STIRLING, William, Earl of. See Alexander.
* STIRLING-MAXWELL Sir William, Bart., the only son of the late Archibald Stirling, Esq. of Kerr, Perthshire, was born at Kenmure, near Glasgow, in 1818. He received his later education at Trinity college, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1839. His first book, "Annals of the Artists of Spain," was published in 1848. In 1849 he visited Yuste, whither the Emperor Charles V. retired on abdicating, and he published two papers on the subject in Fraser's Magazine. In the winter of 1851 he succeeded in procuring permission to inspect at Paris a MS. containing the correspondence of the courts at Valladolid and Brussels with the retired emperor at Yuste, and the result was his interesting "Cloister Life of the Emperor Charles V.," 1852, full of new and curious information. "Velasquez and his Works" was published in 1855. In 1858 he published "Napoleon's Bequest to Cantillon, a fragment of International History." In 1860 Mr. Stirling printed for private circulation "An Essay towards a collection of Books relating to Proverbs, Emblems, Apophthegus, Epitaphs, and Ana, being a catalogue of those at Keir;" and a similar bibliographical tract on "Books relating to the Arts of Design." At the general election in 1868 he was ousted from Perthshire, which he had represented since 1852 on conservative principles. On the death of his uncle, Sir John Maxwell, to whose property he succeeded, he, in 1866, became Sir William Stirling-Maxwell.—F. E.
STOBÆUS, Joannes, a learned Greek, who probably lived during the fifth century of the christian era, was a native of Stobi in Macedonia, from which place his surname was derived. Nothing is known of Stobæus except that he was a learned and laborious compiler of extracts from early Greek writers, chiefly philosophers and poets, many of whose works but for him would have been altogether lost. These extracts are digested under such heads as the following—"Concerning virtue," "Concerning prudence," "Concerning intemperance," "Concerning arrogance," "In praise of poverty," "That in marrying the ages of the parties should be considered," "Concerning laws and customs," &c. Of such topics, chiefly ethical, his collections are made up. They form two series—the one compilation being entitled ἐκλογαι (eclogues, selections); the other, ἀνθολογιον (florilegium, anthology). He sometimes gives the very words, at other times merely the sense and substance, of the authors whom he quotes. The most complete edition of Stobæus is that which was published at Geneva in folio, 1609. In 1822, Gaisford put forth a much improved edition of the "Anthology." A cheap edition of the same, carefully edited by Augustus Meineke, was published by Teubner of Leipsic in 1855. It is to be followed by the "Eclogues," which, when published, will make this the most useful edition of Stobæus. Those who are interested in ancient philosophy will find a good many gems amid the rubbish of these old compilations.—J. F. F.
STOCKDALE, Percival, a miscellaneous writer, was born in the village of Branxton, October 26, 1736. After being for some time in the army he entered the church, and was ordained deacon in 1759 and priest in 1782. He held the livings of Tesbury and Long Houghton in Northumberland. He died September 11, 1811.—D. W. R.
STOCKS, John Ellerton, a distinguished Indian botanist, was born about 1820, and died at Cottingham, near Hull, on the 30th of August, 1854. He received his medical education at University college, London, where he attended Lindley's botanical lectures. He entered the East India Company's service in the Bombay establishment, and was soon appointed vaccinator in Scinde, and afterwards conservator of forests, and superintendent of the botanic garden in Bombay. He examined the botany of Scinde and Beloochistan, and made extensive collections of plants. He returned to England on furlough, and took up his residence at Kew in order to arrange and describe the plants which he had gathered. Unfortunately his health prevented him from carrying out his plans, and he was cut off in the midst of his labours. His notes on the botany of Scinde, Bombay, &c., were published by Hooker.—J. H. B.
* STOCKS, Lumb, line engraver, was born at Lightcliffe, near Halifax, Yorkshire, in 1812. He was a pupil of Mr. C. Rolls. At first Mr. Stocks was chiefly engaged on prints for the annuals and other books. He afterwards engraved several plates for Finden's gallery, and has since been employed upon many of the best plates in the Art Journal. But he has also engraved many separate prints for the art-unions of London and Glasgow, the Association for Promoting the Fine Arts in Scotland, &c. One of his largest and best prints was Frith's Many Happy returns of the Day, engraved for the Glasgow art-union. His prints of Webster's Dame School, and the series of the Dowie Dens of Yarrow after J. N. Paton, are also much admired. He is at present engraving Frith's picture of Claude Duval on an important scale for Mr. Flatou. Mr. Stocks was elected associate engraver of the Royal Academy in 1853, and associate of the new class in 1855.—J. T—e.
STODART, James, a British metallurgist, was born about 1760, and died in Edinburgh on the 11th of September, 1823. He was a steel manufacturer and cutler in London. In 1821 he was selected a fellow of the Royal Society. He invented a very important improvement in the art of tempering steel, viz , that of heating it by immersion in a bath of fusible metal, whose temperature is ascertained by the thermometer, instead of the old process of judging of the temperature vaguely, according to the colour assumed by the surface of the steel. He made, along with Dr. Faraday, some experiments on the alloys of steel, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1822.—W. J. M. R.
STODDARD, Henry, Lieutenant-colonel, was a lieutenant in the royal staff corps, when in 1833 he was placed on half-pay, but with the rank of captain. He was afterwards appointed secretary to the United Service Institution, and also acted as secretary to the Society of Civil Engineers. In 1835 he was attached as military secretary to Mr. (afterwards Sir Henry) Ellis' mission to Persia. In 1838 he was sent to Bokhara with instructions to negotiate a treaty with the ameer or khan of that country. He was afterwards joined there by Captain Conolly. Both were seen alive on the 17th April, 1842, when the Russian mission quitted Bokhara. Rumours that they were murdered having reached this country, considerable interest in their fate was excited, and the late Dr. Wolff made in 1843-44 his well-known journey to Bokhara to ascertain the truth. His investigations left it little doubtful that Stoddart and Conolly had been cruelly murdered by the ameer of Bokhara.—F. E.
STODDART, Sir John, a writer of considerable ability, was born in 1773, in the parish of St. James', Westminster, and was educated at the grammar-school, Salisbury, under Dr. Skinner. His proficiency in Greek whilst at school attracted the notice of Bishop Barrington, by whose advice he was sent to Christ college, Oxford, where he was entered as a commoner in 1790, and was nominated a student by Dr. Bathurst in the following year. He was intended for the church; but after graduating B.A. in 1794, he turned his attention to the law, and proceeded B.C.L. in 1798, and D.C.L. in 1801, in which year he was admitted a member of the College of Advocates. In 1803 Earl St. Vincent, at the recommendation of Sir William Scott, appointed Stoddart king's advocate and admiralty advocate at Malta, whence he returned in 1807, and resumed his practice in doctor's commons. Before leaving England he had published one or two books of minor importance; but his literary talent began to show itself in 1810 in the columns of the Times newspaper, to which he contributed letters signed J. S. In 1812 he received the appointment to write the leading articles for that journal. For four years he held this well-remunerated office, signalizing himself by the persistent fierceness of his attacks upon Napoleon I. In February, 1817, a disagreement with one of the proprietors on the subject of the French emperor induced Stoddart to terminate his connection with the Times and set up a rival journal—the New Times, which, after being combined with the Day, continued to exist till 1828. The prominence of his position and the fervour with which he expressed his opinions made him frequently the subject of caricatures, in which he is designated by the title of "Dr. Slop." In 1826 he was knighted, and returned to Malta once more—being appointed judge of the vice-admiralty court there. For thirteen years he ably and zealously discharged his judicial duties, returning to England in 1839. His life was prolonged until 1856, in which year he died, on the 16th February. A warm eulogium was pronounced on his character at a meeting held a few days afterwards at the Law Amendment Society, of which he was one of the earliest promoters.—R. H.
STOEFFLER, Johann, a German astronomer, was born at Justingen in Swabia on the 16th of December, 1452, and died at Blaubeuern on the 16th of February, 1531. He was professor of mathematics in the university of Tübingen. He was one of the early supporters of the Copernican system, and published astronomical tables in accordance with it.—W. J. M. R.
