DE VERE, AUBREY THOMAS (1814-1902).--Poet, _s._ of Sir Aubrey de V., himself a poet, was _b._ in Co. Limerick, and _ed._ at Trinity Coll., Dublin. In early life he became acquainted with Wordsworth, by whom he was greatly influenced. On the religious and ecclesiastical side he passed under the influence of Newman and Manning, and in 1851 was received into the Church of Rome. He was the author of many vols. of poetry, including _The Waldenses_ (1842), _The Search for Proserpine_ (1843), etc. In 1861 he began a series of poems on Irish subjects, _Inisfail_, _The Infant Bridal_, _Irish Odes_, etc. His interest in Ireland and its people led him to write prose works, including _English Misrule and Irish Misdeeds_ (1848); and to criticism he contributed _Essays chiefly on Poetry_ (1887). His last work was his _Recollections_ (1897). His poetry is characterised by lofty ethical tone, imaginative power, and grave stateliness of expression. DIBDIN, CHARLES (1745-1814).--Dramatist and song writer, _b._ at Southampton, began his literary career at 16 with a drama, _The Shepherd's Artifice_. His fame, however, rests on his sea songs, which are unrivalled, and include _Tom Bowling_, _Poor Jack_, and _Blow High Blow Low_. He is said to have written over 1200 of these, besides many dramatic pieces and two novels, _Hannah Hewitt_ (1792), and _The Younger Brother_ (1793), and a _History of the Stage_ (1795). DICKENS, CHARLES (1812-1870).--Novelist, _b._ at Landport, near Portsmouth, where his _f._ was a clerk in the Navy Pay-Office. The hardships and mortifications of his early life, his want of regular schooling, and his miserable time in the blacking factory, which form the basis of the early chapters of _David Copperfield_, are largely accounted for by the fact that his _f._ was to a considerable extent the prototype of the immortal Mr. Micawber; but partly by his being a delicate and sensitive child, unusually susceptible to suffering both in body and mind. He had, however, much time for reading, and had access to the older novelists, Fielding, Smollett, and others. A kindly relation also took him frequently to the theatre, where he acquired his life-long interest in, and love of, the stage. After a few years' residence in Chatham, the family removed to London, and soon thereafter his _f._ became an inmate of the Marshalsea, in which by-and-by the whole family joined him, a passage in his life which furnishes the material for parts of _Little Dorrit_. This period of family obscuration happily lasted but a short time: the elder D. managed to satisfy his creditors, and soon after retired from his official duties on a pension. About the same time D. had two years of continuous schooling, and shortly afterwards he entered a law office. His leisure he devoted to reading and learning shorthand, in which he became very expert. He then acted as parliamentary reporter, first for _The True Sun_, and from 1835 for the _Morning Chronicle_.