669 



DUNN, SAMUEL. 



DUNS SCOTUS, JOHN. 



670 



Britain and France, he distinguished himself by actions of extraordi- 

 nary daring and intrepidity, assisting in capturing enemy's vessels at 

 sea against great odds, or in cutting rich prizes out of harbours where 

 they were protected by laud-fortresses. For one such action the 

 capture by boarding of a Spani-h frigate oif Barcelona he was made 

 po*t-captain in 1801. His ship, the ' Speedy,' sloop-of-war, having been 

 captured in the following year by a French squadron, he was for some 

 time a prisoner of war. On his exchange he served, as commander of 

 the ' Arab ' frigate, at the blockade of Boulogne in 1803. From 1804 

 to 1806 he commanded the 'Pallas' frigate, and from 1806 to 1809 the 

 ' Ira perieuse ' frigate, both employed in cruising about the Spanish 

 and French coasts. Uniformly successful in actions of the moat 

 desperate character against both ships and batteries on these coasts, 

 he was chosen by the Admiralty in 1809 to command a fleet of fire- 

 ships eent to destroy the French fleet then blockaded in the Bisque 

 roads by Lord Gambier. He accomplished the difficult and dangerous 

 work most successfully on the night of the llth of April, and was 

 rewarded with the Knighthood of the Bath. Before this period he had 

 been elected to the House of Commons, first for Houtton, and after- 

 wards (1807) for Westminster. In parliament he distinguished himself 

 by his strong opposition to the government and his opinions on radical 

 reform, more especially after the accession of the Liverpool-Castlereagh 

 administration in 1812. An opportunity of taking revenge upon him 

 for this soon occurred. In February 1814 a false rumour was spread 

 of Napoleon's abdication, which caused a great rise in the funds, and 

 he wa* accused of being concerned in the propagation of the report for 

 interested purposes. Tried on this charge, he was found guilty of 

 fraud, and was sentenced on the 5th of July to stand in the pillory, 

 pay a flue of lOOOt, and undergo one year's imprisonment; end he 

 was at the same time expelled from the House of Commons, deprived 

 of the Order of the Bath, and struck off the list of captains. That part 

 of his sentence which involved the punishment of tho pillory was 

 remitted ; and so convinced were the public that he had been 

 tue victim of party feelings, that he was immediately re-elected to 

 parliament for Westminster. Having made a daring escape from 

 prison, and appeared in his place in parliament, he was recommitted, 

 b:it his fine was paid by public subscription, and on the expiration of 

 his imprisonment he resumed his seat as an opponent of the ministry. 

 Seeing no prospect of further employment in the British service, he 

 accepted in ISIS the command of the fleet of the Chilians, then fighting 

 for their independence. In this capacity he distinguished himself, as 

 before, by actions of almost incredible courage and skill such as 

 cutting out the frigate 'Esmeralda' from under the guns of Callao on 

 the- 5th of November 1820. In 1822 he exchanged the Chilian service 

 for that of Brazil, and in 1823 he was made Marquis of Maranao by 

 the Brazilian emperor, Don Pedro. On quitting the Brazilian service 

 he returned to England ; but again, in 1827 and 1828, his talents were 

 employed with their usual success in a foreign naval service that of 

 tho Greeks, then asserting their independence. Returning to England, 

 and succeeding to the title of Lord Dundonald by his father's death, 

 he was, on the accession of the Whigs to power in the first year of 

 the reign of William IV. (1830), reinstated in his command in the 

 British navy, and made rear-admiral. He was made Vice-Admiral of 

 the Blue in 1841 ; in 1847 the Order of the Bath was restored to him ; 

 in 1848 he received the command-in-chief of the fleet on the West 

 Indian and North American stations; in 1851 he became Vice-Admiral 

 of the White ; and in 1854 Admiral of the United Kingdom. That he 

 was perfectly innocent of the Stock-Exchange fraud was satisfactorily 

 established before these official recognitions of his great merits were 

 n>lded to the public esteem. Of great scientific attainments, Lord 

 Dundonald is understood long to have been iu possession of some 

 extraordinary submarine metho.l for blowing up ships; and during 

 the Russian war he offered to the British government to destroy 

 Sebastopol in a few hours by a plan of his own. A committee was 

 appointed to confer with him on his plan, which however was rejected. 

 Lord Dundonald is the author of one or two works, iu one/ of which, 

 entitled ' Observations on Naval Affairs," &c., published in 1847, he gives 

 an account of his naval services, and of the " injustices experienced by 

 him " at tho hands of the British government. 



DUNN, SAMUEL, was a native of Crediton, Devonshire, where he 

 kept a mathematical school for several years ; but he afterwards 

 removed to Chelsea, and occupied himself in the same manner. He 

 was well skilled in nautical astronomy, and was a good practical 

 observer, which led to his being appointed mathematical examiner of 

 the candidates for tho East India Company's service. He was the 

 author of several useful and ingenious papers in the 'Philosophical 

 Transactions,' as well as of some separate works on the practical 

 branches of science. He also published a folio Atlas, which has been 

 "i some estimation. Mr. Dunn bequeathed an estate of about 

 'Ml. a year to found a mathematical school in his native town, tha 

 first master to which was appointed in 1793. 



'1, JOHN, Lord Anhburton, the son of an attorney at 

 Aithburtoii in 1 >ovon-hire, was born on the 18th of October 1781. He 

 was removed from the free-school at Ashburtou, and articled to his 

 father as a clerk, in the thirteenth yei.r of his age. Sir Thomas 

 Clarke, the then master of the rolls, who employed old Mr. Dunning 

 a* his attorney, Laving observed the jouug man's capabilities for 

 active business, induced him to study for the bar. He entered of the 



Middle Temple, May Sth 1752. and was called to the bar. according to 

 the Temple books, July 2, 1756. 



Duuuiug travelled the western circuit for some years without auy 

 success ; but in 1761, through the good offices of Mr. Hussey, a king's 

 counsel, being appointed to draw up the reply of the East India 

 Company to the Dutch memorial, he acquired some connections, 

 which were considerably increased by his argument iu tlie case of 

 Combe v. Pitt (Trin. Term, 1763), which he was called upon to make 

 in consequence of the illness of his leader. In the course of the same 

 year the question as to the legality of general warrants arose, in con- 

 sequence of the arrest of the publishers of the 'North Briton." 

 Duuuing throughout the whole litigation was employed as the 

 advocate of his friend Wilkes ; and the argument on the Bill of 

 Exceptions (June 1765) afforded him an opportunity of establishing 

 his reputation. After this his business rapidly increased : he was 

 shortly after chosen recorder of Bristol, and ill December 1767, 

 appointed solicitor-general. 



In the following year he entered parliament as one of the nominees 

 of Lord SUelburne for the borough of Calue. A Whig iu his politics, 

 and an accomplished constitutional lawyer, Dunning throughout his 

 parliamentary career unflinchingly opposed the Tories. He laboured 

 strenuously while in opposition to reduce the pension list, but became 

 himself a pensioner to tue amount of 40007. a year, when in the spring 

 of 1782, he was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Ashburton, 

 of Ashburton iu the county of Devon. Possessing the most lucrative 

 practice of the day, which had already enabled him to purchase con- 

 siderable landed property, and to gve a sum little short of 180,000^., and 

 having besides within a week after this promotion possessed himself 

 of a lucrative sinecure, the chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster, 

 Dunning had not even the poor excuse of poverty for this political 

 profligacy. This venality and want of principle, which so often 

 unfortunately obscure the fair fame of individuals, are not wholly 

 without profit to the public ; they afford an example which acts as a 

 warning to them against placing implicit confidence in tljo unbounded 

 ions of ambitious and unprincipled men ; for however popular, 

 however distinguished may be the name of such a man in his own 

 day, a few short years are sure to consign him to well merited 

 neglect, if not contempt. Such, as a politician and a pretender to 

 probity, has been the lot of Dunning. As a lawyer none of his con- 

 temporaries enjoyed a higher reputation, or more lucrative practice : 

 his wit appears to have been of that brilliaut mture which defies 

 description. In person Dunning was small, aiid singularly weak and 

 awkward ; his action in speaking clumsy and uncouth, but the 

 awkwardness of his gesticulation was soon lost sight of iu tho interest 

 aroused by his eloquence. Notwithstanding his disadvantages, he was 

 extremely vain of his personal appearance, and wished to encourage 

 the belief that his face and figure had irresistible charms in the eyes 

 of the fair sex. 



Dunning married in 17SO Miss Elizabeth Baring, the daughter of a 

 retail tradesman at Exeter, by whom he had two sons. The death of 

 the eldest in April 1783, is supposed to have given so groat a shock 

 to the already enervated frauio of Lord Ashburton as to have 

 hastened his death, which took place at Exmouth in the August 

 following. 



Tho title of Baron Aehburton having become extinct, was revived iu 

 the year 1835, in the person of Mr. Baring, a descendant of the Miss 

 Elizabeth Baring mentioned above. 



DUNS SCOTUS, JOHN, was bom most probably about the year 

 1265. The English, the Scotch, and the Irish, have all claimed him 

 as a countryman. According to one of the Irish accounts, he was born 

 at Thathmon, or Taghmon, in Wexford ; according to another, iu tho 

 town of Down, or Dowupatrick. The Scotch say he was a native of 

 Dunse in Berwickshire. The English story is, that ho was born at a 

 hamlet called Dunstou, or Dunstauoe, iu the parish of Emilden, or 

 Embletoj, not far from Alnwick, in Northumberland. Camdcu con- 

 ceives he was called Scotus because descended from Scottish parents. 

 It seems however to be agreed ou all hands that he was chiefly educated 

 in England. He is said to have beeu found when a boy tending his. 

 father's cows by two Franciscans who were greatly struck with his 

 intelligence ; and by the monks of this order ho was first instructed 

 in the elements of learning, and then sent to Merton College, Oxford, 

 of which in due course hebecame a fellow. He also entered the order 

 of Franciscans. Passing over various stories that are told of him of 

 a legendary cast, we may enumerate in a few lines the authentic events 

 of his life. While yet a student, he is said to have become greatly 

 distinguished for his proficiency iu theology, in logic and metaphysics, 

 in civil and canon law, in mathematics, in natural philosophy, and in 

 astronomy. In 1301, ou the removal of William Varron to Paris, he 

 was appointed to the theological chair. His prelections ware attended 

 by crowds of auditors, the number of students at Oxford at this time, 

 it is affirmed, exceeding 30,000; but many of these, according to 

 Anthony a Wood, were more given to habits of dissipation than to 

 study. In 1307 Duns removed from Oxford to Paris, iu which city ho 

 had on a visit some time before distinguished himself in an extra- 

 ordinary manner by his defence, in a public disputation, of the doctrine 

 of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Barf. He began, we are 

 told, by demolishing two hundred objections to the doctrine, and 

 concluded by establishing it with a cloud of arguments. A writer 



