ROBERTSON, WILLIAM (1721-1793).—Historian,s.of the parish minister of Borthwick, Midlothian, where he wasb., received his earliered.at Dalkeith, which then had a school of some repute; but hisf.being translated to Edin., he attended school, and afterwards the Univ. there, studying for the Church. In 1743 he became minister of Gladsmuir, near Prestonpans. In the '45 he showed his loyalty by offering himself to Sir J. Cope as a volunteer, a service which was, however, declined. He soon began to take a prominent part in the debates of the General Assembly, of which he rose to be the undisputed leader. In 1758 he became one of the city ministers of Edin., and in the following yearpub.hisHistory of Scotland, which had an extraordinary success, and at once raised him to a foremost place among British historians. Preferment immediately followed: he was made Chaplain of Stirling Castle 1759, King's Chaplain for Scotland 1760, Principal of the Univ. of Edin. 1761, and Historiographer for Scotland 1763. In 1769 appeared theHistory of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V., in 1777The History of America, and in 1791Historical Disquisition on Ancient India. In 1780 R. retired from the management of Church affairs, in which he had shown conspicuous ability, and gave himself to study, and the society of his friends, among whom were most of his distinguished contemporaries. As a writer he possessed a finished style, clear, measured, and stately, which carried his well-arranged narrative as on a full and steady stream; he was also cool and sagacious but, like Hume, he was apt to take his facts at second hand, and the vast additional material which has been in course of accumulation since his day has rendered the value of his work more and more literary, and less and less historical.
Livesby Dugald Stewart (1801), Bishop Gleig (1812), and Lord Brougham inMen of Letters.
ROBINSON, HENRY CRABB (1775-1867).—Diarist,b.at Bury St. Edmunds, was articled to an attorney in Colchester. Between 1800 and 1805 he studied at various places in Germany, and became acquainted with nearly all the great men of letters there, including Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Wieland, etc. Thereafter he became war correspondent to theTimesin the Peninsula. On his return to London he studied for the Bar, to which he was called in 1813, and became leader of the Eastern Circuit. Fifteen years later he retired, and by virtue of his great conversational powers and other qualities, became a leader in society, going everywhere and knowing everybody worth knowing. Hed.unmarried, aged 91, and hisDiary, Reminiscences and Correspondence, which stands in the forefront of its class, waspub.in 1869.
ROCHESTER, JOHN WILMOT (2ND EARL OF) (1647-1680).—Poet,s.of the 1st Earl,b.at Ditchley in Oxfordshire, anded.at Oxf., saw some naval service when he showed conspicuous bravery. He became one of the most dissolute of the courtiers of Charles II., and wore himself out at 33 by his wild life. He was handsome, and witty, and possessed a singular charm of manner. He wrote a number of light, graceful poems, many of them extremely gross. Bishop Burnet, who attended him on his deathbed, believed him to have been sincerely repentant. In addition to his short pieces he wrote aSatyr against Mankind, and a tragedy,Valentinian, adapted from Beaumont and Fletcher.
ROGERS, HENRY (1806-1877).—Critic and theologian, was a minister of the Congregationalist Church, and ultimately Prof. of English Literature in Univ. Coll., London. He was a contributor to theEdinburgh Review, and is best known by hisEclipse of Faith(1852), a reply to F.W. Newman'sPhases of Faith. This work, which displays remarkable acuteness and logical power, had great popularity.
ROGERS, SAMUEL (1763-1855).—Poet,s.of a banker in London, received a careful private education, and entered the bank, of which, on his father's death, he became the principal partner. From his early youth he showed a marked taste for literature and the fine arts, which his wealth enabled him to gratify; and in his later years he was a well-known leader in society and a munificent patron of artists and men of letters, his breakfasts, at which he delighted to assemble celebrities in all departments, being famous. He was the author of the following poems:The Pleasures of Memory(1792),Columbus(1810),Jacqueline(1814),Human Life(1819), andItaly(1822). R. was emphatically the poet of taste, and his writings, while full of allusion and finished description, rarely show passion or intensity of feeling; but are rather the reflections and memory-pictures of a man of high culture and refinement expressed in polished verse. He had considerable powers of conversation and sarcasm. He was offered, but declined, the laureateship.
ROLLE, RICHARD (1290?-1349).—Hermit and poet,b.at Thornton, Yorkshire, was at Oxf. Impressed by the uncertainty and the snares of life he decided to become a hermit, a resolution which he carried out with somewhat romantic circumstances. He wrote various religious treatises in Latin and English, turned the Psalms into English verse, and composed a poem—The Pricke of Conscience—in 7 books, in which is shown the attitude of protest which was rising against certain Papal pretensions and doctrines.
ROLLOCK, ROBERT (1555?-1599).—Theologian and scholar,b.in Stirlingshire, was first a Prof. in St. Andrews, and then the first Principal of the Univ. of Edin. He also held office as Prof. of Theology, and was one of the ministers of the High Church. He was one of the earliest of Protestant commentators. He wrote chiefly in Latin, but some of his sermons and commentaries are in vernacular Scotch.
ROPER, WILLIAM (1496-1578).—Biographer,s.of a Kentish gentleman,m.Margaret,dau.of Sir Thomas More. He has a place in literature for his excellent and appreciative biography of his father-in-law. He was a member of various Parliaments between 1529 and 1558. Although he remained a Roman Catholic, he was permitted to retain his office of prothonotary of the Court of King's Bench after the accession of Elizabeth.
ROSCOE, WILLIAM (1753-1831).—Historian,s.of a market-gardener near Liverpool, for a time assisted hisf., devoting all his spare time to mental improvement. Subsequently he entered the office of an attorney, and in due time went into business on his own account, continuing, however, his literary studies. In 1799 he joined a local bank as partner and manager, which proved an unfortunate step, as the bank was obliged, in 1816, to suspend payment. In 1795 he rose into fame at a bound by hisLife of Lorenzo de' Medici. It was followed in 1805 by theLife and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth, which, though also a work of great ability, had not the same success—his treatment of the Reformation offending Protestants and Roman Catholics alike. Both works were translated into various languages. He also wrote some poems, includingThe Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast, and several pamphlets on political questions, including the slave-trade, of which he was a determined opponent. He also took a leading part in the public life of Liverpool, which he represented in Parliament for a few years. He was an accomplished botanist.
ROSCOMMON, WENTWORTH DILLON, 4TH EARL of (1633?-1685).—Poet, nephew of the famous Earl of Strafford, wasb.in Ireland. He studied and travelled on the Continent, and enjoyed a considerable literary reputation in his own day on the strength of a poeticalEssay on Translated Verse, and translations from Horace'sArt of Poetry.
ROSE, WILLIAM STEWART (1775-1843).—Poet and translator,s.of George R., who held various Government offices, including that of Treasurer of the Navy. After beinged.at Eton and Camb., he was appointed Reading Clerk to the House of Lords. He translated the romance ofAmadis de Gaul(1803),Partenopex de Blois(1807), etc., and from 1823-31 was occupied with the principal work of his life, his translations from the Italian, including theOrlando Furiosoof Ariosto, in which he was encouraged by Sir W. Scott, whose friend he was. He also produced a vol. of poems,The Crusade of St. Louis(1810).
ROSSETTI, CHRISTINA GEORGINA (1830-1894).—Poetess, sister ofDante Gabriel R.(q.v.), wasb.in London, where she lived all her life. She began to write poetry in early girlhood, some of her earliest verse appearing in 1850 in theGerm, the magazine of the pre-Raphaelites, of which her brother was one of the founders. Her subsequent publications wereGoblin Market and other Poems(1862),The Prince's Progress(1866),A Pageant and other Poems(1881), andVerses(1893).New Poems(1896) appeared after her death.Sing-Songwas a book of verses for children. Her life wasa very retired one, passed largely in attending on her mother, who lived until 1886, and in religious duties. She twice rejected proposals of marriage. Her poetry is characterised by imaginative power, exquisite expression, and simplicity and depth of thought. She rarely imitated any forerunner, and drew her inspiration from her own experiences of thought and feeling. Many of her poems are definitely religious in form; more are deeply imbued with religious feeling and motive. In addition to her poems she wroteCommonplace and other Stories, andThe Face of the Deep, a striking and suggestive commentary on the Apocalypse.
ROSSETTI, DANTE GABRIEL (1828-1882).—Poet and painter, wasb.in London. Hisf.was Gabriele Rossetti, an Italian scholar, who came to England in 1824, and was Prof. of Italian in King's Coll., London. His mother was Frances Polidori, English on her mother's side, so that the poet was three-fourths Italian, and one-fourth English. He wased.at King's Coll. School, and began the systematic study of painting in 1842, and in 1848, with Holman Hunt, Millais, and others, founded the pre-Raphaelite school of painting. In 1849 he exhibited the "Girlhood of Mary Virgin," and among his other pictures are "Beata Beatrix," "Monna Vanna," and "Dante's Dream." Simultaneously with art he worked hard at poetry, and by 1847 he had writtenThe Blessed DamozelandHand and Soul(both of which appeared in theGerm, the magazine of the pre-Raphaelites),Retro me Sathanas,The Portrait, andThe Choice, and in 1861 he brought out a vol. of translations from the early Italian poets under the title ofDante and his Circle. The death of his wife in 1862, after a married life of less than two years, told heavily upon him, as did various attacks upon his poetry, including that ofRobert Buchanan(q.v.)—The Fleshly School of Poetry—to which he replied withThe Stealthy School of Criticism. HisPoemswhich, in the vehemence of his grief, he had buried in the coffin of his wife, and which were afterwards exhumed, appeared in 1870; and his last literary effort,Ballads and Sonnets, containing the sonnets formingThe House of Life, in 1881. In his later years he suffered acutely from neuralgia, which led to the habit of taking chloral. Rossetti was fastidious in composition; his poems are as remarkable for condensation, finish, and exact expression of the poet's thought as for their sumptuous colouring and rich concrete imagery. In later years he was subject to depression, and became somewhat embittered, and much of a recluse.
Lifeby A.C. Benson (English Men of Letters).Family Letters and Memoirby W.M. Rossetti. Poetical Works with preface by the same, etc.
ROUS, FRANCIS (1579-1659).—Versifier of the Psalms, a Cornishman, and a prominent Puritan, took a leading part in Parliament, was Provost of Eton, and wrote several theological and devotional works. His memory has, however, been chiefly kept green by his translation of the Psalms into verse, which with some modifications was adopted by the Church and Parliament of Scotland for use in public worship, a position which it held almost exclusively until the middle of the 19th century. It is still in universal use in the Presbyterian churches of that country, though now accompaniedby hymns. Though rough, and sometimes, through the endeavour to maintain literalness, grotesque, it is strong and simple, and not seldom rises to a certain severe beauty; and association has endeared it to many generations of Scottish Christians.
ROW, JOHN (1568-1646).—Scottish ecclesiastical historian,b.at Perth,s.of John R., one of the Scottish Reformers, was minister of Carnock in Fife, and a leading opponent of Episcopacy. HisHistorie of the Kirk of Scotland, 1558-1637, left by him in manuscript, was printed in 1842 for the Wodrow Society. It is an original authority for the period.
ROWE, NICHOLAS (1674-1718).—Dramatist and poet,b.of a good family at Little Barford, Bedfordshire, was bred to the law, but inheriting an income of £300 a year, he devoted himself to literature, and produced several dramas, includingThe Ambitious Stepmother,The Fair Penitent, andJane Shore. The last, which is his best, contains some scenes of true pathos, and holds its place. He also wrote some poems, and translated Lucan. R., who was a man of very engaging manners, was the friend of Pope, Swift, and Addison, and received many lucrative appointments, including that of Under-Sec. of State. He has the distinction of being the first ed. and biographer of Shakespeare (1709). He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, with an epitaph by Pope.
ROWLEY, WILLIAM (1585?-1642?).—Dramatist, was an actor in the Queen's Company 1610. He collaborated with Middleton inA Fair QuarrelandThe Changeling, and in others with Dekker, Webster, etc., and wrote unassistedA New Wonder,A Match at Midnight,A Shoemaker, a Gentleman, and several others; also a picture of life in London calledA Search for Money. R. was vigorous and humorous, but his verse lacked sweetness and smoothness.
RUDDIMAN, THOMAS (1674-1757).—Grammarian,b.in Banffshire, anded.at King's Coll., Aberdeen, obtained a position in the Advocates' Library in Edin., of which in 1730 he became Librarian. In 1714 hepub.hisRudiments of the Latin Tongue, which was for long the recognised Latin grammar in the schools of Scotland. He was made printer to the Univ. in 1728. R., who was one of the greatest of Scottish Latinists, produced an ed. of the works of George Buchanan, and an ed. ofLivysaid to be "immaculate." He also reprinted, with notes, Gavin Douglas's version of theÆneid.
RUSKIN, JOHN (1819-1900).—Writer on art, economics, and sociology, wasb.in London, thes.of a wealthy wine merchant, a Scotsman. Brought up under intellectually and morally bracing Puritan influences, his education was mainly private until he went to Oxf. in 1836; he remained until 1840, when a serious illness interrupted his studies, and led to a six months' visit to Italy. On his return in 1842 he took his degree. In 1840 he had made the acquaintance of Turner, and this, together with a visit to Venice, constituted a turning point in his life. In 1843 appeared the first vol. ofModern Painters, the object of which was to insist upon the superiority in landscape of the moderns, and especially of Turner, toall the ancient masters. The earnestness and originality of the author and the splendour of the style at once called attention to the work which, however, awakened a chorus of protest from the adherents of the ancients. A second vol. appeared in 1846, the third and fourth in 1856, and the fifth in 1860. Meanwhile he hadpub.The Seven Lamps of Architecture(1849),The Stones of Venice(1851-53), perhaps his greatest work,Lectures on Architecture and Painting(1854),Elements of Drawing(1856), andElements of Perspective(1859). During the 17 years between the publication of the first and the last vols. ofModern Paintershis views alike on religion and art had become profoundly modified, and the necessity of a radical change in the moral and intellectual attitude of the age towards religion, art, and economics in their bearing upon life and social conditions had become his ruling idea. He now assumed therôleof the prophet as Carlyle, by whose teaching he was profoundly influenced, had done, and the rest of his life was spent in the endeavour to turn the mind of the nation in the direction he desired.The Political Economy of Art(1857) showed the line in which his mind was moving; but it was inUnto this Last,pub.in theCornhill Magazinein 1860, that he began fully to develop his views. It brought down upon him a storm of opposition and obloquy which continued for years, and which, while it acted injuriously upon his highly sensitive nervous system, had no effect in silencing him or modifying his views. There followedMunera Pulveris(Gifts of the Dust),The Crown of Wild Olive,Sesame and Lilies(1865),Time and Tide by Wear and Tyne, and innumerable fugitive articles. In 1869 R. was appointed first Slade Prof. of the Fine Arts at Oxf., and endowed a school of drawing in the Univ. His successive courses of lectures werepub.asAratra Pentelici(Ploughs of Pentelicus) (1870),The Eagle's Nest(1872),Ariadne Florentina(1872), andLove's Meinie(1873). Contemporaneously with these he issued with more or less regularity, as health permitted,Fors Clavigera(Chance the Club-bearer), a series of miscellaneous notes and essays, sold by the author himself direct to the purchasers, the first of a series of experiments—of which the Guild of St. George, a tea room, and a road-making enterprise were other examples—in practical economics. After the death of his mother in 1871 he purchased a small property, Brantwood, in the Lake district, where he lived for the remainder of his life, and here he brought out in monthly parts his last work,Præterita, an autobiography, 24 parts of which appeared, bringing down the story to 1864. Here hed.on January 20, 1900. R. was a man of noble character and generous impulses, but highly strung, irritable, and somewhat intolerant. He is one of our greatest stylists, copious, eloquent, picturesque, and highly coloured. His influence on his time was very great, at first in the department of art, in which he was for a time regarded as the supreme authority, later and increasingly in the realms of economics and morals, in which he was at first looked upon as an unpractical dreamer. Hem.in 1848, but the union proved unhappy, and was dissolved in 1855.
For his Lifeseehis own works, especiallyPræterita.Life and Worksby Collingwood (2 vols., 1893).Bibliography, T.J. Wise (1889-93). Shorter works by Mrs. Meynell, J.A. Hobson, F. Harrison, etc.
RUSSELL, LORD JOHN, 1ST EARL RUSSELL (1792-1878).—Statesman, biographer, and historical writer, thirds.of the 6th Duke of Bedford, wased.at Westminster School and the Univ. of Edin. He entered Parliament in 1813, and became one of the most eminent English statesmen of the 19th century. He uniformly acted with the Whig and afterwards with the Liberal party, advocated all measures of progress, especially the removal of tests, the extension of education, and Parliamentary reform. He was the leader of his party in the House of Commons from 1834-55, represented the City of London from 1841 until his elevation to the peerage in 1861, and held the offices of Paymaster of the Forces, Home Sec., Colonial Sec., Foreign Sec., and Prime Minister, which last he held twice, 1846-52, and 1865-66. His contributions to literature were considerable, both in number and importance, and includeEssay on the English Constitution(1821),Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht(1824),Correspondence of the 4th Duke of Bedford,Life, Diary, and Letters of Thomas Moore,Correspondence of Charles James Fox, and aLifeof the same statesman,Essays on the Rise and Progress of the Christian Religion in the West of Europe(1873), andRecollections and Suggestions(1875).
RUSSELL, WILLIAM (1741-1793).—Historian,b.in Selkirkshire, and apprenticed to a bookseller in Edin., he was patronised by Lord Elibank, and went to London, where he followed literature as a profession. He wrote poems and fables, aHistory of America(1779), and aHistory of Modern Europe, which he left unfinished.
RUSSELL, SIR WILLIAM HOWARD (1821-1907).—War correspondent,b.in Co. Dublin, was called to the Bar in 1850. Having joined the staff of theTimes, he was sent as war correspondent to the Crimea, his letters from which caused a profound sensation, and led to an improved condition of things in regard to the army. He was also correspondent in India during the Mutiny, in America during the Civil War, and during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and the Franco-German War of 1870-71, in South Africa in 1879, and in Egypt in 1883. Among his books areThe Adventures of Dr. Brady(1868),Hesperothen(1882),A Visit to Chili(1890), andThe Great War with Russia(1895). He was knighted in 1895, and also received various foreign decorations.
RUTHERFORD, SAMUEL (1600?-1661).—Theologian and controversialist,b.at Nisbet, Roxburghshire,ed.at Edin. Univ., where he became in 1623 Regent of Humanity (Prof. of Latin). In 1627 he was settled as minister of Anwoth in Galloway, whence he was banished to Aberdeen for nonconformity. On the re-establishment of Presbytery in 1638 he was made Prof. of Divinity at St. Andrews, and in 1651 Principal of St. Mary's Coll. there, and he was one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly. At the Restoration he was deprived of all his offices. He was a formidable controversialist, and a strenuous upholder of the divine right of Presbytery. Among his polemical works areDue Right of Presbyteries(1644),Lex Rex(1644), andFree Disputation against Pretended Liberty of Conscience.Lex Rexwas, after the Restoration, burned by the common hangman, and led to the citation of theauthor for high treason, which his death prevented from taking effect. His chief fame, however, rests upon his spiritual and devotional works, such asChrist Dying and drawing Sinners to Himself, but especially upon hisLetters, which display a fervour of feeling and a rich imagery which, while highly relished by some, repel others.
RYCAUT, or RICAUT, SIR PAUL (1628-1700).—Historian, was at Camb., and held various diplomatic positions. He wrotePresent State of the Ottoman Empire(1668), and a continuation ofKnolles's General Historie of the Turks, and translated Platina'sLatin History of the Popes.
RYMER, THOMAS (1641-1713).—Archæologist and critic,ed.at Camb., became a barrister at Gray's Inn. Hepub.in 1678Tragedies of the last Age Considered, in which he passed judgments, very unfavourable, upon their authors, including Shakespeare. He was of much more use as the collector of English treaties, which hepub.under the title ofFædera, in 20 vols., the last 5 of which were ed. after his death byR. Sanderson(q.v.). R. alsopub.poems and a play,Edgar. He held the office of historiographer to William III. His learning and industry have received the recognition of many subsequent historians.
ST. JOHN, H., (seeBOLINGBROKE).
SALA, GEORGE AUGUSTUS HENRY (1828-1895).—Journalist and novelist,b.in London of Italian ancestry, began life as an illustrator of books and scene-painter, afterwards taking to literature. He contributed to many periodicals, includingHousehold Words, and theIllustrated London News, and was the founder and first ed. ofTemple Bar. Among his novels wereThe Buddington PeerageandQuite Alone. He also wrote books of travel, and an autobiographical work, hisLife and Adventures(1895).
SALE, GEORGE (1697?-1736).—Orientalist, a Kentish man, and practising solicitor. In 1734 hepub.a translation of theKoran. He also assisted in theUniversal History, and was one of the correctors of the Arabic New Testament issued by the S.P.C.K.
SANDERSON, ROBERT (1587-1663).—Theologian and casuist,b.of good family at Rotherham in Yorkshire, was at Oxf. Entering the Church he rose to be Bishop of Lincoln. His work on logic,Logicæ Artis Compendium(1615), was long a standard treatise on the subject. His sermons also were admired; but he is perhaps best remembered by hisNine Cases of Conscience Resolved(1678), in consideration of which he has been placed at the head of English casuists. He left large collections of historical and heraldic matter in MS.
SANDS, ROBERT CHARLES (1799-1832).—Miscellaneous writer,b.at New York, was a scholarly and versatile writer, but without much originality. His best work is in his short stories. His chief poem wasYamoyden, an Indian story written in collaboration with a friend.
SANDYS, GEORGE (1578-1644).—Traveller and translator,s.of an Archbishop of York,b.at Bishopsthorpe, anded.at Oxf., isone of the best of the earlier travellers, learned, observant, and truth-loving. Hepub.in 1615 an account of his journeys in the East which was highly popular. He also translated when in America theMetamorphosesof Ovid, produced a metricalParaphrase on the Psalms, with music by Henry Lawes, and another on the Canticles, and wroteChrist's Passion, a tragedy. He held various public offices, chiefly in connection with the colony of Virginia.
SAVAGE, RICHARD (1697?-1743).—Poet, was probably of humble birth, but claimed to be the illegitimates.of the Countess of Macclesfield. He was the friend of Johnson in the early and miserable days of the latter in London; and inThe Lives of the PoetsJ. has given his story as set forth by himself, which is, if true, a singular record of maternal cruelty. There are strong reasons, however, for doubting whether it was anything but a tissue of falsehoods mingled with gross exaggerations of fact. He led a wildly irregular life, killed a gentleman in a tavern brawl, for which he was sentenced to death, but pardoned; and by his waywardness alienated nearly all who wished to befriend him. For a time he had a pension of £50 from Queen Caroline on condition of his writing an ode yearly on her birthday. He wroteLove in a Veil(1718) (comedy) andSir Thomas Overbury(1723) (tragedy), and two poems,The Bastard(1728) andThe Wanderer(1729). Hed.in prison at Bristol.
SAVILE, SIR HENRY (1549-1622).—Scholar,ed.at Oxf., where he lectured on mathematics. He was afterwards Warden of Merton Coll. and Provost of Eton, and made a translation from Tacitus entitled,The Ende of Nero and Beginning of Galba, etc.(1581), and in the same yearpub.Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores post Bedam Præcipui, a collection of some of the chronicles subsequent to Bede, William of Malmesbury, Roger of Hoveden, etc. He founded the Savilian Professorship of Astronomy and Geometry at Oxf.
SAXBY, EDWARD (d.1658).—B.in Suffolk, and was in Cromwell's Horse. His extreme republican views, however, led him into the bitterest antagonism when C. assumed the Protectorship. This received expression in his extraordinary pamphlet,Killing no Murder, in which the assassination of C. is advocated, and which displays in a remarkable degree perverted ingenuity of argument combined with considerable literary power. S.d.demented in the Tower in 1658.
SCOTT, ALEXANDER (1525?-1584?).—Scottish poet. Almost nothing is known of his life, but he is believed to have spent most of his time in or near Edin. Thirty-six short poems are attributed to him, includingAne New Yeir Gift to Quene Mary,The Rondel of Love, and a satire,Justing at the Drum. He has great variety of metre, and is graceful and musical, but his satirical pieces are often extremely coarse.
SCOTT, HUGH STOWELL (1863?-1903).—Novelist (under the name of Henry Seton Merriman). He was an underwriter in Lloyd's, but having a strong literary bent, latterly devoted himself to writing novels, many of which had great popularity. They includeThe Slave of the Lamp(1892),The Sowers(generally consideredhis best) (1896),In Kedar's Tents(1897),Roden's Corner(1898),Isle of Unrest(1900),The Velvet Glove(1901),The Vultures(1902), andBarlasch of the Guard(1903). He worked with great care, and his best books hold a high place in modern fiction. He was unusually modest and retiring in character.
SCOTT, JOHN (1730-1783).—Poet,s.of a Quaker draper who in his later years lived at Amwell, a village in Herts, which the poet celebrates in his descriptive poem,Amwell. He wrote much other verse now forgotten.
SCOTT, LADY JOHN (ALICIA ANN SPOTTISWOODE) (1801-1900).—M.Lord John Scott. She was the writer of a number of Scottish songs characterised by true poetic feeling. Among them may be mentionedAnnie Laurie,Douglas, andDurrisdeer. She also composed the music for them.
SCOTT, MICHAEL (1789-1835).—Novelist,b.near anded.at Glasgow, and settled in business at Kingston, Jamaica, which led to his making frequent sea voyages, and thus yielded him experiences which he turned to account in two vivacious novels,Tom Cringle's LogandThe Cruise of the Midge, both of which first appeared inBlackwood's Magazine, where they attained deserved popularity. They have frequently been reprinted. The author, however, maintained a strictincognitoduring his life.
SCOTT, SIR WALTER (1771-1832).—Poet, novelist, and biographer,s.of Walter S., a Writer to the Signet in Edinburgh, and Margaret Rutherford,dau.of one of the Prof. of Medicine in the Univ. there. Through both parents he was connected with several old Border families; hisf.was a scion of the Scotts of Harden, well known in Border history. In early childhood he suffered from a severe fever, one of the effects of which was a permanent lameness, and for some time he was delicate. The native vigour of his constitution, however, soon asserted itself, and he became a man of exceptional strength. Much of his childhood was spent at his grandfather's farm at Sandyknowe, Roxburghshire, and almost from the dawn of intelligence he began to show an interest in the traditionary lore which was to have so powerful an influence on his future life, an interest which was nourished and stimulated by several of the older members of his family, especially one of his aunts. At this stage he was a quick-witted, excitable child, who required rather to be restrained than pressed forward. At the age of 7 he was strong enough to be sent to the High School of Edinburgh, where he was more remarkable for miscellaneous and out-of-the-way knowledge and his powers of story-telling than for proficiency in the ordinary course of study; and notwithstanding his lameness, he was to be found in the forefront wherever adventure or fighting were to be had. Thereafter he was for three sessions at the Univ., where he bore much the same character as at school. He was, however, far from idle, and was all the time following the irresistible bent, which ultimately led to such brilliant results, in a course of insatiable reading of ballads and romances, to enlarge which he had by the time he was 15 acquired a working knowledge of French and Italian, andhad made the acquaintance of Dante and Ariosto in the original. Percy'sReliques of Ancient Poetry,pub.in 1765, came into his hands in 1784, and proved one of the most formative influences of this period. At 15 he was apprenticed to hisf., but preferring the higher branch of the profession, he studied for the Bar, to which he was called in 1792. He did not, however, forego his favourite studies, but ransacked the Advocates' Library for old manuscripts, in the deciphering of which he became so expert that his assistance soon came to be invoked by antiquarians of much longer standing. Although he worked hard at law his ideal was not the attainment of an extensive practice, but rather of a fairly paid post which should leave him leisure for his favourite pursuits, and this he succeeded in reaching, being appointed first in 1799 Sheriff of Selkirk, and next in 1812 one of the Principal Clerks to the Court of Session, which together brought him an income of £1600. Meanwhile in 1795 he had translated Bürger's ballad ofLenore, and in the following year he made his first appearance in print by publishing it along with a translation ofThe Wild Huntsmanby the same author. About the same time he made the acquaintance of "Monk" Lewis, to whose collection ofTales of Wonderhe contributed the ballads ofGlenfinlas,The Eve of St. John, andThe Grey Brother; and hepub.in 1799 a translation of Goethe'sGoetz von Berlichingen. In 1797 he wasm.to Miss Charlotte Margaret Charpentier, thedau.of a French gentleman of good position. The year 1802 saw the publication of Scott's first work of real importance,The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, of which 2 vols. appeared, the third following in the next year. In 1804 he went to reside at Ashestiel on the Tweed, where he ed. the old romance,Sir Tristrem, and in 1805 he produced his first great original work,The Lay of the Last Minstrel, which was received with great favour, and decided that literature was thenceforth to be the main work of his life. In the same year the first few chapters ofWaverleywere written; but the unfavourable opinion of a friend led to the MS. being laid aside for nearly 10 years. In 1806 S. began, by a secret partnership, that association with the Ballantynes which resulted so unfortunately for him 20 years later.Marmionwaspub.in 1808: it was even more popular than theLay, and raised his reputation proportionately. The same year saw the publication of his elaborate ed. of Dryden with a Life, and was also marked by a rupture with Jeffrey, with whom he had been associated as a contributor to theEdinburgh Review, and by the establishment of the new firm of J. Ballantyne and Co., of which the first important publication wasThe Lady of the Lake, which appeared in 1810,The Vision of Don Roderickfollowing in 1811. In 1812 S. purchased land on the Tweed near Melrose, and built his famous house, Abbotsford, the adornment of which became one of the chief pleasures of his life, and which he made the scene of a noble and kindly hospitality. In the same year hepub.Rokeby, and in 1813The Bridal of Triermain, while 1814 sawThe Life and Works of Swiftin 19 vols., and was made illustrious by the appearance ofWaverley, the two coming out in the same week, the latter, of course, like its successors, anonymously. The next year,The Lord of the Isles,Guy Mannering, andThe Field of Waterlooappeared, and the next again, 1816,Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk,The Antiquary,The Black Dwarf, andOld Mortality, while 1817 sawHarold the DauntlessandRob Roy. The enormous strain which S. had been undergoing as official, man of letters, and man of business, began at length to tell upon him, and in this same year, 1817, he had the first of a series of severe seizures of cramp in the stomach, to which, however, his indomitable spirit refused to yield, and several of his next works,The Heart of Midlothian(1818), by many considered his masterpiece,The Bride of Lammermoor,The Legend of Montrose, andIvanhoe, all of 1819, were dictated to amanuenses, while he was too ill to hold a pen. In 1820The Monastery, in which the public began to detect a falling off in the powers of the still generally unknown author, appeared. The immediately followingAbbot, however, showed a recovery.KenilworthandThe Piratefollowed in 1821,The Fortunes of Nigelin 1822;Peveril of the Peak,Quentin Durward, andSt. Ronan's Wellin 1823;Redgauntletin 1824, andTales of the Crusaders(The BetrothedandThe Talisman) in 1825. By this time S. had long reached a pinnacle of fame such as perhaps no British man of letters has ever attained during his lifetime. He had for a time been the most admired poet of his day, and though latterly somewhat eclipsed by Byron, he still retained great fame as a poet. He also possessed a great reputation as an antiquary, one of the chief revivers of interest in our ancient literature, and as the biographer and ed. of several of our great writers; while the incognito which he maintained in regard to his novels was to many a very partial veil. The unprecedented profits of his writings had made him, as he believed, a man of wealth; his social prestige was immense; he had in 1820 been made a baronet, when that was still a real distinction, and he had been the acknowledged representative of his country when the King visited it in 1822. All this was now to change, and the fabric of prosperity which he had raised by his genius and labour, and which had never spoiled the simplicity and generosity of his character, was suddenly to crumble into ruin with, however, the result of revealing him as the possessor of qualities even greater and nobler than any he had shown in his happier days. The publishing and printing firms with which he had been connected fell in the commercial crisis of 1826, and S. found himself at 55, and with failing health, involved in liabilities amounting to £130,000. Never was adversity more manfully and gallantly met. Notwithstanding the crushing magnitude of the disaster and the concurrent sorrow of his wife's illness, which soon issued in her death, he deliberately set himself to the herculean task of working off his debts, asking only that time might be given him. The secret of his authorship was now, of course, revealed, and his efforts were crowned with a marvellous measure of success.Woodstock, his first publication after the crash, appeared in the same year and brought £8000; by 1828 he had earned £40,000. In 1827The Two Drovers,The Highland Widow, andThe Surgeon's Daughter, forming the first series ofChronicles of the Canongate, appeared together withThe Life of Napoleonin 9 vols., and the first series ofTales of a Grandfather; in 1828The Fair Maid of Perthand the second series ofTales of a Grandfather,Anne of Geierstein, a third series of theTales, and the commencement of a complete ed. of the novels in 1829; a fourth and last series ofTales,History of Scotland, and other work in 1830. Then at last the overworked brain gave way, and during this yearhe had more than one paralytic seizure. He was sent abroad for change and rest, and a Government frigate was placed at his disposal. But all was in vain; he never recovered, and though in temporary rallies he produced two more novels,Count Robert of ParisandCastle Dangerous, both in 1831, which only showed that the spell was broken, he gradually sank, andd.at Abbotsford on September 21, 1832.
The work which S. accomplished, whether looked at as regards its mass or its quality, is alike marvellous. In mere amount his output in each of the four departments of poetry, prose fiction, history and biography, and miscellaneous literature is sufficient to fill an ordinary literary life. Indeed the quantity of his acknowledged work in other departments was held to be the strongest argument against the possibility of his being the author of the novels. The achievement of such a result demanded a power of steady, methodical, and rapid work almost unparalleled in the history of literature. When we turn to its quality we are struck by the range of subject and the variableness of the treatment. In general there is the same fulness of mind directed by strong practical sense and judgment, but the style is often heavy, loose, and even slipshod, and in most of his works there are "patches" in which he falls far below his best. His poetry, though as a whole belonging to the second class, is full of broad and bold effects, picturesqueness, and an irresistible rush and freshness. As a lyrist, however, he stands much higher, and in such gems as "Proud Maisie" and "A weary lot is thine, Fair Maid," he takes his place among our greatest singers. His chief fame rests, of course, upon the novels. Here also, however, there is the same inequality and irregularity, but there is a singular command over his genius in virtue of which the fusing, creating imagination responds to his call, and is at its greatest just where it is most needed. For the variety, truth, and aliveness of his characters he has probably no equal since Shakespeare, and though, of course, coming far behind, he resembles him alike in his range and in his insight. The most remarkable feature in his character is the union of an imagination of the first order with practical sagacity and manly sanity, in this also resembling his great predecessor.
SUMMARY.—B.1771,ed.Edin., called to Bar 1792, Sheriff of Selkirk 1799, Principal Clerk of Session 1812, firstpub.translation ofLenore, etc., wrote ballads and made translation from German,pub. Minstrelsy of Scottish Border1802-3,Lay of Last Minstrel1805, beganWaverley1805, partner with Ballantynes 1806,pub.Marmion1808,Lady of Lake1810, began to build Abbotsford 1812, Waverley novels began and continued 1814-31, health began to fail 1817, made Baronet 1820, ruined by failure of Ballantynes 1826, devotes rest of his life to clearing off debt by novels and historical works,Tales of a Grandfather,Life of Napoleon, etc., health finally gave way 1830,d.1832.
The great authority is theLifeby Lockhart, but it has been supplemented by theJournal(1890) andLetters(1893). ShortLivesby C. Gilfillan, R.H. Hutton, etc., etc.