Further, the NOMS DE PLUME assumed by literary men and women are given and explained, many for the first time. FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS, PHRASES, and PROVERBS are entered in considerable numbers, with distinct and accurate references to their original sources. These are arranged, so far as possible, according to their first striking word—a plan which has seemed to the Author the most useful and intelligible that could be adopted. CHARACTERS in POETRY and FICTION are largely indexed-to an extent, indeed, not hitherto attempted, and with the result, it is believed, that few of any importance are omitted. Illustrative Quotations are frequently appended. The most celebrated POEMS, SONGS, and BALLADS are entered, not only by their titles, but by their first lines, which are frequently remembered when the titles are forgotten. A feature of the Work is the introduction of references to TRANSLATIONS of the Works of prominent FOREIGN WRITERS of all times and countries. Another feature is the insertion of notices of some of the most celebrated LIBRARIES throughout the kingdom, and of SOCIETIES connected with English Literature. Space is also devoted to brief, but, it is hoped, sufficient explanations of the various forms of Literature, such as EPICS, ODES, MASQUES, MYSTERIES, and so on. Finally, SPECIAL ARTICLES, as exhaustive as their limits would permit, have been introduced on such subjects as THE DRAMA, NEWSPAPERS, NOVELS, and POETRY, with the view of enabling the reader to systematise, if he please, the varied information given in other portions of the Work. A Work so comprehensive in aim-necessitating the survey of so wide, so inexhaustible a field—can hardly be quite free from error. Yet the Author would fain hope that no signal inaccuracy will be detected; and while committing his pages to the consideration of the public, he feels it due to himself to say that, during the years occupied in the preparation of the Work, he has grudged no labour to make it worthy of the favourable reccption which it has obtained in the past, and which, he trusts, it will obtain in the future. The present Edition, it may be added, has been carefully revised, and the information brought down to the latest date. W. D. A. DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. ABB A Abbey Walk, The. A ballad, by ROBERT HENRYSOUN (d. 1508), included in Lord Hailes' collection of Ancient Scottish Songs. Abbot, Charles, Lord Colchester (17571829). Author of an essay On the Use and Abuse of Satire, Oxford, 1786. Abbot, Charles, Lord Tenterden (17621832). Author of a Treatise on the Law relating to Merchant Ships and Seamen (1802), and other important works. Abbot, George, Archbishop of Canterbury (1562-1633), wrote a number of polemical, theological, historical, and biographical works, and erected and endowed a hospital at Guildford, Surrey. Abbot, Robert, brother of the Archbishop of Canterbury (1560-1617), was the author of the Mirror of Popish Subtilties, and other controversial treatises. Abbot, The. A novel by Sir Walter SCOTT (1771-1832), published in 1820, and intended as a continuation of the Monastery (q.v.). Abbotsford Club. A Literary Club founded at Edinburgh in 1835, to promote the publication of works relating to Scottish History, Literature, and Antiquities. The membership was limited to fifty, and the club is now extinct. Upwards of thirty volumes (all in quarto) were published under its auspices. Abbott, Jacob, American Congregational minister (b. 1803), published the first book of his Young Christian series in 1825, and has since issued upwards of a hundred separate works, most of which have been republished in this country, and translated into various languages. Abbott, John S. C., brother of above (b. 1805, d. 1877), wrote the Mother at Home (1833), the Child at Home, and numerous historical compendiums. Abbott, Rev. Lyman. See BENAULY. Abdael, in DRYDEN's poem of Absalom and Achitophel (q.v.), stands for General Monk, Duke of Albemarle, who was mainly instrumental in furthering the Restoration of Charles II. (David). АВН Abdallah. A character in BYRON's Bride of Abydos (q.v.); murdered by his brother Giaffir. Abdiel, in Milton's poem of Paradise Lost (q.v.), one of the seraphim who, when Satan endeavoured to incite the angels to rebellion, alone stood firm in his allegiance— "Faithful found Among the faithless, faithful only he." Abecedarian Hymns. Hymns which began with the first letter of the alphabet, the succeeding lines or verses commencing with the other letters in regular succession. A'Beckett, Gilbert Abbot, author (b. 1811, d. 1856), produced more than thirty dramatic pieces, and was one of the earliest contributors to Punch (q.v.). He was also the author of the Comic Histories of England and of Rome, of the Comic Blackstone, and other works of a similar character. Abel Shufflebottom. The nom de plume under which ROBERT SOUTHEY (1774-1843) printed some "amatory poems" of the burlesque order, written in 1799. Abellino. The hero of LEWIS's story of the Bravo of Venice (q.v.). He appears alternately as a beggar and a bandit, and at last falls in love with, and marries, the niece of the Doge of Venice. Abercrombie, John, M.D. (b. 1781, d. 1844), wrote Inquiries Concerning the Intellectual Powers and the Investigation of Truth (1830), the Philosophy of the Moral Feelings (1833), and several medical treatises. Abercrombie, Patrick, M.D. (b. 1656, d. 1720), wrote the Martial Atchievements of the Scots Nation (1711-1715). Aberdeen Philosophical Society. Instituted 1840. Abernethy, John (1763-1831). A distinguished surgeon at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London; published Surgical and Physiological Essays, 1793-7, and a large number of professional and scientific works. Abessa. A damsel in SPENSER'S Faerie Queene (q.v.), in whom Abbeys and Convents are personified. Abhorson. An executioner in SHAKESPEARE'S play of Measure for Measure (q.v.). "Abide with me; fast falls the eventide." First line of a hymn by the Rev. HENRY FRANCIS LYTE (q.v.). "Abide with me from morn till eve." A line of KEBLE'S Evening Hymn, in the Christian Year (q.v.). Abigail. A typical name for a servant or handmaid (1 Samuel xxv. 3); used as a name for a servant in BEAUMONT and FLETCHER'S Scornful Lady, and also by Swift, Fielding, and others. Able or Abel, Thomas. An English divine, executed at Smithfield during the reign of Henry VIII. (1540), for having written and published An Answer that by no manner of means it may be lawful for the King to be divorced from the Queen's grace, his lawful wife. Abou Ben Adhem. The title of a short poem by LEIGH HUNT (1784-1859), beginning"Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace." Moir speaks of this piece as "full of picturesque yet delicate beauty of thought and language." Abou Hassan. The hero of the tale of the Sleeper Awakened in the Arabian Nights. While asleep, he was transferred from his own bed to the couch of the Caliph, and on awakening was treated in a style similar to that enjoyed by Christopher Sly, in the introduction to the Taming of the Shrew. 66 Above all Greek, above all Roman fame." Line 26, book ii., epistle i. of POPE'S Imitation of Horace (q.v.). Dryden, speaking of the death of Lord Hastings, had previously used a very similar phrase. Abra "Abra was ready ere I call'd her name: And, though I call'd another, Abra came." Abraham's Sacrifice, A Tragedie of. Written in French, by THEODORE BEZA, and translated into English by ARTHUR GOLDING (d. 1590) in 1575. It had been performed at Lausanne about 1550. The Duke of Devonshire possesses a fac-simile copy of this rare religious play. "Abram Cupid." A phrase occurring in Romeo and Juliet, act ii., scene 1; read by some editors, "Adam Cupid." Dyce suggests that "abram" may mean, as it often meant in Shakespeare's time, "auburn," referring to the hair of Cupid. Others think that "Adam refers to a noted archer of the day; and it will be remembered that the whole line runs "Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim." Abridging the Study of Physic, An Essay for. By JOHN ARMSTRONG, M.D. (1709– 1779). Published in 1735, and intended as a satire on the quackery and incompetency of the medical profession at that particular period. It was accompanied by A Dialogue betwixt Hygeia, Mercury, and Pluto, relating to the practice of Physic, and was followed, later, by An Epistle from Usbeck, the Persian, to Joshua Ward, Esq., which is said to contain "much wit and pleasantry. In the dialogue," says Anderson, "he has caught the very spirit of Lucian." 66 Abridgment of all that was pleasant in Man, An." A description applied to Garrick, the actor, by GOLDSMITH, in his poem of Retaliation (q.v.). Absalom and Achitophel. A poem by JoнN DRYDEN (1631-1701), published in 1681, and written throughout in allusion to the conspiracy to place the Duke of Monmouth, natural son of Charles II., upon the English throne. The principal fictitious characters in this famous satire are thus identified-Abdael, Monk, Duke of Albemarle; Absalom, the Duke of Monmouth; Achitophel, the Earl of Shaftesbury; Omri, Lord Chancellor Finch; Corah, Titus Oates; David, Charles II.; Doeg, Elkanah Settle; Hushai, Hyde, Earl of Rochester; Jonas, Sir William Jones; Ishbosheth, Richard Cromwell; Pharaoh, the King of France; Saul, Oliver Cromwell; Sheva, Sir Roger l'Estrange; Zimri, George, Duke of Buckingham. Egypt stands for France, Hebron for Scotland, Jerusalem for London, and Israel for England. Of the second part, published in 1684, all but two hundred lines was written by NAHUM TATE (1652-1715). Hallam characterises Dryden's portion as "the greatest of his satires-the work in which his powers became fully known to the world, and which, as many think, he never surpassed. The spontaneous ease of expression, the rapid transitions, the general elasticity and movement, have never been excelled." A Latin translation was published by Francis (afterwards Bishop) Atterbury in 1682. See ABSALOM SENIOR, and AZARIA AND HUSHAI. Absalom Senior: "or, Absalom and Achitophel Transposed." One of the Whig replies to DRYDEN'S satire, written by ELKANAH SETTLE (1648-1724). "Absence, hear thou my protestation." First line of an anonymous poem in DAVISON'S Poetical Rhapsody (1602). "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." A line occurring in a lyric by THOMAS HAYNES BAYLY (1797-1839), entitled Isle of Beauty. Absentee, The. A novel by MARIA EDGEWORTH, published in 1812. Absolute, Captain. In SHERIDAN's comedy of the Rivals (q.v.). Under the nom de guerre of Ensign Beverley, he secures the affections of Lydia Languish (q.v.), the heroine of the play. Absolute, Sir Anthony. Father of the above. "He is an evident copy," says Hazlitt, "after Smollett's kind-hearted, high-spirited Matthew Bramble" (q.v.). "Absolute the knave is! (How)."Hamlet, act v., scene 1. "Abstracts and brief Chronicles of the time."-Hamlet, act ii., scene 2. The phrase is there used in reference to actors, but is now generally applied to newspapers, of which, rather than of "the players," it is true that "after your death you were better have a bad epitaph, than their ill report while you lived." Absurditie, The Anatomie of. See ANATOMIE OF ABSURDITIE. Abuses Stript and Whipt:" or, Satiricall Essayes," in two books, written by GEORGE WITHER (1588-1667), and published in 1613, with the following motto on the title-page: "Despise not this what ere I seeme to shewe, He spoke to such purpose in this instance that he procured for himself imprisonment in the Marshalsea. Yet "the satires, although sharp, were generous; their style was diffuse, but simple, earnest, often vigorous; for Wither," says Professor Morley, "had the true mind of a poet." Abuses, The Anatomie of: "Conteyning a Discouerie, or Briefe Summarie of such Notable Vices and Imperfections as now raigne, in many Christian Countreyes of the Worlde: but (especiallie) in a verie famous Iland called Ailgna: Together with the most feareful Examples of God's Judgementes executed upon the wicked for the same, as well in Ailgna of late, as in other places elsewhere. Verie godly to be read of all true Christians, euerie where: but most needefull to be regarded in Englande." This "curious portraiture, made dialogue-wise," by PHILIP STUBBES, "of the amusements and other social customs of the day," was published in 1583, and again in an enlarged form, in 1585. Ailgna, of course, is England-" a famous and a pleasant land, with a great and heroic people; but they abound in abuses, chiefly those of pride-pride of heart, of mouth, of apparel." The two interlocutors are called Philoponus and Spudeus. See Brydges' Censura Literaria; Collier's Poetical Decameron; Douce's Illustrations of Shakespeare; Dibdin's Bibliomania; and the Shakespeare Society Papers, vol. iv. Nash ridiculed Stubbes "for pretending to anatomize abuses and stubbe up sins by the rootes." Abydos, The Bride of. See BRIDE OF ABYDOS, THE. Abyssinian Maid, An. poem of Kubla Khan (q.v.): In COLERIDGE'S "And on her dulcimer she played, Academy, The. A weekly review of literature, art, and science; started in 1869. Acadia. The poetical name of Nova Scotia, and the scene of the incidents narrated in LONGFELLOW's poem of Evangeline (q.v.). 66 Accept a miracle instead of wit." First line of an epigram ascribed to YOUNG, the poet, who wrote it with a pencil belonging to the famous Earl of Chesterfield (q.v.)— "See two dull lines by Stanhope's pencil writ." Accommodated "Accommodated; that is, when a man is, as they say, accommodated; or when a man is-being-whereby-he may be thought to be accommodated, which is an excellent thing." SHAKESPEARE, King Henry IV., pt. ii., act iii., scene 2. Acheley, Thomas, temp. Queen Elizabeth, was the author of A most lamentable and tragicall Historie, which a Spanishe Gentlewoman named Violenta executed upon her Lover Didaco, because he espoused another, beying first betrothed unter her. Newly translated into English meeter by T. A., and printed at London in 1576. He was also a contributor to England's Parnassus (1600). See Ritson's Bibliographia Poetica. Acheta Domestica. The name under which Miss L. M. BUDGEN has published several works, notably March Winds and April Showers (1854), and Episodes of Insect Life (1869). Achilles. An opera written by JOHN GAY (1688-1732), and produced immediately after his death. 66 Aching void.” A phrase occurring in COWPER's poem, Walking with God— "What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! "The Achitophel, in DRYDEN's satire of Absalom and Achitophel (q.v.), is intended for the Earl of Shaftesbury (1621-1683), who abetted the rebellion of Absalom, the Duke of Monmouth. character of Achitophel," says Hazlitt, "is very fine, and breathes, if not a sincere love for virtue, a strong indignation against vice." Acis and Galatea. A serenata, by JOHN GAY (1688-1732), produced at the Haymarket, with HANDEL's music, in 1732. Acolastus his Afterwitte, printed in 1600, and notable for its plagiarisms from SHAKESPEARE'S Venus and Adonis (q.v.), and Rape of Lucrece (q.v.). Acrasia. A witch in SPENSER'S Faerie Queene (q.v.), in whom the vice of Intemperance is per sonified. Acres, Bob. In SHERIDAN's comedy of the Rivals (q.v.). "He is a distant descendant," says Hazlitt," of Sir Andrew Ague-cheek” (q.v.). "Across the walnuts and the wine." A line in TENNYSON's Miller's Daughter (q.v.). Acrostic. A form of verse said to have been invented in the fourth century, in which the first letter of each line read downwards forms a name or word. Double acrostics are verses in which the first letters form one word and the last another. "Act well your part, there all the honour lies." Line 194, epistle iv., of POPE'S Essay on Man (q.v.). Actes of the Apostles, The, "translated into Englyshe metre' by CHRISTOPHER TYE (circa 1545), were printed in 1553, "with notes to eche chapter to synge and also to play upon the Lute, very necessarye for studentes after theyr studye to fyle their wittes, and alsoe for all Christians that cannot synge, to reade the good and godlye storyes of the lives of Christ his Apostles.' They were sung for a time in the Royal Chapel of Edward VI., but never became popular. The following is a specimen of their versification: "It chauncèd in Iconlum, As they oft times did use, "Action to the word, Suit the.”—Hamlet, act iii., scene 2. Active Policie of a Prince, The. A moral poem by GEORGE ASHBY (temp. Henry VI.), written for the use of Prince Edward, and notable as eulogising, in the preface, "Maisters Gower, Chaucer, and Lydgate "-" a proof," says Warton, "of the estimation which that celebrated triumvirate continued to maintain." Active Powers of the Human Mind, Essay on the. By THOMAS REID (1710-1796). Published in 1788, and containing a survey of the general field of ethics, with an analysis of the mechanical, animal, and rational principles of action, and discussions on the theories of free will and moral approbation. Acts. The division of dramatic stories and poetry into acts was first made by the Romans. În Horace's Art of Poetry (B.c. 8), five acts are mentioned as the rule. Acts and Monuments of these latter and perillous Dayes: "touching Matters of the Church, wherein are comprehended and described the great Persecutions, and horrible Troubles, that have been wrought and practised by the Romishe Prelates, especiallye in this Realme of England and Scotlande, from the yeare of our Lorde a Thousande, unto the Tyme now present. Gathered and collected according to the true Copies and Wrytinges certificatorie, as well of the Parties themselves that suffered, as also out of the Bishops' Registers which were the doers thereof." This famous work, written by JOHN Fox or FOXE (1517-1587), was first printed in English, under the above title, in 1562. It was at Strasburg, in 1554, that Fox published the first volume of the work, in Latin, as "Commentarii Rerum in Ecclesia gestarum, maximarumque per totam Europam persecutionem à Wicklevi Temporibus." The first folio edition of the whole was given to the world in 1559, and was entitled, "Rerum in Ecclesia gestarum, quæ postremis et periculosis his temporibus evenerunt, maximarumque persecutionum ac Sanctorum Dei Martyrum, cæterarumque rerum si quæ insignioris exempli sint, Commentarii: in qua de rebus per Angliam et Scotiam gesto, atque in primis de horrenda sub Maria nuper Regina persecutione narratio continetur." occupied its author eleven years in its composition. When completed, and published in English, it immediately became so popular, that "it was ordered," says Allibone, "to be set up in every one of the parish churches in England, as well as in the common halls of archbishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons, and heads of colleges; and its influence in keeping alive the Protestant feeling in Great Britain and North America is too well known to be disputed." Abundant testimony was and has since been given to the trustworthy character of the facts related. Strype describes Fox a most painful searcher into records," and says, "all the world is infinitely beholden to him for abundance of extracts thence communicated to us in his volumes. And as he has both been found most diligent, so most strictly faithful and true in his transcriptions." Archbishop Whitgift declared that Fox had "very diligently and faithfully laboured in this matter," and Bishop Butler, having compared the Acts and Monuments with the original authorities, confessed that he "had never been able to discover any errors or prevarications in them, but the utmost fidelity and exactness." 66 Actor, The. "Teaching the mind its proper face to scan, "Actor (Well graced) leaves the stage."-Richard II., act v., scene 2. Actors, Apology for. See APOLOGY FOR ACTORS. It "Acts our angels are, or good or ill (Our)." A line in BEAUMONT and FLETCHER'S play of the Honest Man's Fortune (q.v.). "The fatal shadows that walk by us still." "Ada! sole daughter of my house and heart." The opening line of the third canto of |