1.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
2.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
3.
Twickenham
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Twickenham is a leafy suburban area of south west London, on the River Thames in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames 10 miles southwest of the centre of London. It has a town centre and is famous as being the home of rugby union, with hundreds of thousands of spectators visiting Twickenham Stadium. The historic riverside area is famous for its network of 18th-century buildings and pleasure grounds and this area has three grand period mansions with public access, York House, Marble Hill and Strawberry Hill House. Another has been lost, that belonging to 18th-century aphoristic poet Alexander Pope, excavations have revealed settlements in the area dating from the Early Neolithic, possibly Mesolithic periods. Occupation seems to have continued through the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the area was first mentioned in an 8th-century charter to cede the area to Waldhere, Bishop of London, for the salvation of our souls. The charter, dated 13 June 704, is signed with 12 crosses, the signatories included Swaefred of Essex, Cenred of Mercia and Earl Paeogthath. In Norman times Twickenham was part of the Manor of Isleworth – itself part of the Hundred of Hounslow, Middlesex. The manor had belonged to Ælfgār, Earl of Mercia in the time of Edward the Confessor, the area was then farmed for several hundred years, while the river provided opportunities for fishing, boatbuilding and trade. Bubonic plague spread to the town in 1665 and 67 deaths were recorded and it appears that Twickenham had a pest house in the 17th century, although the location is not known. In 1633 construction began on York House and it was occupied by Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester in 1656 and later by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. 1659 saw the first mention of the Twickenham Ferry, although ferrymen had already operating in the area for many generations. Sometime before 1743 a pirate ferry appears to have started by Twickenham inhabitants. There is speculation that it operated to serve The Folly, a floating hostelry of some kind, several residents wrote to the Lord Mayor of the City of London. In 1713 the nave of the ancient St Marys Church collapsed, the process generates an extremely unpleasant smell, which caused objections from local residents. The area was soon home to the worlds first industrial production facility for gunpowder. There were frequent explosions and loss of life, on 11 March 1758, one of two explosions was felt in Reading, Berkshire, and in April 1774 another explosion terrified people at church in Isleworth. In 1772 three mills blew up, shattering glass and buildings in the neighbourhood, the powder mills remained in operation until 1927 when they were closed. Much of the site is now occupied by Crane Park, in which the old Shot Tower, mill sluices, much of the area along the river next to the Shot Tower is now a nature reserve
4.
Middlesex
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Middlesex is a historic county in south-east England. It is now entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and its area is now also mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in other neighbouring ceremonial counties. It was established in the Anglo-Saxon system from the territory of the Middle Saxons, the largely low-lying county, dominated by clay in its north and alluvium on gravel in its south, was the second smallest county by area in 1831. The City of London was a county in its own right from the 12th century and was able to exert control over Middlesex. Westminster Abbey dominated most of the financial, judicial and ecclesiastical aspects of the county. As London grew into Middlesex, the Corporation of London resisted attempts to expand the city boundaries into the county, in the 18th and 19th centuries the population density was especially high in the southeast of the county, including the East End and West End of London. From 1855 the southeast was administered, with sections of Kent and Surrey, the City of London, and Middlesex, became separate counties for other purposes and Middlesex regained the right to appoint its own sheriff, lost in 1199. In the interwar years suburban London expanded further, with improvement and expansion of public transport, after the Second World War, the population of the County of London and inner Middlesex was in steady decline, with high population growth continuing in the outer parts. Since 1965 various areas called Middlesex have been used for cricket, Middlesex was the former postal county of 25 post towns. The name means territory of the middle Saxons and refers to the origin of its inhabitants. The word is formed from the Anglo-Saxon, i. e. Old English, middel, in an 8th-century charter the region is recorded as Middleseaxon and in 704 it is recorded as Middleseaxan. The Saxons derived their name from seax, a kind of knife for which they were known, the seax has a lasting symbolic impact in the English counties of Essex and Middlesex, both of which feature three seaxes in their ceremonial emblem. Their names, along with those of Sussex and Wessex, contain a remnant of the word Saxon, there were settlements in the area of Middlesex that can be traced back thousands of years before the creation of a county. Middlesex was formerly part of the Kingdom of Essex It was recorded in the Domesday Book as being divided into the six hundreds of Edmonton, Elthorne, Gore, Hounslow, Ossulstone and Spelthorne. The City of London has been self-governing since the century and became a county in its own right. Middlesex also included Westminster, which also had a degree of autonomy. Of the six hundreds, Ossulstone contained the districts closest to the City of London, during the 17th century it was divided into four divisions, which, along with the Liberty of Westminster, largely took over the administrative functions of the hundred. The divisions were named Finsbury, Holborn, Kensington and Tower, the county had parliamentary representation from the 13th century
5.
St Mary's Church, Twickenham
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St Marys, Twickenham, is a Grade II* listed Church of England place of worship dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin in Church Street, Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The parish church stands a short distance from York House and the banks of the River Thames, the church stands on the site of an earlier one and incorporates its 15th-century medieval tower. On 9 April 1713 the ancient churchs 14th-century nave collapsed, the painter Godfrey Kneller was a churchwarden of St Marys at the time and was active in the plans for reconstruction in the Neo-classical style by the local architect John James. Soe he preached there and exhorted al to giv thanks for thear great deleverenc for the church not falling when they wear in it, it being then standing. The people all laughed at him, and in a time it fell to the ground. Inside the 18th-century church some older monuments have survived from the nave, including a brass to Richard Burton, the Kings chief cook. On 20 June 1721 Dr Pratt baptised at the church James Shandayes and John Twogood and they were followed in 1747 by Henry Fieldings son William. Hallam Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the 18th-century nave of the church is in red brick with Tuscan pilasters and pediments. Following the reconstruction of 1713–14, the church was enlarged in 1754 and contains fittings of the period, including a reredos. The tower has a ring of eight bells, of which one dates from the early 16th century, like the ancient church on the site, the present one began life as the parish church for the whole of Twickenham. As these came into being, the parish of St Marys became smaller, a year later he was joined by the remains of his brother Lord Berkeley, one of the Lords Proprietor of New Jersey. The brothers are commemorated in a window in the present church. Sir Godfrey Kneller died in 1723 and his remains were entombed in the church, famous actress and soprano singer Kitty Clive was buried in the churchyard in 1785. A plaque to her memory was affixed to the wall in the north-east angle of the church chancel. General William Tryon, a soldier who served as governor of the Province of North Carolina, at the north-east corner of the church, in the graveyard, are memorials to the tea merchant Thomas Twining and the actress Kitty Clive. Martha Bruce, Countess of Elgin and Kincardine, former governess of Princess Charlotte of Wales, was buried at St Marys on 4 July 1810. The funeral of Neil Aspinall, head of The Beatles company Apple Corps and sometimes called the fifth Beatle, took place at the church in 2008, although Aspinall was buried at Teddington
6.
An Essay on Criticism
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An Essay on Criticism is one of the first major poems written by the English writer Alexander Pope. It is the source of the famous quotations To err is human, to divine and A little learning is a dangrous thing. It first appeared in 1711 after having written in 1709. The poem covers a range of criticism and advice. Despite the harmful effects of bad criticism, literature requires worthy criticism, Pope delineates common faults of poets, e. g. Throughout the poem, Pope refers to ancient writers such as Virgil, Homer, Aristotle, Horace and this is a testament to his belief that the Imitation of the ancients is the ultimate standard for taste. Pope also says, True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, / As those move easiest who have learned to dance, meaning poets are made, as is usual in Popes poems, the Essay concludes with a reference to Pope himself. Walsh, the last of the mentioned, was a mentor. An Essay on Criticism was famously and fiercely attacked by John Dennis, consequently, Dennis also appears in Popes later satire, The Dunciad. Part II of An Essay on Criticism includes a famous couplet, A little learning is a thing, Drink deep. This is in reference to the spring in the Pierian Mountains in Macedonia, the first line of this couplet is often misquoted as a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. The Essay also gives this famous line, To err is human, the phrase fools rush in where angels fear to tread from Part III has become part of the popular lexicon, and has been used for and in various works
7.
The Rape of the Lock
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The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope. Pope boasted that this more than three thousand copies in its first four days. The final form of the poem appeared in 1717 with the addition of Clarissas speech on good humour, the poem was much translated and contributed to the growing popularity of mock-heroic in Europe. The poem satirises a minor incident by comparing it to the world of the gods. It was based on an incident recounted by Popes friend. Petre, lusting after Arabella, had cut off a lock of her hair without permission, Pope, also a Catholic, wrote the poem at the request of friends in an attempt to comically merge the two. He utilised the character Belinda to represent Arabella and introduced a system of sylphs, or guardian spirits of virgins. Pope derived his sylphs from the 17th-century French Rosicrucian novel Comte de Gabalis, Pope, writing pseudonymously as Esdras Barnivelt, published A Key to the Lock in 1714 as a humorous warning against taking the poem too seriously. Pope’s poem uses the traditional high stature of classical epics to emphasise the triviality of the incident. The abduction of Helen of Troy becomes here the theft of a lock of hair, the gods become minute sylphs, the description of Achilles’ shield becomes an excursus on one of Belindas petticoats. He also uses the style of invocations, lamentations, exclamations and similes. Although the poem is humorous at times, Pope keeps a sense that beauty is fragile, as his introductory letter makes clear, women in that period were essentially supposed to be decorative rather than rational, and the loss of beauty was a serious matter. The humour of the poem comes from the storm in a teacup being couched within the elaborate and it is a satire on contemporary society which showcases the lifestyle led by some people of that age. Pope arguably satirises it from within rather than looking down judgmentally on the characters, Belindas legitimate rage is thus alleviated and tempered by her good humour, as directed by the character Clarissa. Pope added to the edition the following dedicatory letter to Mrs. Arabella Fermor, Madam. Yet you may bear me witness, it was intended only to divert a few young Ladies, who have good sense and good enough to laugh not only at their sexs little unguarded follies. But as it was communicated with the air of a secret and these Machines I determined to raise on a very new and odd foundation, the Rosicrucian doctrine of Spirits. The Rosicrucians are the people I must bring you acquainted with, according to these gentlemen, the four elements are inhabited by spirits, which they call Sylphs, Gnomes, Nymphs, and Salamanders
8.
The Dunciad
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The Dunciad /ˈdʌnsi. æd/ is a landmark literary satire by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times from 1728 to 1743. The poem celebrates a goddess Dulness and the progress of her agents as they bring decay, imbecility. The first version—the three book Dunciad—was published in 1728 anonymously, the second version, the Dunciad Variorum was published anonymously in 1729. Theobalds edition of Shakespeare was not, however, as imperfect as The Dunciad would suggest, it was, in fact, designed not only to correct the said edition, but to restore the true reading of Shakespeare in all the editions ever yet published. Pope had written characters of the various Dunces prior to 1728, in his Essay on Criticism, Pope describes some critics of a witless nature. In his various Moral Epistles, Pope likewise constructs characters of authors of poor taste. The general structure owes its origins to the project of the Scriblerians and other similar works such as the mock-heroic MacFlecknoe by John Dryden. The Scriblerian club most consistently comprised Jonathan Swift, John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Robert Harley, the group met during the spring and summer of 1714. The resulting The Memoirs of Martin Scriblerus contained a number of parodies of the most lavish mistakes in scholarship, for the mock-heroic structure of the Dunciad itself, however, the idea seems to have come most clearly from MacFlecknoe. MacFlecknoe is a poem celebrating the apotheosis of Thomas Shadwell, whom Dryden nominates as the dullest poet of the age, Shadwell is the spiritual son of Flecknoe, an obscure Irish poet of low fame, and he takes his place as the favourite of the goddess Dulness. Pope takes this idea of the goddess of Dulness being at war with reason, darkness at war with light. His poem celebrates a war, rather than a victory, and a process of ignorance. Jean-Pierre de Crousaz who wrote a commentary on Popes Essay on Man found that Pope had reserved a place for him in the Dunciad. Pope first published The Dunciad in 1728 in three books, with Lewis Theobald as its hero, the poem was not signed, and he used only initials in the text to refer to the various Dunces in the kingdom of Dulness. However, Keys immediately came out to identify the figures mentioned in the text, additionally, the men attacked by Pope also wrote angry denunciations of the poem, attacking Popes poetry and person. Pope endured attacks from, among others, George Duckett, Thomas Burnet, in 1729, Pope published an acknowledged edition of the poem, and the Dunciad Variorum appeared in 1732. The Variorum was substantially the text as the 1729 edition. In these prefatory materials, Pope points out that the Keys were often wrong about the allusions and he says that he wishes to avoid elevating the targets of the satire by mentioning their names, but he similarly did not want innocents to be mistaken for the targets
9.
Homer
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Homer is the name ascribed by the ancient Greeks to the semi-legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of Greek literature. The Odyssey focuses on the home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca. Many accounts of Homers life circulated in classical antiquity, the most widespread being that he was a bard from Ionia. The modern scholarly consensus is that these traditions do not have any historical value, the Homeric question - by whom, when, where and under what circumstances were the Iliad and Odyssey composed - continues to be debated. Broadly speaking, modern scholarly opinion on the authorship question falls into two camps, one group holds that most of the Iliad and the Odyssey is the work of a single poet of genius. The other considers the Homeric poems to be the crystallization of a process of working and re-working by many contributors and it is generally accepted that the poems were composed at some point around the late eighth or early seventh century B. C. Most researchers believe that the poems were transmitted orally. The Homeric epics were the greatest influence on ancient Greek culture and education, to Plato, the chronological period of Homer depends on the meaning to be assigned to the word Homer. Was Homer a single person, an imaginary person representing a group of poets and this information is often called the world of Homer. The Homeric period would in that cover a number of historical periods, especially the Mycenaean Age. Considered word-for-word, the texts as we know them are the product of the scholars of the last three centuries. Each edition of the Iliad or Odyssey is a different, as the editors rely on different manuscripts and fragments. The term accuracy reveals a belief in an original uniform text. The manuscripts of the work currently available date to no earlier than the 10th century. These are at the end of a missing thousand-year chain of copies made as each generation of manuscripts disintegrated or were lost or destroyed and these numerous manuscripts are so similar that a single original can be postulated. The time gap in the chain is bridged by the scholia, or notes, on the existing manuscripts, librarian of the Library of Alexandria, he had noticed a wide divergence in the works attributed to Homer, and was trying to restore a more authentic copy. He had collected several manuscripts, which he named, the Sinopic, the one he selected for correction was the koine, which Murray translates as the Vulgate. Aristarchus was known for his selection of material
10.
William Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
11.
Godfrey Kneller
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Kneller was born Gottfried Kniller in the Free City of Lübeck, the son of Zacharias Kniller, a portrait painter. Kneller studied in Leiden, but became a pupil of Ferdinand Bol, the brothers came to England in 1676, and won the patronage of the Duke of Monmouth. He was introduced to, and painted a portrait of, Charles II, in England, Kneller concentrated almost entirely on portraiture. His portraits set a pattern that was followed until William Hogarth, nevertheless, he established himself as a leading portrait artist in England. When Sir Peter Lely died in 1680, Kneller was appointed Principal Painter to the Crown by Charles II, in the 1690s, Kneller painted the Hampton Court Beauties depicting the most glamorous ladies-in-waiting of the Royal Court for which he received his knighthood from William III. He produced a series of Kit-cat portraits of 48 leading politicians and his paintings were praised by Whig luminaries such as John Dryden, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and Alexander Pope. On the landing in Horsham Museum hang works of art from the Museums extensive painting collection, featuring a large 18th-century portrait of Charles Eversfield and his wife, in the painting Eversfield is giving his wife some violets which signifies fidelity, love and honesty. It is likely that the picture was cut down at some time as it was unusual to stop just below the knee and he married a widow, Susanna Grave, on 23 January 1704 at St Brides Church, London. She was the daughter of the Reverend John Cawley, Archdeacon of Lincoln and Rector of Henley-on-Thames, Kneller died of fever in 1723 at Great Queen Street and his remains were interred at Twickenham. He had been a churchwarden at St Marys, Twickenham when the 14th-century nave collapsed in 1713 and was active in the plans for the reconstruction by John James. His widow was buried at Twickenham on 11 December 1729, a memorial was erected in Westminster Abbey. Knellers will gave a pension of £100 a year to his assistant Edward Byng, Byng also inherited the drawings in Knellers studio. Kneller and his wife had no children together, the site of the house Kneller built in 1709 in Whitton, near Twickenham, became occupied by the mid-19th century Kneller Hall, home of the Royal Military School of Music. As to thinking better or worse of mankind from experience, some cunning people will not be satisfied unless they have put men to the test, there is a very good story told of Sir Godfrey Kneller, in his character of a Justice of the peace. In his hometown Lübeck there are works to be seen in the St. Annen Museum and his former works at St. Marys Church were destroyed by the Bombing of Lübeck 1942. A large oil portrait of James VII of Scotland hangs on the staircase of private members Club, The Caledonian Club, in Belgravia
12.
Lombard Street, London
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Lombard Street, London, is a street notable for its connections with the City of Londons merchant, banking and insurance industries, stretching back to medieval times. Its overall length is 260 metres and it has often been compared with Wall Street in New York City. Lombard Street, since the construction of King William Street, has two distinctive sections, the short section between Bank junction and the church of St Mary Woolnoth is spacious and carries two-way traffic including several bus routes, which continues along King William Street. Lombard Street bears to the east and the remainder is much narrower and is one-way, at the eastern end of the street, a number of modern buildings exist on both sides, in contrast to the older buildings and architectural styles along much of its length. Addresses on the street are numbered 1 to 40 along the side, running from Bank to Gracechurch Street, then 41 to 82 along the north side. The postcode for the street is EC3V, the nearest London Underground stations to Lombard Street are Bank and Monument, with one of the numerous entrances to Bank station being situated on Lombard Street itself. Mainline railway stations at Cannon Street and Fenchurch Street are also close by, the street runs downhill towards Bank, being on the eastern side of the Walbrook valley. At its junction with Gracechurch Street it is at an elevation of 16.7 metres, side streets and alleys run towards Cornhill to the north, and Cannon Street to the south. Running north is Popes Head Alley, Change Alley, Birchin Lane, heading south is St Swithins Lane, Post Office Court, Abchurch Lane, Nicholas Lane, Clements Lane and Plough Court. Lombard Street has its origins in one of the main Roman roads of Londinium and it later formed a plot of land granted by King Edward I to goldsmiths from the part of northern Italy known as Lombardy. In 1537 Sir Richard Gresham suggested to Lord Privy Seal, Thomas Cromwell that they make a goodely Bursse in Lombert-streete, from this originated the Royal Exchange built by Sir Richards son, Thomas. Lloyds Coffee House, which became the global insurance market Lloyds of London. The location, on the side of the street, is now occupied at street level by a supermarket. Lloyds is now located in Lime Street, where its current building was completed in 1986, until the 1980s, most UK-based banks had their head offices in Lombard Street and historically it has been the London home for money lenders. No.54 was the headquarters of Barclays before the financial institution moved in 2005 to One Churchill Place at Canary Wharf. No.71 was the headquarters of Lloyds Bank, and No.60 was the headquarters of the Trustee Savings Bank, Lombard Street has a number of colourful signs hanging from the buildings, depicting organisations and buildings once located there. Having previously been banned, the signs were erected for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902. From 1678 to 1829, the General Post Office had its headquarters on Lombard Street, the expense of continuously expanding the post office site in the middle of the financial district, however, eventually necessitated a move to St Martins-le-Grand
13.
Samuel Cooper
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Samuel Cooper, sometimes spelt as Samuel Cowper, was an English miniature painter, and younger brother of Alexander Cooper. He is believed to have born in London, and was a nephew of John Hoskins. He lived in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, and frequented the Covent Garden Coffee-House, Samuel Pepys, who makes many references to him, tells us he was an excellent musician, playing well upon the lute, and also a good linguist, speaking French with ease. According to other writers, he was a short, stout man. He married one Christiana, whose portrait is at Welbeck Abbey, christianas sister Edith was the mother of Alexander Pope. In 1668 he was instructed by Pepys to paint a portrait of Mrs Pepys and he is known to have painted also the portrait of John Aubrey, which was presented in 1691 to the Ashmolean Museum. From his correspondence with John Ray, the naturalist, evelyn refers to him in 1662, when, on the occasion of the visit that the diarist paid to the king, Cooper was drawing the royal face and head for the new coinage. Examples of his work are to be found at Windsor Castle, Belvoir Castle, Montague House, Welbeck Abbey, Ham House and his largest miniature is in the possession of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon at Goodwood. A piece of the handwriting is to be seen at the back of one of his miniatures in the Welbeck Abbey collection. His own portrait of himself is in the collection of Mr J. Pierpont Morgan, mary Beales reference to his decease is in the following words, Sunday, May 5,1672 Mr Samuel Cooper, the most famous limner of the world for a face, dyed. He is buried in Old St Pancras Church in London and his baroque memorial lies on the far east wall of the church. According to the art historian George Charles Williamson, There is urgent demand for a memoir of Samuel Cooper, the details of his life are hardly known. Williamson, History of Portrait Miniatures, Volume 1 p.64,16 Painting by or after Samuel Cooper at the Art UK site From John Hoskins to Samuel Cooper. Attribution, This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Williamson. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Graves. London, Smith, Elder & Co. p.148
14.
Test Act
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The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformists. In practice nonconformists were often exempted from some of these laws through the passage of Acts of Indemnity. After 1800 they were enforced, except at Oxbridge, where nonconformists. The Tory government repealed them in 1828 with little controversy, the Corporation Act of James I provided that all such as were naturalized or restored in blood should receive the sacrament of the Lords Supper. It was not, however, until the reign of Charles II that actually receiving communion in the Church of England was made a precondition for holding public office and this act was followed by the Test Act of 1673. The correct date using modern terminology is 1673, the effect of this was to exclude Catholics from both houses, and in particular the Five Popish Lords from the House of Lords, a change motivated largely by the alleged Popish Plot. Sir Robert Peel took the lead for the government in the repeal, committees for the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, the minutes of two committees for the repeal of the Act. First published by the London Record Society, available as part of British History Online
15.
Christian state
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Historically, the nations of Armenia, Aksum, Georgia, as well as the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire declared themselves as Christian states. A Christian state stands in contrast to a state, an atheist state, or another religious state. In 380 AD, the Edict of Thessalonica made the Roman Empire a Christian state, establishing Nicene Christianity, in the form of its State Church, as its official religion. After its fall, under the emperor Justinian, the Byzantine Empire became the worlds predominant Christian state, based on Roman law, Greek culture, and the Greek language. John Binns describes this era, writing that, As a Christian state, Armenia embraced Christianity as the religion of the King, the nobles, in 337 AD, following the conversion of Mirian and Nana, the country of Georgia became a Christian state. In the 4th century AD, the Kingdom of Aksum, after Ezanas conversion to the faith, the constitution of Costa Rica states that The Roman Catholic and Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State. As such, Catholic Christian holy days are recognized by the government and public schools provide religious education, although parents are able to opt-out their children if they choose to do so. As early as the 11th century AD, Denmark was considered to be a Christian state, with the Church of Denmark, a member of the Lutheran World Federation, being the state church. Wasif Shadid, a professor at Leiden University writes that,82. 1% of the population of Denmark are members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark. Barbara Yorke writes that the Carolingian Renaissance heightened appreciation within England of the role of king, greece is a Christian state, with the Greek Orthodox Church playing a dominant role in the life of the country. Around 1000 AD, Iceland became a Christian state, the Encyclopedia of Protestantism states that, All public schools have mandatory education in Christianity, although an exemption may be considered by the Minister of Education. Liechtensteins constitution designates the Catholic Church as being the state Church of that country, in public schools, per article 16 of the Constitution of Liechtenstein, religious education is given by Church authorities. Section Two of the Constitution of Malta specifies the states religion as being the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion, article 9 of the Constitution of Monaco describes La religion catholique, apostolique et romaine as the religion of the state. The modern Constitution of Norway stipulates that The Church of Norway, as such, the Norwegian constitution decrees that Lutheranism is the official religion of the State and that the King is the supreme temporal head of the Church. The Church of Norway is responsible for the maintenance of church buildings, john T. Flint writes that Over 90 percent of the population are married by state church clergymen, have their children baptized and confirmed, and finally are buried with a church service. Tonga became a Christian state under George Tupou I in the 19th century, with the Free Wesleyan Church, under the rule of George I, there was established a rigorous constitutional clause regulating observation of the Sabbath. The Church of Tuvalu, a Reformed Church in the Congregationalist tradition, is the church of Tuvalu and was established as such in 1991. The Constitution of Tuvalu identifies Tuvalu as an independent State based on Christian principles
16.
Church of England
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The Church of England is the state church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior cleric, although the monarch is the supreme governor, the Church of England is also the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It dates its establishment as a church to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury. The English church renounced papal authority when Henry VIII sought to secure an annulment from Catherine of Aragon in the 1530s, the English Reformation accelerated under Edward VIs regents before a brief restoration of papal authority under Queen Mary I and King Philip. This is expressed in its emphasis on the teachings of the early Church Fathers, as formalised in the Apostles, Nicene, in the earlier phase of the English Reformation there were both Catholic martyrs and radical Protestant martyrs. The later phases saw the Penal Laws punish Roman Catholic and nonconforming Protestants, in the 17th century, political and religious disputes raised the Puritan and Presbyterian faction to control of the church, but this ended with the Restoration. Papal recognition of George III in 1766 led to religious tolerance. Since the English Reformation, the Church of England has used a liturgy in English, the church contains several doctrinal strands, the main three known as Anglo-Catholic, Evangelical and Broad Church. Tensions between theological conservatives and progressives find expression in debates over the ordination of women and homosexuality, the church includes both liberal and conservative clergy and members. The governing structure of the church is based on dioceses, each presided over by a bishop, within each diocese are local parishes. The General Synod of the Church of England is the body for the church and comprises bishops, other clergy. Its measures must be approved by both Houses of Parliament, according to tradition, Christianity arrived in Britain in the 1st or 2nd century, during which time southern Britain became part of the Roman Empire. The earliest historical evidence of Christianity among the native Britons is found in the writings of such early Christian Fathers as Tertullian, three Romano-British bishops, including Restitutus, are known to have been present at the Council of Arles in 314. Others attended the Council of Sardica in 347 and that of Ariminum in 360, Britain was the home of Pelagius, who opposed Augustine of Hippos doctrine of original sin. Consequently, in 597, Pope Gregory I sent the prior of the Abbey of St Andrews from Rome to evangelise the Angles and this event is known as the Gregorian mission and is the date the Church of England generally marks as the beginning of its formal history. A later archbishop, the Greek Theodore of Tarsus, also contributed to the organisation of Christianity in England, the Church of England has been in continuous existence since the days of St Augustine, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its episcopal head. Despite the various disruptions of the Reformation and the English Civil War, while some Celtic Christian practices were changed at the Synod of Whitby, the Christian Church in the British Isles was under papal authority from earliest times. The Synod of Whitby established the Roman date for Easter and the Roman style of monastic tonsure in Britain and this meeting of the ecclesiastics with Roman customs with local bishops was summoned in 664 at Saint Hildas double monastery of Streonshalh, later called Whitby Abbey
17.
William Hoare
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William Hoare of Bath RA was an English portraitist, painter and printmaker. From c.1740 to 1759, he was the leading oil portraitist at Bath, Somerset, noted for his pastels, he was a foundation member of the Royal Academy. Born near Eye, Suffolk, Hoare received an education in Faringdon. He showed an aptitude for drawing and was sent to London to study under Giuseppe Grisoni, when Grisoni returned to Italy in 1728, Hoare went with him, travelling to Rome and continuing his studies under the direction of Francesco Imperiali. He remained in Rome for nine years, returning to London in 1737/8, failing to establish himself in London, Hoare settled in Bath, an expanding spa town popular with the wealthier classes. He obtained numerous commissions, the most important being for official portraits of leaders of the day. There are several versions of most of these, suggesting that he had a studio, Hoare himself was a delicate etcher and published a number of private plates, mostly of family and friends, including a Miss Hoare, Christopher Anstey and the 3rd Duke of Beaufort. His pastels were influenced by Rosalba Carriera, william Hoare was the first fashionable portraitist to settle in Bath, and he remained as the leading portraitist there until the arrival of Thomas Gainsborough in 1759. He remained the favourite of his patron the Duke of Newcastle, his family, followers. Included amongst his other important patrons were the Earls of Pembroke and Chesterfield, with Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, he was a founding member of the Royal Academy. Hoare was closely involved with the running of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital in Bath from 1742 and he served as a governor of the hospital. And became acquainted with Baths notable visitors and the landed families. Chalmers described him as an ingenious and amiable English painter and he died at Bath on 12 December 1792. His son, Prince Hoare, achieved fame as a painter, holbrook, M. Painters in Bath in the eighteenth century. William Hoare of Bath RA, 1707–92, dr Oliver and Mr Peirce Examining Patients
18.
Popeswood
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Popeswood is a village in Berkshire, England, near Bracknell. The village is within the parish of Binfield approximately 1.5 miles west of Bracknell. The main part of Popeswood lies north of the B3408 west of Temple Park and south of Binfield village and it is named after the poet Alexander Pope who lived in Popes Manor, then called Whitehill House, between 1700 and 1715. More information on Popes time in the area can be found in the Binfield article, nearby Popes Meadow is a countryside park that offers recreational facilities with open grassland, ponds, copse and veteran oak trees. Newbold College, a Seventh-day Adventist college, is located within Popeswood, marks Church and The Roebuck public house. Along London Road, the B3408, there are a post office, a garage and a number of small businesses
19.
Binfield
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Binfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest borough of Berkshire, England. According to the 2011 census it has a population of 8,689, the village lies 2 miles north-west of Bracknell,3 miles north-east of Wokingham,8 miles south east of Reading and is located on the western most extremity of the Greater London Urban Area. The name is derived from the Old English beonet + feld, the local hundred of Beynhurst has a similar derivation. Billingbear is the portion of Binfield parish, although Billingbear Park, near Shurlock Row, is over the border. The Stag and Hounds was reportedly used as a lodge by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. John Constable spent his honeymoon at the Rectory in 1816 and sketched All Saints Church twice and it is also said to have been a refuge for a number of Parliamentary soldiers during the Civil War. The lodge became an inn in 1727. The 18th-century travel writer, William Cobbett, once stayed there and he called nearby Bracknell a bleak and desolate place. All Saints Church is mostly mid-19th century, but has some ancient fittings, of particular note is the 17th century hourglass and elaborate iron stand. It features the arms of the Farriers Company of London, the famous poet, Alexander Pope, lived at Popes Manor in Popeswood and sang in the church choir as a boy in the early 1700s. Binfield Manor was built in 1754 by Sir William Pitt at a cost of £36,000 and it is currently owned by the Sultan of Brunei. The famous mathematician James Doran also originates from Binfield, in the 16th century, Reading was the tenth richest town in the country and the Abbots of Reading Abbey established a country seat at Elm Grove. Although the house has since rebuilt, the street name Monk’s Alley survives from that association. White Gate, opposite, is a significant hall house dates from the 15th century, the Luck of Binfield always hung in Binfield Place, a mostly Jacobean Manor with a mysteriously missing wing. It was a 17th-century bas-relief of a head, said to pour misfortune upon any owner who removes it. The grounds of the manor are used every summer for a party for locals. In the mid-19th century the house was used for at least 35 years as a small school, in 1928 it was purchased by Lady Knox who with her husband Major General Knox rebuilt and greatly extended the house under the guidance of the architect Nugent Cachemaille-Day. Binfield House was sold in 1974 to the then Bracknell District Council, previously, the house may have been called Wyhtwicks after its builder
20.
Windsor Great Park
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Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of 2020 hectares, including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. The park was, for centuries, the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle. Historically the park covered an area many times the known as Windsor Forest. The park is managed and funded by the Crown Estate, most parts of the park are open to the public, free of charge, from dawn to dusk, although there is a charge to enter Savill Garden. The park is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks, the Great Park is a gently undulating area of varied landscape. It has sweeping deer lawns, small woods, coverts and areas covered by huge solitary ancient oak trees, there is a small river in the north of the park called the Battle Bourne running to the Thames near Datchet. The River Bourne runs through a number of ponds to the south, chief amongst these are Great Meadow Pond and Obelisk Pond, near the great lake of Virginia Water. The most prominent hill is Snow Hill and the avenue of trees known as the Long Walk runs between here and Windsor Castle, the main Sheet Street Road into Windsor runs through the north-east of the park. On the western side of the park is The Village, built in the 1930s to house Royal estate workers, other buildings include the Royal Lodge, Cumberland Lodge, the Cranbourne Tower and Norfolk Farm. The park lies mostly within the parish of Old Windsor, though the eastern regions are in the Borough of Runnymede and there are small areas in the parishes of Winkfield. Areas associated with or attached to the Great Park, but not officially within its borders include the Home Park, Mote Park, Flemish Farm, Cranbourne Chase, Forest Lodge, the modern enclosed Deer Park is at the northern end of the Great Park. It is home to a herd of semi-wild deer, reflecting the original medieval purpose of the park. The Long Walk runs south from Windsor Castle to the 1829 Copper Horse statue of King George III atop Snow Hill where there are views of the castle. It is 2.65 miles from George IV Gateway at Windsor Castle to The Copper Horse, other equestrian statues in the park include one of the Prince Consort, to the west of the polo grounds, and one of Queen Elizabeth II near the Village. The Royal Lodge was built in the centre of the park as the Deputy Rangers house and it was made in to a retreat for the Prince Regent from 1812, but was largely pulled down after his death. The remains were renovated, in the 1930s, as a home for the Duke and Duchess of York before their accession as George VI and it is now the official residence of the Prince Andrew, Duke of York and not accessible by the public. The Royal Chapel of All Saints was built after the chapels of the Royal, the chapel was built in 1825 by Jeffry Wyattville and regularly used by George IV during the refurbishment of Windsor Castle. It was later remodelled in the Gothic Revival style by Samuel Sanders Teulon, Queen Victoria often attended the chapel as did the Duke and Duchess of York before their accession as George VI and Queen Elizabeth
21.
Horace
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Quintus Horatius Flaccus, known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus. Horace also crafted elegant hexameter verses and caustic iambic poetry and his career coincided with Romes momentous change from a republic to an empire. An officer in the army defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, he was befriended by Octavians right-hand man in civil affairs, Maecenas. Some of the writings contained in his writings can be supplemented from the short. He was born on 8 December 65 BC in the Samnite south of Italy and his home town, Venusia, lay on a trade route in the border region between Apulia and Lucania. Various Italic dialects were spoken in the area and this perhaps enriched his feeling for language and he could have been familiar with Greek words even as a young boy and later he poked fun at the jargon of mixed Greek and Oscan spoken in neighbouring Canusium. Literary Latin must have sounded to him like a semi-foreign language, one of the works he probably studied in school was the Odyssia of Livius Andronicus, crammed into Italian boys with threats and floggings by teachers like the Orbilius mentioned in one of his poems. School was made particularly irksome by a number of his fellow pupils, the army veterans could have been settled there at the expense of local families uprooted by Rome as punishment for their part in the Social War. Such state-sponsored migration must have added still more variety to the area. According to a tradition reported by Horace, a colony of Romans or Latins had been installed in Venusia after the Samnites had been driven out early in the third century. In that case, young Horace could have felt himself to be a Roman though there are indications that he regarded himself as a Samnite or Sabellus by birth. Italians in modern and ancient times have always been devoted to their towns, even after success in the wider world. Images of his setting and references to it are found throughout his poems. Horaces father was probably a Venutian taken captive by Romans in the Social War, either way, he was a slave for at least part of his life. He was evidently a man of strong abilities however and managed to gain his freedom, thus Horace claimed to be the free-born son of a prosperous coactor. The father spent a fortune on his sons education, eventually accompanying him to Rome to oversee his schooling. The poet later paid tribute to him in a poem that one scholar considers the best memorial by any son to his father. As it is now, he deserves from me unstinting gratitude, I could never be ashamed of such a father, nor do I feel any need, as many people do, to apologize for being a freedmans son
22.
Epic poetry
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An epic poem, epic, epos, or epopee is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Milman Parry and Albert Lord have argued that the Homeric epics and these works form the basis of the epic genre in Western literature. Nearly all Western epic self-consciously presents itself as a continuation of the tradition begun by these poems, classical epic employs dactylic hexameter and recounts a journey, either physical or mental or both. Epics also tend to highlight cultural norms and to define or call into question cultural values, another type of epic poetry is epyllion, which is a brief narrative poem with a romantic or mythological theme. The term, which means little epic, came into use in the nineteenth century, the most famous example of classical epyllion is perhaps Catullus 64. The first epics were products of preliterate societies and oral history poetic traditions, in these traditions, poetry is transmitted to the audience and from performer to performer by purely oral means. Early twentieth-century study of living oral traditions in the Balkans by Milman Parry. What they demonstrated was that oral epics tend to be constructed in short episodes, each of equal status, interest and this facilitates memorization, as the poet is recalling each episode in turn and using the completed episodes to recreate the entire epic as he performs it. Parry and Lord also contend that the most likely source for written texts of the epics of Homer was dictation from an oral performance, poets in literate societies have sometimes copied the epic format. The earliest surviving European examples are the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes and Virgils Aeneid, other obvious examples are Nonnus Dionysiaca, Tulsidas Sri Ramacharit Manas. In his work Poetics, Aristotle defines an epic as one of the forms of poetry, contrasted with lyric poetry, an attempt to delineate ten main characteristics of an epic, Begins in medias res. The setting is vast, covering many nations, the world or the universe, Begins with an invocation to a muse. Begins with a statement of the theme, contains long lists, called an epic catalogue. Shows divine intervention on human affairs, features heroes that embody the values of the civilization. Often features the tragic heros descent into the Underworld or hell, the hero generally participates in a cyclical journey or quest, faces adversaries that try to defeat him in his journey and returns home significantly transformed by his journey. The epic hero illustrates traits, performs deeds, and exemplifies certain morals that are valued by the society the epic originates from, many epic heroes are recurring characters in the legends of their native culture. Conventions of epics, Preposition, Opens by stating the theme or cause of the epic and this may take the form of a purpose, of a question, or of a situation. Invocation, Writer invokes a Muse, one of the nine daughters of Zeus, the poet prays to the Muses to provide him with divine inspiration to tell the story of a great hero
23.
Virgil
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Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil /ˈvɜːrdʒᵻl/ in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He wrote three of the most famous poems in Latin literature, the Eclogues, the Georgics, a number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him. Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Romes greatest poets and his Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome from the time of its composition to the present day. Virgils work has had wide and deep influence on Western literature, most notably Dantes Divine Comedy, in which Virgil appears as Dantes guide through Hell, the tradition holds that Virgil was born in the village of Andes, near Mantua in Cisalpine Gaul. Analysis of his name has led to beliefs that he descended from earlier Roman colonists, modern speculation ultimately is not supported by narrative evidence either from his own writings or his later biographers. Macrobius says that Virgils father was of a background, however. He attended schools in Cremona, Mediolanum, Rome and Naples, after considering briefly a career in rhetoric and law, the young Virgil turned his talents to poetry. From Virgils admiring references to the neoteric writers Pollio and Cinna, it has been inferred that he was, for a time, according to Servius, schoolmates considered Virgil extremely shy and reserved, and he was nicknamed Parthenias or maiden because of his social aloofness. Virgil also seems to have suffered bad health throughout his life, according to the Catalepton, he began to write poetry while in the Epicurean school of Siro the Epicurean at Naples. A group of works attributed to the youthful Virgil by the commentators survive collected under the title Appendix Vergiliana. One, the Catalepton, consists of fourteen poems, some of which may be Virgils, and another. The biographical tradition asserts that Virgil began the hexameter Eclogues in 42 BC and it is thought that the collection was published around 39–38 BC, the Eclogues are a group of ten poems roughly modeled on the bucolic hexameter poetry of the Hellenistic poet Theocritus. The loss of his farm and the attempt through poetic petitions to regain his property have traditionally been seen as Virgils motives in the composition of the Eclogues. This is now thought to be an unsupported inference from interpretations of the Eclogues, the ten Eclogues present traditional pastoral themes with a fresh perspective. Eclogues 1 and 9 address the land confiscations and their effects on the Italian countryside,2 and 3 are pastoral and erotic, discussing both homosexual love and attraction toward people of any gender. Eclogue 4, addressed to Asinius Pollio, the so-called Messianic Eclogue uses the imagery of the age in connection with the birth of a child. Virgil came to many of the other leading literary figures of the time, including Horace, in whose poetry he is often mentioned, and Varius Rufus. At Maecenas insistence Virgil spent the years on the long didactic hexameter poem called the Georgics which he dedicated to Maecenas
24.
Geoffrey Chaucer
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Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages. He was the first poet to be buried in Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey, among his many works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde. He is best known today for The Canterbury Tales, Chaucers work was crucial in legitimizing the literary use of the Middle English vernacular at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin. Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London sometime around 1343, though the precise date and his father and grandfather were both London vintners, several previous generations had been merchants in Ipswich. In 1324 John Chaucer, Geoffreys father, was kidnapped by an aunt in the hope of marrying the boy to her daughter in an attempt to keep property in Ipswich. The aunt was imprisoned and the fine levied suggests that the family was financially secure. In the City Hustings Roll 110,5, Ric II, dated June 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer refers to himself as me Galfridum Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii, Londonie. He also worked as a courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant, as well as working for the king from 1389 to 1391 as Clerk of the Kings Works. In 1359, in the stages of the Hundred Years War, Edward III invaded France and Chaucer travelled with Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Elizabeths husband. In 1360, he was captured during the siege of Rheims, Edward paid £16 for his ransom, a considerable sum, and Chaucer was released. After this, Chaucers life is uncertain, but he seems to have travelled in France, Spain, around 1366, Chaucer married Philippa Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to Edward IIIs queen, Philippa of Hainault, and a sister of Katherine Swynford and it is uncertain how many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. His son, Thomas Chaucer, had a career, as chief butler to four kings, envoy to France. Thomass daughter, Alice, married the Duke of Suffolk, thomass great-grandson, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, was the heir to the throne designated by Richard III before he was deposed. Geoffreys other children probably included Elizabeth Chaucy, a nun at Barking Abbey, Agnes, an attendant at Henry IVs coronation, Chaucers Treatise on the Astrolabe was written for Lewis. According to tradition, Chaucer studied law in the Inner Temple at this time and he became a member of the royal court of Edward III as a valet de chambre, yeoman, or esquire on 20 June 1367, a position which could entail a wide variety of tasks. His wife also received a pension for court employment and he travelled abroad many times, at least some of them in his role as a valet. In 1368, he may have attended the wedding of Lionel of Antwerp to Violante Visconti, daughter of Galeazzo II Visconti, two other literary stars of the era were in attendance, Jean Froissart and Petrarch
25.
John Dryden
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John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made Englands first Poet Laureate in 1668. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in circles as the Age of Dryden. Walter Scott called him Glorious John, Dryden was born in the village rectory of Aldwincle near Thrapston in Northamptonshire, where his maternal grandfather was rector of All Saints. He was a cousin once removed of Jonathan Swift. As a boy Dryden lived in the village of Titchmarsh. In 1644 he was sent to Westminster School as a Kings Scholar where his headmaster was Dr. Richard Busby, having recently been re-founded by Elizabeth I, Westminster during this period embraced a very different religious and political spirit encouraging royalism and high Anglicanism. Whatever Drydens response to this was, he respected the headmaster. As a humanist public school, Westminster maintained a curriculum which trained pupils in the art of rhetoric and this is a skill which would remain with Dryden and influence his later writing and thinking, as much of it displays these dialectical patterns. The Westminster curriculum included weekly translation assignments which developed Drydens capacity for assimilation and this was also to be exhibited in his later works. Busby had first prayed for the King and then locked in his schoolboys to prevent their attending the spectacle, in 1650 Dryden went up to Trinity College, Cambridge. Though there is specific information on Drydens undergraduate years, he would most certainly have followed the standard curriculum of classics, rhetoric. In 1654 he obtained his BA, graduating top of the list for Trinity that year, in June of the same year Drydens father died, leaving him some land which generated a little income, but not enough to live on. Returning to London during the Protectorate, Dryden obtained work with Cromwells Secretary of State and this appointment may have been the result of influence exercised on his behalf by his cousin the Lord Chamberlain, Sir Gilbert Pickering. At Cromwells funeral on 23 November 1658 Dryden processed with the Puritan poets John Milton, shortly thereafter he published his first important poem, Heroic Stanzas, a eulogy on Cromwells death which is cautious and prudent in its emotional display. In 1660 Dryden celebrated the Restoration of the monarchy and the return of Charles II with Astraea Redux, in this work the interregnum is illustrated as a time of anarchy, and Charles is seen as the restorer of peace and order. After the Restoration, as Dryden quickly established himself as the poet and literary critic of his day. Along with Astraea Redux, Dryden welcomed the new regime with two more panegyrics, To His Sacred Majesty, A Panegyric on his Coronation and To My Lord Chancellor and these, and his other nondramatic poems, are occasional—that is, they celebrate public events. Thus they are written for the rather than the self
26.
William Wycherley
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William Wycherley was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for the plays The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer. Like John Vanbrugh, Wycherley spent some years of his adolescence in France, while in France, Wycherley converted to Roman Catholicism. He returned to England shortly before the restoration of King Charles II, under Barlows influence, Wycherley returned to the Church of England. Thomas Macaulay hints that Wycherleys turning back to Roman Catholicism once more had something to do with the patronage, however, his nickname of Manly Wycherley seems to have been earned by his straightforward attitude to life. Wycherley left Oxford and took up residence at the Inner Temple, pleasure and the stage were his only interests. His play, Love in a Wood, was produced early in 1671 at the Theatre Royal and it was published the next year. Though Wycherley boasted of having written the play at the age of nineteen, before going to Oxford and his answer was perfect, Madam, you have been pleased to bestow a title on me which belongs only to the fortunate. Macaulay claims that he went to sea simply because it was the thing to do so — because, as he says in the epilogue to The Gentleman Dancing Master. This second comedy was published in 1673, but was probably acted late in 1671, in The Gentleman Dancing Master the mingling of discordant elements destroys a play that would never in any circumstances have been strong. It is, however, on his two last comedies — The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer — that sustain Wycherleys reputation, the Country Wife, produced in 1672 or 1673 and published in 1675, is full of wit, ingenuity, high spirits and conventional humour. But among the religions with which Voltaire accredited England there is one whose permanency has never been shaken — the worship of gentility. To this Wycherley remained as faithful to the day of his death as Congreve himself and it was after the success of The Plain Dealer that the turning point came in Wycherleys career. While talking to a friend in a shop at Tunbridge, Wycherley heard The Plain Dealer asked for by a lady who, in the person of the countess of Drogheda. He had not seen enough of life to learn that in the long run nothing is politic, Wycherley lost the appointment that was so nearly within his grasp — lost indeed the royal favour for ever. She died, however, in the year after her marriage, there he remained for seven years, being finally released by the liberality of James II. Other debts still troubled Wycherley, however, and he never was released from his embarrassments, in coming to Wycherleys death, we come to the worst allegation that has ever been made against him as a man and as a gentleman. Wycherley died in the hours of 1 January 1716, and was buried in the vault of the church in Covent Garden. William Wycherley may have coined the expression nincompoop, the Oxford English Dictionary also cites Wycherley as the first user of the phrase happy-go-lucky, in 1672
27.
William Congreve
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William Congreve was an English playwright and poet. William Congreve was born in Bardsey, Yorkshire, England and his parents were William Congreve and Mary. The family moved to London in 1672 and they relocated again in 1674 to the Irish port town of Youghal where his father served as a lieutenant in the British army. Congreve spent his childhood in Ireland, where his father, a Cavalier, had settled during the reign of Charles II. Congreve was educated at Kilkenny College where he met Jonathan Swift, who would be his friend for the remainder of his life, and at Trinity College in Dublin. Upon graduation, he matriculated in the Middle Temple in London to study law, but felt himself pulled toward literature, drama, and the fashionable life. Congreve assumed the pseudonym Cleophil and went on to publish a work he had written at the age of 17 called Incognita, or, Love. This early work gained him recognition among the men of letters, artistically, he became a disciple of John Dryden whom he met through the gatherings of literary circles held at Wills Coffeehouse in the Covent Garden District of London. John Dryden would continue to be a supporter of the works of Congreve throughout his life. This support would take the form of panegyrical introductions for some of Congreves later works, William Congreve is seen as the man who shaped the English comedy of manners through his use of satire and well-written dialogue. Congreve achieved fame in 1693 when he wrote some of the most popular English plays of the Restoration period and this period in time was unique because female roles were beginning to be played predominately by women. This shift in allowing women to perform could be seen in the works of Congreve, one of the favorites of the playwright was a woman by the name of Mrs Anne Bracegirdle. She was the actress went on to hold many of the female lead roles in the works of Congreve. His first play, The Old Bachelor, written, by his own account, to himself during convalescence, was produced at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1693. This first play was hailed as a success, and it ran for an entire two-week period when it first opened. Congreves mentor John Dryden gave the production rave reviews and proclaimed it to be a brilliant first piece, the second play to be produced was called The Double-Dealer which was not nearly as successful as the first production. This play was a failure at the time of production but it is seen as one of his masterpieces today. He also went on to create one tragedy, The Mourning Bride which was popular at the time of creation but is now one of his least regarded dramas
28.
Samuel Garth
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Sir Samuel Garth FRS was an English physician and poet. Garth was born in Bolam in County Durham and matriculated at Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1676, graduating B. A. in 1679 and he took his M. D. and became a member of the College of Physicians in 1691. He settled as a physician in London and soon acquired a large practice and he was a zealous Whig, the friend of Addison and, though of different political views, of Pope. He ended his career as physician to George I, who knighted him in 1714 and he was notably sharp-tongued, God help the country where St Leger is made a judge. He exclaimed in 1714, on hearing that Sir John St Leger, for a while, he owned the manor of Edgcott in Buckinghamshire. He died on 18 January 1719, in 1699 he published a mock-heroic poem, The Dispensary, in six cantos, which had an instant success, passing through three editions within a year. In this he ridiculed the apothecaries and their allies among the physicians, long has he been of that amphibious fry, Bold to prescribe, and busy to apply, His shop the gazing vulgars eyes employs, With foreign trinkets and domestic toys. Here mummies lay, most reverently stale, And there the tortoise hung her coat of mail, aloft in rows large poppy-heads were strung, And near, a scaly alligator hung. In this place drugs in musty heaps decayd, In that dried bladders, an inner room receives the numrous shoals Of such as pay to be reputed fools, Globes stand by globes, volumes on volumes lie, And planetary schemes amuse the eye. The sage in velvet chair here lolls at ease, To promise future health for present fees, Then, as from tripod, solemn shams reveals and he is also remembered as the author of Claremont, a descriptive poem. He translated the Life of Otho in the volume of Drydens Plutarch, and also edited a translation of Ovids Metamorphoses, to which Addison, Pope. His intervention ensured an honourable burial for John Dryden and he pronounced a eulogy at the funeral in Westminster Abbey and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Cousin, John William. A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, London, J. M. Dent & Sons. Wikisource This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. The Dispensary from Google Book Search The works of Sir Samuel Garth from Google Book Search
29.
William Trumbull
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Sir William Trumbull was an English statesman who held high office as a member of the First Whig Junto. Trumbull was born at Easthampstead Park in Berkshire and baptised on 11 September 1639 and he was the son and heir of William Trumbull and grandson of William Trumbull, the Jacobean period diplomat. His mother was Elizabeth Weckerlin, only daughter of George Rodolph Weckerlin and he received his early instruction in Latin and French from his maternal grandfather, and was sent in 1649 to Wokingham School. In the same year he was entered at the Middle Temple and he graduated Bachelor of Civil Law on 12 October 1659. After completing his degree, he visited France and Italy, where he met several distinguished persons, such as Lords Sunderland and Godolphin, Algernon Sidney, in 1664 and 1665 he travelled in company with Sir Christopher Wren and Edward Browne. In 1666, Trumbull returned to college and in 1667 he was awarded a Doctorate of Civil Law and he was admitted an advocate in Doctors Commons in London on 28 April 1668 and began practising in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts. He would remain for the next 15 years, becoming a lawyer of high repute, later Pepys calls him a man of the meanest mind as to courage that ever was born. In 1684, Charles II considered Trumbull as a possible Secretary of State, but he was offered the office of Secretary of War in Ireland. Nevertheless, he was knighted on 21 November 1684, and on 1 February 1685 was made Clerk of the Deliveries of the Ordnance, through the favour of the Trelawny family, he entered Parliament as MP for the Cornish borough of East Looe 1685–1687. Charles II died a few days later and Trumbull had to relinquish the clerkship when he was sent by James II, against his own wishes, as envoy extraordinary to France. In 1686 he was recalled from Paris, and on 15 October was nominated by the king to be appointed Ambassador at Constantinople and he remained ambassador until 31 July 1691 when he departed Turkey. Sir William was a Governor of the Hudsons Bay Company from 1696 to 1700, on 3 May 1694 he was appointed a Commissioner of the Treasury, and a year later was made a Privy Counsellor and appointed Secretary of State for the Northern Department. However, he was unhappy in the post, and resigned it on 2 December 1697 and he then retired from public life. Trumbull was a friend of both John Dryden and Alexander Pope and it was Trumbull who, admiring Popes translation of the Epistle of Sarpedon from the Iliad urged him to translate the whole of Homers works, and Popes Spring was dedicated to him. In 1670, Trumbull married Katherine, daughter of Sir Charles Cotterell, Master of the Ceremonies, she died in 1704, in Scotland in October 1706, he married Judith, daughter of Henry Alexander, the 4th Earl of Stirling. They had two children, Judith and William, Trumbull died on 14 December 1716. He was buried on 21 December at Easthampstead church and his funerary monument in the south transept proclaims that ‘he maintained the character of an able statesman’. His son William had a daughter, who became the wife of the Hon. Martin Sandys, second son of Samuel Sandys
30.
William Walsh (poet)
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William Walsh was an English poet and critic, son of Joseph Walsh of Abberley Hall, Worcestershire. He entered Wadham College, Oxford, as a commoner in 1678. Leaving the university without a degree, he settled in his native county, in 1705 he sat for Richmond, Yorkshire. On the accession of Queen Anne he was gentleman of the horse. It is not as a poet, however, but as the friend, Popes Pastorals were submitted for his criticism by Wycherley in 1705, and Walsh then entered on a direct correspondence with the young poet. The letters are printed in Popes Works, Pope, who visited him at Abberley in 1707, set great value upon his opinion. The excessive eulogy accorded both by Dryden and Pope to Walsh must be accounted for partly on the ground of personal friendship, in 1704 Walsh collaborated with Sir John Vanbrugh and William Congreve in Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, or Squire Trelooby, an adaptation of Molières farce. Walshs Poems are included in Andersons and other collections of the British poets, see The Lives of the Poets, vol. iii. pp.151 et seq. published 1753 as by Theophilus Cibber. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Walsh. Works by William Walsh at LibriVox
31.
Grotto
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A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or liable to flood at high tide, sometimes, artificial grottoes are used as garden features. The Grotta Azzurra at Capri and the grotto at the villa of Tiberius in the Bay of Naples are examples of popular natural seashore grottoes, the word grotto comes from Italian grotta, Vulgar Latin grupta, and Latin crypta. It is also related by an accident to the word grotesque. The rooms had sunk underground over time, the Romans who discovered this historical monument found it very strange, a sentiment enhanced by the fact that it was uncovered from an underworld source. This led the Romans to give it the name grottesche, or grotesque, grottoes were very popular in Greek and Roman culture. Spring-fed grottoes were a feature of Apollos oracles at Delphi, Corinth, the Hellenistic city of Rhodes was designed with rock-cut artificial grottoes incorporated into the city, made to look natural. According to tradition, Praenestes sacred spring had a native nymph, Tiberius, the Roman emperor, filled his grotto with sculptures to create a sense of mythology, perhaps channeling Polyphemus cave in the Odyssey. The numinous quality of the grotto is still more ancient, in a grotto near Knossos in Crete, Eileithyia was venerated, even farther back in time, the immanence of the divine in a grotto is seen in the sacred caves of Lascaux. The popularity of artificial grottoes introduced Mannerist style to Italian and French gardens of the mid-16th century, two famous grottoes in the Boboli Gardens of Palazzo Pitti were begun by Vasari and completed by Ammanati and Buontalenti between 1583 and 1593. One of these grottoes originally housed the Prisoners of Michelangelo, before Boboli grotto, a garden was laid out by Niccolò Tribolo at the Medici Villa Castello, near Florence. At Pratolino, in spite of the dryness of the site, there was a Grotto of Cupid, with water tricks for the unsuspecting visitor. The Fonte di Fata Morgana at Grassina, not far from Florence, is a garden building. It is decorated with sculptures in the Giambolognan manner, the outside of garden grottoes are often designed to look like an enormous rock, a rustic porch or a rocky overhang. Damp grottoes were cool places to retreat from the Italian sun, in Kuskovo at the Sheremetev estate there is a Summer Grotto, built in 1775. Grottoes could also serve as baths, an example of this is at the Palazzo del Te, in the Casino della Grotta, courtiers once bathed in the small cascade that splashed over the pebbles and shells encrusted in the floor and walls. Grottoes have also served as chapels, or at Villa Farnese at Caprarola and they were often combined with cascading fountains in Renaissance gardens. The grotto designed by Bernard Palissy for Catherine de Medicis château in Paris, there are also grottoes in the gardens designed by André Le Nôtre for Versailles
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John Gay
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John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggars Opera, a ballad opera, the characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peachum, became household names. Gay was born in Barnstaple, England, and was educated at the grammar school. John Hanmer, the Nonconformist minister of the town, the dedication of his Rural Sports to Alexander Pope was the beginning of a lasting friendship. In 1714, Gay wrote The Shepherds Week, a series of six pastorals drawn from English rustic life, Gays pastorals achieved this goal and his ludicrous pictures of the English country lads and their loves were found to be entertaining on their own account. In 1715, probably with help from Pope, he produced What dye call it. A dramatic skit on contemporary tragedy, with reference to Thomas Otways Venice Preservd. It left the public so ignorant of its meaning that Lewis Theobald. In 1716 appeared his Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of London and it contains graphic and humorous descriptions of the London of that period. In taking a form, Gays poem was able to poke fun at the notion of complete reformation of street civility. In January 1717 he produced the comedy, Three Hours After Marriage, which was thought to be grossly indecent and he had assistance from Pope and John Arbuthnot, but they allowed it to be assumed that Gay was the sole author. Gay had numerous patrons, and in 1720 he published Poems on Several Occasions by subscription, in that year James Craggs, the secretary of state, presented him with some South Sea stock. Gay, disregarding the advice of Pope and others of his friends, invested all his money in South Sea stock, the shock is said to have made him dangerously ill. His friends did not fail him at this juncture and he had patrons in William Pulteney, afterwards Earl of Bath, in the third Earl of Burlington, who constantly entertained him at Chiswick or at Burlington House, and in the third Duke of Queensberry. He was a frequent visitor with Pope, and received unvarying kindness from William Congreve and he was offered the situation of gentleman-usher to the Princess Louisa, who was also still a child. He refused this offer, which all his friends seem to have regarded as an indignity and he had never rendered any special services to the court. This famous piece, which was said to have made Rich gay and Gay rich, was an innovation in many respects, the satire of the play has a double allegory. Gays decision to launch the work was also influenced by the huge interest that the Jack Sheppard
33.
Jonathan Swift
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Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin. Swift is remembered for such as A Tale of a Tub, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, Gullivers Travels. He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language and he originally published all of his works under pseudonyms – such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, Drapiers Letters as MB Drapier – or anonymously. He is also known for being a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles and his deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed Swiftian. Jonathan Swift was born on 30 November 1667 in Dublin, Ireland and he was the second child and only son of Jonathan Swift and his wife Abigail Erick of Frisby on the Wreake. Swifts father died in Dublin about seven months before he was born, Swifts family had several interesting literary connections. His grandmother Elizabeth Swift was the niece of Sir Erasmus Dryden, the same grandmothers aunt Katherine Dryden was a first cousin of Elizabeth, wife of Sir Walter Raleigh. His great-great grandmother Margaret Swift was the sister of Francis Godwin and his uncle Thomas Swift married a daughter of poet and playwright Sir William Davenant, a godson of William Shakespeare. Swifts benefactor and uncle Godwin Swift took primary responsibility for the young man and he attended Dublin University in 1682, financed by Godwins son Willoughby, from which he received his B. A. in 1686 and developed his friendship with William Congreve. Temple was an English diplomat who arranged the Triple Alliance of 1668 and he had retired from public service to his country estate to tend his gardens and write his memoirs. Gaining his employers confidence, Swift was often trusted with matters of great importance, within three years of their acquaintance, Temple had introduced his secretary to William III and sent him to London to urge the King to consent to a bill for triennial Parliaments. Swift took up his residence at Moor Park where he met Esther Johnson, then eight years old, Swift was her tutor and mentor, giving her the nickname Stella, and the two maintained a close but ambiguous relationship for the rest of Esthers life. In 1690, Swift left Temple for Ireland because of his health, the illness consisted of fits of vertigo or giddiness, now known to be Ménières disease, and it continued to plague him throughout his life. During this second stay with Temple, Swift received his M. A. from Hart Hall, then he left Moor Park, apparently despairing of gaining a better position through Temples patronage, to become an ordained priest in the Established Church of Ireland. He was appointed to the prebend of Kilroot in the Diocese of Connor in 1694, with his parish located at Kilroot, Swift appears to have been miserable in his new position, being isolated in a small, remote community far from the centres of power and influence. While at Kilroot, however, he may well have become involved with Jane Waring, whom he called Varina. A letter from him survives, offering to remain if she would marry him and promising to leave and she presumably refused, because Swift left his post and returned to England and Temples service at Moor Park in 1696, and he remained there until Temples death. There he was employed in helping to prepare Temples memoirs and correspondence for publication, during this time, Swift wrote The Battle of the Books, a satire responding to critics of Temples Essay upon Ancient and Modern Learning, though Battle was not published until 1704
34.
Thomas Parnell
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Thomas Parnell was an Anglo-Irish poet and clergyman who was a friend of both Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. Thomas was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and collated archdeacon of Clogher in 1705. He however spent much of his time in London, where he participated with Pope, Swift and others in the Scriblerus Club, contributing to The Spectator and aiding Pope in his translation of The Iliad. It is said of his poetry it was in keeping with his character, easy and pleasing, enunciating the common places with felicity and he died in Chester in 1718 on his way home to Ireland. His wife and children having died, his Laoise estate passed to his brother John, a judge and MP in the Irish House of Commons, oliver Goldsmith wrote a biography of Parnell which often accompanied later editions of Parnells works. Essay on the Different Stiles of Poetry Battle of the Frogs and Mice An example of his poetry is the opening stanza of his poem The Hermit R. Woodman, ISBN 978-0-8057-6883-1 Works by Thomas Parnell at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Thomas Parnell at Internet Archive
35.
John Arbuthnot
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John Arbuthnot, often known simply as Dr Arbuthnot, was a Scottish physician, satirist and polymath in London. He is best remembered for his contributions to mathematics, his membership in the Scriblerus Club, Alexander Pope noted to Joseph Spence that Arbuthnot allowed his infant children to play with, and even burn, his writings. Throughout his professional life, Arbuthnot exhibited a strong humility and conviviality, Arbuthnot was born in Kincardineshire, on the north-eastern coast of Scotland, son of Rev Alexander Arbuthnot, an Episcopalian priest and Margaret, née Lammie. He may have graduated with a degree from Marischal College in 1685. Where Johns brothers took part in Jacobite causes in 1689, he remained with his father and these brothers included Robert, who fled after fighting for King James VII in 1689 and became a banker in Rouen and half-brother George, who fled to France and became a wine merchant. However, when William and Mary came to the throne and the new Act of Settlement required all ministers to swear allegiance to them as heads of the Church of England, Arbuthnots father did not comply. As a non-conformist, he was removed from his church, and John was there to care of affairs when. Arbuthnot went to London in 1691, where he is supposed to have supported himself by teaching mathematics and he lodged with William Pate, whom Swift knew and called a bel esprit. He published Of the Laws of Chance in 1692, translated from Christiaan Huygenss De ratiociniis in ludo aleae and this was the first work on probability published in English. The work, which applied the field of probability to common games, was a success, and Arbuthnot became the tutor of one Edward Jeffreys, son of Jeffrey Jeffreys. However, Arbuthnot lacked the money to be a student and was already well educated. He went to the University of St Andrews and enrolled as a student in medicine on 11 September 1696. The very same day he defended seven theses on medicine and was awarded the doctorate and he first wrote satire in 1697, when he answered Dr John Woodwards An essay towards a natural history of the earth and terrestrial bodies, especially minerals. With An Examination of Dr Woodwards Account &c and he poked fun at the arrogance of the work and Woodwards misguided, Aristotelian insistence that what is theoretically attractive must be actually true. In 1701, Arbuthnot wrote another work, An essay on the usefulness of mathematical learning. The work was successful, and Arbuthnot praises mathematics as a method of freeing the mind from superstition. In 1702, he was at Epsom when Prince George of Denmark, according to tradition, Arbuthnot treated the prince successfully. According to tradition again, this treatment earned him an invitation to court, also around 1702, he married Margaret, whose maiden name is possibly Wemyss
36.
Joseph Addison
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Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison and his name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend, Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine. Addison was born in Millstone, Wiltshire, but soon after his birth his father, Lancelot Addison, was appointed Dean of Lichfield and he was educated at Charterhouse School, where he first met Richard Steele, and at The Queens College, Oxford. He excelled in classics, being noted for his Latin verse. In 1693, he addressed a poem to John Dryden, and his first major work and his translation of Virgils Georgics was published in the same year. While in Switzerland in 1702, he heard of the death of William III and he returned to England at the end of 1703. For more than a year he remained without employment, but the Battle of Blenheim in 1704 gave him an opportunity to distinguish himself. In 1705, with the Whigs in political power, Addison was made Under-Secretary of State, Addisons biographer states, In the field of his foreign responsibilities Addisons views were those of a good Whig. He had always believed that Englands power depended upon her wealth, her wealth upon her commerce, and her commerce upon the freedom of the seas, from 1708 to 1709 he was MP for the rotten borough of Lostwithiel. Addison was shortly afterwards appointed secretary to the new Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Wharton, under the influence of Wharton, he was Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons for Cavan Borough from 1709 until 1713. From 1710, he represented Malmesbury, in his county of Wiltshire. He encountered Jonathan Swift in Ireland and remained there for a year, subsequently, he helped found the Kitcat Club and renewed his association with Richard Steele. In 1709 Steele began to bring out Tatler, to which Addison became almost immediately a contributor, thereafter he started The Spectator and this paper, which at first appeared daily, was kept up until 20 December 1714. His last undertaking was The Freeholder, a paper, 1715–16. He wrote the libretto for Thomas Claytons opera Rosamond, which had a premiere in London in 1707. In 1713 Addisons tragedy Cato was produced, and was received with acclamation by both Whigs and Tories and he followed this effort with a comedic play, The Drummer. In 1712, Addison wrote his most famous work of fiction, Cato and it has a prologue written by Alexander Pope and an epilogue by Dr. Garth. The play was a success throughout Britain and its possessions in the New World and it continued to grow in popularity, especially in the American colonies, for several generations
37.
Richard Steele
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Sir Richard Steele was an Irish writer and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine The Tatler. Steele was born in Dublin, Ireland in March 1672 to Richard Steele, an attorney, Steele was largely raised by his uncle and aunt, Henry Gascoigne and Lady Katherine Mildmay. A member of the Protestant gentry, he was educated at Charterhouse School, after starting at Christ Church in Oxford, he went on to Merton College, Oxford, then joined the Life Guards of the Household Cavalry in order to support King Williams wars against France. He was commissioned in 1697, and rose to the rank of captain two years. Steele left the army in 1705, perhaps due to the death of the 34th Foots commanding officer, Lord Lucas, in 1706 Steele was appointed to a position in the household of Prince George of Denmark, consort of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. He also gained the favour of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, Steele became a Whig Member of Parliament in 1713, for Stockbridge. He was soon expelled for issuing a pamphlet in favour of the Hanoverian succession, when George I of Great Britain came to the throne in the following year, Steele was knighted and given responsibility for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. He returned to parliament in 1715, for Boroughbridge, while at Drury Lane, Steele wrote and directed the sentimental comedy The Conscious Lovers, which was an immediate hit. However, he fell out with Addison and with the administration over the Peerage Bill, and in 1724 he retired to his wifes homeland of Wales, Steele was a member of the Kit-Kat Club. Both Steele and Addison became closely associated with Childs Coffee-house in St Pauls Churchyard, Steele remained in Carmarthen after his wife Marys death, and was buried there, at St Peters Church. During restoration of the church in 2000, his skull was discovered in a lead casket, Steeles first published work, The Christian Hero, attempted to point out the differences between perceived and actual masculinity. Written while Steele served in the army, it expressed his idea of a pamphlet of moral instruction, the Christian Hero was ultimately ridiculed for what some thought was hypocrisy because Steele did not necessarily follow his own preaching. He was criticized for publishing a booklet about morals when he enjoyed drinking, occasional dueling. Steele wrote a comedy that year titled The Funeral. This play met with success and was performed at Drury Lane, bringing him to the attention of the King. Next, Steele wrote The Lying Lover, one of the first sentimental comedies, the Tatler, Steeles first journal, first came out on 12 April 1709, and appeared three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Steele wrote this periodical under the pseudonym Isaac Bickerstaff and gave Bickerstaff an entire, while Addison contributed to The Tatler, it is widely regarded as Steeles work. The Tatler was closed down to avoid the complications of running a Whig publication that had come under Tory attack, Addison and Steele then founded The Spectator in 1711 and also the Guardian in 1713
38.
Cato, a Tragedy
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Cato, a Tragedy is a play written by Joseph Addison in 1712, and first performed on 14 April 1713. It has a written by Alexander Pope, and an epilogue by Samuel Garth. The play was a success throughout England and her possessions in the New World and it continued to grow in popularity, especially in the American colonies, for several generations. Indeed, it was almost certainly an inspiration for the American Revolution. In fact, George Washington allegedly had it performed for the Continental Army while they were encamped at Valley Forge, the letter which proves the performance has questionable authenticity. The action of the play involves the forces of Cato at Utica, the noble sons of Cato, Portius and Marcus, are in love with Lucia, the daughter of Lucius, a senatorial ally of Cato. Juba, prince of Numidia, another fighting on Catos side, meanwhile, Sempronius, another senator, and Syphax, general of the Numidians, are conspiring secretly against Cato, hoping to draw off the Numidian army from supporting him. Some scholars, including historian David McCullough—author of 1776—believe that several famous quotations from the American Revolution came from, or were inspired by and these include, Patrick Henrys famous ultimatum, Give me Liberty or give me death. Nathan Hales valediction, I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country, washingtons praise for Benedict Arnold in a letter to him, It is not in the power of any man to command success, but you have done more—you have deserved it. They may pass, as one of our poets says, through many varieties of untried being, before their state obtains its final form. The poet in reference is, of course, Addison and the passage Burke quoted is from Cato, Through what variety of untried being, /Through what new scenes and changes must we pass. For example, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon were inspired by the play to write a series of essays on individual rights, addisons tragedy also inspired the Portuguese playwright Almeida Garrett to write Catão, in 1821. The play was premiered on 29, september of the same year, celebrating the anniversary of the 1820 Liberal Revolution, in Portugal, by a group of Portuguese liberal intellectuals. It was staged a few times in Portugal, the following years, in 1828, it had the British premiere, in Plymouth, by a group of exiled officers and intellectuals, reviewed by British newspapers. Catão had its first edition in 1822, there were four other editions, being one of them in London, in 1828. Wilkins Micawber, a character in the 1850 novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, quotes Cato from the play, Plato, thou reasonest well. Andersons young adult novel The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, the character also quotes the play, A day. The play also inspired the name of the Cato Institute, a prominent libertarian think tank based in Washington D. C, Joseph Addison, Cato, A Tragedy, and Selected Essays—Online version
Lennox, Patrick Joseph (1911). "Alexander Pope". Catholic Encyclopedia. 12.
Lennox, Patrick Joseph (1911). "