Biographical Outlines Part 12

JOHN FLAXMAN.

Born 1755.-Died 1826.-George III.-George IV.

An eminent sculptor. He represented in marble the tragedies of aeschylus, Homer, and Dante. He executed two celebrated works,-"The Fury of Athamas," and the "Cephalus and Aurora,"-and is well known by his monuments, one of the finest of which is that to Lord Mansfield, in Westminster Abbey.

SIR HUMPHREY DAVY.

Born 1778.-Died 1829.-George III.-George IV.

A celebrated natural philosopher, chiefly noted for his discoveries in chemistry and galvanism. He was the inventor of the safety-lamp for use in mines. His lectures at the Royal Inst.i.tution were models of the narrative of scientific enquiry, and his general reading and information were extraordinary.

SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE.

Born 1769.-Died 1830.-George III.-George IV.

A well-known portrait painter, and President of the Royal Academy. He drew good likenesses in pencil and ink at five years old, and received a prize from the Society of Arts at thirteen for a copy in chalk of Raphael's Transfiguration. His portraits in the Waterloo Gallery at Windsor are very celebrated. He painted exquisite pictures of children.

GEORGE CRABBE.

Born 1754.-Died 1832.-George III.-George IV.

A poet, born at Aldborough, in Suffolk, who perhaps first opened men's eyes in England to the poetry of common things. His tales in verse are admirable pictures of everyday life, full of pathos. Crabbe went to London to try to make his fortune by literature, but would have perished of want had it not been for Edmund Burke, who generously befriended him in every possible way.

SIR WALTER SCOTT.

Born 1771.-Died 1832.-George III.-George IV.-William IV.

One of the most extraordinary literary men on record. He was born in Edinburgh, and intended for the law, and practised for a short time in Edinburgh; but his literary genius a.s.serted itself too strongly to allow of any other pursuit. His _Border Minstrelsy_ was succeeded by longer poems-the _Lay of the Last Minstrel_, the _Lady of the Lake_, _Lord of the Isles_, _Marmion_, and others; and these again by a succession of novels, all differing in their rich abundance of character and incident, and all possessing a charm which few other works of fiction can even now present. He bought a property called Abbotsford, on the Tweed, and having fallen into difficulties through the failure of one of his publishers, he ruined his health by excessive work to pay his debts.

Scott is often called, from the enchantment of his genius, "The Wizard of the North."

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE,

Born 1759.-Died 1833.-George III.-George IV.-William IV.

Was a native of Hull. After many years' active labour to obtain the emanc.i.p.ation of slaves in the English dependencies, in which his chief coadjutors were Clarkson, Granville Sharpe, and Lord Brougham, Wilberforce lived to see the Act of Emanc.i.p.ation pa.s.sed under William IV.

HANNAH MORE.

Born 1745.-Died 1833.-George II.-George III.-George IV.-William IV.

This excellent and remarkable woman, born at Stapleton, near Bristol, who lived through four English reigns, was a well-known moral writer. In her early life she was distinguished for her brilliant social qualities, and was well known in the circles which Johnson, Burke, Reynolds, and Garrick frequented. Afterwards she withdrew from the world and devoted her time to active good works and writing. Her tracts on many useful subjects have been much read.

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE.

Born 1772.-Died 1834.-George III.-George IV.-William IV.

A native of Devonshire. This original and profound thinker was a moral philosopher, a most eloquent writer, and a poet. He was also remarkable for his singular conversational powers. His translation of Schiller's _Wallenstein_, his _Ancient Mariner_, _Remorse_, _Christabel_, etc., and his essays called _The Friend_, stamp him as a true poet and philosopher.

SIR DAVID WILKIE.

Born 1785.-Died 1841.-George III.-George IV.-William IV.-Victoria.

A powerful and careful painter of common subjects, was born near Cupar, in Fifeshire. The _Blind Fiddler_ first established his reputation. His portraits in the National Gallery at Edinburgh are well worth seeing.

SIR FRANCIS CHANTREY.

Born 1781.-Died 1841.-George III.-George IV.-William IV.-Victoria.

An eminent sculptor, born near Sheffield, well known for his busts and memorial figures. His monument of the Sleeping Children with the broken snow-drops in Lichfield Cathedral, his figure of Watt in Westminster Abbey, and his bust of Scott, are perhaps some of the best and most remembered of his works.