was
long the best in existence, in collecting material for which he had
assistance from Cotton, Spelman, and other investigators. He also _pub._
useful maps of Great Britain and Ireland, and of various counties, etc.
In 1616 appeared his _Cloud of Witnesses confirming ... the truth of
God's most holie Word_. His maps were _coll._ and with descriptions
_pub._ in 1611 as _Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain_.

SPEKE, J.H., (_see under_ GRANT, J.A.)

SPELMAN, SIR HENRY (1564?-1641).--Historian and antiquary, _b._ at
Congham, Norfolk, studied at Camb., and entered Lincoln's Inn. He wrote
valuable works on legal and ecclesiastical antiquities, including
_History of Sacrilege_ (_pub._ 1698), _Glossarium Archaeologicum_ (1626
and 1664), a glossary of obsolete law-terms, _A History of the English
Councils_ (1639), and _Tenures by Knight-service_ (1641). His writings
have furnished valuable material for subsequent historians. He sat in
Parliament and on various commissions, and in recompense of his labours
was voted a grant of L300.

SPENCE, JOSEPH (1699-1768).--Anecdotist, _b._ at Kingsclere, Hants, and
_ed._ at Winchester and Oxf., he entered the Church, and held various
preferments, including a prebend at Durham, and was Prof. of Poetry at
Oxf. He wrote an _Essay on Pope's Odyssey_, which gained for him the
friendship of the poet, of whose conversation he made notes, collecting
likewise anecdotes of him and of other celebrities which were _pub._ in
1820, and are of great value, inasmuch as they preserve much matter
illustrative of the literary history of the 18th century which would
otherwise have been lost.

SPENCER, HERBERT (1820-1903).--Philosopher, _b._ at Derby, the _s._ of a
teacher, from whom, and from his uncle, mentioned below, he received most
of his education. His immediate family circle was strongly Dissenting in
its theological atmosphere, his _f._, originally a Methodist, having
become a Quaker, while his mother remained a Wesleyan. At 13 he was sent
to the care of his uncle, Thomas S., a clergyman, near Bath, but a
Radical and anti-corn-law agitator. Declining a Univ. career he became a
school assistant, but shortly after accepted a situation under the
engineer of the London and Birmingham railway, in which he remained until
the great railway crisis of 1846 threw him out of employment. Previous to
this he had begun to write political articles in the _Nonconformist_; he
now resolved to devote hims