Edward Irving Carlyle

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Dr. Loftus furnished him with money to carry him to London, and he appealed to the committee of sequestrations for the benefits of the Dublin capitulation. On learning that he was the author of 'Vindiciæ Regum,' the committee told him he deserved to have his head cut off, and passed on to the next business without giving him any redress. Armed with a letter from Fairfax, he had better fortune with the committees at Northampton and Anglesey, to which he was driven by poverty to resort on foot. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Wakefield continued to reside in Wellington for the rest of his life as agent of the New Zealand Land Company, employing his influence to reconcile the differences between the settlers and government. ”

“ 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. ”

“ WHITMORE, Sir GEORGE (d. 1654) , lord mayor of London, was the third son of William Whitmore (d. 8 Aug. 1593) , a London merchant, by his wife Anne (d. 9 Oct. 1615) , daughter of Sir William Bond, an alderman of London. He was master of the Haberdashers' Company, and on 23 May 1609 became a member of the Virginia Company under the second charter. He served the office of sheriff of London in 1621–2, and was alderman of the ward of Farringdon Within from 2 June 1621 to 7 Nov. 1626, when he exchanged to Langbourne ward, of which he was alderman until May 1643. ”

“ Even during his lifetime the missionaries had undergone ceaseless trials and alarms, but after his death matters became so much worse that they sent to Sydney all the books and stores that could be spared, expecting every day to be robbed of their possessions and perhaps put to death. An intrepid act of Williams's improved their position. Hearing that two of the leading tribes were prepared for war, he hastened to the place where they were encamped, and on 24 March succeeded in making peace. ”

“ Russia, by the treaty of Adrianople, enjoyed considerable commercial advantages over other nations trading with Turkey. With a view to remedying this state of things, Urquhart, before his departure from England in 1835, drew up a treaty with Turkey, which the government promised to transmit to him in Constantinople. ”

“ In January 1837 he obtained the assistance of John Shae Perring [q.v.] , and, although he returned to England in August, he provided the funds for Perring’s subsequent explorations to the south of Gizeh and at Abu Roash. His researches and those of Perring were of great importance in elucidating the early history of Egypt. In 1840 Vyse published an account of them in two volumes under the title ‘Operations carried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837’ (London, 4to) , followed in 1842 by a third supplemental volume devoted to Perring’s researches at Abu Roash. ”

“ Not realising much by the sale, Vennar, who had in contemplation a second journey to Scotland, proclaimed his intention of representing England's triumphs over Spain in a masque entitled ‘Englands Ioy.’ The broadside of the plot is in possession of the Society of Antiquaries, and has been reprinted in their ‘Miscellanies’ (x. 196) . ”

“ Starting on the assumption that the length of a second pendulum in the latitude of London was 39.2 inches, he deduced that the length of one oscillating forty-two times a minute is eighty inches, while that of one oscillating twice as many times is twenty inches. The difference between these two lengths would therefore be exactly five feet. He found, however, upon experiment that the actual difference was only 59.892 inches owing to the real length of the pendulum, oscillating once a second, being 39.125 inches. ”

“ White was the lifelong friend of Charles Lamb. He was introduced by Lamb to Shakespeare's ‘Henry IV,’ and was at once fascinated by the character of Falstaff, whom he frequently impersonated in the company of his friends. By his success in sustaining the character at a masquerade he roused the jealousy of several small actors hired for the occasion, and according to his friend and schoolfellow John Mathew Gutch [q. v.] , he was generally known as ‘Sir John’ among his intimates. In 1796 he published ‘Original Letters, &c., of Sir John Falstaff and his Friends’ (London, 8vo) . ”

“ Vansittart was a man of licentious and debauched habits, and, like his brother Henry, was a member of the ‘Franciscans of Medmenham,’ otherwise known as the ‘Hell-fire Club.’ To this society he presented with great pomp a baboon sent from India by Henry, to which Sir Francis Dashwood was accustomed to administer the eucharist at their meetings. Vansittart died at Oxford, unmarried, on 31 Jan. ”

“ She also formed in Tottenham a charity for lying-in women in 1791.
Mrs. Wakefield, however, was most widely known as a writer of children's books. Her first publication, entitled ‘Juvenile Anecdotes, founded on Facts,’ London, 12mo, appeared in two volumes in 1795 and 1798. It was well received, and reached an eighth edition in 1825. Encouraged by her success, she published other books of the same nature, and of a more advanced character, dealing with science and travel. The best known of her works is ‘The Juvenile Travellers,’ the description of an imaginary tour through Europe. ”

“ In June 1846 in a secret despatch to Gladstone, then colonial secretary, he accused the missionaries, and especially Williams, of being the real cause of the recent conflict.
This was, however, only the prelude to a more serious controversy in connection with the acquisition of land. New Zealand being a country with a climate suited for Europeans, many of the missionaries' descendants became farmers, and acquired land before the annexation of the colony to the crown in 1840. In 1843 their claims were determined and sanctioned by a court of land claims instituted by Fitzroy. ”

“ In August 1646 Middleton offered to permit him to leave Scotland, but, distrusting his faith, he escaped to Moray with Montrose. In 1648 he, against the express desire of the Scottish committee of estates, joined in the train of the Prince of Wales, and, accompanying Hamilton's army to England, was wounded and taken prisoner on 18 Aug., after the battle of Preston. He escaped to the continent, acted as major-general to Montrose in his last descent in 1650, commanded the van on 27 April at the fatal combat of Carbisdale, and was taken prisoner. ”