A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 28

KNIGHT, CHARLES (1791-1873).--Publisher and writer, _b._ at Windsor, where his _f._. was a bookseller. After serving his apprenticeship with him he went to London, and in 1823 started business as a publisher, and co-operated effectively with Brougham and others in connection with The Society for Diffusing Useful Knowledge. He was publisher for the Society, and issued _The Penny Magazine_, _Penny Cyclopaedia_, _Pictorial History of England_, etc. He ed. with success _The Pictorial Shakespeare_, and was the author of a vol. of essays, _Once upon a Time_, an autobiography, _Pa.s.sages from a Working Life_ (1863), a _History of the Thirty Years'

Peace_, which was completed by Miss Harriet Martineau, and various other works.

KNIGHT, HENRY GALLY (1786-1846).--A country gentleman of Yorkshire, _ed._ at Eton and Camb., was the author of several Oriental tales, _Ilderim, a Syrian Tale_ (1816), _Phrosyne, a Grecian Tale_, and _Alashtar, an Arabian Tale_ (1817). He was also an authority on architecture, and wrote various works on the subject, including _The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy_, and _The Normans in Sicily_, which brought him more reputation than his novels.

KNOLLES, RICHARD (1550?-1610).--Historian, _b._ at Coldashby, Northamptonshire, and _ed._ at Oxf., _pub._ in 1603 _The History of the Turks_, which went through many ed. Its princ.i.p.al value now is as a piece of fine English of its time, for which it is ranked high by Hallam. K.

was master of a school at Sandwich. The History was continued by Sir Paul Rycaut (1628-1700).

KNOWLES, HERBERT (1798-1817).--Poet, author of the well-known _Stanzas written in Richmond Churchyard_, which gave promise of future excellence.

But he _d._ a few weeks after he had been enabled, through the help of Southey to whom he had sent some of his poems, to go to Camb.

KNOWLES, JAMES SHERIDAN (1784-1862).--Dramatist, _s._ of James K., schoolmaster and lexicographer, was _b._ at Cork. He was the author of a ballad, _The Welsh Harper_, which had great popularity, and gained for him the notice of Hazlitt and others. For some years he studied medicine, which, however, he abandoned for literature, and produced several plays, including _Caius Gracchus_ (1815), _Virginius_ (1820), _The Hunchback_ (1832), and _The Love Chase_ (1837), in some of which he acted. He gave up the stage in 1843, became a preacher in connection with the Baptist communion, and enjoyed great popularity. He _pub._ two polemical works, _The Rock of Rome_, and _The Idol demolished by its own Priests_.

KNOX, JOHN (1505?-1572).--Reformer and historian, was _b._ near Haddington, and _ed._ at the Grammar School there and at Glasgow. He is believed to have had some connection with the family of K. of Ranfurly in Renfrewshire. The year of his birth was long believed to be 1505, but of late some writers have found reason to hold that he was really _b._ some years later, 1510 or even 1513. At Glasgow he was the pupil of John Major (_q.v._), and became distinguished as a disputant. He is believed to have been ordained a priest about 1530, after which he went to St. Andrews and taught. About this time, however, there is a gap of 12 years or more, during which almost nothing is known of his life. About 1545 he came under the influence of George Wishart, who was burned as a heretic at St. Andrews in the following year, and embraced the Reformation principles, of which he became a champion on the Continent, in England, and finally and especially in Scotland. He joined the reforming party in St. Andrews in 1547, and was, much against his will, elected their minister. The next year he was made prisoner, sent to France, and condemned to the galleys, where he remained for nearly two years. For the next five years he was in England, chiefly at Newcastle and Berwick, where he was zealously engaged in propagating and defending the reformed doctrines. On the accession of Mary in 1553 K. escaped to the Continent, where he remained--at Dieppe, Frankfort on the Maine, and Geneva--until 1559. During this period, in addition to his pastoral and ecclesiastical activities, he wrote copiously, the best known of his works of that time being his _First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment [government] of Women_. The first, it proved also the last, as he never produced the other two which he promised or threatened. He finally returned to Scotland in 1559, and was at once the chief actor and the chief narrator of the crowded and pregnant events which culminated in the abdication of Queen Mary and the establishment of Protestantism in Scotland. As minister of the High Church of Edin. K. was at the centre of events, which he probably did more to mould than any other man. As Carlyle says, "He is the one Scotchman to whom, of all others, his country and the world owe a debt." Here, after his long battle with princ.i.p.alities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places, his triumphs, and disappointments, after growing weakness and becoming "weary of the world," he _d._ on November 24, 1572. His place in literature he has by virtue of his _Historie of the Reformation in Scotland_. It extends from 1558-67. Its language is much more English than that spoken and written in Scotland at the time. It is of the highest historical value, and in style terse, vigorous, with flashes of a quiet, somewhat saturnine humour, and of vivid description--the writing of a great man of action dealing with the events in which he had been the leading actor.

His own figure and that of the Queen are those round which the drama turns. The leading features of his character were courage and intense earnestness. "Here," said the Regent Morton, "lies a man who never feared the face of man." And with all his sternness there was in him a vein of cordial friendliness and humour. He has been accused of intolerance, and of harshness in his dealings with the Queen. But as Carlyle has said, as regards the second accusation, "They are not so coa.r.s.e, these speeches; they seem to me about as fine as the circ.u.mstances would permit. It was unfortunately not possible to be polite with the Queen of Scotland unless one proved untrue to the nation."

_Lives_ by M'Crie (1812), and Prof. Hume Brown (1895). _Works_ ed. by D.

Laing.

KNOX, VICESIMUS (1752-1821).--Essayist, etc., _ed._ at Oxf., took orders, and became Head Master of Tunbridge School. He _pub._ _Essays Moral and Literary_ (1778), and compiled the formerly well-known _Elegant Extracts_, often reprinted.

KNOX, WILLIAM (1789-1825).--Poet, _s._ of a farmer in Roxburghshire, wrote several books of poetry, _The Lonely Hearth_, _Songs of Israel_, _Harp of Zion_, etc., which gained him the friendship of Scott. He fell into dissipated habits, was latterly a journalist in Edin., and _d._ at 36.

KYD, THOMAS (1558-1595).--Dramatist, _s._ of a London scrivener, _ed._ at Merchant Taylor's School, appears to have led the life of hardship so common with the dramatists of his time, was for a short time imprisoned for "treasonable and Atheistic views," and made translations from the French and Italian. His drama, _The Spanish Tragedy_ (1594), had extraordinary popularity, and was translated into Dutch and German. Some of the scenes are believed to have been contributed by another hand, probably by Ben Jonson. He also produced a play on the story of Hamlet, not now in existence, and he may have written the first draft of _t.i.tus Andronicus_. Other plays which have been attributed to him are _The First Part of Jeronimo_ (1605), _Cornelia_ (1594), _The Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune_, and _The Tragedye of Solyman and Perseda_ (1599). But, although one of the best known dramatists in his day, very little is now certain either as to his personal history or his works.

LAIDLAW, WILLIAM (1780-1845).--Poet, _s._ of a border farmer, became steward and amanuensis to Sir W. Scott, and was the author of the beautiful and well-known ballad, _Lucy's Flittin'_.

LAING, DAVID (1793-1878).--Antiquary, _s._ of a bookseller in Edin., with whom he was in partnership until his appointment, in 1837, as librarian of the Signet Library. He ed. many of the publications of the Bannatyne Club, of which he was sec. (1823-61). He was also Honorary Prof. of Antiquities to the Royal Scottish Academy. Among the more important works which he ed. were _Baillie's Letters and Journals_ (1841-2), _John Knox's Works_ (1846-64), and the poems of Sir D. Lyndsay, Dunbar, and Henryson.

LAING, MALCOLM (1762-1818).--Was a country gentleman in Orkney. He completed Henry's _History of Great Britain_, and wrote a _History of Scotland from the Union of the Crowns to the Union of the Kingdoms_ (1802). He was an a.s.sailant of the authenticity of the Ossianic poems, and wrote a dissertation on the Partic.i.p.ation of Mary Queen of Scots in the Murder of Darnley. He did much to improve the agriculture of Orkney.

LAMB, LADY CAROLINE (1785-1828).--Novelist, _dau._ of 3rd Earl of Bessborough, _m._ the Hon. William Lamb, afterwards Lord Melbourne and Prime Minister. She wrote three novels, which, though of little literary value, attracted much attention. The first of these, _Glenarvon_ (1816), contained a caricature portrait of Lord Byron, with whom the auth.o.r.ess had shortly before been infatuated. It was followed by _Graham Hamilton_ (1822), and _Ada Reis_ (1823). Happening to meet the hea.r.s.e conveying the remains of Byron, she became unconscious, and fell into mental alienation, from which she never recovered.

LAMB, CHARLES (1775-1834).--Essayist and poet, was _b._ in London, his _f._ being confidential clerk to Samuel Salt, one of the benchers of the Inner Temple. After being at a school in the neighbourhood, he was sent by the influence of Mr. Salt to Christ's Hospital, where he remained from 1782-89, and where he formed a lifelong friendship with Coleridge. He was then for a year or two in the South Sea House, where his elder brother John was a clerk. Thence he was in 1792 transferred to the India House, where he remained until 1825, when he retired with a pension of two-thirds of his salary. Mr. Salt _d._ in 1792, and the family, consisting of the _f._, mother, Charles, and his sister Mary, ten years his senior, lived together in somewhat straitened circ.u.mstances. John, comparatively well off, leaving them pretty much to their own resources.

In 1796 the tragedy of L.'s life occurred. His sister Mary, in a sudden fit of insanity, killed her mother with a table-knife. Thenceforward, giving up a marriage to which he was looking forward, he devoted himself to the care of his unfortunate sister, who became, except when separated from him by periods of aberration, his lifelong and affectionate companion--the "Cousin Bridget" of his essays. His first literary appearance was a contribution of four sonnets to Coleridge's _Poems on Various Subjects_ (1796). Two years later he _pub._, along with his friend Charles Lloyd, _Blank Verse_, the little vol. including _The Old Familiar Faces_, and others of his best known poems, and his romance, _Rosamund Gray_, followed in the same year. He then turned to the drama, and produced _John Woodvil_, a tragedy, and _Mr. H._, a farce, both failures, for although the first had some echo of the Elizabethan music, it had no dramatic force. Meantime the brother and sister were leading a life clouded by poverty and by the anxieties arising from the condition of the latter, and they moved about from one lodging to another. L.'s literary ventures so far had not yielded much either in money or fame, but in 1807 he was asked by W. G.o.dwin (_q.v._) to a.s.sist him in his "Juvenile Library," and to this he, with the a.s.sistance of his sister, contributed the now famous _Tales from Shakespeare_, Charles doing the tragedies and Mary the comedies. In 1808 they wrote, again for children, _The Adventures of Ulysses_, a version of the _Odyssey, Mrs. Leicester's School_, and _Poetry for Children_ (1809). About the same time he was commissioned by Longman to ed. selections from the Elizabethan dramatists. To the selections were added criticisms, which at once brought him the reputation of being one of the most subtle and penetrating critics who had ever touched the subject. Three years later his extraordinary power in this department was farther exhibited in a series of papers on Hogarth and Shakespeare, which appeared in Hunt's _Reflector_. In 1818 his scattered contributions in prose and verse were _coll._ as _The Works of Charles Lamb_, and the favour with which they were received led to his being asked to contribute to the _London Magazine_ the essays on which his fame chiefly rests. The name "Elia"

under which they were written was that of a fellow-clerk in the India House. They appeared from 1820-25. The first series was printed in 1823, the second, _The Last Essays of Elia_, in 1833. In 1823 the L.'s had left London and taken a cottage at Islington, and had practically adopted Emma Isola, a young orphan, whose presence brightened their lives until her marriage in 1833 to E. Moxon, the publisher. In 1825 L. retired, and lived at Enfield and Edmonton. But his health was impaired, and his sister's attacks of mental alienation were ever becoming more frequent and of longer duration. During one of his walks he fell, slightly hurting his face. The wound developed into erysipelas, and he _d._ on December 29, 1834. His sister survived until 1847.

The place of L. as an essayist and critic is the very highest. His only rival in the former department is Addison, but in depth and tenderness of feeling, and richness of fancy L. is the superior. In the realms of criticism there can be no comparison between the two. L. is here at once profound and subtle, and his work led as much as any other influence to the revival of interest in and appreciation of our older poetry. His own writings, which are self-revealing in a quite unusual and always charming way, and the recollections of his friends, have made the personality of Lamb more familiar to us than any other in our literature, except that of Johnson. His weaknesses, his oddities, his charm, his humour, his stutter, are all as familiar to his readers as if they had known him, and the tragedy and n.o.ble self-sacrifice of his life add a feeling of reverence for a character we already love.

Life and Letters and Final Memorials by Talfourd, also Memoir by B.W.

Proctor and A. Ainger prefixed to ed. of _Works_ (1883-88). Life, Works, and Letters of Charles and Mary Lamb, in 9 vols., E.V. Lucas, and 12 vols. ed. W. Macdonald.

LANDON, LEt.i.tIA ELIZABETH (1802-1838).--Poetess, _dau._ of an army agent, was _b._ in London. She was a prolific and, in her day, remarkably popular writer, but she wrote far too easily and far too much for permanent fame. Many of her poems appeared in the _Literary Gazette_, and similar publications, but she _pub._ separately _The Fate of Adelaide_ (1821), _The Improvisatrice_ (1824), _The Troubadour_ (1825), _The Venetian Bracelet_ (1829), etc. She also wrote a few novels, of which _Ethel Churchill_ was the best, and a tragedy _Castruccio Castracani_ (1837). She _m._ a Mr. Maclean, Governor of one of the West African Colonies, where, shortly after her arrival, she was found dead from the effects of an overdose of poison, which it was supposed she had taken as a relief from spasms to which she was subject. She was best known by her initials, L.E.L., under which she was accustomed to write.

LANDOR, WALTER SAVAGE (1775-1864).--Poet and miscellaneous author, _s._ of a physician, was _b._ at Ipsley Court, Warwick, the property of his mother, and _ed._ at Rugby and Oxf., where he earned the nickname of "the mad Jacobin," and whence he was rusticated. His whole long life thereafter was a series of quarrels, extravagances, and escapades of various kinds, the result of his violent prejudices, love of paradox, and ungovernable temper. He quarrelled with his _f._, his wife, most of his relations, and nearly all his friends, ran through a large fortune, and ended his days in Italy supported by a pension granted by his brothers.

Yet he was not devoid of strong affections and generosity. His earliest publication was _Poems_ (1795); _Gebir_ (1798), an epic, had little success, but won for him the friendship of Southey. In 1808 he went to Spain to take part in the war against Napoleon, and saw some service. His first work to attract attention was his powerful tragedy of _Don Julian_ (1811). About the same time he _m._ Miss Julia Thuillier--mainly, as would appear, on account of her "wonderful golden hair"--and purchased the estate of Llantony Abbey, Monmouthshire, whence, after various quarrels with the local authorities, he went to France. After a residence of a year there, he went in 1815 to Italy, where he lived until 1818 at Como, which, having insulted the authorities in a Latin poem, he had to leave. At Florence, which was his residence for some years, he commenced his famous _Imaginary Conversations_, of which the first two vols.

appeared 1824, the third 1828, fourth and fifth 1829. Other works were _The Examination of W. Shakespeare touching Deer-stealing_ (1834), _Pericles and Aspasia_ (1836), _Pentameron_ (1837), _h.e.l.lenics_ (1847), and _Poemata et Inscriptiones_ (1847). He quarrelled finally with his wife in 1835, and returned to England, which, however, he had to leave in 1858 on account of an action for libel arising out of a book, _Dry Sticks f.a.goted_. He went to Italy, where he remained, chiefly at Florence, until his death. L. holds one of the highest places among the writers of English prose. His thoughts are striking and brilliant, and his style rich and dignified.

_Works_ ed. C.G. Crump, 10 vols.

LANE, EDWARD WILLIAM (1801-1876).--Arabic scholar, _s._ of a prebendary of Hereford, where he was _b._, began life as an engraver, but going to Egypt in search of health, devoted himself to the study of Oriental languages and manners, and adopted the dress and habits of the Egyptian man of learning. He _pub._ _Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians_ (1836), which remains a standard authority, and a translation of _The Thousand and One Nights_ (1838-40) (Arabian Nights). What was intended to be the great work of his life, his _Arabic Lexicon_, was left unfinished at his death, but was completed by his nephew, Prof. S.L. Poole. L. was regarded as the chief European Orientalist of his day.

LANGHORNE, JOHN (1735-1779).--Poet, _s._ of a clergyman, was _b._ at Kirkby Stephen; having taken orders, he was for two years a curate in London, and from 1776 Rector of Blagdon, Somerset, and Prebendary of Wells. He is chiefly remembered as being the translator, jointly with his brother, Rev. William L., of _Plutarch's Lives_, but in his day he had some reputation as a poet, his chief work in poetry being _Studley Park_ and _Fables of Flora_. In his _Country Justice_ (1774-77) he dimly foreshadows Crabbe, as in his descriptive poems he dimly foreshadows Wordsworth. He was twice married, and both of his wives _d._ in giving birth to a first child.

LANGLAND, WILLIAM (OR WILLIAM of LANGLEY) (1330?-1400?).--Poet. Little can be gleaned as to his personal history, and of that little part is contradictory. In a note of the 15th century written on one MS. he is said to have been _b._ in Oxfordshire, the _s._ of a freeman named Stacy de Rokayle, while Bale, writing in the 16th century, makes his name Robert (certainly an error), and says he was _b._ at Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire. From his great poem, _Piers the Plowman_, it is to be gathered that he was bred to the Church, and was at one time an inmate of the monastery at Great Malvern. He _m._, however, and had a _dau._, which, of course, precluded him from going on to the priesthood. It has further been inferred from his poem that his f., with the help of friends, sent him to school, but that on the death of these friends the process of education came to an end, and he went to London, living in a little house in Cornhill and, as he says, not only _in_ but _on_ London, supporting himself by singing _requiems_ for the dead. "The tools I labour with ... [are] _Paternoster_, and my primer _Placebo_, and _Dirige_, and my _Psalter_, and my seven Psalms." References to legal terms suggest that he may have copied for lawyers. In later life he appears to have lived in Cornwall with his wife and _dau._ Poor himself, he was ever a sympathiser with the poor and oppressed. His poem appears to have been the great interest of his life, and almost to the end he was altering and adding to, without, however, improving it. The full t.i.tle of the poem is _The Vision of Piers Plowman_. Three distinct versions of it exist, the first _c._ 1362, the second _c._ 1377, and the third 1393 or 1398. It has been described as "a vision of Christ seen through the clouds of humanity." It is divided into nine dreams, and is in the unrhymed, alliterative, first English manner. In the allegory appear such personifications as Meed (worldly success), Falsehood, Repentance, Hope, etc. Piers Plowman, first introduced as the type of the poor and simple, becomes gradually transformed into the Christ. Further on appear Do-well, Do-bet, Do-best. In this poem, and its additions, L. was able to express all that he had to say of the abuses of the time, and their remedy. He himself stands out as a sad, earnest, and clear-sighted onlooker in a time of oppression and unrest. It is thought that he may have been the author of a poem, _Richard the Redeless_: if so he was, at the time of writing, living in Bristol, and making a last remonstrance to the misguided King, news of whose death may have reached him while at the work, as it stops in the middle of a paragraph. He is not much of an artist, being intent rather on delivering his message than that it should be in a perfect dress. Prof. Manley, in the _Cambridge History of English Literature_, advances the theory that _The Vision_ is not the work of one, but of several writers, W.L. being therefore a dramatic, not a personal name. It is supported on such grounds as differences in metre, diction, sentence structure, and the diversity of view on social and ecclesiastic matters expressed in different parts of the poem.

LANIER, SIDNEY (1842-1881).--Miscellaneous writer, _s._ of a lawyer of Huguenot descent, was _b._ at Macon, Georgia. He had a varied career, having been successively soldier, shopman, teacher, lawyer, musician, and prof. His first literary venture was a novel, _Tiger Lilies_ (1867).

Thereafter he wrote mainly on literature, his works including _The Science of English Verse_ (1881), _The English Novel_ (1883), and _Shakespeare and his Forerunners_ (1902); also some poems which have been greatly admired, including "Corn," "The Marshes of Glynn," and "The Song of the Chattahoochee"; ed. of Froissart, and the Welsh _Mabinogion_ for children. He worked under the shadow of serious lung trouble, which eventually brought about his death.

LARDNER, DIONYSIUS (1793-1859).--Scientific writer, _s._ of a solicitor in Dublin, and _b._ there, was intended for the law, but having no taste for it, he entered Trinity Coll., Dublin, and took orders, but devoted himself to literary and scientific pursuits, and became a contributor to the _Edinburgh Review_, and various Encyclopaedias. In 1827 he was appointed Prof. of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in the Univ. of London (afterwards Univ. Coll.), and in 1829 began his great work, _The Cabinet Cyclopaedia_, which was finished in 133 vols. 20 years later. In his literary undertakings, which included various other schemes of somewhat similar character, he was eminently successful, financially and otherwise. He lived in Paris from 1845 until his death.

LATIMER, HUGH (1485-1555).--Reformer and divine, _s._ of a Leicestershire yeoman, went to Camb. in 1500, and became Fellow of Clare Hall. Taking orders, he was at first a defender of the ancient faith, but convinced by the arguments of Bilney, embraced the reformed doctrines. He was called to appear before Wolsey, but dismissed on subscribing certain articles.

His opposition to the Pope, and his support of the King's supremacy, brought him under the notice of Henry, and he was appointed chaplain to Anne Boleyn, and in 1535 Bishop of Worcester. For preaching in favour of the reformed doctrines he was twice imprisoned in the Tower, 1539 and 1546, and on the former occasion resigned his bishopric, which he declined to resume on the accession of Edward VI. On the accession of Mary he was with Ridley, Bishop of London, thrown into prison (1554), and on October 16, 1555, burned at Oxf. His words of encouragement to his fellow-martyr are well known, "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by G.o.d's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out." He holds his place in English literature by virtue of his sermons--especially that on _The Ploughers_--which, like himself, are outspoken, homely, and popular, with frequent touches of kindly humour.

LAUDER, SIR THOMAS d.i.c.k (1784-1848).--Novelist and miscellaneous writer, _s._ of a Scottish baronet, wrote two novels, _Lochandhu_ (1825), and _The Wolf of Badenoch_ (1827), but is best known for his _Account of the Great Floods in Morayshire in 1829_. He also wrote _Legendary Tales of the Highlands_, and contributed to scientific journals and magazines.

LAW, WILLIAM (1686-1761).--Divine, _s._ of a grocer at Kingscliffe, Northamptonshire, was _ed._ at Camb., and in 1727 became tutor to the _f._ of Edward Gibbon, the historian. About 1728 he _pub._ his best known book, _A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life_, a work which has had a profound influence upon the religious life of England, largely owing to the impression which it produced upon such minds as those of Dr. Johnson, the Wesleys, and others. In 1737 he became a student of the works of Jacob Boehmen, the German mystic, and devoted himself largely to the exposition of his views. The theological position of L. was a complicated one, combining High Churchism, mysticism, and Puritanism: his writings are characterised by vigorous thought, keen logic, and a lucid and brilliant style, relieved by flashes of bright, and often sarcastic, humour. His work attacking Mandeville's _Fable of the Bees_ (1723) is perhaps that in which these qualities are best displayed in combination.

He retired in 1740 to Kingscliffe, where he had founded a school for 14 girls.

LAWRENCE, GEORGE ALFRED (1827-1876).--Novelist, was a barrister. He wrote several novels, of which one--_Guy Livingstone_ (1857)--had great popularity. On the outbreak of the American Civil War he went to America with the intention of joining the Confederate Army, but was taken prisoner and only released on promising to return to England.

LAYAMON (_fl._ 1200).--Metrical historian, the _s._ of Leovenath. All that is known of him is gathered from his own writings. He was a priest at Ernley (now Areley Regis), Worcestershire. In his day the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth and Wace, in French, were the favourite reading of the educated, and "it came to him in mind" that he would tell the story of _Brut_ in English verse. He set out in search of books and, founding his poem on the earlier writers, he added so much from his own knowledge of Welsh and West of England tradition that while Wace's poem consists of 15,000 lines, his extends to 32,000. Among the legends he gives are those of _Locrine_, _Arthur_, and _Lear_. The poem is in the old English unrhymed, alliterative verse, and "marks the revival of the English mind and spirit."

LAYARD, SIR AUSTIN HENRY (1817-1894).--Explorer of Nineveh, _b._ at Paris, _s._ of a Ceylon civilian. After spending some years in the office of a London solicitor, he set out in search of employment in Ceylon, but pa.s.sing through Western Asia, became interested in the work of excavating the remains of ancient cities. Many of his finds--human-headed bulls, etc.--were sent to the British Museum. Two books--_Nineveh and its Remains_ (1848-49), and _The Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon_ (1853)--brought him fame, and on his return home he received many honours, including the freedom of the City of London, the degree of D.C.L. from Oxf., and the Lord Rectorship of Aberdeen Univ. He entered Parliament, where he sat as a Liberal. He held the offices of Under-Foreign Sec. (1861-66), and Chief Commissioner of Works (1868-69), and was Amba.s.sador to Spain 1869, and Constantinople 1877; and on his retirement in 1878 he was made G.C.B. He was a very successful excavator, and described his work brilliantly, but he was no great linguist, and most of the deciphering of the inscriptions was done by Sir H. Rawlinson.