DUFFY, SIR CHARLES GAVAN (1816-1903).—Poet,b.in Monaghan, early took to journalism, and became one of the founders of theNaturenewspaper, and one of the leaders of the Young Ireland movement. Thereafter he went to Australia, where he became a leading politician, and rose to be Premier of Victoria. His later years were spent chiefly on the Continent. He did much to stimulate in Ireland a taste for the national history and literature, startedThe Library of Ireland, and made a collection,The Ballad Poetry of Ireland, which was a great success. He alsopub.an autobiography,My Life in Two Hemispheres.
DUGDALE, SIR WILLIAM (1605-1686).—Herald and antiquary, wasb.at Coleshill, Warwickshire, anded.at Coventry School. From early youth he showed a strong bent towards heraldic and antiquarian studies, which led to his appointment, in 1638, as a Pursuivant-extraordinary, from which he rose to be Garter-King-at-Arms. In 1655, jointly with Roger Dodsworth, he brought out the first vol. ofMonasticon Anglicanum(the second following in 1661, and the third in 1673), containing the charters of the ancient monasteries. In 1656 hepub.theAntiquities of Warwickshire, which maintains a high place among county histories, and in 1666Origines Judiciales. His great work,The Baronage of England, appeared in 1675-6. Other works were aHistory of Imbanking and Drayning, and aHistory of St. Paul's Cathedral. All D.'s writings are monuments of learning and patient investigation.
DU MAURIER, GEORGE LOUIS PALMELLA BUSSON (1834-1896).—Artist and novelist,b.anded.in Paris, in 1864 succeeded John Leech on the staff ofPunch. His three novels,Peter Ibbetson(1891),Trilby(1894), andThe Martian(1896), originally appeared inHarper's Magazine.
DUNBAR, WILLIAM (1465?-1530?).—Poet, is believed to have beenb.in Lothian, anded.at St. Andrews, and in his earlier days he was a Franciscan friar. Thereafter he appears to have been employed by James IV. in some Court and political matters. His chief poems areThe Thrissil and the Rois (The Thistle and the Rose) (1503),The Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins, a powerful satire,The Golden Targe, an allegory, andThe Lament for the Makaris(poets) (c.1507). In all these there is a vein of true poetry. In his allegorical poems he follows Chaucer in his setting, and is thus more or less imitative and conventional: in his satirical pieces, and in theLament, he takes a bolder flight and shows his native power. His comic poems are somewhat gross. The date and circumstances of his death are uncertain, some holding that he fell at Flodden, others that he was alive so late as 1530. Other works areThe MerleandThe Nightingale, and theFlyting(scolding) of Dunbar and Kennedy. Mr. Gosse calls D. "the largest figure in English literature between Chaucer and Spenser." He has bright strength, swiftness, humour, and pathos, and his descriptive touch is vivid and full of colour.
DUNLOP, JOHN COLIN (c.1785-1842).—Historian,s.of a Lord Provost of Glasgow, where and at Edin. he wased., was called to the Bar in 1807, and became Sheriff of Renfrewshire. He wrote aHistory of Fiction(1814), aHistory of Roman Literature to the Augustan Age(1823-28), andMemoirs of Spain during the Reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II.(1834). He also made translations from the Latin Anthology.
DUNS, SCOTUS JOHANNES (1265?-1308?).—Schoolman. The dates of his birth and death and the place of his birth are alike doubtful. He may have been at Oxf., is said to have been a regent or prof. at Paris, and was a Franciscan. He was a man of extraordinary learning, and received the sobriquet of Doctor Subtilis. Among his many works on logic and theology are a philosophic grammar, and a work on metaphysics,De Rerum Principio(of the beginning of things). His great opponent was Thomas Aquinas, and schoolmen of the day were divided into Scotists and Thomists, or realists and nominalists.
D'URFEY, THOMAS (1653-1723).—Dramatist and song-writer, was a well-known man-about-town, a companion of Charles II., and lived on to the reign of George I. His plays are now forgotten, and he is best known in connection with a collection of songs entitled,Pills to Purge Melancholy. Addison describes him as a "diverting companion," and "a cheerful, honest, good-natured man." His writings are nevertheless extremely gross. His plays includeSiege of Memphis(1676),Madame Fickle(1677),Virtuous Wife(1680), andThe Campaigners(1698).
DWIGHT, TIMOTHY (1752-1817).—Theologian and poet,b.at Northampton, Mass., was a grandson of Jonathan Edwards, became a Congregationalist minister, Prof. of Divinity, and latterly Pres. of Yale. His works include, besides theological treatises and sermons, the following poems,America(1772),The Conquest of Canaan(1785), andThe Triumph of Infidelity, a satire, admired in their day, but now unreadable.
DYCE, ALEXANDER (1798-1869).—Scholar and critic,s.of Lieut.-General Alexander D., wasb.in Edin., anded.there and at Oxf. He took orders, and for a short time served in two country curacies. Then, leaving the Church and settling in London, he betook himself to his life-work of ed. the English dramatists. His first work,Specimens of British Poetesses, appeared in 1825; and thereafter at various intervals ed. of Collins'sPoems, and the dramatic works ofPeele, Middleton, Beaumont and Fletcher, Marlowe, Greene, Webster, and others. His great ed. ofShakespearein 9 vols. appeared in 1857. He also ed. various works for the Camden Society, andpub.Table Talk of Samuel Rogers. All D.'s work is marked by varied and accurate learning, minute research, and solid judgment.
DYER, SIR EDWARD (1545?-1607).—Poet,b.at Sharpham Park, Somerset, anded.at Oxf., was introduced to the Court by the Earl of Leicester, and sent on a mission to Denmark, 1589. He was in 1596 made Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, and knighted. In his own day he had a reputation for his elegies among such judges as Sidney and Puttenham. For a long time there was doubt as to what poems were to be attributed to him, but about a dozen pieces have now been apparently identified as his. The best known is that on contentment beginning, "My mind to me a kingdom is."
DYER, JOHN (1700-1758).—Poet, wasb.in Caermarthenshire. In his early years he studied painting, but finding that he was not likely to attain a satisfactory measure of success, entered the Church. He has a definite, if a modest, place in literature as the author of three poems,Grongar Hill(1727),The Ruins of Rome(1740), andThe Fleece(1757). The first of these is the best, and the best known, and contains much true natural description; but all have passages of considerable poetical merit, delicacy and precision of phrase being their most noticeable characteristic. Wordsworth had a high opinion of D. as a poet, and addressed a sonnet to him.
EARLE, JOHN (1601-1665).—Divine and miscellaneous writer,b.at York, anded.at Oxf., where he was a Fellow of Merton. He took orders, was tutor to Charles II., a member of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, 1643, Chaplain and Clerk of the Closet to Charles when in exile. On the Restoration he was made Dean of Westminster, in 1662 Bishop of Worcester, and the next year Bishop of Salisbury. He was learned and eloquent, witty and agreeable in society, and was opposed to the "Conventicle" and "Five Mile" Acts, and to all forms of persecution. He wroteHortus Mertonensis(the Garden of Merton) in Latin, but his chief work wasMicrocosmographie, or a Piece of the World discoveredin Essays and Characters(1628), the best and most interesting of all the "character" books.
EASTLAKE, ELIZABETH, LADY (RIGBY) (1809-1893).—dau.of Dr. Edward Rigby of Norwich, a writer on medical and agricultural subjects, spent her earlier life on the Continent and in Edin. In 1849 shem.Sir Charles L. Eastlake, the famous painter, and Pres. of the Royal Academy. Her first work wasLetters from the Shores of the Baltic(1841). From 1842 she was a frequent contributor to theQuarterly Review, in which she wrote a very bitter criticism ofJane Eyre. She also wrote various books on art, and Lives of her husband, of Mrs. Grote, and of Gibson the sculptor, and was a leader in society.
ECHARD, LAURENCE (c.1670-1730).—Historian,b.at Barsham, Suffolk, anded.at Camb., took orders and became Archdeacon of Stow. He translated Terence, part of Plautus, D'Orleans'History of the Revolutions in England, and made numerous compilations on history, geography, and the classics. His chief work, however, is hisHistory of England(1707-1720). It covers the period from the Roman occupation to his own times, and continued to be the standard work on the subject until it was superseded by translations of Rapin's FrenchHistory of England.
EDGEWORTH, MARIA (1767-1849).—Novelist, only child of Richard E., of Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford, wasb.near Reading. Herf., who was himself a writer on education and mechanics, bestowed much attention on her education. She showed early promise of distinction, and assisted herf.in his literary labours, especially inPractical EducationandEssay on Irish Bulls(1802). She soon discovered that her strength lay in fiction, and from 1800, when her first novel,Castle Rackrent, appeared, until 1834, when her last,Helen, waspub., she continued to produce a series of novels and tales characterised by ingenuity of invention, humour, and acute delineation of character. Notwithstanding a tendency to be didactic, and the presence of a "purpose" in most of her writings, their genuine talent and interest secured for them a wide popularity. It was the success of Miss E. in delineating Irish character that suggested to Sir W. Scott the idea of rendering a similar service to Scotland. Miss E., who had great practical ability, was able to render much aid during the Irish famine. In addition to the works above mentioned, she wroteMoral TalesandBelinda(1801),Leonora(1806),Tales of Fashionable Life(1809 and 1812), and a Memoir of herf.
EDWARDS, JONATHAN (1702?-1758).—Theologian,s.of a minister, wasb.at East Windsor, Connecticut,ed.at Yale Coll., and licensed as a preacher in 1722. The following year he was appointed as tutor at Yale, a position in which he showed exceptional capacity. In 1726 he went to Northampton, Conn., as minister of a church there, and remained for 24 years, exercising his ministry with unusual earnestness and diligence. At the end of that time, however, he was in 1750 dismissed by his congregation, a disagreement having arisen on certain questions of discipline. Thereafter heacted as a missionary to the Indians of Massachusetts. While thus engaged he composed his famous treatises,On the Freedom of the Will(1754), andOn Original Sin(1758). Previously, in 1746, he had produced his treatise,On the Religious Affections. In 1757 he was appointed Pres. of Princeton Coll., New Jersey, but was almost immediately thereafter stricken with small-pox, of which hed.on March 22, 1757. E. possessed an intellect of extraordinary strength and clearness, and was capable of sustaining very lengthened chains of profound argument. He is one of the ablest defenders of the Calvinistic system of theology, which he developed to its most extreme positions. He was a man of fervent piety, and of the loftiest and most disinterested character.
EDWARDS, RICHARD (1523?-1566).—Poet, was at Oxf., and went to Court, where he was made a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and master of the singing boys. He had a high reputation for his comedies and interludes. HisPalaman and Arcitewas acted before Elizabeth at Oxf. in 1566, when the stage fell and three persons were killed and five hurt, the play nevertheless proceeding.Damon and Pythias(1577), a comedy, is his only extant play.
EGAN, PIERCE (1772-1849).—Humorist,b.in London, he satirised the Prince Regent inThe Lives of Florizel and Perdita(1814), but is best remembered byLife in London: or the Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn and his elegant friend, Corinthian Tom, a collection of sketches which had great success at the time, and which gives a picture of the sports and amusements of London in the days of the Regency. It was illustrated by George Cruikshank.
EGGLESTON, EDWARD (1837-1902).—Novelist,b.at Vevay, Indiana, was a Methodist minister. He wrote a number of tales, some of which, specially the "Hoosier" series, attracted much attention, among which areThe Hoosier Schoolmaster,The Hoosier Schoolboy,The End of the World,The Faith Doctor,Queer Stories for Boys and Girls, etc.
"ELIOT, GEORGE,"seeEVANS.
ELIZABETH, QUEEN (1533-1603).—Was one of the scholar-women of her time, being versed in Latin, Greek, French, and Italian. Her translation of Boethius shows her exceptional art and skill. In the classics Roger Ascham was her tutor. She wrote various short poems, some of which were called by her contemporaries "sonnets," though not in the true sonnet form. Her original letters and despatches show an idiomatic force of expression beyond that of any other English monarch.
ELLIOT, MISS JEAN (1727-1805).—Poetess,dau.of Sir Gilbert Elliot of Minto, has a small niche in literature as the authoress of the beautiful ballad,The Flowers of the Forest, beginning, "I've heard the lilting at our yowe-milking." Another ballad with the same title beginning, "I've seen the smiling of fortune beguiling" was written by Alicia Rutherford, afterwards Mrs. Cockburn.
ELLIOT, EBENEZER (1781-1849).—Poet,b.at Masborough, Yorkshire, in his youth worked in an iron-foundry, and in 1821 took up the same business on his own account with success. He is best known by his poems on behalf of the poor and oppressed, and especially for his denunciations of the Corn Laws, which gained for him the title of the Corn Law Rhymer. Though now little read, he had considerable poetic gift. His principal poems areCorn Law Rhymes(1831),The Ranter, andThe Village Patriarch(1829).
ELLIS, GEORGE (1753-1815).—Miscellaneous writer,s.of a West Indian planter, gained some fame byPoetical Tales by Sir Gregory Gander(1778). He also had a hand in theRolliad, a series of Whig satires which appeared about 1785. Changing sides he afterwards contributed to theAnti-Jacobin. He accompanied Sir J. Harris on his mission to the Netherlands, and therecoll.materials for hisHistory of the Dutch Revolution(1789). He ed.Specimens of the Early English Poets(1790), andSpecimens of the Early English Romances, both works of scholarship. He was a friend of Scott, who dedicated the fifth canto ofMarmionto him.
ELLWOOD, THOMAS (1639-1713).—A young Quaker who was introduced to Milton in 1662, and devoted much of his time to reading to him. It is to a question asked by him that we owe the writing ofParadise Regained. He was a simple, good man, ready to suffer for his religious opinions, and has left an autobiography of singular interest alike for the details of Milton's later life, which it gives, and for the light it casts on the times of the writer. He also wroteDavideis(1712), a sacred poem, and some controversial works.
ELPHINSTONE, MOUNTSTUART (1779-1859).—Fourths.of the 11th Lord E., wased.at Edin., and entered the Bengal Civil Service in 1795. He had a very distinguished career as an Indian statesman, and did much to establish the present system of government and to extend education. He was Governor of Bombay (1819-1827), and prepared a code of laws for that Presidency. In 1829 he was offered, but declined, the position of Governor-General of India. He wrote aHistory of India(1841), andThe Rise of the British Power in the East,pub.in 1887.
ELWIN, WHITWELL (1816-1900).—Critic and editor,s.of a country gentleman of Norfolk, studied at Camb., and took orders. He was an important contributor to theQuarterly Review, of which he became editor in 1853. He undertook to complete Croker's ed. of Pope, and brought out 5 vols., when he dropped it, leaving it to be finished by Mr. Courthope. As an ed. he was extremely autocratic, and on all subjects had pronounced opinions, and often singular likes and dislikes.
ELYOT, SIR THOMAS (1490-1546).—Diplomatist, physician, and writer, held many diplomatic appointments. He wroteThe Governor(1531), a treatise on education, in which he advocated gentler treatment of schoolboys,The Castle of Health(1534), a medical work, andA Defence of Good Women(1545). He also in 1538pub.the firstLatin and English Dictionary, and made various translations.
EMERSON, RALPH WALDO (1803-1882).—Philosopher, wasb.at Boston, Massachusetts. Hisf.was a minister there, who had become a Unitarian, and whod.in 1811, leaving a widow with six children, of whom Ralph, then aged 8, was the second. Mrs. E. was, however, a woman of energy, and by means of taking boarders managed to give all her sons a good education. E. entered Harvard in 1817 and, after passing through the usual course there, studied for the ministry, to which he was ordained in 1827, and settled over a congregation in his native city. There he remained until 1832, when he resigned, ostensibly on a difference of opinion with his brethren on the permanent nature of the Lord's Supper as a rite, but really on a radical change of view in regard to religion in general, expressed in the maxim that "the day of formal religion is past." About the same time he lost his young wife, and his health, which had never been robust, showed signs of failing. In search of recovery he visited Europe, where he met many eminent men and formed a life-long friendship with Carlyle. On his return in 1834 he settled at Concord, and took up lecturing. In 1836 hepub.Nature, a somewhat transcendental little book which, though containing much fine thought, did not appeal to a wide circle.The American Scholarfollowed in 1837. Two years previously he had entered into a second marriage. His influence as a thinker rapidly extended, he was regarded as the leader of the transcendentalists, and was one of the chief contributors to their organ,The Dial. The remainder of his life, though happy, busy, and influential, was singularly uneventful. In 1847 he paid a second visit to England, when he spent a week with Carlyle, and delivered a course of lectures in England and Scotland on "Representative Men," which he subsequentlypub.English Traitsappeared in 1856. In 1857The Atlantic Monthlywas started, and to it he became a frequent contributor. In 1874 he was nominated for the Lord Rectorship of the Univ. of Glasgow, but was defeated by Disraeli. He, however, regarded his nomination as the greatest honour of his life. After 1867 he wrote little. Hed.on April 27, 1882. His works werecoll.in 11 vols., and in addition to those above mentioned includeEssays(two series),Conduct of Life,Society and Solitude,Natural History of Intellect, andPoems. The intellect of E. was subtle rather than robust, and suggestive rather than systematic. He wrote down the intuitions and suggestions of the moment, and was entirely careless as to whether these harmonised with previous statements. He was an original and stimulating thinker and writer, and wielded a style of much beauty and fascination. His religious views approached more nearly to Pantheism than to any other known system of belief. He was a man of singular elevation and purity of character.
ERCILDOUN, THOMAS of, or "THOMAS THE RHYMER" (fl.1220-1297).—A minstrel to whom is ascribedSir Tristrem, a rhyme or story for recitation. He had a reputation for prophecy, and is reported to have foretold the death of Alexander III., and various other events.
ERIGENA, or SCOTUS, JOHN (fl.850).—Philosopher,b.in Scotland or Ireland, was employed at the Court of Charles theBald, King of France. He was a pantheistic mystic, and made translations from the Alexandrian philosophers. He was bold in the exposition of his principles, and had both strength and subtlety of intellect. His chief work isDe Divisione Naturæ, a dialogue in which he places reason above authority.
ERSKINE, RALPH (1685-1752).—Scottish Divine and poet, wasb.near Cornhill, Northumberland, where hisf., a man of ancient Scottish family, was, for the time, a nonconforming minister. He became minister of Dunfermline, and, with his brother Ebenezer, was involved in the controversies in the Church of Scotland, which led to the founding of the Secession Church in 1736. He has a place in literature as the writer of devotional works, especially for hisGospel Sonnets(of which 25 ed. had appeared by 1797), andScripture Songs(1754).
ERSKINE, THOMAS (1788-1870).—Theologian,s.of David E., of Linlathen, to which property he succeeded, his elder brother havingd.He was called to the Bar in 1810, but never practised. Having come under unusually deep religious impressions he devoted himself largely to the study of theology, andpub.various works, includingThe Internal Evidence for the Truth of Revealed Religion(1820),Unconditional Freeness of the Gospel, andThe Spiritual Order. He was a man of singular charm of character, and wielded a great influence on the religious thought of his day. He enjoyed the friendship of men of such different types as Carlyle, Chalmers, Dean Stanley, and Prévost Paradol. HisLetterswere ed. by Dr. W. Hanna (1877-78).
ETHEREGE, SIR GEORGE (1635?-1691).—Dramatist, was at Camb., travelled, read a little law, became a man-about-town, the companion of Sedley, Rochester, and their set. He achieved some note as the writer of three lively comedies,Love in a Tub(1664),She would if she Could(1668), andThe Man of Mode(1676), all characterised by the grossness of the period. He was sent on a mission to Ratisbon, where he broke his neck when lighting his guests downstairs after a drinking bout.
EVANS, MARY ANN or MARIAN ("GEORGE ELIOT") (1819-1880).—Novelist, wasb.near Nuneaton, Warwickshire,dau.of Robert E., land agent, a man of strong individuality. Her education was completed at a school in Coventry, and after the death of her mother in 1836, and the marriage of her elder sister, she kept house for herf.until his death in 1849. In 1841 they gave up their house in the country, and went to live in Coventry. Here she made the acquaintance of Charles Bray, a writer on phrenology, and his brother-in-law Charles Hennell, a rationalistic writer on the origin of Christianity, whose influence led her to renounce the evangelical views in which she had been brought up. In 1846 she engaged in her first literary work, the completion of a translation begun by Mrs. Hennell of Strauss'sLife of Jesus. On herf.'sdeath she went abroad with the Brays, and, on her return in 1850, began to write for theWestminster Review, of which from 1851-53 she was assistant-editor. In this capacity she was much thrown intothe society ofHerbert SpencerandGeorge Henry Lewes(q.v.), with the latter of whom she in 1854 entered into an irregular connection which lasted until his death. In the same year she translated Feuerbach'sEssence of Christianity, the only one of her writings to which she attached her real name. It was not until she was nearly 40 that she appears to have discovered the true nature of her genius; for it was not until 1857 thatThe Sad Fortunes of the Rev. Amos Bartonappeared inBlackwood's Magazine, and announced that a new writer of singular power had arisen. It was followed byMr. Gilfil's Love StoryandJanet's Repentance, all three being reprinted asScenes from Clerical Life(1857);Adam Bedewaspub.in 1859,The Mill on the Floss, in its earlier chapters largely autobiographical, in 1860,Silas Marner, perhaps the most artistically constructed of her books, in 1861. In 1860 and 1861 she visited Florence with the view of preparing herself for her next work,Romola, a tale of the times of Savonarola, which appeared in 1863 in theCornhill Magazine.Felix Holt the Radicalfollowed in 1866. Miss E. now for a time abandoned novel-writing and took to poetry, and between 1868 and 1871 producedThe Spanish Gipsy,Agatha,The Legend of Jubal, andArmgart. These poems, though containing much fine work, did not add to her reputation, and in fact in writing them she had departed from her true vocation. Accordingly, she returned to fiction, and inMiddlemarch, which appeared in parts in 1871-72, she was by many considered to have produced her greatest work.Daniel Deronda, which came out in 1874-76, was greatly inferior, and it was her last novel. In 1878 shepub.The Impressions of Theophrastus Such, a collection of miscellaneous essays. In the same year Mr. Lewesd., an event which plunged her into melancholy, which was, however, alleviated by the kindness of Mr. John Cross, who had been the intimate friend of both L. and herself, and whom shem.in March, 1880. The union was a short one, being terminated by her death on December 22 in the same year.
George Eliot will probably always retain a high place among writers of fiction. Her great power lies in the minute painting of character, chiefly among the lower middle classes, shopkeepers, tradesmen, and country folk of the Midlands, into whose thoughts and feelings she had an insight almost like divination, and of whose modes of expression she was complete mistress. Her general view of life is pessimistic, relieved by a power of seizing the humorous elements in human stupidity and ill-doing. There is also, however, much seriousness in her treatment of the phases of life upon which she touches, and few writers have brought out with greater power the hardening and degrading effects of continuance in evil courses, or the inevitable and irretrievable consequences of a wrong act. Her descriptions of rural scenes have a singular charm.
Life, ed. by J.W. Cross (1885-6). Books on her by Oscar Browning, 1890, and Sir Leslie Stephen (Men of Letters), 1902.
EVELYN, JOHN (1620-1706).—Diarist, and miscellaneous writer, was of an old Surrey family, and wased.at a school at Lewes and at Oxf. He travelled much on the Continent, seeing all that was best worth seeing in the way of galleries and collections, both public and private, of which he has given an interesting account inhisDiary. He was all his life a staunch Royalist, and joined the King as a volunteer in 1642, but soon after repaired again to the Continent. After 1652 he was at home, settled at Sayes Court, near Deptford, where his gardens were famous. After the Restoration he was employed in various matters by the Government, but his lofty and pure character was constantly offended by the manners of the Court. In addition to hisDiary, kept up from 1624-1706, and which is full of interesting details of public and private events, he wrote upon such subjects as plantations,Sylva(1664), gardening,Elysium Britannicum(unpub.), architecture, prevention of smoke in London, engraving,Sculptura(1662), and he was one of the founders of the Royal Society, of which he was for a time sec. The dignity and purity of E'.s character stand forth in strong relief against the laxity of his times.
EWING, MRS. JULIANA HORATIA (GATTY) (1842-1885).—Writer of children's stories,dau.ofMrs. Alfred Gatty(q.v.), also a writer for children. Among her tales, which have hardly been excelled in sympathetic insight into child-life, and still enjoy undiminished popularity, are:A Flat Iron for a Farthing,Jackanapes,Jan of the Windmill,Mrs. Overtheway's Remembrances, andThe Story of a Short Life.
FABER, FREDERICK WILLIAM (1814-1863).—Theologian and hymn-writer, wasb.at Calverley, Yorkshire, anded.at Harrow and Oxf., where he came under the influence of Newman, whom he followed into the Church of Rome. He wrote various theological treatises, but has a place in literature for his hymns, which includeThe Pilgrims of the Night,My God how wonderful thou art, andSweet Saviour, bless us ere we go.
FABYAN, ROBERT (d.1513).—Chronicler, wasb.in London, of which he became an Alderman and Sheriff. He kept a diary of notable events, which he expanded into a chronicle, which he entitled,The Concordance of Histories. It covers the period from the arrival of Brutus in England to the death of Henry VII., and deals mainly with the affairs of London. It was not printed until 1515, when it appeared under the title ofThe New Chronicles of England and France.
FAIRFAX, EDWARD (1580?-1635).—Translator, naturals.of Sir Thomas F., lived at Fuystone, near Knaresborough, in peace and prosperity. His translation of Tasso'sJerusalem Delivered, on which his fame is founded, is a masterpiece, one of the comparatively few translations which in themselves are literature. It was highly praised by Dryden and Waller. The first ed. appeared in 1600, and was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. F. also wrote a treatise onDemonology, in which he was a devout believer.
FALCONER, WILLIAM (1732-1769).—Poet,s.of a barber in Edin., where he wasb., became a sailor, and was thus thoroughly competent to describe the management of the storm-tossed vessel, the career and fate of which are described in his poem,The Shipwreck(1762), a work of genuine, though unequal, talent. The efforts which F. made to improve the poem in the successive ed. whichfollowed the first were not entirely successful. The work gained for him the patronage of the Duke of York, through whose influence he obtained the position of purser on various warships. Strangely enough, his own death occurred by shipwreck. F. wrote other poems, now forgotten, besides a usefulNautical Dictionary.
FANSHAWE, CATHERINE MARIA (1765-1834).—Poetess,dau.of a Surrey squire, wrote clever occasional verse. Her best known production is the famousRiddle on the Letter H, beginning "'Twas whispered in heaven, 'twas muttered in hell" often attributed to Lord Byron.
FANSHAWE, SIR RICHARD (1608-1666).—Diplomatist, translator, and poet,b.at Ware Park, Herts, anded.at Camb., travelled on the Continent, and when the Civil War broke out sided with the King and was sent to Spain to obtain money for the cause. He acted as Latin Sec. to Charles II. when in Holland. After the Restoration he held various appointments, and was Ambassador to Portugal and Spain successively. He translated Guarini'sPastor Fido,Selected Parts of Horace, andThe Lusiadof Camoens. His wife,néeAnne Harrison, wrote memoirs of her own life.
FARADAY, MICHAEL (1791-1867).—Natural philosopher,s.of a blacksmith, wasb.in London, and apprenticed to a book-binder. He early showed a taste for chemistry, and attended the lectures ofSir H. Davy(q.v.), by whom he was, in 1813, appointed his chemical assistant in the Royal Institution. He became one of the greatest of British discoverers and popularisers of science, his discoveries being chiefly in the department of electro-magnetism. He had an unusual power of making difficult subjects clearly understood. Among his writings areHistory of the Progress of Electro-Magnetism(1821),The Non-metallic Elements,The Chemical History of a Candle, andThe Various Forces in Nature. F. was a man of remarkable simplicity and benevolence of character, and deeply religious.
FARMER, RICHARD (1735-1797).—Shakespearian scholar,b.at Leicester, anded.at Camb., where he ultimately became Master of Emanuel Coll. He wrote anEssay on the Learning of Shakespeare(1767), in which he maintained that Shakespeare's knowledge of the classics was through translations, the errors of which he reproduced. It is a production of great ability. F. was a clergyman, and held a prebend in St. Paul's.
FARQUHAR, GEORGE (1678-1707).—Dramatist,b.at Londonderry,s.of a clergyman, anded.at Trinity Coll., Dublin, on leaving which he took to the stage, but had no great success as an actor. This, together with an accident in which he wounded a fellow-actor with a sword, led to his relinquishing it, and giving himself to writing plays instead of acting them. Thereafter he joined the army.Love and a Bottle(1698) was his first venture, and others wereThe Constant Couple(1700),Sir Harry Wildair(1701),The Inconstant(1703),The Recruiting Officer(1706), andThe Beau's Stratagem(1707). F.'s plays are full of wit and sparkle and, though often coarse, have not the malignant pruriency of some ofhis predecessors. He made an unfortunate marriage, andd.in poverty.
FARRAR, FREDERIC WILLIAM (1831-1903).—Theological writer,b.in Bombay, anded.at London Univ. and Camb., was for some years a master at Harrow, and from 1871-76 Head Master of Marlborough School. He became successively Canon of Westminster and Rector of St. Margaret's, Archdeacon of Westminster and Dean of Canterbury. He was an eloquent preacher and a voluminous author, his writings including stories of school life, such asEricandSt. Winifred's, aLife of Christ, which had great popularity, aLife of St. Paul, and two historical romances.
FAWCETT, HENRY (1833-1884).—Statesman and economist,b.at Salisbury, anded.at Camb., where he became Fellow of Trinity Hall. In 1858 he was blinded by a shooting accident, in spite of which he continued to prosecute his studies, especially in economics, and in 1863pub.hisManual of Political Economy, becoming in the same year Prof. of Political Economy in Camb. Having strong political views he desired to enter upon a political career, and after repeated defeats was elected M.P. for Brighton. He soon attained a recognised position, devoting himself specially to parliamentary reform and Indian questions, and was in 1880 appointed Postmaster-General, in which office he approved himself a capable administrator. His career was, however, cut short by his premature death, but not before he had made himself a recognised authority on economics, his works on which includeThe Economic Position of the British Labourer(1871),Labour and Wages, etc. In 1867 hem.Miss Millicent Garrett, a lady highly qualified to share in all his intellectual interests, and who collaborated with him in some of his publications. There is a life of him by Sir L. Stephen.
FAWKES, FRANCIS (1721-1777).—Poet and translator,b.near Doncaster, anded.at Camb., after which he took orders. He translated Anacreon, Sappho, and other classics, modernised parts of the poems of Gavin Douglas, and was the author of the well-known song,The Brown Jug, and of two poems,Bramham ParkandPartridge Shooting.
FELTHAM, OWEN (1602?-1668).—Religious writer, author of a book entitledResolves, Divine, Moral, and Political(c.1620), containing 146 short essays. It had great popularity in its day. Though sometimes stiff and affected in style, it contains many sound, if not original or brilliant, reflections, and occasional felicities of expression. F. was for a time in the household of the Earl of Thomond as chaplain or sec., andpub.(1652),Brief Character of the Low Countries.
FENTON, ELIJAH (1683-1730).—Poet and translator,ed.at Camb., for a time acted as sec. to the Earl of Orrery in Flanders, and was then Master of Sevenoaks Grammar School. In 1707 hepub.a book of poems. He is best known, however, as the assistant of Pope in his translation of theOdyssey, of which he Englished the first, fourth, nineteenth, and twentieth books, catching the manner of his master so completely that it is hardly possibleto distinguish between their work; while thus engaged hepub.(1723) a successful tragedy,Marianne. His latest contributions to literature were aLife of Milton, and an ed. ofWaller's Poems(1729).
FERGUSON, ADAM (1723-1816).—Philosopher and historian,s.of the parish minister of Logierait, Perthshire, studied at St. Andrews and Edin. Univ., in the latter of which he was successively Professor of Mathematics, and Moral Philosophy (1764-1785). As a young man he was chaplain to the 42nd Regiment, and was present at the Battle of Fontenoy. In 1757 he was made Keeper of the Advocates' Library. As a Prof. of Philosophy he was highly successful, his class being attended by many distinguished men no longer students at the Univ. In 1778-9 he acted as sec. to a commission sent out by Lord North to endeavour to reach an accommodation with the American colonists. F.'s principal works areEssay on the History of Civil Society(1765),Institutes of Moral Philosophy(1769),History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic(1782), andPrinciples of Moral and Political Science(1792), all of which have been translated into French and German. F. spent his later years at St. Andrews, where hed.in 1816 at the age of 92. He was an intimate friend of Sir Walter Scott. The French philosopher Cousin gave F. a place above all his predecessors in the Scottish school of philosophy.