cousin in 1792. He was the author of several religious tracts, some of which are still published by the Christian Knowledge Society. A collection of his letters was published by the Rev. Thomas Stedman, second edition, Shrewsbury, 1805; and there is a life of him, with extracts from his tracts and correspondence, Oxford, 1844, from which this account is taken.—W. A. G.
STOPFORD, Sir Robert, a distinguished British naval officer, was born in 1768, and was the second son of James second earl of Courtown. He entered the navy in 1779, on board the Royal Yacht. In January and April, 1782, he was present in the actions fought by Sir S. Hood and Sir G. Rodney, which ended in the capture of the French admiral and ten ships of the line. He afterwards served in North America, the West Indies, and Newfoundland; was promoted to the rank of commander in 1789; to that of captain in 1790, and commanded the Aquilon frigate in Lord Howe's famous battle of the 1st of June, 1794. His services on that occasion were so conspicuous and important, that he was publicly thanked by the admiral on the deck of his flagship. He next commanded the Phaeton in which he captured thirteen privateers and three vessels of war; served for some time in the Channel fleet, and as commander-in-chief in the West Indies; was severely wounded in command of the Spencer in Sir John Duckworth's successful action off St. Domingo, 6th February, 1806; was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral in 1808, and captured or destroyed great numbers of the enemy's ships. In 1810 he was commander-in-chief on the Cape of Good Hope station, and superintended operations at the capture of Java in 1811. He obtained his promotion as full admiral in 1825, and two years later was appointed to the chief command at Portsmouth. In 1837 Sir Robert was appointed commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, and directed all the operations on the coast of Syria down to the bombardment of St. Jean d'Acre, on 4th November, 1840. In the following year he was appointed governor of Greenwich hospital, and he died in 1847. Sir Robert Stopford was a model officer, both for his public services and his private virtues. He was a G.C.B., numerous foreign orders were conferred on him, and he received the thanks of both houses of parliament no less than six times.—J. T.
STORAGE, Stephen, a musician, a native of England, though his father was a Neapolitan, was born in 1763. When young, he was placed in the conservatory of St. Anofrio at Naples. On completing his education, he made an extensive European tour in company with his sister, the celebrated Ann Storace, when they both obtained an engagement at the Imperial Italian theatre at Vienna, for which Storace composed an opera on the subject of Shakspeare's Comedy of Errors, under the title of "Gl' Equivoci," much of the music whereof the author afterwards transferred to his English operas. In 1787 they returned to England, and were immediately engaged at the King's theatre; but intrigues soon drove away a man who had too much honesty and ability to employ himself in combating jealousy and low cunning, and Storace never again could be persuaded to take any part in the affairs of that establishment. He therefore devoted his talents to Drury Lane theatre, where he produced "The Siege of Belgrade" (altered from La Cosa Rara), "The Haunted Tower," "Pirates," "Lodoiska," &c.; and set the music to Colman's Iron Chest, at the first rehearsal of which he caught a cold that terminated his life on the 19th March, 1796. The opera of "Mahmoud," then nearly completed, was brought out a few days after his decease, for the benefit of his widow, and with the greatest success. Storace was a highly gifted, able man. "Had Stephen," said Sheridan, "been bred to the bar, nothing could have prevented his becoming lord-chancellor."—E. F. R.
STORCH, Nicholas, one of the leaders of the anabaptists, was born at the end of the fourteenth century at Stolberg in Saxony. Of no great learning, but of an insinuating appearance and great suavity of manner, he possessed in perfection the art of swaying vulgar minds. He embraced the principles of the Reformation, and soon distinguished himself as the advocate of sweeping social and theological changes. His opinions, first confided to a few friends, created great sensation when addressed to the people at large. He opposed the baptism of infants, proscribed as dangerous the study of the Fathers and councils, interdicted, in short, all literature. By God alone could we be so enlightened as to distinguish truth from error, so that in cases of difficulty all we had to do was to consult our own mind, which, illuminated by the Spirit, would be certain to furnish us with right solutions. This easy method of interpretation was the occasion of great joy at Wittenberg, and books were burned as useless. Luther obtained an edict from the elector of Saxony against Storch, and he and his adherents were banished. He went to Zwikau, where his principles spread rapidly. They were also widely propagated in Thuringia, Swabia, and Franconia. Some of them, such as his doctrine of communism and his loose views on morals, struck at the very root of society. Munzer, an associate of Storch, a man of no great prudence, excited the peasantry to rebellion; but the fanatics were defeated by Mansfeld. Storch fled to Silesia, and was afterwards banished. He then went to Poland, where he founded a sect. Compelled to flee, he sought an asylum in Bavaria, where he died, 1530.—D. G.
STORER, Thomas, an English poet, the son of John Storer, a native of London, flourished in the latter part of the sixteenth century. He entered student of Christ Church college, Oxford, about 1587, and afterwards took his master of arts degree. He was the author of many poetical compositions, the chief of which were "The Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal, in three parts," &c., published in London in 1599; and of some pastoral airs and madrigals, published in a collection called England's Helicon. Of the poem on Wolsey it is said but two copies are now extant, one at the Bodleian, and one at the British museum library. Storer died in 1604.—F.
STORM, Edward, a Danish poet of some note, was the son of a Norwegian clergyman, and was born at Vaage parsonage in Guldsbrandsdalen, on the 21st of August, 1749. He spent his life chiefly at Copenhagen, where, after completing his studies, he supported himself by teaching, and ultimately became an inspector of schools. A few months before his death, which occurred on the 29th September, 1794, he was appointed director of the theatre. Storm's chief works are his "Original Fables and Tales," published in 1782, and his "Collected Poems," published in 1785. Long oppressed by bodily weakness and narrow circumstances, which he bore with remarkable resignation, he was not merely laborious in the discharge of his professional duties, but proved in the works just named the possession of a vigorous and genial mind, warm and pure emotions, and unaffected zeal for patriotism, piety, and virtue. His fables please by their combined liveliness and simplicity; his didactic pieces are worthy of the themes of which they treat; his religious poetry impresses with its earnestness and pathos and some of his historic ballads, as, for example, the famous "Zinklarsvise," are classic productions of their kind.—J. J.
STORMONT, David Murray, seventh viscount in the peerage of Scotland, second earl of Mansfield in that of England, was born in 1729, and educated at Westminster and Christ Church college, Oxford, where he distinguished himself by his classical proficiency. He succeeded to the Scotch peerage in 1748, and from 1754 to his death was regularly elected one of the sixteen representative peers of Scotland. From 1755 to 1761 he was ambassador to the king of Poland, elector of Saxony; and from 1763 to 1772 he was ambassador at Vienna, and much liked by Maria Theresa and Kaunitz. During a trip to Italy he astonished Winkelmann by his learning. From 1772 to 1778 he was ambassador at Paris, and had to watch the underhand operations of the French court, so assisting and encouraging the American revolution as to produce the war of 1778. On his recall in that year he was appointed justice-general of Scotland, and from 1779 to 1782 was a secretary of state. In the Fox and North coalition ministry he was president of the council—an office which he filled again from 1794 to 1796, the year of his death. In 1793 he had succeeded to the earldom of Mansfield by the death of his uncle, the great judge; but he did not cease to be a representative Scotch peer, and in all divisions voted twice. There is a glowing eulogium on his character in the Gentleman's Magazine for September, 1796.—F. E.
STORY, Joseph, an American judge and eminent jurist, was born in 1779 at Marblehead, Massachusetts, U.S. His father, a physician in good practice, had served as a military surgeon in Washington's army during the war of Independence. Story was educated at Harvard, and going to the bar of Massachusetts, soon rose to be one of its leaders. He also attained political distinction, and was elected to congress in 1809. He abandoned politics, however, in 1811, when he was appointed by Madison one of the judges of the supreme court of the United States at the early age of thirty-two. He was a distinguished and laborious judge. Indeed, law was a passion with him. In 1829, a friend
