KEMPIS KENT. 



305 



mai.. He contrived, likewise, a printing- press, for 

 t.iie. use of mademoiselle Paradies, a famous blind 

 musician. He also published German poetry ; a 

 drama, called Perseus and Andromeda ; the Unknown 

 Benefactor, a comedy, &c. He died at Vienna in 

 1804. The chess-player is now in the possession of 

 Mr Malzel, who has himself invented several ingeni- 

 ous automata, which, together with the chess-player, 

 have been publicly exhibited. 



KEMPIS, THOMAS A. See Thomas a Kempis. 



KEN, THOMAS, a learned and pious dignitary of 

 the English church, was educated at Oxford. About 

 1(> 79, he went to Holland to officiate as chaplain to 

 the princess of Orange, and afterwards to Tangier, 

 as chaplain to the earl of Dartmouth. In every 

 .station which lie held, he exhibited a conscientious 

 propriety of conduct and unyielding morality, which 

 procured him the respect of the licentious court of 

 Charles II., and, strange as it may appear, con- 

 ciliated the favour of that profligate prince ; for, 

 residing at Winchester when the king, attended by 

 his female favourites, visited that city, his house was 

 designed by his majesty's harbinger for the lodging 

 of Nell Gwynn ; but doctor Ken, thinking such an 

 inmate unsuitable for a man of his function, posi- 

 tively refused to admit her. When the king was 

 informed of his conduct, he coolly said, " Mrs Gwynn 

 must find lodgings elsewhere ; and, to the surprise 

 of his courtiers, he took the first opportunity to 

 promote this conscientious supporter of the dignity 

 of his character. Doctor Ken became a chaplain to 

 Charles II., in whose reign he was made bishop of 

 Bath and Wells. He was one of the seven bishops 

 sent to the Tower for resisting the dispensing power 

 claimed by king James, and for petitioning in behalf 

 of their own and the people's rights. After the 

 revolution, bishop Ken refused to take the oath of 

 allegiance to king William, in consequence of which 

 he was deprived of his preferment. He was, how- 

 ever, highly respected by those of opposite sentiments, 

 and queen Anne bestowed on him a pension. He 

 died in 1711. His works, consisting of sermons, 

 poems, &c., were published in 4 vols. 8vo., 1721, 

 with an account of his life. 



KENAWHA, or KENHAWA, GREAT ; a river 

 in Virginia, which has its sources in the western part 

 of North Carolina, flows through the western part of 

 Virginia, in a north-westerly direction, and joins the 

 Ohio at Point Pleasant, eighty-seven miles below 

 Marietta, and 265 below Pittsburg. It receives 

 Green Brier river in the western part of Monroe 

 county, and, about forty miles below the junction, it 

 has a remarkable cataract, falling perpendicularly 

 fifty feet. There are salt-works on the river, a little 

 above the town of Charleston. The river is navigable 

 most of the year. 



KENAWHA, LITTLE; a river of Virginia, 

 which runs west into the Ohio, 178 miles below 

 Pittsburg. 



KENILWORTH (called, by corruption, Killing- 

 worth); a town in Warwickshire, England, five 

 miles N. of Warwick, six S. S. W. of Coventry, and 

 101 N. W. of London. Population, in 184" 1, 3419. 

 It consists chiefly of an irregular street, nearly a 

 mile in length, and has considerable manufactures of 

 horn combs, and a market on Wednesday. The 

 town is chiefly noted for its magnificent castle, which, 

 along with its extensive chase and park, formed at 

 one time the pride and ornament of this part of the 

 kingdom. It was originally founded by Geoffrey de 

 Clinton, chamberlain and treasurer to Henry I. Most 

 of tlie buildings, of which remains are yet visible, 

 were erected by John of Gaunt, father of Henry IV. 

 It continued in the possession of the crown till the 

 time of Elizabeth, who conferred it on Robert Dudley, 



earl of Leicester. He enlarged and adorned it at 

 the expense of 60,000, and afterwards entertained 

 the queen here for seventeen days, in a style of 

 extraordinary magnificence. The area within the 

 walls of the castle contained seven acres, and the 

 circuit of the walls, manors, parks and chase, was 

 nineteen or twenty miles. The building was greatly 

 injured during the civil wars ; and the remains of 

 the castle now present one of the most splendid and 

 picturesque wrecks of castellated strength in Eng- 

 land, and impart a melancholy grandeur to the town 

 and neighbourhood. The romance of Sir Waller 

 Scott has given it additional interest. 



KENNEBEC ; the largest river in Maine, after 

 the Penobscot. It has two principal branches the 

 eastern and western. The former rises from Moose- 

 head lake ; and the latter, called Dead river, inter- 

 locks with the sources of the Chaudiere, with which 

 it is connected by a portage of only five miles. The 

 two branches unite about twenty miles below Moose- 

 head lake, and the river afterwards pursues a south- 

 erly course. It is joined by the Androscoggin 

 eighteen miles from the sea. The tide flows up as 

 far as Augusta, and the river is navigable for ships to 

 Bath, twelve miles, for vessels of 150 tons to Hallo- 

 well, forty miles, for sloops to Augusta, two miles 

 farther, and for boats to Waterville, eighteen miles 

 above Augusta. There are a number of handsome 

 and flourishing towns on the river, among which are 

 Bath, Gardiner, Hallowell, Augusta. 



KENNICOTT, DOCTOR, and professor of theology 

 at Oxford, born in 17 18, at Totness in Devonshire, 

 where his father was a poor shoemaker and sexton, 

 has become known by his extensive and valuable col- 

 lection of readings from about 580 manuscripts, and 

 twelve printed editions of the Hebrew Bible, which he 

 annexed to his edition of the Hebrew text. This work 

 is entitled Vet. Test. Hcbr., cum variis Lectionibus (2 

 vols., fol., Oxford, 1776 80). To the 2d volume is 

 prefixed a Diss. gener. in P. T. Heir. In this 

 laborious and expensive undertaking, Mr Kennicott 

 was assisted by a subscription of several thousand 

 pounds, and thus enabled to send several scholars to 

 Spain, Italy, Germany, &c. f to collate manuscripts 

 and editions. The work has many typographical 

 errors. The author's plan, too, was defective, and 

 he was not sufficiently acquainted with the Eastern 

 languages and the true principles of criticism ; but 

 he rendered great service to the cause of science and 

 religion by opening the way in this department of 

 biblical criticism. At the time of his death, he was 

 employed in preparing Remarks on select Passages 

 in the Old Testament, which were subsequently pub- 

 lished, accompanied by eight sermons. 



KENSINGTON ; a large and populous village of 

 England, in the county of Middlesex, nearly two 

 miles from Hyde-park corner, and chiefly distinguish- 

 ed for its royal palace and gardens. In former times, 

 Kensington palace was a favourite royal residence : 

 and king William III., queen Mary, queen Anne, and 

 George II., died here. Kensington gardens, attached 

 to the palace, are well known, and much frequented 

 as a fashionable promenade in summer. They form 

 a great ornament to the metropolis. These gardens 

 contained originally twenty-six acres, and twenly 

 acres were added by queen Anne. Population, in 

 1841, 26,834. 



KENT ; a maritime county of England, forming 

 the south-eastern angle of the island of Great Britain, 

 whence, probably, originates its name, the word Cant 

 signifying a corner, in the ancient Gaulish, or Celtic 

 dialect. It is bounded on the north by the river 

 Thames, wiiich divides, it from Essex , on the west 

 by Surrey and Sussex ; on the south by the English 

 Channel ; and on the east by the German Ocean. It 



