A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 27

He painted in general with a powerful, but heavy hand; in his masques, however, he often shows a singular gracefulness, especially in the lyrics which he introduces. His character, as given by Drummond, is not a particularly attractive one, "a great lover and praiser of himself, a contemner and scorner of others, given rather to lose a friend than a jest, jealous of every word and action of those about him, especially after drink ... a dissembler of ill parts which reign in him, a bragger of some good that he wanteth ... pa.s.sionately kind and angry ...

oppressed with fantasy which hath ever mastered his reason." There must, however, have been far other qualities in a man who could command, as J.

undoubtedly did, the goodwill and admiration of so many of the finest minds of his time. In person he was tall, swarthy, marked with small-pox, and in later years burly.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1573, _ed._ Westminster School, serves in Low Countries, returns to England 1592, and takes to stage, kills actor in brawl 1598, a Romanist _c._ 1598-_c._ 1610, _Every Man in his Humour_ 1598, _Every Man out of his Humour_ 1599, and other plays till 1633, _coll._ works _pub._ 1616, visits Drummond 1618, loses and recovers Court favour, _d._ 1637.

Among the ed. of J.'s works may be mentioned those of Gifford (9 vols., 1816), re-issued (1875), selected plays Mermaid Series (3 vols., 1893-5), Morley (1884), and Symonds (1886). Lives and studies by Symonds (English Worthies), and Swinburne (1890).

JORTIN, JOHN (1698-1770).--Ecclesiastical historian, _ed._ at Camb., and entering the Church held various benefices, becoming in 1764 Archdeacon of London. He _pub._ _Remarks on Ecclesiastical History_ (1751-54), a Life of Erasmus, and various miscellaneous pamphlets and tracts; 7 vols.

of sermons appeared after his death. All his works show learning, and are written in a lively style.

JOWETT, BENJAMIN (1817-1893).--Scholar, was _b._ at Camberwell, and _ed._ at St. Paul's School and Balliol Coll., where he had a distinguished career, becoming Fellow 1838, Tutor 1840, and Master 1870. He held the Regius Professorship of Greek 1855-93, though for the first 10 years he was, owing to the opposition of his theological opponents in the Univ., deprived of a large part of the usual emoluments. He was a keen and formidable controversialist, and was usually found on what was, for the time, the unpopular side. His contribution (an essay on _The Interpretation of Scripture_) to the famous _Essays and Reviews_, which appeared in 1860, brought him into strong collision with powerful sections of theological opinion, to which he had already given offence by his commentaries on the _Epistles to the Thessalonians, Galatians, and Romans_. His views were, indeed, generally considered to be extremely lat.i.tudinarian. Latterly he exercised an extraordinary influence in the Univ., and was held in reverence by his pupils, many of whom have risen to eminence. His chief works are translations, with learned introductions, of _The Dialogues_ of Plato, of Thucydides, and of the _Politics_ of Aristotle. He also, in conjunction with Prof. Campbell, brought out an ed. of _The Republic_ of Plato. He held the degree of LL.D. from the Univ. of Edin. (1884), and Camb. (1890), and Doctor of Theology of Leyden (1875).

JUDD, SYLVESTER (1813-1853).--Novelist, _b._ at Westhampton, Ma.s.s., studied for the ministry at Yale, and became a Unitarian pastor. He _pub._ _Philo_, a religious poem, followed by _Margaret, a Tale of the Real and the Ideal_ (1845), _Richard Edney, A Rus-Urban Tale_ (1850). He also produced some theological works. His work is very unequal, but often, as in _Margaret_, contains fine and true descriptive pa.s.sages both of nature and character.

KAMES, HENRY HOME, LORD (1696-1782).--Miscellaneous writer, _s._ of Geo.

H., of Kames, Berwickshire, was admitted an advocate in 1723, and raised to the Bench in 1752. In 1748 he _pub._ a collection of Decisions of the Court of Session. It is, however, on his philosophical and historical writings that his literary fame rests. His writings include _Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion_ (1751), _The Elements of Criticism_ (1762), in which he sought for principles based on the elements of human nature; _Sketches of the History of Man_ (1774), and _Loose Hints on Education_, in which many modern views are antic.i.p.ated.

In all these works, while the style is stiff and crabbed, there is much original thought. Lord K. was also an eminent authority upon agriculture, on which he in 1777 _pub._ a work ent.i.tled _The Gentleman Farmer_.

KAVANAGH, JULIA (1824-1877).--Novelist, _dau._ of Morgan K., poet, and philologist, wrote many novels, of which the scene is usually in France, among which are _Madeleine_ (1848), _Adele_, and _Daisy Burns_; also biographical works, _Woman in France in the 18th Century_ (1850), etc.

KAYE, SIR JOHN WILLIAM (1814-1876).--Historian and biographer, _s._ of a London solicitor, was _ed._ at Eton and Addis...o...b... After serving for some time in the Bengal Artillery, he succeeded J.S. Mill as sec. to the political and secret department in the East India Office. His first literary work was a novel _pub._ in 1845, and he then began his valuable series of histories and biographies ill.u.s.trative of the British occupation of India, including _The War in Afghanistan_ (1851), and _The Sepoy War in India_, which he did not live to finish, and which was completed by G.B. Malleson as _The History of the Indian Mutiny_ (6 vols., 1890); also histories of the East India Company and of Christianity in India, and Lives of Sir John Malcolm and other Indian soldiers and statesmen. All his writings are characterised by painstaking research, love of truth, and a style suited to the importance of his subjects. He was made K.C.S.I. in 1871.

KEARY, ANNIE (1825-1879).--Novelist, wrote some good novels, including _Castle Daly_, _A Doubting Heart_, and _Oldbury_, also books for children and educational works.

KEATS, JOHN (1795-1821).--Poet, _s._ of the chief servant at an inn in London, who _m._ his master's _dau._, and _d._ a man of some substance.

He was sent to a school at Enfield, and having meanwhile become an orphan, was in 1810 apprenticed to a surgeon at Edmonton. In 1815 he went to London to walk the hospitals. He was not, however, at all enthusiastic in his profession, and having become acquainted with Leigh Hunt, Hazlitt, Sh.e.l.ley, and others, he gave himself more and more to literature. His first work--some sonnets--appeared in Hunt's _Examiner_, and his first book, _Poems_, came out in 1817. This book, while containing much that gave little promise of what was to come, was not without touches of beauty and music, but it fell quite flat, finding few readers beyond his immediate circle. _Endymion_, begun during a visit to the Isle of Wight, appeared in 1818, and was savagely attacked in _Blackwood_ and the _Quarterly Review_. These attacks, though naturally giving pain to the poet, were not, as was alleged at the time, the cause of his health breaking down, as he was possessed of considerable confidence in his own powers, and his claim to immortality as a poet. Symptoms of hereditary consumption, however, began to show themselves and, in the hope of restored health, he made a tour in the Lakes and Scotland, from which he returned to London none the better. The death soon after of his brother Thomas, whom he had helped to nurse, told upon his spirits, as did also his unrequited pa.s.sion for Miss f.a.n.n.y Brawne. In 1820 he _pub._ _Lamia and Other Poems_, containing _Isabella_, _Eve of St. Agnes_, _Hyperion_, and the odes to the _Nightingale_ and _The Grecian Urn_, all of which had been produced within a period of about 18 months. This book was warmly praised in the _Edinburgh Review_. His health had by this time completely given way, and he was likewise hara.s.sed by narrow means and hopeless love. He had, however, the consolation of possessing many warm friends, by some of whom, the Hunts and the Brawnes, he was tenderly nursed. At last in 1821 he set out, accompanied by his friend Severn, on that journey to Italy from which he never returned. After much suffering he _d._ at Rome, and was buried in the Protestant cemetery there. The character of K. was much misunderstood until the publication by R.M.

Milnes, afterwards Lord Houghton (_q.v._), of his _Life and Letters_, which gives an attractive picture of him. This, together with the accounts of other friends, represent him as "eager, enthusiastic, and sensitive, but humorous, reasonable, and free from vanity, affectionate, a good brother and friend, sweet-tempered, and helpful." In his political views he was liberal, in his religious, indefinite. Though in his life-time subjected to much harsh and unappreciative criticism, his place among English poets is now a.s.sured. His chief characteristics are intense, sensuous imagination, and love of beauty, rich and picturesque descriptive power, and exquisitely melodious versification.

_Life, Letters, etc._, by R.M. Milnes (1848), _Poems and Letters_ (Forman, 5 vols., 1900). Keats (Men of Letters Series, Colvin, 1887), etc. _Poems_ (1817), _Endymion_ (1818), _Lamia and Other Poems_ (1820).

KEBLE, JOHN (1792-1866).--Poet and divine, _s._ of the Rev. John K., Vicar of Coln St. Aldwyn's, Gloucestershire, _b._ at Fairford in the same county, _ed._ by his _f._ and at Oxf., where he was elected a Fellow of Oriel Coll., and was for some years tutor and examiner in the Univ. His ideal life, however, was that of a country clergyman, and having taken orders in 1815, he became curate to his _f._ Meantime he had been writing _The Christian Year_, which appeared in 1827, and met with an almost unparalleled acceptance. Though at first anonymous, its authorship soon became known, with the result that K. was in 1831 appointed to the Chair of Poetry at Oxf., which he held until 1841. In 1833 his famous sermon on "national apostasy" gave the first impulse to the Oxf. movement, of which, after the secession of Newman to the Church of Rome, he, along with Pusey, was regarded as the leader, and in connection with which he contributed several of the more important "tracts" in which were enforced "deep submission to authority, implicit reverence for Catholic tradition, firm belief in the divine prerogatives of the priesthood, the real nature of the sacraments, and the danger of independent speculation." His _f._ having _d._, K. became in 1836 Vicar of Hursley, near Winchester, where he remained until his death. In 1846 he _pub._ another book of poems, _Lyra Innocentium_. Other works were a Life of Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man, and an ed. of the Works of Hooker. After his death appeared _Letters of Spiritual Counsel_, and 12 vols. of _Parish Sermons_. The literary position of K. must mainly rest upon _The Christian Year_, _Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays_, and _Holidays throughout the Year_, the object of which was, as described by the author, to bring the thoughts and feelings of the reader into unison with those exemplified in the Prayer Book. The poems, while by no means of equal literary merit, are generally characterised by delicate and true poetic feeling, and refined and often extremely felicitous language; and it is a proof of the fidelity to nature with which its themes are treated that the book has become a religious cla.s.sic with readers far removed from the author's ecclesiastical standpoint and general school of thought. K. was one of the most saintly and unselfish men who ever adorned the Church of England, and, though personally shy and retiring, exercised a vast spiritual influence upon his generation.

_Life_ by J.D. Coleridge (1869), another by Rev. W. Lock (1895).

KEIGHTLEY, THOMAS (1789-1872).--Historian, _ed._ at Trinity Coll., Dublin, wrote works on mythology and folklore, and at the request of Dr.

Arnold of Rugby, a series of text-books on English, Greek, and other histories. His _History of Greece_ was translated into modern Greek.

Among his other books are _Fairy Mythology_ (1850), and _Mythology of Ancient Greece and Italy_, and a work on Popular Tales and their transmission from one country to another.

KEITH, ROBERT (1681-1757).--Historian, _b._ in Kincardineshire, belonged to the family of the Earls Marischal, and was Bishop of Fife in the Scottish Episcopal Church. He was deeply versed in Scottish antiquities, and _pub._ _History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland_ during the Reformation. He also compiled _A Catalogue of the Bishops of Scotland_ (1755).

KELLY, HUGH (1739-1777).--Dramatist, _s._ of a Dublin publican, worked in London as a staymaker, 1760, and after ed. various journals, wrote _Memoirs of a Magdalen_ (1767). His play, _False Delicacy_ (1768), had an extraordinary success, and was translated into French, German, and Portuguese. His other plays had no great success. He left off writing for the stage in 1774, and endeavoured to practise as a barrister, but without success. He also wrote political pamphlets, for which he received a pension from Government.

KEN, THOMAS (1637-1711).--Religious writer, _s._ of an attorney, was _b._ at Little Berkhampstead, _ed._ at Winchester and Oxf., and entering the Church received the living of Brightstone, Isle of Wight, where he composed his _Morning, Evening, and Midnight Hymns_, perhaps the most widely known of English hymns. These he was accustomed to sing daily to the lute. After holding other benefices he became Bishop of Bath and Wells, and a Chaplain to Charles II. He was one of the "Seven Bishops"

sent to the Tower by James II. Refusing to take the oaths to William and Mary, he was deprived, and spent his later years in comparative poverty, though he found an asylum at Longleat with Lord Weymouth. Izaak Walton was his brother-in-law. K. wrote a manual of prayers for Winchester School, and other devotional works.

KENNEDY, JOHN PENDLETON (1795-1870).--Novelist, _b._ in Baltimore, was distinguished as a lawyer and politician. He wrote three novels, _Swallow Barn_ (1832), _Horse Shoe Robinson_ (1835), and _Rob of the Bowl_ (1838), which give a vivid presentation of life in the Southern States.

KENNEDY, WALTER (_fl._ 1500).--_S._ of Lord K., was _ed._ at Glasgow, and is perhaps best known as Dunbar's antagonist in the _Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy_. Other poems are _Praise of Aige_ (Age), _Ane Ballat in Praise of Our Lady_, and _The Pa.s.sion of Christ_. Most of his work is probably lost.

KILLIGREW, THOMAS (1612-1683).--Dramatist, _s._ of Sir Robert K., of Hanworth, was a witty, dissolute courtier of Charles II., and wrote nine plays, each in a different city. Of them the best known is _The Parson's Wedding_.

KING, HENRY (1592-1669).--Poet, _s._ of a Bishop of London, was _ed._ at Westminster School and Oxf. He entered the Church, and rose in 1642 to be Bishop of Chichester. The following year he was deprived, but was reinstated at the Restoration. He wrote many elegies on Royal persons and on his private friends, who included Donne and Ben Jonson. A selection from his _Poems and Psalms_ was _pub._ in 1843.

KINGLAKE, ALEXANDER WILLIAM (1809-1891).--_B._ near Taunton, _ed._ at Eton and Camb., was called to the Bar in 1837, and acquired a considerable practice, which in 1856 he abandoned in order to devote himself to literature and public life. His first literary venture had been _Eothen_, a brilliant and original work of Eastern travel, _pub._ in 1844; but his _magnum opus_ was his _Invasion of the Crimea_, in 8 vols.

(1863-87), which is one of the most effective works of its cla.s.s. It has, however, been charged with being too favourable to Lord Raglan, and unduly hostile to Napoleon III., for whom the author had an extreme aversion. Its great length is also against it.

KINGSFORD, WILLIAM (1819-1898).--Historian, _b._ in London, served in the army, and went to Canada, where he was engaged in surveying work. He has a place in literature for his _History of Canada_ in 10 vols., a work of careful research, though not distinguished for purely literary merits.

KINGSLEY, CHARLES (1819-1875).--Novelist and historian, _s._ of a clergyman, was _b._ at Holne Vicarage near Dartmoor, but pa.s.sed most of his childhood at Barnack in the Fen country, and Clovelly in Devonshire, _ed._ at King's Coll., London, and Camb. Intended for the law, he entered the Church, and became, in 1842, curate, and two years later rector, of Eversley, Hampshire. In the latter year he _pub._ _The Saints' Tragedy_, a drama, of which the heroine is St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Two novels followed, _Yeast_ (1848) and _Alton Locke_ (1850), in which he deals with social questions as affecting the agricultural labouring cla.s.s, and the town worker respectively. He had become deeply interested in such questions, and threw himself heart and soul, in conjunction with F.D.

Maurice and others, into the schemes of social amelioration, which they supported under the name of Christian socialism, contributing many tracts and articles under the signature of "Parson Lot." In 1853 appeared _Hypatia_, in which the conflict of the early Christians with the Greek philosophy of Alexandria is depicted; it was followed in 1855 by _Westward Ho_, perhaps his most popular work; in 1857 by _Two Years Ago_, and in 1866 by _Hereward the Wake_. _At Last_ (1870), gave his impressions of a visit to the West Indies. His taste for natural history found expression in _Glaucus, or the Wonders of the Sh.o.r.e_ (1855), and other works. _The Water Babies_ is a story for children written to inspire love and reverence of Nature. K. was in 1860 appointed to the Professorship of Modern History at Camb., which he held until 1869. The literary fruit of this was _Roman and Teuton_ (1864). In the same year he was involved in a controversy with J.H. Newman, which resulted in the publication by the latter of his _Apologia_. K., who had in 1869 been made a Canon of Chester, became Canon of Westminster in 1873. Always of a highly nervous temperament, his over-exertion resulted in repeated failures of health, and he _d._ in 1875. Though hot-tempered and combative, he was a man of singularly n.o.ble character. His type of religion, cheerful and robust, was described as "muscular Christianity."

Strenuous, eager, and keen in feeling, he was not either a profoundly learned, or perhaps very impartial, historian, but all his writings are marked by a bracing and manly atmosphere, intense sympathy, and great descriptive power.

KINGSLEY, HENRY (1830-1876).--Novelist, brother of the above, _ed._ at King's Coll., London, and Oxf., which he left without graduating, and betook himself to the Australian gold-diggings, being afterwards in the mounted police. On his return in 1858 he devoted himself industriously to literature, and wrote a number of novels of much more than average merit, including _Geoffrey Hamlyn_ (1859), _The Hillyars and the Burtons_ (1865), _Ravenshoe_ (1861), and _Austin Elliot_ (1863). Of these _Ravenshoe_ is generally regarded as the best. In 1869 he went to Edinburgh to ed. the _Daily Review_, but he soon gave this up, and became war correspondent for his paper during the Franco-German War.

KINGSLEY, MARY HENRIETTA (1862-1900).--Traveller, _dau._ of George Henry K. (himself a traveller, and author of _South Sea Bubbles_, a very successful book), and niece of Charles K. (_q.v._). She travelled in West Africa, where she made valuable observations and collections. Her _Travels in West Africa_ is one of the most original and stimulating books of its cla.s.s. Miss K. had a singular power of viewing the religious rites of savage peoples from their point of view. She was about to undertake another journey, but stopped to nurse Boer prisoners, and _d._ of fever.

KINGSTON, WILLIAM HENRY GILES (1814-1880).--Writer of tales for boys, _b._ in London, but spent much of his youth in Oporto, where his _f._ was a merchant. His first book, _The Circa.s.sian Chief_, appeared in 1844. His first book for boys, _Peter the Whaler_, was _pub._ in 1851, and had such success that he retired from business and devoted himself entirely to the production of this kind of literature, in which his popularity was deservedly great; and during 30 years he wrote upwards of 130 tales, including _The Three Midshipmen_ (1862), _The Three Lieutenants_ (1874), _The Three Commanders_ (1875), _The Three Admirals_ (1877), _Digby Heathcote_, etc. He also conducted various papers, including _The Colonist_, and _Colonial Magazine and East India Review_. He was also interested in emigration, volunteering, and various philanthropic schemes. For services in negotiating a commercial treaty with Portugal he received a Portuguese knighthood, and for his literary labours a Government pension.

KIRKLAND, JOSEPH (1830-1894).--Novelist, _b._ in New York State, was a lawyer in Chicago, then served in the war. He is remembered as the author of two very vivid and life-like novels of pioneer life in the Far West, _Illinois Zury_ and _The McVeys_. Other works are _The Captain of Company K._ and _The Story of Chicago_.

KITTO, JOHN (1804-1854).--Biblical scholar, _s._ of a Cornish stonemason, was _b._ at Plymouth. At the age of 12 a fall led to his becoming totally deaf. From poverty and hardship he was rescued by friends, to whom his mental powers had become known, and the means of education were placed within his reach. By these he profited so remarkably that he became a valuable contributor to Biblical scholarship. He travelled much in the East in the pursuit of his favourite studies. Among his works are _Scripture Lands_, _Daily Bible Ill.u.s.trations_, and _The Lost Senses_ in 2 vols., one dealing with Deafness and the other with Blindness. He also ed. _The Pictorial Bible_, _The Journal of Sacred Literature_, _The Cyclopaedia of Bible Literature_, and contributed to various periodicals.

He received a pension of 100 from Government. In 1844 the Univ. of Giessen conferred upon him the degree of D.D.