A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 22

HALL, ROBERT (1764-1831).--Divine, _b._ at Arnsby, Leicestershire, the _s._ of a Baptist minister of some note, was _ed._ at a Baptist Academy, and at the Univ. of Aberdeen, from which he received the degree of D.D.

in 1817. He ministered to congregations at Bristol, Cambridge, Leicester, and again at Bristol, and became one of the greatest pulpit orators of his day. His most famous sermon was that on the _Death of the Princess Charlotte_ (1817). Another which created a great impression was that on _Modern Infidelity_. H. was a life-long sufferer, and was occasionally insane, yet his intellectual activity was unceasing. After his death a collection of 50 of his sermons was _pub._ (1843), and _Miscellaneous Works and Remains_ (1846).

HALLAM, HENRY (1777-1859).--Historian, _s._ of a Dean of Wells, was _b._ at Windsor, and _ed._ at Eton and Oxf. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple, and appointed a Commissioner of Stamps. Among his earliest writings were papers in the _Edinburgh Review_; but in 1818 he leaped into a foremost place among historical writers by the publication of his _View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages_. This was followed in 1827 by _The Const.i.tutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II._, and his third great work, _Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the 15th, 16th, and 17th Centuries_, in 4 vols., appeared in 1837-39. All these, which have gone through several ed., and have been translated into the princ.i.p.al languages of Europe, are characterised by wide and profound learning, indefatigable research, and judicial impartiality. They opened a new field of investigation in which their author has had few, if any, superiors. In politics H. was a Whig; but he took no active share in party warfare. He had two sons of great promise, both of whom predeceased him. Of these the elder, ARTHUR HENRY, is the subject of Tennyson's _In Memoriam_, and of him his _f._ wrote a touching memoir prefixed to his literary remains.

HALLECK, FITZGREENE (1790-1867).--Poet, _b._ at Guilford, Conn., wrote, with Rodman Drake, a young poet who _d._ at 25, _The Croaker Papers_, a series of satirical and humorous verses, and _f.a.n.n.y_, also a satire. In 1822 he visited Europe, and the traces of this are found in most of his subsequent poetry, _e.g._ his lines on Burns, and on Alnwick Castle.

HALLIWELL-PHILLIPS, JAMES ORCHARD (1820-1889).--Archaeologist and Shakespearian scholar, _ed._ at Camb., was the author of a _Life of Shakespeare_ (1848), _New Boke about Shakespeare and Stratford upon Avon_ (1850), _Folio Edition of Shakespeare_ (1853-65), and various other works relative to him, also _Dictionary of Old English Plays_ (1860). He also ed. works for the Camden and Percy Societies, and compiled a _Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words_. In 1872 he added his wife's name of Phillips to his own.

HAMERTON, PHILIP GILBERT (1834-1894).--Artist and writer on aesthetics, _s._ of a solicitor, was _b._ near Oldham. Originally intended for the Church, he decided for art and literature. After working as an artist in the Highlands with his wife, who was a Frenchwoman, he settled in France, and devoted himself to writing on art. Among his works are _Etching and Etchers, etc._ (1868), _Painting in France after the Decline of Cla.s.sicism_ (1869), _The Intellectual Life_ (1873), _Human Intercourse_ (1884), _The Graphic Arts_ (1882), _Landscape_ (1885), some of which were magnificently ill.u.s.trated. He also left an autobiography. His writings had a great influence upon artists, and also in stimulating and diffusing the love of art among the public.

HAMILTON, ALEXANDER (1757-1804).--Statesman and political writer, _b._ in the West Indies, was one of the framers of the Const.i.tution of the United States, and was the first Sec. of the national Treasury. He was one of the greatest of American statesmen, and has also a place in literature as the princ.i.p.al writer in the _Federalist_, a periodical founded to expound and defend the new Const.i.tution, which was afterwards _pub._ as a permanent work. He contributed 51 of its 85 articles.

HAMILTON, ELIZABETH (1758-1816).--Wrote _The Cottagers of Glenburnie_, a tale which had much popularity in its day, and perhaps had some effect in the improvement of certain aspects of humble domestic life in Scotland.

She also wrote _Letters on Education_, _Essays on the Human Mind_, and _The Hindoo Rajah_.

HAMILTON, THOMAS (1789-1842).--Novelist, brother of Sir William Hamilton (_q.v._), wrote a novel, _Cyril Thornton_ (1827), which was received with great favour. He was an officer in the army, and, on his retirement, settled in Edin., and became a contributor to _Blackwood_. He was also the author of _Annals of the Peninsular Campaign_ (1829), and _Men and Manners in America_ (1833).

HAMILTON, WILLIAM (OF BANGOUR) (1704-1754).--Poet, was _b._ at the family seat in Linlithgowshire. Cultivated and brilliant, he was a favourite of society, and began his literary career by contributing verses to Allan Ramsay's _Tea Table Miscellany_. He joined the Pretender in 1745, and celebrated the Battle of Prestonpans in _Gladsmuir_. After Culloden he wandered in the Highlands, where he wrote his _Soliloquy_, and escaped to France. His friends, however, succeeded in obtaining his pardon, and he returned to his native country. In 1750, on the death of his brother, he succeeded to the family estate, which, however, he did not long live to enjoy. He is best remembered for his fine ballad of _The Braes of Yarrow_. He also wrote _The Episode of the Thistle_. He _d._ at Lyons.

HAMILTON, WILLIAM (OF GILBERTFIELD) (1665?-1751).--Poet, served in the army, from which he retired with the rank of Lieutenant. He wrote poetical _Epistles_ to Allan Ramsay, and an abridgment in modern Scotch of Blind Harry's _Life of Sir William Wallace_.

HAMILTON, SIR WILLIAM (1788-1856).--Metaphysician, _b._ in Glasgow, in the Univ. of which his _f._ and grandfather successively filled the Chair of Anatomy and Botany, _ed._ there and at Balliol Coll., Oxf., was called to the Scottish Bar, at which he attained little practice, but was appointed Solicitor of Teinds. In 1816 he established his claim to the baronetcy of H. of Preston. On the death of Dr. Thomas Brown in 1820, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Chair of Moral Philosophy in Edin., but in the following year he was appointed Prof. of History. It was not until 1829 that he gave full proof of his remarkable powers and attainments as a philosopher in a famous article in the _Edinburgh Review_, a critique of Victor Cousin's doctrine of the Infinite. This paper carried his name over Europe, and won for him the homage of continental philosophers, including Cousin himself. After this H.

continued to contribute to the _Review_, many of his papers being translated into French, German, and Italian. In 1852 they were _coll._ with notes and additions, and _pub._ as _Discussions in Philosophy and Literature_, _etc._ In 1836 H. was elected Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at Edinburgh, which office he held with great reputation until his death, after which the lectures he had delivered were edited and _pub._ by Prof. Mansel and Veitch. His _magnum opus_ was his edition of the _Works of Dr. Thomas Reid_, left unfinished, and completed by Mansel. H. was the last, and certainly the most learned and accomplished, of the Scottish school of philosophy, which he considered it his mission to develop and correlate to the systems of other times and countries. He also made various important contributions to the science of logic. During his later years he suffered from paralysis of one side, which, though it left his mind unaffected, impaired his powers of work. A Memoir of H. by Prof. Veitch appeared in 1869.

HANNA, WILLIAM (1808-1882).--Divine and biographer, _s._ of Samuel H., Prof. of Divinity in the Presbyterian Coll., Belfast, was _b._ there, became a distinguished minister of the Free Church of Scotland, and colleague of Dr. T. Guthrie (_q.v._). He wrote an admirable _Life of Dr.

Chalmers_, whose son-in-law he was, and ed. his works. He also ed. the _Letters of Thomas Erskine of Linlathen_ (_q.v._), and wrote various theological works.

HANNAY, JAMES (1827-1873).--Novelist and journalist, was _b._ at Dumfries, and after serving for some years in the navy took to literature, and became ed. of the _Edinburgh Courant_. He wrote two novels, _Singleton Fontenoy_ (1850), and _Eustace Conyers_ (1855); also _Lectures on Satire and Satirists_, and _Studies on Thackeray_. For the last five years of his life he was British Consul at Barcelona.

HARE, AUGUSTUS JOHN CUTHBERT (1834-1903).--Youngest _s._ of Francis H., and nephew of Aug. and Julius H. (_q.v._), _b._ at Rome, practically adopted by his aunt, the widow of Aug. H., and _ed._ at Harrow. He was the author of a large number of books, which fall into two cla.s.ses: biographies of members and connections of his family, and descriptive and historical accounts of various countries and cities. To the first belong _Memorials of a Quiet Life_ (his adoptive mother's), _Story of Two n.o.ble Lives_ (Lady Canning and Lady Waterford), _The Gurneys of Earlham_, and an inordinately extended autobiography; to the second, _Walks in Rome_, _Walks in London_, _Wanderings in Spain_, _Cities of Northern, Southern, and Central Italy_ (separate works), and many others. His writings are all interesting and informing, but in general suffer from his tendency to diffuseness.

HARE, AUGUSTUS WILLIAM (1792-1834).--Was the _s._ of Francis Hare-Naylor, who _m._ a cousin of the famous d.u.c.h.ess of Devonshire, and was the author of a history of Germany. He was sent by the widow of Sir W. Jones, whose G.o.dson he was, to Winchester, and New Coll., Oxf., in the latter of which he was for some time a tutor. Entering the Church he became inc.u.mbent of the rural parish of Alton Barnes where, leading an absolutely unselfish life, he was the father and friend of his parishioners. In addition to writing in conjunction with his brother Julius (_q.v._), _Guesses at Truth_, a work containing short essays on multifarious subjects, which attracted much attention, he left two vols. of sermons.

HARE, JULIUS CHARLES (1795-1855).--Essayist, etc., younger brother of the above, was _b._ at Vicenza. When two years old his parents left him to the care of Clotilda Tambroni, female Prof. of Greek at Bologna. _Ed._ at Charterhouse and Camb., he took orders and, in 1832, was appointed to the rich family living of Hurstmonceau, which Augustus had refused. Here he had John Sterling (_q.v._) for curate, and Bunsen for a neighbour. He was also Archdeacon of Lewes and a Chaplain to the Queen. His first work was _Guesses at Truth_ (1827), jointly with his brother, and he also _pub._, jointly with Thirlwall (_q.v._), a translation of Niebuhr's _History of Rome_, wrote _The Victory of Faith_ and other theological books and pamphlets on Church and other questions, _A Life of Sterling_, and a _Vindication of Luther_. H., though a lovable, was an eccentric, man of strong antipathies, unmethodical, and unpunctual.

HARINGTON, SIR JOHN (1561-1612).--Miscellaneous writer, and translator, _b._ at Kelston Park near Bath, and _ed._ at Eton and Camb., became a courtier of Queen Elizabeth, whose G.o.dson he was. In 1599 he served in Ireland under Ess.e.x, by whom he was knighted on the field, a stretch of authority which was much resented by the Queen. While there he wrote _A Short View of the State of Ireland_, first _pub._ 1880. He was in repute for his epigrams, of which some have wit, but others are only indelicate.

His translation of the _Orlando Furioso_ of Ariosto, in the metre of the original, is a somewhat free paraphrase, and is now superseded. It first appeared in the form of extracts, which were handed in MS. about the Court until they reached the Queen, who reprimanded the translator for corrupting the morals of her ladies by translating the most unedifying pa.s.sages, and banished him to his country seat until he should have translated the whole poem. His most valuable work is one which was _pub._ in 1769 by a descendant, under the t.i.tle of _Nugae Antiquae_ (Old-time Trifles), a miscellaneous collection from his writings and papers, containing many things of interest, _e.g._, a minute account of the Queen's last illness, and letters and verses by her and other eminent persons.

HARLAND, HENRY (1861-1905).--Novelist, _b._ of American parentage at St.

Petersburg, and _ed._ at Rome. Thereafter he went to Paris, and thence to America, where he graduated at Harvard, and settled in New York. His literary career falls into two distinctly marked sections, very diverse in character. During the first of these he produced, under the pseudonym of "Sidney Luska," a series of highly sensational novels, thrown off with little regard to literary quality, and which it was his wish should be forgotten; but about 1890 his aspirations underwent a complete change, and he became an enthusiast in regard to style and the _mot propre_. The first novels of this new era, _Mademoiselle Miss_ (1893), _Grey Roses_ (1895), and _Comedies and Errors_ (1898), though obtaining the approval of the literary elect, had little general popularity; but the tide turned with the appearance of _The Cardinal's Snuff-box_ (1900), which was widely admired. It was followed by _The Lady Paramount_ (1901), and _My Friend Prospero_ (1903). H. _d._ at San Remo after a prolonged illness.

HARRINGTON, JAMES (1611-1677).--Political theorist, _s._ of Sir Sapcotes H., was _b._ at Upton, Northamptonshire, and _ed._ at Oxf., where he was a pupil of Chillingworth. After leaving the university he travelled on the Continent, visiting, among other places, The Hague and Venice, where he imbibed republican principles. He was for some time a groom of the bedchamber to Charles I. On the outbreak of the Civil War he sided with the Parliament, but disapproved of the execution of the King, for whom he appears, notwithstanding his political theories, to have cherished a personal attachment. Thereafter he withdrew from active life, and devoted himself to composing his political romance (as it may be called) of _Oceana_, which he _pub._ in 1656, and in which Oceana represents England, Marpesia Scotland, and Panopaea Ireland. In this work he propounds the theory that the natural element of power in states is property, of which land is the most important. He further endeavoured to propagate his views by establishing a debating society called the Rota, and by his conversations with his friends. After the Restoration he was confined in the Tower, and subsequently at Plymouth. He issued several defences of _Oceana_, and made translations from Virgil. In his later years he laboured under mental delusions. Aubrey describes him as of middle stature, strong, well-set, with quick, fiery hazel eyes, and thick curly hair.

HARRIS, JAMES (1709-1780).--Grammarian, was a wealthy country gentleman and member of Parliament, who held office in the Admiralty and the Treasury. He was the author of a singular and learned work ent.i.tled _Hermes, or a Philosophical Inquiry concerning Universal Grammar_. For the purpose which it had in view it is useless; but it contains much curious matter. His _s._ was the eminent diplomatist, James H., 1st Earl of Malmesbury.

HARRIS, JOEL CHANDLER (1848-1908).--Writer of tales, etc., _b._ at Eatonton, Georgia, was successively printer, lawyer, and journalist. He struck out an original line in his stories of animal life as it presents itself to the mind of the Southern negro, in whose dialect they are written. These not only achieved and retain an exceptional popularity among children, to whom they were in the first instance addressed, but attracted the attention of students of folklore and anthology. Among his writings are _Uncle Remus_ (1880), _Nights with Uncle Remus_ (1884), _Mr.

Rabbit at Home_ (1895), _Aaron in the Wild Woods_ (1897), _Chronicles of Aunt Minervy Ann_ (1899), etc.

HARTE, FRANCIS BRET (1839-1902).--American humorist, _b._ in Albany, N.Y., but when still a boy went to California. He had a somewhat varied career as a teacher, miner, and journalist, and it is as a realistic chronicler of the gold-field and an original humorist that his chief literary triumphs were achieved. Among his best known writings are _Condensed Novels_, in which he showed great skill as a parodist, _The Luck of Roaring Camp_, _The Idyll of Red Gulch_, and _The Heathen Chinee_. In 1880 he came to Glasgow as U.S. Consul, and from 1885 he lived in London. His writings often show the tenderness and fine feeling that are allied to the higher forms of humour, and he may be said to have created a special form of short story in his Californian tales and prose idylls.

HARTLEY, DAVID (1705-1757).--Philosopher, _b._ at Luddenden, Yorkshire, and _ed._ at Camb., studied for the Church, but owing to theological difficulties turned to medicine as a profession, and practised with success at various places, including London and Bath. He also attained eminence as a writer on philosophy, and indeed may be said to have founded a school of thought based upon two theories, (1) the Doctrine of Vibrations, and (2) that of a.s.sociation of Ideas. These he developed in an elaborate treatise, _Observations on Man, his Frame, his Duty, and his Expectations_. Though his system has long been discarded, its main ideas have continued to influence thought and investigation.

HARVEY, GABRIEL (1545?-1630).--Poet, _s._ of a ropemaker, was _b._ at Saffron Walden, _ed._ at Camb., and became the friend of Spenser, being the Hobbinol of _The Shepheard's Calendar_. He wrote various satirical pieces, sonnets, and pamphlets. Vain and ill-tempered, he was a remorseless critic of others, and was involved in perpetual controversy, specially with Greene and Nash, the latter of whom was able to silence him. He wrote treatises on rhetoric, claimed to have introduced hexameters into English, was a foe to rhyme, and persuaded Spenser temporarily to abandon it.

HAWES, STEPHEN (_d._ 1523?).--Poet; very little concerning him is known with certainty. He is believed to have been _b._ in Suffolk, and may have studied at Oxf. or Camb. He first comes clearly into view as a Groom of the Chamber in 1502, in which year he dedicated to Henry VII. his _Pastyme of Pleasure_, first printed in 1509 by Wynkyn de Worde. In the same year appeared the _Convercyon of Swerers_ (1509), and _A Joyful Meditacyon of all England_ (1509), on the coronation of Henry VIII. He also wrote the _Exemple of Vertu_. H. was a scholar, and was familiar with French and Italian poetry. No great poet, he yet had a considerable share in regularising the language.

HAWKER, ROBERT STEPHEN (1804-1875).--Poet and antiquary, _ed._ at Cheltenham and Oxf., became parson of Morwenstow, a smuggling and wrecking community on the Cornish coast, where he exercised a reforming and beneficent, though extremely unconventional, influence until his death, shortly before which he was received into the Roman Catholic Church. He wrote some poems of great originality and charm, _Records of the Western Sh.o.r.e_ (1832-36), and _The Quest of the Sangraal_ (1863) among them, besides short poems, of which perhaps the best known is _Shall Trelawny Die?_ which, based as it is on an old rhyme, deceived both Scott and Macaulay into thinking it an ancient fragment. He also _pub._ a collection of papers, _Footprints of Former Men in Cornwall_ (1870).

HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL (1804-1864).--Novelist, _b._ at Salem, Ma.s.sachusetts, _s._. of a sea captain, who _d._ in 1808, after which his mother led the life of a recluse. An accident when at play conduced to an early taste for reading, and from boyhood he cherished literary aspirations. His education was completed at Bowdoin Coll., where he had Longfellow for a fellow-student. After graduating, he obtained a post in the Custom-House, which, however, he did not find congenial, and soon gave up, betaking himself to literature, his earliest efforts, besides a novel, _Fanshawe_, which had no success, being short tales and sketches, which, after appearing in periodicals, were _coll._ and _pub._ as _Twice-told Tales_ (1837), followed by a second series in 1842. In 1841 he joined for a few months the socialistic community at Brook Farm, but soon tired of it, and in the next year he _m._ and set up house in Concord in an old manse, formerly tenanted by Emerson, whence proceeded _Mosses from an Old Manse_ (1846). It was followed by _The Snow Image_ (1851), _The Scarlet Letter_ (1850), his most powerful work, _The House of Seven Gables_, and _The Blithedale Romance_ (1852), besides his children's books, _The Wonder Book_, and _The Tanglewood Tales_. Such business as he had occupied himself with had been in connection with Custom-House appointments at different places; but in 1853 he received from his friend Franklin Pierce, on his election to the Presidency, the appointment of United States Consul at Liverpool, which he retained for four years, when, in consequence of a threatened failure of health, he went to Italy and began his story of _The Marble Faun_, _pub._ in England in 1860 under the t.i.tle of _The Transformation_. The last of his books _pub._ during his lifetime was _Our Old Home_ (1863), notes on England and the English. He had returned to America in 1860, where, with failing health and powers, he pa.s.sed his remaining four years. After his death there were _pub._ _The Ancestral Footstep_, _Septimus Felton_, _Dr.

Grimshawe's Secret_, and _The Dolliver Romance_, all more or less fragmentary. Most of H.'s work is pervaded by a strong element of mysticism, and a tendency to dwell in the border-land between the seen and the unseen. His style is characterised by a distinctive grace and charm, rich, varied, suggestive, and imaginative. On the whole he is undoubtedly the greatest imaginative writer yet produced by America.

There are several ed. of the _Works_, _e.g._ Little Cla.s.sics, 25 vols.; Riverside, 15 vols.; Standard Library, 15 vols.; the two last have biographies. _Lives_ by his son Julian, H. James (English Men of Letters, 1850), M.D. Conway (Great Writers, 1890), etc.

HAY, JOHN (1838-1906).--Diplomatist and poet, _b._ at Salem, Indiana, _ed._ at Brown Univ., and called to the Illinois Bar, served in the army, and was one of President Lincoln's secs. He then held diplomatic posts at Paris, Madrid, and Vienna, was Amba.s.sador to Great Britain, and was in 1898 appointed Sec. of State. He has a place in literature by virtue of his _Pike County Ballads_, and _Castilian Days_ (1871).

HAYLEY, WILLIAM (1745-1820).--Poet and biographer, was _b._ at Chichester, and _ed._ at Eton and Camb. Though overstrained and romantic, he had some literary ability, and was a good conversationalist. He was the friend of Cowper, whose Life he wrote; and it was to his influence with Pitt that the granting of a pension to the poet was due. He was the author of numerous poems, including _The Triumph of Temper_, and of _Essays_ on _History_ and _Epic Poetry_, and, in addition to his biography of Cowper, wrote a _Life of Milton_. On the death of Thos.

Warton in 1790 he was offered, but declined, the Laureateship. Of him Southey said, "Everything about that man is good except his poetry."

HAYNE, PAUL HAMILTON (1830-1886).--Poet, _b._ at Charleston, S. Carolina, of an old family, contributed to various magazines, and _pub._ _Poems_ (1885), containing "Legends and Lyrics." His graceful verses show the influence of Keats. His sonnets are some of his best work.