Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 59.djvu/422

 , and already (1863) the author of an essay on Greek coins as illustrative of Greek federal history; an enthusiastic botanist, which accounts for much of the minute description observable in his poems; and one of the earliest amateurs of the now favourite pursuit of collecting book-plates, upon which he produced a standard work, ‘A Guide to the Study of Book Plates (ex-libris),’ London, 1880, 8vo. His ‘Flora of Cheshire’ was prepared from two posthumous manuscripts by Mr. Spencer Moore, and was published in 1899 with a prefatory memoir by Sir Mountstuart Grant-Duff.

In 1887 Warren succeeded to the title of De Tabley by the death of his father, and at once found himself immersed in a multitude of business cares which seemed to render the pursuit of poetry more difficult than ever. An impulse, however, was at hand from an unexpected quarter. In 1891 Mr. A. H. Miles published in his ‘Poets of the Century’ an excellent selection from Lord de Tabley's poems, with an appreciative criticism. The author could not but feel encouraged; and, although still sincerely reluctant to make another trial of the public he had hitherto found so uncongenial, suffered himself to be persuaded by Mr. Watts-Dunton and Mr. John Lane to republish the best of his poems with additions. The volume, entitled ‘Poems Dramatic and Lyrical’ (London, 1893, 8vo, with illustrations by C. S. Ricketts), obtained full public recognition for one who had seemed entirely forgotten. A succeeding volume, issued in 1895 as a second series of the foregoing, could not rival the selected work of thirty years, but proved that much might still have been expected from the author if his physical powers had not begun to forsake him. A naturally delicate constitution, undermined by an attack of influenza, gradually gave way, and he died somewhat suddenly on 22 Nov. 1895. He was buried at Little Peover, Cheshire. He was unmarried, and the peerage became extinct, while the baronetcy devolved on a distant cousin. De Tabley was equally regretted as a poet and as a man. In the former capacity he cannot be named among those who have been possessed by an overmastering inspiration. He has little lyrical gift, his poems usually convey the impression of careful composition, and his principal claims as a mere writer are the ‘brocaded,’ as Mr. Gosse happily expresses it, stateliness of his diction, the vivid originality of his natural descriptions, and an occasional pungency of phrase. But if the poet sometimes disappears, the man is ever visible. His emotions are always genuine, and when the feeling becomes intense the writer is thoroughly himself, discards imitative mannerism, and emancipates himself from the influence of other poets. This is especially the case in his dramas and in the monologues approximating to the drama which form so large a portion of his poetical work. He will live as an impassioned writer who chose poetry for his medium, though not inevitably a poet. As a man his character was one of singular charm. His most intimate friends, Mr. Gosse, Mr. Watts-Dunton, and Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff, exhaust themselves in eulogies of his gentleness, considerateness, urbanity, and high-minded disinterestedness, and only lament the anguish he inflicted upon himself by excessive sensitiveness.

[Reminiscences by Mr. Edmund Gosse in the Contemporary Review for 1896, republished in the writer's Critical Kit-Kats; notice by Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton in the Athenæum of 30 Nov. 1895; Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff's memoir prefixed to the Flora of Cheshire, 1899, and his notice in the Spectator of 7 Dec. 1895; personal knowledge.]  WARREN, JOHN TAYLOR (1771–1849), physician, born in 1771, was the son of Thomas Warren of Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He entered Merchant Taylors' school in 1780, and afterwards studied medicine at St. George's Hospital, where he became a favourite pupil of the great surgeon, John Hunter (1728–1793) [q. v.] At the outbreak of war at the French revolution Warren was appointed assistant surgeon in the 20th dragoons, a regiment raised for service in Jamaica. After serving in that island for some time he was ordered to St. Domingo. There he was appointed surgeon of Keppel's black regiment, but before joining, owing to the mortality among European officers, he was nominated surgeon to the 23rd infantry or Welsh fusiliers, and thence was promoted to the post of staff surgeon to the forces. In 1797 he returned to England with invalids, and, having distinguished himself by his activity and skill, he was placed at the recruiting depôt in Chatham barracks, subsequently at Gosport, and finally in the Isle of Wight, where he gained the friendship of Sir George Hewett [q. v.], the commander of the forces stationed there.

In 1805 Warren was appointed deputy-inspector of military hospitals, and was placed in charge of the home department. In 1808 he proceeded to Spain with a detachment of English troops, and, after being present at Vimiero, accompanied Sir John Moore on his expedition. When the troops embarked at Coruña he was placed in