two daughters married to titles. Lord Ogleby calls him “a very abstract
of ’Change;” and he himself says, “What signifies birth, education,
titles, and so forth? Money, I say--money’s the stuff that makes a man
great in this country.”
_Miss Sterling_, whose Christian name is Elizabeth or Betty; a spiteful,
jealous, purse-proud damsel, engaged to Sir John Melvil. Sir John,
seeing small prospect of happiness with such a tartar, proposed marriage
to the younger sister; and Miss Sterling being left out in the cold,
exclaimed, “Oh, that some other person, an earl or duke for instance,
would propose to me, that I might be revenged on the monsters!”
_Miss Fanny Sterling_, an amiable, sweet-smiling, soft-speaking beauty,
clandestinely married to Lovewell.--Colman and Garrick, _The Clandestine
Marriage_ (1766).
=Sterry=, a fanatical preacher, admired by Hugh Peters.--S. Butler,
_Hudibras_ (1663-78).
=Stevens=, a messenger of the earl of Sussex at Say’s Court.--Sir W.
Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).
=Stewart= (_Colonel_), governor of the castle of Doune.--Sir W. Scott,
_Waverley_ (time, George II.).
_Stewart_ (_Prince Charles Edward_), surnamed “The Chevalier” by his
friends, and “The Pretender” by his foes. Sir W. Scott introduces him in
_Waverley_, and again in _Redgauntlet_, where he appears disguised as
“Father Buonaventura.” (Now generally spelt Stuart.)
_Stewart_ (_Walking_), John Stewart, the English traveller, who
travelled on foot through Hindûstan, Persia, Nubia, Abyssinia, the
Arabian Desert, Europe and the United States (died 1822).
A most interesting man,... eloquent in conversation, contemplative ...
and crazy beyond all reach of helebore, ... yet sublime and divinely
benignant in his visionariness. This man, as a pedestrian traveller,
had seen more of the earth’s surface ... than any man before or
since.--De Quincey.
⁂ Walking Stewart must not be confounded with John M’Douall Stuart, the
Australian explorer (1818-1866).
=Steyne= (_Marquis of_), earl of Gaunt and of Gaunt Castle, a viscount,
baron, knight of the Garter and of numerous other orders, colonel,
trustee of the British Museum, elder brother of the Trinity House,
governor of White Friars, etc., had honors and titles enough to make him
a great man, but his life was not a highly moral one, and his conduct
with Becky Sharp, when she was the wife of Colonel Rawdon Crawley, gave
rise to a great scandal. His lordship floated through the ill report,
but Mrs. Rawdon was obliged to live abroad.--W. M. Thackeray, _Vanity
Fair_ (1848).
=Stick to it, says Baigent.= Baigent was the principal witness of the
Claimant in the great Tichborne trial, and his advice to his _protégé_
was, “Stick to it” (1872).
=Stiggins=, a hypocritical, drunken Methodist “shepherd” (minister),
thought by Mrs. Weller to be a saint. His time was spent for the most
part in drinking pineapple rum at the Marquis of Granby tavern.--C.
Dickens, _The Pickwick Papers_ (1836).
=Still= (_Cornelius, the_), Cornelius Tacitus. (Latin, _tacĭtus_,
“still.”)
Cornelius, the Stylle, in his firste book of his yerely exploictes,
called in Latine, _Annales_.--_Fardle of Facions_, iii. 3 (1555).
=Stimulants used by Public Characters.=
BONAPARTE, snuff.
BRAHAM, bottled porter.
BULL (_Rev. William_), the nonconformist, was an inveterate smoker.
BYRON, gin-and-water.
CATLEY (_Miss_), linseed tea and madeira.
COOKE (_G. F._), everything drinkable.
DISRAELI (Lord Beaconsfield), champagne jelly.
EMERY, cold brandy-and-water.
ERSKINE (_Lord_), opium in large doses.
Gladstone (_W. E._), an egg beaten up in sherry.
HENDERSON, gum arabic and sherry.
HOBBES, only cold water.
INCLEDON, madeira.
JORDAN (_Mrs._), calves’-foot jelly dissolved in warm sherry.
KEAN (_Edmund_), beef-tea, cold brandy.
KEMBLE (_John_), opium.
LEWIS, mulled wine and oysters.
NEWTON smoked incessantly.
OXBERRY, strong tea.
POPE, strong coffee.
SCHILLER required to sit over a table deeply impregnated with the smell
of apples. He stimulated his brain with coffee and champagne.
SIDDONS (_Mrs._), porter, not “stout.”
SMITH (_William_), drank strong coffee.
WEDDERBURNE (the first Lord Ashburton) used to place a blister on his
chest when he had to make a great speech.--Dr. Paris, _Pharmacologia_
(1819).
WOOD (_Mrs._), drank draught porter.
=Stinkomalee.= So Theodore Hook called the London University. The word
was suggested by “Trincomalee” (in Ceylon), a name before the public at
the time. Hook hated the “University,” because it admitted students of
all denominations.
Only look at Stinkomalee and King’s College. Activity, union, craft,
indomitable perseverance on the one side; indolence, indecision,
internal distrust, and jealousies, calf-like simplicity, and cowardice
intolerable on the other.--Wilson, _Noctes Ambrosianæ_ (1822-36).
=Stitch= (_Tom_), a young tailor, a great favorite with the
ladies.--_The Merry History of Tom Stitch_ (seventeenth century).
=Stockwell= (_Mr._), a City merchant, who promised to give his daughter,
Nancy, in marriage, to the son of Sir Harry Harlowe of Dorsetshire.
_Mrs. Stockwell_, the merchant’s wife, who always veers round to the
last speaker, and can be persuaded to anything for the time being.
_Nancy Stockwell_, daughter of the merchant, in love with Belford, but
promised in marriage to Sir Harry Harlowe’s son. It so happens that Sir
Harry’s son has privately married another lady, and Nancy falls to the
man of her choice.--Garrick, _Neck or Nothing_ (1766).
=Stolen Kisses=, a drama by Paul Meritt, in three acts (1877). Felix
Freemantle, under the pseudonym of Mr. Joy, falls in love with Cherry,
daughter of Tom Spirit, once valet to Mr. Freemantle (who had come to
the title of Viscount Trangmar). When Tom Spirit ascertained that “Felix
Joy” was the son of the viscount, he forbade all further intercourse,
unless Felix produced his father’s consent to the marriage. The next
part of the plot pertains to the brother of Tom Spirit, who had assumed
the name of Walter Temple, and, as a stock-broker, had become very
wealthy. In his prosperity, Walter scornfully ignored his brother, Tom,
and his ambition was to marry his daughter, Jenny, to the son of
Viscount Trangmar, who owed him money. Thus, the two cousins, Cherry and
Jenny, came into collision; but at the end Jenny married Fred Gay, a
medical student, Cherry married Felix, the two brothers were reconciled,
and Tom released his old master, Viscount Trangmar, by destroying the
bond which Walter held and gave him.
=Stonehenge.= Aurelius Ambrosius asked Merlin what memento he could
raise to commemorate his victory over Vortigern; and Merlin advised him
to remove “The Giant’s Dance” from Mount Killaraus, in Ireland, to
Salisbury Plain. So Aurelius placed a fleet and 15,000 men under the
charge of Uther, the pendragon, and Merlin, for the purpose. Gilloman,
king of Ireland, who opposed the invaders, was routed, and then Merlin,
“by his art,” shipped the stones, and set them up on the plain “in the
same manner as they stood on Killaraus.”--Geoffrey, _British History_,
viii. 11-12 (1142).
How Merlin, by his skill and magic’s wondrous might,
From Ireland hither brought the Sonendge in a night.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, iv. (1612).
Stonehenge, once thought a temple, you have found
A throne, where kings, our earthly gods, were crowned.
Dryden, _Epistles_, ii.
_Stonehenge a Trophy._ It is said, in the Welsh triads, that this circle
of stones was erected by the Britons to commemorate the “treachery of
the Long Knives,” _i.e._, a conference to which the chief of the British
warriors were invited by Hengist, at Ambresbury. Beside each chief a
Saxon was seated, armed with a long knife, and at a given signal each
Saxon slew his Briton. As many as 460 British nobles thus fell, but
Eidiol, earl of Gloucester, after slaying seventy Saxons (some say 660),
made his escape.--_Welsh Triads._
Stonehenge was erected by Merlin, at the command of Ambrosius, in
memory of the plot of the “Long-Knives,” when 300 British chiefs were
treacherously massacred by Vortigern. He built it on the site of a
former circle. It deviates from older bardic circles, as may be seen
by comparing it with Avebury, Stanton-Drew, Keswick, etc. It is called
“The Work of Ambrosius.”--_Cambrian Biography_, art. “Merddin.”
⁂ MONT DIEU, a solitary mound close to Dumfermline, owes its origin,
according to story, to some unfortunate monks, who, by way of penance,
carried the sand in baskets, from the sea-shore at Inverness.
At Linton is a fine conical hill, attributed to two sisters (nuns), who
were compelled to pass the whole of the sand through a sieve, by way of
penance, to obtain pardon for some crime committed by their brother.
The Gog Magog Hills, near Cambridge, are ascribed to his Satanic
majesty.
=Stonewall Jackson=, Thomas Jonathan Jackson, general in the Southern
army, in the great civil war of the United States. General Bee suggested
the name in the battle of Bull Run (1861). “There is Jackson,” said he
to his men, “standing like a stone wall” (1824-1863).
=Storm-and-Stress Period.= The last quarter of the eighteenth century
was called in Germany the _Sturm-und-Drang Zeit_, because every one
seemed in a fever to shake off the shackles of government, custom,
prestige, and religion. The poets raved in volcanic rant or moonshine
sentimentality; marriage was disregarded; law, both civil and divine,
was pooh-poohed. Goethe’s _Man with the Iron Hand_ and _Sorrows of
Werther_, Schiller’s _Robbers_, Klinger’s tragedies, Lessing’s
criticisms, the mania for Shakespeare and Ossian, revolutionized the
literature; and the cry went forth for untrammelled freedom, which was
nicknamed “Nature.” As well go unclad, and call it nature.
=Storms= (_Cape of_). The Cape of Good Hope was called by Bartholomew
Diaz _Cabo Tormentoso_ in 1486; but King John II. of Portugal gave it
its present more auspicious name.
=S.T.P.=, the initials of Sanctæ Theologiæ Professor: Professor of
Sacred Theology. The same as D.D., Divinitatis Doctor: Doctor of
Divinity.
=Stradiva´rius= (_Antonius_), born at Cremo´na, in Italy (1670-1728). He
was a pupil of Andreas Amāti. The Amati family, with Stradivarius and
his pupil, Guarnerius (all of Cremona), were the most noted
violin-makers that ever lived, insomuch that the word “Cremona” is
synonymous for a first-rate violin.
The instrument on which he played
Was in Cremona’s workshop made ...
The maker from whose hands it came
Had written his unrivalled name--
“Antonius Stradivarius.”
Longfellow, _The Wayside Inn_ (prelude, 1863).
=Strafford=, an historical tragedy by R. Browning (1836). This drama
contains portraits of Charles I., the earl of Strafford, Hampden, John
Pym, Sir Harry Vane, etc., both truthful and graphic. The subject of the
drama is the attainder and execution of Thomas Wentworth, earl of
Strafford.
=Straitlace= (_Dame Philippa_), the maiden aunt of Blushington. She is
very much surprised to find her nephew entertaining dinner company, and
still more so that he is about to take a young wife to keep house for
him instead of herself.--W. T. Moncrieff, _The Bashful Man_.
=Stral´enheim= (_Count of_), a kinsman of Werner, who hunted him from
place to place, with a view of cutting him off, because he stood between
him and the inheritance of Siegendorf. This mean, plausible,
overreaching nobleman was by accident lodged under the same roof with
Werner, while on his was to Siegendorf. Here Werner robbed him of a
rouleau of gold, and next night Ulric (Werner’s son) murdered him.
_Ida Stralenheim_, one of the characters in Byron’s drama, _Werner_
(1822). She was the daughter of Count Stralenheim, and was betrothed to
Ulric, for whom she had a deep affection, but when she learned from the
lips of Ulric himself that he was the murderer of her father she fell
senseless at his feet, and revived only to learn that he had fled the
country, and that she had lost him forever.
=Stranger= (_The_), the Count Waldbourg. He married Adelaide at the age
of 16; she had two children by him, and then eloped. The count, deserted
by his young wife, lived a roving life, known only as “The Stranger;”
and his wife, repenting of her folly, under the assumed name of Mrs.
Haller, entered the service of the Countess Wintersen, whose affection
she secured. In three years’ time, “the stranger” came by accident into
the same neighborhood, and a reconciliation took place.
Kotzebue’s _Menschenhasz und Rene_ (1787). English adaptation: _The
Stranger_ (1808).
=Strangford= (_Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, viscount_), in 1803,
published a translation of the poems of Camoens, the great Portuguese
poet.
Hibernian Strangford ...
Thinkst thou to gain thy verse a higher place.
By dressing Camoens in a suit of lace?...
Cease to deceive; thy pilfered harp restore,
Nor teach the Lusian bard to copy Moore.
Byron, _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_ (1809).
=Strap= (_Hugh_), a simple, generous, and disinterested adherent of
Roderick Random. His generosity and fidelity, however, meet with but a
base return from the heartless libertine.--T. Smollett, _Roderick
Random_ (1748).
We believe there are few readers who are not disgusted with the
miserable reward assigned to Strap in the closing chapter of the
novel. Five hundred pounds (scarce the value of the goods he had
presented to his master) and the hand of a reclaimed street-walker,
even when added to a Highland farm, seem but a poor recompense for his
faithful and disinterested attachment.--Sir W. Scott.
=Strasbourg Cathedral=, designed by Erwin von Steinbach (1015-1439).
=Strauchan= (_Old_), the squire of Sir Kenneth.--Sir W. Scott, _The
Talisman_ (time, Richard I.).
=Straw.= _A little straw shows which way the wind blows._
You know or don’t know, that great Bacon saith,
Fling up a straw, ’twill show the way the wind blows.
Byron, _Don Juan_, xiv. 8 (1824).
=Streets of London= (_The_), a drama by Dion Boucicault (1862), adapted
from the French play _Les Pauvres des Paris_.
=Stre´mon=, a soldier, famous for his singing.--Beaumont and Fletcher,
_The Mad Lover_ (1617).
=Strephon=, the shepherd in Sir Philip Sidney’s _Arcadia_, who makes
love to the beautiful Uranĭa (1580). It is a stock name for a lover,
Chloê being usually the corresponding lady.
Captain O’Flarty was one of my dying Strephons at Scarborough. I have a
very grate regard for him, and must make him a little miserable with my
happiness.--Garrick, _The Irish Widow_, i. 3 (1757).
The servant of your Strephon ... is my lord and master.--Garrick,
_Miss in Her Teens_ (1753).
=Stretton= (_Hesba_), the pseudonym of Miss Smith, daughter of a
bookseller and printer in Wellington, Salop, authoress of several
well-known religious novels.
=Strickalthrow= (_Merciful_), in Cromwell’s troop.--Sir W. Scott,
_Woodstock_ (time, Commonwealth).
=Strictland= (_Mr._), the “suspicious husband,” who suspects Clarinda, a
young lady visitor, of corrupting his wife; suspects Jacintha, his ward,
of lightness; and suspects his wife of infidelity; but all his
suspicions being proved groundless, he promises reform.
_Mrs. Strictland_, wife of Mr. Strictland, a model of discretion and
good nature. She not only gives no cause of jealousy to her husband, but
never even resents his suspicions or returns ill temper in the same
coin.--Dr. Hoadly, _The Suspicious Husband_ (1747).
=Strike, Dakyns! the Devil’s in the Hempe=, the motto of the Dakynses.
The reference is to an enemy of the king, who had taken refuge in a pile
of hemp. Dakyns, having nosed the traitor, was exhorted to strike him
with his battle-axe, and kill him, which he did. Hence the crest of the
family--a dexter arm ... holding a battle-axe.
=Strong= (_Dr._), a benevolent old schoolmaster, to whom David
Copperfield was sent whilst living with Mr. Wickfield. The old doctor
doted on his young wife, Annie, and supported her scapegrace cousin,
Jack Maldon.--C. Dickens, _David Copperfield_ (1849).
=Strong Men and Women.=
Antæos, Atlas, Dorsănês, the Indian Herculês, Guy, earl of Warwick,
Herculês, Macĕris, son of Amon, Rustam, the Persian Herculês, Samson,
Starchatĕrus, the Swede (first Christian century).
BROWN (_Miss Phœbe_), about five feet, six inches in height, well
proportioned, round-faced and ruddy. She could carry fourteen score, and
could lift a hundredweight with each hand at the same time. She was fond
of poetry and music, and her chief food was milk.--W. Hutton.
MILO, of Crotōna, could carry on his shoulders a four-year-old bullock,
and kill it with a single blow of his fist. On one occasion, the pillar
which supported the roof of a house gave way, and Milo held up the whole
weight of the building with his hands.
POLYD´AMAS, the athlete. He killed a lion with a blow of his fist, and
could stop a chariot in full career with one hand.
TOPHAM (_Thomas_) of London (1710-1749). He could lift three hogsheads,
or 1836 lbs.; could heave a horse over a turnpike gate; and could lift
two hundredweight with his little finger.
=Strongback=, one of the seven attendants of Fortunio. He could never be
overweighted, and could fell a forest in a few hours without
fatigue.--Comtesse D’Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_ (“Fortunio,” 1682).
The brothers Grimm have introduced the tale of “Fortunio” in their
_Goblins_.
=Strongbow=, Gilbert de Clare, who succeeded to the title of his
brother, the earl of Hertford, in 1138, and was created earl of Pembroke
(died 1149).
Henry II. called him a “false” or “pseudo-earl.”
_Strongbow_ (Richard of Strigal) was Richard de Clare, earl of Pembroke,
son of Gilbert de Clare. He succeeded Dermot, king of Leinster, hiss
father-in-law, in 1170, and died 1176.
The earl of Strigale then, our Strongbow, first that won
Wild Ireland with the sword.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xviii. (1613).
=Struldbrugs=, the inhabitants of Luggnagg, who never die.
He had reached that period of life ... which ... entitles a man to
admission into the ancient order of Struldbrugs.--Swift, _Gulliver’s
Travels_ “Laputa,” (1726).
=Strutt= (_Lord_), the king of Spain; originally Charles II. (who died
without issue), but also applied to his successor, Philippe, duc
d’Anson, called “Philip, Lord Strutt.”
I need not tell you of the great quarrels that happened in our
neighborhood since the death of the late Lord Strutt; how the parson
[_Cardinal Portocarero_] ... got him to settle his estate upon his
cousin, Philip Baboon [_Bourbon_], to the great disappointment of his
cousin, Squire South [_Charles of Austria_].--Dr. Arbuthnot, _History
of John Bull_, i (1712).
=Stryver= (_Bully_), of the King’s Bench Bar, counsel for the defence in
Darnay’s trial.
He was stout, loud, red, bluff, and free from any drawback of
delicacy; had a pushing way of shouldering himself (morally and
physically) into companies and conversations, that argued well for his
shouldering his way on in life.--C. Dickens, _A Tale of Two Cities_,
ii. 24 (1859).
=Stuart Ill-Fated= (_The House of_), as that of Œdĭpos.
JAMES I. of Scotland, poet, murdered by conspirators at Perth, in the
forty-fourth year of his age (1393, 1424-1437).
JAMES II., his son, killed at the siege of Roxburgh, aged 30 (1430,
1437-1460).
JAMES III., his son, was stabbed in his flight from Bannockburn by a
pretended priest, aged 36 (1452, 1460-1488).
(His brother, the earl of Mar, was imprisoned in 1477, and died in
durance, 1480.)
JAMES IV., his son, the “Chivalrous Madman,” was defeated and slain at
Flodden, aged 41 (1472, 1488-1513).
JAMES V., his son, was defeated at Solway Moss, November 25, and died of
grief, December 14, aged 30 (1512, 1513-1542).
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, daughter of James V., was beheaded, aged 44 years,
63 days (1542, 1542-1587, Old Style).
(Her husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was murdered (1541-1566). Her
niece, Arabella Stuart, died insane in the Tower, 1575-1615.)
CHARLES I., her grandson, was beheaded, aged 48 years, 69 days (1600,
1625-1649).
CHARLES II., his son, was in exile from 1645 to 1661, and in 1665
occurred the Great Fire of London, in 1666 the Great Plague; died aged
54 years, 253 days (1630, 1661-1685).
(His natural son, the Duke of Monmouth, defeated at Sedgemoor, July 5,
1685, was executed as a traitor, July 15, aged 36.)
James II., brother of Charles, and son of Charles I., was obliged to
abdicate to save his life, and died in exile (1633, reigned 1685-1688,
died a pensioner of Louis XIV., 1701).
JAMES FRANCIS EDWARD “the Luckless,” his son, called the “Old
Pretender,” was a mere cipher. His son, Charles, came to England to
proclaim him king, but was defeated at Culloden, leaving 3000 dead on
the field (1688-1765).
CHARLES EDWARD, the “Young Pretender,” was son of the “Old Pretender.”
After the defeat of his adherents at Culloden he fled to France, was
banished from that kingdom, and died at Rome (1720-1788).
HENRY BENEDICT, Cardinal York, the last of the race, was a pensioner of
George III.
=Stuart of Italy= (_The Mary_), Jane I. of Naples (1327, 1343-1382).
Jane married her cousin, Andrè of Hungary, who was assassinated two
years after his marriage, when the widow married the assassin. So Mary
Stuart married her cousin, Lord Darnley, 1565, who was murdered, 1567,
and the widow married Bothwell, the assassin.
Jane fled to Provence, 1347, and was strangled in 1382. So Mary Stuart
fled to England in 1568, and was put to death, 1587 (Old Style).
Jane, like Mary, was remarkable for her great beauty, her brilliant
court, her voluptuousness, and the men of genius she drew around her;
and, like Mary, she was also noted for her deplorable administration.
⁂ La Harpe wrote a tragedy called _Jeanne de Naples_ (1765). Schiller
made an adaptation of it (1821).
=Stuarts’ Fatal Number= (_The_). This number is 88.
James III. was killed in flight near Bannockburn, 1488.
Mary Stuart was beheaded, 1588 (New Style).
James II. of England was dethroned, 1688.
Charles Edward died, 1788.
⁂ James Stuart, the “Old Pretender,” was born, 1688, the very year that
his father abdicated.
James Stuart, the famous architect, died, 1788.
(Some affirm that Robert II., the first Stuart king, died 1388, the year
of the great battle of Otterbum; but the death of this king is more
usually fixed in the spring of 1390.)
=Stuart= (_Jack_), frank, brave, unintellectual lover of Constance
Varley, and one of the travelling-party in the Holy Land. Through a
fatal combination of misunderstandings, the man she has loved for years
leaves her without uttering the words that burned upon his tongue, and
the lonely-hearted girl turns for comfort to the assured, patient
affection of the honest fellow who makes no secret of his devotion.
Constance Varley marries Jack Stuart.--Julia Constance Fletcher,
_Mirage_ (1878).
=Stubble= (_Reuben_), bailiff to Farmer Cornflower, rough in manner,
severe in discipline, a stickler for duty, “a plain, upright, and
downright man,” true to his master and to himself.--C. Dibdin, _The
Farmer’s Wife_ (1780).
=Stubbs=, the beadle at Willingham. The Rev. Mr. Staunton was the
rector.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).
_Stubbs_ (_Miss Sissly or Cecilia_), daughter of Squire Stubbs, one of
Waverley’s neighbors.--Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).
=Stuffy= (_Matthew_), an applicant to Velinspeck, a country manager, for
a situation as prompter, for which he says he is peculiarly qualified by
that affection of the eyes vulgarly called a squint, which enables him
to keep one eye on the performance and the other on the book at the same
time.--Charles Mathews, _At Home_ (1818).
Stuffy is one of the richest bits of humor we ever witnessed. His
endless eulogies upon the state of things in the immortal Garrick’s
time are highly ludicrous.--_Contemporary Paper._
=Stuke´ly= (2 _syl._), a detestable man. “’Twould be as easy to make him
honest as brave” (act i. 2). He pretends to be the friend of Beverley,
but cheats him. He aspires to the hand of Miss Beverley, who is in love
with Lewson.--Edward Moore, _The Gamester_ (1753).