K N E 
aTid timbers into one compaft frame, they contribute 
greatly to the ftrength and fluidity of the fhip, in the dif¬ 
ferent parts of her frame to which they are bolted ; and 
thereby enable her with greater firmnefs to refiit the ef¬ 
fects of a turbulent fea. In fixing of thefe pieces, it is 
occafionally neceflary to give an oblique direction to the 
vertical or fide branch, in order to avoid the range of an 
adjacent gun-port, or becaufe the knee may be fo fliaped 
as to require this difpofition ; it being fometimes difficult 
to procure fo great a variety of knees as may be neceflary 
in the conftruftion of a number of ihips of war. In 
France, the fcarcity of thefe pieces has obliged their Ihip- 
wrights frequently to form their knees of iron; but, be¬ 
ing inferior in point of contaft with the fhip’s tides, and 
as the bolts cannot be driven tight in the iron-knees, if 
the lliip ftrains, they confequently mull work loofe; thefe, 
therefore, fliould only be reckoned as an inferior fubllitute. 
Knee of the Head, by failors called the cutwater, an affem- 
blage of pieces of oak timber, tabled or coaked together 
edgeways, upon account of its great breadth ; it extends 
from the fore-part of the ftern to the figure-head, which 
it fupports, as likewife the rails and all other compart¬ 
ments of the head, and is fecured to the bows by large 
knees, called cheeks of the head, and through the ftern, 
&c. by bolting. See Ship-building. 
To KNEE, v. a. To fupplicate by kneeling.—Go you 
that banilh’d him, a mile before his tent fail down, and 
knee the way into his mere)'. Shakefpcare. 
Return with her 1 
Why, the hot blooded France, that dow’rlefs took 
Our youngeft born : I could as w'ell be brought 
To knee his throne, and {quire-like penfion beg. Shakefp. 
KNEE-CROOKING, adj. Obfequious.—Many a du¬ 
teous and knee-crookmg knave. Shakefp. Othello. 
KNEE-DEE'P, adj. Rifing to the knees. Sunk to the 
knees: 
The country peafant meditates no harm, 
When clad with (kins of beafts to keep him warm : 
In winter-weather unconcern’d he goes, 
Almoft knee-deep, through mire in clumfy flioes. Dryden. 
KNEE'-HOLLY, or Knee-holm, /. in botany. See 
Ruscus. 
KNEE'-JOINTED, adj. Bending abruptly in an ob- 
tufe angle, like a knee when a little bent. 
KNEE-LA'KE, a lake of North America. Lat. 55. N. 
Ion. 95. W. 
KNEE'-PAN, f. A little round bone about two inches 
broad, pretty thick, a little convex on both fides, and co¬ 
vered with a finooth cartilage on its forefide. It is foft 
in children, but very hard in thole. of riper years ; it is 
called patella, or viola. Over it pafles the tendon of the 
mufcles which extend the leg, to which it ferves as a pul¬ 
ley.—The knee-pan tnuft be !hown, with the knitting 
thereof, by a fine lhadow underneath the joint. Peacham 
on Drawing. 
KNEE'-TRIBUTE, f. Genuflexion ; worfliip or obei- 
fance ftiown by kneeling: 
Receive from us 
Knee-tribute yet unpaid, proftration vile. Milton. 
KNEED, adj. Having knees: as, in-kneed, or out-kneed. 
Having joints : as, kneed grafs. 
KNEED'-GRASS,/ An herb. See Polygonum. 
KNEE'XNG, f. The aft of fupplicating on bended 
knees; of furnifhing a lliip with knees. 
To KNEEL, v. n. To perform the act of genufleXion ; 
to bend the knee.—As loon as you are drefled, kneel and 
fay the Lord’s prayer. Taylor’s Guide to Devotion. 
Ere I was rifen from the place that fliow’d 
My duty, kneeling, came a reeking poll. 
Stew’d in his hatte, half breathing, panting forth 
From Goneril, his miftrefs, falutation. Shakefpcare. 
KNEEL'ING,.yi [from kneel.'] Bending the knee; reft- 
ing the body on the bended knee. 
K N E 783 
KNEE'LING, f. in ichthyology, final! cod ; the cod 
of which ftockfifh is made. 
KNEEP HEAD, a cape on the eaft coaft of the ifland 
of Lew is. Lat 58. 19. N. Ion. 6. 9. W. 
KNELL, f. [ cnil, Welfh, a funeral pile; cnyllan, Sax. 
to ring.] The found of a bell rung at a funeral: 
When he was brought again to th’ bar, to hear 
His knell rung out, his judgment, he was ftirr’d 
With fuch an agony, he fweat extremely. Skakefpearc. 
At dawn poor Stella danc’d and fung; 
The am’rous youth' around her bow’d : 
At night her fatal knell was rung ; 
I faw and kifs’d her in her fiirowd. Prior. 
KNEL'LER (Godfrey), an eminent portrait-painter, 
w r as born in 1648, at Lubec. His father, who w'as an ar- 
chiteft and chief furveyor to that city, deftined this fon. 
firft to a military life, and fent him to Leyden to be in- 
fltrufted in mathematics and fortilication ; but, his incli¬ 
nation leading him to painting, he was allowed to purfue 
it, and took lefions at Amfterdam from Bol and Rem¬ 
brandt. In 167a he vifited Italy, where he particularly 
ftudied the works of Titian and Annibal Caracci. He 
refided fome time at Venice, and was employed and no¬ 
ticed by fome of the firft families in that capital. He ob¬ 
tained reputation by feveral liiftory-pieces which came 
from his pencil at this time; but lie deferted the nobler 
for the more lucrative branch of the art, and was accus¬ 
tomed to fay, that hiftory-painters, who had made the 
dead to live, only began themfelves to live after they were 
dead ; whereas he who painted the living was kept alive 
by them. Although this is a mercenary flentiment, many 
will acquiefce in Mr. Walpole’s judgment; that the trea- 
fure left to pofterity by one who tranfmit-s the likenefs of 
all the eminent perfons of his age, is greater than if he 
had multiplied madonnas, and decorated palaces with ima¬ 
ginary triumphs and ftrained allegories. In 1674 Knel- 
ler, with his elder brother John Zachary (alfo a painter), 
came to England. Having obtained an introduction to 
the duke of Monmouth, who fat to him, the picture gave 
fo much fatisfaftion, that Charles II. was prevailed upon 
to let the new painter take his portrait at the fame time 
that he was fitting to fir Peter Lely. The fuperior expe¬ 
dition with which he worked, together with the ftrong 
likenefs he gave, were much approved by the king; and 
this fuccefs fixed his refidence in England. After the 
death of Lely he was made king’s painter, and had 110 
competitor. Charles fent him to France to take the por¬ 
trait of Louis XIV. but died before his return. James II. 
was equally favourable to him, and he was Hill more dif- 
tinguifhed by William III. He fent him to paint the 
plenipotentiaries at Ryfwick, and on his return conferred 
upon him the honour of knighthood, and made him gentle¬ 
man of the privy-chamber. The portrait of czar Peter 
when in England was alfo taken by him for the fame mo¬ 
narch. Queen Anne continued fir Godfrey in the fame 
polls, and employed him to paint the archduke Charles, 
afterwards emperor. For this picture he was rewarded 
by the title of hereditary knight of the empire. George I. 
created him a baronet, and was the laft of ten fovereigns 
who fat,to him. 
A reputation fo lafting and extenfive could not but be 
founded on real merit; and it is allowed that Kneiler, 
when exerting all his powers, maintains a high rank 
among portrait-painters. He approaches Vandyke in the- 
freedom and nature of his draughts. His colouring is 
lively, true,’ and harmonious ; his drawing c or reft, and 
his difpofition judicious. The airs of his heads are ex¬ 
tremely graceful, and the hair flows in a very eafy and 
becoming manner. But, in general, all his.attention is 
beltowed upon the head, and no imagination is employed 
in varying the attitudes or aftion of the figures. There 
is likewife great famenefs in the airs, and even a general 
refemblance in the countenances. This may be laid of 
his belt works j a great number, which he painted merely 
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