began in 1709 to issue the famous tri-weekly paper the Tatler, in which, with little assistance, he played the part of social and literary censor about town, couching his remarks in light and graceful essays, which constituted a fresh departure in literature; largely aided by Addison, his old school companion, he developed this new form of essay in the Spectator and Guardian; sat in Parliament as a zealous Whig, and in George I.’s reign was knighted and received various minor court appointments; continued a busy writer of pamphlets, &c., but withal mismanaged his affairs, and died in Wales, secured from actual penury by the property of his second wife; as a writer shares with Addison the glory of the Queen Anne Essay, which in their hands did much to purify, elevate, and refine the mind and manners of the time (1671-1729).

STEEN, JAN, Dutch painter, born in Leyden; was a genre painter of the style of Rembrandt, and his paintings display severity with sympathy and a playful humour; he is said to have led a dissipated life, and to have left his wife and a large family in extreme destitution (1626-1679).

STEEVENS, GEORGE, commentator on Shakespeare, born at Stepney; in 1736 edited 20 of Shakespeare’s plays carefully reprinted from the original quartos, and in 1731 his notes with those of Johnson in another edition; a further edition, with a number of gratuitous alterations of the text, was issued by him in 1793, and that was the accepted one till the publication of Knight’s in 1838 (1736-1800).

STEIN, BARON VON, Prussian statesman, born at Nassau; rose rapidly in the service of the State, and became Prussian Prime Minister under William III. in 1807, in which capacity he effected important changes in the constitution of the country to its lasting benefit, till Napoleon procured his dismissal, and he withdrew to Austria, and at length to St. Petersburg, where he was instrumental in turning the general tide against Napoleon (1757-1831).

STEIN, CHARLOTTE VON, a lady friend of Goethe’s, born at Weimar; Goethe’s affection for her cooled on his return from Italy to see her so changed; she never forgave him for marrying a woman beneath him; letters by Goethe to her were published in successive editions, but hers to him were destroyed by her (1742-1827).

STEINMETZ, CARL FRIEDRICH VON, Prussian general, born at Eisenach; distinguished himself in the war of 1813-1814, and inflicted crushing defeats on the Austrians in 1866; fell below his reputation in the Franco-German War, and was deprived of his command after the battle of Gravelotte, but was elected Governor-General of Posen and Silesia (1796-1877).

STEINTHAL, HEYMANN, German philologist, born at Groebzig, in Anhalt; studied at Berlin, where in 1863 he became professor of Comparative Philology, and in 1872 lecturer at the Jewish High School on Old Testament Criticism and Theology; author of various learned and acute works on the science of language; b. 1823.