _see_ above.
BROWNING, ROBERT (1812-1889).–Poet, only _s._ of Robert B., a man of fine intellect and equally fine character, who held a position in the Bank of England, was _b._ in Camberwell. His mother, to whom he was ardently attached, was the _dau._ of a German shipowner who had settled in Dundee, and was alike intellectually and morally worthy of his affection. The only other member of the family was a younger sister, also highly gifted, who was the sympathetic companion of his later years. In his childhood he was distinguished by his love of poetry and natural history. At 12 he had written a book of poetry which he destroyed when he could not find a publisher. After being at one or two private schools, and showing an insuperable dislike to school life, he was _ed._ by a tutor, and thereafter studied Greek at Univ. Coll., London. Through his mother he inherited some musical talent, and composed settings, for various songs. His first _pub._ was _Pauline_, which appeared anonymously in 1833, but attracted little attention. In 1834 he paid his first visit to Italy, in which so much of his future life was to be passed. The publication of _Paracelsus_ in 1835, though the poem had no general popularity, gained the notice of Carlyle, Wordsworth, and other men of letters, and gave him a reputation as a poet of distinguished promise. Two years later his drama of _Stratford_ was performed by his friend Macready and Helen Faucit, and in 1840 the most difficult and obscure of his works, _Sordello_, appeared; but, except with a select few, did little to increase his reputation. It was followed by _Bells and Pomegranates_ (containing _Pippa Passes_) (1841), _A Blot in the ‘Scutcheon_ (drama) (1843), _Luria_ and _A Soul’s Tragedy_ (1846). In this year he married Miss Elizabeth Barrett (_q.v._), the poetess, a union of ideal happiness. Thereafter his home until his wife’s death in 1861 was in Italy, chiefly at Florence. In 1850 he wrote _Christmas Eve and Easter Day_, and in 1855 appeared _Men and Women_. After the death of Mrs. Browning he returned to England, paying, however, frequent visits to Italy. Settling in London he published successively _Dramatis Personae_ (1864), _The Ring and the Book_ (1868-69), his greatest work, _Balaustion’s Adventure_, and _Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau_ (1871), _Fifine at the Fair_ (1872), _Red Cotton Night-cap Country_ (1873), _The Inn Album_ (1875), _Pacchiarotto_ (1876), translation of _Agamemnon_ (1879), _La Saisiaz_, etc. (1878), _Dramatic Idylls_ (1879 and 1880), _Asolando_ (1889) appeared on the day of his death. To the great majority of readers, probably, B. is best known by some of his short poems, such as, to name a few, “Rabbi Ben Ezra,” “How they brought the good News to Aix,” “Evelyn Hope,” “The Pied Piper of Hammelin,” “A Grammarian’s Funeral,” “A Death in the Desert.” It was long before England recognised that in B. she had received one of the greatest of her poets, and the causes of this lie on the surface. His subjects were often recondite and lay beyond the ken and sympathy of the great bulk of readers; and owing, partly to the subtle links connecting the ideas and partly to his often extremely condensed and rugged expression, the treatment of them was not seldom difficult and obscure. Consequently for long he appealed to a somewhat narrow circle. As time went on, however, and work after work was added, the circle widened, and the marvellous depth and variety of thought and intensity of feeling told with increasing force. Societies began to be formed for the study of the poet’s work. Critics became more and more appreciative, and he at last reaped the harvest of admiration and honour which was his due. Many distinctions came to him. He was made LL.D. of Edin., a life Governor of London Univ., and had the offer of the Lord Rectorship of Glasgow. He _d._ in the house of his son at Venice, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. The keynote of his teaching is a wise and noble optimism. His poems were collected in 2 vols. in 1896. Some vols. of his correspondence with Mrs. B. were also _pub._
Uniform ed. of Works (17 vols. 1888-90); Furnivall’s _Browning Bibliography_ (1883), _Lives_ by Mrs. Sutherland Orr (1891); Gosse (1890); Dowden (1904), G.K. Chesterton (English Men of Letters), etc.; _Poetry of Robert Browning_ by Stopford Brooke, 1902, etc.
SUMMARY.–_B._ 1812, _pub._ _Paracelsus_ 1835, _Sordello_ 1840, _Bells and Pomegranates_ 1841, _m._ to E.B.B. 1846, lives chiefly in Italy till her _d._, 1861, when he returned to England and continued to write until his _d._, _pub._ _Dramatis Personae_, _Ring and Book_ 1868-9, _Asolando_ 1889, _d._ 1889.
BRUCE, JAMES (1730-1794).–Traveller, was _b._ at the family seat of Kinnaird, Perthshire, and _ed._ at Harrow. After various travels in Europe he set out in 1768 on his expedition to Abyssinia, and in 1770 reached the source of the Blue Nile. He returned to England in 1774, and in 1790 _pub._ his _Travels_ in 5 quarto vols. His notorious vanity, the singular adventures he related, and the generally embellished character which he imparted to his narrative excited some degree of scepticism, and he was subjected to a good deal of satire, to which, though much annoyed, he did not reply. It is, however, generally allowed that he had shown great daring, perseverance, and zeal in his explorations, and that he made a real addition to the geographical knowledge of his day.
BRUCE, MICHAEL (1746-1767).–Poet, _s._ of a poor weaver at Kinnesswood, Kinross-shire, as a child herded cattle, but received a good education, including 4 sessions at the Univ. of Edin., and for a short time kept a school. His longest poem, _Loch Leven_, shows the influence of Thomson. His best is his _Elegy_. His promising career was cut short by consumption in 1767. The authorship of the beautiful _Ode to the Cuckoo_ beginning “Hail, beauteous stranger of the grove” is contested, some authorities claiming it for B. and others for the Rev. John Logan (_q.v._), who ed. B.’s works, adding some of his own, and who claimed the _Ode_ as his.
BRUNTON, MARY (BALFOUR) (1778-1818).–Novelist, _dau._ of Col. Balfour of Elwick, and _m._ to the Rev. Dr. Brunton, Prof. of Oriental Languages in the Univ. of Edin., was the authoress of two novels, _Self-Control_ (1811) and _Discipline_ (1814), which were popular in their day.
BRYANT, JACOB (1715-1804).–Scholar, _ed._ at Eton and Camb., wrote learnedly, but paradoxically, on mythological and Homeric subjects. His chief works were _A New System or Analysis of Ancient Mythology_ (1774-76), _Observations on the Plain of Troy_ (1795), and _Dissertation concerning the Wars of Troy_ (1796). In the last two he endeavoured to show that the existence of Troy and the Greek expedition were fabulous. Though so sceptical on these points he was an implicit believer in the authenticity of the Rowley authorship of Chatterton’s fabrications. He also wrote on theological subjects.
BRYANT, WILLIAM CULLEN (1794-1878).–Poet, was _b._ at Cummington, Massachusetts, the _s._ of a doctor. His ancestors on both sides came over in the _Mayflower_. His first poem was _Thanatopsis_ (1817), which was greeted as the best poem produced in America up to that time. After being a lawyer for some time he was induced to exchange law for journalism, and acted as ed. of various periodicals. Among his best known poems are _Lines to a Water-fowl_, _The Rivulet_, _The West Wind_, _The Forest Hymn_, _The Fringed Gentian_, etc. His muse is tender and graceful, pervaded by a contemplative melancholy, and a love of solitude and the silence of the woods. Though he was brought up to admire Pope, and in his early youth imitated him, he was one of the first American poets to throw off his influence. He had a high sense of duty, was a prominent and patriotic citizen, and enjoyed the esteem and even the reverence of his fellow-countrymen. B. also produced a blank-verse translation of the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_.
BRYDGES, SIR SAMUEL EGERTON (1762-1837).–Bibliographer and genealogist, _ed._ at Camb., was called to the Bar in 1787. He wrote some novels and poems, now forgotten, but rendered valuable service by his bibliographical publications, _Censura Literaria, Titles and Opinions of Old English Books_ (10 vols. 1805-9), his editions of E. Phillips’s _Theatrum Poetarum Anglicanorum_ (1800) Collin’s _Peerage of England_ (1812), and of many rare Elizabethan authors. He was made a baronet in 1814. He _d._ at Geneva.
BUCHANAN, GEORGE (1506-1582).–Historian and scholar _b._ at Killearn, Stirlingshire, of poor parents, was sent in 1519, with the help of an uncle, to the Univ. of Paris, where he first came in contact with the two great influences of the age, the Renaissance and the Reformation. His uncle having died, he had to leave Paris, and after seeing some military service, returned to Scotland, and in 1524 went to St. Andrews, where he studied under John Major (_q.v._). Two years later he found means to return to Paris, where he graduated at the Scots Coll. in 1528, and taught grammar in the Coll. of St. Barbe. Returning to Scotland in 1536 with a great reputation for learning he was made by James V. tutor to one of his illegitimate sons, and incited by him to satirise the vices of the clergy, which he did in two Latin poems, _Somnium_ and _Franciscanus_. This stirred the wrath of the ecclesiastical powers to such a heat that, the King withholding his protection, he was obliged in 1539 to save himself by flight first to England and then to France, where he remained until 1547 teaching Latin at Bordeaux and Paris. In the latter year he was invited to become a prof. at Coimbra, where he was imprisoned by the Inquisition as a heretic from 1549-51, and wrote the greater part of his magnificent translation of the Psalms into Latin verse, which has never been excelled by any modern. He returned to England in 1552, but soon re-crossed to France and taught in the Coll. of Boncourt. In 1561 he came back to his native country, where he remained for the rest of his life. Hitherto, though a supporter of the new learning and a merciless exposer of the vices of the clergy, he had remained in the ancient faith, but he now openly joined the ranks of the Reformers. He held the Principalship of St. Leonard’s Coll., St. Andrews, was a supporter of the party of the Regent Moray, produced in 1571 his famous _Detectio Mariae Reginae_, a scathing exposure of the Queen’s relations to Darnley and the circumstances leading up to his death, was tutor, 1570-78, to James VI., whom he brought up with great strictness, and to whom he imparted the learning of which the King was afterwards so vain. His chief remaining works were _De Jure Regni apud Scotos_ (1579), against absolutism, and his _History of Scotland_, which was _pub._ immediately before his death. Though he had borne so great a part in the affairs of his country, and was the first scholar of his age, he _d._ so poor that he left no funds to meet the expenses of his interment. His literary masterpiece is his _History_, which is remarkable for the power and richness of its style. Its matter, however, gave so much offence that a proclamation was issued calling in all copies of it, as well as of the _De Jure Regni_, that they might be purged of the “offensive and extraordinary matters” which they contained. B. holds his great and unique place in literature not so much for his own writings as for his strong and lasting influence on subsequent writers.
BUCHANAN, ROBERT (1841-1901).–Poet and novelist, _b._ at Caverswall, Staffordshire, the _s._ of a Scottish schoolmaster and socialist, and _ed._ at Glasgow, was the friend of David Gray (_q.v._), and with him went to London in search of fame, but had a long period of discouragement. His first work, a collection of poems, _Undertones_ (1863), had, however, some success, and was followed by _Idylls of Inverburn_ (1865), _London Poems_ (1866), and others, which gave him a growing reputation, and raised high hopes of his future. Thereafter he took up prose fiction and the drama, not always with success, and got into trouble owing to some drastic criticism of his contemporaries, culminating in his famous article on the _Fleshly School of Poetry_, which appeared in the _Contemporary Review_ (Oct. 1871), and evoked replies from Rossetti (_The Stealthy School of Criticism_), and Swinburne (_Under the Microscope_). Among his novels are _A Child of Nature_ (1879), _God and the Man_ (1881), and among his dramas _A Nine Days’ Queen_, _A Madcap Prince_, and _Alone in London_. His latest poems, _The Outcast_ and _The Wandering Jew_, were directed against certain aspects of Christianity. B. was unfortunate in his latter years; a speculation turned out ruinously; he had to sell his copyrights, and he sustained a paralytic seizure, from the effects of which he _d._ in a few months. He ultimately admitted that his criticism of Rossetti was unjustifiable.
BUCKINGHAM, GEORGE VILLIERS, 2ND DUKE of (1628-1687).–Dramatist, _s._ of the 1st Duke, who was in 1628 assassinated by Felton. His life was full of adventure and change of fortune. The Restoration gave him back his already twice lost estates, which he again squandered by a life of wild extravagance and profligacy at Court. He was a member of the “Cabal” and intrigued against Clarendon. He wrote pamphlets, lampoons, and plays, but his chief contribution to literature was _The Rehearsal_, a comedy, in which he satirised the heroic drama of Dryden and others. It is believed that S. Butler had a hand in it. Dryden had his revenge in his picture of B. as _Zimri_ in _Absalom and Achitophel_.
BUCKINGHAM AND NORMANBY, JOHN SHEFFIELD, 1ST DUKE of (1648-1721).–_S._ of the 2nd Earl of Mulgrave, served in his youth as a soldier under Prince Rupert and Turenne, and is also said to have made love to the Princess, afterwards Queen, Anne. He was a Privy Councillor under James II., William and Mary, and Anne, with the last of whom he remained a favourite. His magnificent mansion was purchased and pulled down to make way for Buckingham Palace. He wrote _An Account of the Revolution_, _An Essay on Satire_, and _An Essay on Poetry_. He also remodelled Shakespeare’s _Julius Caesar_.
BUCKINGHAM, JAMES SILK (1786-1855).–Journalist and traveller, wrote many books of travel, both on the Old and New World. He established, and for a year or two ed., _The Athenaeum_, and produced many pamphlets on political and social subjects.
BUCKLAND, FRANCIS TREVELYAN (1826-80).–Naturalist, _b._ and _ed._ at Oxf., where his _f._ was Dean of Christchurch. He studied medicine and was assistant-surgeon in the Life Guards. An enthusiastic lover of natural history, he wrote largely upon it, among his works being _Curiosities of Natural History_ (4 vols. 1857-72), _Log Book of a Fisherman and Zoologist_ (1876), _Natural History of British Fishes_ (1881). He also founded and ed. _Land and Water_. He was for a time Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, and served on various commissions. Though observant, he was not always strictly scientific in his methods and modes of expression, and he was a strong opponent of Darwin.
BUCKLE, HENRY THOMAS (1821-1862).–Historical writer, _s._ of a wealthy shipowner in London, was _b._ at Lee in Kent. Though never at a univ. and little at school, he received a high degree of education privately, and inheriting an ample fortune and a large library, he devoted himself to travel and study, with the view of preparing for a great work which he had projected, _The History of Civilisation in England_. As an introduction to this he entered upon the consideration of the state of civilisation in various other countries, but this he had scarcely completed when his death took place at Damascus in 1862. The first vol. was _pub._ in 1857, and the second in 1861. In these the results of a vast amount of reading are shown; but they are not free from one-sided views and generalisations resting on insufficient data. He has, however, the credit of having contributed a new idea of history and the method of writing it. The completed work was to have extended to 14 vols. B. was one of the greatest chess-players in Europe.
BUDGELL, EUSTACE (1686-1737).–Miscellaneous writer, _ed._ at Oxf., was a cousin of Addison, who took him to Ireland and got him appointed to a lucrative office, which, however, he was foolish enough to throw away by lampooning the Viceroy. He assisted A. in the _Spectator_, of which he wrote 37 numbers signed X. In these he imitates A.’s style with some success. B., who was vain and vindictive, fell on evil days, lost a fortune in the South Sea Bubble, was accused of forging a will, and committed suicide by throwing himself out of a boat at London Bridge.
BULL, GEORGE (1634-1710).–Theologian, _b._ at Wells, _ed._ at Tiverton and Oxf., took orders, was ordained by an ejected bishop in 1658, and received the living of Suddington near Bristol. He was a strong Royalist, and was privy to a scheme for bringing back the Royal family. After the Restoration he obtained further preferment, and became in 1704 Bishop of St. David’s at an age when his strength had become unequal to any very active discharge of the duties of his see. He has a high place among Anglican theologians, and as a defender of the doctrine of the Trinity was held in high esteem even by Continental Romanist controversialists. Among his works are _Harmonia Apostolica_ (1669-70) in which he endeavoured to reconcile alleged discrepancies between the teaching of St. Paul and St. James on the relation between faith and works, in which he assigned to the latter the higher authority, _Defensio Fidei Nicaenae_ (1685) and _Corruptions of the Church of Rome_.
BULWER, E.L., (_see_ LYTTON.)
BUNYAN, JOHN (1628-1688).–_B._ at Elstow, near Bedford, the _s._ of a poor tinker, was _ed._ at a free school, after which he worked at his father’s trade. At 17 he was drafted as a soldier in the Civil War, and served for two years at Newport Pagnell. At 19 he _m._ a pious young woman, whose only dowry appears to have been two books, the _Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven_ and the _Practice of Piety_, by which he was influenced towards a religious life. In his autobiographical book, _Grace Abounding_, B. describes himself as having led an abandoned life in his youth; but there appears to be no evidence that he was, outwardly at any rate, worse than the average of his neighbours: the only serious fault which he specifies is profanity, others being dancing and bell-ringing. The overwhelming power of his imagination led him to contemplate acts of impiety and profanity, and to a vivid realisation of the dangers these involved. In particular he was harassed by a curiosity in regard to the “unpardonable sin,” and a prepossession that he had already committed it. He continually heard voices urging him to “sell Christ,” and was tortured by fearful visions. After severe spiritual conflicts he escaped from this condition, and became an enthusiastic and assured believer. In 1657 he joined the Baptist Church, began to preach, and in 1660 was committed to Bedford Jail, at first for three months, but on his refusing to conform, or to desist from preaching, his confinement was extended with little interval for a period of nearly 12 years, not always, however, very rigorous. He supported his family (wife and four children, including a blind girl) by making tagged laces, and devoted all the time he could spare from this to studying his few books and writing. During this period he wrote among other things, _The Holy City_ and _Grace Abounding_. Under the Declaration of Indulgence he was released in 1672, and became a licensed preacher. In 1675 the Declaration was cancelled, and he was, under the Conventicle Act, again imprisoned for six months, during which he wrote the first part of _The Pilgrim’s Progress_, which appeared in 1678, and to which considerable additions were made in subsequent editions. It was followed by the _Life and Death of Mr. Badman_ (1680), _The Holy War_ (1682), and the second part of _The Pilgrim’s Progress_ (1684). B. was now widely known as a popular preacher and author, and exercised a wide influence. In 1688 he set out on a journey to mediate between a father and son, in which he was successful. On the return journey he was drenched with rain, caught a chill and _d._ in London on August 31. He is buried in Bunhill Fields. B. has the distinction of having written, in _The Pilgrim’s Progress_, probably the most widely read book in the English language, and one which has been translated into more tongues than any book except the Bible. The charm of the work, which makes it the joy of old and young, learned and ignorant, and of readers of all possible schools of thought and theology, lies in the interest of a story in which the intense imagination of the writer makes characters, incidents, and scenes alike live in that of his readers as things actually known and remembered by themselves, in its touches of tenderness and quaint humour, its bursts of heart-moving eloquence, and its pure, nervous, idiomatic English, Macaulay has said, “Every reader knows the straight and narrow path as well as he knows a road on which he has been backwards and forwards a hundred times,” and he adds that “In England during the latter half of the seventeenth century there were only two minds which possessed the imaginative faculty in a very eminent degree. One of these minds produced the _Paradise Lost_, the other _The Pilgrim’s Progress_.” B. wrote about 60 books and tracts, of which _The Holy War_ ranks next to _The Pilgrim’s Progress_ in popularity, while _Grace Abounding_ is one of the most interesting pieces of biography in existence.
There are numerous Lives, the most complete being that by Dr. John Brown of Bedford (1885 new 1888): others are Southey’s (1830), on which Macaulay’s _Essay_ is based, Offor (1862), Froude (1880). On _The Pilgrim’s Progress, The People of the Pilgrimage_, by J. Kerr Bain, D.D.
BURCKHARDT, JOHN LEWIS (1784-1817).–Traveller, _b._ at Lausanne and _ed._ in Germany, came to England in 1806 and wrote his books of travel in English. He travelled widely in Africa and in Syria, and the adjoining countries, became a great oriental scholar, and, disguising himself, made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and obtained access to places not open to Christians. He wrote accounts of his travels, and a book on Arabic proverbs. He _d._ of dysentery at Cairo when about to start on a new journey into the interior of Africa.
BURKE, EDMUND (1729-1797).–Statesman, orator, and political philosopher, was the _s._ of an attorney in Dublin, where he was _b._ His _f._ was a Protestant, but his mother, whose maiden name was Nagle, was a Roman Catholic. He received his early _ed._ at a Quaker school at Ballitore, and in 1743 proceeded to Trinity Coll., Dublin, where he graduated in 1748. His _f._ wished him to study for the law, and with this object he, in 1750, went to London and entered the Middle Temple. He, however, disliked law and spent more time in literary pursuits than in legal study. In 1756 his first _pub._ work appeared, _A Vindication of Natural Society_, a satire on the views of Bolingbroke, but so close was the imitation of that writer’s style, and so grave the irony, that its point as a satire was largely missed. In the same year he _pub._ his famous treatise _On the Sublime and Beautiful_, which attracted universal attention, and three years later (1759) he projected with Dodsley the publisher _The Annual Register_, for which he continued to write the yearly Survey of Events until 1788. About the same time he was introduced to W.G. Hamilton (known as Single-speech H.) then about to go to Ireland as Chief Sec., and accompanied him in the capacity of private sec., in which he remained for three years. In 1765 he became private sec. to the Marquis of Rockingham, the Whig statesman, then Prime Minister, who became his fast friend until his death. At the same time he entered Parliament as member for Wendover, and began his brilliant career as an orator and philosophic statesman. The first great subject in which he interested himself was the controversy with the American colonies, which soon developed into war and ultimate separation, and in 1769 he _pub._, in reply to G. Grenville, his pamphlet on _The Present State of the Nation_. In the same year he purchased the small estate of Gregories near Beaconsfield. His speeches and writings had now made him famous, and among other effects had brought about the suggestion that he was the author of the _Letters of Junius_. It was also about this time that he became one of the circle which, including Goldsmith, Garrick, etc., had Johnson for its central luminary. In 1770 appeared _Thoughts on the Causes of the Present Discontent_, directed against the growth of the Royal power on the one hand, and of faction on the other. In 1774 he was elected member for Bristol, and continued so until 1780, when differences with his constituency on the questions of Irish trade and Catholic emancipation led to his resignation, after which he sat for Malton until his final retirement from public life. Under the administration of Lord North (1770-1782) the American war went on from bad to worse, and it was in part owing to the splendid oratorical efforts of B. that it was at last brought to an end. To this period belong two of his most brilliant performances, his speech on _Conciliation with America_ (1775), and his _Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol_ (1777). The fall of North led to Rockingham being recalled to power, which, however, he held for a few months only, dying in the end of 1782, during which period B. held the office of Paymaster of the Forces, and was made a Privy Councillor. Thereafter he committed the great error of his political life in supporting Fox in his coalition with North, one of the most flagitious, as it was to those concerned in it, one of the most fatal, political acts in our parliamentary history. Under this unhappy combination he continued to hold during its brief existence the office of Paymaster, and distinguished himself in connection with Fox’s India Bill. The coalition fell in 1783, and was succeeded by the long administration of Pitt, which lasted until 1801. B. was accordingly for the remainder of his political life in opposition. In 1785 he made his great speech on _The Nabob of Arcot’s Debts_, and in the next year (1786) he moved for papers in regard to the Indian government of Warren Hastings, the consequence of which was the impeachment of that statesman, which, beginning in 1787, lasted until 1794, and of which B. was the leading promoter. Meanwhile, the events in France were in progress which led to the Revolution, and culminated in the death of the King and Queen. By these B. was profoundly moved, and his _Reflections on the French Revolution_ (1790) electrified England, and even Europe. Its success was enormous. The same events and the differences which arose regarding them in the Whig party led to its break up, to the rupture of B’s friendship with Fox, and to his _Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs_. In 1794 a terrible blow fell upon him in the loss of his son Richard, to whom he was tenderly attached, and in whom he saw signs of promise, which were not patent to others, and which in fact appear to have been non-existent. In the same year the Hastings trial came to an end. B. felt that his work was done and indeed that he was worn out; and he took leave of Parliament. The King, whose favour he had gained by his attitude on the French Revolution, wished to make him Lord Beaconsfield, but the death of his son had deprived such an honour of all its attractions, and the only reward he would accept was a pension of L2500. Even this modest reward for services so transcendent was attacked by the Duke of Bedford, to whom B. made a crushing reply in the _Letter to a Noble Lord_ (1796). His last _pub._ was the _Letter on a Regicide Peace_ (1796), called forth by negotiations for peace with France. When it appeared the author was dead.
B. was one of the greatest political thinkers whom England has produced, and all his writings, like his speeches, are characterised by the welding together of knowledge, thought, and feeling. Unlike most orators he is more successful as a writer than as a speaker. He rose too far above the heads of his audience, which the continued splendour of his declamation, his inordinate copiousness, and his excessive vehemence, often passing into fury, at length wearied, and even disgusted: but in his writings are found some of the grandest examples of a fervid and richly elaborated eloquence. Though he was never admitted to the Cabinet, he guided and influenced largely the policy of his party, while by his efforts in the direction of economy and order in administration at home, and on behalf of kindly and just government in India, as well as by his contributions to political philosophy, he laid his country and indeed the world under lasting obligations.
There are _Lives_ by Prior (1824 and 1854); J. Morley (1867), and various ed. of his works have appeared. _Select Works_ by Payne (3 vols. 1874-78).
SUMMARY.–_B._ 1729, _ed._ Trinity Coll., Dublin, enters Middle Temple 1750, _pub._ treatise _On the Sublime and Beautiful_ 1756, became friend of Rockingham 1765, enters Parliament and engages in American controversy, _pub._ speech on _Conciliation with America_ 1775, Paymaster of Forces and P.C. 1782, joined coalition of Fox and North 1782, leads in prosecution of W. Hastings 1787-94, _pub._ _Reflections on French Revolution_ 1790 and breaks with Fox party, _pub._ _Letter on a Regicide Peace_ 1796, _d._ 1797.
BURNET, GILBERT (1643-1715).–Theologian and historian, s. of a Royalist and Episcopalian lawyer, who became a judge, and of the sister of Johnston of Warristoun, a leader of the Covenanters, was _b._ in Edin., and _ed._ at Aberdeen and at Amsterdam, where he studied Hebrew under a Rabbi. Returning to Scotland, he was successively Episcopal minister at Saltoun and Prof. of Divinity in Glasgow (1669), and was then offered, but declined, a Scotch bishopric. His energetic and bustling character led him to take an active part in the controversies of the time, and he endeavoured to bring about a reconciliation between Episcopacy and Presbytery. Going to London he was in some favour with Charles II., from whom he received various preferments. His literary reputation was greatly enhanced by the publication in 1679 of the first vol. of his _History of the Reformation of the Church of England_, for which he received the thanks of Parliament, and which was completed by other two vols., in 1682 and 1714. On account of a letter of reproof which he ventured to write to the King, he lost favour at Court, and the policy pursued by James II. being very repugnant to him, he betook himself in 1687 to Holland, where he became one of the advisers of the Prince of Orange. Returning to England at the Revolution, he was made Bishop of Salisbury, which office he adorned by liberal views and a zealous discharge of duty. The work by which his fame is chiefly sustained, his _History of my Own Times_, was, by his direction, not to be _pub._ until 6 years after his death. It appeared in 1723. It gives a sketch of the history of the Civil Wars and Commonwealth, and a detailed account of the immediately succeeding period down to 1713. While not free from egotism and some party feeling, it is written with a sincere desire for accuracy and fairness, and it has largely the authority of an eye-witness. The style, if somewhat lacking in dignity, is lively and picturesque. Among his other writings are a _History of the Dukes of Hamilton_, and an _Exposition of the 39 Articles_.
His principal works have been repeatedly printed. Clarendon Press ed. of _My Own Times_ by Routh (1823 and 1833).
BURNET, THOMAS (1635?-1715).–Theologian and writer on cosmogony, was _b._ at Croft near Darlington, and _ed._ at Camb., and became Master of Charterhouse and Clerk of the Closet to William III. His literary fame rests on his _Telluris Theoria Sacra, or Sacred Theory of the Earth_, _pub._ about 1692, first in Latin and afterwards in English, a work which, in absence of all scientific knowledge of the earth’s structure, was necessarily a mere speculative cosmogony. It is written, however, with much eloquence. Some of the views expressed in another work, _Archaeolgiae Philosophicae_, were, however, so unacceptable to contemporary theologians that he had to resign his post at Court.
BURNS, ROBERT (1759-1796).–Poet, was _b._ near Ayr, the _s._ of William Burness or Burns, a small farmer, and a man of considerable force of character and self-culture. His youth was passed in poverty, hardship, and a degree of severe manual labour which left its traces in a premature stoop and weakened constitution. He had little regular schooling, and got much of what education he had from his father, who taught his children reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and history, and also wrote for them “A Manual of Christian Belief.” With all his ability and character, however, the elder B. was consistently unfortunate, and migrated with his large family from farm to farm without ever being able to improve his circumstances. In 1781 Robert went to Irvine to become a flax-dresser, but, as the result of a New Year carousal of the workmen, including himself, the shop took fire and was burned to the ground. This venture accordingly came to an end. In 1784 the _f._ died, and B. with his brother Gilbert made an ineffectual struggle to keep on the farm; failing in which they removed to Mossgiel, where they maintained an uphill fight for 4 years. Meanwhile, his love affair with Jean Armour had passed through its first stage, and the troubles in connection therewith, combined with the want of success in farming, led him to think of going to Jamaica as bookkeeper on a plantation. From this he was dissuaded by a letter from Dr. Thomas Blacklock (_q.v._), and at the suggestion of his brother _pub._ his poems. This first ed. was brought out at Kilmarnock in June 1786, and contained much of his best work, including “The Twa Dogs,” “The Address to the Deil,” “Hallowe’en,” “The Cottar’s Saturday Night,” “The Mouse,” “The Daisy,” etc., many of which had been written at Mossgiel. Copies of this ed. are now extremely scarce, and as much as L550 has been paid for one. The success of the work was immediate, the poet’s name rang over all Scotland, and he was induced to go to Edin. to superintend the issue of a new ed. There he was received as an equal by the brilliant circle of men of letters which the city then boasted–Dugald Stewart, Robertson, Blair, etc., and was a guest at aristocratic tables, where he bore himself with unaffected dignity. Here also Scott, then a boy of 15, saw him and describes him as of “manners rustic, not clownish. His countenance … more massive than it looks in any of the portraits … a strong expression of shrewdness in his lineaments; the eye alone indicated the poetical character and temperament. It was large, and of a dark cast, and literally glowed when he spoke with feeling or interest.” The results of this visit outside of its immediate and practical object, included some life-long friendships, among which were those with Lord Glencairn and Mrs. Dunlop. The new ed. brought him L400. About this time the episode of Highland Mary occurred. On his return to Ayrshire he renewed his relations with Jean Armour, whom he ultimately married, took the farm of Ellisland near Dumfries, having meanwhile taken lessons in the duties of an exciseman, as a line to fall back upon should farming again prove unsuccessful. At Ellisland his society was cultivated by the local gentry. And this, together with literature and his duties in the excise, to which he had been appointed in 1789, proved too much of a distraction to admit of success on the farm, which in 1791 he gave up. Meanwhile he was writing at his best, and in 1790 had produced _Tam o’ Shanter_. About this time he was offered and declined an appointment in London on the staff of the _Star_ newspaper, and refused to become a candidate for a newly-created Chair of Agriculture in the Univ. of Edin., although influential friends offered to support his claims. After giving up his farm he removed to Dumfries. It was at this time that, being requested to furnish words for _The Melodies of Scotland_, he responded by contributing over 100 songs, on which perhaps his claim to immortality chiefly rests, and which placed him in the front rank of lyric poets. His worldly prospects were now perhaps better than they had ever been; but he was entering upon the last and darkest period of his career. He had become soured, and moreover had alienated many of his best friends by too freely expressing sympathy with the French Revolution, and the then unpopular advocates of reform at home. His health began to give way; he became prematurely old, and fell into fits of despondency; and the habits of intemperance, to which he had always been more or less addicted, grew upon him. He _d._ on July 21, 1797.
The genius of B. is marked by spontaneity, directness, and sincerity, and his variety is marvellous, ranging from the tender intensity of some of his lyrics through the rollicking humour and blazing wit of _Tam o’ Shanter_ to the blistering satire of _Holy Willie’s Prayer_ and _The Holy Fair_. His life is a tragedy, and his character full of flaws. But he fought at tremendous odds, and as Carlyle in his great Essay says, “Granted the ship comes into harbour with shrouds and tackle damaged, the pilot is blameworthy … but to know _how_ blameworthy, tell us first whether his voyage has been round the Globe or only to Ramsgate and the Isle of Dogs.”
The books about Burns, his life and writings, are innumerable. Among the Lives are those by Currie (1800); Allan Cunningham (1834); J.G. Lockhart (1828), on which is based Carlyle’s memorable _Essay_ (which _see_). Among the famous ed. of the _Poems_ may be mentioned the first (Kilmarnock 1786), Edin. (1787), and the _Centenary_ (1896), by W.E. Henley and T.F. Henderson.
SUMMARY.–_B._ 1759, flax-dresser at Irvine 1781, farms at Mossgiel, has love affair with Jean Armour, _pub._ first ed. of poems 1786, visits Edin. 1786, goes to Ellisland, became exciseman 1789, _pub._ songs, _c._ 1791, _d._ 1797.
BURTON, JOHN HILL (1809-1881).–Historian, was _b._ and _ed._ at Aberdeen, was in 1831 called to the Bar, but had little practice, and in 1854 was appointed Sec. to the Prison Board of Scotland, and in 1877 a Commissioner of Prisons. He became at an early period of his life a contributor to _Blackwood’s Magazine_ and other periodicals, and in 1846 _pub._ a life of Hume, which attracted considerable attention, and was followed by Lives of Lord Lovat and Lord President Forbes. He began his career as an historian by the publication in 1853 of _History of Scotland from the Revolution to the Extinction of the last Jacobite Insurrection_, to which he added (1867-70) _History of Scotland from Agricola’s Invasion to the Revolution_, in 7 vols., thus completing a continuous narrative. Subsequently he _pub._ a _History of the Reign of Queen Anne_ (1880). Other works of a lighter kind were _The Book-Hunter_ (1862), and _The Scot Abroad_ (1864). B.’s historical works display much research and a spirit of candour and honesty, and have picturesque and spirited passages, but the style is unequal, and frequently lacks dignity. On the whole, however, his is regarded as the most generally trustworthy and valuable history of Scotland at present existing.
BURTON, SIR RICHARD FRANCIS (1821-1890).–Explorer and scholar, _s._ of an officer in the army, was _b._ at Barham House, Herts, and after a somewhat desultory education abroad as well as at home, entered upon a life of travel, adventure, and military and civil service in almost every quarter of the world, including India, Africa, the nearer East, and North and South America, in the course of which he mastered 35 languages. As an official his masterful ways and spirit of adventure frequently brought him into collision with superior powers, by whom he not seldom considered himself ill-used. He was the author of upwards of 50 books on a great variety of subjects, including travels, novels, and translations, among which are _Personal Narrative of a Journey to Mecca_ (1855), _First Footprints in East Africa_ (1856), _Lake Regions of Equatorial Africa_ (1860), _The Nile Basin_, a translation and life of Camoens, an absolutely literal translation of the _Arabian Nights_, with notes and commentaries, of which his accomplished wife _pub._ an expurgated edition. Lady B., who was the companion of his travels after 1861, also wrote books on Syria, Arabia, and other eastern countries, as well as a life of her husband, a number of whose manuscripts she destroyed.
BURTON, ROBERT (1577-1640).–Miscellaneous writer, _b._ at Lindley, Leicestershire, and _ed._ at Oxf., took orders, and became Vicar of St. Thomas, Oxf., 1616, and Rector of Segrave, Leicestershire, 1630. Subject to depression of spirits, he wrote as an antidote the singular book which has given him fame. _The Anatomy of Melancholy_, in which he appears under the name of _Democritus Junior_, was _pub._ in 1621, and had great popularity. In the words of Warton, “The author’s variety of learning, his quotations from rare and curious books, his pedantry sparkling with rude wit and shapeless elegance … have rendered it a repertory of amusement and information.” It has also proved a store-house from which later authors have not scrupled to draw without acknowledgment. It was a favourite book of Dr. Johnson. B. was a mathematician and dabbled in astrology. When not under depression he was an amusing companion, “very merry, facete, and juvenile,” and a person of “great honesty, plain dealing, and charity.”
The best ed. is that of Rev. A.R. Shilleto, with introduction by A.H. Bullen (3 vols. 1893).
BURY, LADY CHARLOTTE (1775-1861).–Novelist, _dau._ of the 5th Duke of Argyll, and _m._ first to Col. J. Campbell, and second to Rev. E.J. Bury, wrote a number of novels–_Flirtation_, _Separation_, _The Divorced_, etc., but is chiefly remembered in connection with a _Diary illustrative of the Times of George IV._ (1838), a somewhat scandalous work generally, and probably correctly, ascribed to her. She also wrote some poems and two devotional works. She held for some time an appointment in the household of the Princess of Wales.
BURY, RICHARD DE (1281-1345).–_S._ of Sir Richard Aungerville, _b._ at Bury St. Edmunds, studied at Oxf., and was a Benedictine monk, became tutor to Edward III. when Prince of Wales, and Bishop of Durham, and held many offices of State. He was a patron of learning, and one of the first English collectors of books, and he wrote his work, _Philobiblon_, in praise of books, and founded a library at Durham.
BUTLER, JOSEPH (1692-1752).–Theologian, _b._ at Wantage, _s._ of a Presbyterian linen-draper, was destined for the ministry of that Church, but in 1714 he decided to enter the Church of England, and went to Oxf. After holding various other preferments he became rector of the rich living of Stanhope, Bishop of Bristol (1738), and Bishop of Durham (1750), and was said to have refused the Primacy. In 1726 he _pub._ _Fifteen Sermons_, and in 1736 _The Analogy of Religion_. These two books are among the most powerful and original contributions to ethics and theology which have ever been made. They depend for their effect entirely upon the force of their reasoning, for they have no graces of style. B. was an excellent man, and a diligent and conscientious churchman. Though indifferent to general literature, he had some taste in the fine arts, especially architecture. B.’s works were ed. by W.E. Gladstone (2 vols. 1896), and there are Lives by Bishop W. Fitzgerald, Spooner (1902), and others, _see_ also _History of English Thought in 18th Century_, by Leslie Stephen.
BUTLER, SAMUEL (1612-1680).–Satirist, was the _s._ of a Worcestershire farmer. In early youth he was page to the Countess of Kent, and thereafter clerk to various Puritan justices, some of whom are believed to have suggested characters in _Hudibras_. After the Restoration he became Sec. to the Lord Pres. of Wales, and about the same time _m._ a Mrs. Herbert, a widow with a jointure, which, however, was lost. In 1663 the first part of _Hudibras_ was _pub._, and the other two in 1664 and 1668 respectively. This work, which is to a certain extent modelled on _Don Quixote_, stands at the head of the satirical literature of England, and for wit and compressed thought has few rivals in any language. It is directed against the Puritans, and while it holds up to ridicule the extravagancies into which many of the party ran, it entirely fails to do justice to their virtues and their services to liberty, civil and religious. Many of its brilliant couplets have passed into the proverbial commonplaces of the language, and few who use them have any idea of their source. Butler, notwithstanding the popularity of his work, was neglected by the Court, and _d._ in poverty.
Ed. of B.’s works have been issued by Bell (3 vols., 1813), and Johnson (2 vols., 1893).
BUTLER, SAMUEL (1825-1902).–Miscellaneous writer, _ed._ at Shrewsbury and Camb., wrote two satirical books, _Erewhon_ (nowhere) (1872), and _Erewhon Revisited_ (1901). He translated the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_ in prose, and mooted the theory that the latter was written by a woman. Other works were _The Fair Haven_, _Life and Habit_, _The Way of all Flesh_ (a novel) (1903), etc., and some sonnets. He also wrote on the Sonnets of Shakespeare.
BYRON, GEORGE GORDON, 6TH LORD BYRON (1788-1824).–Poet, was _b._ in London, the _s._ of Captain John B. and of Catherine Gordon, heiress of Gight, Aberdeenshire, his second wife, whom he _m._ for her money and, after squandering it, deserted. He was also the grand-nephew of the 5th, known as the “wicked” Lord B. From his birth he suffered from a malformation of the feet, causing a slight lameness, which was a cause of lifelong misery to him, aggravated by the knowledge that with proper care it might have been cured. After the departure of his _f._ his mother went to Aberdeen, where she lived on a small salvage from her fortune. She was a capricious woman of violent temper, with no fitness for guiding her volcanic son, and altogether the circumstances of his early life explain, if they do not excuse, the spirit of revolt which was his lifelong characteristic. In 1794, on the death of a cousin, he became heir-presumptive to the title and embarrassed estates of the family, to which, on the death of his great-uncle in 1798, he succeeded. In 1801 he was sent to Harrow, where he remained until 1805, when he proceeded to Trinity Coll., Camb., where he read much history and fiction, lived extravagantly, and got into debt. Some early verses which he had _pub._ in 1806 were suppressed. They were followed in 1807 by _Hours of Idleness_, which was savagely attacked in the _Edinburgh Review_. In reply he sent forth _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_ (1800), which created considerable stir and shortly went through 5 ed. Meanwhile, he had settled at Newstead Abbey, the family seat, where with some of his cronies he was believed to have indulged in wild and extravagant orgies, the accounts of which, however, were probably greatly exaggerated. In 1809 he left England, and passing through Spain, went to Greece. During his absence, which extended over two years, he wrote the first two cantos of _Childe Harold_, which were _pub._ after his return in 1812, and were received with acclamation. In his own words, “he awoke one morning and found himself famous.” He followed up his success with some short poems, _The Corsair_, _Lara_, etc. About the same time began his intimacy with his future biographer, Thomas Moore (_q.v._), and about 1815 he married Anne Isabella Milbanke, who had refused him in the previous year, a union which, owing to the total incompatibility of the parties, and serious provocations on the part of B., proved unhappy, and was in 1816 dissolved by a formal deed of separation. The only fruit of it was a _dau._, Augusta Ada. After this break-up of his domestic life, followed as it was by the severe censure of society, and by pressure on the part of his creditors, which led to the sale of his library, B. again left England, as it turned out, for ever, and, passing through Belgium and up the Rhine, went to Geneva, afterwards travelling with Shelley through Switzerland, when he wrote the third canto of _Childe Harold_. He wintered in Venice, where he formed a connection with Jane Clairmont, the _dau._ of W. Godwin’s second wife (_q.v._). In 1817 he was in Rome, whence returning to Venice he wrote the fourth canto of _Childe Harold_. In the same year he sold his ancestral seat of Newstead, and about the same time _pub._ _Manfred_, _Cain_, and _The Deformed Transformed_. The first five cantos of _Don Juan_ were written between 1818 and 1820, during which period he made the acquaintance of the Countess Guiccioli, whom he persuaded to leave her husband. It was about this time that he received a visit from Moore, to whom he confided his MS. autobiography, which Moore, in the exercise of the discretion left to him, burned in 1824. His next move was to Ravenna, where he wrote much, chiefly dramas, including _Marino Faliero_. In 1821-22 he finished _Don Juan_ at Pisa, and in the same year he joined with Leigh Hunt in starting a short-lived newspaper, _The Liberal_, in the first number of which appeared _The Vision of Judgment_. His last Italian home was Genoa, where he was still accompanied by the Countess, and where he lived until 1823, when he offered himself as an ally to the Greek insurgents. In July of that year he started for Greece, spent some months in Cephalonia waiting for the Greeks to form some definite plans. In January, 1824, he landed at Missolonghi, but caught a malarial fever, of which he _d._ on April 19, 1824.
The final position of B. in English literature is probably not yet settled. It is at present undoubtedly lower than it was in his own generation. Yet his energy, passion, and power of vivid and richly-coloured description, together with the interest attaching to his wayward and unhappy career, must always make him loom large in the assembly of English writers. He exercised a marked influence on Continental literature, and his reputation as poet is higher in some foreign countries than in his own.
Among ed. of the works of B. may be mentioned Murray’s (13 vols. 1898-1904). Moore’s _Life_ (1830), Lady Blessington’s _Conversations with Lord Byron_ (1834, new, 1894).
SUMMARY.–_B._ 1788, spent childhood in Aberdeen, _ed._ Harrow and Camb., _pub._ _English Bards etc._, 1809, _Childe Harold_ first two cantos 1812, married 1815, separated 1816, owing to this and financial difficulties leaves England, meets Shelley, _pub._ third canto of _Childe Harold_ 1816, fourth canto 1817, writes _Don Juan_ cantos 1-4 1818-20, lives at various places in Italy 1816-24 with Countess Guiccioli, finished _Don Juan_ 1822, goes to Greece 1823 to assist insurgents, _d._ 1824.
BYRON, HENRY JAMES (1834-1884).–Dramatist, _b._ at Manchester, entered the Middle Temple, but soon took to writing for the stage, and produced many popular burlesques and extravaganzas. He also wrote for periodicals, and was the first editor of _Fun_. Among his best dramatic pieces are _Cyril’s Success_ (1868), _Our Boys_ (1875), and _The Upper Crust_.
CAEDMON (_d._ 1680).–The first English poet of whom we have any knowledge. Originally employed as cowherd at the Abbey of Whitby, he became a singer when somewhat advanced in life. The story of how the gift of song came to him is given by Bede, how having fallen asleep in the stable he dreamed that one came to him desiring a song, and on his asking “What shall I sing?” replied “Sing to me of the beginning of created things.” Therefore he began to sing and, on awaking, remembered his song and added to it. Thereafter he told what had befallen him to the bailiff who was over him, who repeated the tale to the Abbess Hilda. She having called together certain learned and pious persons, C. was brought before them, told his story, and recited his verses. A part of Scripture was read to him, which he was asked to turn into verse; and this being done he was received into the Abbey where, for the rest of his life, he lived as a monk, and continued to make his holy songs. Much that was formerly attributed to C. is now held to be of later date. All that is known to be his is a Northumbrian version of Bede’s Latin paraphrases of C.’s first song: although by some the authorship of “The Dream of the Holy Rood,” and of a fragment on “The Temptation and Fall of Man” is claimed for him.
_English Literature from Beginning to Norman Conquest_, Stopford Brooke (1898), and _History of Early English Literature_, by the same (1892).
CAIRD, EDWARD (1835-1908).–Philosopher, younger brother of John C. (_q.v._), was _b._ at Greenock, and _ed._ at Glasgow and Oxf., where he became Fellow and Tutor of Merton Coll. In 1866 he was appointed to the Chair of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow, which he held until 1893, when he became Master of Balliol Coll., from which he retired in 1907. He has written _Critical Philosophy of Kant_ (1877), _Hegel_ (1883), _Evolution of Religion_, _Social Philosophy and Religion of Comte_ (1885), _Evolution of Theology in the Greek Philosophers_ (1904).
CAIRD, JOHN (1820-1898).–Theologian, _b._, at Greenock, and _ed._ at Glasgow, entered the Church of Scotland, of which he became one of the most eloquent preachers. After being a minister in the country and in Edinburgh, he was translated to Glasgow, becoming in 1862 Prof. of Divinity in the Univ. of that city, and in 1873 Principal. A sermon on _Religion in Common Life_, preached before Queen Victoria, made him known throughout the Protestant world. He wrote an _Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion_ (1880), and a vol. on _Spinoza_ (1888).
CALAMY, EDMUND (1600-1666).–Puritan Divine, _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Camb., was one of the principal authors of a famous controversial work bearing the title _Smectymnuus_, made up of the initials of the various writers, and _pub._ in 1641 in reply to Bishop Hall’s _Divine Right of Episcopacy_. His other chief work is _The Godly Man’s Ark_. A Presbyterian, he was a supporter of monarchy, and favoured the Restoration, after which he was offered, but declined, the see of Coventry and Lichfield. He was a member of the Savoy Conference. The passing of the Act of Uniformity led to his retiring from ministerial work. He is said to have _d._ of melancholy caused by the great fire of London.
CALDERWOOD, DAVID (1575-1650).–Scottish Church historian, belonged to a good family, and about 1604 became minister of Crailing, Roxburghshire. Opposing the designs of James VI. for setting up Episcopacy, he was imprisoned 1617, and afterwards had to betake himself to Holland, where his controversial work, _Altare Damascenum_, against Episcopacy, was _pub._ In 1625 he returned to Scotland, and began his great work, _The Historie of the Kirk of Scotland_, which was _pub._ in an abridged form (1646). The complete work was printed (1841-49) for the Woodrow Society. C. became minister of Pencaitland, East Lothian, about 1640, and was one of those appointed to draw up _The Directory for Public Worship in Scotland_.
CALVERLEY, CHARLES STUART (1831-1884).–Poet and translator, _s._ of the Rev. H. Blayds (who assumed the name of Calverley), was _ed._ at Harrow, Oxf., and Camb. He was called to the Bar in 1865, and appeared to have a brilliant career before him, when a fall on the ice in 1866 changed him from a distinguished athlete to a life-long invalid. Brilliant as a scholar, a musician, and a talker, he is perhaps best known as one of the greatest of parodists. He _pub._ _Verses and Translations_ (1862), and _Fly-leaves_ (1872). He also translated _Theocritus_ (1869).
CAMDEN, WILLIAM (1551-1623).–Antiquary and historian, _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Christ’s Hospital, St. Paul’s School, and Oxf., was in 1575 appointed Second Master in Westminster School, and Head Master in 1593, and spent his vacations in travelling over England collecting antiquarian information. His great work, _Britannia_, was _pub._ in 1586, and at once brought him fame both at home and abroad. It is a work of vast labour and erudition, written in elegant Latin. In 1597 C. was made Clarencieux King-at-Arms which, setting him free from his academic duties, enabled him to devote more time to his antiquarian and historical labours. His other principal works are _Annals of the Reign of Elizabeth_ (printed 1615-1623), _Monuments and Inscriptions in Westminster Abbey_ (1600), and a _coll._ of _Ancient English Historians_. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. The Camden Society for historical research, founded in 1838, is named after him.
CAMPBELL, GEORGE (1719-1796).–Theologian and philosopher, was a minister of the Church of Scotland at Aberdeen, and Principal and Prof. of Divinity in Marischal Coll. there. His _Dissertation on Miracles_ (1763), in answer to Hume, was in its day considered a masterly argument, and was admitted to be so by Hume himself. His other principal works were _The Philosophy of Rhetoric_ (1776), which is still a standard work, and _A Translation of the Four Gospels with Notes_.
CAMPBELL, JOHN, 1ST LORD CAMPBELL (1779-1861).–Lawyer and biographer, _s._ of the minister of Cupar-Fife, had a highly successful career as a lawyer, and held the offices successively of Solicitor and Attorney-General, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lord Chief Justice, and Lord Chancellor. His contributions to literature were _Lives of the Chancellors_ and _Lives of the Chief Justices_. These works, though deficient in research and accuracy, often unfair in judgments of character, and loose and diffuse in style, are interesting and full of information.
CAMPBELL, JOHN FRANCIS (1822-1885).–Celtic scholar, _ed._ at Eton and Edin., was afterwards Sec. to the Lighthouse Commission. He was an authority on Celtic folk-lore, and _pub._ _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_ (4 vols., 1860-62), and various Gaelic texts.
CAMPBELL, LEWIS (1830-1908).–Scholar, _s._ of a naval officer, _ed._ at Edin., Glasgow, and Oxf., took orders, and was Vicar of Milford, Hants, until 1863, when he was appointed Prof. of Greek at St. Andrews. He brought out ed. of Sophocles and other works on the Greek classics, and in conjunction with E. Abbott _The Life and Letters of Prof. Jowett_ (_q.v._), with whom he had collaborated in editing the _Republic of Plato_. He also ed. the poems of Thomas Campbell, to whom he was related.
CAMPBELL, THOMAS (1777-1844).–Poet, was the youngest _s._ of Alexander C., a merchant in Glasgow, where he was _b._ After leaving the Univ. of that city, where he gained some distinction by his translations from the Greek, and acting for some time as a tutor, he went to Edin. to study law, in which, however, he did not make much progress, but gained fame by producing in 1799, at the age of 21, his principal poem, _The Pleasures of Hope_. In spite of some of the faults of youth, the vigour of thought and description, and power of versification displayed in the poem, as well as its noble feeling for liberty, made it a marvellous performance for so young a man. His other larger poems are _Gertrude of Wyoming_ (1809), _O’Connor’s Child_, and _Theodric_ (1824). It is not, however, for these that he will be chiefly remembered, but for his patriotic and war lyrics, _Ye Mariners of England_, _Hohenlinden_, and _The Battle of the Baltic_, which are imperishable. C. was also distinguished as a critic, and his _Specimens of the British Poets_ (1819) is prefaced by an essay which is an important contribution to criticism. C. resided in London from 1803 until the year of his death, which took place at Boulogne, whither he had repaired in search of health. In addition to the works mentioned he wrote various compilations, including _Annals of Great Britain_, covering part of the reign of George III. In 1805 he received a Government pension, and he was Lord Rector of Glasgow Univ. 1826-29. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.
_Life and Letters_, Beattie (1840); Poems, _Aldine_ ed. (1875, new, 1890).
CAMPION, THOMAS (_c._ 1575-1620).–Poet and musician, _b._ at Witham, Essex, and _ed._ at Camb., and on the Continent, studied law at Gray’s Inn, but discarding it, practised medicine in London. He wrote masques, and many fine lyrics remarkable for their metrical beauty, of which “Cherry Ripe” and “Lesbia” are well known. He also wrote _Epigrams_ in Latin, and _Observations on the Arte of Poesie_ (1602). He composed the music for most of his songs.
CANNING, GEORGE (1770-1827).–Statesman, was _b._ in London, the _s._ of a lawyer. He lost his _f._ while still an infant, and was brought up by an uncle, who sent him to Eton and Oxf. In 1793 he entered Parliament as a supporter of Pitt, and soon became one of the most brilliant debaters in the House. After filling various offices, including that of Foreign Sec., with striking ability, he was in 1827 appointed Prime Minister, but _d._, deeply mourned by the nation, a few months later. He has a place in literature as the leading spirit in the _Anti-Jacobin_, a paper started during the French Revolution, in support of the English Constitution, and which, with Gifford for ed., had many of the most eminent men of the day as contributors. C. wrote the _Needy Knife-grinder_, _The Loves of the Triangles_, parts II. and III., a parody on E. Darwin’s _Loves of the Plants_, _The Progress of Man_, etc. His _coll._ _Poems_ were _pub._ 1823.
CAPGRAVE, JOHN (1393-1464).–Historian and theologian, _b._ at Lynn, became an Augustinian Friar, and at length Provincial of the Order in England. He studied probably at Camb., visited Rome, and was a client of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, whose life he wrote. He was the author of numerous theological and historical works, some of which are of considerable importance, including in Latin, _Nova Legenda Angliae_, _De Illustribus Henricis_: lives of German Emperors, English Kings, etc., of the name of Henry, and in English, monotonous and dull, lives of St. Gilbert and St. Katharine, and a _Chronicle_ reaching to 1417.
CAREW, RICHARD (1555-1620).–Translator and antiquary, a county gentleman of Cornwall, _ed._ at Oxf., made a translation of the first five cantos of Tasso’s _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1594), more correct than that of Fairfax. Other works were _A Survey of Cornwall_ (1602), and an _Epistle concerning the Excellencies of the English Tongue_ (1605).
CAREW, THOMAS (1594?-1639).–Poet, _s._ of Sir Matthew C., was _ed._ at Oxf., entered the Middle Temple, and was one of the first and best of the courtly poets who wrote gracefully on light themes of Court life and gallantry. C.’s poems have often much beauty and even tenderness. His chief work is _Coelum Britannicum_. He lived the easy and careless life of a courtier of the day, but is said to have _d._ in a repentant frame. His poems, consisting chiefly of short lyrics, were _coll._ and _pub._ after his death. One of the most beautiful and best known of his songs is that beginning “He that loves a rosy cheek.”
CAREY, HENRY (_d._ 1743).–Dramatist and song-writer, was believed to be an illegitimate _s._ of George Savile, Marquis of Halifax. He wrote innumerable burlesques, farces, songs, etc., often with his own music, including _Chrononhotonthologos_ (1734), a burlesque on the mouthing plays of the day, and _The Dragon of Wantley_ (1744?). His poem, _Namby Pamby_, in ridicule of Ambrose Phillips (_q.v._), added a word to the language, and his _Sally in our Alley_ is one of our best-known songs. _God Save the King_ was also claimed for him, but apparently without reason.
CARLETON, WILLIAM (1794-1869).–Novelist, _s._ of a poor Irish cottar, _b._ and brought up among the Irish peasantry, acquired an insight into their ideas and feelings which has never been equalled. His finest work is in his short stories, collected under the title of _Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry_, of which two series were _pub._ in 1830 and 1832 respectively. He also wrote several longer novels, of which the best is _Fardorougha the Miser_ (1837), a work of great power. Others are _The Misfortunes of Barny Branagan_ (1841), _Valentine M’Clutchy_ (1845), _Rody the Rover_ (1847), _The Squanders of Castle Squander_ (1854), and _The Evil Eye_. C. received a pension of L200 from Government.
CARLYLE, ALEXANDER (1722-1805).–Autobiographer, _s._ of the Minister of Cummertrees, Dumfriesshire, was _ed._ at Edin. and Leyden, and entering the Church became Minister of Inveresk, and was associated with Principal Robertson as an ecclesiastical leader. He was a man of great ability, shrewdness, and culture, and the friend of most of the eminent literary men in Scotland of his day. He left an autobiography in MS., which was ed. by Hill Burton, and _pub._ in 1860, and which is one of the most interesting contemporary accounts of his time. His stately appearance gained for him the name of “Jupiter” C.
CARLYLE, THOMAS (1795-1881).–Historian and essayist, was _b._ at Ecclefechan in Dumfriesshire. His _f._, James C., was a stonemason, a man of intellect and strong character, and his mother was, as he said, “of the fairest descent, that of the pious, the just, and the wise.” His earliest education was received at the parish school of Ecclefechan (the Entepfuhl of _Sartor Resartus_). Thence he went to the Grammar School of Annan, and in 1809 to the Univ. of Edin., the 90 miles to which he