HUGHES, JOHN (1677-1720).--Essayist and dramatist, was a clerk in the Ordnance Office, then sec. for the Commission of the Peace. He contributed to the _Spectator_, _Tatler_, and _Guardian_, ed. Spenser, and wrote several dramas, of which the best is _The Siege of Damascus_. It was his last, he having _d._ on the first night of its performance. Addison thought so well of his dramatic talent that he requested him to write the conclusion of _Cato_. He, however, finished it himself. H. was a highly respectable person, and is affectionately commemorated by Sir Richard Steele. HUGHES, THOMAS (1823?-1896).--Novelist and biographer, _s._ of a Berkshire squire, was _ed._ at Rugby and Oxf., and called to the Bar in 1848. Much the most successful of his books was _Tom Brown's School-days_ (1856), which had an immense popularity, and perhaps remains the best picture of English public-school life in the language. Its sequel, _Tom Brown at Oxford_ (1861), was a comparative failure, but his _Scouring of the White Horse_ deals in a charming way with his own countryside. He also wrote Lives of Alfred the Great, Bishop Fraser, and D. Macmillan, the publisher. H. devoted much attention to philanthropic work in conjunction with Kingsley and Maurice. In 1882 he was appointed a County Court Judge. HUME, ALEXANDER (1560-1609).--Poet, _s._ of Patrick, 5th Lord Polwarth, _ed._ at St. Andrews, and on the Continent, was originally destined for the law, but devoted himself to the service of the Church, and was minister of Logie in Stirlingshire. He _pub._ in 1599 _Hymns and Sacred Songs_, including the beautiful "Day Estival," descriptive of a summer day.