SPRAGUE, CHARLES. 



ministration of the island was changed twice 

 during the year. In February, General Con- 

 cha was succeeded by Count Valmaseda, who, 

 resigning in December, was replaced by Gener- 

 al Jovellar. In the beginning of November a 

 difficulty arose with the United States, owing 

 to the rights of American citizens in Cuba. A 

 considerable number of 'notes were inter- 

 changed. Great excitement was created in 

 Spain, by the section of President Grant's 

 message relating to Cuba. On December 28th 

 a circular was transmitted to all the European 

 Governments by Mr. Fish, the Secretary of 

 State of the United States, asking an expres- 

 sion of the views of each foreign executive, 

 regarding the question of American interven- 

 tion in Cuba. 



On November 30th the Philippine Islands 

 were visited by a severe tornado, in which 

 250 lives were lost and 3,800 dwellings de- 

 stroyed. 



SPRAGUE, CHARLES, an American poet, 

 born in Boston, Mass., in 1791, and died there 

 January 21, 1875. He entered an importing 

 house, first as an apprentice and then as part- 

 ner. In 1820 he was appointed teller in the 

 State Bank, and in 1825 was elected cashier of 

 the Globe Bank, holding that position till 1865, 

 when on account of advancing age he deemed 

 it his duty to retire. Mr. Sprague first attract- 

 ed notice as a poet in 1821, when he won a 

 prize offered for the best prologue at the open- 

 ing of the Park Theatre in New York. He bore 

 off six times in succession like honors against 

 all competitors. These dramatic poems secured 

 for him immediate and lasting reputation. In 

 1820 he delivered a poem on " Curiosity " be- 

 fore the Phi Beta Kappa Society in Cambridge. 

 This has been pronounced his best production. 

 It was afterward published in Calcutta as an 

 original work by a British officer ; and then re- 

 printed in London, where it was much praised 

 in some of the literary newspapers. On the 4th 

 of July, 1825, he pronounced an oration before 

 the citizens of Boston, written in a style of ani- 

 mated and popular eloquence. In 1827 he gave 

 an address before the Massachusetts " Society 

 for the Suppression of Intemperance." His 

 prologues have been pronounced by a critic the 

 best which have been written since the time of 

 Pope ; and yet these are said to be surpassed by 

 his domestic pieces. "The Brothers," "I See 

 Thee Still," "The Family Meeting," "Lines to 

 a Young Mother," and " Lines on the Death of 

 M. S. C.," are among the best poems of domes- 

 tic affection and sympathy to be found in the 

 English language. He contributed some pa- 

 pers to the New England Magazine while it was 

 edited by his friend J. T. Buckingham. The 

 poet-banker mixed but little with society. He 

 never traveled beyond the limits of New Eng- 

 land, and never entered a steamship or railway- 

 car. His social and conversational gifts drew 

 around him a circle of attached friends, and he 

 seldom walked from home without a friend by 

 his side. For the poets and writers of his ac- 



STEWART, HOUSTON. 



713 



quaintance he felt sympathy and appreciation. 

 His life was a tranquil one, passed either in busi- 

 ness or among his friends and his books. There 

 have been three collective editions of his writ- 

 ings: New York, 1841, 12mo; 1850, 12mo; 

 and his "Poetical and Prose Writings, revised 

 by the Author " (the only complete edition), 

 Boston, 1850, 12mo. His poems are found in 

 school-readers, and he has long had a national 

 reputation. 



STANHOPE, PHILIP HENEY, Earl, a cele- 

 brated English historian, essayist, and legisla- 

 tor, born January 31, 1805 ; died December 24, 

 1875. His father was Philip Henry, fourth 

 Earl Stanhope, and his mother Hon. Katherine, 

 daughter of Robert, first Lord Carington. 

 James, the first earl, was created Viscount 

 Stanhope of Mahon in 1717, and Earl Stanhope 

 in 1818. The family descends from a common 

 stock with the earls of Chesterfield and Har- 

 rington, and the late earl upheld the reputation 

 of his ancestors worthily by his learning, abil- 

 ity, polish of manners, and integrity. He was 

 better known to the world at large as Lord 

 Mahon his title as heir-apparent to the Stan- 

 hope peerage and ranked as one of the most 

 distinguished historians of the present day. 

 He was the successor of the fourth earl, and 

 the grandson of Charles, the third earl, so fa- 

 mous for his mechanical genius and scientific 

 researches, who was the inventor of the Stan- 

 hope printing-press. He was educated at Ox- 

 ford, where he became B. A. in 1827 and D. C. L. 

 in 1834. He was elected M. P. in 1830 for 

 "Wootton Bassett, and afterward for Hertford, 

 but lost his seat at the election of 1852. In 

 1834, in the first Peel ministry, he was Under 

 Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and 

 during the last year of the second Peel minis- 

 try was Secretary to the Board of Control. 

 In 1846 he was elected President of the Society 

 of Antiquaries, and in 1858 Lord Rector of the 

 University of Aberdeen. He was also chairman 

 of the National Portrait Gallery, which was 

 established in 1857 in consequence of his urgent 

 recommendation, and was honorary antiquary 

 to the Royal Academy. He wrote : " A Life 

 of Belisarius," "A History of the War of Suc- 

 cession in Spain," " History of England from 

 the Peace of Utrecht to that of Aix-la-Cha- 

 pelle" (1837-'52), "The Court of Spain under 

 Charles II." (1844), " Life of the Great Conde " 

 (1845), "Historical Essays" (1848), "Narra- 

 tive of the Insurrection of 1745 " (1850), and 

 " History of the Rise of Our Indian Empire " 

 (1858). He also edited the "Letters of the 

 Great Earl of Chesterfield" (1845), and was 

 one of the editors of the papers left by Sir 

 Robert Peel. 



STEWART, Sir HOUSTON, a British admiral, 

 born in 1791; died December 10, 1875. He 

 entered the navy in 1805, and was actively em- 

 ployed under Sir Samuel Hood and other com- 

 manders until 1808, and took part in the Wal- 

 cheren Expedition. In 1811 he was promoted 

 to the rank of lieutenant, and was continuously 



