Part 3

This Second Pretender to the British crown was the grandson of James II. of England. He embarked in the _Dentelle_ from the Loire month, and landed in Invernesshire, near Moidart, and soon raised 1,600 men. He entered Perth, Linlithgo, and took up his abode in Holyrood Palace. The Highlanders’ charge at Prestonpans chiefly won the engagement there, and a second at Falkirk; but at Culloden the unfortunate Pretender was obliged to see that any attempt to disturb the English throne was a vain bubble. The Duke of Cumberland, known as the Butcher, committed atrocious cruelties after the battle. Charles Edward was once saved by Flora Macdonald, and again by hiding in a cave on Mount Benalder. At length a French privateer came off the Scottish coast, and after many hairbreadth escapes, he reached France in safety. Lords Kilmarnock, Balmerino, and Lovat were executed for their share in this rebellion of ’45. He died at Rome in 1788.

THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH.

Born 1727.—Died 1788.—George I.—George II.—George III.

This famous painter was for a long time self-taught, and his genius was first made known by his painting the head of a thief, who was looking over the wall of the garden in which the boy was painting by stealth. The head was so strikingly like, that the man was convicted upon it.

JOHN WESLEY,

Born 1703.—Died 1791.—Anne.—George I.—George II.—George III.

The founder of Methodism, was born at Epworth, Lincolnshire. He was a missionary for three years in North America among the Red Indians. In his day the English Church was characterized by a great want of vigour and discipline, and Wesley and his disciples did a great work in rousing the zeal of the Church, from which he had no intention of separating, and stirring up a spirit of labour and good works. Wesley was a preacher of great eloquence, with an aptness of illustration which was very attractive to the classes to whom he chiefly addressed himself.

SIR RICHARD ARKWRIGHT.

Born 1732.—Died 1792.—George II—George III.

A manufacturer, originally a hairdresser at Bolton, in Lancashire, was the inventor of the spinning jenny: he had large mills at Cromford, near Derby, was knighted in 1786, and died possessed of great wealth.

ADMIRAL LORD RODNEY.

Born 1718.—Died 1792.—George I.—George II.—George III.

This famous admiral was born at Walton-on-Thames. He gained a great victory over the French under Comte de Grasse, which won for the admiral his peerage. He fought a great battle off Cape St. Vincent, and captured four Spanish ships. After winning the battle he went on to relieve Gibraltar.

SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS.

Born 1723.—Died 1792.—George I.—George II.—George III.

This great painter was most celebrated for his portraits, especially his exquisite pictures of children. He also painted historical subjects, and published his discoveries on painting, which were the substance of his lectures before the Royal Academy. Sir Joshua was a Fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian Institutions. He was born at Plympton, in Devonshire.

EDWARD GIBBON.

Born 1737.—Died 1794.—George II.—George III.

A celebrated historian, whose chief work was the _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, a standard and classical work; the only fault in which is that it contains an attack on the Christian religion. It was written chiefly at Lausanne, in Switzerland, where he often stayed.

JOSIAH WEDGWOOD.

Born 1730.—Died 1795.—George II.—George III.

Born at Burslem, in Staffordshire, the son of a potter. Wedgwood had the merit of instituting an entirely new era in the manufacture of English pottery. By intelligent observation, the study of chemical appliances, and unwearied industry, he worked a complete revolution in the making, glazing, and painting of earthenware and china. His pottery-works in Staffordshire, ‘Etruria,’ became celebrated all over the world, and he earned for himself and his family great wealth as well as distinction. His delicate manufacture of embossing white figures on a coloured ground, called ‘_Wedgwood ware_,’ is well known and much prized. He first gave the impetus to the Staffordshire and other potteries which has enabled England to rival the first china manufactories in the world.

EDMUND BURKE,

Born 1728.—Died 1797.—George II.—George III.

Born in Dublin, was one of the most distinguished parliamentary orators ever known. He was in opposition during the Grafton Ministry (1769), but was afterwards drawn to Fox by the debates on the taxation of the American colonies, especially on tea, against which Burke made a famous speech (1771). He also supported Fox with all the splendour of his oratory under the Duke of Portland (1783). The grandest of all his speeches was said to be that against Warren Hastings, in whose impeachment he took a great part. He also spoke in the strongest way against the French Revolution, and by so doing separated himself from Fox (1791). Burke died in 1797. His writings are voluminous; the best known are his _Reflections upon the French Revolution_ and his _Discourse on the Sublime and Beautiful_. He lived (when in the country), died, and was buried at Beaconsfield, in Buckinghamshire, where “Burke’s Grove” is well known.

WILLIAM COWPER.

Born 1731.—Died 1800.—George II.—George III.

A poet, born at Berkhampstead, whose writings are full of the best and highest teaching. He is best known by _The Task_, _The Castaway_, and _Table Talk_; but his smaller poems, _On My Mother’s Picture_, _The Three Hares_, _John Gilpin_, etc., more fully show his sensibility, general kindness, and playful wit. He also translated the _Iliad_. Cowper’s blameless and useful life was darkened by fits of despondency and depression, which in the end nearly destroyed his mind; but the light of religion never failed him.

SIR RALPH ABERCROMBIE

Born 1738.—Died 1801.—George II.—George III.

This brave General was engaged against Napoleon I. in Holland and Egypt, and always maintained the fame of English arms. He won two battles at Aboukir, in Egypt, the last of which cost him his life. He fought on, though desperately wounded, till the battle was over.

LORD CORNWALLIS.

Born 1738.—Died 1805.—George II.—George III.

A soldier who first served under the Marquis of Granby in the Seven Years’ War in Germany. On the breaking out of the American war he was sent there, and at first was very successful, but in 1781 was obliged to surrender at York Town to the United American and French armies. In 1786 he was sent to India, where he took Bangalore and defeated Tippoo Sahib; on returning to England he was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and was instrumental in carrying out the Union of England and Ireland. He died of fever in India, whither he was sent as Governor General, on his way to join the army at Ghazepore.

HORATIO, LORD NELSON.

Born 1758.—Died 1805.—George II.—George III.

This most famous of all the English admirals was the son of the rector of Burnham Thorpe, in Norfolk, where he was born, and went to sea first as a midshipman in the _Raisonable_, 64 guns, then in a West Indiaman. He afterwards returned to the Royal Navy, and saw service in the Arctic Ocean, the West Indies, and South America. He was a Commodore at the battle of St. Vincent, when he first boarded the _San Nicholas_, jumping through the cabin window, and then sprang on to the _San Joseph_, crying, “Victory or Westminster Abbey!” In 1798 Nelson fought the battle of Aboukir near Alexandria, in Egypt. The French admiral’s ship, _L’Orient_, blew up, and only two French ships escaped. Nelson was immediately created ‘Lord Nelson of the Nile.’ In 1805 he hoisted his flag on board the _Victory_, and fought the battle of Trafalgar, between Cadiz and Gibraltar. When grappled to the _Redoutable_, whose rigging was full of sharpshooters, a shot was fired through Nelson’s shoulder and spine, and he died three hours afterwards, cheered by the news that the French were totally defeated.

WILLIAM PITT,

Born 1752.—Died 1806.—George II.—George III.

The second son of Lord Chatham, born at Hayes, in Kent, was a greater statesman even than his father. At the age of twenty-three he became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and was Prime Minister almost till his death. His eloquence was brilliant and startling, and in spite of opposition sneers, and the ridicule which nicknamed him “the ambitious young man,” and of being often in a minority, the support of the king (George III.) and of the country, who enthusiastically seconded his opposition to Napoleon Buonaparte and the First Empire, steadily maintained him in power, and he held his ground against Fox and the Coalition ministries. War was declared with France, against all that Fox, Sheridan, and Grey could advance. The battle of Trafalgar raised his hopes of peace, which the news of Austerlitz quenched; and being worn out with gout, toil, and anxieties, the great minister, as has been well said, “died of old age at forty-six,” after nineteen years of public service. He was so thoroughly beloved that the nation voted him a magnificent funeral, burial in Westminster Abbey, and £40,000 to pay his debts.

CHARLES JAMES FOX.

Born 1749.—Died 1806.—George II.—George III.

This great orator and statesman, the third son of the first Lord Holland, belonged to the opposite party in politics to Pitt, and they were continually at war throughout their public career,—Pitt representing the Tory, Fox the Whig party. Fox made his first speech in Parliament against John Wilkes, who at that time was always stirring up sedition and spreading his infidel opinions. The Fox and North coalitions broke up on an Indian Bill, and the one hundred and sixty supporters of Fox who lost their seats in the election that followed, were known as “Fox’s Martyrs.” Fox estranged Burke from him by his opposing the war with France, and thus tacitly supporting the French Revolution. After the death of Pitt, Fox again came into power under Lord Grenville, and his last acts were striving to put an end to slavery in the British dependencies, and bringing about peace with France. He was attacked with dropsy about seven months after the death of Pitt, at whose funeral he had spoken a noble eulogium on his great public rival.

MUNGO PARK.

Born 1771.—Died 1806.—George III.

Born near Selkirk, was the first modern traveller who penetrated into the heart of Africa. He went down the Niger, and after passing through a great variety of adventures and hardships, he was killed near Boussa.

SIR JOHN MOORE,

Born 1761.—Died 1809.—George II.—George III.

The son of a Dr. Moore, born at Glasgow, became a brave general. He was at the taking of St. Lucia with Abercrombie, was employed in the Irish rising, and fought in Egypt and Holland. While commanding an English army in Spain during the Peninsular war, he made his famous retreat on and was killed at Corunna.

RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN.

Born 1751.—Died 1816.—George II.—George III.

An Irishman, born in Dublin, whose wit, oratory, and parliamentary eloquence won him a dazzling reputation. He was the personal friend of Fox, and the companion of George IV. as Prince of Wales, but was always in debt and many difficulties. He was also celebrated as a dramatist, and wrote the comedies of _The Rivals_, _The School for Scandal_, the _Duenna_, and a play called _Pizarro_. But he is chiefly known by what are called his _bon mots_, or witty sayings, which are unrivalled. He died in London in extreme want.

WARREN HASTINGS.

Born 1732.—Died 1818.—George II.—George III.

This remarkable man, born in Worcestershire, went to India at seventeen, and after filling several important posts was made Governor General of India in 1773. His administration was famous for the submission of the formidable enemies of England, Hyder Ali and Tippoo Sahib; but his cruelties to the Begums (princesses) of Oude and in the Rohilla war were the subject of his impeachment and trial before the House of Lords in Westminster Hall. Sheridan pleaded the cause of the Begums in what has been reckoned the finest speech ever heard in modern times. Warren Hastings was acquitted, but he was a ruined man until the East India Company nobly pensioned him for life with £4,000 a-year, paid his debts, arid lent him £50,000 without interest. He died in retirement at the age of eighty-six.

JAMES WATT.

Born 1736.—Died 1819.—George II.—George III.

This celebrated mechanic and natural philosopher began life as a mathematical instrument maker, but having his attention very early called to the nature and power of steam, he directed all his energies to improvements in steam engines, and made important experiments and discoveries. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

JOHN KEATS.

Born 1796.—Died 1820.—George III.

A poet who, if he had lived a little later, would have been admired, praised, and had a school of imitators. As it was his sensibilities were so wounded by the severe criticisms made upon his poems that he fell into ill-health and died. His _Endymion_ is the poem by which he is best known, but his volume shows that he had the merit of being beforehand with the “Lake School” in freeing English poetry from artificial trammels and opening for it a wider and more natural spirit. He was a native of London.

SIR WILLIAM HERSCHEL.

Born 1738.—Died 1822.—George II.—George III.—George IV.

This great astronomer discovered a new planet, which he called _Georgium Sidus_, but which is now called _Herschel_. He erected an enormous telescope at Slough. His son, Sir John Herschel, continued his discoveries, and became one of the greatest astronomers yet known.

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY,

Born 1792.—Died 1822.—George III.—George IV.

A poet of the most extraordinary genius and imagination, was born in Sussex. Some of his writings are unfortunately tinged with infidelity and false beliefs. His translations from the Greek and longer poems are very beautiful, especially the _Prometheus Unbound_. Shelley was drowned in the Bay of Spezzia in Italy.

DR. JENNER.

Born 1749.—Died 1823.—George II.—George III.—George IV.

An English physician, celebrated as the discoverer of vaccination as a preventive of small-pox. Born at Berkeley, in Gloucestershire, he was educated at Cirencester school, and was for several years a pupil of the celebrated John Hunter. He was rewarded with several pensions as a recompense for his discoveries and disinterested labours.

JOHN KEMBLE.

Born 1757.—Died 1823.—George II.—George III.—George IV.

The greatest of a family of actors—John Philip, Stephen, Charles, and Mrs. Siddons,—whose father was proprietor of a provincial theatre. Kemble’s fine figure and splendid face were of great service in his personation of such characters as Coriolanus, Brutus, and Julius Cæsar; Hamlet was one of his favourite parts, which particularly suited his somewhat sad and severe features. The Kemble family raised the English stage to a perfection and dignity it has never since attained.

GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON.

Born 1788.—Died 1824.—George III.—George IV.

A poet, whose magnificent and musical language and passionate power conceal the want of principle and poverty of heart of most of his poems. _Childe Harold_ is the most celebrated of his works, _The Prisoner of Chillon_ and _The Bride of Abydos_, the best in aim. Lord Byron’s life was a bad one. He died at Missolonghi, in Greece.

MRS. BARBAULD.

B. 1743—D. 1825.—George II.—George III.—George IV.

Anna Letitia Aikin, daughter of Dr. Aikin, a writer and literary man. Mrs. Barbauld was the first writer of really appropriate stories for very young children, and her _Children’s Hymns in Prose_ will probably be known as long as the English language lasts.

JOHN FLAXMAN.

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

An eminent sculptor. He represented in marble the tragedies of Æschylus, 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 Institution 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 asserted 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 emancipation 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 Emancipation passed 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.

ROBERT SOUTHEY.

Born 1774.—Died 1843.—George III.—George IV.—William IV.—Victoria.

Poet Laureate, born at Bristol. His numerous works embrace many varieties of literature. In poetry the _Curse of Kehama_, _Thalaba_, and _Vision of Don Roderick_; in prose his _History of Brazil_, _The Doctor_, and the _Life of Nelson_, show his great learning and research, power of language, and variety of attainments.

THOMAS CAMPBELL.

Born 1777.—Died 1844.—George II.—George III.—William IV.—Victoria.

A poet and essayist. The _Pleasures of Hope_, _Gertrude of Wyoming_, _Exile of Erin_, and _Mariners of England_, are universally known and admired.

MRS. ELIZABETH FRY,

Born 1780.—Died 1845.—George III.—George IV.—William IV.—Victoria.

Was the third daughter of Mr. John Gurney of Norwich. She is well known for her life devoted to works of philanthropy, and chiefly for her memorable labours for the reformation of female prisoners. Her earliest endeavours were made in Newgate prison, and the reforms introduced there under her influence were extended to all the other prisons in the kingdom. In the pursuit of her object she visited the chief cities of Europe, where she met with warm sympathy and encouragement. Her energies were always at the service of the sufferers and the wretched of every class.

DANIEL O’CONNELL.

Born 1775.—Died 1845.—George III.—George IV. William IV.—Victoria.

This famous Irish political agitator was born in Kerry, and educated at St. Omer’s, in France. He was called to the bar in 1798, and elected member for Clare in 1828. In spite of the continued opposition of George IV., Irish agitation through O’Connell urged the Government to pass the Catholic Relief Bill, which was done in 1829, and one of the king’s last reluctant acts was to sign it. O’Connell supported the Government in the passing of the Reform Bill, but came into collision with Earl Grey upon the Irish Coercion Bill (1837). He foolishly began an “agitation” for the Repeal of the Union (1843), and was arrested on a charge of sedition, found guilty, and condemned to pay a fine of £2,000 and suffer two years’ imprisonment. The House of Lords, however, guided by the discernment and firmness of Lord Lyndhurst, reversed the decision and set O’Connell free. He went abroad in broken health, and died at Genoa in 1847.

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.

Born 1786.—Died 1847.—George III.—George IV.—William IV.—Victoria.

When Captain Franklin this brave and persevering explorer went out to discover the north-west passage, and after several expeditions to the North and Polar seas, he started on a last Polar voyage, from which he never returned. In 1859 Captain Maclure went out on the same track, and found that Sir John Franklin had preceded him by five years in his discoveries, and been lost in the attempt.

MARIA EDGEWORTH.

Born 1767.—Died 1849.—George III.—George IV.—William IV.—Victoria.

This accomplished woman wrote a number of useful and educational tales, for which the children of many generations owe her a debt of gratitude. Her _Frank_, _Rosamond_, _Harry and Lucy_, _Moral_, _Popular_, _and Fashionable Tales_, _Patronage_, _Belinda_, _Harrington and Ormond_, etc., are all written with a purpose of instruction that is admirably carried out. Her last and most beautiful story, _Helen_, shows the wretched consequences of departing from truth.

SIR ROBERT PEEL.

Born 1788.—Died 1850.—George III.—George IV.—William IV.—Victoria.