A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 23

HAYWARD, ABRAHAM (1802-1884).--Miscellaneous writer, belonged to an old Wiltshire family and was _ed._ at Tiverton School. He studied law at the Inner Temple, and was called to the Bar 1832. He had a great reputation as a _raconteur_ and sayer of good things, and he was a copious contributor to periodicals, especially the _Quarterly Review_. Many of his articles were reprinted as _Biographical and Critical Essays_, and _Eminent Statesmen and Writers_; he also wrote Lives of George Selwyn and Lord Chesterfield, and books on Whist, Junius, and _The Art of Dining_.

His _Select Correspondence_ appeared posthumously.

HAYWARD, SIR JOHN (1564?-1627).--Historian, _b._ at Felixstowe, was the author of various historical works, the earliest of which, _The First Part of the Life and Reign of King Henry IV._, was _pub._ in 1599, and gave such offence to Queen Elizabeth that the author was imprisoned. He, however, managed to ingratiate himself with James I. by supporting his views of kingly prerogative. He also, at the request of Prince Henry, wrote a _History of the three Norman Kings of England_ (William I., William II., and Henry I.) _The Life and Reign of Edward VI._ was _pub._ posthumously in 1630.

HAYWOOD, MRS. ELIZA (FOWLER) (1693-1756).--Dramatist and novelist, _b._ in London, was early _m._ to a Mr. H., but the union turning out unhappily, she took to the stage, upon which she appeared in Dublin about 1715. She afterwards settled in London, and produced numerous plays and novels, into which she introduced scandalous episodes regarding living persons whose ident.i.ty was very thinly veiled, a practice which, along with her political satires, more than once involved her in trouble, and together with certain attacks upon Pope, made in concert with Curll the bookseller, procured for her a place in _The Dunciad_. Her enemies called her reputation in question, but nothing very serious appears to have been proved. She is repeatedly referred to by Steele, and has been doubtfully identified with his "Sappho." Some of her works, such as _The History of Jemmy and Jenny Jessamy_ had great popularity. Others were _The Fair Captive_ (1721), _Idalia_ (1723), _Love in Excess_ (1724), _Memoirs of a Certain Island adjacent to Utopia_ (anonymously) (1725), _Secret History of Present Intrigues at the Court of Caramania_ (anonymously) (1727). She also conducted _The Female Spectator_, and other papers.

HAZLITT, WILLIAM (1778-1830).--Essayist and critic, _b._ at Maidstone, was the _s._ of a Unitarian minister. At his father's request he studied for the ministry at a Unitarian Coll. at Hackney. His interests, however, were much more philosophical and political than theological. The turning point in his intellectual development was his meeting with Coleridge in 1798. Soon after this he studied art with the view of becoming a painter, and devoted himself specially to portraiture, but though so good a judge as his friend, J. Northcote, R.A., believed he had the talent requisite for success, he could not satisfy himself, and gave up the idea, though always retaining his love of art. He then definitely turned to literature, and in 1805 _pub._ his first book, _Essay on the Principles of Human Action_, which was followed by various other philosophical and political essays. About 1812 he became parliamentary and dramatic reporter to the _Morning Chronicle_; in 1814 a contributor to the _Edinburgh Review_; and in 1817 he _pub._ a vol. of literary sketches, _The Round Table_. In the last named year appeared his _Characters of Shakespeare's Plays_, which was severely attacked in the _Quarterly Review_ and _Blackwood's Magazine_, to which his democratic views made him obnoxious. He defended himself in a cutting _Letter to William Gifford_, the ed. of the former. The best of H.'s critical work--his three courses of Lectures, _On the English Poets_, _On the English Comic Writers_, and _On the Dramatic Literature of the Age of Queen Elizabeth_--appeared successively in 1818, 1819, and 1820. His next works were _Table Talk_, in which he attacked Sh.e.l.ley (1821-22), and _The Spirit of the Age_ (1825), in which he criticised some of his contemporaries. He then commenced what he intended to be his chief literary undertaking, a life of _Napoleon Buonaparte_, in 4 vols.

(1828-30). Though written with great literary ability, its views and sympathies were unpopular, and it failed in attaining success. His last work was a _Life of t.i.tian_, in which he collaborated with Northcote. H.

is one of the most subtle and acute of English critics, though, when contemporaries came under review, he sometimes allowed himself to be unduly swayed by personal or political feeling, from which he had himself often suffered at the hands of others. His chief principle of criticism as avowed by himself was that "a genuine criticism should reflect the colour, the light and shade, the soul and body of a work." In his private life he was not happy. His first marriage, entered into in 1807, ended in a divorce in 1822, and was followed by an amour with his landlady's _dau._, which he celebrated in _Liber Amoris_, a work which exposed him to severe censure. A second marriage with a Mrs. Bridgewater ended by the lady leaving him shortly after. The fact is that H. was possessed of a peculiar temper, which led to his quarrelling with most of his friends.

He was, however, a man of honest and sincere convictions. There is a _coll._ ed. of his works, the "Winterslow," by A.R. Waller and A. Glover, 12 vols., with introduction by W.E. Henley, etc.

HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND (1793-1875).--Traveller, essayist, and biographer, served in the Engineers, went to South America as manager of a mining company, which failed, and then turned to literature, and made considerable reputation by a book of travels, _Rapid Journeys across the Pampas and among the Andes_ (1827), which was followed by _Bubbles from the Brunnens of Na.s.sau_ (1834). He was Governor of Upper Canada 1835-37, but was not a great success. Thereafter he contributed to the _Quarterly Review_, and _repub._ his articles as _Stokers and Pokers--Highways and Byways_, and wrote a _Life of Bruce_, the Abyssinian traveller. He was made a Baronet in 1836.

HEARN, LAFCADIO (1850-1906).--Journalist and writer on j.a.pan, _s._ of an Irish Army surgeon and of a Greek lady, _b._ in Leucadia, Ionian Islands, lost his parents early, and was sent home to be taken charge of by an aunt in Wales, a Roman Catholic. On her death, when he was still a boy, he was left penniless, delicate, and half blind, and after experiencing great hardships, in spite of which he _ed._ himself, he took to journalism. Going to New Orleans he attained a considerable reputation as a writer with a distinctly individual style. He came under the influence of Herbert Spencer, and devoted himself largely to the study of social questions. After spending three years in the French West Indies, he was in 1890 sent by a publisher to j.a.pan to write a book on that country, and there he remained, becoming a naturalised subject, taking the name of Yakomo Koizumi, and marrying a j.a.panese lady. He lectured on English literature in the Imperial Univ. at Tokio. Though getting nearer than, perhaps, any other Western to an understanding of the j.a.panese, he felt himself to the end to be still an alien. Among his writings, which are distinguished by acute observation, imagination, and descriptive power of a high order, are _Stray Leaves from Strange Literature_ (1884), _Some Chinese Ghosts_ (1887), _Gleanings in Buddha Fields_ (1897), _Ghostly j.a.pan_, _Kokoro_, _Hints and Echoes of j.a.panese Inner Life_, etc.

He was also an admirable letter-writer.

HEARNE, THOMAS (1678-1735).--Antiquary, _b._ at White Waltham., Berkshire, and _ed._ at Oxf., where in 1712 he became second keeper of the Bodleian Library. A strong Jacobite, he was deprived of his post in 1716, and afterwards he refused, on political grounds, the chief librarianship. He _pub._ a large number of antiquarian works, including _Reliquiae Bodleianae_ (1703), and ed. of Leland's _Itinerary_ and _Collectanea_, Camden's _Annals_, and Fordun's _Scotochronicon_. Some of his own collections were _pub._ posthumously.

HEBER, REGINALD (1783-1826).--Poet, _s._ of the Rector of Malpas, a man of family and wealth, and half-brother of Richard H., the famous book-collector, was _ed._ at Oxf., where he gained the Newdigate prize for his poem, _Palestine_, and was elected in 1805 Fellow of All Souls.

After travelling in Germany and Russia, he took orders in 1807, and became Rector of the family living of Hodnet. In 1822, after two refusals, he accepted the Bishopric of Calcutta, an office in which he showed great zeal and capacity. He _d._ of apoplexy in his bath at Trichinopoly in 1826. In addition to _Palestine_ he wrote _Europe_, a poem having reference specially to the Peninsular War, and left various fragments, including an Oriental romance based on the story of Bluebeard.

H.'s reputation now rests mainly on his hymns, of which several, _e.g._, _From Greenland's Icy Mountains_, _Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning_, and _Holy, holy, holy, Lord G.o.d Almighty_, are sung wherever the English language is known. He also wrote a _Life of Jeremy Taylor_ (1822). H. was a scholar and wit as well as a devoted Christian and Churchman.

HELPS, SIR ARTHUR (1813-1875).--Essayist and historian, was _b._ at Streatham, Surrey, and _ed._ at Eton and Camb. After leaving the Univ. he was private sec. to various public men, and in 1841, his circ.u.mstances rendering him independent of employment, he retired to Bishop's Waltham, and devoted himself for 20 years to study and writing. Appointed, in 1860, Clerk to the Privy Council, he became known to, and a favourite of, Queen Victoria, who entrusted him with the task of editing the _Speeches and Addresses of the Prince Consort_ (1862), and her own book, _Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands_ (1868). Of his own publications the first was _Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd_ (1835), a series of aphorisms, and there followed, among others, _Essays written in the Intervals of Business_ (1841), _Friends in Council_, 4 series (1847-59), _Realmah_ (1869), and _Conversations on War and General Culture_ (1871). In history H. wrote _The Conquerors of the New World_ (1848-52), and _The Spanish Conquests in America_, 4 vols. (1855-61). He also wrote a _Life of Thos. Bra.s.sey_, and, as the demand for his historical works fell off, he _repub._ parts of them as individual biographies of Las Casas, Columbus, Pizarro, and Cortez. He also tried the drama, but without success. His essays are his most successful work, containing as they do the thoughts and opinions of a shrewd, experienced, and highly cultivated man, written in what Ruskin called "beautiful quiet English." They have not, however, any exceptional depth or originality.

HEMANS, FELICIA DOROTHEA (BROWNE) (1793-1835).--Poetess, _dau._ of a Liverpool merchant, who, owing to reverses, retired to North Wales. While yet little more than a child she _pub._ her first poems, the reception of which was not encouraging. In the same year, 1808, a further publication appeared which drew a letter from Sh.e.l.ley. Her first important work, _The Domestic Affections_, appeared in 1812, in which year she was _m._ to Captain Hemans, an Irish officer. The union, however, was not a happy one, and her husband practically deserted her and her five sons in 1818.

Her literary activity was continued during the whole of her short life, and her works include, _The Vespers of Palermo_, a drama, which was not successful, _The Forest Sanctuary_ (1826), her best poem, _Records of Woman_, _Lays of Leisure Hours_, _Songs of the Affections_, _Hymns for Childhood_, and _Thoughts during Sickness_ (1834), her last effort. In 1829 she visited Scotland, where she was the guest of Scott, who held her in affectionate regard. She also enjoyed the friendship of Wordsworth.

Always somewhat delicate, her health latterly entirely gave way, and she _d._ of a decline in 1835. Her shorter pieces enjoyed much popularity, and still, owing to their grace and tenderness, retain a certain place, but her long poems are lacking in energy and depth, and are forgotten.

HENLEY, WILLIAM ERNEST (1849-1903).--Poet and critic, _b._ at Gloucester, made the acquaintance of Robert Louis Stevenson (_q.v._), and collaborated with him in several dramas, including _Deacon Brodie_, and _Robert Macaire_. He engaged in journalism, and became ed. of _The Magazine of Art_, _The National Observer_, and _The New Review_, compiled _Lyra Heroica_, an anthology of English poetry for boys, and, with Mr.

Farmer, ed. a _Dictionary of Slang_. His poems, which include _Hospital Rhymes_, _London Voluntaries_, _The Song of the Sword_, _For England's Sake_, and _Hawthorn and Lavender_, are very unequal in quality, and range from strains of the purest music to an uncouth and unmusical realism of no poetic worth. He wrote with T.F. Henderson a _Life of Burns_, in which the poet is set forth as a "lewd peasant of genius."

Complete works, 7 vols., 1908.

HENRY VIII. (1491-1547).--Besides writing songs including _The Kings Ballad_, was a learned controversialist, and contended against Luther in _a.s.sertio Septem Sacramentorum_ (Defence of the Seven Sacraments), a treatise which gained for him the t.i.tle of Defender of the Faith.

HENRY of HUNTINGDON (1084-1155).--Historian, was Archdeacon of Huntingdon from 1109. His _Historia Anglorum_ (History of the English) comes down to 1154. He also wrote a treatise, _De Contemptu Mundi_ (on Contempt of the World).

HENRY, MATTHEW (1662-1714).--Commentator, _s._ of Philip H., a learned Nonconformist divine, was _b._ in Flintshire. He was originally destined for the law, and studied at Gray's Inn, but turned his mind to theology, and, in 1687, became minister of a Nonconformist church at Chester. Here he remained until 1712, when he went to take the oversight of a congregation at Hackney, where he _d._ two years later. He wrote many religious works, but is chiefly remembered by his _Exposition of the Old and New Testaments_, which he did not live to complete beyond the Acts.

The comment on the Epistles was, however, furnished after his death by 13 Nonconformist divines. Though long superseded from a critical point of view, the work still maintains its place as a book of practical religion, being distinguished by great freshness and ingenuity of thought, and pointed and vigorous expression.

HENRY, ROBERT (1718-1790).--Historian, _b._ at St. Ninians, Stirlingshire, entered the Church of Scotland, becoming one of the ministers of Edin. He wrote the _History of Great Britain on a New Plan_ (1771-93), in 6 vols., covering the period from the Roman invasion until the reign of Henry VIII. The novelty consisted in dividing the subjects into different heads, civil history, military, social, and so on, and following out each of them separately. The work was mainly a compilation, having no critical qualities, and is now of little value. Notwithstanding the persistent and ferocious attacks of Dr. Gilbert Stewart (_q.v._), it had a great success, and brought the author over 3000, and a government pension of 100.

HENRY, THE MINSTREL, (_see_ BLIND HARRY).

HENRYSON, ROBERT (1430?-1506?).--Scottish poet. Few details of his life are known, even the dates of his birth and death being uncertain. He appears to have been a schoolmaster, perhaps in the Benedictine Convent, at Dunfermline, and was a member of the Univ. of Glasgow in 1462. He also practised as a Notary Public, and may have been in orders. His princ.i.p.al poems are _The Moral Fables of Esope the Phrygian_, _The Testament of Cresseide_, a sequel to the _Troilus and Cressida_ of Chaucer, to whom it was, until 1721, attributed, _Robene and Makyne_, the first pastoral, not only in Scottish vernacular, but in the English tongue, _The Uplandis Mous and The Burges Mous_ (Country and Town Mouse), and the _Garmond of Gude Ladeis_. H., who was versed in the learning and general culture of his day, had a true poetic gift. His verse is strong and swift, full of descriptive power, and sparkling with wit. He is the first Scottish lyrist and the introducer of the pastoral to English literature.

HENTY, GEORGE ALFRED (1832-1902).--Boys' novelist, wrote over 80 books for boys, which had great popularity. Among them are _By England's Aid_, _Dash for Khartoum_, _Facing Death_, _In Freedom's Cause_, _Out on the Pampas_, etc., all full of adventure and interest, and conveying information as well as amus.e.m.e.nt.

HERAUD, JOHN ABRAHAM (1799-1887).--Poet, _b._ in London, of Huguenot descent, he contributed to various periodicals, and _pub._ two poems, which attracted some attention, _The Descent into h.e.l.l_ (1830), and _The Judgment of the Flood_ (1834). He also produced a few plays, miscellaneous poems, books of travel, etc.

HERBERT, of CHERBURY, EDWARD, 1ST LORD (1583-1648).--Philosopher and historian, was the eldest _s._ of Richard H., of Montgomery Castle, and was _b._ there or at Eyton, Shropshire. He was at Oxf., and while there, at the age of 16, he _m._ a kinswoman four years his senior, the _dau._ of Sir William H. Thereafter he returned to the Univ. and devoted himself to study, and to the practice of manly sports and accomplishments. At his coronation in 1603 James I. made him a Knight of the Bath, and in 1608 he went to the Continent, where for some years he was engaged in military and diplomatic affairs, not without his share of troubles. In 1624 he was _cr._ an Irish, and a few years later, an English, peer, as Baron H., of Cherbury. On the outbreak of the Civil War he sided, though somewhat half-heartedly, with the Royalists, but in 1644 he surrendered to the Parliament, received a pension, held various offices, and _d._ in 1648.

It was in 1624 that he wrote his treatise, _De Veritate_, "An empirical theory of knowledge," in which truth is distinguished from (1) revelation, (2) the probable, (3) the possible, (4) the false. It is the first purely metaphysical work written by an Englishman, and gave rise to much controversy. It was reprinted in 1645, when the author added two treatises, _De Causis Errorum_ (concerning the Causes of Errors), and _De Religione Laici_ (concerning the Religion of a Layman). His other chief philosophical work was _De Religione Gentilium_ (1663), of which an English translation appeared in 1705, under the t.i.tle of _The Ancient Religion of the Gentiles and Cause of their Errors considered_. It has been called "the charter of the Deists," and was intended to prove that "all religions recognise five main articles--(1) a Supreme G.o.d, (2) who ought to be worshipped, (3) that virtue and purity are the essence of that worship, (4) that sin should be repented of, and (5) rewards and punishments in a future state." Among his historical works are _Expeditio Buckinghamii Ducis_ (1656), a vindication of the Roch.e.l.le expedition, a _Life of Henry VIII._ (1649), extremely partial to the King, his _Autobiography_, which gives a brilliant picture of his contemporaries, and of the manners and events of his time, and a somewhat vainglorious account of himself and his doings. He was also the author of some poems of a metaphysical cast. On the whole his is one of the most shining and spirited figures of the time.

Autobiography ed. by S. Lee (1886). Poems ed. by J. Churton Collins, etc.

HERBERT, GEORGE (1593-1633).--Poet, brother of above, was _ed._ at Westminster School and Trinity Coll., Camb., where he took his degree in 1616, and was public orator 1619-27. He became the friend of Sir H.

Wotton, Donne, and Bacon, the last of whom is said to have held him in such high esteem as to submit his writings to him before publication. He acquired the favour of James I., who conferred upon him a sinecure worth 120 a year, and having powerful friends, he attached himself for some time to the Court in the hope of preferment. The death of two of his patrons, however, led him to change his views, and coming under the influence of Nicholas Ferrar, the quietist of Little Gidding, and of Laud, he took orders in 1626 and, after serving for a few years as prebendary of Layton Ecclesia, or Leighton Broomswold, he became in 1630 Rector of Bemerton, Wilts, where he pa.s.sed the remainder of his life, discharging the duties of a parish priest with conscientious a.s.siduity.

His health, however, failed, and he _d._ in his 40th year. His chief works are _The Temple, or Sacred Poems and Private e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns_ (1634), _The Country Parson_ (1652), and _Jacula Prudentium_, a collection of pithy proverbial sayings, the two last in prose. Not _pub._ until the year after his death, _The Temple_ had immediate acceptance, 20,000 copies, according to I. Walton, who was H.'s biographer, having been sold in a few years. Among its admirers were Charles I., Cowper, and Coleridge. H. wrote some of the most exquisite sacred poetry in the language, although his style, influenced by Donne, is at times characterised by artificiality and conceits. He was an excellent cla.s.sical scholar, and an accomplished musician.

Works with _Life_ by Izaak Walton, ed. by Coleridge, 1846, etc.

HERBERT, SIR THOMAS (1606-1682).--Traveller and historian, belonged to an old Yorkshire family, studied at Oxf. and Camb., and went in connection with an emba.s.sy to Persia, of which, and of other Oriental countries, he _pub._ a description. On the outbreak of the Civil War he was a Parliamentarian, but was afterwards taken into the household of the King, to whom he became much attached, was latterly his only attendant, and was with him on the scaffold. At the Restoration he was made a Baronet, and in 1678 _pub._ _Threnodia Carolina_, an account of the last two years of the King's life.

HERD, DAVID (1732-1810).--Scottish anthologist, _s._ of a farmer in Kincardineshire, was clerk to an accountant in Edin., and devoted his leisure to collecting old Scottish poems and songs, which he first _pub._ in 1769 as _Ancient Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc._ Other and enlarged ed. appeared in 1776 and 1791. Sir W. Scott made use of his MS.

collections in his _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_.

HERRICK, ROBERT (1591-1674).--Poet, _b._ in London, was apprenticed as a goldsmith to his uncle, Sir William H., with whom he remained for 10 years. Thereafter he went to Camb., took orders, and was in 1629 presented by Charles I. to the living of Dean Prior, a remote parish in Devonshire, from which he was ejected in 1647, returning in 1662. In the interval he appears to have lived in Westminster, probably supported, more or less, by the gifts of wealthy Royalists. His _n.o.ble Numbers or Pious Pieces_ was _pub._ in 1647, his _Hesperides or Works both Human and Divine_ in 1648, and the two together in one vol. in the latter year.

Over 60, however, of the lighter poems included in _Hesperides_ had previously appeared anonymously in a collection ent.i.tled _Wit's Recreations_. H.'s early life in London had been a free one, and his secular poems, in which he appears much more at ease than in his sacred, show him to have been a thorough Epicurean, though he claims that his life was not to be judged by his muse. As a lyric poet H. stands in the front rank for sweetness, grace, and true poetic fire, and some of his love songs, _e.g._ _Anthea_, and _Gather ye Rose-buds_, are unsurpa.s.sed in their kind; while in such exquisite little poems as _Blossoms, Daffodils_, and others he finds a cla.s.sic expression for his love of nature and country life. In his epigrams, however, he falls much below himself. He has been described as "the most frankly pagan of English poets."

Poems ed. by Nutt (1810), Grosart (1876), Pollard (preface by Swinburne, 1891).

HERSCHEL, SIR JOHN FREDERICK WILLIAM (1792-1871).--_S._ of Sir William H., the eminent astronomer and discoverer of the planet Ura.n.u.s, was _b._ at Slough, and _ed._ at Camb., where he was Senior Wrangler and first Smith's prizeman. He became one of the greatest of English astronomers.

Among his writings are treatises on Sound and Light, and his _Astronomy_ (1831) was for long the leading manual on the subject. He also _pub._ _Popular Lectures_ and _Collected Addresses_, and made translations from Schiller, and from the _Iliad_.