Farrar, FREDERIC WILLIAM, D.D.

Farrar, FREDERIC WILLIAM, D.D., Dean of Canterbury, was born in Bombay, 7th August 1831, and graduated at London University and at Cambridge, where he was fourth classic. Ordained in 1854, he was for many years a master at Harrow, and in 1871-76 head-master of Marlborough College; in 1868 and 1874-75 he was a select preacher before the university of Cambridge, in 1869-73 honorary chaplain to the Queen, and afterwards a chaplain-in-ordinary. He became canon of Westminster and rector of St Margaret's in 1876, and archdeacon in 1883. An eloquent preacher, he has taken an active part in temperance reform. As an author, his industry and productiveness have been equalled only by the remarkable popularity of some of his writings, which include, besides Eric (1858) and other stories of school-life, and his earlier works on philology and education, The Witness of History to Christ (Hulsean Lectures for 1870); The Life of Christ (2 vols. 1874), which passed through twelve editions in as many months; a Life of St Paul (2 vols. 1879); The Early Days of Christianity (2 vols. 1882); The History of Interpretation (Bampton Lectures for 1885); and The Lives of the Fathers (2 vols. 1889). He has also contributed largely to the magazines, and published several volumes of sermons; among these last is his Eternal Hope (1878), which denied the probability of eternal punishment. Darkness and Dawn (1892) is a story of Nero's days, and Gathering Clouds (1895), a tale of the days of St Chrysostom. Another work is The Life of Christ as represented in Art (1894). In 1890 he became chaplain to the House of Commons, and in 1895 Dean of Canterbury. He has been a contributor to The Speaker's Commentary and other Commentaries, &c.; and to this work he contributed the articles JESUS CHRIST and PAUL. Many of his works have been translated into French, German, Russian, Swedish, &c.