STANHOPE, LADY HESTER LUCY, born at Chevening, Kent, the eldest daughter of the third Earl of Stanhope, and niece of William Pitt; a woman of unusual force of character and attractiveness; from 1803 to 1806 was, as the confidant and housekeeper of her uncle William Pitt, a leader of society; retired with a Government pension after Pitt’s death, but impelled by her restless nature, led an unsettled life in Southern Europe, and finally settled in Syria in 1814, making her home in the old convent of Mar Elias, near Mount Lebanon, where, cut off from Western civilisation, for 25 years she exercised a remarkable influence over the rude tribes of the district; assumed the dress of a Mohammedan chief, and something of the religion of Islam, and in the end came to look upon herself as a sort of prophetess; interesting accounts of her strange life and character have been published by her English physician, Dr. Madden, and others (1776-1839).

STANHOPE, PHILIP HENRY, EARL, historian, born at Walmer, only son of the fourth Earl of Stan hope; graduated at Oxford in 1827, and three years later entered Parliament as a Conservative; held office as Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs in Peel’s Ministry of 1834-35, and as Secretary to the Indian Board of Control during 1845-46; succeeded his father in 1855, before which he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Mahon; literature was his chief interest, and as a historian and biographer he has a deservedly high reputation for industry and impartial judgment; a “History of England from 1713 to 1783,” a “History of Spain under Charles II.,” “Historical and Critical Essays,” and Lives of Pitt, Conde, and Belisarius, are his most important works (1805-1875).

STANISLAS I., LECZINSKI, king of Poland, born in Lemberg; afterwards sovereign of the Duchies of Bar and Lorraine; became the father-in-law of Louis XV. (1677-1766).

STANLEY.  ARTHUR PENRHYN, widely known as Dean Stanley, having been dean of Westminster, born at Alderley, in Cheshire, son of the rector, who became bishop of Norwich; was educated at Rugby under Dr. Arnold, and afterwards at Balliol College, Oxford; took orders, and was for 12 years tutor in his college; published his “Life of Dr. Arnold” in 1844, his “Sinai and Palestine” in 1855, after a visit to the East; held a professorship of Ecclesiastical History in Oxford for a time, and published lectures on the Eastern Church, the Jewish Church, the Athanasian Creed, and the Church of Scotland; accompanied the Prince of Wales to the East in 1862, and became dean of Westminster next year in succession to Trench; wrote “Historical Monuments of Westminster Abbey” and “Christian Institutions”; he had been married to Lady Augusta Bruce, and her death deeply affected him and accelerated his own; he was buried beside her in Henry VII.’s chapel; he was an amiable man, an interesting writer, and a broad churchman of very pronounced views (1815-1881).