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"This work [History of Greece] enters less into critical and recondite details than that of Mr. Mitford, though sufficiently accurate and comprehensive for all historical purposes; and is, in style of composition, decidedly superior to it.”—Samuel Warren

"The History of the World does not present such a luminous and masterly view of the very interesting period which it embraces, as would have been given by Mr. Gib bou or Dr. Robertson; but it exhibits proofs of learned research, and may, upon the whole, be read with pleasure and advantage. It deserves no praise on the score of style, which is commonly diffuse and overcharged, and often vulgar and slovenly." — Edinburgh Review.

RT. HON. EDWARD KING, Viscount Kingsborough, 1795–1837, a nobleman of large means and liberal culture, devoted both his time and his fortune to the preparation of a work on the Antiquities of Mexico, in 9 vols., folio.

"By this munificent undertaking, which no government probably would have, and few individuals could have, executed, he has entitled himself to the lasting gratitude of every friend of science." - Prescott.

"The drift of Lord Kingsborough's speculations is to establish the colonization of Mexico by the Israelites. To this the whole battery of his logic and learning is directed. For this hieroglyphics are unriddled, manuscripts compared, monuments delineated."

JOHN NICHOLS, 1744-1826, was an eminent English publisher, and was associated in partnership with William Bowyer, an equally wellknown English printer.

Nichols was for a number of years the editor of The Gentleman's Magazine. The Bowyer press, founded in 1699, is among the most famous in England. It has been managed by successive generations of the Bowyer and the Nichols families, and from it have issued many of the most valuable contributions to English literature.

Besides his labors as editor and publisher, Mr. Nichols was the compiler or origi nator of several valuable works, prominent among which are The History and Antiquities of Leicestershire; Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century; Progresses, etc., of Queen Elizabeth and of King James, a curious collection of documents, incidents, costumes, and everything that can throw light on the reigns of these two Sovereigns.

THE BALLANTYNES (James, 1772-1833; John, 1774-1821,) are noticeable in literary history on account of their relations with Sir Walter Scott, being his friends and co-partners in the publishing business. James wrote for the Edinburgh Weekly Courant and for the Edinburgh Weekly Journal, the latter of which he edited. John was the author of a novel, The Widow's Lodgings, and was the confidante of Scott during the time that the latter was "The Great Unknown" Both these brothers were held in high esteem by Scott, Lockhart, Wilson, and others, for their abilities as critics, their fine literary taste, and for their wit and humor.

ANDREW BELL, D. D., 1753–1832, is noticeable on account of his connection with an important educational experiment.

Dr. Bell, who was a native of Scotland, instituted in Madras, India, a system of cooperative teaching, known as The Monitorial System. It was so successful there that Bell undertook to introduce it into England, and to recommend it as a scheme for universal adoption. He and Joseph Lancaster were for a time very conspicuous for their efforts in this line. His principal publication on the subject was National Education, 8vo, 1812. "The boys at Madras taught so well, and the school under their teaching prospered so much, that the Doctor became intoxicated with the mode, and even allowed himself to suppose that in all cases and circumstances teaching by the pupils themselves is better than teaching by masters."- Monthly Review.

·THOMAS CLARKSON, 1760–1846, is known the world over by his advocacy for the abolition of the slave-trade.

Clarkson's attention was first called to this subject, while in the University, by a prize being offered by the Vice-Chancellor for the best essay in Latin on the question, Is Involuntary Servitude Justifiable? Clarkson competed for the prize, and won it. While writing his essay, his mind became so filled with the subject that he gave up all other pursuits and devoted the remainder of his life to this one subject. He published Essays against the Slave-Trade; History of the Abolition of the SlaveTrade; Portraiture of Quakerism, etc.

REV. CALEB C. COLTON, 1832, wrote several works: Narrative of the Sampford Ghost; Hypocrisy, a Satire; Napoleon, a Poem; The Conflagration of Moscow. More noticeable than all these was a little work called Lacon, or Many Things in Few Words. It is the best collection of apothegms in the language. Mr. Colton's history is a shocking one. Forgetful of his sacred calling, and of the excellent teachings of his own Lacon, he addicted himself to gambling, and became so embarrassed in his affairs that he was obliged to abscond. After remaining for some time in the United States, he went to Paris, and resumed gaming, and with such success that he cleared a large amount of money by it (£25,000 in two years). He finally committed suicide. One of his own apothegms in Lacon is: "The gamester, if he die a martyr to his profession, is doubly ruined. He adds his soul to every other loss, and by the act of suicide renounces earth to forfeit heaven."

ROBERT CHARLES DALLAS, 1754-1824, a brother of Alexander J. Dallas, and uncle to the American statesman, George M. Dallas, was related by marriage to Lord Byron, and had much influence with the poet.

Dallas's writings are numerous. The following are the chief: Recollections of Lord Byron; Aubrey, a Novel; The Knights, Tales illustrative of the Marvellous; The Siege of Rochelle, an historical Novel; Not at Home, a Comedy; Percival, or Nature Vindicated, a Novel; Elements of Self-Knowledge; Memoirs of the Last Years of Louis XVI.; The History of the Maroons. Translations of a large number of historical works from the French, chiefly connected with the history of the French Revolution; Miscellaneous Writings, consisting of Poems, Lucretia, a Tragedy, and Moral Essays.

JOHN LEYDEN, M.D., 1775-1811, was a man of great and varied attainments, and was the subject of a warm friendship on the part of Sir Walter Scott, who has written his biography.

Leyden was a native of Scotland; studied at the University of Edinburgh, and entered the ministry of the Church of Scotland; but subsequently studied medicine and entered the service of the East India Company. His principal works are: Historical Sketches of the Discoveries of Europeans in Northern Africa; Scottish Descriptive Poems; Scenes of Infancy; Poetical Remains. Leyden also contributed The Elf King to Lewis's Tales of Wonder, and The Mermaid and The Court of Keeldar to Scott's Minstrelsy, besides being the author of many philological papers on oriental languages, some published in Asiatic Researches and others left in MS.

"Indeed, as Leyden's reading was at all times too ostentatiously displayed, so in his poetry he was sometimes a little too ambitious in introducing scientific allusions or terms of art, which embarrassed instead of exalting the simplicity of his descriptions But when he is contented with a pure and natural tone of feeling and expression, his poetical powers claim the admiration and sympathy of every reader."— Sir Walter Scott.

ELIZABETH OGILVY BENGER, 1778-1827, had very limited advantages of education, but a strong desire for knowledge, and an early impulse towards authorship. Her first poem, The Female Geniad, was published when she was only thirteen. She wrote poems, dramas, and novels, but had her chief success in history and biography. Works: Klopstock and his Friends, Memoirs of Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton, Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots, Memoirs of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, Memoirs of John Tobin, Life of Anne Boleyn. She was the intimate friend of Mrs. Barbauld and Joanna Baillie.

THOMAS HOPE, 1770-1831, is favorably known as a writer on Household Furniture.

Mr. Hope was a wealthy merchant of Amsterdam, who, after many travels, settled finally in London. He was a great lover of the fine arts, and had magnificent collections both in town and in the country. In 1807, he published a work on Household Furniture and Internal Decorations, which was unmercifully ridiculed by Jeffrey in the Edinburgh Review, but which, it is now conceded, was the agent of introducing much better taste into the upholstery and decoration of houses. Hope produced several other art-treatises. He is chiefly known, however, by his Anastasius, or Memoirs of a Modern Greek. It embodies the experiences of the author's travels in the East, in the shape of a novel. This work, now little read, attracted much attention at the time of its appearance, and was ascribed to Lord Byron, who himself was not offended at such an imputation.

JAMES CAVANAH MURPHY, 1760-1816, a native of Ireland, is noted as a writer on architectural subjects. He travelled extensively in Spain and Portugal, publishing in 1789 an account of his travels, and, in 1813, a magnificent collection of engravings under the title of Arabian Antiquities of Spain. This work has always been considered the standard work on the subject, and is one of the most brilliant specimens of art and research.

JAMES NORTHCOTE, 1746-1831, is distinguished both as an artist and the anthor of several works on art-matters. Mr. Northcote studied for a number of years under the personal supervision of Sir Joshua Reynolds. In 1813 he published the Memoirs of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and subsequently the Life of Titian. He also prepared the designs for the two hundred and eighty engravings contained in the One Hundred Tables, etc., an illustrated work. Northcote was a brilliant conversationist, and Haz

litt, the well-known critic, preserved and published many of his remarks in a volume entitled Conversations of Northcote.

"The best converser I know is the best listener. I mean Northcote the painter. His manner is quite picturesque. There is an excess of character and naïveté that never tires. His thoughts bubble up and sparkle like beads of old wine. . . . One of his tête-à-têtes would at any time make an essay; but he cannot write himself, because he loses himself in the connecting passages, is fearful of the effect, and wants the habit of bringing his ideas into one focus or point of view."— Hazlitt.

JOHN FLAXMAN, 1755-1826, the most eminent sculptor of modern times, won for himself a place in literature by his Lectures on Sculpture, delivered at the Royal Academy.

"These Lectures, as literary compositions, containing a clear and commanding view of sculpture, ancient and modern, abundant in just sentiments and wise remarks, and such professional precepts as only experience can supply, merit more regard than they have as yet received. The account of the Gothic sculptures in England is as rich as a chapter of old romance, and infinitely more interesting. The whole of the Lectures on Beauty and Composition ought to be familiar to the mind of every student. The order of their arrangement is natural, and there is good sense and a feeling for all that is noble and heroic scattered over every page.”~ Allan Cunningham.

MALCOLM LAING, 1762-1818, a native of Orkney, was a member of the bar, and also of Parliament. Besides editing the last volume of Henry's History of Great Britain and the life of James VI., he published two works of his own. The first is. the History of Scotland from James VI. to Queen Anne. This is an invaluable contribution to Scotch history, and, among other things, settled finally all doubts as to Mary's complicity in the murder of Darnley. The other work is entitled The Poems of Ossian, containing the Poetical Works of James McPherson, with notes and illustrations. This was a serious assault upon Macpherson's literary honesty.-SAMUEL LAING, b. 1810, native of Orkney, and a younger brother of Malcolm Laing, was the author of several valuable works of travel, etc., the most important of which are: Three Years' Residence in Norway; A Tour in Sweden; Heinskringla, or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, a translation from the Icelandic; On the Schism from the Church of Rome (occasioned by the exhibition of the Holy Coat at Treves in 1844).

VICESIMUS KNOx, D. D., 1752-1821, a clergyman of the Church of England, was educated at Oxford, and was for thirty-three years Master of the school at Tunbridge. His writings were numerous, and were well received. The following are the chief: Essays, Moral and Literary; Liberal Education; Winter Evenings, 3 vols.; Personal Nobility; Christian Philosophy, 2 vols.; Nature and Efficacy of the Lord's Supper. Dr. Knox also compiled a work known as Elegant Extracts, in Prose and Verse, in 6 vols., 8vo, which had an extensive circulation in the United States.

JOHN MACDIARMID, 1779-1808, a native of Scotland, studied at Edinburgh and St. Andrew's, and was editor of St. James's Chronicle and contributor to several periodicals. In 1807 he published the Lives of British Statesmen, a series of valuable essays on Sir Thomas More, Burleigh, Strafford, and Clarendon. MacDiarmid appears to have been a young writer of great promise, for his untimely death was sincerely mourned by his contemporaries. His "Lives" has been commended by Hallam, Disraeli, and Foster.

ROBERT MACNISH, M. D., 1802-1837, a native of Glasgow, was a contributor to Blackwood's Magazine, Frazer's, and other periodicals. He also published two volumes of sketches: The Anatomy of Drunkenness, and The Anatomy of Sleep, which achieved a lasting reputation for their author.

"This little book (The Anatomy of Drunkenness) is evidently the production of a man of genius. The style is singularly neat, terse, concise, and vigorous, far beyond the reach of any ordinary mind; the strain of sentiment is such as does infinite honor to the author's heart; and the observation of human life by which every page is characterized speaks a bold, active, and philosophical intellect. As a medical treatise, it is excellent; and to those who stand in need of advice or warning it is worth a hundred sermons."- Blackwood.

THOMAS MEDWIN, R. A., 1789-1869, brought himself into note in the early part of the century by publishing Conversations of Lord Byron, which occasioned a good deal of sharp criticism. He also published A Life of Shelley; The Angler in Wales; and Ahasuerus the Wanderer, a Dramatic Legend.

SIR JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE, 1786-1869, is chiefly known through his intimate association with Lord Byron and a volume of Travels which he published in 1812, giving an account of their travels in Albania, etc. Hobhouse also published a volume of Poems, partly original, partly imitations and translations of the classics, and an account of the last reign of Napoleon, 2 vols., 8vo. He was raised to the peerage in 1851, with the title of Lord Broughton de Gyfford.

BARRY EDWARD O'MEARA, 1778–1836, Napoleon's physician at St. Helena, acquired great notoriety by his various narratives exposing the alleged brutality of Sir Hudson Lowe in the treatment of his illustrious prisoner.

O'Meara was a native of Ireland, and held the position of surgeon in the Royal Navy on the Bellerophon, when Napoleon surrendered. He accompanied the ex-emperor to St. Helena, and remained there three years, when he quarrelled with Sir Hudson Lowe, the governor, and returned to England. Here he preferred charges against Lowe, but was not sustained, and was dismissed from the service. O'Meara published An Exposition, etc., in reply to an anonymous pamphlet defending Lowe. He also published the Letters of Las Casas, with an introduction, and Napoleon in Exile, or a Voice from St. Helena. This latter work, giving the details of Napoleon's life in exile, met with a large sale, and, in connection with the preceding ones, provoked an angry discussion, in which all the reviews of the day took part, on one side or another, according to their political sympathies. Whether O'Meara be right or not in all his statements, the popular verdict has long ago pronounced against Lowe as wholly unfit for such a position.

Dr. Parr.

SAMUEL PARR, LL. D., 1747–1825, had in his day a prodigious reputation for classical learning, but the works which he has left do not justify the high estimation in which he was once held.

Parr was a clergyman of the Church of England, and was celebrated as a scholar and a conversationist. His published works and sermons are voluminous. Parr was at one time a violent partisan of the Whigs, and came near being made a bishop.

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