Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/641

 that instead of listening to sermons he studied the hymn-book subsequently he joined the Plymouth brethren. Prompted by his Sunday-school teacher, he began to write verse as a child, contributing to magazines as 'Little Albert.' His first printed hymn, written in September 1842, appeared in the 'Youth a Magazine,' Nov. 1842. The hymn which came first into use ('God bless our Sunday Schools,' to the tune of the National Anthem) was written in 1844. The hymn on which his fame rests ('There's a Friend for little children ') was composed on 7 Feb. 1859; it has been translated into a dozen languages, including Chinese and Japanese; it was included in the supplement to 'Hymns Ancient and Modern' (1868), when Sir John Stainer wrote the tune 'In Memoriam' for it. Midlane's output of hymns was amazing; in one year he wrote about 400, chiefly for American newspapers; Julian (July 1907) credits him with having produced over 800 hymns, of which 83 had been introduced into widely used hymnals. Many were published in magazines and in very numerous tiny collections; for the year 1908 he wrote that he counted 'just upon 200 published compositions, which is about the annual average.' This, however, included verses on national and local topics in the 'Isle of Wight County Press' and other periodicals, and historical prose. For some time he edited a local magazine, 'Island Greetings.' He made nothing by his pen, and having become guarantor for a friend he was reduced to bankruptcy. His friends throughout the country, in conjunction with the Sunday School Union, raised a sum which enabled the bankruptcy to be annulled and provided an annuity for Midlane and his wife. He was a man of wide sympathies; his hymns, with little claim to genius, are marked by a winsome religious emotion, and a passionate love of children. He died at Forest Villa, South Mall, Newport, I.W., on 27 Feb. 1909, as the result of an apoplectic seizure, and was buried in Carisbrooke cemetery. He married Miriam Granger, who survived him with two sons and one daughter.

The following works are believed to contain most of his hymns: 1. 'Poetry addressed to Sabbath School Teachers,' 1844, 12mo. 2. 'Vecta Garland,' 1860, 12mo. 3. 'Leaves from Olivet,' 1864, 12mo. 4. 'Gospel Echoes,' 1865, 16mo. 5. 'Above the Bright Blue Sky,' 1867, 16mo; 1889, 24mo. 6. 'Early Lispings,' 1880, 16mo. 7. 'God's Treasures,' 1890, 16mo. 8. 'The Bright Blue Sky Hymn Book,' 1904, 12mo (315 hymns): 1909, 12mo (323 hymns; portrait). 9. 'The Gospel Hall Hymn Book,' 1904. 12mo (218 hymns additional to those in No. 8. 1904). 10. 'A Colloquy between the Gallows and the Hangman' 1851 (verse). 11. 'Chronological Table of Events. . . Carisbrooke Castle,' Newport, LW., 1877, 12mo.

 MILBANKE, RALPH GORDON NOEL KING, second (1839–1906), author of 'Astarte.' born at 10 St. James's Square, London. on 2 July 1839, was second son of William King, afterwards King-Noel, first earl of Lovelace (1805-1893), by his first wife, Ada Augusta, daughter of Lord Byron the poet [q. v.]. The father, who succeeded as eighth Baron King in 1833, was created earl of Lovelace on 30 June 1838. He was lord- lieutenant of Surrey from 1840 to his death in 1803, and interested himself in agricultural and mechanical engineering.

During 1847-8 Ralph was a pupil at Wilhelm von Fellen berg's Pestalozsian school at Hofwyl, near Berne [see under, Suppl. II.]. Subsequently educated privately, he matriculated at University College, Oxford, in 1859, but did not graduate. On the death on 1 Sept. 1862 of his elder brother, Byron Noel. Viscount Ockham, who had succeeded his grandmother. Lady Byron, as twelfth Baron Wentworth, Ralph himself became thirteenth Baron Wentworth. He had assumed the surname of Milbanke, Lady Byron's maiden surname, by royal licence on 6 Nov. 1861. Taking little part in public life, he read widely and showed independent if rather erratic judgment. At the age of twenty-two he spent a year in Iceland, and was a zealous student of Norse literature. In early life a bold Alpine climber, he spent much time in the Alps, while a peak of the Dolomites bears his name. An aooomplished linguist, he was especially conversant with Swiss and Tyrolese dialects. His intimate acquaintance with French, German, and English literature was combined with a fine taste in music and painting. He enjoyed the intimacy of W. E. H. Lecky and other men of letters. In 1898 he succeeded his father as second earl of Lovelace. In 1906 he privately printed 'Astarte: A Fragment of Truth concerning 