A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. John W. Cousin
some years after entering on his political career, D. ceased to write, and devoted his energies to parliamentary work. His first speech was a total failure, being received with shouts of laughter, but with characteristic courage and perseverance he pursued his course, gradually rose to a commanding position in parliament and in the country, became leader of his party, was thrice Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1852, 1858–59, and 1866–68, in which last year he became Prime Minister, which office he again held from 1874 till 1880. To return to his literary career, in 1844 he had pub. Coningsby, followed by Sybil (1845), and Tancred (1847), and in 1848 he wrote a life of Lord G. Bentinck, his predecessor in the leadership of the Protectionist party. His last novels were Lothair (1870), and Endymion (1880). He was raised to the peerage as Earl of Beaconsfield in 1876, and was a Knight of the Garter. In his later years he was the intimate friend as well as the trusted minister of Queen Victoria. The career of D. is one of the most remarkable in English history. With no family or political influence, and with some personal characteristics, and the then current prejudices in regard to his race to contend with, he rose by sheer force of will and intellect to the highest honours attainable in this country. His most marked qualities were an almost infinite patience and perseverance, indomitable courage, a certain spaciousness of mind, and depth of penetration, and an absolute confidence in his own abilities, aided by great powers of debate rising occasionally to eloquence. Though the object, first of a kind of contemptuous dislike, then of an intense opposition, he rose to be universally regarded as, at all events, a great political force, and by a large part of the nation as a great statesman. As a writer he is generally interesting, and his books teem with striking thoughts, shrewd maxims, and brilliant phrases which stick in the memory. On the other hand he is often artificial, extravagant, and turgid, and his ultimate literary position is difficult to forecast.
Lives by Froude (1890), Hitchman (1885), see also Dictionary of Nat. Biog. etc.
BEATTIE, JAMES (1735–1803).—Poet and philosophical writer, s. of a shopkeeper and small farmer at Laurencekirk, Kincardineshire, and ed. at Aberdeen; he was, in 1760, appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy there. In the following year he pub. a vol. of poems, which attracted attention. The two works, however, which brought him most fame were: (1) his Essay on Truth (1770), intended as an answer to Hume, which had great immediate success, and led to an introduction to the King, a pension of £200, and the degree of LL.D. from Oxford; and (2) his poem of The Minstrel, of which the first book was pub. in 1771 and the second in 1774, and which constitutes his true title to remembrance. It contains much beautiful descriptive writing. The Essay on Truth and his other philosophical works are now forgotten. B. underwent much domestic sorrow in the death of his wife and two promising sons, which broke down his own health and spirits.
BEAUMONT, FRANCIS (1584–1616), AND FLETCHER, JOHN (1579–1625).—Poets and dramatists. As they are indissolubly associated in the history of English literature, it is convenient to treat of them in one place. B. was the s. of Francis B., a Judge of the Common Pleas, and was b. at the family seat, Grace Dieu, Leicestershire. He was ed. at Oxford, but his f. dying in 1598, he left without taking his degree. He went to London and entered the Inner Temple in 1600, and soon became acquainted with Ben Jonson, Drayton, and other poets and dramatists. His first work was a translation from Ovid, followed by commendatory verses prefixed to certain plays of Jonson. Soon afterwards his friendship with F. began. They lived in the same house and had practically a community of goods until B.'s marriage in 1613 to Ursula, dau. and co-heiress of Henry Isley of Sundridge in Kent, by whom he had two dau. He d. in 1616, and is buried in Westminster Abbey. F. was the youngest s. of Richard F., Bishop of London, who accompanied Mary Queen of Scots to the scaffold. He went to Cambridge, but it is not known whether he took a degree, though he had some reputation as a scholar. His earliest play is The Woman Hater (1607). He is said to have died of the plague, and is buried in St. Saviour's Church, Southwark. The plays attributed to B. and F. number 52 and a masque, and much labour has been bestowed by critics in endeavouring to allocate their individual shares. It is now generally agreed that others collaborated with them to some extent—Massinger, Rowley, Shirley, and even Shakespeare. Of those believed to be the joint work of B. and F. Philaster and The Maid's Tragedy are considered the masterpieces, and are as dramas unmatched except by Shakespeare. The Two Noble Kinsmen is thought to contain the work of Shakespeare. As regards their respective powers, B. is held to have had the graver, solider, and more stately genius, while F. excelled in brightness, wit, and gaiety. The former was the stronger in judgment, the latter in fancy. The plays contain many very beautiful lyrics, but are often stained by gross indelicacy. The play of Henry VIII. included in Shakespeare's works, is now held to be largely the work of F. and Massinger. Subjoined is a list of the plays with the authorship according to the latest authorities.
(1) BEAUMONT.—The Masque. (2) FLETCHER.—Woman Hater (1607), Faithful Shepherdess (1609), Bonduca (Boàdicea) (1618–19), Wit without Money (1614?), Valentinian (1618–19), Loyal Subjects (1618), Mad Lover (1618–19), Humorous Lieutenant (1618?), Women Pleased (1620?), Island Princess (1621), Pilgrim (1621), Wild Goose Chase (1621), Woman's Prize (? pub. 1647), A Wife for a Month (1624), Chances (late, p. 1647), perhaps Monsieur Thomas (p. 1639), and Sea Voyage (1622). (3) BEAUMONT and FLETCHER.—Four Plays in One (1608), King and No King (1611), Cupid's Revenge (1611?), Knight of Burning Pestle (1611), Maid's Tragedy (1611), Philaster (1611), Coxcomb (1612–13), Wits at Several Weapons (1614), Scornful Lady (1616), doubtfully, Thierry and Theodoret (1616), and Little French Lawyer (1620) perhaps by F. and Massinger, and Laws of Candy (?) perhaps by B. and Massinger. (4) FLETCHER and OTHERS.—Honest Man's Fortune (1613), F., Mass., and Field; The Captain (1613), and Nice Valour (p. 1647), F. and Middleton (?); Bloody Brothers (1616–17), F., Mid., and Rowley or Fielding and B. Jonson (?); Queen of Corinth (1618–19), F. and Row. or Mass. and Mid.; Barneveld (1619), by F. and Massinger; Knight of Malta (1619), False One (1620), A Very Woman (1621?), Double Marriage (1620), Elder Brother (p. 1637), Lover's Progress (p. 1647), Custom of the Country (1628), Prophetess (1622), Spanish Curate (1622), by F. and Shakespeare; Henry VIII. (1617), and Two Noble Kinsmen (p. 1634), by F. and Rowley, or Massinger; Maid of the Mill (1625–6), Beggar's Bush (?) (1622), by F. and Shirley; Noble Gentleman (?) Night Walker (1633?), Lovers Pilgrimage (1623?), Fair Maid of the Inn (1625–26), also with Middleton?
The latest ed. is that of Mr. Bullen (11 vols., 1904), and A.R. Waller (7 vols., pub. C.U.P., 1909); Dyce (11 vols., 1843–46); Francis Beaumont, G.C. Macaulay (1883); Lyric Poems of B. and F., E. Rhys (1897); Bibliography, A.C. Potter in Harvard Bibliograph. Contributions, 1891.
BEAUMONT, SIR JOHN (1582–1627?).—Poet, elder brother of Francis B., the dramatist (q.v.). His poems, of which the best known is Bosworth Field, pub. by his s., 1629. Another, The Crown of Thorns, is lost.
BECKFORD, WILLIAM (c. 1760–1844).—Miscellaneous writer, only s. of William B., Lord Mayor of London, the associate and supporter of John Wilkes, inherited at the age of 9 an enormous fortune. In these circumstances he grew up wayward and extravagant, showing, however, a strong bent towards literature. His education was entrusted to a private tutor, with whom he travelled extensively on the Continent. At the age of 22 he produced his oriental romance, Vathek (c. 1781), written originally in French and, as he was accustomed to boast, at a single sitting of three days and two nights. There is reason, however, to believe that this was a flight of imagination. It is an impressive work, full of fantastic and magnificent conceptions, rising occasionally to sublimity. His other principal writings are Memoirs of Extraordinary Painters (1780), a satirical work, and Letters from Italy with Sketches of Spain and Portugal (1835), full of brilliant descriptions of scenes