71J 



STORK, ABRAHAM. 



STOTHARD, THOMAS. 



711 



" At the time of hia death he had a new opera, ' Mahmoud,' in 

 preparation. He had beeu to Bath to hear Braham, who then had not 

 made his appearance on tlie London stage, and engaged him for Drury 

 Lane. This however, by the assistance of Siguora Storace and friends 

 was completed, and performed for the benefit of the widow and child 

 of the composer, on the 30th of the month in which he breathed his 

 last, and, supported by John Kemble's admirable acting and Braham's 

 not less admirable singing, was most successful." 



Our space will not allow U8 to particularise the other works of this 

 highly -gifted amiable man ; but it is only just to say of those here 

 enumerated, that they " abound in spirit, taste, science effectively but 

 not pedantically displayed, strong feeling, and good sense ; " and to 

 add, that their author, in these as in other matters evinced a vigorous 

 and cultivated mind. " His opinion on literary subjects was much 

 respected by the best critics, and he was often consulted on points 

 unconnected with his professional pursuits." (' Harmbnicon,' vol. vi.) 



STORK, ABRAHAM. Notwithstanding the great merits of this 

 eminent marine painter, and the high estimation in which his works 

 have always been held, we cannot find that any author has been able 

 to ascertain the year of his birth or the master under whom he studied, 

 or indeed whether he had any instructor. It is certain however that 

 he was a most assiduous student of nature. He made accurate 

 sketches of such objects, suited to his department of the art, as he 

 thought might be introduced into his compositions, and hence every 

 object ia his pictures has the impress of truth. He was equally suc- 

 cessful in representing ships, either at sea or at anchor in port, either 

 in calms or in storms. In his views of seaports there is an extraordi- 

 nary variety of ships, boats, and barges, with a great number of figures. 

 This extraordinary number of figures engaged in every kind of employ- 

 ment incidental to a seaman's life, is in fact one of his chief character- 

 istics. His most celebrated picture is that representing the reception 

 of the Duke of Marlborough in the river Amstel, in which he haa 

 introduced an inconceivable number of vessels, barges, yachts, &,<?., 

 superbly decorated, and crowded with figures, in a variety of costume, 

 according to their rank and condition. Notwithstanding the extent 

 of this composition, there is no confusion. It is painted with great 

 spirit, and highly finished. The colouring of this artist is very agree- 

 able ; his touch light, firm, and spirited ; and his figures, though small, 

 are designed with correctness. He died at Amsterdam, the place of 

 his nativity, in 1708. 



STORM, EDWARD, a Danish poet of some note, was the son of a 

 clergyman at Guldbrandsdalen in Norway, where he was born August 

 21, 1749, on the very same day with his literary contemporary Thomas 

 Thaarup, whose mother is said to have dreamt that a rival to her own 

 child would be born about the same time at Quldbransdalen. Storm 

 began his literary career at the age of twenty-five, with a short heroic- 

 comic poem in six cantos, entitled ' Braeger.' Being written in hexa- 

 meters, it recommended itself at the time as a novelty, nor is it 

 without merit in regard to that minute descriptive painting of familiar 

 objects and circumstances which stamps the 'Idyls' ofVoss; but it 

 will bear no comparison with Holberg's 'Peder Paars,' with which it 

 inevitably forces a comparison. He was far more successful with his 

 4 Fables and Tales,' which are some of the best in the language, and 

 acquired considerable popularity. They first appeared in 1783, and 

 in the following year o second edition of them was published. His 

 ' Infodretten,' a poem in four cantos, of the didactic class, and one or 

 two other productions of a similar kind, have many fine passages and 

 poetic*! beauties ; his reputation however now rests chiefly on his 

 lyriciil productions, which have obtained for him a place in Danish 

 literature by the side of Thaarup. Storm was for some time manager 

 of the theatre at Copenhagen, which post he held at the time of his 

 death in 1794. (' Skilderic af Kicibenhavn.') 



STORY, JOSEPH, a judge and juridical writer known to law 

 students as Mr. Justice Story, was born on the 18th of September 

 1779, at Marblehead, in the State of Massachusetts, U. S., where his 

 fattier, Elisha Story, practised as a physician. He received the rudi- 

 ments of learning in his native town ; entered Harvard University in 

 1795, and took a degree there in 1798. He commenced his law 

 studies under Mr. Sewall, of the bar of Marblehead, subsequently 

 chief justice of Massachusetts, and continued there under Mr. Putnam, 

 of the bar of Salem, who became a judge of the same court. In 1801 

 he was called to the bar, and speedily obtained extensive practice. In 

 an article in the 'Law Review,' the author of which enjoyed his 

 friendship, it ia stated that, " from political considerations, he was 

 very early engaged in important cases, in which he had to combat 

 with the most eminent lawyers as his opponents; and, not unfre- 

 quently he sustained the contest alone. His reputation at the bar has 

 never been surpas.-ed by that of any of the eminent lawyers of whom 

 the United States can boast." In 1805 he became a member of the 

 State Legislature of Massachusetts, as representative of Salem. He 

 continued a representative until his accession to the bench ; and he 

 then was elect d to the office of Speaker. In 1809 he was chosen a 

 member of Congress, as representative of the Essex South District. 

 He acquired a hi^h i eputution as a politician and a forensic debater. 

 In November 1811, he was appointed an associate justice of the 

 Supreme Court of the United States, being then only just thirty-two, 

 and the youngest man who had received such an appointment. " The 

 j urisdiction of this court," says the authority already cited, " both 



original and appellate, embraced an infinite variety of subjects. It 

 had to administer, besides the municipal laws of the States, the 

 common, and much of the statute law, as well as the system of equity 

 jurisprudence of England ; it had to .administer parts of the law of 

 Spain, and of the code civil adopted in the State of Louisiana. Again, 

 it reviewed the final sentences of courts deciding questions of maritime 

 and prize law. Its decisions therefore would be of still greater and 

 more general importance, for they would contribute to the exposition 

 of the law of nations. The peculiarities which in some important 

 particulars distinguish the local laws of the different States also 

 required a correct application of the principles which determined, 

 when any case presented a conflict of those laws, the law which ought 

 to be selected and govern the decision of the case.' 1 These special 

 advantages were an addition to the opportunities which the general 

 character of the legal practice of America afforded, to one able to 

 grapple with the subject, to treat the philosophy of international law 

 with a wide view to its practical application. The American lawyers 

 having to deal with a system of which the roots were diversified, 

 although undoubtedly the law of England formed the principal 

 proportion ; requiring to adapt their practice to the mutual relations 

 of the citizens of several states, each, to a great extent, entitled to 

 make its own independent code of laws, while all were bound together 

 by a mutual tie, and the usual means of finding redress where there 

 were important legal conflicts force was inconsistent with the 

 principles of their Union ; inheriting, at the same time, thnt spirit of 

 the strict interpretation of precedent which is so dear to English 

 lawyers, and living among a free people, whose institutions could not 

 easily be bent to meet expediency it was clear that the American bar 

 afforded the best opportunity for inquiries regarding international 

 law on practical principles, whenever a genius sufficient for the task 

 should there appear. It appeared in the person of Story, whose 

 'Commentaries on the Conflicts of Laws,' published in 1834, have 

 passed through several editions, and have carried his reputation over 

 all Europe. Even, in Englaud, where, owing to the vast extent of the 

 domestic legal literature, that of other countries is less esteemed than 

 in France, Germany, and Scotland, Story's work has obtained a high 

 reputation ; and on the occasion of his being expected to pay a visit to 

 Britain, which bad health prevented, the masters of the benches of the 

 inns of court in London resolved to invite him to a public entertain- 

 ment. He wrote several other legal treatises one on the Law of 

 Agency, in 1839; on the Law of Partnership, in 1841; on the Law 

 of Bills of Exchange, in 1843 ; and on the Law of Promissory Notes. 

 In 1830, he was appointed to fill the newly founded chair of jurispru- 

 dence in Harvard University. It was during the time that he held 

 this professorship that he wrote his numerous legal treatises ; which 

 besides those mentioned above comprehend an elaborate and very 

 valuable treatise, entitled ' Commentaries on the Constitution of the 

 United States,' 2 vols. 8vo, 1833, of which he made an abridgement to 

 serve as a text-book in schools; and a work on the Law of Bailments; 

 one on Equity Jurisprudence ; a work on Equity Pleading : and a 

 Selection of Pleadings in Civil Actions, with Annotations; and 

 Reports of Cases. Mr. Story was accustomed to devote his leisure 

 hours to literature, and after his death there was published a volume 

 of his 'Miscellaneous Writings, edited by his son William W. Story.' 

 He died, after a brief illness, at Cambridge, near Boston, on the luth of 

 September 1845. 



(Life and Letters of Joseph Story, Associate Justice of the Supreme 

 Court of the United States, and Dana Professor of Law at Harvard 

 University. Edited by his Son William W. Story, 2 vols., 1852; Law 

 Review, No. VI. 366, 380.) 



STOTHARD, THOMAS, an eminent painter, the son of a publican 

 who kept the ' Black Horse' in Long-acre, was born there on the 17th 

 of August 1755. When little more than five years of age he eviiiced a 

 taste for drawing in copying some of Houbracken's heads and other 

 engravings, which were found in the possession of a person at York, 

 with whom he had been placed to nurse. At eight years old he was 

 placed at school at Stretton, near Tadcaster, the birth-place of his father. 

 There he remained till his thirteenth year, when he was placed for a 

 year in a boarding-school at Ilford, Essex, whence he was removed on 

 his father's death, and bound apprentice to a pattern-drawer for 

 brocaded silks in London. The last year of his apprenticeship was 

 given up to him in consequence of the decline of the trade. During 

 the period of his service, Mr. Stothard exercised himself diligently in 

 the study of nature from flowers and other subjects of still-life. His 

 first efforts in a higher branch of art were designs for the ' Town and 

 Country Magazine,' published by Harrison, in Paternoster-row; and 

 soon after he gained high repute by his admirable compositions for 

 Bell's 'British Poets,' and the 'Novelist's Magazine,' works which 

 caused him to be employed ia the illustration of almost every publica- 

 tion which for many years issued from the press in England requiring 

 pictorial ornament. During this period he diligently studied at the 

 Royal Academy. The first picture that he t xhibited at that institution 

 was the subject of Ajax defending the body of Patroclus. In the year 

 1785 he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy, and advanced 

 to the rauk of Royal Academician in 1794. In 1810 he was appointed 

 deputy librarian to Mr. Birch, and on the death of that gentleman, in 

 1812, succeeded as librarian. Among the more important of his 

 works may be enumerated his designs for ' Boydell's ' Shakspere, his 



