AN ADDITIONAL GROUP OF MODERN MEN AND WOMEN. educated in his native town and at Glasgow University. He began the study of law in 1833, was admitted a member of Lincoln's Inn in 1835, and in 1840 was called to the bar. Having no heart-love for legal work, much of his leisure time was spent in reading at home and in the libraries of the British Museum and Lincoln's Inn. From early years he was accustomed to the composition of verse; "Festus," his great poem, was conceived and planned in 1836, and published in 1839, when the poet was in his twenty-third year. It has been looked upon as a most marvellous achievement of its kind to have been pro ARNOLD, MATTHEW, is the eldest son of the late Dr Arnold of Rugby. He was born at Laleham, near Staines, 24th December 1822, and educated at Winchester, Rugby, and Balliol College, Oxford. His college career was a distinguished one; he gained the Newdigate prize for English verse in 1843, graduated in honours in 1844, and became a Fellow of Oriel College in 1845. While secretary to the late Lord Lansdowne, his first volume of poems, "The Strayed Reveller," was issued. In 1851 he received an appointment as one of the Lay Inspectors of Schools, under the Committee of Council on Education. In 1853 he issued "Em-duced at so early an age. Since its first publicapedocles on Etna, and Other Poems," and in the following year appeared a collection and selection of his previous poems. In 1857 he was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford. In 1859-60 he acted as Foreign Assistant Commissioner in the inquiry on the educational system of France, Germany, and Holland. In 1865 he again visited the Continent on behalf of the Royal Commission on Middle-Class Education, to gather information respecting foreign schools for the upper and middle classes. He is an LL.D. of the Universities of Edinburgh and of Oxford, and has received the order of Commander of the Crown of Italy from the King of Italy. His other principal works are: "Merope," a tragedy, issued in 1858; "On Translating Homer," three lectures, 1861; "Essays in Criticism," prose contributions to magazine literature, 1865; "Lectures on the Study of Celtic Literature," 1868; "New Poems," 1868; "Culture and Anarchy," 1870; "St Paul and Protestantism," 1870; "Friendship's Garland," 1871; "Literature and Dogma: an Essay towards a better apprehension of the Bible," 1873; "God and the Bible: A Review of Objections to 'Literature and Dogma;"" "Last Essays on Church and Religion." Mr Arnold has edited a selection from Johnson's "Lives of the Poets," and a selection from his own poems appears in the "Golden Treasury" series. BAILEY, PHILIP JAMES, the poet, was born at Nottingham, 22d April 1816. He was tion, every subsequent edition has been corrected and altered by the author. A revised and altered edition, being the tenth, was published in 1877. Mr Bailey's other poems are: "The Angel World," "The Mystic," 1855; "The Age," a satire, in 1858; and "The Universal Hymn,” in 1867 Mrs Browning, in writing to Mr R. H. Horne, expressed herself regarding "Festus" in these terms: "The misfortune of the poem is, that it is formed upon Goethe's, and has thus no originality of design. Its fault is an extraordinary inequality, so that really one falls down precipices continually, and from pinnacles of grandeur into profundities of badness. Parts of the poem are as bad and weak as is well possible to conceive of. . . . But when all is said, what poet stuff remains! what power! what fire of imagination worth the stealing of Prometheus. A true poet indeed." BAKER, SIR SAMUEL WHITE, K.C.B., F.R.S., the great African traveller, the son of Samuel Baker, Thorngrove, Worcestershire, was born in 1821. Being educated as an engineer, at an early age he showed a desire to travel, and went to Ceylon, where he was partly occupied in organising an agricultural settlement. Fond also of sport and adventure, he published "The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon," 1854, and "Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon," 1855. In 1860 he married a young Hungarian lady, daughter of F. Von Sass, who has since accompanied him in many of his wanderings. In 1861 he went to Africa with the view of forming an expedition to meet Captains Speke and Grant at the sources of the Nile. On reaching Khartum, he organised his expedition to the Great White Nile. Starting from Khartûm with his attendants, Gondoroko was reached in 1863. Here he met Speke and Grant, whom he relieved. They informed him of their discovery of the Victoria Nyanza, and also that the natives had told them of another great lake. With his brave wife he set out in search of this new lake, and after passing through some remarkable adventures they gained a sight of the lake, which he named the Albert Nyanza, 14th March 1864. For the relief of Speke and Grant, Baker in 1864 received the medal of the Royal Geographical Society; and on 10th November 1866, he was knighted. He headed an expedition of 1500 picked troops in 1869, under the auspices of the Khedive, to suppress the slave trade on the White Nile. On this expedition Bari and Unyoro were annexed to Egypt. His chief works are: "The Albert Nyanza," 1866; "The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia," 1871; "Ismailia," 1874; etc. BLACK, WILLIAM, a skilful and favourite modern novelist, was trained as a journalist. Born in Glasgow in 1841, he was educated at various private schools. Mr Black was for a time editor of the London Review, and afterwards of the Examiner. His best known novels are: "In Silk Attire," 1868; "A Daughter of Heth," 1871, the latter of which is now in its eleventh edition. His other novels are: "Love or Marriage," "Kilmeny," "The Monarch of Mincing Lane," "Three Feathers," "Lady Silverdale's Sweetheart, and Other Stories," "Strange Adventures of a Phaeton," 1873; a sequel to the latter is called "Green Pastures and Piccadilly;" "The Princess of Thule," 1873; "The Maid of Killeena, and Other Stories,” 1874; "Madcap Violet," 1877; and "Macleod of Dare," 1878. Mr Ruskin has expressed himself in terms of warm commendation of "The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton," describing it "as a very delightful and wise book of its kind; very full of pleasant play, and deep and pure feeling; much interpretation of some of the best points of German character; and, last and least, with pieces of description in it which I should be glad, selfishly, to think inferior to what the public praise in 'Modern Painters;' I can only say, they seem to me quite as good." BLACKIE, JOHN STUART, Professor of Greek in the University of Edinburgh, is one of the most accomplished and versatile of living Scottish authors. He is far more than a mere scholar. He has travelled much, and has been a careful and thoughtful observer of men and things. His finely-strung nature is cultured in a very high degree by habitual contemplation of all that is beautiful and good in nature, in literature, and in art; and his writings reflect his character with singular clearness. There is a freshness and buoyancy about them all, indicative of free and healthy intellectual life in the writer, and peculiarly suggestive and stimulating to the reader. Professor Blackie is an eminently independent thinker; remarkably free from conventionalism in his mode of dealing with his subjects, and vigorous and enthusiastic in his advocacy of the principles he adopts. The son of an Aberdeen banker, he was born in Glasgow in July 1809, and educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and at the University of Edinburgh. After a complete course of university training in Scotland, he visited the Continent, and prosecuted his studies for several years at Göttingen, Berlin, and finally in Rome. He thus acquired a thorough command of the languages of Germany and Italy, and an intimate acquaintance with the topography as well as the literature of these countries. His keen artistic instinct led him to study with more than usual care the masterpieces of architecture, sculpture, and painting, with which the Continental cities abound. In the preface to one of his works, published in 1858, he makes the following reference to his life at this period: "About twenty-five years ago, after returning from a prolonged residence in Germany and Italy, and with my head full of pictures, statues, churches, and other beautiful objects, I naturally began to speculate on the subject of beauty generally, and to attempt to reduce my multifarious observations to general principles. I still possess among my manuscripts a complete scheme of a large work on æsthetical philosophy, drawn out by me at that time. But, being convinced afterwards, that the British mind is remarkably intolerant of big books on theoretical subjects, I allowed the projected work to drop."* In 1834 Mr Blackie published a metrical translation of Faust. The task was by no means an easy one; but it was achieved with such success that Mr George Henry Lewes, the biographer of Goethe, and, perhaps, the man in all England who is best acquainted with his works, pronounced it to be, in some respects, the best existing translation of that wonderful poem. We have often heard the professor himself, however, denounce the book as raw and juvenile; and we understand he has thoroughly revised the translation, and re-written whole scenes, and that the remodelled work lies now ready for the press. In the same year Mr Blackie was called to the Scottish bar; but he did not prosecute the profession to practical ends. He became an extensive contributor to * "On Beauty: Three Discourses, delivered in the University of Edinburgh. With an Exposition of the Doctrine of the Beautiful according to Plato." Edinburgh, 1858. the reviews and other periodicals, and continued to be a devoted student of letters. In 1841 he was appointed 'Professor of Humanity (Latin Literature) in Marischal College, Aberdeen, a chair which he filled for more than ten years. While there he published a translation of Eschylus in English verse, which received the warmest commendation of the learned world, and led, in 1852, to his election to the Greek chair in the University of Edinburgh. He spent several months of the year 1853 in Greece, personally examining the antiquities of the country, thereby acquiring a practical acquaintance with its ancient and modern history, and a thorough knowledge of its language as spoken now as well as in ancient times. He was the first, we believe, in this country, in the face of a very common prejudice of academical men, to direct attention to the fact that Greek is still a living language; and he has done much to illustrate the ancient Greek by comparing it with the tongue as now spoken. Professor Blackie is an admirable teacher. He trains his students to think, while many professors in Scotland and elsewhere impart a merely mechanical knowledge of the languages they profess. His three discourses on beauty, delivered in the University of Edinburgh, are excellent specimens of true academical teaching. They are really learned, and at the same time entirely free from the pedantry of learning. . . . In a note appended to a translation of part of the Platonic dialogue, he says: "It will be observed that I do not translate literally, after the fashion of most of Bohn's translators, whose system of minute and verbal accuracy, whether proceeding from pedantic affectation or tasteless stupidity, has done more harm to the just appreciation of the beauties of classical writers among the general public, than the most unlicensed vagueness which so often characterised the handiwork of English translators." A teacher who has the boldness to speak thus is deserving of every respect; and his teaching is of more practical utility than that of a dozen linguists who treat ancient language and literature as a mere hortus siccus. Professor Blackie has done yeoman's service in the cause of university reform in Scotland, and he still labours with unflagging zeal in the interests of education. Much has been done during the last twenty years for Scottish universities; and he was one of the earliest and most earnest advocates of the happy reform which has taken place. School reform is now imperatively required, in order that young men before entering the colleges may have the opportunity, each in his own district of the country, of acquiring at least so much of the rudiments of knowledge as shall enable them to benefit by the higher tuition which it is the special function of a university to impart. This necessity Professor Blackie sees, and he devotes much time and trouble to press on the needed improvements. While Of pictured saints, where skilful singers swell Cole This "Meditation," and another poem called Accept His doings. What He is He shows, For the stage she has written "Griselda" and the "Loves of Arcadia," a comedietta which was produced at the Royal Strand Theatre in 1860. Her first successful novel, "Lady Audley's Secret," established her name in the front rank of "sensational" novelists. It appeared in a serial called Robin Goodfellow, now 39.66 The italics in the above quotation are ours, not Professor Blackie's, and we have emphasised the lines because we think they are peculiarly char-defunct, and was immediately successful when acteristic of him. In addition to the works we have mentioned, Professor Blackie is the author of many others of learning and taste; he has translated Homer's Iliad into ballad metre; and is the author of multitudinous pamphlets on professional and other subjects. He has also devoted his leisure hours in the summer to the study of the Gaelic language, and has published a book on the language and literature of the Scottish Highlands, which, besides a philological analysis of the Gaelic tongue as now spoken, and a discussion of the Ossianic question, contains poetical versions of some of the most popular pieces in Gaelic poetry. It would be difficult to name a more useful Scotchman, or one who has more honourably earned a position of high repute in and beyond his own country. His recent book on "Self-Culture," now in the ninth edition, should be in the hands of every youth. Latterly, much of his time has been devoted to securing the establishment and endowment of a Celtic chair in his own university. The people have so liberally responded to his appeals for money, that his purpose may now be considered as accomplished. As a scholar, perhaps, his most original achievements are his exposition of the theory of Greek accents, and his philological analysis of the Neo-Hellenic language. In his views with regard to the origin of language, and the interpretation of myths, he has taken up a decided position antagonistic to Professor Max Müller. His detailed lucubrations on these and cognate subjects were published in a separate volume, under the title of "Hora Hellenicæ." His "Hellenic Dialogues"-Greek and English -have been welcomed in many quarters, as containing excellent materials for the introduction of the conversational method of the Platonic dialogues into the educational practice of school and college in this country.* The professor spent the spring of 1878 in Egypt. BRADDON, MARY ELIZABETH (Mrs John Maxwell), is a daughter of Henry Braddon, solicitor, was born in London in 1837, and early in life began to contribute to periodical literature. Her knowledge of sporting events and incidents she has derived from her father, who was a native of Cornwall, and who contributed to the Sporting Magazine under the noms de plume of "Rough Robin" or "Gilbert Forrester." She issued a volume of verse in 1861 under the title of "Garibaldi, and Other Poems." issued in a three volume form. Dickens is her position, for the pen moves over the great square slips of paper, and the corrections are few and far between. If we are not mistaken, it was once an article of popular belief that the caligraphy of literary folk was the worst possible quality, and that they took a savage delight in leaving something to the compositor's imagination. This has ceased to be, at least, universally, the case now. Those who write a great deal now, ought to know that it saves time to be very legible, and Mrs Maxwell, who has written more than thirty three-volume novels since she penned the 'Trail of the Seppent,' writes a singularly clear hand on the inner edge of the pen, and punctuates most exactly. In the handwriting itself there is nothing feminine-it might have been written by the adjutant of a cavalry regiment; but the woman peeps out in the tailor's thimble which protects the middle finger from the brand of ink. Mrs Maxwell has by practice reduced writing the mere production of copy-to a science. From the outer edge of the pen she has turned to the inner, as affording more rest for the hand, and has systematically reduced the size of her letters, because she has discovered a truth which deserves to be published-that the massive character now in fashion takes more time than a smaller style, because the writer must cover more ground. Having been admitted to the privilege of seeing Mrs Maxwell at work, we hardly feel in revealing a secret without which the information we have supplied would be worthless. There is 'copy' all over the room, as there are pictures, as there are books, as there are receipted bills and housekeeping accounts, but the 'copy' is merely the outward expression, the visible sign of work. Where is the hidden spring? In a small drawer carefully locked, repose the 'skeletons' of the novelist. They occupy very little space, these dry bones, to be afterwards 'clothed on,' as Mr Tennyson has it, with flesh and blood, light and warmth, life and atmosphere. 'Dead Men's Shoes' in the 'skeleton' hardly covers a couple of pages, and there has evidently been much resetting of the bones and rearrangement of the vertebræ. The difficulty of the writer is not in making the 'skeleton,' but in clinging faithfully to it to the end. As the work goes on and the creature breathes and moves, it displays an irrepressible instinct either to break out of bounds, to multiply the number of its vertebræ, or to abandon the higher form altogether and dwindle into an invertebrate of one volume." BRONTË, CHARLOTTE, daughter of the Rev. Patrick Brontë, curate of Haworth, Yorkshire, was born in 1816. Along with her sisters Anne and Emily, her days were passed in seclusion, and in what literary culture the quiet manse could afford. In 1846 the three sisters issued a volume of poems. They wrote under the assumed names of Currer, Acton, and Ellis Bell. The publication of "Jane Eyre" created some sensation with the reading public, and at once gave the writer high rank as a popular novelist. "Shirley" and "Villette" followed. In 1854 she married her father's curate, the Rey. Arthur Bell Nicholls, and died in the following year. The publication of her life by Mrs Gaskell raised a feeling of wonder in many minds as to how the production of such works of fiction had been possible under such untoward circumstances, and also the amount of true culture she had achieved. A fresh memoir of Charlotte Brontë was issued in 1877, by Mr T. Wemyss Reid. We learn from it that her father's name was originally Prunty, which was altered to Brontë when he left Ireland to come to England. Throughout his whole career, he is represented as selfish, self-willed, vain, and habitually cold in his demeanour towards his family. The turning-point in Charlotte's career is represented as her visit to Brussels, and not the death of her dissipated brother Branwell. BROUGHAM, HENRY, LORD, son of Henry Brougham, younger of Brougham Hall, Westmoreland, was born in Edinburgh in 1778 or 1779. He was sent to the High School, and early showed signs of great mental precocity. He went to the university, and in 1796 contributed a paper to the Philosophical Transactions on "Experiments and Observations on the Inflection, Reflection, and Colours of Light." After the publication of the third number of the Edinburgh Review he was invited to become a contributor, and, as Lord Jeffrey afterwards said, "did more work for us than anybody." The Edinburgh Review is said to have been more indebted for its success to Brougham's versatile pen than to any other of the contributors. Having studied for the Scottish bar, he went to London, became distinguished for his fearlessness and vehement oratory, and in 1810 he entered the House of Commons and joined the Whig opposition. His labours in connection with the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge are worthy the everlasting remembrance of the people of England. 1830 Brougham was elevated to the office of Lord Chancellor, while his name was merged in that of Lord Brougham and Vaux. He held office for four years, retiring in November 1834. This was the end of his official life, but he became distinguished as an author and law reformer. He died 7th May 1868. "Lord Brougham," says Mr R. H. Hutton, "was the hundred-handed Briareus of his party. There was nothing he did not touch; nothing he did not touch with some temporary effect. He has not exactly an intellect, so much as a bundle of ingenious intelligences. His 'prehensile' powers, as the physiologists call the powers of catching hold, are vast and numberless; but In |