Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/1013

CEN It is curious and valuable, and shows that painting; in oil was known before the time of John Van Eyck, to whom its invention had been previously ascribed.—J. T.  CENSORINUS: the name of a plebeian family of the gens Marcia, originally called Rutilus. The following are the more distinguished members of this family:—, the son of that Caius Marcius Rutilus who, chosen dictator in 356 ., was the first plebeian who filled the office. In 310 ., the year of his father's death, he was consul, and engaged in war with the Samnites. He was one of the first four plebeians who were elected pontifices, in 300 ., under the Lex Ogulnia. He was twice censor, first in 294 ., and again in 265 .—, one of the chiefs of the Marian party, executed after its defeat in 82. by order of Sulla.  CENSORINUS, a Latin chronologer and grammarian, who lived under Alexander Severus and his immediate successors, about the beginning of the third century. His only work which has been preserved is a treatise, "De Die Natali," in which he treats of various matters of chronology, mathematics, and cosmography. There is a fragment, "De Metris," by this author, still extant. He wrote also on accents and on geometry, but both of these works have been lost. The earliest edition of Censorinus is that of Bologna, 1497, and the latest that by Gruber, Nürnberg, 1805.—J. B.  CENSORINUS,, a Roman, after having filled with credit many of the highest offices in the state, was living in retirement near Bologna, when, in spite of his remonstrances, some malcontents of the army proclaimed him emperor in. 270. Seven days after his election he was assassinated.  CENTENO,, a Spanish officer, born in 1505. He accompanied Pizarro to Peru; after his death joined Gonzalo, his brother; and took a prominent part in the wars and murders of that period. He assassinated his own friend, Almendras, in order to obtain possession of the supreme authority in Charcas. After several alternate successes and reverses, he was completely defeated by Gonzalo in the battle of Huarina, 16th October, 1547. He fled for safety to the royal army, and next year assisted in crushing the partisans of Gonzalo. He was poisoned at a banquet in 1549.—J. T.  CENTLIVRE,, a dramatic writer of considerable reputation. The exact date of her birth is a matter of dispute, and so is the place of her nativity. We are inclined to concur with those who state her to have been born in the year 1680, and in Ireland, whither her father, a Lincolnshire gentleman of the name of Freeman, had to fly upon the restoration of Charles II., in consequence of his religious and political principles. A few years of exile and poverty brought the life of Freeman to a close, and his daughter was soon thrown upon the world almost without friends, resources, or education. It is said a stepmother took the charge of her, but this wants confirmation; indeed that such a person existed is doubtful. Some way or other the girl contrived to gather knowledge both of books and of human nature, as genius always, and genius alone gathers them. Ere long she formed the bold idea of making her way to London and seeking her fortune there. Her finances were so slender that she commenced the journey on foot; but she soon broke down, and, weary and desponding, sat down by the roadside and wept. It so happened that Anthony Hammond, a gentleman of literary note, met the fair and destitute girl; and the result was that, learning her story, he took her under his protection, and lodging her in the neighbourhood of Cambridge, procured her, as Whincop states, the advantages of university tuition in the disguise of male attire. The connection thus formed did not last many months, and Susannah again resumed her route to the metropolis, not without the means of pushing her fortune, which were supplied by Hammond. Here she applied herself diligently to the improvement of her mind, at the same time frequenting the places of public entertainment. Her accomplishments and personal attractions soon won the affection of a nephew of Sir Stephen Fox, to whom, as some allege, she was married. Scarcely a year elapsed before this connection was terminated by his death in his seventeenth year, leaving Susannah once more free. She soon after became the wife of an officer named Carroll, who, in less than two years from his marriage, was killed in a duel. Now, for the first time, Susannah, widowed and in poverty, betook herself to authorship. Her first dramatic production was a tragedy called "The Perjured Husband," which had not sufficient intrinsic merit to insure success, nor had the author a patron who could promote it. A comedy, her next work, had no better fate; and she was forced to take an engagement as an actress in Bath, still labouring at dramatic literature. Her perseverance was at length rewarded. Of three pieces which she contrived to bring on the stage, one, "The Gamester," met with a decided success, and was followed by others which were played at Drury Lane. Meantime she continued to appear on the boards, and while at Windsor, acted a male part, that of Alexander the Great. In this it is said she captivated the heart of an honest official of her majesty's household, whose administrations, if not the highest, were of the most important—a royal cook—Joseph Centlivre by name. Happy Joseph, who, by his marriage with Susannah in 1706, has transmitted his patronymic to posterity with a richer, though not a more savoury renown than Kitchiner or Soyer. Joseph made her a good husband, and Susannah was as good a wife; and thus, having at last found "snug lying," she gave her undistracted attention to literature. "The Busy Body" was the first offspring of her new life, and a sickly babe it seemed to be, with small chance of living. The first night it was scarcely tolerated by the few yawning auditors in Drury Lane. The second night was somewhat better, and even theatrical censors found something to praise. This brought a full house on the third night, and a decided success, which was sustained by a reasonable "run" of eighteen nights. Next season the piece was performed both at the Haymarket and Drury Lane, and the authoress established in reputation. After one or two other dramas came "The Wonder," a comedy which, for spirit, plot, and brilliant dialogue has few equals, and placed Mrs. Centlivre in almost the highest rank of dramatic writers. We pass over intermediate dramas till 1718, when "A Bold Stroke for a Wife" enhanced the reputation of the writer, and falsified at least one part of the prediction of Wilkes, that "the play would be damned, and the writer damned for writing it." Mrs. Centlivre wrote several other dramas; but her fame rests on the three we have last mentioned, which still retain their places as stockpieces. At length, after a life of happiness and respectability, passed amidst the society of some of the distinguished authors of the day, she died on the 1st December, 1723, in Spring Gardens, London. As a dramatist Mrs. Centlivre still holds a very respectable place. She was undoubtedly a woman of genius, observation, and knowledge of the world, and not without learning. It is true her works are disfigured by much that is condemnable, both in sentiment and expression. Their morality is of the laxest, and the language often of the coarsest. But this fault is not hers alone, but that of her times, for the taint of the Caroline morals had not yet disappeared. Society was not yet healthy enough to expel it from the system. In private life Mrs. Centlivre enjoyed esteem and respect as a woman of a sterling nature, benevolent and amiable.—J. F. W.  CEO,, a Portuguese poetess, born in 1601; died in 1693. She became a nun of the order of the Dominicans at the age of eighteen, but previous to this she had written a comedy entitled "Santa Engracia." Her literary labours, though in a changed direction, were continued in the convent till her death. Violante do Ceo has been styled the tenth muse of Portugal, and some of her works show considerable vigour of fancy; but they are defaced by the affectation of far-fetched images and trivial conceits, universally prevalent in her time. Some of her sonnets, both in Spanish and Portuguese, have considerable grace and sweetness. "By her writings after the revolution of 1640," says Bouterwek, "she distinguished herself as a patriot, but not as a judicious poetess." Her miscellaneous works were for the first time collected after her death under the title of "Parnasso Lusitano de divinos y humanos versos." Her "Remas," chiefly Spanish, were printed at Ruan in 1646—one of the few pieces among these that can be read with pleasure, is an ode on the death of Lope de Vega.—F. M. W.  CEOLFRID or CEOLFIRTH, a Saxon writer, born in Northumberland about 642. He founded the abbey of Wearmouth in 674, and for thirty years presided over that institution. His school attained great celebrity, and the venerable Bede and other illustrious ecclesiastics were among his pupils. Worn out with age and infirmity, he resigned his office in 716, and after addressing the monks in a touching farewell speech, which is recorded by Bede, he set out for Rome, in order that he might end his days in that city. But he was unable to travel farther than the neighbourhood of Langres in France, where he died on the 25th September. He was the author of "A Treatise Concerning <section end="1013Zcontin" />