KILDA KILLIGREW. 



311 



his love of literature, was born in 1710, and succeeded 

 his father, Yuntschin, in 1745. He favoured the 

 Christian religion in private, but, in 1753, interdicted 

 its exercise by a formal order ; and he had previously 

 even persecuted those who openly professed it. The 

 missionaries were, in consequence, obliged to proceed 

 with great caution, although several of them were 

 in the emperor's service, and treated with great 

 respect as men of science and learning. On the sup- 

 pression of the Jesuits, in 1774, China was less visited 

 by scientific persons than formerly, which induced 

 Kien-Long to send to Canton, and invite artists and 

 learned men of all the European nations, and particu- 

 larly astronomers. This sovereign possessed, on his 

 own part, a taste for poetry and natural history. Re- 

 solving to immortalize the remembrance of his vic- 

 tories by the graver, he engaged French artists to copy 

 some Chinese paintings, in which they were repre- 

 sented ; but Louis XV. had them engraved for him at 

 his own expense. The larger Chinese collection on 

 agriculture contains several poems of this monarch 

 on rural occupations and incidents ; and he established 

 a library of 600,000 volumes, containing copies of 

 all the most interesting works in China. Into this 

 collection he admitted three books written by the 

 Jesuits, on the Christian religion. A description of 

 the Chinese empire, which appeared in Busching's 

 Magazine, was also compiled by his order. He 

 died at Pekin, in 1786, after a reign of fifty years. 



KILDA, ST, or HIRTA, the farthest removed 

 island of the Hebrides, is situated in the Atlantic 

 ocean, lat. 57 50' N., sixty miles west distant from 

 the island of Harris, and about 140 miles from the 

 nearest point of the mainland of Scotland. It belongs 

 to the parish of South Uist. It is three miles in 

 length, two in breadth, nine and a half in circum- 

 ference, and surrounded with rocks, dangerous of 

 approach, and lofty precipices, inaccessible on every 

 side, except at the only landing-place in a small bay 

 on the south-east ; and even there the passage leading 

 to the interior is so contracted and extremely steep, 

 tliat a few persons only, by hurling stones from the 

 summits of the rocks on either hand, might success- 

 fully repel the most hostile attack. The whole 

 surface is rugged, rising into several high mountains; 

 but the soil, which is naturally unproductive, has 

 been rendered tolerably fertile, and produces early 

 crops of barley, oats, potatoes, and culinary herbs, 

 for the use of the inhabitants, the male proportion of 

 which is chiefly employed in fishing and fowling; 

 the fowlers are remarkably dexterous in their occupa- 

 tion, fastening themselves in couples, one at each 

 end of a cow-hide rope, by which they alternately 

 descend from the loftiest cliffs to the frightful length 

 of thirty fathoms, and at the imminent hazard of 

 destruction, there search among the cavities for wild 

 fowl and eggs, with astonishing success. Among the 

 various kinds of birds thus taken is the solan goose ; 

 but that most highly esteemed by the natives is the 

 fulmar, which supplies oil for the lamp, ointment for 

 wounds, down for the bed, and the most nutritious 

 food for the body ; the female lays but one egg 

 during the season of incubation, and to -plunder her 

 nest is considered an act of the highest degree of 

 criminality. The village, which is situated about a 

 quarter of a mile from the landing-place, on a rivulet, 

 originating in the union of several springs, consists 

 of one wide street, formed by two rows of houses 

 built of freestone, and each comprising one apart- 

 ment for the family, and another for the cattle. The 

 Gaelic is the only language spoken here, in which the 

 minister explains the English Bible to the inhabitants. 

 Mr Macleod is the sole proprietor of St Kilda, and 

 his steward used annually to collect the rents from 

 the produce of the island ; but the property is now 



under the supervision of a tacksnian. The storms 

 during the equinoxes are extremely violent here In. 

 1730 the small-pox, brought by one of the native s 

 from Harris, made such dreadful havoc here, that 

 only four adults escaped death. The population at 

 present is little above a hundred. Of late years f 

 steam-boats have visited this secluded spot. For a 

 most interesting account of St Kilda, see Dr Maccul- 

 loch's Western Isles. 



KILLIGREW. Three brothers of this name, dis- 

 tinguished by their loyalty, wit, and talents, flourished 

 under the two Charleses. They were the sons of Sir 

 Robert Killigrew. William, the eldest, was born 

 in 1605, at Hanworth, Middlesex, and, after going 

 through the usual course of a university education at 

 St John's college, Oxford, made the tour of Europe. 

 On his return to England, he obtained a place at 

 court, as one of the gentlemen ushers of the privy 

 chamber to Charles I. During the civil wars, he 

 suffered materially, both in purse and person, in 

 consequence of his adherence to the royal cause ; in 

 recompense for which he received, after the restora- 

 tion, the honour of knighthood, and, on the marriage 

 of Charles II. obtained the post of vice-chamberlain. 

 He composed four plays Selindra, the Siege of 

 Urban, Ormasdes, and Pandora (Oxford, folio, 1666), 

 popular in their day. His other writings are, Midnight 

 and Daily Thoughts, and the Artless Midnight 

 Thoughts of a Gentleman at Court (Svo). He 

 died in 1693. 



Thomas, the second, was born in 1611, and died 

 before his elder brother, in 1682. He was one of 

 Charles I.'s pages, and accompanied the prince of 

 Wales into exile. During his,absence from England, 

 he visited France, Italy, and Spain, and, after the 

 restoration, was appointed by the new king (with 

 whom he was a great favourite), one of his grooms of 

 the bedchamber. A vein of lively pleasantry, 

 combined with a certain oddity, both of person and 

 manner, placed him high in the good graces of 

 Charles, who would frequently allow him free access 

 to his person, when characters of the first dignity in 

 the state were refused it, till Killigrew, at length, 

 became almost the inseparable companion of his 

 monarch's familiar hours. He wrote eleven pieces 

 for the stage, which have been collected and printed 

 in one volume folio (1664); but we look in vain in 

 them for traces of that facetiousness and whim, which, 

 together with the encouragement he received from 

 royalty, procured him the appellation of king Charles's 

 jester. He lies buried in Westminster abbey. 



Henry, the youngest of the three, was one year 

 younger than his brother Thomas, whom he survived 

 about six years. He was educated for the church at 

 Christ-church, Oxford, and acted as chaplain to the 

 cavaliers. In 1642, he graduated as doctor in divinity, 

 and obtained a stall at Westminster. On the re-estab- 

 lishment of monarchy, he obtained the living of 

 Wheathamstead, Herts, and the mastership of the 

 Savoy. He wrote a tragedy when only seventeen 

 years old, called the Conspiracy. In 1652, he 

 published a corrected version of this piece, changing 

 the name to that of Pallantus and Eudora. 



The females of this family were also distinguished. 



Dame Catharine Killigrew, wife of Sir Henry, 

 was celebrated as one of the most accomplished 

 scholars of her day. She was the daughter of Sir 

 Anthony Cooke, bom about the year 1530, and, to a 

 familiar acquaintance with the classical, as well a% 

 some of the Oriental languages, united considerable 

 poetic talent. Her death took place in 1 600. 



Anne Killigrew, daughter of the divine already 

 mentioned, was born in Ki60. She gave strong 

 indications of genius at an early age, and became 

 equally eminent in poetry and painting, as well as 



