A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature | Page 7

Mr. Wordy, who
wrote a history to prove that Providence was on the side of the Tories.
It had, however, an enormous sale. A continuation of it (1852-59)
brought the story down to the accession of Louis Napoleon. A. was also
the author of a life of Marlborough, and of two standard works on the
criminal law of Scotland. In his private and official capacities he was
highly respected, and was elected Lord Rector successively of
Marischal Coll., Aberdeen, and of Glasgow University. He was created
a baronet by Lord Derby in 1852.
ALLEN, CHARLES GRANT (1848-1899).--Scientific writer and
novelist, b. in Canada, to which his f., a clergyman, had emigrated, and
ed. at Birmingham and Oxford. For a time he was a professor in a
college for negroes in Jamaica, but returning to England in 1876
devoted himself to literature. His first books were on scientific subjects,
and include Physiological Æsthetics (1877) and Flowers and Their
Pedigrees. After assisting Sir W.W. Hunter in his Gazeteer of India, he
turned his attention to fiction, and between 1884 and 1899 produced
about 30 novels, among which The Woman Who Did (1895),
promulgating certain startling views on marriage and kindred questions,
created some sensation. Another work, The Evolution of the Idea of
God, propounding a theory of religion on heterodox lines, has the
disadvantage of endeavouring to explain everything by one theory. His
scientific works also included Colour Sense, Evolutionist at Large,
Colin Clout's Calendar, and the Story of the Plants, and among his
novels may be added Babylon, In all Shades, Philistia (1884), The
Devil's Die, and _The British Barbarians_ (1896).

ALLINGHAM, WILLIAM (1824-1889).--Poet, the s. of a banker of
English descent, was b. at Ballyshannon, entered the customs service,
and was ultimately settled in London, where he contributed to _Leigh
Hunt's Journal_. Hunt introduced him to Carlyle and other men of
letters, and in 1850 he pub. a book of poems, which was followed by
_Day and Night Songs (1854), Laurence Bloomfield in Ireland_ (1864)
(his most ambitious, though not his most successful work), and
Collected Poems in 6 vols. (1888-93). He also edited The Ballad Book
for the _Golden Treasury_ series in 1864. In 1870 he retired from the
civil service and became sub-editor of Fraser's Magazine under Froude,
whom he succeeded as editor (1874-79). His verse is clear, fresh, and
graceful. He married Helen Paterson, the water colourist, whose idylls
have made the name of "Mrs. Allingham" famous also. He d. in 1889.
Other works are _Fifty Modern Poems (1865), Songs, Poems, and
Ballads (1877), Evil May Day_ (1883), Blackberries (1884), Irish
Songs and Poems (1887), and Varieties in Prose (1893). A selection
from his diaries and autobiography was pub. in 1906.
ALLSTON, WASHINGTON (1779-1843).--Painter and poet, b. in S.
Carolina, became a distinguished painter, and also wrote a good deal of
verse including The Sylphs of the Seasons, etc. (1813), and _The Two
Painters, a satire. He also produced a novel, Monaldi_. He was known
as "the American Titian."
AMORY, THOMAS (1691(?)-1788).--Eccentric writer, was of Irish
descent. In 1755 he publ. _Memoirs containing the lives of several
ladies of Great Britain, a History of Antiquities and Observations on
the Christian Religion, which was followed by the Life of John Buncle_
(1756), practically a continuation. The contents of these works are of
the most miscellaneous description--philology, natural science,
theology, and, in fact, whatever occurred to the writer, treated without
any system, but with occasional originality and felicity of diction. The
author, who was probably more or less insane, is described as having a
very peculiar aspect, with the manner of a gentleman, scarcely ever
stirring abroad except at dusk. He reached the age of 97.
ANDERSON, ALEXANDER (1845-1909).--Poet, s. of a quarrier at

Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire, became a surfaceman on the railway.
Spending all his leisure in self-culture, he mastered German, French,
and Spanish sufficiently to read the chief masterpieces in these
languages. His poetic vein, which was true if somewhat limited in
range, soon manifested itself, and his first book, Songs of Labour,
appeared in 1873, and there followed Two Angels (1875), Songs of the
Rail (1878), and Ballads and Sonnets (1879). In the following year he
was made assistant librarian in the University of Edinburgh, and after
an interval as secretary to the Philosophical Institution there, he
returned as Chief Librarian to the university. Thereafter he wrote little.
Of a simple and gentle character, he made many friends, including the
Duke of Argyll, Carlyle, and Lord Houghton. He generally wrote under
the name of "Surfaceman."
ANDREWES, LANCELOT (1555-1626).--Churchman and scholar,
was b. in London, and ed. at Merchant Taylor's School and Cambridge,
where he took a fellowship and taught divinity. After receiving various
other preferments he became Dean of Westminster, and a
chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Elizabeth, who, however, did