358 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



[SEPT. 



of the latter, which he spoke with a correct- 

 ness and fluency rarely attained but by a 

 native. From Gottingen he removed to 

 Trinity-college, Cambridge, where he be- 

 came an intimate associate of Lord Byron, 

 Mr. Hobhouse, &c. With Mr. Hobhouse 

 he travelled in 1813, through Sweden and 

 across the north of Germany to Vienna. 

 He was present at the decisive battle of 

 Culm, where, on the 29th and 30th of Au- 

 gust, the French army, under Vandame, 

 was routed, and the general taken prisoner. 

 Not having entered into any profession, 

 he, when his brother, Lord Kinnaird, re- 

 tired from the house of Ransom, Morland 

 and Co., was admitted to his share in the 

 concern. 



In 1815, Mr. Kinnaird became, with 

 Lord Byron, the Hon. George Lamb, and 

 Mr. Peter Moore, one of the committee for 

 conducting the affairs of Drury-lane Thea- 

 tre. With more merit than success, he 

 attempted to revive some of our old neg- 

 lected dramas, as well as to restore the credit 

 of the establishment itself. While on the 

 committee, he altered a play of Beaumont 

 and Fletcher's, which was performed, and 

 obtained a certain portion of popularity. 

 With Mr. Sheridan he was most intimately 

 acquainted, and his name was one of the 

 last which Lord Byron was heard to pro- 

 nounce. Nor is this to be wondered at, for, 

 though of a warm, and perhaps, too hasty 

 temper, no man was more constant in his at- 

 tachments ; and those who were most deserv- 

 ing of his regard, esteemed and loved him to 

 the last. As a friend, he was active, zealous, 

 persevering, and generous. His station and 

 his fortune enabled him to indulge a well- 

 cultivated taste for literature and all the 

 liberal arts ; there were few subjects of ge- 

 neral discussion in which he was not com- 

 petently informed ; and, of his distinguished 

 contemporaries, there was scarcely one who 

 was not frequently to be found at his hos- 

 pitable board. 



When Lord Cochrane retired from par- 

 liament in 1818, Mr. Kinnaird's well-known 

 political opinions directed towards him the 

 attention of the leaders of the party, favour- 

 able to a reform of parliament, in Westmin- 

 ster. He was accordingly proposed for the 

 representation of that city ; but the unex- 

 pected nomination of Sir Samuel Romilly 

 and of Sir Murray Maxwell, induced him to 

 withdraw from the contest. On the vacancy 

 occasioned by the subsequent death of Sir 

 Samuel, it was intended again to bring him 

 forward ; but he declined the proposal, and 

 exerted himself strenuously in behalf of his 

 friend, Mr. Hobhouse. Shortly afterwards, 

 however, he became member for Bishop's 

 Castle. With his colleague, Mr. Knight, 

 he was re-chosen for that borough at the 

 general election in 1820. On the latter 

 occasion there was a double return ; and, 

 when the merits of the case were investigated 

 by a committee, he lost his seat. From his 

 habits of business, and his integrity, it is 



probably to be regretted that he never made 

 any subsequent attempt to enter into parlia- 

 ment. From this period, however, he con- 

 stantly attended as a proprietor at the gene- 

 ral courts of the East India Company. He 

 spoke on most subjects, and showed that he 

 possessed a good knowledge of the Com- 

 pany's affairs. For many years, indeed, 

 there was scarcely a debate of importance in 

 which his name was not to be found. 



For the last year of his life, Mr. Kin- 

 naird's health was observed to be on the 

 decline ; but the illness which terminated 

 fatally, did not make its appearance unt^l 

 the month of January last, nor was he con- 

 sidered in imminent danger until within a 

 few days previously to his death. When 

 aware of his condition, the irritation and 

 restlessness of disease were succeeded by 

 composure and resignation ; and, having 

 performed becomingly all the last awful 

 duties of existence, he expired tranquilly 

 and without pain, at his house in Pall-mall 

 East, on Friday, the 12th of March. On 

 the Friday following, his remains were in- 

 terred in the church of St. Martin-in-the- 

 fields. The hearse was followed by twelve 

 mourning coaches, and about twenty private 

 carriages. 



BARON FOUVIER. 



The Baron Fouvier, one of the Secre- 

 taries of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, 

 was formerly a priest of the oratory. He 

 was a native of Ouxerre, in Burgundy. 

 Having devoted himself to the study of 

 mathematics, he was appointed assistant to 

 the celebrated M. de Prony, as professor of 

 geometry and arithmetic, in their applica- 

 tion to mechanics. He accompanied Buo- 

 naparte to Egypt, where he was nominated 

 his commissioner to the government esta- 

 blished in that country. In 1803, he was 

 made prefect of the department of the Isere ; 

 and, in 1806, he was invested with the 

 cross of the Legion of Honour. 



On the restoration of Louis XVIII., M. 

 Fouvier gave in his adhesion to the new 

 government, and was confirmed in his pre- 

 fecture. In March, 1815, he was recalled 

 by Buonaparte, whom he had not supported 

 in his department ; but, soon afterwards, 

 he was appointed prefect of the Rhone. In 

 that situation, however, his conduct was 

 such as caused him to be again dismissed. 

 It would seem that neither the Bourbon nor 

 the Bounapartean government reposed con- 

 fidence in him ; for, on the second return 

 of Louis, M. Fouvier was not employed. 

 In May, 1816, he was chosen an associate 

 of the Academy of Sciences ; but the king 

 did not confirm his nomination. 



M. Fouvier published several dissertations 

 in the Journal of the Polytechnic School ; 

 and as a member of the Egyptian Commis- 

 sion of men of Science, he composed the 

 preface of the memoirs published by them. 

 M. Fouvier died at Paris, on the 17th 

 of May. 



