OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Blackstone, William (d.1675)

​BLACKSTONE or BLAXTON, WILLIAM (d. 1675), one of the earliest episcopal clergymen resident in New England) as distinguished from the puritan founders of New England, must, according to the records of Massachusetts, have arrived in the colony between 1620 and 1630. In the ‘Literary Diary’ of President Stiles he is called ‘an episcopal clergyman’-his name being variantly spelled Blackstone, Blackston, and Blaxton. He was found by the Massachusetts Bay colony, on their arrival in 1630, settled on the peninsula of Shawmut, where the city of Boston now stands. He had had a pleasant cottage built and a garden planted. Difficulties beset him with the newcomers. As a consequence he sold his property and removed to the more tolerant colony of Roger Williams in 1631, observing that ‘he had left England to escape the power of the lord bishops, but he found himself in the hands of the Lord’s brethren.’ According to Stiles’s ‘Diary’ he ‘removed to Blaxton river, and settled six miles north of Providence.’ Elsewhere in the same diary we learn that he was ‘a great student with a large library,’ that he ‘rode a bull for want of a horse,’ and ‘preached occasionally,’ and that his home and library were burnt in King Philip's war. He married, 4 July 1659, widow Sarah Stephenson, who died in June 1673. Blackstone died 26 May 1675. ‘He was buried,’ says the ‘Massachusetts Historical Collections’ (2nd series, x. 710), ‘in classic ground, on Study Hill, where it is said a white stone marks his grave.’ President Stiles visited his grave in 1771, and left a careful map of the whole region, marking the homes of Blackstone, Roger Williams, and Samuel Gorton, the patriarchs of New England (local) history. The high ground on which his second New England home was built-about six miles from Providence-still bears the name of ‘Study Hill,’ because it was on this hill that Blackstone pursued his studies which gave him a wide reputation. The Blackstone river (formerly Pawtucket) and the Blackstone canal also preserve his name. ​Dr. Samuel Hopkins speaks of Blackstone as ‘a man of learning,’ and doubtfully adds: ‘He seems to have been of the puritan persuasion, and to have left his country for his nonconformity.’ He tells us also that ‘he used to come to Providence and preach, and to encourage his hearers gave them the first apples they ever saw’—his orchard having been as celebrated as his library. Lechford, who wrote in 1641, thus mentions him: ‘One Mr. Blackstone, a minister sent from Boston, having lived there nine or ten Years, because he would not join the church; he lives with Mr. [Roger] Williams, but is far from his opinions.’
[Massachusetts Historical Collections, iv. 202, x. 710; Johnson’s Wonder-working Providence, where is to be found a notice of one who sympathised with Blackstone: ‘Mr. Samuel Maverick, living on Noddle’s Island in Boston Harbour . . . an enemy to the reformation in hand, being strong for the lordly prelatical power;’ Holmes’s Annals, i. 377; Savage’s Winthrop, i. 44; Everett’s Address, Second Century, 29; Sprague’s Annals of the American Pulpit, v. 1–3.]
A. B. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Blackwall, John

​BLACKWALL, JOHN (1790–1881), zoologist, was born at Manchester 20 Jan. 1790. After some years' partnership with his father, an importer of Irish linen, he retired in 1833 to North Wales, settling ultimately at Llanrwst. As early as 1821 he published, in Thomson's 'Annals of Philosophy,' observations on diurnal mean temperature, and in 1822 some notes by him on migratory birds appeared in the 'Memoirs of the Manchester Philosophical Society.' This was followed by observations on the notes of birds. Fifteen of his first twenty-five papers were ornithological. Being attracted to the study of spiders and their webs, he was surprised to find scarcely any available authorities, and this determined his choice of a principal lifework. His first paper on spiders appeared in 1827 in the 'Transactions of the Linnean Society,'. on the means by which gossamer spiders effect their aerial excursions. In 1830 he published, in the 'Zoological Journal,' a paper on the manner in which the geometric spiders construct their nets. His papers were collected in 'Researches in Zoology,' 1834; the second edition, 1873, was not brought up to date. Blackwall pursued the study of the spiders of his own neighbourhood and their habits with extreme painstaking, almost wholly unaided by any British or foreign worker. His great work, 'A History of the Spiders of "Great Britain and Ireland,' 1861–4, published by the Ray Society, was unfortunately in the hands of the society ten years before its publication. It is full of minute detail, giving an almost photographic picture of the object. Nearly all his work was done without any aid but that of a pocket lens. Some of his type-specimens are lost, owing to their having been kept indiscriminately with others. His writing for the press was most remarkably clear, and scarcely a single correction was needed in his proof-sheets. He died 11 May 1881.
[Obit, notice in the Entomologist, xiv. 145–50, by Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge; see also xiv. 190, and Entomologist's Monthly Mag. xviii. 45.]
G. T. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Blackwell, John

​BLACKWELL, JOHN (1797–1840), Welsh poet and prose writer, was born at Mold, in Flintshire, in 1797, and for many years followed the trade of a shoemaker in his native town. From an early age he showed the greatest avidity for books, and he carried off several prizes offered for poems and essays in the Welsh language. By the liberality of friends he was enabled to enter Jesus College, Oxford, in 1824, and he took the degree of B.A. in 1828. In the autumn of the latter year, at the Royal Denbigh Eisteddvod, a prize was adjudged to him for his beautiful Welsh elegy on the death of Bishop Heber. In 1829 he was ordained to the curacy of Holy well. During his residence there he contributed largely to the columns of the 'Gwyliedydd,' a periodical conducted on the principles of the established church, and in 1832 he was presented with a prize medal at the Beaumaris Eisteddvod. In 1833 he was presented by Lord-chancellor Brougham to the living of Manor Deivy, in Pembrokeshire. Soon afterwards he became editor of an illustrated magazine in the Welsh language, entitled 'Y Cylchgrawn,' and he conducted this periodical with remarkable ability. He died on 14 May 1840, and was buried at Manor Deivy. His poems and essays, with a memoir of his life, were edited by the Rev. Griffith Edwards of Minera, in a volume entitled 'Ceinion Alun,' Ruthin, 1851, 8vo.
[Williams's Eminent Welshmen, 554; Gent. Mag. (New Ser.), xiv. 100.]
T. C.
# Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Alcimus 2.

​A′LCIMUS (Άλκιμος), a Greek rhetorician whom Diogenes Laertius (ii. 114) calls the most distinguished of all Greek rhetoricians, flourished about b.c. 300. It is not certain whether he is the same as the Alcimus to whom Diogenes in another passage (iii. 9) asciibes a work πρὁς Άμὐνταν. Athenaeus in several places speaks of a Sicilian Alcimus, who appears to have been the author of a great historical work, parts of whicb are referred to under the names of Ίταλικα and Σικελικά. But whether he was the same as the rhetorician Alcimus, cannot be determined. (Athen. x. p. 441, xii. p. 518, vii. p. 322.) [L. S.]
# Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Alcinous 1.

​ALCI′NOUS (Άλκίνοος). 1. A son of Nausithous, and grandson of Poseidon. His name is celebrated in the story of the Argonauts, and still more in that of the wanderings of Odysseus. In the former Alcinous is represented as living with his queen Arete in the island of Drepane. The Argonauts, on their return from Colchis, came to his island, and were most hospitably received. When the Colchians, in their pursuit of the Argonauts, likewise arrived in Drepane, and demanded that Medeia should be delivered up to them, Alcinous declared that if she was still a maiden she should be restored to them, but if she was already the wife of Jason, he would protect her and her husband against the Colchians. The Colchians were obliged, by the contrivance of Arete, to depart without their princess, and the Argonauts continued their voyage homewards, after they had received munificent presents from Alcinous. (Apollon. Rhod. iv. 990-1225; Orph. Argon. 1288, &c.; Apollod. i. 9. § 25, 26.) According to Homer, Alcinous is the happy ruler of the Phaeacians in the island of Scheria, who has by Arete five sons and one daughter, Nausicaa. {Od. vi. 12, &c., 62, &c.) The description of his palace and his dominions, the mode in which Odysseus is received, the entertainments given to him, and the stories he related to the king about his own wanderings, occupy a considerable portion of the Odyssey (from book vi. to xiii.), and form one of its most chamiing parts. (Comp. Hygin. Fab. 125 and 126.)
2. A son of Hippothoon, who, in conjunction with his father and eleven brothers, expelled Icarion and Tyndareus from Lacedaemon, but Avaa afterwards killed, with his father and brothers, by Heracles. (Apollod. iii. 10. §5.) [L. S.]
# Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Alcestis

​ALCESTIS or ALCESTE (Ἄλκηστις or Ἀλκέστη), a daughter of Pelias and Anaxibia, and mother of Eumelus and Admetus. (Apollod. 1.9.10, 15.) Homer (Hom. Il. 2.715) calls her the fairest among the daughters of Pelias. When Admetus, king of Pherae, sued for her hand, Pelias, in order to get rid of the numerous suitors, declared that he would give his daughter to him only who should come to his court in a chariot drawn by lions and boars. This was accomplished by Admetus, with the aid of Apollo. For the farther story, see ADMETUS. The sacrifice of herself for Admetus was highly celebrated in antiquity. (Aelian, Ael. VH 14.45, Animal. 1.15; Philostr. Her. 2.4; Ov. Ars Am. 3.19; Eurip. Alcestis.) Towards her father, too, she shewed her filial affection, for, at least, according to Diodorus (4.52 ; comp. however, Palaeph. De incredib. 41), she did not share in the crime of her sisters, who murdered their father. Ancient as well as modern critics have attempted to explain the return of Alcestis to life in a rationalistic manner, by supposiung that during a severe illness she was restored to life in a physician of the name of Heracles. (Palaeph. l.c. ; Plut. Amator. p. 761.) Alcestis was represented on the chest of Cypselus, in a group shewing the funeral solemnities of Pelias. (Paus. 5.17.4.) In the museum of Florence there is an alto relieve, the work of Cleomenes, which is believed to represent Alcestis devoting herself to death. (Meyer, Gesch. der bildend. Künste, i. p. 162, 2.159.) [L. S.]
# Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Alcimus 1.

​A′LCIMUS (Άλκειμος), also called Jacimus, or Joachim (Ίάκειμος), one of the Jewish priests, who espoused the Syrian cause. He was made high priest by Demetrius, about b.c. 161, and was installed in his office by the help of a Syrian army. In consequence of his cruelties he was expelled by the Jews, and obliged to fly to Antioch, but was restored by the help of another Syrian army. He continued in his office, under the protection of the Syrians, till his death, which happened suddenly (b.c. 159) while he was pulling down the wall of the temple that divided the court of the Gentiles from that of the Israelites. (Joseph. Ant. Jud. xii. 9. § 7; 1 Maccab. vii. ix.)
# Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Alcaeus 4.

​ALCAEUS (Ἀλκαῖος), the son of Miccus, was a native of Mytilene, according to Suidas, who may, however, have confounded him in this point with the lyric poet. He is found exhibiting at Athens as a poet of the old comedy, or rather of that mixed comedy, which formed the transition between the old and the middle. In B. C. 388, he brought forward a play entitled Πασιφάη, in the same contest in which Aristophanes exhibited his second Plutus, but, if the meaning of Suidas is rightly understood, he obtained only the fifth place. He left ten plays, of which some fragments remain, and the following titles are known, Ἀδελφαί μοιχευομέναι, Γανυμήδης, Ἐνδυμίων, Ἱερὸς γάμος, Καλλιστῶ, Κωμῳδοτραγῳδία, Παλαῖστρα.
Alcaeus, a tragic poet, mentioned by Fabricius (Biblioth. Graec, ii. p. 282), does not appear to be a different person from Alcaeus the comedian. The mistake of calling him a tragic poet arose simply from an erroneous reading of the title of his "Comoedo-tragoedia."
(The Greek Argument to the Plutus; Suidas, s. v. ; Pollux, x. 1; Casaubon on Athen. iii. p. 206; Meineke, Fragm. Comic. Graec, i. p. 244, ii. p. 824; Bode, Geschichte der Dramatischen Dichtkunst der Hellenen, ii. p. 386.) [P. S.]
# Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Alcimenes 2.

​ALCI′MENES (Ἀλκιμένης), an Athenian comic poet, apparently a contemporary of Aeschylus. One of his pieces is supposed to have been the Κολυμϐῶσαι (the Female Swimmers). His works were greatly admired by Tynnichus, a younger contemporary of Aeschylus.
There was a tragic writer of the same name, a native of Megara, mentioned by Suidas. (Meineke, Hist. Crit. Comicorum Graec. p. 481; Suid. s. v. Ἀλκιμένης and Ἀλκμάν)[C.P. M.]
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Cherry, George Frederick

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​CHERRY, GEORGE FREDERICK (1761–1799)
B.C.S. : son of George Cherry : born 1761 : entered the Bengal Civil Service, 1778 : ​accompanied Lord Cornwallis as his Persian Secretary to Madras, where, in 1792, peace was made with Tippoo at Seringapatam : Cherry's picture of Tippoo is at the India Office : appointed Resident at Benares, 1793 : there murdered by Wazir Ali, the reputed son of the late Nawab Asaf-ud-daula of Oudh, on Jan. 14, 1799.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Chapman, Edward Francis

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​CHAPMAN, EDWARD FRANCIS (1840–)
General : born 1840 : son of Henry Chapman : entered the Bengal Artillery, 1858 : served in the Abyssinian war, 1867–8 : accompanied Sir Douglas Forsyth as Secretary to Yarkand in 1873–4 : in the Afghan war, of 1878–80, was Chief of the Staff in Sir F. Roberts' march from Kabul to Kandahar : C.B : and Brevet Lt-Colonel : in Burma campaign, 1885–6 : Military Secretary to Sir Donald Stewart, when C. in C. in India : Q.M.G. in India : Director of Military Intelligence, 1891–6 : commanded the Scottish District, 1896–1901 : Colonel Commanding Royal Artillery : F.R.G.S: A.D.C. to Queen Victoria, 1881.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Chatterton, The Right Rev. Eyre

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​CHATTERTON, THE RIGHT REV. EYRE (1863–)
Born July 22, 1863 : son of A. T. Chatterton : educated at Haileybury and Dublin University : ordained 1887 : Head of the Dublin University Mission to Chota-Nagpur, 1891–1900 : Bishop of Nagpur, Central Provinces, 1903 : D.D : author of The Story of Fifty Years' Mission in Chota-Nagpur : F.R.G.S.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Chastenay, Henry

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​CHASTENAY, HENRY (1794–1822)
B.C.S. : arrived in India as a writer in Bengal, Nov. 1811 : served always at the headquarters of the Government : Private Secretary to the Marquess of Hastings, when Governor-General : died May 2, 1822 : buried at Calcutta.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Chatterji, Bankim Chandra

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​CHATTERJI, BANKIM CHANDRA (1838–1894)
Bengali novelist and prose writer : son of Jadab Chandra Chatterji, a Deputy ​Magistrate : born June 27, 1838 : educated at the Midnapur School, Hughli and Presidency Colleges : in 1858 he was the first native of India to take the B.A. degree, Calcutta : at once appointed to be a Deputy Magistrate, and became a prominent member of the Provincial service, acting for a time as Assistant Secretary to the Bengal Government. His reputation was made in literature, as the Bengali novelist of his time : his novels were numerous, and are said to be still popular : he brought out a literary magazine, 1872, and wrote the first Bengali historical novel, under the title of Durges Nandini. This was followed by Kapala Kandala, Mrinalini, and Bisha Brikka, which was translated into English and very favourably criticised by Professor Darmesteter : Debi Chandurani, Ananda Matha, and Krishna Kanter Will : wrote also on Hindu religion, Kirshna, the Vedas, and Hindu literature : made Rai Bahadur and C.I.E : retired from Government service in 1891 : died April 8, 1894.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Chavannes, Edouard

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​CHAVANNES, EDOUARD (1865–)
Born Oct. 5, 1865, at Lyons : son of Emile Chavannes, engineer : educated at I'Ecole normale superieure : his work as a scholar has dealt principally with Chinese subjects, often in relation to India : entrusted with a scientific mission to China, 1889–93 : appointed Professor of the Chinese Language and Literature at the College de France, 1893 : Secretary of the Societe Asiatique, 1895 : Member of the Institute, 1903 : The following works by him treat of the travels of Chinese Buddhist pilgrims in India : I-tsing, Les religieux eminents, 1894 : Voyage de Song Yun dans l'Udyana et le Gandhara, (a translation) in the Bulletin de l'Ecole francaise d'Extreme Orient, 1903, etc. : Documents sur les Tou-kine (Turks) occidentaux, 1903, treats of several questions relating to India. He has also written largely in the Journal Asiatique, on the Chinese inscriptions of Bodh Gaya in the Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, and in other periodicals.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Cheape, Sir John

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​CHEAPE, SIR JOHN (1792–1875)
Son of John Cheape : born in 1792 : educated at Woolwich and Addiscombe : joined the Bengal Engineers in 1809, rose to be Maj-General in 1854 : was under Lord Hastings in the Pindari war, in the Nerbudda Field Force, 1817 : at the siege of Asirghar and in the Burmese war, 1824–6 : was Chief Engineer at the siege of Multan, 1848, and at Gujarat in the Panjab campaign : C.B. : in the second Burmese war of 1852–3, was second in command under General Godwin at first, and later, in 1853, commanded, and took Pegu : the provinces of Pegu and Tenasserim were annexed : K.C.B : A.D.C. to Queen Victoria : retired, 1857 : Colonel Commandant of Engineers, 1862 : G.C.B., 1865 : General, 1866 : died March 30, 1875.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Chapman, Robert Barclay

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​CHAPMAN, ROBERT BARCLAY (1829–)
I.C.S. : born Nov. 21, 1829 : son of Jonathan Chapman : educated at Hailey-bury : entered the Bengal Civil Service, 1849 : and rose to be Secretary to the Government of India in the Finance Department, 1869–81, when he retired : C.S.I.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Chelmsford, Frederick Augustus Thesiger, second Baron

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​CHELMSFORD, FREDERICK AUGUSTUS THESIGER, SECOND BARON (1827–1905)
Born May 31, 1827 : son of first Baron (Lord Chancellor, 1858–9) : educated at Eton : succeeded to title, 1879 : entered the Army in the Grenadier Guards, 1844 : served in the Crimea : Lt.-Colonel in the 95th regt. in the mutiny, in Central India : Adjutant-General in the Abyssinian campaign, 1867–8 : C.B. and A.D.C. to Queen Victoria : Adjutant-General in India : commanded the forces in the Kafir war, 1878 : succeeded his father, Oct. 1878 : at Isandhwala, Gingilhovo, Ulundi : Lieutenant of the Tower, 1884–9 : General, 1888 : G.C.B. : G.C.V.O : died April 9, 1905.
# Dictionary of Indian Biography/Chavasse, William

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​CHAVASSE, WILLIAM (1785–1814)
An officer of the E.I. Co.'s service, who tried, with a companion, to explore the route of the 10,000 Greeks, as described in Xenophon's Anabasis. They were taken prisoners by a local chief near Bagdad, but released on payment of ransom. Chavasse died of fever there.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Chapman, Edmund

​CHAPMAN, EDMUND (fl. 1733), surgeon, a country practitioner, commenced midwifery practice about 1708. In 1733 he was in practice in Drake Street, Red Lion Square, London, and published 'An Essay on the Improvement of Midwifery, chiefly with regard to the Operation, to which are added Fifty Cases, selected from upwards of Twenty-five Years' Practice.' He was one of the earliest systematic writers on this subject in this country, and published as much as he could discover of Hugh Chamberlen's (concealed) methods of delivery with the forceps. A second edition appeared in 1735, entitled 'A Treatise,' &c., with large additions. In 1737 Chapman replied in a pamphlet to some criticisms made by Douglas in his 'Short Account of the State of Midwifery in London and Westminster.' The dates of his birth and death are not known.
[Georgian Era, 1832, ii. 555; Chapman's works cited.]
G. T. B.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Chapman, George (1723-1806)

​CHAPMAN, GEORGE (1723–1806), schoolmaster and writer on education, was born at the farm of Little Blacktown in the parish of Alvah, Banffshire, in August 1723. He was educated at the grammar school of Banff, and at King's College, Aberdeen, graduating M.A. in 1741, After acting for some time as master in the parish school of Alvah, he in 1747 became assistant master in an academy at Dalkeith. In 1751 he removed to Dumfries, to become joint master of the grammar school; shortly afterwards he became sole headmaster, and he held this office till 1774. On account of infirm health he relinquished it to take up a small private academy, but, finding that this was regarded as injurious to the grammar school, he removed to Banffshire, where he kept an academy at his native farmhouse. Some time afterwards, at the request of the magistrates, he undertook the superintendence of the Banff academy. Latterly he removed to Edinburgh, where he carried on business as a printer. He died at Rose Street, Edinburgh, 22 Feb. 1800. In 1773 he published 'A Treatise on Education, with a Sketch of the Author's Method of Instruction while he taught the school of Dumfries, and a view of other Books on Education,' which reached a fifth edition in 1792. In 1804 he obtained the prize offered by Dr. Buchanan for a poem and essay on the civilisation of India, and they were published at Edinburgh in 1805 under the title, 'East India Tracts, viz. Collegium Bengalense, a Latin Poem with an English Translation and a Dissertation,' &c. He was also the author of 'Hints on the Eduuation of the Lower Ranks of the People, and the Appointment of Parochial Schoolmasters; 'Advantages of a Classical Education;' and an 'Abridgement of Mr. Ruddiman's Rudiments and Latin Grammar.' He received the degree of LL.D. from the university of Aberdeen.
[Memoirs of his Life, 1806; Scots Mag. lxviii. 238, 404-5; Gent. Mag. lxxvi. pt. i. 285; Chalmers's Biog. Dict. ii. 128-9.]
T. F. H.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Chapman, Mary Francis

​CHAPMAN, MARY FRANCIS (1838–1884), novelist, was born on 28 Nov. 1838, at Dublin, where her father held a situation in the custom house. Mr. Chapman being soon afterwards transferred to the London customs, his family came with him to England, and his daughter was placed at a school at Staplehurst in Kent. She early displayed an aptitude for story-writing, and part of her first novel, 'Mary Bertrand, she composed at ​the age of fifteen. It was published in 1856, when the author was only eighteen. It was followed by 'Lord Bridgnorth's Niece,' which appeared in 1862. In 1869 she contributed to the 'Churchman's Family Magazine' an historical tale, called 'Bellasis; or, the Fortunes of a Cavalier;' it was the joint production of herself and her father. A visit to Scotland, where her elder brother had settled as a clergyman of the Scotch episcopal church, led to her writing, in 1876, 'A Scotch Wooing,' the first of her books that attracted attention. In 1876 appeared her best novel, 'Gerald Marlowe's wife.' Her last work, published in 1879, was 'The Gift of the Gods.' This appeared under her own name; in her previous publications she had used the pseudonym of 'J. C. Ayrton.' Miss Chapman died, after a long illness, at Old Charlton, on 18 Feb. 1884. Her novels are, with the exception of 'Bellasis,' tales of domestic life, with comparatively little incident, but marked by good feeling and refined taste. Her chief gift was an unusual power of writing easy and natural dialogue.
[Private information.]
N. McC.