A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 9

CAREW, RICHARD (1555-1620).--Translator and antiquary, a county gentleman of Cornwall, _ed._ at Oxf., made a translation of the first five cantos of Ta.s.so's _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1594), more correct than that of Fairfax. Other works were _A Survey of Cornwall_ (1602), and an _Epistle concerning the Excellencies of the English Tongue_ (1605).

CAREW, THOMAS (1594?-1639).--Poet, _s._ of Sir Matthew C., was _ed._ at Oxf., entered the Middle Temple, and was one of the first and best of the courtly poets who wrote gracefully on light themes of Court life and gallantry. C.'s poems have often much beauty and even tenderness. His chief work is _Coelum Britannic.u.m_. He lived the easy and careless life of a courtier of the day, but is said to have _d._ in a repentant frame.

His poems, consisting chiefly of short lyrics, were _coll._ and _pub._ after his death. One of the most beautiful and best known of his songs is that beginning "He that loves a rosy cheek."

CAREY, HENRY (_d._ 1743).--Dramatist and song-writer, was believed to be an illegitimate _s._ of George Savile, Marquis of Halifax. He wrote innumerable burlesques, farces, songs, etc., often with his own music, including _Chrononhotonthologos_ (1734), a burlesque on the mouthing plays of the day, and _The Dragon of Wantley_ (1744?). His poem, _Namby Pamby_, in ridicule of Ambrose Phillips (_q.v._), added a word to the language, and his _Sally in our Alley_ is one of our best-known songs.

_G.o.d Save the King_ was also claimed for him, but apparently without reason.

CARLETON, WILLIAM (1794-1869).--Novelist, _s._ of a poor Irish cottar, _b._ and brought up among the Irish peasantry, acquired an insight into their ideas and feelings which has never been equalled. His finest work is in his short stories, collected under the t.i.tle of _Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry_, of which two series were _pub._ in 1830 and 1832 respectively. He also wrote several longer novels, of which the best is _Fardorougha the Miser_ (1837), a work of great power. Others are _The Misfortunes of Barny Branagan_ (1841), _Valentine M'Clutchy_ (1845), _Rody the Rover_ (1847), _The Squanders of Castle Squander_ (1854), and _The Evil Eye_. C. received a pension of 200 from Government.

CARLYLE, ALEXANDER (1722-1805).--Autobiographer, _s._ of the Minister of c.u.mmertrees, Dumfriesshire, was _ed._ at Edin. and Leyden, and entering the Church became Minister of Inveresk, and was a.s.sociated with Princ.i.p.al Robertson as an ecclesiastical leader. He was a man of great ability, shrewdness, and culture, and the friend of most of the eminent literary men in Scotland of his day. He left an autobiography in MS., which was ed. by Hill Burton, and _pub._ in 1860, and which is one of the most interesting contemporary accounts of his time. His stately appearance gained for him the name of "Jupiter" C.

CARLYLE, THOMAS (1795-1881).--Historian and essayist, was _b._ at Ecclefechan in Dumfriesshire. His _f._, James C., was a stonemason, a man of intellect and strong character, and his mother was, as he said, "of the fairest descent, that of the pious, the just, and the wise." His earliest education was received at the parish school of Ecclefechan (the Entepfuhl of _Sartor Resartus_). Thence he went to the Grammar School of Annan, and in 1809 to the Univ. of Edin., the 90 miles to which he travelled on foot. There he read voraciously, his chief study being mathematics. After completing his "Arts" course, he went on to divinity with the view of entering the Church, but about the middle of his course found that he could not proceed. He became a schoolmaster first at Annan and then at Kirkcaldy, where he formed a profound friendship with Edward Irving (_q.v._), and met Margaret Gordon, afterwards Lady Bannerman, believed by some to be the prototype of _Blumine_ in _Sartor_. Returning in 1819 to Edin. he for a time studied law and took pupils; but his health was bad, he suffered from insomnia and dyspepsia, and he tired of law. He was also sorely bestead by mental and spiritual conflicts, which came to a crisis in Leith Walk in June 1821 in a sudden uprising of defiance to the devil and all his works, upon which the clouds lifted.

For the next two years, 1822-24, he acted as tutor to Charles Buller (whose promising political career was cut short by his premature death) and his brother. On the termination of this engagement he decided upon a literary career, which he began by contributing articles to the _Edinburgh Encyclopaedia_. In 1824 he translated Legendre's _Geometry_ (to which he prefixed an essay on Proportion), and Goethe's _Wilhelm Meister_; he also wrote for the _London Magazine_ a _Life of Schiller_.

About this time he visited Paris and London, where he met Hazlitt, Campbell, Coleridge, and others. Thereafter he returned to Dumfriesshire.

In the following year (1826) he _m._ Jane Baillie Welsh, and settled in Edin. Here his first work was _Specimens of German Romance_ (4 vols.) A much more important matter was his friendship with Jeffrey and his connection with the _Edinburgh Review_, in which appeared, among others, his essays on _Richter_, _Burns_, _Characteristics_, and _German Poetry_.

In 1828 C. applied unsuccessfully for the Chair of Moral Philosophy in St. Andrews, and the same year he went to Craigenputtock, a small property in Dumfriesshire belonging to Mrs. C., where they remained for several years, and where many of his best essays and _Sartor Resartus_ were written, and where his correspondence with Goethe began. In 1831 he went to London to find a publisher for _Sartor_, but was unsuccessful, and it did not appear in book form until 1838, after having come out in _Fraser's Magazine_ in 1833-34. The year last mentioned found him finally in London, settled in Cheyne Row, Chelsea, his abode for the rest of his life. He immediately set to work on his _French Revolution_. While it was in progress he in 1835 lent the MS. to J.S. Mill, by whose servant nearly the whole of the first vol. was burned, in spite of which misfortune the work was ready for publication in 1837. Its originality, brilliance, and vividness took the world by storm, and his reputation as one of the foremost men of letters in the country was at once and finally established. In the same year he appeared as a public lecturer, and delivered four courses on _German Literature_, _Periods of European Culture_, _Revolutions of Modern Europe_, and _Heroes and Hero-Worship_, the last of which was _pub._ as a book in 1841. Although his writings did not yet produce a large income, his circ.u.mstances had become comfortable, owing to Mrs. C. having succeeded to her patrimony in 1840.

Books now followed each other rapidly, _Chartism_ had appeared in 1839, _Past and Present_ came out in 1843, and _Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell_ in 1845, the last named being perhaps the most successful of his writings, inasmuch as it fully attained the object aimed at in clearing Cromwell from the ignorant or malevolent aspersions under which he had long lain, and giving him his just place among the greatest of the nation. In 1850 he _pub._ his fiercest blast, _Latter Day Pamphlets_, which was followed next year by his biography of his friend John Sterling (_q.v._). It was about this time, as is shown by the _Letters and Memoirs_ of Mrs. C., that a temporary estrangement arose between his wife and himself, based apparently on Mrs. C.'s part upon his friendship with Lady Ashburton, a cause of which C. seems to have been unconscious. In 1851 he began his largest, if not his greatest work, _Frederick the Great_, which occupied him from that year until 1865, and in connection with which he made two visits to Germany in 1852 and 1858. It is a work of astonishing research and abounds in brilliant pa.s.sages, but lacks the concentrated intensity of _The French Revolution_. It is, however, the one of his works which enjoys the highest reputation in Germany. In 1865 he was elected Lord Rector of the Univ. of Edin., and delivered a remarkable address to the students by whom he was received with enthusiasm. Almost immediately afterwards a heavy blow fell upon him in the death of Mrs. C., and in the discovery, from her diary, of how greatly she had suffered, unknown to him, from the neglect and want of consideration which, owing to absorption in his work and other causes, he had perhaps unconsciously shown. Whatever his faults, of which the most was made in some quarters, there can be no doubt that C. and his wife were sincerely attached to each other, and that he deeply mourned her. In 1866 his _Reminiscences_ (_pub._ 1881) were written. The Franco-German War of 1870-71 profoundly interested him, and evoked a plea for Germany.

From this time his health began to give way more and more. In 1872 his right hand became paralysed. In 1874 he received the distinction of the Prussian Order of Merit, as the biographer of its founder, and in the same year, Mr. Disraeli offered him the choice of the Grand Cross of the Bath or a baronetcy and a pension, all of which he declined. The completion of his 80th year in 1875 was made the occasion of many tributes of respect and veneration, including a gold medal from some of his Scottish admirers. He _d._ on February 5, 1881. Burial in Westminster Abbey was offered, but he had left instructions that he should lie with his kindred. He bequeathed the property of Craigenputtock to the Univ. of Edin.

C. exercised a very powerful influence upon the thought of his age, not only by his own writings and personality, but through the many men of distinction both in literature and active life whom he imbued with his doctrines; and perhaps no better proof of this exists than the fact that much that was new and original when first propounded by him has pa.s.sed into the texture of the national ideas. His style is perhaps the most remarkable and individual in our literature, intensely strong, vivid, and picturesque, but utterly unconventional, and often whimsical or explosive. He had in a high degree the poetic and imaginative faculty, and also irresistible humour, pungent sarcasm, insight, tenderness, and fierce indignation.

All the works of C. shed light on his personality, but _Sartor Resartus_ especially may be regarded as autobiographical. Froude's _Thomas Carlyle ... First 40 Years of his Life_ (1882), _Thomas Carlyle ... His Life in London_, by the same (1884), _Letters and Memories of Jane Welsh Carlyle_ (1883), various _Lives_ and _Reminiscences_ by Prof. Ma.s.son and Nichol, etc.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1795, _ed._ Edin., studies for Church but gives it up, tries law, then tutor, takes to literature and writes for encyclopaedias and magazines, and translates, _m._ 1826 Jane Welsh, settles in Edin., writes essays in _Edinburgh Review_, goes to Craigenputtock 1828, writes _Sartor_ and corresponds with Goethe, _Sartor_ appears in _Fraser's Magazine_ 1833-4, settles in London 1834, _pub._ _French Revolution_ 1837, lectures, _pub._ _Heroes_, and _Chartism_ and _Sartor_ as a book 1839, _Past and Present_ 1843, _Oliver Cromwell_ 1845, _Latter Day Pamphlets_ 1850, writes _Frederick the Great_ 1851-65, Lord Rector of Edin. Univ. 1865, Mrs. C. _d._ 1865, writes _Reminiscences_ 1866 (_pub._ 1881), _d._ 1881.

CARRUTHERS, ROBERT (1799-1878).--Journalist and miscellaneous writer, _b._ in Dumfriesshire, was for a time a teacher in Huntingdon, and wrote a _History of Huntingdon_ (1824). In 1828 he became ed. of the _Inverness Courier_, which he conducted with great ability. He ed. Pope's works with a memoir (1853), and along with Robert Chambers (_q.v._) ed. the first ed. of _Chambers's Cyclopedia of English Literature_ (1842-44). He received the degree of LL.D. from Edin.

CARTE, THOMAS (1686-1754).--Historian, _b._ near Rugby, and _ed._ at Oxf., took orders, but resigned his benefice at Bath when required to take the oath of allegiance to George I. He was sec. to Francis Atterbury (_q.v._), and was involved in the consequences of his conspiracy, but escaped to France, where he remained until 1728. After his return he _pub._ a life of the Duke of Ormonde (1736), and a _History of England to 1654_ in 4 vols. (1747-54), the latter a work of great research, though dry and unattractive in style.

CARTER, ELIZABETH (1717-1806).--Miscellaneous writer, _b._ at Deal, _dau._ of a clergyman. Originally backward, she applied herself to study with such perseverance that she became perhaps the most learned Englishwoman of her time, being mistress of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic, besides several modern European languages. She was also well read in science. She translated Epictetus 1758, and wrote a small vol. of poems. She was the friend of Dr. Johnson and many other eminent men. She was of agreeable and una.s.suming manners.

CARTWRIGHT, WILLIAM (1611-1643).--Dramatist, _s._ of a gentleman of Gloucestershire, who had run through his fortune and kept an inn at Cirencester, _ed._ at Westminster School and Oxf., entered the Church, was a zealous Royalist, and an eloquent preacher, and lecturer in metaphysics. He also wrote spirited lyrics and four plays. He was the friend of Ben Jonson, H. Vaughan, and Izaak Walton. He _d._ at Oxf. of camp fever. Among his plays are _The Royal Slave_, _The Siege_, and _The Lady Errant_. His virtues, learning, and charming manners made him highly popular in his day.

CARY, ALICE (1820-1871), and PHOEBE (1824-1871).--Were the _dau._ of a farmer near Cincinnati. The former wrote _Clovernook Papers_ and _Clovernook Children_, and other tales, and some poems. The latter wrote poems and hymns. Both sisters attained considerable popularity.

CARY, HENRY FRANCIS (1772-1844).--Translator, was _b._ at Gibraltar, and _ed._ at Oxf., where he was distinguished for his cla.s.sical attainments.

His great work is his translation of the _Divina Commedia_ of Dante (1805-1814), which is not only faithful to the original, but full of poetic fire, and rendered into such fine English as to be itself literature apart from its merits as a translation. He also translated from the Greek. C., who was a clergyman, received a pension in 1841.

CATLIN, GEORGE (1796-1872).--Painter and writer, _b._ at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, practised for some time as a lawyer, but yielding to his artistic instincts he took to painting. He spent the 7 years, 1832-39, among the Indians of North America, of whom he painted about 500 portraits. He became thoroughly acquainted with their life, and _pub._ an interesting work, _Ill.u.s.trations of the Manners, etc., of the North American Indians_ (1857). His later years were spent chiefly in Europe.

CAVE, EDWARD (1691-1754).--Publisher, _b._ near Rugby, started in 1731 _The Gentleman's Magazine_, for which Dr. Johnson was parliamentary reporter from 1740. He _pub._ many of Johnson's works.

CAVENDISH, GEORGE (1500-1561).--Biographer, was Gentleman Usher to Cardinal Wolsey, to whom he was so much attached that he followed him in his disgrace, and continued to serve him until his death. He left in MS.

a life of his patron, which is the first separate biography in English, and is the main original authority of the period. Admitting Wolsey's faults, it nevertheless presents him in an attractive light. The simple yet eloquent style gives it a high place as a biography.

CAXTON, WILLIAM (1422-1491).--Printer and translator, _b._ in the Weald of Kent, was apprenticed to a London mercer. On his master's death in 1441 he went to Bruges, and lived there and in various other places in the Low Countries for over 30 years, engaged apparently as head of an a.s.sociation of English merchants trading in foreign parts, and in negotiating commercial treaties between England and the Dukes of Burgundy. His first literary labour was a translation of a French romance, which he ent.i.tled _The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye_, and which he finished in 1471. About this time he learned the art of printing, and, after being in the service of Margaret d.u.c.h.ess of Burgundy, an English princess, returned to his native country and set up at Westminster in 1476 his printing press, the first in England. His _Recuyell_ and _The Game and Playe of Chesse_ had already been printed--the first books in English--on the Continent. Here was produced the first book printed in England, _The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers_ (1477). C. obtained Royal favour, printed from 80 to 100 separate works--many of them translations of his own--and _d._ almost with pen in hand in 1491. His style is clear and idiomatic.

CENTLIVRE, MRS. SUSANNA (1667-1723).--Dramatist and actress, was the _dau._ of a gentleman of the name of either Rawkins or Freeman, who appears to have belonged either to Lincolnshire or Ireland, or was perhaps connected with both, and who suffered at the hands of the Stuarts. She _m._ at 16, lost her husband in a year, then _m._ an officer, who fell in a duel in 18 months, and finally, in 1706, _m._ Joseph C., cook to Queen Anne, with whom she lived happily for the rest of her days. She wrote 18 or 19 plays, well constructed and amusing, among which may be mentioned _The Perjured Husband_ (1700), _The Busybody_ (1709), _The Warder_ (1714), and _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_ (1717). She was a strong Whig, and sometimes made her plays the medium of expressing her political opinions.

CHALKHILL, JOHN (_fl._ 1600).--Poet, mentioned by Izaak Walton as having written a pastoral poem, _Thealma and Clearchus_. As nothing else is known of him it has been held by some that the name was a _nom-de-plume_ of W. himself. It has been shown, however, that a gentleman of the name existed during the reign of Elizabeth. W. says he was a friend of Spenser, and that his life was "useful, quiet, and virtuous."

CHALMERS, GEORGE (1742-1825).--Antiquary, _b._ at Fochabers, Elginshire, emigrated to America and practised law in Baltimore; but on the outbreak of the Revolutionary War returned to Britain, and settled in London as a clerk in the Board of Trade. He _pub._ in 1780 a _History of the United Colonies_, and wrote lives of Sir David Lyndsay, De Foe, and Mary Queen of Scots. His great work, however, is his _Caledonia_, of which 3 vols.

had been _pub._ at his death. It was to have been a complete _coll._ of the topography and antiquities of Scotland; and, as it stands, is a monument of industry and research, though not always trustworthy in disputed points. Besides those mentioned, C. was the author of many other works on political, historical, and literary subjects, and had projected several which he was unable to carry out.

CHALMERS, THOMAS (1780-1847).--Divine, economist, and philanthropist, _b._ at Anstruther, Fife, _s._ of a shipowner and merchant, studied at St. Andrews and, entering the ministry of the Church of Scotland, was first settled in the small parish of Kilmeny, Fife, but, his talents and eloquence becoming known, he was, in 1815, translated to Glasgow, where he was soon recognised as the most eloquent preacher in Scotland, and where also he initiated his schemes for the management of the poor. In 1823, he became Prof. of Moral Philosophy at St. Andrews, and in 1828 of Divinity in Edin. In 1834 he began his great scheme of Church extension, the result of which was that in seven years 300,000 had been raised, and 220 churches built. In the same year, 1834, began the troubles and controversies in regard to patronage and the relations of Church and State, which in 1843 ended in the disruption of the Church, when 470 ministers with C. at their head, resigned their benefices, and founded the Free Church of Scotland. C. was chosen its first Moderator and Princ.i.p.al of its Theological Coll. in Edin. The remaining four years of his life were spent in organising the new Church, and in works of philanthropy. He was found dead in bed on the morning of May 30, 1847.

His chief works, which were _coll._ and _pub._ in 34 vols., relate to natural theology, evidences of Christianity, political economy, and general theology and science. Those which perhaps attracted most attention were his _Astronomical Discourses_ and his _Lectures on Church Establishments_, the latter delivered in London to audiences containing all that was most distinguished in rank and intellect in the country. The style of C. is c.u.mbrous, and often turgid, but the moral earnestness, imagination, and force of intellect of the writer shine through it and irradiate his subjects. And yet the written is described by contemporaries to have been immeasurably surpa.s.sed by the spoken word, which carried away the hearer as in a whirlwind. And the man was even greater than his achievements. His character was one of singular simplicity, n.o.bility, and lovableness, and produced a profound impression on all who came under his influence. The character of his intellect was notably practical, as is evidenced by the success of his parochial administration and the "Sustentation Fund," devised by him for the support of the ministry of the Free Church. He was D.D., LL.D., D.C.L.

(Oxon.), and a Corresponding Member of the Inst.i.tute of France.

_Memoirs_ (Hanna, 4 vols.). Smaller works by Prof. Blaikie (1897), Mrs.

Oliphant (1893), and many others.

CHAMBERLAYNE, WILLIAM (1619-1689).--Poet, practised medicine at Shaftesbury. On the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the Royalists and fought at the second battle of Newbury. He wrote a play, _Loves Victory_ (1658), and an epic _Pharonnida_ (1659). With occasional beauties he is, in the main, heavy and stiff, and is almost forgotten. He influenced Keats.

CHAMBERS, ROBERT (1802-1871).--Historical and scientific writer, was _b._ at Peebles. Early dependent on his own exertions, he started business as a bookseller in Edin. at the age of 16, devoting all his spare time to study, to such purpose that in 1824 he _pub._ _Traditions of Edinburgh_, a work in which he had the a.s.sistance of Sir W. Scott. Thereafter he poured forth a continuous stream of books and essays on historical, social, antiquarian, and scientific subjects. He joined his brother William (_q.v._) in establishing the publishing firm of W. and R.

Chambers, and in starting _Chambers's Journal_, to which he was a constant contributor. Later ventures were _The Cyclopedia of English Literature_ (1842-44), of which several ed. have appeared (last 1903-6).

and _Chambers's Cyclopaedia_ (10 vols. 1859-68; new 1888-92). Among his own works may be mentioned _Vestiges of Creation_, _pub._ anonymously (1844), a precursor of Darwinism, _A Life of Burns_ (1851), _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_ (1847), _History of the Rebellions in Scotland_, _Domestic Annals of Scotland_ (1859-61), _Ancient Sea Margins_ (1848), _Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen_ and _The Book of Days_ (1863). He was LL.D. of St. Andrews.

CHAMBERS, WILLIAM (1800-1883).--Publisher and miscellaneous author, _b._ at Peebles, started in 1832 with his brother Robert (_q.v._) _Chambers's Journal_, and soon after joined him in the firm of W. and R. Chambers.

Besides contributions to the _Journal_ he wrote several books, including a _History of Peeblesshire_ (1864), and an autobiography of himself and his brother. C. was a man of great business capacity, and, though of less literary distinction than his brother, did much for the dissemination of cheap and useful literature. He was Lord Provost of Edin. 1865-69, and was an LL.D. of the Univ. of that city. He restored the ancient church of St. Giles there.

CHAMIER, FREDERICK (1796-1870).--Novelist, was in the navy, in which he rose to the rank of Captain. Retiring in 1827, he wrote several sea novels somewhat in the style of Marryat, including _Life of a Sailor_ (1832), _Ben Brace_, _Jack Adams_, and _Tom Bowling_ (1841). He also continued James's _Naval History_, and wrote books of travel.

CHANNING, WILLIAM ELLERY (1780-1842).--American Divine, _b._ at Newport, Rhode Island, was for a time a minister in the Congregationalist Church, but became the leader of the Unitarians in New England. He had a powerful influence on the thought and literature of his time in America, and was the author of books on Milton and Fenelon, and on social subjects. The elevation and amiability of his character caused him to be held in high esteem. He did not cla.s.s himself with Unitarians of the school of Priestley, but claimed to "stand aloof from all but those who strive and pray for clearer light."