A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature | Page 5

and Charles I. (1818-33) and a Life of Addison_.
She also wrote lives of her father and of Mrs. Barbauld. She was
remarkable for her conversational powers, and was also an admirable

letter-writer. Like the rest of her family she was a Unitarian.
AINGER, ALFRED (1837-1904).--Biographer and critic, s. of an
architect in London, grad. at Cambridge, entered the Church, and, after
holding various minor preferments, became Master of the Temple. He
wrote memoirs of Hood and Crabbe, but is best known for his
biography of Lamb and his edition of his works in 6 vols. (1883-88).
AINSWORTH, WILLIAM HARRISON (1805-1882).--Novelist, s. of a
solicitor, was b. in Manchester. He was destined for the legal
profession, which, however, had no attraction for him; and going to
London to complete his studies made the acquaintance of Mr. John
Ebers, publisher, and at that time manager of the Opera House, by
whom he was introduced to literary and dramatic circles, and whose
dau. he afterwards married. For a short time he tried the publishing
business, but soon gave it up and devoted himself to journalism and
literature. His first successful novel was Rookwood, pub. in 1834, of
which Dick Turpin is the leading character, and thenceforward he
continued to pour forth till 1881 a stream of novels, to the number of
39, of which the best known are _The Tower of London (1840), Old St.
Paul's (1841), Lancashire Witches_, and The Constable of the Tower.
The titles of some of his other novels are Crichton (1837), Jack
Sheppard (1839), Guy Fawkes, _The Star Chamber, The Flitch of
Bacon, The Miser's Daughter_ (1842), and Windsor Castle (1843). A.
depends for his effects on striking situations and powerful descriptions:
he has little humour or power of delineating character.
AIRD, THOMAS (1802-1876).--Poet, b. at Bowden, Roxburghshire,
went to Edinburgh, where he became the friend of Professor Wilson,
Carlyle, and other men of letters. He contributed to Blackwood's
Magazine, and was editor of the Dumfries Herald (1835-63). His chief
poem is _The Captive of Fez (1830); and in prose he wrote Religious
Characteristics_, and The Old Bachelor in the Old Scottish Village
(1848), all of which were received with favour. Carlyle said that in his
poetry he found everywhere "a healthy breath as of mountain breezes."
AKENSIDE, MARK (1721-1770).--Poet, s. of a butcher at
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, gave early indications of talent, and was sent to

the University of Edinburgh with the view of becoming a dissenting
minister. While there, however, he changed his mind and studied for
the medical profession. Thereafter he went to Leyden, where he took
his degree of M.D. in 1744. While there he wrote his principal poem,
_The Pleasures of the Imagination_, which was well received, and was
subsequently translated into more than one foreign language. After
trying Northampton, he settled as a physician in London; but was for
long largely dependent for his livelihood on a Mr. Dyson. His talents
brought him a good deal of consideration in society, but the solemn and
pompous manner which he affected laid him open to some ridicule, and
he is said to have been satirised by Smollett (q.v.) in his Peregrine
Pickle. He endeavoured to reconstruct his poem, but the result was a
failure. His collected poems were pub. 1772. His works, however, are
now little read. Mr. Gosse has described him as "a sort of frozen
Keats."
ALCOTT, LOUISA M. (1832-1888).--Writer of juvenile and other
tales, dau. of Amos Bronson Alcott, an educational and social theorist,
lecturer, and author, was b. in Pennsylvania. During the American civil
war she served as a nurse, and afterwards attained celebrity as a writer
of books for young people, of which the best is Little Women (1868).
Others are Little Men and Jo's Boys. She also wrote novels, including
Moods and Work.
ALCUIN or EALHWINE (735-804).--Theologian and general writer,
was b. and ed. at York. He wrote in prose and verse, his subjects
embracing educational, theological, and historical matters. Returning
from Rome, to which he had been sent to procure the pallium for a
friend, he met Charlemagne at Parma, and made upon him so
favourable an impression that he was asked to enter his service as
preceptor in the sciences to himself and his family. His numerous
treatises, which include metrical annals, hagiographical and
philosophical works, are not distinguished by originality or profundity,
but he is the best representative of the culture and mental activity of his
age, upon which, as the minister of education of the great emperor, he
had a widely-spread influence.

ALDRICH, THOMAS BAILEY (1836-1906).--Poet and novelist, b. at
Portsmouth, N.H., was for some time in a bank, and then engaged in
journalism. His first book was The Bells, a Collection of Chimes (1855),
and other poetical works are The Ballad of Babie Bell, _Cloth of Gold,