31* 



HAWK JOHN. 



HAWTIIOUXi;, NAT1IAMKL. 



HO 



Mat with Frohifher in IL90 to intercept the Pluto fleet 

 and UnM the trade of S,in, he failed in the liist object, bat 

 raeneded in the second. In 1SS he WM sppoint.-d, jointly with 

 Drake, to command more important *xp<dilkm finti th Spani.li 

 MUlemenU in tin We*l Indies. Tlie enterprise proved fatal to both 

 thu* hitherto successful commanders. They disagreed upon the 

 conduct of operation*, and soon aeparatod. [DaiKi.] Hawkini die.l 

 November 21. 1M>5. chiefly, it wai supposed, through annoyance and 

 agitation ; and Drake expired in tlie following month. Sir John 

 Hawkin* >at in parliament for Plymouth, and founded an hospital at 

 Qb^ili.m for poor ami tick seamen. 



1IA\\ K INS. Silt JOHN, the senior of the two chief historians of 

 muaic, the friend and execuU r of Dr. Johnson, and a descendant of 

 the Sir John Hawkini who commanded the Victory, as rear-admiral, 

 at the destruction of the Spanish armada, was born in 1719. His 

 Cither, a surveyor and builder, at first brought his son up to hie own 

 profession, but eventually bound him to au attorney, " a hard task- 

 master and a penurious housekeeper." At the expiration of the usual 

 term, the clerk became a solicitor, and succeeded in establishing 

 himself in a respectable business, while by his character and acquire- 

 ment* he gained admisaion into tlie company of men eminent for 

 their accomplishment* and intellectual attainment*. He was an 

 original member of the Madrigal Society, and at the age of thirty 

 waa selected by Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Johnson as one of the niue who 

 formed bis Thursday-evening Club in Ivy-lane. About this time he 

 contributed much to the Gentleman's Magazine, and other periodicals 

 of the day. He also wrote tlie poetry of the cantatas set by the 

 blind composer, Stanley, from which he derived considerable profit. 



In 1753 Mr. Hawkins married Sidney, the second daughter of 

 Peter Storey, Esq., with whom he received an independent fortune, 

 which was greatly, augmented in 1759 by the death of his wife's 

 brother t and he in consequence retired from all professional avoca- 

 tion*. Upon retiring from the law Mr. Hawkins purchased a house 

 at Twickenham; and being in 1771 inserted in the commission of 

 the peace for the county of Middlesex, he immediately became a 

 most active magistrate. Among other useful acts, he wrote ' Ob- 

 servations on the state of the Highways, and on the Laws for 

 amending and keeping them in repair; ' subjoining the draft of a bill 

 which passed into law. In 17G4 he successfully opposed the attempt 

 made by the corporation of London to throw on the county two-thirds 

 of the expense of building the gaol of Newgate. For this service he 

 was, in 1765, elected chairman of the Middlesex quarter sessions. 

 When the riot* at the Brentford election took place in 1763, he was 

 active in their suppression ; and the dispersion of the Spitalfields 

 weavers in 1769, who had collected in a threatening manner, ia 

 mainly ascribed to his decision and boldness. For these services he 

 received, iu 177-, the honour of knighthood. 



Sir John Hawkins now set seriously about finishing the work he 

 had for some time projected on the 'History of Music.' He went to 

 Oxford, and there remained for some time, to examine the books in 

 the Bodleian and other libraries, connected with his inquiry. He was 

 accompanied by an artist, whom be engaged to make drawings of the 

 portrait* iu the music-school, all of which were engraved for his 

 History. He also consulted all the eminent living musical authorities. 

 In 1770 appeared, in five quarto volumes, the work on which he had 

 been sixteen years engaged, under the title of ' A General History of 

 the Science and Practice of Music,' which he dedicated to George III. 

 Its reception by the public was worse than cold. Its research and 

 accuracy were indeed obvious to those qualified to form an opinion on 

 the subject; but five large volumes were alarming to the public, and 

 he clo.-cd it at the death of Handel, leaving untouched those matters 

 in which the living many were most interested. Moreover, on thu 

 appearance of the History, Sir John was immediately attacked iu 

 the ' St. James's Evening Post,' by Steovens, the commentator on Shak- 

 spere, in a very virulent manner; and literary men generally joined 

 in depreciating it. Subsequently it was assailed by the ridicule of 

 Dr. Lawrence, in the ' Probationary Odes.' The consequence of these 

 persevering efforts to destroy a useful, though ill-written and ex- 

 cessively tedious history, was, that it fell nearly dead from the press. 

 The work however now fetches a price beyond that at which it was 

 published; is found in every musical library ; and is a very service- 

 able book of reference. 



\Vhilc pursuing his historical inquiries, Hawkins accumulated a fine 

 musical library ; and it was bis good-fortume to become possessed, by 

 purchase, of several scarce and valuable theoretical treatises on the 

 science itself, which wire collected by the celebrate 1 Dr. Pcpusch, 

 KRS. This collection he, after the completion of his work, presented 

 to the British Museum, where it remains. 



In 1760 Hawkins published his edition of Walton's 'Angler,' with 

 note*, of which three or four ulitiont have since appeared. On the 

 death of lr. Johnson, in 1784, Sir John undertook, in consequence, 

 It is supposed, of some conversation between them, to write tlie life 

 of hi* friend, and to become editor of a complete collection of hi* 

 work*. In this task, as in bis 'History of Mn.-ic,' it was his fate to 

 meet with unexpected competition and severe criticism. ISut he hnd 

 scarcely t uU-rtd on the work when bis wholj library a library which 

 no expense could replace was destroyed by fire. In 1787 he closed 

 his literary career, by the publication of his ' Life of Dr. Johnson,' 



and an edition of his work* a tark for which he was wholly unqu:> ' 

 In Ma-. John Hawkins Buffered a paralytic attack, which 



from the first was considered of a fatal nature. It increased on the 

 ZJstof the same month, when he expired. His remains lie in the 

 cloisters of Westminsti r Abbey. Ho left two sons and one daughter. 

 The latter ia well known in th literary world : she wrote, among 

 other things, some dull and pompous novels, and some ludicrously 

 patronising and querulous 'Anecdote?' of Dr. Johnson, which are 

 inserted in her 'Memoirs,' 2 vola. 6vo, 1827. 



HAWKSMOOB, NICHOLAS, the architect of many buildings of 

 not in the early part of the 18th century, waa bom iu 166ti, and at 

 the age of seventeen became the pupil of Sir Chri-topher \\'i n. 

 Beyond this we possess very few personal details relative to him. 

 His works, if they do not display a very refined taste, give evidence 

 of talent and a certain degree of originality. Like that of Vau- 

 brugh, with whom he is said to have been associated both at Blenheim 

 and Castle Howard, his style partook of the massive and heavy, com- 

 bined with a certain coldness and baldness. Of this we have proof 

 in the church of St. George's in the East, Itatcliffe Highway, com- 

 menced by him in 171.", which is no less ponderous in its ensemble 

 than hard and dry in its details, besides being extravagant and ano- 

 malous. That of St. Mary Woohioth's in Lombard-street is very much 

 better; there is a certain degree of originality, richness, and picturesque 

 character iu the north side, which, until alterations made a few years 

 back, was the only one exposed to view. The interior, which is lighted 

 chiefly by a square dome or lantern extending over the centre above 

 three Corinthian columns at each angle, and having a large semi- 

 circular window on each of its sides, is one of the best specimens of 

 church architecture of that day, though the effect is greatly impaired 

 by the pewing and galleries. Hut it is chiefly as the architect of St. 

 George's, Bloomsbury, that Hawksmoor is entitled to notice, that 

 being a work which of itself ought to confer a lasting reputation. 

 It is true, Wai pole has stigmatised the steeple as " a masterstroke of 

 absurdity," and adopting that smartly expressed opinion others have 

 continued to repeat his censure. It is however, in the style to which 

 it belongs, one of the happiest as well as most original iu its idea ; 

 picturesque and graceful in outline ; well combined together ; con- 

 sistent though varied; with a due expression of solidity, remote from 

 heaviness on the one hand, and on the other from that species of 

 lightness which, though a merit in Gothic, becomes a fault in Homan 

 architecture. One leading fault imputed to this steeple is that it is 

 surmounted by n statue of George II., which gave rise to an epigram 

 that had perhaps quite as much influence in exciting a prejudice ogaiust 

 the structure as Walpole's dictum. Yet, apart from the question of 

 the good taste or propriety of so decorating the leading feature of a 

 building dedicated to religious worship, if there be any iucons 

 or absurdity iu terminating thestrepl by a statue, it is at least equalled 

 by that of erecting a column, for no other purpose than to elevate a 

 statue upon it : because in the latter case the figure, though put almost 

 out of sight, is presumed to be the principal object, while iu the other 

 it is intended to be no more than an ornamental accessary and termi- 

 nation to the structure. The portico of this church, which is, like 

 that of St. Martin's, a hexastyle Corinthian, is very little inferior to 

 it in execution, and displays itself still more advantageously, being 

 considerably raised above the street by a flight of steps, enclosed by 

 pedestal walls, which gives it au air of considerable dignity. St Anne's, 

 Limehouse, is another church by Hawksmoor, which deserves more 

 praise than has fallen to its share ; and it has the advantage over 

 St. George's, Bloomsbury, in having a more decidedly ecclesiastical 

 character. With much that is incorrect, and with very little that is 

 positively beautiful, its ensemble has an air of grandeur frequently 

 missed where it seems to have been more studiously aimed at. 



Among his other works were Eastou Neston, iu Northamptonshire, 

 and a mausoleum at Castle Howard. Ho was also employed to repair 

 the west front of Westminster Abbey. The south quadrangle and 

 street front of Queen's College, Oxford, have by some been attributed 

 to him, though they are generally supposed to have been the work of 

 Wren. That he did much at All Souls College, in the same university, 

 is unquestionable, and Dallaway informs us that hu had seen a very 

 grand design by him for rebuilding Brazenose College, somewhat in 

 the stylo of Greenwich Hospital, where he had at one time the appoint- 

 ment of clerk of the works. Besides this he gave a design for the 

 Kadclifle Library, but that of Gibbs obtained the preference. Ho 

 died in March 1736, at the age of seventy. 



* HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL (the name properly being 

 HATIIORNK), American author, born at Salem, Massachusetts, 

 about 1809. He was contemporary with Longfellow at Bowdoia 

 College, and graduated as early as 1825. His earliest literary pro- 

 ductions, contributed to various periodicals, wero collected iu two 

 eii<-s, under the title of ' Twice-told Tales,' iu 1837 aud 1S42. After 

 this, in 1843, his habits of retirement led him to occupy a mysterious 

 a, some particulars of which he has given in ' Mosses from an 

 Old Manse,' published in 1845. In the same year he edited the 

 'Journal of an African Cruiser.' At this period Mr. Hawthorne held 

 a position in the Cni-t<> o.itun, whilst that department was 



under thu charge of Mr. Bancroft, and his situation here forms 

 the introduction to ' The Scarlet Letter,' published by him in 1850. 

 In this work is shown a deep knowledge of human nature, but so 



