BLACKIE, JOHN STUART (1809-1895).—Scholar and man of letters,b.in Glasgow, anded.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 ofFaust(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. Hisliterary activity was incessant, his works consisting of translations ofÆschylusand of theIliad, various books of poetry, includingLays and Legends of Ancient Greece, and treatises on religious, philosophical, and political subjects, among which may be mentionedSelf-Culture(1873),Horæ Hellenicæ, 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. Hepub.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 includePrince 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 firstpub.wasPoems by Melanter(1853), followed byEpullia(1855),The Bugle of the Black Sea(1855), etc.; but he soon found that fiction, not poetry, was his true vocation. Beginning withClara Vaughanin 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, isLorna Doone(1869), the two which rank next to it beingThe Maid of Sker(1872) (the author's favourite) andSpringhaven(1887). Others areCradock Nowell(1866),Alice Lorraine(1875),Cripps the Carrier(1876),Mary Anerley(1880), andChristowell(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, posthumouss.of a silk mercer in London, wased.at Charterhouse School and Oxf., and entered the Middle Temple in 1741. His great work is hisCommentaries 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 £14,000. 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 inThe Lawyer's Farewell to his Muse.
BLAIR, HUGH (1718-1800).—Divine, and man of letters,b.anded.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. HisLectureswerepub.on his resignation of the chair in 1783. His chief fame, however, rests upon hisSermons, in 4 vols., which had an extraordinary popularity, and obtained for him a pension of £200. 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 hisf.was a clergyman, became minister of Athelstaneford, Haddingtonshire. His sole work wasThe 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 byWilliam Blake(q.v.) B.'ss., 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 ofDouglas.
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'sNight Thoughts, Blair'sGrave, "Spiritual Portraits," and his finest work, "Inventions to the Book of Job," all distinguished by originality and imagination. In literature hisSongs of Innocenceappeared in 1789,Songs of Experiencein 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 LosandThe Book of Ahania(1795). His last books wereJerusalemandMilton. 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 fromdirectness 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, herConversationswith whom shepub.in 1834. This is the only one of her books which has any value. The others were slight works on Travel, such asThe 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 hisHistory of Scotlandas 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 LatinLife of Wallacewritten 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, andpub.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'sOld 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 hisf.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 waspub.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 wereRural Tales(1804),Wild Flowers(1806),The Banks of the Wye(1811), andMay Day with the Muses(1817). An attempt to carry on business as a bookseller failed, his health gave way, his reason was threatened, and hed.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), andEngland'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, probablyb.at Dundee, anded.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, hisLives of the Bishops of Mortlach and Aberdeen, in which his friend Elphinstone figures prominently, and hisHistory of Scotlandto the accession of James III. These works were, of course, composed in Latin, but theHistorywas translated into Scottish prose by John Bellenden, 1530 to 1533, and into English for Hollinshed'sChronicle. 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, areAnne Boleyn,The Betrothed, andFrancesca da Rimini, and among his books of poetry,Street Lyrics,Königsmark, andThe 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, anded.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'sdeath. 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 areReflections upon Exile,Letters on the Study of History(in which he attacked Christianity),Letters on the Spirit of Patriotism, andIdea of a Patriot King. He left his MSS. toDavid Mallet(q.v.), whopub.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.anded.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 waspub.asHymns of Faith and Hope(3 series). His last vol. of poetry wasMy 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. HisDyetaryis the first English book of domestic medicine. TheBoke of the Introduction of Knowledgedescribes his journeys on the Continent. Other works areThe Boke of Berdes(Beards),Handbook of Europe, andItinerary 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 theGipsies, with whose language he became so familiar as topub.a dictionary of it. His learning was shown by his publishing at St. PetersburgTargum, 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 byLavengro(1851), and its sequel,Romany Rye(1857), andWild 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 hed.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 whichJenny's BawbeeandJenny dang the Weaverare 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, wased.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 immortalLife. He was also the author of several works of more or less interest, including anAccount of Corsica(1768), andJournal 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, theintemperance to which he had always been subject had mastered him, and hed.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, andpub.1857.
BOUCICAULT, DION (1820-90).—Actor and dramatist,b.in Dublin anded.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 areThe Colleen Bawn,Arrah-na-Pogue,Faust and Marguerite, andThe Shaughraun. B.d.in America.
BOWDLER, THOMAS (1754-1825).—Editor ofThe 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 hepub.hisFamily Shakespearein 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 beenpub.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, anded.at the Scots Coll., Douay, became a Jesuit, but afterwards joined the Church of England, and again became a Jesuit. He wrote aHistory of Rome(1735-44), aHistory 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'sScotichronicon.
BOWLES, WILLIAM LISLE (1762-1850).—Poet and antiquary,b.at King's Sutton, Northamptonshire, of which hisf.was vicar, anded.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 areThe Spirit of Discovery(1805), andThe Missionary of the Andes(1815), and he also enjoyed considerable reputation as an antiquary, his principal work in that department beingHermes Britannicus(1828). In 1807 hepub.aLife 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 aLife 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 areCoombe 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, wasb.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 theWestminster Reviewin 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 ofJeremy 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 inFraser's Magazinea series of light, chirping articles subsequently collected as theRecreations 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, wased.at Glasgow and at Saumur. He translated many parts of Scripture into uncouth verse. Among his works areThe Garden of ZionandZion's Flowers.
BOYLE, THE HON. ROBERT (1627-1691).—Natural Philosopher and chemist, 7ths.of the 1st Earl of Cork, wasb.at Lismore, Co. Waterford, anded.at Eton and by private tutors, after which he pursued his studies on the Continent. On his return to England hedevoted 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 areOrigin of Forms and Qualities,Experiments touching Colour,Hydrostatical Paradoxes, andObservations on Cold; in theology,Seraphic Love. His complete works werepub.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 wasVerdant 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, butd.of the plague within 40 days. He wrote on geometry, but his great work wasDe 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, anded.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 isDrunken 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) andEnglish Gentlewomanare in a much more decorous strain. Other works areThe Golden Fleece(1611) (poems),The Poet's Willow,A Strappado for the Devil(a satire), andArt Asleepe, Husband?
BRAMSTON, JAMES (c.1694-1744).—Satirist,ed.at Westminster School and Oxf., took orders and was latterly Vicar of Hastings. His poems areThe Art of Politics(1729), in imitation of Horace, andThe Man of Taste(1733), in imitation of Pope. He also parodied Phillips'sSplendid ShillinginThe 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. Shewrote about a dozen novels, chiefly historical, andThe 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 areBranded,Good St. Louis and his Times,Trelawney, andWhite Hoods.
BRETON, NICHOLAS (1545-1626).—Poet and novelist. Little is known of his life. He was thes.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 areA Floorish upon Fancie, Pasquil's Mad-cappe(1626),The Soul's Heavenly Exercise, andThe Passionate Shepherd. In prose he wroteWit'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 marriedE. 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 aLife of Newton(1831),The Martyrs of Science(1841),More Worlds than One(1854), andLetters on Natural Magicaddressed to Sir W. Scott, and he also edited, in addition to various scientific journals,The Edinburgh Encyclopædia(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 ofThe Tragicall Historie of Romeus and Juliett, from which Shakespeare probably took the story of hisRomeo 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 areA 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.
BRONTÉ, 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 andpub.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 beganJane Eyre, which, appearing in 1847, took the public by storm. It was followed byShirleyin 1849, andVillettein 1852. In 1854 she was married to her father's curate, the Rev. A. Nicholls, but after a short though happy married life shed.in 1855. EMILY B. (1818-1848).—a woman of remarkable force of character, reserved and taciturn,pub.in 1848Wuthering Heights, a powerful, but somewhat unpleasing, novel, and some striking poems; and ANNE (1820-1849), was the authoress ofThe Tenant of Wildfell HallandAgnes Grey(1848). She had not the intellectual force of her sisters. The novels of Charlotte especially created a strong impression from the first, and thepub.ofJane Eyregave 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 byMrs. 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 Bronté, A.C. Swinburne, 1877. A shortLifein Great Writers Series by A. Birrell.
BROOKE, FULKE GREVILLE, LORD (1554-1628).—Poet and statesman,b.at Beauchamp Court, Warwickshire, anded.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 chieflypub.after his death, consist of tragedies and sonnets, and poems on political and moral subjects, includingCælica(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 isThe 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. Hisdau., CHARLOTTE, the only survivor of 22 children, tended him to his last days of decay, and was herself a writer, her principal work beingReliques of Irish Poetry(1789). Shed.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 ofPunch, to which he contributed "Essence of Parliament," and on the death ofMark Lemon(q.v.) he succeeded him as editor. Hepub.a few novels, includingAspen CourtandThe Gordian Knot.
BROOKS, MARIA (GOWAN) (1795?-1845).—American poetess, was earlym.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,Zophiël 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, anded.at Eton and Camb., entered the Church, and held various incumbencies. He translated theIliadin prose along with others, and was employed by Pope, whom he excelled as a Greek scholar, in translating theOdyssey, 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 inThe Dunciad. Hepub.verses of his own of very moderate poetical merit.