William Batten

“ He is said to have lived on intimate terms with the king when Prince of Wales, and was credited with having settled a quarrel between the prince and his father. For many years Battine was advocate-general in the high court of admiralty, and chancellor of the diocese of Lincoln; he held besides several other minor legal offices. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on 1 June 1797 (Thomson's Royal Society) . In his old age he contracted many eccentric habits, and, having squandered the wealth he had acquired in his profession, lived in great poverty. ”

“ BATEMAN, HEZEKIAH LINTHICUM (1812–1875) , actor and theatrical manager, was born at Baltimore in Maryland, U.S.A., on 6 Dec. 1812. His father, Henry Bateman, died during his boyhood. His mother, whose maiden name was Catherine Evans, was a strict methodist. Having had her son carefully instructed at a private school in Baltimore, she placed him in the employment of a firm of mechanical engineers. ”

“ The Valley City had scarcely showed her bow around the turn, till she received a severe shot from the rebel batteries, which plunged diagonally through the pilot-house, which was lined outside with half-inch iron, knocking off the door thereto, wounding three men—the pilot John A. Wilson, Charles Hall, and John Wood: the latter two were mortally wounded. The Valley City immediately dropped out of range of said battery, and came to anchor at 3:05 p.m. In the evening the fleet dropped farther down on the near stretch of the river. The Valley City lost her torpedo-fender. ”

“ and strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody, Sir W. Batten and Sir J. Robinson being now as kind to him, and report well of his ship and proceedings, and promise money, and Sir W. Batten is a solicitor for him, but it is a strange thing to observe, they being the greatest enemys he had, and yet, I believe, hath in the world in their hearts. ”

“ Bates was a cynic. He despised all the customs and manners of the place most heartily and took the most curious care to observe them. He might have been the inventor and patentee of rocker, if one judged him by the fervour with which he played it. He entered his name for every possible event at the sports, and jumped the jumps and threw the hammer and ran the races as if his life depended on it. Once Mr. Horbury had accidentally over-head Bates saying something about "the honour of the House" which went to his heart. ”

“ Mr. Battin came to America with the British army in 1776, and was engaged in the battles near Brooklyn, at White Plains, and Fort Washington. After the British went into winter quarters in New York, and Cornwallis's division (to which he was attached) , returned from Trenton and Princeton, he took lessons in horsemanship in the Middle Dutch church (now the city post-office) , then converted into a circus for a riding-school. He then joined the cavalry regiment of Colonel Bird, in which he held the offices of orderly sergeant and cornet. ”

“ The world was full of sunshine, and, though the faces of the passers-by were anxious and unsmiling, there was no despondency about them. Where no despondency is, there surely is hope. Bates began to feel hopeful. The sight of a Territorial with a kitbag completed his recovery. He strode out with an unusual vigour, squared his poor chest, swung his arms, and whistled softly to himself the chorus of some piece of music-hall patriotism—
"They can't build boys of the bull-dog breed!" ”

“ Batmen, the regular army type, are professionals. What they don’t know about cleaning brass, leather, steel, and general valeting simply isn’t worth knowing. They are super-servants, and they respect their position as reverently as an English butler respects his. With the new batman it is different. Usually the difficulty is not so much to discover what they do not know, as what they do! A new officer arrives at the front, or elsewhere, and he has to have a batman. ”

“ She supports his feeble and tottering steps to her father's cellar, recruits his exhausted frame with copious draughts of sparkling wine, and when his dim eye brightens, and his pale cheek becomes flushed with the glow of returning health and animation, she—unaccustomed to disguise or concealment, and being by nature all openness and truth—gives vent to the feelings which now thrill her maiden heart for the first time, in the rich gush of unspeakable love, tenderness, and devotion—
I vish Lord Bateman as you vos mine! ”

“ There is even an antiquated postal system, the letter-boxes being the hollow tree trunks at crossroads. Yet in spite of this comparative culture the Battas have long been notorious for the most revolting forms of cannibalism. (See Memoirs of the Life, &c., of Sir T.S. Raffles, 1830.)
The Battas are the only lettered people of the Indian Archipelago who are not Mahommedans. Their religion is mainly confined to a belief in evil spirits; but they recognize three gods, a Creator, a Preserver and a Destroyer, a trinity suggestive of Hindu influence. ”

“ Without interruption, the squadron at 9 o'clock the same night arrived at Jamesville, a small town above Plymouth some twelve miles, when the signal to anchor was made from the flag-ship. The night being dark, and the river flowing rapidly in its narrow and tortuous channel, it was thought best to proceed no further until daylight. The Wyalusing had just let go her anchor a few yards above the town, when two loud reports were heard astern, and dense volumes of smoke and steam were seen to envelop the Otsego. ”

“ Friday, April 14, at 7:50 a.m., the Valley City and Whitehead got under weigh, and proceeded down to Winton, where we met the Wilderness, with Commander Wm. H. Macomb and Lieutenant Commander Earl English aboard, when we received the news that the Confederate forces under General Lee had surrendered to General Grant.
The U.S. steamers Valley City and Whitehead were ordered to proceed to Murfreesborough and deliver the news to the citizens at that place; and now, after having read a copy of the New York Herald, they were thoroughly convinced that the war was over. ”

“ The 21st and 22d were passed in shelling the batteries on Poplar Point, and endeavoring to drag the river for torpedoes, that were now thicker than ever. As fast as our boats would leave the ships to commence dragging, the rebels would open on them, wounding and killing the men. A new battery opened on the Valley City, inflicting serious damage on her. The other ships, with their hundred-pounder rifles, drove the rebels off repeatedly, but only to return whenever our fire slackened. ”

“ As out of prison would let me go free.'
'O in seven long years, I'll make a vow
For seven long years, and keep it strong,
That if you'll wed no other woman,
O I will wed no other man.'
O she took him to her father's harbor,
And gave to him a ship of fame,
Saying, Farewell, farewell to you, Lord Bateman,
I fear I never shall see you again.
Now seven long years is gone and past,
And fourteen days, well known to me;
She packed up all her gay clothing,
And swore Lord Bateman she would go see.
O when she arrived at Lord Bateman's castle,
How boldly then she rang the bell! ”

“ In politics Mr. Bates is a Conservative, and in religion a Methodist. He is a member of the Laurentian Club; the Britannia Boat Club and the Canadian Club, Ottawa. On September 21, 1909, he married Maud, daughter of Thomas Askwith, Ottawa, and has two sons. Mr. and Mrs. Bates reside at 248 O’Connor Street in the capital.
Rose, George Maclean, President and Manager of the Hunter-Rose Company, Limited, Toronto, comes of a family which has been identified with the printing and publishing industry in Canada since the pre-Confederation era. ”

“ On a reconnoissance by the Valley City, to within a mile of Plymouth, it was discovered that the enemy had sunk the schooners which were engaged in attempting to raise the Southfield, directly across the channel, thus temporarily blockading the river. Although the town was in sight, not a trace could be seen of the rebel ram; and it is proved in other ways, beyond a doubt, that she lies in thirty feet of water, from which it will be impossible to raise her again. ”

“ Batlet, bat′let, n. a wooden mallet used by laundresses for beating clothes. [Dim. of Bat.]
Batman, bat′man, baw′man, n. a man who has charge of a bathorse. [See Bathorse.]
Baton, bat′on, Batoon, ba-toon′, n. a staff or truncheon, esp. of a policeman: a marshal's staff.—v.t. to strike with a baton.—n. Bat′on-sin′ister, a well-known heraldic indication of illegitimacy, improperly called Bar-sinister, a diminutive of a bend-sinister, not extending to the sides of the shield, so as to resemble a marshal's baton laid diagonally over the family arms from left to right. ”

“ Master of the human heart, he appeals to feminine ambition and love of display; and, reminding the young lady that she came to him on a saddle horse (with her revered parent following no doubt on foot behind) , offers to bestow upon her a coach and three. The young lady closes with the proposition; her august mother, having brought it about by her freedom of speech, makes no objection; Lord Bateman, being a nobleman of great power, and having plenty of superfluous wealth to bestow upon the Church, orders another marriage, and boldly declares the first one to be a nullity. ”

“ LIVING ON THE ENEMY.
The fleet anchored off several of the plantations along the river, and the men were allowed to regale themselves with fresh provisions and other luxurious articles that were contraband of war. All articles of military value were taken or destroyed, and a quantity of cotton pressed into the service as bulwarks against the sharpshooters who lined the banks of the stream. Mr. Speller, a rich planter, owning a place called Speller's Landing, was arrested and sent to Plymouth. ”

“ And as she waited for Batson she was conscious of a little feeling of thankfulness that Batson was a man—not only because he would probably be strong and could move the secretary for her, but because, whatever his defects, he was not likely to weep. ”

“ With the view of possessing herself of the real state of Lord Bateman's affections, and with no sordid or mercenary motives, she has enquired of that nobleman what are his means of subsistence, and whether all Northumberland belongs to him. His Lordship has rejoined, with a noble regard for truth, that half Northumberland is his, and that he will give it freely to the fair young lady who will release him from his dungeon. ”

“ Under his command the Valley City was considered, by the Confederates in that vicinity, a terror to the waters of North Carolina.
It was on the Valley City, whilst in a fight at Elizabeth, N.C., a man sat over the opened end of a barrel of powder to prevent it from being ignited, after an enemy's shell had entered and exploded in the powder magazine, and thus saved the vessel. The man was immediately promoted to a gunner.
At many places to which the Valley City steamed, Captain Brooks would be anxious to ascertain how many Confederates there were in the locality. ”

“ Batson tiptoed to the window and looked importantly out.
"We don't want to be seen talking together," he said cautiously, and Milly smiled at the far-off echo of the Corbin methods repeated with the muffled emphasis of Batson's expansive calm. . . . He looked to right and to left and he leaned forward and peered out through the window. A horn sounded among the trees.
"Maybe the new car," said Batson. Then his face lost interest.
"It's the mail, ma'am. Excuse me, please. I'll have to get it." ”

“ Six guilty months had mark'd the false one's crime,
When Bateman hail'd once more his native clime.
Sure of her constancy, elate he came,
The lovely partner of his soul to claim;
Light was his heart, as up the well known way
He bent his steps—and all his thoughts were gay.
Oh! who can paint his agonizing throes,
When on his ear the fatal news arose!
Chill'd with amazement,—senseless with the blow,
He stood a marble monument of woe ”

“ Bateman, ashamed of the disgrace caused by his wife's conduct, entered the supplementary militia, but he took with him his plague—his wife. And here a wide field opened for a woman of her disposition. She practised her old arts and learnt fresh ones. Of her exploits while in this situation we have no information; but when she quitted the army with her husband in the year 1796, on their return to Leeds, they took up their residence in Marsh Lane, near Timble Bridge. Mary then began to practise on a large scale. ”

“ Nothing perhaps could be more ingeniously contrived to express the vastness of Lord Bateman's family mansion than this remarkable passage. The proud young porter had to thread courts, corridors, galleries, and staircases innumerable, before he could penetrate to those exquisite apartments in which Lord Bateman was wont to solace his leisure hours, with the most refined pleasures of his time. We behold him hastening to the presence of his lord: the repetition of the word "avay" causes us to feel the speed with which he hastens—at length he arrives. ”

“ Bateman shook hands with her. She had dark, splendid eyes and a red mouth tremulous with laughter; but her skin was brown, and her curling hair, rippling down her-shoulders, was coal black. She wore but one garment, a Mother Hubbard of pink cotton, her feet were bare, and she was crowned with a wreath of white scented flowers. She was a lovely creature. She was like a goddess of the Polynesian spring. ”

“ BATEMAN, JOHN FREDERIC LA TROBE-, formerly styled John Frederic Bateman (1810–1889) , civil engineer, born at Lower Wyke, near Halifax, on 30 May 1810, was the eldest son of John Bateman (1772–1851) , by his wife Mary Agnes, daughter of Benjamin La Trobe, a Moravian missionary at Fairfield, near Ashton-under-Lyne. At the age of seven he was sent to the Moravian school at Fairfield, and two years later to the Moravian school at Ockbrook, returning after four years more to the Fairfield school. ”