Chapter V: Part 5

BYRON, GEORGE GORDON, 6TH LORD BYRON (1788-1824).--Poet, was _b._ in London, the _s._ of Captain John B. and of Catherine Gordon, heiress of Gight, Aberdeenshire, his second wife, whom he _m._ for her money and, after squandering it, deserted. He was also the grand-nephew of the 5th, known as the "wicked" Lord B. From his birth he suffered from a malformation of the feet, causing a slight lameness, which was a cause of lifelong misery to him, aggravated by the knowledge that with proper care it might have been cured. After the departure of his _f._ his mother went to Aberdeen, where she lived on a small salvage from her fortune. She was a capricious woman of violent temper, with no fitness for guiding her volcanic son, and altogether the circumstances of his early life explain, if they do not excuse, the spirit of revolt which was his lifelong characteristic. In 1794, on the death of a cousin, he became heir-presumptive to the title and embarrassed estates of the family, to which, on the death of his great-uncle in 1798, he succeeded. In 1801 he was sent to Harrow, where he remained until 1805, when he proceeded to Trinity Coll., Camb., where he read much history and fiction, lived extravagantly, and got into debt. Some early verses which he had _pub._ in 1806 were suppressed. They were followed in 1807 by _Hours of Idleness_, which was savagely attacked in the _Edinburgh Review_. In reply he sent forth _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_ (1800), which created considerable stir and shortly went through 5 ed. Meanwhile, he had settled at Newstead Abbey, the family seat, where with some of his cronies he was believed to have indulged in wild and extravagant orgies, the accounts of which, however, were probably greatly exaggerated. In 1809 he left England, and passing through Spain, went to Greece. During his absence, which extended over two years, he wrote the first two cantos of _Childe Harold_, which were _pub._ after his return in 1812, and were received with acclamation. In his own words, "he awoke one morning and found himself famous." He followed up his success with some short poems, _The Corsair_, _Lara_, etc. About the same time began his intimacy with his future biographer, Thomas Moore (_q.v._), and about 1815 he married Anne Isabella Milbanke, who had refused him in the previous year, a union which, owing to the total incompatibility of the parties, and serious provocations on the part of B., proved unhappy, and was in 1816 dissolved by a formal deed of separation. The only fruit of it was a _dau._, Augusta Ada. After this break-up of his domestic life, followed as it was by the severe censure of society, and by pressure on the part of his creditors, which led to the sale of his library, B. again left England, as it turned out, for ever, and, passing through Belgium and up the Rhine, went to Geneva, afterwards travelling with Shelley through Switzerland, when he wrote the third canto of _Childe Harold_. He wintered in Venice, where he formed a connection with Jane Clairmont, the _dau._ of W. Godwin's second wife (_q.v._). In 1817 he was in Rome, whence returning to Venice he wrote the fourth canto of _Childe Harold_. In the same year he sold his ancestral seat of Newstead, and about the same time _pub._ _Manfred_, _Cain_, and _The Deformed Transformed_. The first five cantos of _Don Juan_ were written between 1818 and 1820, during which period he made the acquaintance of the Countess Guiccioli, whom he persuaded to leave her husband. It was about this time that he received a visit from Moore, to whom he confided his MS. autobiography, which Moore, in the exercise of the discretion left to him, burned in 1824. His next move was to Ravenna, where he wrote much, chiefly dramas, including _Marino Faliero_. In 1821-22 he finished _Don Juan_ at Pisa, and in the same year he joined with Leigh Hunt in starting a short-lived newspaper, _The Liberal_, in the first number of which appeared _The Vision of Judgment_. His last Italian home was Genoa, where he was still accompanied by the Countess, and where he lived until 1823, when he offered himself as an ally to the Greek insurgents. In July of that year he started for Greece, spent some months in Cephalonia waiting for the Greeks to form some definite plans. In January, 1824, he landed at Missolonghi, but caught a malarial fever, of which he _d._ on April 19, 1824.

The final position of B. in English literature is probably not yet settled. It is at present undoubtedly lower than it was in his own generation. Yet his energy, passion, and power of vivid and richly-coloured description, together with the interest attaching to his wayward and unhappy career, must always make him loom large in the assembly of English writers. He exercised a marked influence on Continental literature, and his reputation as poet is higher in some foreign countries than in his own.

Among ed. of the works of B. may be mentioned Murray's (13 vols. 1898-1904). Moore's _Life_ (1830), Lady Blessington's _Conversations with Lord Byron_ (1834, new, 1894).

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1788, spent childhood in Aberdeen, _ed._ Harrow and Camb., _pub._ _English Bards etc._, 1809, _Childe Harold_ first two cantos 1812, married 1815, separated 1816, owing to this and financial difficulties leaves England, meets Shelley, _pub._ third canto of _Childe Harold_ 1816, fourth canto 1817, writes _Don Juan_ cantos 1-4 1818-20, lives at various places in Italy 1816-24 with Countess Guiccioli, finished _Don Juan_ 1822, goes to Greece 1823 to assist insurgents, _d._ 1824.

BYRON, HENRY JAMES (1834-1884).--Dramatist, _b._ at Manchester, entered the Middle Temple, but soon took to writing for the stage, and produced many popular burlesques and extravaganzas. He also wrote for periodicals, and was the first editor of _Fun_. Among his best dramatic pieces are _Cyril's Success_ (1868), _Our Boys_ (1875), and _The Upper Crust_.

CÆDMON (_d._ 1680).--The first English poet of whom we have any knowledge. Originally employed as cowherd at the Abbey of Whitby, he became a singer when somewhat advanced in life. The story of how the gift of song came to him is given by Bede, how having fallen asleep in the stable he dreamed that one came to him desiring a song, and on his asking "What shall I sing?" replied "Sing to me of the beginning of created things." Therefore he began to sing and, on awaking, remembered his song and added to it. Thereafter he told what had befallen him to the bailiff who was over him, who repeated the tale to the Abbess Hilda. She having called together certain learned and pious persons, C. was brought before them, told his story, and recited his verses. A part of Scripture was read to him, which he was asked to turn into verse; and this being done he was received into the Abbey where, for the rest of his life, he lived as a monk, and continued to make his holy songs. Much that was formerly attributed to C. is now held to be of later date. All that is known to be his is a Northumbrian version of Bede's Latin paraphrases of C.'s first song: although by some the authorship of "The Dream of the Holy Rood," and of a fragment on "The Temptation and Fall of Man" is claimed for him.

_English Literature from Beginning to Norman Conquest_, Stopford Brooke (1898), and _History of Early English Literature_, by the same (1892).

CAIRD, EDWARD (1835-1908).--Philosopher, younger brother of John C. (_q.v._), was _b._ at Greenock, and _ed._ at Glasgow and Oxf., where he became Fellow and Tutor of Merton Coll. In 1866 he was appointed to the Chair of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow, which he held until 1893, when he became Master of Balliol Coll., from which he retired in 1907. He has written _Critical Philosophy of Kant_ (1877), _Hegel_ (1883), _Evolution of Religion_, _Social Philosophy and Religion of Comte_ (1885), _Evolution of Theology in the Greek Philosophers_ (1904).

CAIRD, JOHN (1820-1898).--Theologian, _b._, at Greenock, and _ed._ at Glasgow, entered the Church of Scotland, of which he became one of the most eloquent preachers. After being a minister in the country and in Edinburgh, he was translated to Glasgow, becoming in 1862 Prof. of Divinity in the Univ. of that city, and in 1873 Principal. A sermon on _Religion in Common Life_, preached before Queen Victoria, made him known throughout the Protestant world. He wrote an _Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion_ (1880), and a vol. on _Spinoza_ (1888).

CALAMY, EDMUND (1600-1666).--Puritan Divine, _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Camb., was one of the principal authors of a famous controversial work bearing the title _Smectymnuus_, made up of the initials of the various writers, and _pub._ in 1641 in reply to Bishop Hall's _Divine Right of Episcopacy_. His other chief work is _The Godly Man's Ark_. A Presbyterian, he was a supporter of monarchy, and favoured the Restoration, after which he was offered, but declined, the see of Coventry and Lichfield. He was a member of the Savoy Conference. The passing of the Act of Uniformity led to his retiring from ministerial work. He is said to have _d._ of melancholy caused by the great fire of London.

CALDERWOOD, DAVID (1575-1650).--Scottish Church historian, belonged to a good family, and about 1604 became minister of Crailing, Roxburghshire. Opposing the designs of James VI. for setting up Episcopacy, he was imprisoned 1617, and afterwards had to betake himself to Holland, where his controversial work, _Altare Damascenum_, against Episcopacy, was _pub._ In 1625 he returned to Scotland, and began his great work, _The Historie of the Kirk of Scotland_, which was _pub._ in an abridged form (1646). The complete work was printed (1841-49) for the Woodrow Society. C. became minister of Pencaitland, East Lothian, about 1640, and was one of those appointed to draw up _The Directory for Public Worship in Scotland_.

CALVERLEY, CHARLES STUART (1831-1884).--Poet and translator, _s._ of the Rev. H. Blayds (who assumed the name of Calverley), was _ed._ at Harrow, Oxf., and Camb. He was called to the Bar in 1865, and appeared to have a brilliant career before him, when a fall on the ice in 1866 changed him from a distinguished athlete to a life-long invalid. Brilliant as a scholar, a musician, and a talker, he is perhaps best known as one of the greatest of parodists. He _pub._ _Verses and Translations_ (1862), and _Fly-leaves_ (1872). He also translated _Theocritus_ (1869).

CAMDEN, WILLIAM (1551-1623).--Antiquary and historian, _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Christ's Hospital, St. Paul's School, and Oxf., was in 1575 appointed Second Master in Westminster School, and Head Master in 1593, and spent his vacations in travelling over England collecting antiquarian information. His great work, _Britannia_, was _pub._ in 1586, and at once brought him fame both at home and abroad. It is a work of vast labour and erudition, written in elegant Latin. In 1597 C. was made Clarencieux King-at-Arms which, setting him free from his academic duties, enabled him to devote more time to his antiquarian and historical labours. His other principal works are _Annals of the Reign of Elizabeth_ (printed 1615-1623), _Monuments and Inscriptions in Westminster Abbey_ (1600), and a _coll._ of _Ancient English Historians_. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. The Camden Society for historical research, founded in 1838, is named after him.

CAMPBELL, GEORGE (1719-1796).--Theologian and philosopher, was a minister of the Church of Scotland at Aberdeen, and Principal and Prof. of Divinity in Marischal Coll. there. His _Dissertation on Miracles_ (1763), in answer to Hume, was in its day considered a masterly argument, and was admitted to be so by Hume himself. His other principal works were _The Philosophy of Rhetoric_ (1776), which is still a standard work, and _A Translation of the Four Gospels with Notes_.

CAMPBELL, JOHN, 1ST LORD CAMPBELL (1779-1861).--Lawyer and biographer, _s._ of the minister of Cupar-Fife, had a highly successful career as a lawyer, and held the offices successively of Solicitor and Attorney-General, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lord Chief Justice, and Lord Chancellor. His contributions to literature were _Lives of the Chancellors_ and _Lives of the Chief Justices_. These works, though deficient in research and accuracy, often unfair in judgments of character, and loose and diffuse in style, are interesting and full of information.

CAMPBELL, JOHN FRANCIS (1822-1885).--Celtic scholar, _ed._ at Eton and Edin., was afterwards Sec. to the Lighthouse Commission. He was an authority on Celtic folk-lore, and _pub._ _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_ (4 vols., 1860-62), and various Gaelic texts.

CAMPBELL, LEWIS (1830-1908).--Scholar, _s._ of a naval officer, _ed._ at Edin., Glasgow, and Oxf., took orders, and was Vicar of Milford, Hants, until 1863, when he was appointed Prof. of Greek at St. Andrews. He brought out ed. of Sophocles and other works on the Greek classics, and in conjunction with E. Abbott _The Life and Letters of Prof. Jowett_ (_q.v._), with whom he had collaborated in editing the _Republic of Plato_. He also ed. the poems of Thomas Campbell, to whom he was related.

CAMPBELL, THOMAS (1777-1844).--Poet, was the youngest _s._ of Alexander C., a merchant in Glasgow, where he was _b._ After leaving the Univ. of that city, where he gained some distinction by his translations from the Greek, and acting for some time as a tutor, he went to Edin. to study law, in which, however, he did not make much progress, but gained fame by producing in 1799, at the age of 21, his principal poem, _The Pleasures of Hope_. In spite of some of the faults of youth, the vigour of thought and description, and power of versification displayed in the poem, as well as its noble feeling for liberty, made it a marvellous performance for so young a man. His other larger poems are _Gertrude of Wyoming_ (1809), _O'Connor's Child_, and _Theodric_ (1824). It is not, however, for these that he will be chiefly remembered, but for his patriotic and war lyrics, _Ye Mariners of England_, _Hohenlinden_, and _The Battle of the Baltic_, which are imperishable. C. was also distinguished as a critic, and his _Specimens of the British Poets_ (1819) is prefaced by an essay which is an important contribution to criticism. C. resided in London from 1803 until the year of his death, which took place at Boulogne, whither he had repaired in search of health. In addition to the works mentioned he wrote various compilations, including _Annals of Great Britain_, covering part of the reign of George III. In 1805 he received a Government pension, and he was Lord Rector of Glasgow Univ. 1826-29. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

_Life and Letters_, Beattie (1840); Poems, _Aldine_ ed. (1875, new, 1890).

CAMPION, THOMAS (_c._ 1575-1620).--Poet and musician, _b._ at Witham, Essex, and _ed._ at Camb., and on the Continent, studied law at Gray's Inn, but discarding it, practised medicine in London. He wrote masques, and many fine lyrics remarkable for their metrical beauty, of which "Cherry Ripe" and "Lesbia" are well known. He also wrote _Epigrams_ in Latin, and _Observations on the Arte of Poesie_ (1602). He composed the music for most of his songs.

CANNING, GEORGE (1770-1827).--Statesman, was _b._ in London, the _s._ of a lawyer. He lost his _f._ while still an infant, and was brought up by an uncle, who sent him to Eton and Oxf. In 1793 he entered Parliament as a supporter of Pitt, and soon became one of the most brilliant debaters in the House. After filling various offices, including that of Foreign Sec., with striking ability, he was in 1827 appointed Prime Minister, but _d._, deeply mourned by the nation, a few months later. He has a place in literature as the leading spirit in the _Anti-Jacobin_, a paper started during the French Revolution, in support of the English Constitution, and which, with Gifford for ed., had many of the most eminent men of the day as contributors. C. wrote the _Needy Knife-grinder_, _The Loves of the Triangles_, parts II. and III., a parody on E. Darwin's _Loves of the Plants_, _The Progress of Man_, etc. His _coll._ _Poems_ were _pub._ 1823.

CAPGRAVE, JOHN (1393-1464).--Historian and theologian, _b._ at Lynn, became an Augustinian Friar, and at length Provincial of the Order in England. He studied probably at Camb., visited Rome, and was a client of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, whose life he wrote. He was the author of numerous theological and historical works, some of which are of considerable importance, including in Latin, _Nova Legenda Angliæ_, _De Illustribus Henricis_: lives of German Emperors, English Kings, etc., of the name of Henry, and in English, monotonous and dull, lives of St. Gilbert and St. Katharine, and a _Chronicle_ reaching to 1417.

CAREW, RICHARD (1555-1620).--Translator and antiquary, a county gentleman of Cornwall, _ed._ at Oxf., made a translation of the first five cantos of Tasso's _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1594), more correct than that of Fairfax. Other works were _A Survey of Cornwall_ (1602), and an _Epistle concerning the Excellencies of the English Tongue_ (1605).

CAREW, THOMAS (1594?-1639).--Poet, _s._ of Sir Matthew C., was _ed._ at Oxf., entered the Middle Temple, and was one of the first and best of the courtly poets who wrote gracefully on light themes of Court life and gallantry. C.'s poems have often much beauty and even tenderness. His chief work is _Coelum Britannicum_. He lived the easy and careless life of a courtier of the day, but is said to have _d._ in a repentant frame. His poems, consisting chiefly of short lyrics, were _coll._ and _pub._ after his death. One of the most beautiful and best known of his songs is that beginning "He that loves a rosy cheek."

CAREY, HENRY (_d._ 1743).--Dramatist and song-writer, was believed to be an illegitimate _s._ of George Savile, Marquis of Halifax. He wrote innumerable burlesques, farces, songs, etc., often with his own music, including _Chrononhotonthologos_ (1734), a burlesque on the mouthing plays of the day, and _The Dragon of Wantley_ (1744?). His poem, _Namby Pamby_, in ridicule of Ambrose Phillips (_q.v._), added a word to the language, and his _Sally in our Alley_ is one of our best-known songs. _God Save the King_ was also claimed for him, but apparently without reason.

CARLETON, WILLIAM (1794-1869).--Novelist, _s._ of a poor Irish cottar, _b._ and brought up among the Irish peasantry, acquired an insight into their ideas and feelings which has never been equalled. His finest work is in his short stories, collected under the title of _Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry_, of which two series were _pub._ in 1830 and 1832 respectively. He also wrote several longer novels, of which the best is _Fardorougha the Miser_ (1837), a work of great power. Others are _The Misfortunes of Barny Branagan_ (1841), _Valentine M'Clutchy_ (1845), _Rody the Rover_ (1847), _The Squanders of Castle Squander_ (1854), and _The Evil Eye_. C. received a pension of £200 from Government.

CARLYLE, ALEXANDER (1722-1805).--Autobiographer, _s._ of the Minister of Cummertrees, Dumfriesshire, was _ed._ at Edin. and Leyden, and entering the Church became Minister of Inveresk, and was associated with Principal Robertson as an ecclesiastical leader. He was a man of great ability, shrewdness, and culture, and the friend of most of the eminent literary men in Scotland of his day. He left an autobiography in MS., which was ed. by Hill Burton, and _pub._ in 1860, and which is one of the most interesting contemporary accounts of his time. His stately appearance gained for him the name of "Jupiter" C.

CARLYLE, THOMAS (1795-1881).--Historian and essayist, was _b._ at Ecclefechan in Dumfriesshire. His _f._, James C., was a stonemason, a man of intellect and strong character, and his mother was, as he said, "of the fairest descent, that of the pious, the just, and the wise." His earliest education was received at the parish school of Ecclefechan (the Entepfuhl of _Sartor Resartus_). Thence he went to the Grammar School of Annan, and in 1809 to the Univ. of Edin., the 90 miles to which he travelled on foot. There he read voraciously, his chief study being mathematics. After completing his "Arts" course, he went on to divinity with the view of entering the Church, but about the middle of his course found that he could not proceed. He became a schoolmaster first at Annan and then at Kirkcaldy, where he formed a profound friendship with Edward Irving (_q.v._), and met Margaret Gordon, afterwards Lady Bannerman, believed by some to be the prototype of _Blumine_ in _Sartor_. Returning in 1819 to Edin. he for a time studied law and took pupils; but his health was bad, he suffered from insomnia and dyspepsia, and he tired of law. He was also sorely bestead by mental and spiritual conflicts, which came to a crisis in Leith Walk in June 1821 in a sudden uprising of defiance to the devil and all his works, upon which the clouds lifted. For the next two years, 1822-24, he acted as tutor to Charles Buller (whose promising political career was cut short by his premature death) and his brother. On the termination of this engagement he decided upon a literary career, which he began by contributing articles to the _Edinburgh Encyclopædia_. In 1824 he translated Legendre's _Geometry_ (to which he prefixed an essay on Proportion), and Goethe's _Wilhelm Meister_; he also wrote for the _London Magazine_ a _Life of Schiller_. About this time he visited Paris and London, where he met Hazlitt, Campbell, Coleridge, and others. Thereafter he returned to Dumfriesshire. In the following year (1826) he _m._ Jane Baillie Welsh, and settled in Edin. Here his first work was _Specimens of German Romance_ (4 vols.) A much more important matter was his friendship with Jeffrey and his connection with the _Edinburgh Review_, in which appeared, among others, his essays on _Richter_, _Burns_, _Characteristics_, and _German Poetry_. In 1828 C. applied unsuccessfully for the Chair of Moral Philosophy in St. Andrews, and the same year he went to Craigenputtock, a small property in Dumfriesshire belonging to Mrs. C., where they remained for several years, and where many of his best essays and _Sartor Resartus_ were written, and where his correspondence with Goethe began. In 1831 he went to London to find a publisher for _Sartor_, but was unsuccessful, and it did not appear in book form until 1838, after having come out in _Fraser's Magazine_ in 1833-34. The year last mentioned found him finally in London, settled in Cheyne Row, Chelsea, his abode for the rest of his life. He immediately set to work on his _French Revolution_. While it was in progress he in 1835 lent the MS. to J.S. Mill, by whose servant nearly the whole of the first vol. was burned, in spite of which misfortune the work was ready for publication in 1837. Its originality, brilliance, and vividness took the world by storm, and his reputation as one of the foremost men of letters in the country was at once and finally established. In the same year he appeared as a public lecturer, and delivered four courses on _German Literature_, _Periods of European Culture_, _Revolutions of Modern Europe_, and _Heroes and Hero-Worship_, the last of which was _pub._ as a book in 1841. Although his writings did not yet produce a large income, his circumstances had become comfortable, owing to Mrs. C. having succeeded to her patrimony in 1840. Books now followed each other rapidly, _Chartism_ had appeared in 1839, _Past and Present_ came out in 1843, and _Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell_ in 1845, the last named being perhaps the most successful of his writings, inasmuch as it fully attained the object aimed at in clearing Cromwell from the ignorant or malevolent aspersions under which he had long lain, and giving him his just place among the greatest of the nation. In 1850 he _pub._ his fiercest blast, _Latter Day Pamphlets_, which was followed next year by his biography of his friend John Sterling (_q.v._). It was about this time, as is shown by the _Letters and Memoirs_ of Mrs. C., that a temporary estrangement arose between his wife and himself, based apparently on Mrs. C.'s part upon his friendship with Lady Ashburton, a cause of which C. seems to have been unconscious. In 1851 he began his largest, if not his greatest work, _Frederick the Great_, which occupied him from that year until 1865, and in connection with which he made two visits to Germany in 1852 and 1858. It is a work of astonishing research and abounds in brilliant passages, but lacks the concentrated intensity of _The French Revolution_. It is, however, the one of his works which enjoys the highest reputation in Germany. In 1865 he was elected Lord Rector of the Univ. of Edin., and delivered a remarkable address to the students by whom he was received with enthusiasm. Almost immediately afterwards a heavy blow fell upon him in the death of Mrs. C., and in the discovery, from her diary, of how greatly she had suffered, unknown to him, from the neglect and want of consideration which, owing to absorption in his work and other causes, he had perhaps unconsciously shown. Whatever his faults, of which the most was made in some quarters, there can be no doubt that C. and his wife were sincerely attached to each other, and that he deeply mourned her. In 1866 his _Reminiscences_ (_pub._ 1881) were written. The Franco-German War of 1870-71 profoundly interested him, and evoked a plea for Germany. From this time his health began to give way more and more. In 1872 his right hand became paralysed. In 1874 he received the distinction of the Prussian Order of Merit, as the biographer of its founder, and in the same year, Mr. Disraeli offered him the choice of the Grand Cross of the Bath or a baronetcy and a pension, all of which he declined. The completion of his 80th year in 1875 was made the occasion of many tributes of respect and veneration, including a gold medal from some of his Scottish admirers. He _d._ on February 5, 1881. Burial in Westminster Abbey was offered, but he had left instructions that he should lie with his kindred. He bequeathed the property of Craigenputtock to the Univ. of Edin.

C. exercised a very powerful influence upon the thought of his age, not only by his own writings and personality, but through the many men of distinction both in literature and active life whom he imbued with his doctrines; and perhaps no better proof of this exists than the fact that much that was new and original when first propounded by him has passed into the texture of the national ideas. His style is perhaps the most remarkable and individual in our literature, intensely strong, vivid, and picturesque, but utterly unconventional, and often whimsical or explosive. He had in a high degree the poetic and imaginative faculty, and also irresistible humour, pungent sarcasm, insight, tenderness, and fierce indignation.

All the works of C. shed light on his personality, but _Sartor Resartus_ especially may be regarded as autobiographical. Froude's _Thomas Carlyle ... First 40 Years of his Life_ (1882), _Thomas Carlyle ... His Life in London_, by the same (1884), _Letters and Memories of Jane Welsh Carlyle_ (1883), various _Lives_ and _Reminiscences_ by Prof. Masson and Nichol, etc.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1795, _ed._ Edin., studies for Church but gives it up, tries law, then tutor, takes to literature and writes for encyclopædias and magazines, and translates, _m._ 1826 Jane Welsh, settles in Edin., writes essays in _Edinburgh Review_, goes to Craigenputtock 1828, writes _Sartor_ and corresponds with Goethe, _Sartor_ appears in _Fraser's Magazine_ 1833-4, settles in London 1834, _pub._ _French Revolution_ 1837, lectures, _pub._ _Heroes_, and _Chartism_ and _Sartor_ as a book 1839, _Past and Present_ 1843, _Oliver Cromwell_ 1845, _Latter Day Pamphlets_ 1850, writes _Frederick the Great_ 1851-65, Lord Rector of Edin. Univ. 1865, Mrs. C. _d._ 1865, writes _Reminiscences_ 1866 (_pub._ 1881), _d._ 1881.

CARRUTHERS, ROBERT (1799-1878).--Journalist and miscellaneous writer, _b._ in Dumfriesshire, was for a time a teacher in Huntingdon, and wrote a _History of Huntingdon_ (1824). In 1828 he became ed. of the _Inverness Courier_, which he conducted with great ability. He ed. Pope's works with a memoir (1853), and along with Robert Chambers (_q.v._) ed. the first ed. of _Chambers's Cyclopedia of English Literature_ (1842-44). He received the degree of LL.D. from Edin.

CARTE, THOMAS (1686-1754).--Historian, _b._ near Rugby, and _ed._ at Oxf., took orders, but resigned his benefice at Bath when required to take the oath of allegiance to George I. He was sec. to Francis Atterbury (_q.v._), and was involved in the consequences of his conspiracy, but escaped to France, where he remained until 1728. After his return he _pub._ a life of the Duke of Ormonde (1736), and a _History of England to 1654_ in 4 vols. (1747-54), the latter a work of great research, though dry and unattractive in style.

CARTER, ELIZABETH (1717-1806).--Miscellaneous writer, _b._ at Deal, _dau._ of a clergyman. Originally backward, she applied herself to study with such perseverance that she became perhaps the most learned Englishwoman of her time, being mistress of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic, besides several modern European languages. She was also well read in science. She translated Epictetus 1758, and wrote a small vol. of poems. She was the friend of Dr. Johnson and many other eminent men. She was of agreeable and unassuming manners.

CARTWRIGHT, WILLIAM (1611-1643).--Dramatist, _s._ of a gentleman of Gloucestershire, who had run through his fortune and kept an inn at Cirencester, _ed._ at Westminster School and Oxf., entered the Church, was a zealous Royalist, and an eloquent preacher, and lecturer in metaphysics. He also wrote spirited lyrics and four plays. He was the friend of Ben Jonson, H. Vaughan, and Izaak Walton. He _d._ at Oxf. of camp fever. Among his plays are _The Royal Slave_, _The Siege_, and _The Lady Errant_. His virtues, learning, and charming manners made him highly popular in his day.

CARY, ALICE (1820-1871), and PHOEBE (1824-1871).--Were the _dau._ of a farmer near Cincinnati. The former wrote _Clovernook Papers_ and _Clovernook Children_, and other tales, and some poems. The latter wrote poems and hymns. Both sisters attained considerable popularity.

CARY, HENRY FRANCIS (1772-1844).--Translator, was _b._ at Gibraltar, and _ed._ at Oxf., where he was distinguished for his classical attainments. His great work is his translation of the _Divina Commedia_ of Dante (1805-1814), which is not only faithful to the original, but full of poetic fire, and rendered into such fine English as to be itself literature apart from its merits as a translation. He also translated from the Greek. C., who was a clergyman, received a pension in 1841.

CATLIN, GEORGE (1796-1872).--Painter and writer, _b._ at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, practised for some time as a lawyer, but yielding to his artistic instincts he took to painting. He spent the 7 years, 1832-39, among the Indians of North America, of whom he painted about 500 portraits. He became thoroughly acquainted with their life, and _pub._ an interesting work, _Illustrations of the Manners, etc., of the North American Indians_ (1857). His later years were spent chiefly in Europe.

CAVE, EDWARD (1691-1754).--Publisher, _b._ near Rugby, started in 1731 _The Gentleman's Magazine_, for which Dr. Johnson was parliamentary reporter from 1740. He _pub._ many of Johnson's works.

CAVENDISH, GEORGE (1500-1561).--Biographer, was Gentleman Usher to Cardinal Wolsey, to whom he was so much attached that he followed him in his disgrace, and continued to serve him until his death. He left in MS. a life of his patron, which is the first separate biography in English, and is the main original authority of the period. Admitting Wolsey's faults, it nevertheless presents him in an attractive light. The simple yet eloquent style gives it a high place as a biography.

CAXTON, WILLIAM (1422-1491).--Printer and translator, _b._ in the Weald of Kent, was apprenticed to a London mercer. On his master's death in 1441 he went to Bruges, and lived there and in various other places in the Low Countries for over 30 years, engaged apparently as head of an association of English merchants trading in foreign parts, and in negotiating commercial treaties between England and the Dukes of Burgundy. His first literary labour was a translation of a French romance, which he entitled _The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye_, and which he finished in 1471. About this time he learned the art of printing, and, after being in the service of Margaret Duchess of Burgundy, an English princess, returned to his native country and set up at Westminster in 1476 his printing press, the first in England. His _Recuyell_ and _The Game and Playe of Chesse_ had already been printed--the first books in English--on the Continent. Here was produced the first book printed in England, _The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers_ (1477). C. obtained Royal favour, printed from 80 to 100 separate works--many of them translations of his own--and _d._ almost with pen in hand in 1491. His style is clear and idiomatic.

CENTLIVRE, MRS. SUSANNA (1667-1723).--Dramatist and actress, was the _dau._ of a gentleman of the name of either Rawkins or Freeman, who appears to have belonged either to Lincolnshire or Ireland, or was perhaps connected with both, and who suffered at the hands of the Stuarts. She _m._ at 16, lost her husband in a year, then _m._ an officer, who fell in a duel in 18 months, and finally, in 1706, _m._ Joseph C., cook to Queen Anne, with whom she lived happily for the rest of her days. She wrote 18 or 19 plays, well constructed and amusing, among which may be mentioned _The Perjured Husband_ (1700), _The Busybody_ (1709), _The Warder_ (1714), and _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_ (1717). She was a strong Whig, and sometimes made her plays the medium of expressing her political opinions.

CHALKHILL, JOHN (_fl._ 1600).--Poet, mentioned by Izaak Walton as having written a pastoral poem, _Thealma and Clearchus_. As nothing else is known of him it has been held by some that the name was a _nom-de-plume_ of W. himself. It has been shown, however, that a gentleman of the name existed during the reign of Elizabeth. W. says he was a friend of Spenser, and that his life was "useful, quiet, and virtuous."

CHALMERS, GEORGE (1742-1825).--Antiquary, _b._ at Fochabers, Elginshire, emigrated to America and practised law in Baltimore; but on the outbreak of the Revolutionary War returned to Britain, and settled in London as a clerk in the Board of Trade. He _pub._ in 1780 a _History of the United Colonies_, and wrote lives of Sir David Lyndsay, De Foe, and Mary Queen of Scots. His great work, however, is his _Caledonia_, of which 3 vols. had been _pub._ at his death. It was to have been a complete _coll._ of the topography and antiquities of Scotland; and, as it stands, is a monument of industry and research, though not always trustworthy in disputed points. Besides those mentioned, C. was the author of many other works on political, historical, and literary subjects, and had projected several which he was unable to carry out.

CHALMERS, THOMAS (1780-1847).--Divine, economist, and philanthropist, _b._ at Anstruther, Fife, _s._ of a shipowner and merchant, studied at St. Andrews and, entering the ministry of the Church of Scotland, was first settled in the small parish of Kilmeny, Fife, but, his talents and eloquence becoming known, he was, in 1815, translated to Glasgow, where he was soon recognised as the most eloquent preacher in Scotland, and where also he initiated his schemes for the management of the poor. In 1823, he became Prof. of Moral Philosophy at St. Andrews, and in 1828 of Divinity in Edin. In 1834 he began his great scheme of Church extension, the result of which was that in seven years £300,000 had been raised, and 220 churches built. In the same year, 1834, began the troubles and controversies in regard to patronage and the relations of Church and State, which in 1843 ended in the disruption of the Church, when 470 ministers with C. at their head, resigned their benefices, and founded the Free Church of Scotland. C. was chosen its first Moderator and Principal of its Theological Coll. in Edin. The remaining four years of his life were spent in organising the new Church, and in works of philanthropy. He was found dead in bed on the morning of May 30, 1847. His chief works, which were _coll._ and _pub._ in 34 vols., relate to natural theology, evidences of Christianity, political economy, and general theology and science. Those which perhaps attracted most attention were his _Astronomical Discourses_ and his _Lectures on Church Establishments_, the latter delivered in London to audiences containing all that was most distinguished in rank and intellect in the country. The style of C. is cumbrous, and often turgid, but the moral earnestness, imagination, and force of intellect of the writer shine through it and irradiate his subjects. And yet the written is described by contemporaries to have been immeasurably surpassed by the spoken word, which carried away the hearer as in a whirlwind. And the man was even greater than his achievements. His character was one of singular simplicity, nobility, and lovableness, and produced a profound impression on all who came under his influence. The character of his intellect was notably practical, as is evidenced by the success of his parochial administration and the "Sustentation Fund," devised by him for the support of the ministry of the Free Church. He was D.D., LL.D., D.C.L. (Oxon.), and a Corresponding Member of the Institute of France.

_Memoirs_ (Hanna, 4 vols.). Smaller works by Prof. Blaikie (1897), Mrs. Oliphant (1893), and many others.

CHAMBERLAYNE, WILLIAM (1619-1689).--Poet, practised medicine at Shaftesbury. On the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the Royalists and fought at the second battle of Newbury. He wrote a play, _Loves Victory_ (1658), and an epic _Pharonnida_ (1659). With occasional beauties he is, in the main, heavy and stiff, and is almost forgotten. He influenced Keats.

CHAMBERS, ROBERT (1802-1871).--Historical and scientific writer, was _b._ at Peebles. Early dependent on his own exertions, he started business as a bookseller in Edin. at the age of 16, devoting all his spare time to study, to such purpose that in 1824 he _pub._ _Traditions of Edinburgh_, a work in which he had the assistance of Sir W. Scott. Thereafter he poured forth a continuous stream of books and essays on historical, social, antiquarian, and scientific subjects. He joined his brother William (_q.v._) in establishing the publishing firm of W. and R. Chambers, and in starting _Chambers's Journal_, to which he was a constant contributor. Later ventures were _The Cyclopedia of English Literature_ (1842-44), of which several ed. have appeared (last 1903-6). and _Chambers's Cyclopædia_ (10 vols. 1859-68; new 1888-92). Among his own works may be mentioned _Vestiges of Creation_, _pub._ anonymously (1844), a precursor of Darwinism, _A Life of Burns_ (1851), _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_ (1847), _History of the Rebellions in Scotland_, _Domestic Annals of Scotland_ (1859-61), _Ancient Sea Margins_ (1848), _Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen_ and _The Book of Days_ (1863). He was LL.D. of St. Andrews.

CHAMBERS, WILLIAM (1800-1883).--Publisher and miscellaneous author, _b._ at Peebles, started in 1832 with his brother Robert (_q.v._) _Chambers's Journal_, and soon after joined him in the firm of W. and R. Chambers. Besides contributions to the _Journal_ he wrote several books, including a _History of Peeblesshire_ (1864), and an autobiography of himself and his brother. C. was a man of great business capacity, and, though of less literary distinction than his brother, did much for the dissemination of cheap and useful literature. He was Lord Provost of Edin. 1865-69, and was an LL.D. of the Univ. of that city. He restored the ancient church of St. Giles there.

CHAMIER, FREDERICK (1796-1870).--Novelist, was in the navy, in which he rose to the rank of Captain. Retiring in 1827, he wrote several sea novels somewhat in the style of Marryat, including _Life of a Sailor_ (1832), _Ben Brace_, _Jack Adams_, and _Tom Bowling_ (1841). He also continued James's _Naval History_, and wrote books of travel.

CHANNING, WILLIAM ELLERY (1780-1842).--American Divine, _b._ at Newport, Rhode Island, was for a time a minister in the Congregationalist Church, but became the leader of the Unitarians in New England. He had a powerful influence on the thought and literature of his time in America, and was the author of books on Milton and Fénelon, and on social subjects. The elevation and amiability of his character caused him to be held in high esteem. He did not class himself with Unitarians of the school of Priestley, but claimed to "stand aloof from all but those who strive and pray for clearer light."

CHAPMAN, GEORGE (1559-1634).--Dramatist and translator, was _b._ near Hitchin, and probably _ed._ at Oxf. and Camb. He wrote many plays, including _The Blind Beggar of Alexandria_ (1596), _All Fools_ (1599), _A Humerous Daye's Myrthe_ (1599), _Eastward Hoe_ (with Jonson), _The Gentleman Usher_, _Monsieur d'Olive_, etc. As a dramatist he has humour, and vigour, and occasional poetic fire, but is very unequal. His great work by which he lives in literature is his translation of Homer. The _Iliad_ was _pub._ in 1611, the _Odyssey_ in 1616, and the _Hymns_, etc., in 1624. The work is full of energy and spirit, and well maintains its place among the many later translations by men of such high poetic powers as Pope and Cowper, and others: and it had the merit of suggesting Keats's immortal Sonnet, in which its name and memory are embalmed for many who know it in no other way. C. also translated from Petrarch, and completed Marlowe's unfinished _Hero and Leander_.

CHAPONE, HESTER (MULSO) (1727-1801).--Miscellaneous writer, _dau._ of a gentleman of Northamptonshire, was _m._ to a solicitor, who _d._ a few months afterwards. She was one of the learned ladies who gathered round Mrs. Montague (_q.v._), and was the author of _Letters on the Improvement of the Mind_ and _Miscellanies_.

CHARLETON, WALTER (1619-1707).--Miscellaneous writer, _ed._ at Oxf., was titular physician to Charles I. He was a copious writer on theology, natural history, and antiquities, and _pub._ _Chorea Gigantum_ (1663) to prove that Stonehenge was built by the Danes. He was also one of the "character" writers, and in this kind of literature wrote _A Brief Discourse concerning the Different Wits of Men_ (1675).

CHATTERTON, THOMAS (1752-1770).--Poet, _b._ at Bristol, posthumous _s._ of a schoolmaster, who had been a man of some reading and antiquarian tastes, after whose death his mother maintained herself and her boy and girl by teaching and needlework. A black-letter Bible and an illuminated music-book belonging to her were the first things to give his mind the impulse which led to such mingled glory and disaster. Living under the shadow of the great church of St. Mary Redcliffe, his mind was impressed from infancy with the beauty of antiquity, he obtained access to the charters deposited there, and he read every scrap of ancient literature that came in his way. At 14 he was apprenticed to a solicitor named Lambert, with whom he lived in sordid circumstances, eating in the kitchen and sleeping with the foot-boy, but continuing his favourite studies in every spare moment. In 1768 a new bridge was opened, and C. contributed to a local newspaper what purported to be a contemporary account of the old one which it superseded. This attracted a good deal of attention. Previously to this he had been writing verses and imitating ancient poems under the name of Thomas Rowley, whom he feigned to be a monk of the 15th century. Hearing of H. Walpole's collections for his _Anecdotes of Painting in England_, he sent him an "ancient manuscript" containing biographies of certain painters, not hitherto known, who had flourished in England centuries before. W. fell into the trap, and wrote asking for all the MS. he could furnish, and C. in response forwarded accounts of more painters, adding some particulars as to himself on which W., becoming suspicious, submitted the whole to T. Gray and Mason (_q.v._), who pronounced the MS. to be forgeries. Some correspondence, angry on C.'s part, ensued, and the whole budget of papers was returned. C. thereafter, having been dismissed by Lambert, went to London, and for a short time his prospects seemed to be bright. He worked with feverish energy, threw off poems, satires, and political papers, and meditated a history of England; but funds and spirits failed, he was starving, and the failure to obtain an appointment as ship's surgeon, for which he had applied, drove him to desperation, and on the morning of August 25, 1770, he was found dead from a dose of arsenic, surrounded by his writings torn into small pieces. From childhood C. had shown a morbid familiarity with the idea of suicide, and had written a last will and testament, "executed in the presence of Omniscience," and full of wild and profane wit. The magnitude of his tragedy is only realised when it is considered not only that the poetry he left was of a high order of originality and imaginative power, but that it was produced at an age at which our greatest poets, had they died, would have remained unknown. Precocious not only in genius but in dissipation, proud and morose as he was, an unsympathetic age confined itself mainly to awarding blame to his literary and moral delinquencies. Posterity has weighed him in a juster balance, and laments the early quenching of so brilliant a light. His _coll._ works appeared in 1803, and another ed. by Prof. Street in 1875. Among these are _Elinoure and Juga_, _Balade of Charitie_, _Bristowe Tragedie_, _Ælla_, and _Tragedy of Godwin_.

The best account of his life is the Essay by Prof. Masson.

CHAUCER, GEOFFREY (1340?-1400).--Poet, was _b._ in London, the _s._ of John C., a vintner of Thames Street, who had also a small estate at Ipswich, and was occasionally employed on service for the King (Edward III.), which doubtless was the means of his son's introduction to the Court. The acquaintance which C. displays with all branches of the learning of his time shows that he must have received an ample education; but there is no evidence that he was at either of the Univ. In 1357 he appears as a page to the Lady Elizabeth, wife of Lionel Duke of Clarence, and in 1359 he first saw military service in France, when he was made a prisoner. He was, however, ransomed in 1360. About 1366 he was married to Philippa, _dau._ of Sir Payne Roet, one of the ladies of the Duchess of Lancaster, whose sister Katharine, widow of Sir Hugh Swynford, became the third wife of John of Gaunt. Previous to this he had apparently been deeply in love with another lady, whose rank probably placed her beyond his reach; his disappointment finding expression in his _Compleynt to Pité_. In 1367 he was one of the valets of the King's Chamber, a post always held by gentlemen, and received a pension of 20 marks, and he was soon afterwards one of the King's esquires. In 1369 Blanche, the wife of John of Gaunt, died, which gave occasion for a poem by C. in honour of her memory, _The Dethe of Blaunche the Duchesse_. In the same year he again bore arms in France, and during the next ten years he was frequently employed on diplomatic missions. In 1370 he was sent to Genoa to arrange a commercial treaty, on which occasion he may have met Petrarch, and was rewarded by a grant in 1374 of a pitcher of wine daily. In the same year he got from the corporation of London a lease for life of a house at Aldgate, on condition of keeping it in repair; and soon after he was appointed Comptroller of the Customs and Subsidy of Wool, Skins, and Leather in the port of London; he also received from the Duke of Lancaster a pension of £10. In 1375 he obtained the guardianship of a rich ward, which he held for three years, and the next year he was employed on a secret service. In 1377 he was sent on a mission to Flanders to treat of peace with the French King. After the accession of Richard II. in that year, he was sent to France to treat for the marriage of the King with the French Princess Mary, and thereafter to Lombardy, on which occasion he appointed John Gower (_q.v._) to act for him in his absence in any legal proceedings which might arise. In 1382 he became Comptroller of the Petty Customs of the port of London, and in 1385 was allowed to appoint a deputy, which, enabled him to devote more time to writing. He had in 1373 begun his _Canterbury Tales_, on which he was occupied at intervals for the rest of his life. In 1386 C. was elected Knight of the Shire for Kent, a county with which he appears to have had some connection, and where he may have had property. His fortunes now suffered some eclipse. His patron, John of Gaunt, was abroad, and the government was presided over by his brother Gloucester, who was at feud with him. Owing probably to this cause, C. was in December, 1386, dismissed from his employments, leaving him with no income beyond his pensions, on which he was obliged to raise money. His wife also died at the same time. In 1389, however, Richard took the government into his own hands, and prosperity returned to C., whose friends were now in power, and he was appointed Clerk of the King's works. This office, however, he held for two years only, and again fell into poverty, from which he was rescued in 1394 by a pension from the King of £20. On the accession of Henry IV. (1399) an additional pension of 40 marks was given him. In the same year he took a lease of a house at Westminster, where he probably _d._, October 25, 1400. He is buried in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, where a monument to him was erected by Nicholas Brigham, a minor poet of the 16th century. According to some authorities he left two sons, Thomas, who became a man of wealth and importance, and Lewis, who died young, the little ten-year-old boy to whom he addressed the treatise on the _Astrolabe_. Others see no evidence that Thomas was any relation of the poet. An Elizabeth C., placed in the Abbey of Barking by John of Gaunt, was probably his _dau._ In person C. was inclined to corpulence, "no poppet to embrace," of fair complexion with "a beard the colour of ripe wheat," an "elvish" expression, and an eye downcast and meditative.

Of the works ascribed to C. several are, for various reasons, of greater or less strength, considered doubtful. These include _The Romaunt of the Rose_, _Chaucer's Dream_, and _The Flower and the Leaf_. After his return from Italy about 1380 he entered upon his period of greatest productiveness: _Troilus and Criseyde_ (1382?), _The Parlement of Foules_ (1382?), _The House of Fame_ (1384?), and _The Legende of Goode Women_ (1385), belong to this time. The first of them still remains one of the finest poems of its kind in the language. But the glory of C. is, of course, the _Canterbury Tales_, a work which places him in the front rank of the narrative poets of the world. It contains about 18,000 lines of verse, besides some passages in prose, and was left incomplete. In it his power of story-telling, his humour, sometimes broad, sometimes sly, his vivid picture-drawing, his tenderness, and lightness of touch, reach their highest development. He is our first artist in poetry, and with him begins modern English literature. His character--genial, sympathetic, and pleasure-loving, yet honest, diligent, and studious--is reflected in his writings.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1340, fought in France 1359, by his marriage in 1366 became connected with John of Gaunt, employed on diplomatic missions 1369-79, Controller of Customs, etc., _c._ 1374, began _Canterbury Tales_ 1373, elected to Parliament 1386, loses his appointments 1386, Clerk of King's Works 1389-91, pensioned by Richard II. and Henry IV., _d._ _c._ 1400.

The best ed. of C. is _The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer_ (6 vols. 1894), ed. by Prof. Skeat. Others are Thos. Wright's for the Percy Society (1842), and Richard Morris's in Bell's Aldine Classics (1866).

CHERRY, ANDREW (1762-1812).--Dramatist, _s._ of a bookseller at Limerick, was a successful actor, and managed theatres in the provinces. He also wrote some plays, of which _The Soldier's Daughter_ is the best. His chief claim to remembrance rests on his three songs, _The Bay of Biscay_, _The Green Little Shamrock_, and _Tom Moody_.

CHESTERFIELD, PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, 4TH EARL OF (1694-1773).--Statesman and letter-writer, was the eldest _s._ of the 3rd Earl. After being at Trinity Coll., Camb., he sat in the House of Commons until his accession to the peerage in 1726. He filled many high offices, including those of Ambassador to Holland, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Sec. of State. He was distinguished for his wit, conversational powers, and grace of manner. His place in literature is fixed by his well-known _Letters_ addressed to his natural son, Philip Dormer Stanhope. Though brilliant, and full of shrewdness and knowledge of the world, they reflect the low tone of morals prevalent in the age when they were written. He was the recipient of Johnson's famous letter as to his "patronage."