Edward Everett (1794–1865): American polymath and politician. Everett was appointed to a newly endowed Chair in Greek at Harvard in 1815. This permitted him to study and travel in Europe, which he did between 1815–1819, enrolling for part of this time at Göttingen University alongside his friend George Ticknor. In summer 1818 Everett visited the Lakes and called on Southey. The latter described him as ‘one of the most interesting men I have seen’. Everett returned to America in 1819 and became editor of the North American Review in the following year. He entered political life, serving as a Member of the House of Representatives 1824–1835, Governor of Massachusetts 1836–1840, Minister to the United Kingdom 1841–1845 and Secretary of State 1853–1854. He was a Vice–Presidential candidate in 1860 and was the speaker immediately before Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in 1863.