Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/636

* STEENKEBKE. 542 STEEFANI. STEENKEBKE, stan'ker-ke, or STEEN- KERKEN. A village in the Province of Hai- nault. Belgium, ou the Seime, 19 miles southwest of Brussels. It is noted for the disastrous defeat of the Dutch and English troops under William of Orange, who here attacked the French armj' com- manded by IMarshal Luxembourg, August 3, 1G02. STEENSTBTIP, stan'stnip, Johannes Ja- PETis Smith (1813-97). A Danish zoologist and archjeologist. born at Vang. In 1845 he was elected adjunct professor of zoology of the Uni- versity of Copenhagen. In this year appeared the work in which he established the fact of the alternation of generations in the hydroids, and more especially in trematode worms, entitled On the AUrrnations of Generations, or Die Propaga- tion and Development of Animals Through Al- ternate Generations. He was also an authority upon the kitchen-middens (q.v.) of Denmark. STEENWIJCK, stfm'vik, STEENWYCK, or STEINWICK, Hendeik van, the Elder (C.1550C.1G0.5). A Dutch architectural painter, horn at Steenwijek. He painted many interiors of churches, and was the first to attempt the effect of artificial light on architectural forms. His works include: •'Interior of Aix Cathedral" (1573. Schleissheim Gallery): "The Courtyard of a Palace" (1588, Dessau" Gallery) ; and "The Liberation of St. Peter" ( 1004. Vienna Museum). His son. Heindrik, the Younger (c.l580-c.l650) , was born in Frankfort and went early to Antwerp and Amsterdam, settling finally in London (1629). He, too, painted architec- tural subjects. Jlanj' of Van Dyck's backgrounds were executed by him, and Brueghel and Thulden put figures upon his own canvases. Examples of his work are: "A Church Interior" (1605, Vi- enna) ; "View of a Public Square" (1614, The Hague) ; and "Jesus with Mary and Martha" (1620, Louvre). STEEPLECHASING. Flat racing over a •course selected by reason of the obstacles, such as fences, hedges, hurdles, and ditches. It is popularly supposed to have originated in the hila- rious spirit of excited fox-hunters, taking a bee line from the point where the.y were to a distant village church steeple. The Grand National Steeplechase of Liverpool, established in 1839, is the great event of the steeplechase year. In the Ignited States the Meadowbrook Club has been the pioneer organization for steeplechasing. STEEB'FOBTH. In Dickens's David Copper- field, a friend of the hero, and the seducer of Little Em'ly. He is drowned in a shipwreck, with Ham Peggottj', who attempts to rescue him. STEERING. Tliat branch of practical navi- gation which involves the actual control of the direction of a moving vessel. Steering usually involves the manipulation of the helm, or rud- der, tiller, and necessary adjuncts, as described under Helm. In addition the effect of sails, paddle-wheels, screws, etc., must be considered, and sea, currents, winds, and other conditions taken into account, these varying from time to time, and different types of vessels requiring different methods. A double-screw steamer, for example, will steer differently from one with a single screw, having a greater power of manfpu- vring. The steering of a vessel depends upon the course followed. (See Sailings and N.wiga- TION), and also upon the rules of the road (q.v.). An interesting practical discussion of the sub- ject will he found in Knight, Modern Seaman- ship (3d cd.. New York, 1903). STEE'VENS, Geokge (1736-1800). An Eng- lish Shakespeare commentator, born at Poplar. He was educated at Eton and at King's Col- lege, Cambridge, but left the university without a degree (1756). Inheriting a small fortune from his father, a direclcu' of the East India Company, he was able to give his time to the study of Shakespeare. He reprinted 20 plays from the qiuirtos (4 vols., 1700), collabo- rated with Dr. Johnson on an edition of Shake- speare (1773), which was revised by Isaac Reed (1785), and, in conjunction with Reed, brought out a new edition (15 vols., 1793). Steevens nnitilated the text, but his notes are still valu- able. STEEVENS, George Warbington (1860- 1900). An English joui'nalist, born at Sydenham. He was educated at the C'itv of London School and at Balliol College, Oxford. In 1893 he left Oxford for London, where he joined the editorial staff of the Pall iJall Gazette. In 1897 he be- came a special correspondent of the Daily Mail, for which he visited in succession the United States, Greece, Egypt, India, Rennes (the scene of the trial of Dreyfus), and South Africa. His letters to the Daily Mail were republished under the titles: The Land of the Dollar (1897), Mitk the Conquering Turk (1897), Egypt in ISOS (dS98), With Kitehener to Khartum (1898), In India (1899), The Tragedy of Dreyfus (1899), and From Cape Town to Ladysmiih (1900). The last volume, left incomplete, was edited by Ver- non Blackburn. All this journalistic work has a distinct literary value from the author's re- mark;ible perceptive and descriptive powers. Be- fore his connection with the Daily Mail he had published Xaval Poliey (1896) and the clever Monologues of the Dead (1896). He died of enteric fever at Ladysmith, then besieged by the Boers. STEFFANI, sta-fii'n«, Agostino. Abbate (1655-1730). An Italian composer and states- man, born at Castelfranco, Venetia. He studied music in Venice and under Ercole Bernabei (c. 1620-87) in Munich, where he became organist in 1675 and director of the Elector's chamber music in 1681. He took holy orders in 1080, was ap- ]iointcd Court kapellmeister at Hanover in 1688, and brought out his Italian operas with great s|)lendor in the garden of Sehloss Herrcnbausen. They were also produced in German at Hamburg, in 1690-1700. He is, however, chiefly remembered for his numerous chamber duets, set to Italian texts, which rank as models of their kind. His compositions are preserved in manuscript in the royal lilirary. London : of the few that appeared in print, may be mentioned: Psalmodin Vespertina. for eight voices (1674) : Honate da ramera a due rinlini. alto e eontinuo (1679) : Duetti da, camera a soprano e contralto (1683) : and Janus Quadri- fons, motets with basso continue for three voices. In 1710 he resigned his post in favor of Handel, and. being made Privy Councilor by the Elector Palatine and bishop in partibus of Spizza, Dalmatia, by the Pope, devoted himself princi- pally to diplomatic and ecclesiastical affairs and died at Frankfort.