Edward Irving Carlyle

“ In 1847 he visited Ireland with his eldest brother, Sir Frederick George Foster, at the time of the potato famine. They endeavoured to relieve the wants of the starving peasants, and Vere Foster was so much impressed with the misery which he had encountered that from that time he made the social advancement of the Irish people the chief concern of his life. Turning his attention to the question of emigration he made three voyages to America as a steerage passenger in an emigrant ship to acquaint himself with the treatment of emigrants, and was greatly concerned by the bad accommodation. ”

“ By unjustifiably extending the privilege of trading free of duty to cover internal as well as foreign trade, by granting ‘dustucks’ or passports for their own and their servants' goods, as well as for those of the company, and by insisting that their native agents should be totally exempted from the subadar's jurisdiction, the English officials had engrossed the entire business of the country, and had established an independent government by the side of the nabob's. Vansittart set his face against these abuses, but the authority of the president was extremely limited. ”

“ In 1843 he first made himself known as a writer on mathematics by his translation of Martin Ohm's 'Geist der mathematischen Analysis.' He afterwards continued to write, from time to time, papers on mathematical subjects, many of them of an abstruse character, which generally appeared in the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society.' In 1874, by the publication of his ' Algebra identified with Geometry,' he put before the public the theory which had existed in his own mind for many years, that algebra was a purely geometrical calculus, not an arithmetical one. ”

“ Repairing to London he found the earl in bed, and so incensed him by his exhortations that he was forced to retire hastily in great dread that the earl would deliver him into the hands of parliament. On trying to quit the city he was stopped and brought before the lord mayor, to whom he said that 'he was a poor pillaged preacher from Ireland, who came to London to see his friends,' and now desired to go to some friends in Northampton. By this means he obtained a pass to Northampton and reached Oxford, whence, shortly after, he passed into Wales, and thence to Ireland. ”

“ On 18 Jan. 1836, at a meeting at the Birmingham Town Hall, Attwood threatened the opponents of reform with the wrath of twenty millions of men. This extravagance caused Benjamin Disraeli to address to Attwood the third of his 'Letters of Runnymede,' a vapid rebuke of a ridiculous boast. The Political Union, which had fallen into abeyance on the passage of the reform bill, was revived in May 1837 as the Reform Association, a title which was soon abandoned for the older designation. ”

“ To ventilate their opinions a journal was founded in 1855 entitled the ‘Free Press,’ a name changed in 1866 to the ‘Diplomatic Review,’ which contained, among other contributions, most of Urquhart's own writings on the subject.
In 1864 he was compelled by his health to leave England for the continent, where he resided partly at Montreux, and partly in a house he had built on a spur of Mont Blanc. Abroad he attempted with his usual energy to revive the study of international law, which he considered to be continually violated by modern states in their dealings with each other. ”

“ The growth of the chartist movement alienated many of the moderate advocates of reform and compelled the remainder to take a more extreme position. Liberals of birth, rank, or wealth gradually disappeared from the ranks of his supporters. The Birmingham Political Union, which already had proclaimed themselves in favour of universal suffrage, the ballot, and annual parliaments, were easily brought to give a formal adhesion to the charter. Attwood gave his enthusiastic support to the great chartist petition. ”

“ The price of new land should be fixed sufficiently low to enable each labourer to become by purchase a landed proprietor in four or five years. He permitted free grants of pasture, for such land could only be used by one who already possessed capital. He also insisted on the absolute necessity of a thorough scientific survey of the territory of the colony.
These views Wakefield first enunciated in a popular form in ‘A Letter from Sydney’ (London, 1829, 12mo) , published under the name of Robert Gouger, afterwards colonial secretary in South Australia. ”

“ In those days Bengal was governed directly by the governor-general, or in his absence by the senior member of the governor-general's council, acting in the capacity of deputy-governor. From 1848 to 1852 the governor-general, Lord Dalhousie, was absent in the north of India, and the deputy-governorship devolved upon General Sir John Littler, then the senior member of council, who was entirely unversed in civil affairs. During all this time Grant, as secretary, was the virtual ruler of the province, and introduced various reforms which greatly improved the administration. ”

“ Most of Hirst's earlier papers are devoted to researches in mathematical physics, but from 1861 he turned his chief attention to pure geometry. He took a prominent part in the foundation of the London Mathematical Society in 1865, served as its president from 1872 to 1874, and was a member of its council from 1864 to 1883. His papers on pure geometry were largely contributed to the proceedings of this society. The work with which his name will be most definitely associated is contained in his papers on the correlation of planes and the correlation of space of three dimensions. ”

“ In April 1837 he published ‘A Narrative of Missionary Enterprise in the South Sea Islands, with Remarks on the Natural History of the Islands, Origin, Languages, Traditions, and Usages of the Inhabitants,’ a volume which excited the interest of men of letters and of science, as well as of those concerned in the progress of Christianity. ”

“ Brassey placed implicit confidence in him, seldom troubling himself about the details of the accounts, and only inquiring, 'George, have you got enough money in the bank to pay the rent?' In 1853, when the railway was extended from Ludlow to Hereford, it formed a connection with the Newport, Abergavenny, and Hereford Railway, which the London and North-Western Company had undertaken to work. Brassey contracted to supply the locomotive power on this line, and Findlay thus first came into relations with the London and North-Western Company. ”

“ In 1600 he proceeded to Scotland, and injudiciously solicited the intervention of James VI with the lords of the council. He had a favourable reception, and composed a thanksgiving for the delivery of James from the Gowrie conspiracy, which was presented to the king. His good reception aroused Elizabeth's anger, and on his return to England he was promptly arrested and imprisoned for a short time ‘as a dangerous member to the state.’ In 1601 appeared ‘The Right Way to Heaven: and the true testimonie of a faithfull and loyall subject. ”

“ His work seemed to him too easy, and he had an intense desire to reach the heathen populations scattered in other islands. He thought at first of leaving Raiatea and setting out independently of the society, but afterwards resolved to attain his end by means of a mission ship, making Raiatea his headquarters. The directors of the society did not favour the project, but Williams was resolved, and having inherited some property on the death of his mother, he visited Sydney in 1821, and purchased the Endeavour, a schooner of eighty or ninety tons. ”

“ The Russia Company, in October 1744, vainly ordered him to return to England, Elton replying by the transmission of a decree from Nadir Shah, dated 19 Nov. 1745, forbidding him to quit Persia. Offers of a pension from the Russia Company and a post in the navy from the British government were equally ineffectual. Disregarding the injury which he was inflicting on the Russia Company, he maintained that a British subject may with loyalty take service with any foreign potentate on friendly terms with England, and that he was under no obligations to Russia. ”

“ Although he was popularly known as an extravagant Turcophil, he had a thorough knowledge of the politics of Eastern Europe, which was recognised at home by Disraeli and abroad by statesmen like Thiers and Beust. To Urquhart belongs the distinction of promoting the naturalisation of the Turkish bath in the British Isles. He spoke enthusiastically of the merits of the institution in his ‘Pillars of Hercules’ (London, 1850, 2 vols. 8vo) , a narrative of travels in Spain and Morocco. ”

“ Kettle took the deepest interest in industrial matters, and was frequently called upon to arbitrate in disputes in the iron and coal trades. He was the first president of the Midland iron trade wages board, and used the influence which this office gave him to persuade masters and men to accept arbitration in their disputes. In 1864, after a strike in the building trade at Wolverhampton had lasted seventeen weeks, Kettle, on invitation from both sides, succeeded in arranging a settlement and ultimately in establishing at Wolverhampton a legally organised system of arbitration. ”

“ Leaving Australia in 1845 he travelled in Europe, chiefly engaged in making his collections of works of art. He was one of the first Englishmen to appreciate the products of the minor arts of the Italian renaissance. At a time before Ruskin had changed artistic fashions and directed attention to other objects in Italy than 'pictures of the grand style and classical antiques,' Fortnum was engaged in studying the history of European art and in forming his illustrative collections of majolica, Della Robbia ware, bronzes, Hispano-Moresque dishes, and the like. ”

“ The term of Wakefield's imprisonment, however, was more important as the period when, perhaps, deeming it desirable that he should quit the country for good, he began a careful study of colonial affairs. He studied exhaustively the subject of colonisation. He was surprised by the absence of any attempt to direct colonial enterprise on scientific principles. The depressed condition of the Australian colonies was chiefly due to the scarcity of labourers, which prevented the development of the country's resources, although plenty of capital was available on easy terms. ”

“ In this work he urged that 'every increase of the population carries with it the ample means of its own support ; at least so long as the circulating medium is kept equivalent to its purposes and as a single acre of land remains to be cultivated or improved in the country.' Animated by these principles Thomas Attwood and his brother Matthias opposed Peel's bill in 1819 for the resumption of cash payments by the bank of England. ”

“ Arriving at Constantinople early in 1834, he succeeded in obtaining the implicit confidence of the Turkish government, who were at that time embarrassed by the aggressions of Mehemet Ali. England and France held aloof, and the Turks were obliged to seek help from Russia, who in turn demanded considerable concessions [see Temple, Henry John, third Viscount Palmerston] . The Turkish officials placed such reliance on Urquhart that they kept him immediately informed of all communications made to them by the Russian ambassador. ”

“ Vennar was universally regarded as an impostor and dubbed ‘England's Joy,’ a name which gave him peculiar annoyance. In 1614 he wrote a vehement protest, entitled ‘An Apology: written by Richard Vennar of Lincolnes Inne, abusively called Englands Joy. To represse the contagious ruptures of the infected multitude. ... London. Printed by Nicholas Okes.’ The work is divided into two parts, of which the first is autobiographical, and the second relates Vennar's exertions to obtain the abolition of imprisonment for debt in England. ”

“ Cavendish was disinclined to make any concession by returning to England, but as the revenue from his estates was serviceable to his family, his brother Newcastle induced Clarendon to persuade him to make his submission. He accordingly repaired to England in the beginning of November with Lady Newcastle. They stayed in Southwark and afterwards in lodgings at Covent Garden, in great poverty. ”

“ His early education was slight, and on leaving school he was bred by his father in his own trade. His father, who was a man of inquisitive turn, encouraged him in his passion for knowledge, which led him at the age of twenty-one to visit Dublin in order to inspect a clock of curious construction of which he had heard.
About 1736 he entered into business for himself at Derby, where he soon obtained great employment, distinguishing himself by constructing several ingenious pieces of mechanism. ”