Sidney James Mark Low

“ Without displaying any high poetical power, Amhurst knew how to turn out smooth and fluent verses, not deficient in a certain wit and liveliness, although occasionally disfigured by a good deal of coarseness. The ‘Poems’ were successful enough to call for a second edition in 1723, to which was added ‘The Test of Love.’ In 1722 Amhurst published ‘The British General, a Poem sacred to the memory of John Duke of Marlborough,’ in 1722 ‘The Conspiracy,’ inscribed to Lord Cadogan, and in 1724 ‘Oculus Britanniæ,’ a satirical poem on his old enemy the university of Oxford. ”

“ On 2 July 1737 there appeared in the ‘Craftsman’ an ironical letter purporting to come from Colley Cibber, the poet laureate, in which it was suggested that the new act for licensing plays should be extended to old as well as new works, and pointed out that there was a good deal which might be construed as seditious in the works of Shakespeare and other writers. ”

“ In July 1692 he returned to America as governor of Virginia. Here he encouraged education, founded William and Mary College, promoted manufactures and agriculture, and made himself generally popular. He, however, quarrelled with the colonial church authorities, and through the influence of Dr. Blair, the Bishop of London's commissary in Virginia, was recalled in 1698. In 1704 he was appointed governor of Jersey, which office he held till 1706. ”

“ Besides some sermons, one of which, entitled ‘An Apology for Esau,' preached 21 May 1790, took an hour and a half in the delivery, he published ‘Observations on the Defects of the Poor Laws,' 1752, and ‘Remarks on two Bills for the better Maintenance of the Poor,' 1752; ‘Observations on that part of the late Act of Parliament which lays an additional Duty on Cider,' 1763; ‘The Endemical Colic of Devonshire,’ 1769. He wrote a memoir of his brother, Dr. Nathan Alcock, in 1780, and published his work, ‘The Rise of Mahomet accounted for on Natural and Civil Principles,’ in 1796. ”

“ In January 1717 he was raised to the bench as a baron of the exchequer, and in 1718 appointed a justice of the king's bench. On the accession of George II he was superseded, but in January 1728 was appointed a justice of the common pleas. ”

“ He held this office till June 1746, when he resigned. It is said that he had four years before petitioned for leave to retire with a pension, and had requested that a seat in the House of Commons might be obtained for him. ”

“ Among his works are: 'Jus Anglorum ab Antiquo,' 1681; 'The Fundamental Constitution of the English Government,' 1690; 'the Antiquity and Justice of an Oath of Abjuration,' 1694; 'The History and Reasons of the Dependency of Ireland,' &c., 1698. ”