[Kean, Charles John], actor, second son of the succeeding, born in Waterford; made his first appearance in Drury Lane in 1827, which proved unsuccessful, but by assiduous study and his marriage with Helen Tree, a popular actress who played along with him, he rose in the profession and became lessee of the Princess's Theatre, London, where he distinguished himself by his revivals of Shakespeare's plays, with auxiliary effects due to scenery and costume; he was at his best in melodramas, such as "Louis XI." (1811-1868).
[Kean, Edmund], distinguished English tragedian, born in London; trod the stage from his infancy; his first success was Shylock in the "Merchant of Venice" in 1814, and the representation of it was followed by equally famous representations of Richard III., Othello, and Sir Giles Overreach; he led a very dissipated life, and under the effects of it his constitution gave way; he broke down one evening beside his son as Iago, as he was playing the part of Othello, was carried off the stage, and never appeared on the boards again (1787-1833).
[Keary, Annie], novelist, born in Yorkshire; began as a writer of children's books, "Castle Daly," an Irish novel, among her best; was a woman of a sympathetic nature, and was devoted to works of benevolence (1825-1882).
[Keats, John], was the son of a livery-stable proprietor, born at Finsbury, London; never went to a university, but was apprenticed to a London surgeon, and subsequently practised medicine himself in London; abandoning his profession in 1817, he devoted himself to literature, made the acquaintance of Leigh Hunt, Hazlitt, Lamb, Wordsworth, and other literary men; left London for Carisbrooke, moved next year to Teignmouth, but on a visit to Scotland contracted what proved to be consumption; in 1819 he was betrothed to Miss Fanny Browne, and struggled against ill-health and financial difficulties till his health completely gave way in the autumn of 1820; accompanied by the artist Joseph Severn he went to Naples and then to Rome, where, in the spring following, he died; his works were three volumes of poetry, "Poems" 1817, "Endymion" 1818, "Lamia, Isabella and other Poems," including "Hyperion" and "The Eve of St. Agnes" 1820; he never reached maturity in his art, but the dignity, tenderness, and imaginative power of his work contained the highest promise; he was a man of noble character, sensitive, yet strong, unselfish, and magnanimous, by some regarded as the most original of modern poets (1795-1821).
[Keblah], the point of the compass to which people turn their faces when they worship, as the Mohammedans do to Mecca when they pray.
[Keble, John], English clergyman, author of the "Christian Year," born in Fairford, Gloucestershire; studied at Oxford, and became Fellow of Oriel College in 1811; in 1827 appeared the "Christian Year," which he published anonymously; in 1831 was appointed professor of Poetry in Oxford, and that same year issued an "Address to the Electors of the United Kingdom" against the Reform Bill; he was one of four who originated the Tractarian movement at Oxford, and was the author of several of the "Tracts for the Times"; in 1835 he was presented to the vicarage of Hursley, which he held till his death; he was author of "Lyra Innocentium," and along with Newman and others of "Lyra Apostolica"; the secession of Newman rather riveted than loosened his attachment to the English Church (1792-1866).
[Kedron], a wady E. of Jerusalem, traversed by a brook in the rainy season, and which runs in the direction of the Dead Sea.
[Keelhauling], a naval punishment of the 17th and 18th centuries; consisted in dropping the victim into the sea from one yardarm, hauling him under the keel and up to the yardarm on the other side; is now a term for a severe rebuke.
[Keeling Islands]. See [Cocos Islands].
[Keewatin], a district in Canada under the jurisdiction of the government of Manitoba, and N. of it; the mineral wealth is great, and includes copper and silver.