A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 44

Southey. _Life_ by Dowden in Men of Letters (1880).

SOUTHWELL, ROBERT (1561?-1595).--Poet, _b._ at Horsham St. Faith's, Norfolk, of good Roman Catholic family, and _ed._ at Douay, Paris, and Rome, he became a Jesuit, and showed such learning and ability as to be appointed Prefect of the English Coll. In 1586 he came to England with Garnett, the superior of the English province, and became chaplain to the Countess of Arundel. His being in England for more than 40 days then rendered him liable to the punishment of death and disembowelment, and in 1592 he was apprehended and imprisoned in the Tower for three years, during which he was tortured 13 times. He was then put on trial and executed, February 22, 1595. He was the author of _St. Peter's Complaint_ and _The Burning Babe_, a short poem of great imaginative power, and of several prose religious works, including _St. Mary Magdalene's Teares_, _A Short Rule of Good Life_, _The Triumphs over Death_, etc.

SPEDDING, JAMES (1808-1881).--Editor of Bacon's works, _s._ of a c.u.mberland squire, and _ed._ at Bury St. Edmunds and Camb., was for some years in the Colonial Office. He devoted himself to the ed. of Bacon's works, and the endeavour to clear his character against the aspersions of Macaulay and others. The former was done in conjunction with Ellis and Heath, his own being much the largest share in their great ed. (1861-74); and the latter, so far as possible, in _The Life and Letters_, entirely his own. In 1878 he brought out an abridged _Life and Times of Francis Bacon_. He strongly combated the theory that B. was the author of Shakespeare's plays. His death was caused by his being run over by a cab.

He enjoyed the friends.h.i.+p of many of his greatest contemporaries, including Carlyle, Tennyson, and Fitzgerald.

SPEED, JOHN (1552?-1629).--Historian, _b._ at Farington, Ches.h.i.+re, and brought up to the trade of a tailor, had a strong taste for history and antiquities, and wrote a _History of Great Britain_ (1611), which was long the best in existence, in collecting material for which he had a.s.sistance from Cotton, Spelman, and other investigators. He also _pub._ useful maps of Great Britain and Ireland, and of various counties, etc.

In 1616 appeared his _Cloud of Witnesses confirming ... the truth of G.o.d's most holie Word_. His maps were _coll._ and with descriptions _pub._ in 1611 as _Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain_.

SPEKE, J.H., (_see under_ GRANT, J.A.)

SPELMAN, SIR HENRY (1564?-1641).--Historian and antiquary, _b._ at Congham, Norfolk, studied at Camb., and entered Lincoln's Inn. He wrote valuable works on legal and ecclesiastical antiquities, including _History of Sacrilege_ (_pub._ 1698), _Glossarium Archaeologic.u.m_ (1626 and 1664), a glossary of obsolete law-terms, _A History of the English Councils_ (1639), and _Tenures by Knight-service_ (1641). His writings have furnished valuable material for subsequent historians. He sat in Parliament and on various commissions, and in recompense of his labours was voted a grant of 300.

SPENCE, JOSEPH (1699-1768).--Anecdotist, _b._ at Kingsclere, Hants, and _ed._ at Winchester and Oxf., he entered the Church, and held various preferments, including a prebend at Durham, and was Prof. of Poetry at Oxf. He wrote an _Essay on Pope's Odyssey_, which gained for him the friends.h.i.+p of the poet, of whose conversation he made notes, collecting likewise anecdotes of him and of other celebrities which were _pub._ in 1820, and are of great value, inasmuch as they preserve much matter ill.u.s.trative of the literary history of the 18th century which would otherwise have been lost.

SPENCER, HERBERT (1820-1903).--Philosopher, _b._ at Derby, the _s._ of a teacher, from whom, and from his uncle, mentioned below, he received most of his education. His immediate family circle was strongly Dissenting in its theological atmosphere, his _f._, originally a Methodist, having become a Quaker, while his mother remained a Wesleyan. At 13 he was sent to the care of his uncle, Thomas S., a clergyman, near Bath, but a Radical and anti-corn-law agitator. Declining a Univ. career he became a school a.s.sistant, but shortly after accepted a situation under the engineer of the London and Birmingham railway, in which he remained until the great railway crisis of 1846 threw him out of employment. Previous to this he had begun to write political articles in the _Nonconformist_; he now resolved to devote himself to journalism, and in 1848 was appointed sub-ed. of the _Economist_. Thereafter he became more and more absorbed in the consideration of the problems of sociology and the development of the doctrine of evolution as applied thereto, gradually leading up to the completion of a system of philosophy which was the work of his life.

His fundamental proposition is that society, like the individual, is an organism subject to evolution, and the scope of this idea is gradually expanded so as to embrace in its sweep the whole range of cognisible phenomena. Among the books which he _pub._ in exposition of his views may be mentioned _Social Statics_ (1850), _Principles of Psychology_ (1855), _First Principles_ (1862), _Principles of Biology_ (1867), _Data of Ethics_ (1879), _Principles of Sociology_ (1877), _Political Inst.i.tutions_ (1882), and _Man versus the State_ (1884). His works have been translated into most European languages--some of them into Chinese and j.a.panese. The most characteristic qualities of S. as a thinker are his powers of generalisation and a.n.a.lysis. He left an autobiography, in which he subjects his own personality to a.n.a.lysis with singular detachment of mind.

_Life_ by David Duncan, LL.D., _Life_ by A.J. Thompson. _See_ also _Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy_, Fishe (1874), and books on S. and his philosophy by Hudson (1894), White (1897), and Macpherson (1890).

SPENCER, WILLIAM ROBERT (1769-1834).--Poet, _ed._ at Harrow and Oxf., belonged to the Whig set of Fox and Sheridan. He wrote graceful _vers de societe_, made translations from Burger, and is best remembered by his well-known ballad of _Gelert_. After a life of extravagance he _d._ in poverty in Paris.

SPENSER, EDMUND (1552?-1599).--Poet, was _b._ in East Smithfield, London, the _s._ of John S., described as gentleman and journeyman in the art of cloth-making, who had come to London from Lancas.h.i.+re. In 1561 the poet was sent to Merchant Taylor's School, then newly opened, and in 1569 he proceeded to Pembroke Hall, Camb., as a sizar, taking his degree in 1576.

Among his friends there were Edward Kirke, who ed. the _Shepheard's Calendar_, and Gabriel Harvey, the critic. While still at school he had contributed 14 sonnet-visions to Van de Noot's _Theatre for Worldlings_ (1569). On leaving the Univ. S. went to the north, probably to visit his relations in Lancas.h.i.+re, and in 1578, through his friend Harvey, he became known to Leicester and his brother-in-law, Philip Sidney. The next year, 1579, saw the publication of _The Shepheard's Calendar_ in 12 eclogues. It was dedicated to Sidney, who had become his friend and patron, and was received with acclamation, all who had ears for poetry perceiving that a new and great singer had arisen. The following year S.

was appointed sec. to Lord Grey of Wilton, Deputy for Ireland, a strict Puritan, and accompanied him to Ireland. At the same time he appears to have begun the _Faerie Queen_. In 1581 he was appointed Registrar of Chancery, and received a grant of the Abbey and Castle of Enniscorthy, which was followed in 1586 by a grant of the Castle of Kilcolman in County Cork, a former possession of the Earls of Desmond with 3000 acres attached. Simultaneously, however, a heavy blow fell upon him in the death of Sidney at the Battle of Zutphen. The loss of this dear friend he commemorated in his lament of _Astrophel_. In 1590 he was visited by Sir Walter Raleigh, who persuaded him to come to England, and presented him to the Queen, from whom he received a pension of 50, which does not, however, appear to have been regularly paid, and on the whole his experiences of the Court did not yield him much satisfaction. In the same year his reputation as a poet was vastly augmented by the publication of the first three books of the _Faerie Queen_, dedicated to Elizabeth. The enthusiasm with which they were received led the publisher to bring out a collection of other writings of S. under the general t.i.tle of _Complaints_, and including _Mother Hubbard's Tale_ (a satire on the Court and on the conflict then being waged between the old faith and the new), _Teares of the Muses_, and _The Ruins of Time_. Having seen these ventures launched, S. returned to Kilcolman and wrote _Colin Clout's come Home Again_, one of the brightest and most vigorous of his poems, not, however, _pub._ until 1595. In the following year appeared his _Four Hymns_, two on _Love and Beauty_ and two on _Heavenly Love and Beauty_, and the _Prothalamion_ on the marriage of two daughters of the Earl of Worcester. He also _pub._ in prose his _View of Ireland_, a work full of shrewd observation and practical statesmans.h.i.+p. In 1594 he was _m._ to Elizabeth Boyle, whom he had courted in _Amoretti_, and his union with whom he now celebrated in the magnificent _Epithalamion_, by many regarded as his most perfect poem. In 1595 he returned to England, taking with him the second part of the _Faerie Queen_, _pub._ in 1596. In 1598 he was made Sheriff of Cork, and in the same year his fortunes suffered a final eclipse. The rebellion of Tyrone broke out, his castle was burned, and in the conflagration his youngest child, an infant, perished, he himself with his wife and remaining children escaping with difficulty. He joined the President, Sir T. Norris, who sent him with despatches to London, where he suddenly _d._ on January 16, 1599, as was long believed in extreme dest.i.tution. This, however, happily appears to be at least doubtful. He was buried in Westminster Abbey near Chaucer, and a monument was erected to his memory in 1620 by the Countess of Dorset.

The position of S. in English poetry is below Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton only. The first far excels him in narrative and constructive power and in humour, and the last in austere grandeur of conception; but for richness and beauty of imagination and exquisite sweetness of music he is unsurpa.s.sed except by Shakespeare. He has been called the poets' poet, a t.i.tle which he well merits, not only by virtue of the homage which all the more imaginative poets have yielded him, but because of the almost unequalled influence he has exercised upon the whole subsequent course and expression of English poetry, which he enriched with the stanza which bears his name, and which none since him have used with more perfect mastery. His faults are prolixity, indirectness, and want of constructive power, and consequently the sustained sweetness and sumptuousness of his verse are apt to cloy. His great work, the _Faerie Queen_, is but a gorgeous fragment, six books out of a projected twelve; but probably few or none of its readers have regretted its incompleteness. In it Protestantism and Puritanism receive their most poetic and imaginative presentation and vindication.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1552, _ed._ Merchant Taylor's School and Camb., became known to Leicester and Sir P. Sidney 1578, _pub._ _Shepheard's Calendar_ 1579, appointed sec. to Lord Deputy of Ireland 1580, and began _Faerie Queen_, receives various appointments and grants 1581-6, _pub._ _Astrophel_ in memory of Sidney 1586, visited by Raleigh and by him presented to Queen Elizabeth, who pensioned him 1590, and in same year _pub._ first three books of _Faerie Queen_, _Teares of Muses_, etc., writes _Colin Clout_, _pub._ 1595, and in 1596 _pub._ _Four Hymns_ and _Prothalamion_, _m._ E. Boyle 1594, whom he had courted in _Amoretti_, and now celebrated in the _Epithalamion_, returned to England 1595, Sheriff of Cork 1598, in which year the rebellion broke out and ruined his fortunes, returned to London and _d._ 1599.

There have been very numerous ed. of the works, among which may be mentioned the Globe (1899), and Dr. Grosart's (10 vols., 1882-84). There is an excellent biography by Dean Church (1879).

SPOTTISWOOD, JOHN (1565-1639).--Historian, _s._ of John S., minister of Midcalder and Superintendent of Lothian. Entering the Church he gained the favour of James VI., and was his chief instrument in his endeavours to restore Episcopal church-government in Scotland. He became Archbishop successively of Glasgow and St. Andrews, and in 1635 Lord Chancellor of Scotland. On the rising caused by the introduction of the service-book, he had to flee from Scotland, and was excommunicated by the General a.s.sembly (1638). He wrote a _History of the Church and State of Scotland_, _pub._ 1655. It is, of course, written from the Episcopalian standpoint, as Calderwood's is from the Presbyterian.

SPRAGUE, CHARLES (1791-1875).--Poet, _b._ at Boston, Ma.s.s., had some reputation as a writer of prize poems, odes, and domestic poems. To the first cla.s.s belong _Curiosity_ and _Shakespeare Ode_, and to the latter, _The Family Meeting_ and _I see Thee Still_, an elegy on his sister.

SPRAT, THOMAS (1635-1713).--Divine and writer of memoirs, _b._ at Beaminster, Dorset, _ed._ at Oxf., was a mathematician, and one of the group of scientific men among whom the Royal Society, of which he was one of the first members and the historian, had its origin. He wrote a Life of his friend Cowley the poet, and an account of Young's plot for the restoration of James II. His _History of the Royal Society_ is his princ.i.p.al work, but he also wrote poems, and had a high reputation as a preacher. His literary style gives him a distinguished place among English writers. He held various, high preferments, and _d._ Bishop of Rochester.

SPURGEON, CHARLES HADDON (1834-1892).--_B._ at Kelvedon, Ess.e.x, left the Independents and joined the Baptist communion and became, at the age of 20, pastor of New Park Street Chapel, London, where he attained an unprecedented popularity. In 1859 the Metropolitan Tabernacle was erected for him. He was a decided Calvinist in his theological views, and was strongly opposed to modern critical movements. He possessed in an eminent degree two of the great requisites of effective oratory, a magnificent voice and a command of pure idiomatic Saxon English. His sermons, composed and _pub._ weekly, had an enormous circulation, and were regularly translated into several languages. In addition to his pastoral labours he superintended an almshouse, a pastor's coll., and an orphanage; and he was likewise a voluminous author, publis.h.i.+ng, in addition to his sermons, numerous works, including _The Treasury of David_ (a commentary on the Psalms).

STANHOPE, PHILIP HENRY, 5TH EARL STANHOPE (1805-1875).--Historian, was _b._ at Walmer, and _ed._ at Oxf. He sat in the House of Commons for Wootton Ba.s.sett and Hertford, held some minor official appointments under Peel, and identified himself with many useful measures, specially in regard to literature and art. His writings, which are all remarkable for industrious collection of facts, careful and impartial sifting and weighing of evidence, and a clear, sober, and agreeable style, include _History of England from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles_ (1836-63), and histories of the _War of the Spanish Succession_ (1832), and of the _Reign of Queen Anne_ (1870), besides Lives of the younger Pitt (1861) and of Lord 'Chesterfield. As an author he is best known as Viscount Mahon.

STANLEY, ARTHUR PENRHYN (1815-1881).--Historian, biographer, and theologian, _s._ of Edward S., Bishop of Norwich, _b._ at Alderley, Ches.h.i.+re, of which his _f._ was then rector, _ed._ at Rugby and Oxf., became a Fellow of Univ. Coll. Taking orders in 1839 he became Canon of Canterbury 1851, and of Christ Church 1858, and Dean of Westminster 1864.

He was also Prof. of Ecclesiastical History at Oxf. 1856. His ecclesiastical position was Erastian and lat.i.tudinarian, and his practical aim in Church politics comprehension. He gave great offence to the High Church party by his championing of Colenso, W.G. Ward, Jowett, and others, by his preaching in the pulpits of the Church of Scotland and in other ways, and his lat.i.tudinarianism made him equally obnoxious to many others. On the other hand, his singular personal charm and the fascination of his literary style secured for him a very wide popularity.

He was a prolific author, his works including _Life of Dr. Arnold_ (of Rugby) (1844), whose favourite pupil he was, and _Memorials of Canterbury_ (1854), _Sinai and Palestine_ (1855), _Lectures on the Eastern Church_ (1861), _History of the Jewish Church_ (1863, etc.), _Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey_ (1867), _Lectures on the History of the Church of Scotland_ (1872), besides various commentaries.

In his historical writings he aimed rather at conveying a vivid and picturesque general effect than at minute accuracy of detail or philosophical views. His masterpiece is his _Life of Dr. Arnold_, which is one of the great biographies in the language. His wife was Lady Augusta Bruce, to whom he was _m._ in 1868.

STANLEY, SIR HENRY MORTON (1841-1904).--Traveller in Africa, _b._ in America, went to find, and found, Livingstone, and wrote an account of his adventures in the quest, _How I found Livingstone_. Other works were _In Darkest Africa_ and _Through the Dark Continent_.

STANLEY, THOMAS (1625-1678).--Philosopher and scholar, connected with the Derby family, _ed._ at Camb., was the author of some poems and of a biographical _History of Philosophy_ (4 vols., 1655-62). He was learned in the cla.s.sics, and translated from the Latin and late Greek as well as from the Italian and Portuguese, and ed. aeschylus. His poetry is thoughtful and gracefully expressed.

STANYHURST, RICHARD (1547-1618).--Translator, was at Oxf., and studied law at Furnivall's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. He collaborated with Holinshed (_q.v._). His princ.i.p.al literary achievement was a grotesquely stiff, clumsy, and prosaic translation of the first four books of the _aeneid_ into English hexameters. He also translated some of the Psalms.

STEDMAN, EDMUND CLARENCE, L.H.D., LL.D., (1833-1908).--American poet and critic. _Poems Lyric and Idyllic_ (1860), _Alice of Monmouth_ (1864), _The Blameless Prince_ (1869), _Victorian Poets_ (1875-87), _Lyrics and Idylls_ (1879), _Poets of America_ (1885), _Victorian Anthology_ (1896), _American Anthology_ (1896), etc.

STEELE, SIR RICHARD (1672-1729).--Essayist and dramatist, _s._ of a Dublin attorney, who _d._ when his _s._ was 5 years old, was on the nomination of the Duke of Ormond, sent to the Charterhouse School, where his friends.h.i.+p with Addison began, and thence went to Oxf., but left without taking a degree, and enlisted in the Horse Guards, for which he was disinherited by a rich relation. He, however, gained the favour of his colonel, Lord Cutts, himself a poet, and rose to the rank of captain.

With the view of setting before himself a high ideal of conduct (to which unhappily he was never able to attain), he at this time wrote a treatise on morals ent.i.tled _The Christian Hero_ (1701). Abandoning this vein, he next produced three comedies, _The Funeral, or Grief a la Mode_ (1702), _The Tender Husband_ (1703), and _The Lying Lover_ (1704). Two years later he was appointed Gentleman Waiter to Prince George of Denmark, and in 1707 he was made Gazetteer; and in the same year he _m._ as his second wife Mary Scurlock, his "dear Prue," who seems, however, to have been something of a termagant. She had considerable means, but the incorrigible extravagance of S. soon brought on embarra.s.sment. In 1709 he laid the foundations of his fame by starting the _Tatler_, the first of those periodicals which are so characteristic a literary feature of that age. In this he had the invaluable a.s.sistance of Addison, who contributed 42 papers out of a total of 271, and helped with others. The _Tatler_ was followed by the _Spectator_, in which Addison co-operated to a still greater extent. It was even a greater success, and ran to 555 numbers, exclusive of a brief revival by Addison in which S. had no part, and in its turn was followed by the _Guardian_. It is on his essays in these that the literary fame of S. rests. With less refinement and delicacy of wit than Addison, he had perhaps more knowledge of life, and a wider sympathy, and like him he had a sincere desire for the reformation of morals and manners. In the keen political strife of the times he fought stoutly and honestly on the Whig side, one result of which was that he lost his office of Gazetteer, and was in 1714 expelled from the House of Commons to which he had just been elected. The next year gave a favourable turn to his fortunes. The accession of George I. brought back the Whigs, and S. was appointed to various offices, including a commissioners.h.i.+p on forfeited estates in Scotland, which took him to Edinburgh, where he was welcomed by all the _literati_ there. Nothing, however, could keep him out of financial embarra.s.sments, and other troubles followed: his wife _d._; differences, arose with Addison, who _d._ before a reconciliation could be effected. The remaining years were clouded by financial troubles and ill-health. His last work was a play, _The Conscious Lovers_ (1722). He left London and lived at Hereford and at Carmarthen, where he _d._ after a partial loss of his faculties from paralysis.

_Lives_ by Austin Dobson (1886) and G.A. Aitken (1889). Ed., _Plays_ by Aitken (1893), Essays (selected) Clarendon Press (1885), _Tatler_, Aitken (1898), _Spectator_, H. Morley (1868), Gregory Smith (1897-8), Aitken (1898).

STEEVENS, GEORGE (1736-1800).--Shakespearian commentator, _ed._ at Eton and Camb. He issued various reprints of quarto ed. of Shakespeare, and a.s.sisted Dr. Johnson in his ed., and also in his _Lives of the Poets_. In 1793 he himself brought out a new ed. of Shakespeare, in which he dealt somewhat freely with the text. He was in constant controversy with Ritson and other literary antiquaries, and was also an acute detector of literary forgeries, including those of Chatterton and Ireland.

STEEVENS, GEORGE WARRINGTON (1869-1900).--Journalist and miscellaneous writer, _b._ at Sydenham, and _ed._ at City of London School and Oxf., took to journalism, in which he distinguished himself by his clearness of vision and vivid style. Connected successively with the _National Observer_, the _Pall Mall Gazette_, and the _Daily Mail_, he utilised the articles which appeared in these and other publications in various books, such as _The Land of the Dollar_ (America) (1897), _With Kitchener to Kartoum_, and _The Tragedy of Dreyfus_. His most striking work, however, was _Monologues of the Dead_ (1895). He went as war correspondent to South Africa in 1900, and _d._ of enteric fever at Ladysmith.

STEPHEN, SIR JAMES (1789-1859).--Statesman and historical writer, _s._ of James S., Master in Chancery, _ed._ at Camb., and called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn 1811. After practising with success, accepted appointment of permanent counsel to Colonial Office and Board of Trade 1825, and was subsequently, 1826-47, permanent Under-Sec. for the Colonies, in which capacity he exercised an immense influence on the colonial policy of the empire, and did much to bring about the abolition of the slave trade.

Impaired health led to his resignation, when he was made K.C.B. and a Privy Councillor. He was afterwards Prof. of Modern History at Camb.

1849-59, and of the same subject at the East India Coll. at Haileybury 1855-57. He wrote _Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography_ (1849) and _Lectures on the History of France_ (1852).

STEPHEN, SIR LESLIE (1832-1904).--Biographer and critic, _s._ of the above, was _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Eton, King's Coll., London, and Camb., where he obtained a tutorial Fellows.h.i.+p, and took orders. He came under the influence of Mill, Darwin, and H. Spencer, and devoted himself largely to the study of economics. His religious views having undergone a change, he gave up the clerical character and his Fellows.h.i.+p, and became a p.r.o.nounced Agnostic. In 1865 he definitely adopted a literary career, and contributed to the _Sat.u.r.day Review_, _Fraser's Magazine_, and other periodicals. In 1873 he _pub._ a collection of his essays as _Free Thinking and Plain Speaking_, which he followed up with _An Agnostic's Apology_ (1893). He became ed. in 1871 of the _Cornhill Magazine_, in which appeared the essays afterwards _coll._ as _Hours in a Library_ (3 series, 1874-79). His chief work was _The History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century_ (1876-81). He also wrote _Science of Ethics_ (1882), and biographies of _Dr. Johnson_ (1878), _Pope_ (1880). _Swift_ (1882), and _George Eliot_ (English Men of Letters Series). In 1882 he became ed. of the _Dictionary of National Biography_, to which he devoted much labour, besides contributing many of the princ.i.p.al articles. _The English Utilitarians_ appeared in 1900. As a biographical and critical writer he holds a very high place. His first wife was a _dau._ of Thackeray. In recognition of his literary eminence he was made a K.C.B.

_Life and Letters_ by F.W. Maitland (1906).

STEPHENS, THOMAS (1821-1875).--Welsh historian and critic, _b._ at Pont Nedd Fechan, Glamorgans.h.i.+re, _s._ of a shoemaker. His works include _The Literature of the Kymry_ (1849), _The History of Trial by Jury in Wales_, and an essay in which he demolished the claim of the Welsh under Madoc to the discovery of America. He also wrote on the life and works of the bard Aneurin. The critical methods which he adopted in his works often made him unpopular with the less discriminating enthusiasts for the glory of Wales, but he earned the respect of serious scholars.