William Taylor

“ TAYLOR, WILLIAM BENJAMIN SARSFIELD (1781–1850) , painter of landscapes and military subjects, the son of John Taylor, a map-engraver in Dublin, was born in 1781. By his mother he was descended from Patrick Sarsfield [q. v.] John Sydney Taylor [q. v.] was his younger brother. He began life in the army commissariat, and, serving in the Peninsular war, was present at the siege of San Sebastian. Quitting the service, he devoted himself to art, though without any conspicuous success. ”

“ His younger brother Arthur was his partner from 1814 to 1823, and his nephew, John Edward Taylor, joined him from 1837 to 1851, Dr. William Francis, subsequently head of the firm, becoming his partner in the following year. The firm gained a reputation for careful printing, and Taylor and his partners produced many important works in natural history, as well as many beautiful editions of the classics.
Science chiefly interested Taylor. In 1807 he became a fellow of the Linnean Society, and in 1810 was elected a secretary. ”

“ On 25 Aug. of the same year he became adjutant-general of the forces, an appointment which he held until the accession of William IV, to whom he became private secretary, and continued in the office during the whole of his reign. On 16 April 1834 the king conferred upon him the grand cross of the order of the Bath. On the death of William IV in 1837 Taylor retired into private life, but was continued by the young queen in the appointment of first and principal aide-de-camp to the sovereign. ”

“ He returned in June; the ‘revolution society’ was soon dropped under fear of repressive measures (with filial concern Taylor wrote ‘junior’ after his father's signatures to the minutes) ; but before the end of 1790 two new clubs were formed in Norwich, of which Taylor became a member, the ‘Tusculan’ for political, the ‘Speculative,’ founded by William Enfield [q. v.] for philosophical debate. ”

“ Taylor died at Ashbourne on 29 Feb. 1788, and was buried in Ashbourne church, tradition says in the nave, on 3 March. His second wife was Mary, daughter of Roger Tuckfield of Fulford, Devonshire. They did not live together happily, and in August 1763 she left him.
Taylor, who had no child that lived, disappointed his nieces by leaving all his property—1,200l. a year besides personalty—to a boy, William Brunt (b. 1772) , who had been engaged as a page. It was stipulated that the legatee should take the name of Webster, which had long been connected with this family of Taylor. ”

“ Whilst they could ne'er find time to turn again.
The shire of gentlemen is scarce and dainty,
Yet there's relief in great abundance plenty,
Twixt it and England, little odds I see,
They eat, and live, and strong and able be,
So much in verse, and now I'll change my style,
And seriously I'll write in prose awhile.
↑ Edmund Branthwaite.—Robert Branthwaite, William Branthwaite Cant., and "Thy assured friend" R. B., have each written Commendatory Verses to all the Works of John Taylor. London 1630. ”

“ Pitt requested Taylor to abandon his business, and made him controller-general of the customs. Lord Chatham made Taylor's eldest son, William Stanhope Taylor, one of his executors, and he edited with Pringle the volumes of the 'Chatham Correspondence.' Lady Lucy Taylor died at Coldharbour, Surrey, on 1 March 1814, when a pension of 100l. per annum was granted to each of her three sons and four daughters. ”

“ Besides the works mentioned, Taylor was the author of numerous papers in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ from 1712 onwards. In 1793 an essay written by him towards the close of his life, entitled ‘Contemplatio Philosophica,’ was printed by his grandson, Sir William Young [q. v.] ”

“ Taylor, William (1765-1836) . -- Translator, etc., s. of a merchant, travelled on the Continent, learned German, and became an enthusiastic student of German literature, which he was one of the first to introduce to his fellow-countrymen. ”

“ Taylor, John (1580-1653) . -- Known as the "Water Poet," b. at Gloucester of humble parentage, was apprenticed to a London waterman, and pressed for the navy. Thereafter he returned to London and resumed his occupation on the Thames, afterwards keeping inns first at Oxf., then in London. He had a talent for writing rollicking verses, enjoyed the acquaintance of Ben Jonson, and other famous men, superintended the water pageant at the marriage of the Princess Elizabeth 1613, and composed the "triumphs" at the Lord Mayor's shows. ”

“ Marshall W. Taylor, D. D., and the Rev. Wm. M. Butler are the most prominent men in the Church. Marshall William Boyd (alias) Taylor was born July 1, 1846, at Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, of poor, uneducated, but respectable parents. He was the fourth in a family of five children, three of whom were boys, viz.: George Summers, Francis Asbury, and himself; and two girls, Mary Ellen and Mary Cathrine. He is of Scotch-Irish and Indian descent on his father's side. Hon. Samuel Boyd, of New York; Joseph Boyd, of Virginia ”

“ His Majesty was accompanied by his Vizier, a tall, spare looking man of a thoughtful and rather melancholy cast of features, and somewhat older than his master. Immediately behind the Shah rode Sir William McNaghten, [Pg 95] in full court dress, such as is usually worn by officials at her Majesty's levees in England, and he was followed by Sir Alexander Burnes, in a plain suit, and surrounded by the Affghan chiefs, with whom he appeared to be in close and friendly converse. ”

“ Almost invariably the children of the household marry in the order of their birth, being absolutely free to choose their mates. There are no marriages for convenience and no second marriages. All are the result of affection and natural affinity. ”

“ His philology is helpless word-play. The attraction of his discourses was in his jocose manner; they exhibit no real humour, but his taunts are smart. His drollery, though of a low type, is never impure.
Released from gaol in 1833, Taylor retired from public view. He married an elderly lady of property; the marriage was a happy one, but it exposed Taylor to an action for breach of promise on the part of Miss Richards, to whom a jury awarded 250l. To escape paying this, Taylor removed to France, practising as a surgeon at Tours, where he died in September 1844. ”

“ The heaviest fire was certainly outside the bridge, for the enemy near the gateway being marked, whenever they attempted to shew their heads above the parapet, were obliged to confine themselves to the loop-holes, the range from which is very uncertain and limited against men moving about. ”

“ Residences may be exchanged, as may farms, gardens, business sites and factories, including the line of business or manufacturing, but neither may be alienated by the owner, except with the approval of the Custodian of the Municipality upon a satisfactory showing of the reasons therefor. ”

“ He may change from one line of business to another, but may not buy or sell real estate for mere speculation. He may not acquire property other than his earnings until he reaches maturity, and designs to marry and become the head of a family. If his intent fail, or remains unfulfilled for three years, the home thus acquired becomes public property, and may be sold to another who assumes the marital relation, and the proceeds divided equally between the municipal treasury or bank and the former owner. ”

“ When we think of his birth, training, and surroundings—the child of the plantation and the graduate of the forecastle—and contrast this with his peculiar powers, his strange career, and above all in rarity his wonderful world-wide mission, it is not too much to say that Father Taylor is without a parallel in American history. “An impulsive, untrained, and erratic genius;” there was a fixed purpose and a continuity of effort, such as is seen in few lives. If extravagant in speech and inconsistent in views, his intensity, vividness, and realism, make all sound like plain common-sense. ”

“ Kurrachee is situated on the Coast of Belochistan, and its natural advantages entitle it to the rank of a first rate sea-port town. It possesses a fine harbour, in which a seventy-four gun ship may ride in safety, and which is protected by the batteries of the town, and the guns of a fortress occupying an island about midway between the mainland and the promontory which forms the harbour. On our arrival at Scinde, instructions had been forwarded to Commodore Pepper, by the Commander-in-Chief, to invest the place, and we [Pg 207] accordingly found it in possession of our troops on our return. ”

“ The marriageable age of men is from 25 to 30, and women from 20 to 25. The offspring of the marriage relation varies from two to six, seldom less than two, or more than six, the average being four, hence population increases [53] slowly, while the great majority live from 80 to 100 years, retaining both physical and mental faculties to the last.
"There is no mercenary incentive to hold office," said Xamas, "and it is absolutely open to all, and men leave it, not with regret, but with the consciousness of having performed a necessary duty and service. ”

“ The suggestion to send such an epistle came from the Earl Mareschal and Henry Drummond, who had been brought to hear him by Lord Glencairn, and who declared, on what they said they knew of the queen's mind, that she was in a mood to be propitious. But though the letter is correctly described by Lorimer as one "which for its {101} courtesy of phrase, and faithfulness of counsel, was equally suitable to her dignity as a queen, and to his character as a minister of God," it met with only a mocking reception. ”

“ Now the marriage {81} of Mary to Philip was celebrated on the 25th day of that same month, and it was provided by the treaty for that alliance, and confirmed by Act of Parliament, that Philip, as the husband of Mary, "should have and enjoy, jointly with the Queen his wife, the style, honour, and kingly name of the realm and dominions unto the said Queen appertaining, and shall aid her Highness, being his wife, in the happy administration of her realm and dominions." ”

“ There is room for a million such farms in the Commonwealth, without impinging upon the residential demesnes or cities.
"There is no need to put these farms to the full test of their productiveness. The twentieth part suffices. We have a population of 50,000,000, increasing at the rate of scarcely one per cent each year, and two-thirds of the Commonwealth is public domain, for the benefit of the countless generations yet unborn. Each year and each day brings their immediate needs, and they are met with plenteous fullness." ”

“ Writing to Cecil after this interview he says, "The Queen neither is, neither shall be of our opinion, and in very deed her whole proceedings do declare that the cardinal's lessons are so deeply printed in her heart that the substance and the quality are like to perish together. I would be glad to be deceived, but I fear I shall not. In communication with her I espied such craft as I have not found in such age."
Matters went on after this with tolerable quietness for months, and Knox kept up his stated labours as the minister of Edinburgh. ”

“ We are commanded daily to pray, 'Thy kingdom come,' which petition asketh that sin may cease, that death may be devoured, that transitory troubles may have an end, that Satan may be trodden under our feet, that the whole {73} body of Christ may be restored to life, liberty, and joy, that the powers and kingdoms of this earth may be dissolved and destroyed, and that God the Father may be all in all things, after that His Son Christ Jesus, the Saviour, hath rendered up the kingdom for ever. ”

“ The stormers then rushed up the causeway under cover of our guns; but before they had reached the gateway, a heavy fire from the loopholes of the fortress killed from twenty to thirty of our troops, amongst whom was Lieutenant Gravatt, who was gallantly leading them on. A desperate hand to hand fight then ensued, the enemy resisting in dense masses, and disputing every inch of ground; but our men carried all before them, at the point of the bayonet, and drove the enemy into the interior of the fortress, where they were headed by the Khan himself. ”

“ The book concludes with "The Order of Ecclesiastical Discipline," pointing out the three causes of discipline—the two kinds of discipline private and public, and the like. There is in it no form for marriage; but that could be supplied from the "Order of Geneva," which in this respect follows the lines of other ecclesiastical books.
This "Book of Common Order" has often been called "John Knox's Liturgy," and within due limitations it is not inaccurately so denominated ”

“ The disturbed state of the continent being unfavourable to the prospects of their trade, he persuaded his father to retire on the fortune already made. The firm was dissolved in 1791; his father employed part of his capital in underwriting, not very successfully. Resisting his father's wish to put him into a London bank, Taylor gave himself henceforth to literature. He had already completed the three poetic translations which secured the recognition of his power to present German poetry in an English dress. ”

“ Taylor is rapt and solitary, living in the world of his own ideas. Nevertheless, his singleness of purpose, accuracy of statement, genuine humor, originality of ideas, and clear, effective speaking never fail to secure for him a respectful hearing, however distasteful may be the subject of his address. At home he is a delightful host, an inveterate joker of jokes. His wife, a lady of great accomplishments, is hardly behind him in zeal for the public good. Every post brings heaps of letters from aggrieved subjects of her Majesty in all parts of the world. ”