S T E 
S T E 
565 
following' year. He pleaded the cause of the nation by a 
pamphlet against the South Sea scheme. In 1722, he 
brought forward his comedy of “ The Conscious Lovers,’’ 
which was received with great applause. He dedicated it to 
the king, and was remunerated with 500/.; but his embar¬ 
rassments pressed upon him; and in addition to his other 
misfortunes, he engaged in an unsuccessful law-suit. Broken 
in fortune and constitution, he retired to an estate in Wales, 
where he died in 1729. 
He appears to have been much beloved for the benevo¬ 
lence and warmth of his heart: in understanding, he has 
been characterized as a man of parts rather than of genius : 
his productions are lively, but they display neither great 
force nor accuracy. His style and his train of thinking are 
equally lax and incorrect. He was a lover of virtue, and 
frequently painted it in pleasing and attractive colours. His 
reputation as a writer seems to have been much indebted to 
the partnerships which he formed; and his name is scarcely 
entitled to a place among those which throw peculiar lustre 
upon the period of English literature. Biog. Brit. 
STEELER, in Ship-Building, a name given to the fore¬ 
most or aftermost plank, in a strake which drops short of 
the stem and stern-post, and of which the end or butt nearest 
the rabbet is wrought very narrow, and well forward or aft. 
Its use is to take out the snying-edge occasioned by a full 
bow, or sudden circular buttock. 
STEE'LY, adj. Made of steel. 
Thy brother’s blood the thirsty earth hath drunk. 
Broach’d with the steely point of Clifford’s lance. 
Shakspeare. 
Hard; firm : unmoved ; unfeeling.—That she would un¬ 
arm her noble heart of that steely resistance against the 
sweet blows of love. Sidney. 
STEE'LYARD, s. A kind of balance, in which the 
weight is moved along an iron rod, and grows heavier as it 
is removed farther from the fulcrum.—The muscle at the 
shoulder, by which the arm is raised, is fixed nearly in the 
same manner as the load is fixed upon a steelyard, within a 
few decimals, we will say, of an inch from the centre upon 
which the steelyard turns. Paley. 
STEELYARD-SWING. In the philosophical Transac¬ 
tions (No. 462. sect. 5.) we have an account of the steelyard¬ 
swing, proposed as a mechanical method for assisting 
children labouring under deformities. 
STEEN, or Stean, s. A vessel of clay or stone. Un¬ 
used. 
STEEN (Jan), one of the brightest ornaments of the 
Flemish school of painting, was born at Leyden, in 1636. 
His father was a brewer in that city, who, perceiving an in¬ 
clination in his son for painting, placed him as a pupil with 
N. Knuffer, an historical painter at Utrecht. 
That he might not be entirely dependent upon his talents 
as an artist, his father established him in a brewhouse at 
Delft; but this kindness, which might have secured him 
comfort, only afforded him the means of sensual indulgence, 
to which he was prone, and which, in a short time, led to 
the ruin of the concern; and his father finding him irre- 
claimably bent on dissipation, at length abandoned him. 
He afterwards became a keeper of a tavern; but this was a 
more ruinous occupation than the former, and soon brought 
on the calamities his conduct merited; as he was said to be 
a more active consumer of his own stores than any of his 
customers. 
Amidst the interruptions of indulgence and of business, 
he continued constantly to practise the art he had acquired ; 
presenting generally the scenes and subjects in which he 
passed his time and were most congenial to him. The fes¬ 
tivity, frolic, and fun of low life, in the alehouse or other 
places of public resort, he treated with the clearest expres¬ 
sion and character; and executed them with a pure tone of 
colour, and a freedom of touch peculiarly his own. Some¬ 
times, however, he soared somewhat higher, and entering 
the domestic circles of his friends, perpetuated with the 
greatest felicity the diversities of character and amusements 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1591. 
which presented themselves to his observant and intuitive 
eye. In no man’s pictures is an observer more amused with 
variety than in Jan Steen's; or more entertained by wit and 
humour, unless it be in those of our own Hogarth. His draw¬ 
ing and composition are in general very good, and his colour 
admirable, particularly in parts; but oftentimes his manage - 
ment of chiaro-scuro is deficient, and his pictures want air. 
While he lived, his works were not in much estimation; 
perhaps his vulgar and disorderly habits prevented them from 
being known : but since his death, and particularly since Sir 
Joshua Reynolds evinced an estimation of them, they have 
risen in value, and are now sold, when of fine quality, at 
very great prices, and sought with avidity. He died in 1689, 
at the age of 53. 
STEEN PLAAT, a town on the west coast of the island 
of Gilolo. Lat. 1. 20. N. long. 127. 21. E. 
STEENBERGEN, a fortified town of the Netherlands, in 
North Brabant, with a population of 4200. It was formerly 
a more considerable place, and was a Sea-port; but the tide 
does not now come within two miles of it; 7 miles north of 
Bergen-op-Zoom, 19 west of Breda, and 25 north-north-west 
of Antwerp. 
STEENBERGEN, a mountain of Southern Africa, in the 
territory of the Cape of Good Hope. 
STEENDEREN, a small inland town of the Nether¬ 
lands, province of Gelderland, with 2000 inhabitants; 6 
miles south of Zutphen. 
STEENKERKE, a small inland town of the Netherlands, 
in the province of Hainault. It has only 700 inhabitants, 
but is remarkable for an obstinate battle fought here on 24th 
July, 1692, between the allies and the French, in which the 
latter were victorious ; 4 miles north-west of Braine-le- 
Compte, and 13 north of Mons. 
STEE'NKIRK, s. Formerly a cant term for a neckcloth. 
—As for ruffles and stcenkirks, they were never added in 
the very splendor and luxury of the empire! King. 
STEENWORDE, a small town in French Flanders, with 
3200 inhabitants. It has some manufactures of linen, wool¬ 
lens, and leather; 22 miles north-west of Lille. 
STEENWYCK (Henry), was born at Steenwyck in 
1550. He was a scholar of John de Vries, a painter of 
perspective and architectural scenes. Steenwyck surpassed 
his master in the same subjects, viz., interiors of churches 
and Gothic buildings, which he painted with great neatness 
and clearness. His colouring is rich and brilliant, but he 
injured his effects by painting the lights too much in lines, 
unblended and too sharp, which destroys the appearance of 
solidity. 
He died in 1603, and left a son, Henry Steenwyck, born 
in 1589 at Antwerp, who excelled him in the same line and 
manner. He usually painted on a larger scale than his 
father. Vandyck, with whom he lived in intimacy, recom¬ 
mended him to Charles I., who invited him to England, 
where he resided several years, and died in London. The 
pictures of both these painters were embellished with figures 
by friendly artists, as old Franck, Teniers, Breughel, Van 
Thulden, &c. 
STEENWYK, a small town of the Netherlands, in the 
province of Overyssel, on the river Aa, with 1800 inhabi¬ 
tants; 20 miles north of Zwoll. 
STEENWYKER-WOLD, a village of the Netherlands, 
in the province of Overyssel, a little to the north of Steen - 
wyk, with 800 inhabitants. 
STEEP, ad/, [pfceap, Sax.; steypa, Su. Goth., to fall or 
run down with violence ; stupa, Swed., to fall. Screnius.~] 
Rising or descending with great inclination; precipitous.— 
The mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places 
shall fall. Ezek. 
STEEP, s. Precipice; ascent or descent approaching to 
perpendicularity. 
As that Theban monster that propos’d 
Her riddle, and him, who solv’d it not, devour’d; 
That once found out and solv’d, for grief and spight 
Cast herself headlong from the Ismenian steep. Milton. 
7 E Leaning 
