The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 271

KEMP, GEORGE MEIKLE, architect, born in Moorfoot, Peebless.h.i.+re; bred a millwright, became a draughtsman, studied Gothic architecture, and designed the Scott Monument in Edinburgh; was drowned one evening in the Union Ca.n.a.l before the work was finished (1796-1844).

KEMPEN, a Prussian town, 27 m. NW. of Dusseldorf; manufactures textile fabrics in silk, cotton, linen, &c.; was the birthplace of Thomas a Kempis.

KEMPENFELT, RICHARD, British admiral, born at Westminster; distinguished himself in several actions, was on board of the _Royal George_ as his flags.h.i.+p when she went down at Spithead, carrying him along with her and over a thousand others also on board at the time; he was a brave and skilful officer, and his death was a great loss to the service (1718-1782).

KEMPIS, THOMAS a, born at Kempen, near Dusseldorf, son of a poor but honest and industrious craftsman named Hamerkin; joined, while yet a youth, the "Brotherhood of Common Life" at Deventer, in Holland, and at 20 entered the monastery of St. Agnes, near Zwolle, in Oberyssel, where he chiefly resided for 70 long years, and of which he became sub-prior, where he spent his time in acts of devotion and copying MSS., that of the Bible, among others, in the Vulgate version of it, as well as in the production of works of his own, and in chief the "Imitation of Christ," a work that in the regard of many ranks second to the Bible, and is thought likely to survive in the literature of the world as long as the Bible itself; it has been translated into all languages within, as well as others outside, the pale of Christendom, and as many as six thousand editions, it is reckoned, have issued from the press; it is five centuries and a half since it was first given to the world, and it has ever since continued to be a light in it to thousands in the way of a holy and divine life; it draws its inspiration direct from the fountain-head of Holy Scripture, and is breathing full of the same spirit that inspires the sacred book (1380-1471).

KEN, THOMAS, English prelate, born at Little Berkhampstead; is famous as the author of hymns, especially the morning one, "Awake, my Soul," and the evening one, "Glory to Thee, my G.o.d"; was committed to the Tower for refusing to read James II.'s "Declaration of Indulgence," and deprived of his bishopric, that of Bath and Wells, for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to William III. (1637-1711).

KENDAL (14), a Westmorland market-town on the Kent, 38 m. S. of Carlisle; manufactures heavy woollen goods, paper, and snuff; it owes the introduction of its woollen manufacture to the settlement in it of Flemings in the reign of Richard III.

KENIA, MOUNT, a mountain in British East Africa, 10 S. of the Equator, 18,000 ft. above the sea-level, and one of the highest on the continent.

KENILWORTH (4), a Warwicks.h.i.+re market-town, 5 m. N. of Warwick; noted for its castle, where, as described by Scott in his novel of the name, Leicester sumptuously entertained Elizabeth in 1575; has some tanworks, tanning being the chief industry.

KENNAQUHAIR (i. e. know-not-where), an imaginary locality in Scott's "Monastery." See WEISSNICHTWO.

KENNEDY, BENJAMIN HALL, head-master of Shrewsbury, son of a schoolmaster, born at Birmingham; after a brilliant career at Cambridge became, in 1828, Fellow of St. John's, in 1830 a.s.sistant-master at Harrow, and in 1830 was appointed to Shrewsbury, where he proved one of the greatest of schoolmasters (1804-1889).

KENNICOTT, BENJAMIN, English Hebraist, born at Totnes, Devons.h.i.+re, educated at Oxford; became Fellow of Exeter, Radcliffe librarian, and in 1770 canon of Christ Church; from 1753 he organised and took part in an extensive collation of Hebrew texts, issuing in 1776-80 the "Hebrew Old Testament, with Various Readings" (1718-1783).

KENSAL GREEN, a cemetery in the NW. of London; celebrated as the burial-place of many eminent men, Thackeray in chief.

KENSINGTON (166), a West London parish, in which stand the Palace (Queen Victoria's birthplace), the Albert Memorial and Hall, South Kensington Museum, the Royal College of Music, the Imperial Inst.i.tute, and many other inst.i.tutions: contains also Holland House, and has long been the place of residence of notably artistic and literary men.

KENT (1,142), English maritime county in the extreme SE.; lies between the Thames estuary and the Strait of Dover, with Surrey and Suss.e.x on the W.; it is hilly, with marshes in the SE. and on the Thames sh.o.r.e; is watered by the Medway, Stour, and Darent; has beautiful scenery, rich pasturage, and fine agricultural land, largely under hops and market-gardens; a large part of London is in Kent; Maidstone (32) is the county town; Rochester (26) and Canterbury (23) are cathedral cities; Woolwich (99), Gravesend (35), and Dover (33) are seaports, and Margate and Ramsgate watering-places.

KENTIGERN, ST., or ST. MUNGO, the Apostle of c.u.mbria, born at Culross, the natural son of a princess named Thenew; entered the monastery there, where he had been trained from a boy, and founded a monastery near Glasgow and another in Wales; was distinguished for his missionary labours; was buried at Glasgow Cathedral (518-603).

KENTISH FIRE, vehement and prolonged derisive cheering, so called from indulgence in it in Kent at meetings to oppose the Catholic Emanc.i.p.ation Bill of 1829.

KENTUCKY (1,859), an American State in the S. of the Ohio basin, with the Virginias on its E. and Tennessee on its S. border and the Mississippi River on the W.; is watered by the Licking and Kentucky Rivers that cross the State from the c.u.mberland Mountains in the SE. to the Ohio, and the Tennessee River traverses the western corner; the climate is mild and healthy; much of the soil is extremely fertile, giving hemp and the largest tobacco crops in the Union; there are dense forests of virgin ash, walnut, and oak over two-thirds of the State, and on its pasturage the finest stock and horses are bred; coal is found in both the E. and the W., and iron is plentiful; the chief industries are whisky distilling, iron smelting and working; admitted to the Union in 1792, Kentucky was a slave-holding State, but did not secede in the Civil War; the capital is Frankfort (8), the largest city Louisville (160); the State University is at Lexington (29).

KEPLER, JOHN, ill.u.s.trious astronomer, born at Weil der Stadt, Wurtemberg, born in poverty; studied at Tubingen chiefly mathematics and astronomy, became lecturer on these subjects at Gratz; joined Tycho Brahe at Prague as a.s.sistant, who obtained a pension of 18 for him from the Austrian government, which was never paid; removed to Lintz, where Sir Henry Wotton saw him living in a _camera obscura_ tent doing ingenious things, photographing the heavens, "inventing toys, writing almanacs, and being ill off for cash ... an ingenious person, if there ever was one among Adam's posterity ... busy discovering the system of the world--grandest conquest ever made, or to be made," adds Carlyle, "by the sons of Adam"; he was long occupied in studying the "'motions of the star' Mars, with calculations repeated seventy times, and with the discovery of the planetary laws of the Universe"; these last are called from his discovery of them Kepler's Laws; the first, that the planets move on elliptic orbits, the sun in one of the foci; the second, that, in describing its...o...b..t, the radius vector of a planet traverses equal areas in equal times; and the third, that the square of the time of the revolution of a planet is proportional to the cube of its mean distance from the sun; poverty pursued Kepler all his days, and he died of fever at Ratisbon (1571-1630).

KEPLER'S LAWS. See KEPLER, JOHN.

KEPPEL, AUGUSTUS, VISCOUNT, son of the Earl of Albemarle; entered the navy, and was in several engagements between 1757 and 1778; when encountering the French off Ushant he quarrelled with his second-in-command and let them escape; was court-martialled, but acquitted; he was afterwards First Lord of the Admiralty (1725-1786).

KER, DR. JOHN, minister and professor, was horn in Peebless.h.i.+re, brought up in Edinburgh; studied there and in Halle, was chosen to fill the chair of Practical Training in the U.P. Theological College in 1876; published some "Sermons," and "The Psalms in History and Biography"

(1819-1886).

KERATIN, a substance forming the chief const.i.tuent in the hair, nails, and horn of animals.

KERGUELEN'S LAND, an island with rugged coasts, 85 m. long by 70 wide, of volcanic origin, in the Antarctic Ocean; so called after its discoverer in 1772, changed to Desolation Island in 1776 by Captain Cook; belongs to France.

KERMAN (300), an eastern province of Persia, the N. and the NE. of it a desolate salt waste, and with a chief town (30) of the name in the middle of it, once a great emporium of trade; manufactures carpets.

KERNER, ANDREAS, a lyric poet of the Swabian school, born in Wurtemberg; studied and wrote on animal magnetism and spiritualism (1786-1862).

KEROSENE, a refined petroleum used as oil for lamps.

KERRY (179), maritime county in the SW. of Ireland, between the Shannon and Kenmare Rivers, with Limerick and Cork on the E.; has a rugged, indented coast, Dingle Bay running far inland; is mountainous, having Mount Brandon, the Macgillicuddy, and Dunkerron ranges, and contains the picturesque Lakes of Killarney; there is little industry or agriculture, but dairy-farming, slate-quarrying, and fis.h.i.+ng are prosecuted; iron, copper, and lead abound, but are not wrought; the population is Roman Catholic; county town, Tralee (9).

KERTCH (30), a seaport of the Crimea, on the eastern sh.o.r.e; had a large export trade, which suffered during the Crimea War, but has revived since.

KESWICK (4), a c.u.mberland market-town and tourist centre and capital of the Lake District, on the Derwent, 20 m. SW. of Carlisle; manufactures woollens, hardware, and lead-pencils; is the seat of an annual religious convention which gives its name to a phase of Evangelicalism.

KET, ROBERT, a tanner in Norfolk, leader of an insurrection in the country in 1549, was after seizing Norwich driven out by the Earl of Warwick, captured, and hanged.

KETTERING (20), market-town in Northamptons.h.i.+re; manufactures boots and shoes, stays, brushes, &c.

KEW (2), a village on the Thames, in Surrey, 6 m. W. of Hyde Park, where are the Royal Botanic Gardens, a national inst.i.tution since 1840, and an observatory.

KEY, FRANCIS SCOTT, author of "The Star-spangled Banner," born in Maryland, U.S.; wrote the words that have immortalised him when he saw the national flag floating over the ramparts of Baltimore in 1814 (1780-1857).