A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 18

His work is founded upon that of Maria.n.u.s, an Irish chronicler, supplemented by additions taken from the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, Bede's _Lives of the Saints_, and a.s.ser's _Life of Alfred_. After his death it was brought down to 1295.

FLORIO, JOHN (1553?-1625).--Translator, _s._ of an Italian preacher, exiled for his Protestantism, but who appears to have lost credit owing to misconduct, _b._ in London, was, about 1576, a private tutor of languages at Oxf. In 1581 he was admitted a member of Magdalen Coll., and teacher of French and Italian. Patronised by various n.o.blemen, he became in 1603 reader in Italian to Anne of Denmark, Queen of James I. He _pub._ _First Fruites_ (1578). _Second Fruites_ (1591), consisting of Italian and English Dialogues, and his great Italian dictionary ent.i.tled _A World of Wonder_, in 1598. His chief contribution to pure literature is his famous translation of _The Essays of Montaigne_, in stately if somewhat stiff Elizabethan English.

FONBLANQUE, ALBANY WILLIAM (1793-1872).--Journalist and political writer, was of Huguenot descent, the _s._ of a Commissioner in Bankruptcy. He was bred to the law, but deserted it for journalism, in which he took a high place. He wrote much for _The Times_, and _Westminster Review_, and subsequently became ed. and proprietor of the _Examiner_. His best articles were republished as _England under Seven Administrations_ (1837). He also wrote _How we are Governed_. In 1847 he was appointed Statistical Sec. to the Board of Trade.

FOOTE, SAMUEL (1720-1777).--Actor and dramatist, _b._ at Truro of a good family, and _ed._ at Oxf., succeeded by his extravagance and folly in running through two fortunes. To repair his finances he turned to the stage, and began with tragedy, in which he failed. He then took to comedy, and the mimetic representation of living characters, for which his extraordinary comic powers highly qualified him. He also became a prolific author of dramatic pieces. He wrote 20 plays, and claimed to have added 16 original characters to the stage. Several of his pieces, owing to the offence they gave to persons of importance, were suppressed, but were usually revived in a slightly modified form. His conversation was agreeable and entertaining in the highest degree. Among his best works are _An Auction of Pictures_, _The Liar_, and _The Mayor of Garratt_ (1763), _The Lame Lover_ (1770), _The Knights_ (1749), _Author_ (suppressed) 1757, _Devil upon Two Sticks_ (1768), _The Nabob_ (1779), _The Capuchin_ (1776).

FORBES, JAMES DAVID (1809-1868).--Natural Philosopher, _s._ of Sir William F., of Pitsligo, was _b._ and _ed._ at Edin. He studied law, and was called to the Bar, but devoted himself to science, in which he gained a great reputation both as a discoverer and teacher. He was Prof. of Natural Philosophy at Edin., 1833-1859, when he succeeded Sir D.

Brewster, as Princ.i.p.al of the United Coll. at St. Andrews. He was one of the founders of the British a.s.sociation in 1831. His scientific investigations and discoveries embraced the subjects of heat, light, polarisation, and specially glaciers. In connection with the last of these he wrote _Travels through the Alps_ (1843), _Norway and its Glaciers_ (1853), _Tour of Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa_ (1855), and _Papers on the Theory of Glaciers_.

FORD, JOHN (_c._ 1586?).--Dramatist, _b._ probably at Ilsington, Devons.h.i.+re, was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1602, and appears to have practised as a lawyer. His chief plays are _The Lover's Melancholy_ (1629), _'Tis Pity_, _The Broken Heart_, and _Love's Sacrifice_ (1633), _Perkin Warbeck_ (1634), _The Lady's Trial_ (1639), and _Fancies Chaste and n.o.ble_ (1638). He also collaborated with Dekker and Rowley in _The Witch of Edmonton_ (1624). F. has a high position as a dramatist, though rather for general intellectual power and austere beauty of thought than for strictly dramatic qualities. C. Lamb says, "F. was of the first order of poets." He had little humour; his plays, though the subjects are painful, and sometimes horrible, are full of pensive tenderness expressed in gently flowing verse. The date of his death is uncertain.

FORD, PAUL LEICESTER (1865-1902).--Novelist and biographer, was _b._ in Brooklyn. He wrote Lives of Was.h.i.+ngton, Franklin, and others, ed. the works of Jefferson, and wrote a number of novels, which had considerable success, including _Peter Sterling_ (1894), _Story of an Untold Love_, _Janice Meredith_, _Wanted a Matchmaker_, and _Wanted a Chaperone_. He _d._ by his own hand.

FORD, RICHARD (1796-1858).--Writer on art and travel, _ed._ at Winchester and Camb., and travelled for several years in Spain, becoming intimately acquainted with the country and people. He wrote a _Handbook for Travellers in Spain_ (1845), which is much more than a mere guide-book, and _Gatherings from Spain_ (1846). An accomplished artist and art critic, he was the first to make the great Spanish painter, Velasquez, generally known in England.

FORDUN, JOHN (_d._ 1384?).--Chronicler, said to have been a chantry priest and Canon of Aberdeen. He began the _Scotichronicon_, for which he prepared himself, it is said, by travelling on foot through Britain and Ireland in search of materials. He also compiled _Gesta Annalia_, a continuation. He brought the history down to 1153, leaving, however, material to the time of his own death, which was subsequently worked up by Walter Bower (_q.v._).

FORSTER, JOHN (1812-1876).--Historian and biographer, _b._ at Newcastle, _ed._ at the Grammar School there, and at Univ. Coll., London, became a barrister of the Inner Temple, but soon relinquished law for literature.

In 1834 he accepted the post of a.s.sistant ed. of the _Examiner_, and was ed. 1847-55. In this position F. exercised a marked influence on public opinion. He also ed. the _Foreign Quarterly Review_ 1842-3, the _Daily News_ in 1846, and was Sec. to the Lunacy Commission and a Commissioner 1861-72. His historical writings were chiefly biographies, among which are _Statesmen of the Commonwealth of England_ (1836-9), _Life of Goldsmith_ (1854), _Biographical and Historical Essays_ (1859), _Sir John Eliot_ (1864), _Lives of Walter S. Landor_ (1868), and _Charles d.i.c.kens_ (1871-4). He also left the first vol. of a Life of Swift. F., who was a man of great decision and force of character, concealed an unusually tender heart under a somewhat overbearing manner.

FORTESCUE, SIR JOHN (1394?-1476?).--Political writer, was descended from a Devons.h.i.+re family. He was an eminent lawyer, and held the office of Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench (1442). During the Wars of the Roses he was a staunch Lancastrian. On the triumph of Edward IV. at Towton he was attainted, and followed the fortunes of the fallen Lancastrians, accompanying Queen Margaret to Scotland and Flanders. He fought at Tewkesbury, was captured, but pardoned on condition of writing in support of the Yorkish claims, which he did, considering that his own party appeared to be hopelessly ruined. He is said to have been at one time Lord Chancellor; but it is probable that this was only a t.i.tular appointment given him by the exiled family. His works are various defences of the Lancastrian t.i.tle to the crown, and two treatises, _De Laudibus Legum Angliae_ (1537) (in praise of the laws of England), and _On the Governance of the Kingdom of England_, not printed till 1714, the former for the instruction of Edward, Prince of Wales.

FORSTER, JOHN (1770-1843).--Essayist, was _b._ at Halifax, and _ed._ at Bristol for the Baptist ministry. Though a man of powerful and original mind he did not prove popular as a preacher, and devoted himself mainly to literature, his chief contribution to which is his four Essays (1) _On a Man's Writing Memoirs of Himself_, (2) _On Decision of Character_, (3) _On the Epithet "Romantic_," (4) _On Evangelical Religion, etc._, all of which attracted much attention among the more thoughtful part of the community, and still hold their place. These Essays were _pub._ in 1805, and in 1819. F. added another on the _Evils of Popular Ignorance_, in which he advocated a national system of education.

FOSTER, STEPHEN COLLINS (1826-1864).--Song-writer, was _b._ in Pittsburgh. He wrote over 100 songs, many of which had extraordinary popularity, among which may be mentioned _The Old Folks at Home_, _Nelly Bly_, _Old Dog Tray_, _Camp Town Races_, _Ma.s.sa's in de cold, cold Ground_, and _Come where my Love lies Dreaming_. He composed the music to his songs.

FOX, CHARLES JAMES (1749-1806).--Statesman and historian, _s._ of Henry F., 1st Lord Holland, was one of the greatest orators who have ever sat in the House of Commons. His only serious literary work was a fragment of a proposed _History of the Reign of James the Second_. An introductory chapter sketching the development of the const.i.tution from the time of Henry VII., and a few chapters conducting the history up to the execution of Monmouth are all which he completed.

FOX, GEORGE (1624-1691).--Religious enthusiast, and founder of the Society of Friends, _b._ at Drayton, Leicesters.h.i.+re, was in youth the subject of peculiar religious impressions and trances, and adopted a wandering life. The protests which he conceived himself bound to make against the prevailing beliefs and manners, and which sometimes took the form of interrupting Divine service, and the use of uncomplimentary forms of address to the clergy, involved him in frequent trouble. The clergy, the magistrates, and the mob alike treated him with harshness amounting to persecution. None of these things, however, moved him, and friends, many of them influential, among them Oliver Cromwell, extended favour towards him. From 1659 onwards he made various missionary journeys in Scotland, Ireland, America, and Holland. Later he was repeatedly imprisoned, again visited the Continent, and _d._ in 1691. F.'s literary works are his _Journal_, _Epistles_, and _Doctrinal Pieces_. He was not a man of strong intellect, and the defence of his doctrines was undertaken by the far more competent hand of his follower, Barclay (_q.v._). The _Journal_, however, is full of interest as a sincere transcript of the singular experiences, religious and others, of a spiritual enthusiast and mystic.

The best Life is that by Hodgkin, 1896. _Journal_ (reprint, 1885).

FOXE, JOHN (1516-1587).--Martyrologist, was _b._ at Boston, Lincolns.h.i.+re, and _ed._ at Oxf., where he became a Fellow of Magdalen Coll. While there he gave himself to the study of the theological questions then in debate, and ended by becoming a Protestant, in consequence of which he in 1545 left his coll. He then became tutor in the family of Sir T. Lucy of Charlecote, and afterwards to the children of the recently executed Earl of Surrey. During the reign of Mary he retired to the Continent, and _pub._, at Strasburg, his _Commentarii_ (the first draft of the _Acts and Monuments_). Removing to Basel he was employed as a reader for the press by the famous printer Oporinus, who _pub._ some of his writings. On the accession of Elizabeth, F. returned to England, was received with kindness by the Duke of Norfolk, one of his former pupils, and soon afterwards (1563) _pub._ the work on which his fame rests, the English version of the _Acts and Monuments_, better known as _The Book Martyrs_.

Received with great favour by the Protestants, it was, and has always been, charged by the Roman Catholics with gross and wilful perversion of facts. The truth of the matter appears to be that while Foxe was not, as in the circ.u.mstances he could hardly have been, free from party spirit or from some degree of error as to facts, he did not intentionally try to mislead; and comparison of his citations from authorities with the originals has shown him to have been careful and accurate in that matter.

F., who had been ordained a priest in 1560, became Canon of Salisbury in 1563. He wrote sundry other theological works, and _d._ in 1587. There is a memoir of him attributed to his _s._, but of doubtful authenticity.

Some of his papers, used by Strype (_q.v._), are now in the British Museum.

FRANCIS, SIR PHILIP (1740-1818).--Reputed author of _The Letters of Junius_, _s._ of the Rev. Philip F., a scholar of some note, was _b._ in Dublin. On the recommendation of Lord Holland he received an appointment in the office of the Sec. of State, and was thereafter private sec. to Lord Kinnoull in Portugal, and to Pitt in 1761-2. He was then transferred to the War Office, where he remained from 1762-72, during which period he contributed to the press under various pseudonyms. His next appointment was that of a member of Council of Bengal, which he held from 1773-80.

While in India he was in continual conflict with the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, by whom he was wounded in a duel in 1779. He returned to England in 1780 with a large fortune, and entered Parliament as a Whig.

In 1787 he was a.s.sociated with Burke in the impeachment of Hastings, against whom he showed extraordinary vindictiveness. Later he was a sympathiser with the French Revolution, and a member of the a.s.sociation of the Friends of the People. He retired from public life in 1807, and _d._ in 1818. He was the author of about 20 political pamphlets, but the great interest attaching to him is his reputed authors.h.i.+p of the _Letters of Junius_. These letters which, partly on account of the boldness and implacability of their attacks and the brilliance of their literary style, and partly because of the mystery in which their author wrapped himself, created an extraordinary impression, and have ever since retained their place as masterpieces of condensed sarcasm. They appeared in _The Public Advertiser_, a paper _pub._ by Woodfall, the first on January 21, 1769, and the last on the corresponding day of 1772, and were chiefly directed against the Dukes of Grafton and Bedford, and Lord Mansfield; but even the king himself did not escape. Not only were the public actions of those attacked held up to execration, but every circ.u.mstance in their private lives which could excite odium was dragged into the light. Their authors.h.i.+p was attributed to many distinguished men, _e.g._ Burke, Lord Shelburne, J. Wilkes, Horne Tooke, and Barre, and recently to Gibbon; but the evidence appears to point strongly to F., and, in the opinion of Macaulay, would "support a verdict in a civil, nay, in a criminal trial." It rests upon such circ.u.mstances as the similarity of the MS. to what is known to be the disguised writing of F., the acquaintance of the writer with the working of the Sec. of State's Office and the War Office, his denunciation of the promotion of a Mr.

Chamier in the War Office, which was a well-known grievance of F., his acquaintance with Pitt, and the existence of a strong tie to Lord Holland, the silence of Junius when F. was absent, and resemblances in the style and the moral character of the writer to those of F.

FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN (1706-1790).--American statesman, philosopher, and writer, was one of a numerous family. His _f._ was a soap-boiler at Boston, where F. was _b._ He was apprenticed at the age of 13 to his brother, a printer, who treated him harshly. After various changes, during which he lived in New York, London, and Philadelphia, he at last succeeded in founding a successful business as a printer. He also started a newspaper, _The Gazette_, which was highly popular, _Poor Richard's Almanac_, and the _Busybody Papers_, in imitation of the _Spectator_.

After holding various minor appointments, he was made deputy Postmaster-General for the American Colonies. In 1757 he went to London on some public business in which he was so successful that various colonies appointed him their English agent. In the midst of his varied avocations he found time for scientific investigation, especially with regard to electricity. For these he became known over the civilised world, and was loaded with honours. In 1762 he returned to America, and took a prominent part in the controversies which led to the Revolutionary War and the independence of the Colonies. In 1776 he was U.S. Minister to France, and in 1782 was a signatory of the treaty which confirmed the independence of the States. He returned home in 1785, and, after holding various political offices, retired in 1788, and _d._ in 1790. His autobiography is his chief contribution to literature, and is of the highest interest.

Works (10 vols., Bigelow, 1887-9), Autobiography (1868), Lives by M'Master (1887), and Morse (1889).

FREEMAN, EDWARD AUGUSTUS (1823-1892).--Historian, _s._ of John F., was _b._ at Harborne, Staffords.h.i.+re. He lost both his parents in childhood, and was brought up by his paternal grandmother. He was _ed._ at private schools, and as a private pupil of the Rev. R. Gutch, whose _dau._ he afterwards _m._ In 1841 he was elected to a scholars.h.i.+p at Oxf. He had inherited an income sufficient to make him independent of a profession, and a prepossession in favour of the celibacy of the clergy disinclined him to enter the Church, of which he had at one time thought. He settled ultimately at Somerleaze, near Wells, where he occupied himself in study, writing for periodicals, and with the duties of a magistrate. He was a strong Liberal, and on one occasion stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for Parliament. He was also twice unsuccessful as an applicant for professional chairs, but ultimately, in 1884, succeeded Stubbs as Prof.

of Modern History at Oxf. He had always been an enthusiastic traveller, and it was when on a tour in Spain that he took ill and _d._ on May 16, 1892. F. was a voluminous author, and a keen controversialist. His first book was a _History of Architecture_ (1849), and among the very numerous publications which he issued the most important were _History of Federal Government_ (1863), _The History of the Norman Conquest_ (6 vols., 1867-79), _The Historical Geography of Europe_ (1881-2), _The Reign of William Rufus_ (1882), and an unfinished _History of Sicily_. Besides these he wrote innumerable articles in periodicals, many of which were separately _pub._ and contain much of his best work. He was laborious and honest, but the controversial cast of his mind sometimes coloured his work. His short books, such as his _William I._, and his _General Sketch of European History_, are marvels of condensation, and show him at his best. His knowledge of history was singularly wide, and he sometimes showed a great power of vivid presentation.

FRENEAU, PHILIP (1752-1832).--Poet, _b._ in New York, produced two vols.

of verse (1786-8), the most considerable contribution to poetry made up to that date in America. He fought in the Revolutionary War, was taken prisoner, and confined in a British prison-s.h.i.+p, the arrangements of which he bitterly satirised in _The British Prison s.h.i.+p_ (1781). He also wrote vigorous prose, of which _Advice to Authors_ is an example. Amid much commonplace and doggerel, F. produced a small amount of genuine poetry in his short pieces, such as _The Indian Burying Ground_, and _The Wild Honeysuckle_.

FRERE, JOHN HOOKHAM (1769-1846).--Diplomatist, translator, and author, eldest _s._ of John F., a distinguished antiquary, was _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Eton and Camb. He became a clerk in the Foreign Office, and subsequently entering Parliament was appointed Under Foreign Sec. In 1800 he was Envoy to Portugal, and was Amba.s.sador to Spain 1802-4, and again 1808-9. In 1818 he retired to Malta, where he _d._ He was a contributor to the _Anti-Jacobin_, to Ellis's _Specimens of the Early English Poets_ (1801), and to Southey's _Chronicle of the Cid_. He also made some masterly translations from _Aristophanes_; but his chief original contribution to literature was a burlesque poem on _Arthur and the Round Table_, purporting to be by William and Robert Whistlecraft. All F.'s writings are characterised no less by scholars.h.i.+p than by wit.

FROUDE, JAMES ANTHONY (1818-1894).--Historian and essayist, 3rd _s._ of the Archdeacon of Totnes, Devons.h.i.+re, near which he was _b._, and brother of Richard Hurrell. F., one of the leaders of the Tractarian party, was _ed._ at Westminster School and Oxf., where for a short time he came under the influence of Newman, and contributed to his _Lives of the English Saints_, and in 1844 he took Deacon's orders. The connection with Newman was, however, short-lived; and the publication in 1848 of _The Nemesis of Faith_ showed that in the severe mental and spiritual conflict through which he had pa.s.sed, the writer had not only escaped from all Tractarian influences, but was in revolt against many of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. One result of the book was his resignation of his Fellows.h.i.+p at Oxf.: another was his loss of an appointment as Head Master of the Grammar School of Hobart Town, Tasmania. In the same year began his friends.h.i.+p with Carlyle, and about the same time he became a contributor to the _Westminster Review_ and to _Fraser's Magazine_, of which he was ed. from 1860-74. These papers were afterwards _coll._ and _pub._ in the 4 vols. of _Short Studies on Great Subjects_. In 1856 he _pub._ the first 2 vols. of the great work of his life, _The History of England from the Fall of Cardinal Wolsey to the Spanish Armada_, which extended to 12 vols., the last of which appeared in 1870. As literature this work has a place among the greatest productions of the century; but in its treatment it is much more dramatic, ethical, and polemical than historical in the strict sense; and indeed the inaccuracy in matters of fact to which F. was liable, combined with his tendency to idealise and to colour with his own prejudices the characters who figure in his narrative, are serious deductions from the value of his work considered as history. _The English in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century_ appeared in 1872-4. On the death of Carlyle in 1881, F. found himself in the position of his sole literary executor, and in that capacity _pub._ successively the _Reminiscences_ (1881), _History of the First Forty Years of Carlyle's Life_ (1882), _Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle_ (1883), _History of Carlyle's Life in London_ (1884). The opinion is held by many that in the discharge of the duties entrusted to him by his old friend and master he showed neither discretion nor loyalty; and his indiscreet revelations and gross inaccuracies evoked a storm of controversy and protest. F. did not confine his labours to purely literary effort. In 1874-5 he travelled as a Government Commissioner in South Africa with the view of fostering a movement in favour of federating the various colonies there; in 1876 he served on the Scottish Univ. Commission; in 1884-5 he visited Australia, and gave the fruit of his observations to the world in _Oceana_ (1886), and in 1886-7 he was in the West Indies, and _pub._ _The English in the West Indies_ (1888). The year 1892 saw his appointment as Prof. of Modern History at Oxf., and his lectures there were _pub._ in his last books, _Life and Letters of Erasmus_ (1894), _English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century_ (1895), and _The Council of Trent_ (1896). F. was elected in 1869 Lord Rector of the Univ. of St. Andrews, and received the degree of LL.D. from Edinburgh in 1884. By his instructions no Biography was to be written.

FULLER, SARAH MARGARET (1810-1850).--Was _b._ in Ma.s.sachusetts, _dau._ of a lawyer, who encouraged her in over-working herself in the acquisition of knowledge with life-long evil results to her health. On his death she supported a large family of brothers and sisters by teaching. Her early studies had made her familiar with the literature not only of England but of France, Spain, and Italy; she had become imbued with German philosophy and mysticism, and she co-operated with Theodore Parker in his revolt against the Puritan theology till then prevalent in New England, and became the conductor of the Transcendentalist organ, _The Dial_, from 1840-2. She made various translations from the German, and _pub._ _Summer on the Lakes_ (1844), and _Papers on Literature and Art_ (1846). In the same year she went to Europe, and at Rome met the Marquis Ossoli, an Italian patriot, whom she _m._ in 1847. She and her husband were in the thick of the Revolution of 1848-9, and in the latter year she was in charge of a hospital at Rome. After the suppression of the Revolution she escaped with her husband from Italy, and took s.h.i.+p for America. The voyage proved most disastrous: small-pox broke out on the vessel, and their infant child _d._, the s.h.i.+p was wrecked on Fire Island, near New York, and she and her husband were lost. Dest.i.tute of personal attractions, she was possessed of a singular power of conciliating sympathy. She was the intimate friend of Emerson, Hawthorn, Channing, and other eminent men.

FULLER, THOMAS (1608-1661).--Divine and antiquary, _s._ of a clergyman of the same name, was _b._ at Aldwinkle, Northamptons.h.i.+re. Possessed of exceptional intelligence and a wonderful memory, he became a good scholar, and distinguished himself at Camb., where he was sent. Entering the Church, he obtained rapid preferment, including the lectures.h.i.+p at the Savoy, and a chaplaincy to Charles II. He was a voluminous author, his works dealing with theology, morals, history, and antiquities. Among the chief are _History of the Holy War_, _i.e._ the Crusades (1643), _The Holy State and the Profane State_ (1642), _A Pisgah Sight of Palestine_ (1650), _Church History of Britain_, _History of Cambridge University_ (1655), _Worthies of England_ (1662), and _Good Thoughts in Bad Times_.

The outstanding characteristic of F.'s writings is shrewd observation conveyed in a style of quaint humour. Lamb says, "His conceits are oftentimes deeply steeped in human feeling and pa.s.sion." But in addition there is much wisdom and a remarkable power of casting his observations into a compact, aphoristic form. The _Worthies_, though far from being a systematic work, is full of interesting biographical and antiquarian matter which, but for the pains of the author, would have been lost.

Coleridge says of him, "He was incomparably the most sensible, the least prejudiced great man in an age that boasted a galaxy of great men." F., who was of a singularly amiable character, was a strong Royalist, and suffered the loss of his preferments during the Commonwealth. They were, however, given back to him at the Restoration.

Lives by Russell (1844), J.E. Bailey (1874), and M. Fuller (1886).

FULLERTON, LADY GEORGIANA (LEVESON-GOWER) (1812-1885).--Novelist, _dau._ of the 1st Earl Granville, and sister of the eminent statesman. She wrote a number of novels, some of which had considerable success. They include _Ellen Middleton_ (1844), _Grantley Manor_ (1847), and _Too Strange not to be True_ (1864). She also _pub._ two vols. of verse. She joined the Church of Rome in 1846.

GAIMAR, GEOFFREY (_fl._ 1140?).--Chronicler, translated the chronicle of Geoffrey of Monmouth into French verse for the wife of his patron, Ralph Fitz-Gilbert, and added a continuation dealing with the Saxon Kings. His work is ent.i.tled _L'Estoire des Engles_.

GALT, JOHN (1779-1839).--Novelist and miscellaneous writer, _s._ of the captain of a West Indiaman, was _b._ at Irvine, Ayrs.h.i.+re, but while still a young man he went to London and formed a commercial partners.h.i.+p, which proved unfortunate, and he then entered Lincoln's Inn to study law. A little before this he had produced his first book, a poem on the Battle of Largs, which, however, he soon suppressed. He then went to various parts of the Continent in connection with certain commercial schemes, and met Lord Byron, with whom he travelled for some time. Returning home he _pub._ _Letters from the Levant_, which had a favourable reception, and some dramas, which were less successful. He soon, however, found his true vocation in the novel of Scottish country life, and his fame rests upon the _Ayrs.h.i.+re Legatees_ (1820), _The Annals of the Parish_ (1821), _Sir Andrew Wylie_ (1822), _The Entail_ (1824), and _The Provost_. He was not so successful in the domain of historical romance, which he tried in _Ringan Gilbaize_, _The Spae-wife_, _The Omen_, etc., although these contain many striking pa.s.sages. In addition to his novels G. produced many historical and biographical works, including a _Life of Wolsey_ (1812), _Life and Studies of Benjamin West_ (1816), _Tour of Asia_, _Life of Byron_ (1830), _Lives of the Players_, and an Autobiography (1834). In addition to this copious literary output, G. was constantly forming and carrying out commercial schemes, the most important of which was the Canada Company, which, like most of his other enterprises, though conducted with great energy and ability on his part, ended in disappointment and trouble for himself. In 1834 he returned from Canada to Greenock, broken in health and spirits, and _d._ there in 1839 of paralysis. G. was a man of immense talent and energy, but would have held a higher place in literature had he concentrated these qualities upon fewer objects. Most of his 60 books are forgotten, but some of his novels, especially perhaps _The Annals of the Parish_, have deservedly a secure place. The town of Galt in Canada is named after him.