IN the Alphabetical arrangement of the " English Cyclopaedia," some names that it was intended therein to have had a place 

 have been omitted. The Supplementary Names now given will not meet the wishes of several correspondents, who have pressed 

 upon us the extension of our list, especially of living persons. Some of the names which now appear may even suggest the 

 inquiry, why they should be inserted whilst others are omitted ? The omission in their proper places of those which now appear 

 has chiefly arisen from the want of the necessary materials in time for periodical publication, and from other circumstances. The 

 omission of some others, both in the alphabetical order and in this Supplementary List, has in some cases arisen from individual 

 reluctance to furnish the necessary materials for a Biography. But with reference to the general question of omissions, we have 

 only to call attention to the fact that the extent of our work was confined within the limit of these six volumes. Many names of 

 persons worthy to have a place in a complete catalogue of those who have obtained celebrity in Science, Literature, or Art, and of 

 Public Men eminent in Civil or Military stations, both of the past time and the present, are no doubt wanting in this Cyclopaedia ; 

 but had we attempted an almost impossible completeness, we should have required many more volumes than six, and have engaged 

 in an undertaking far beyond that with which we proposed to meet the public demand. As the Cyclopaedia of Biography now stands, 

 it will be found to embrace a wider range than any existing English work of the same character ; and it may be not disadvan- 

 tageously compared, for practical usefulness, with the most voluminous of the German or French Biographical Dictionaries. 



A BECKET, GILBERT ABBOTT. 



ANSTED, DAVID THOMAS. 



A BECKET, GILBERT ABBOTT, was born in Golden-square, 

 London, in the year 1810, the son of a respectable solicitor, and was 

 educated at Westminster School. He very early displayed great talent 

 as a humourist. As early as 1825 eight of his dramatic productions, in 

 prose and verse, but all of a burlesque character, were published in 

 Duncombe's 'British Theatre;' in 1828-29 nine more appeared in 

 Cumberland's ' British Theatre;' and in 1837 four others were printed 

 in Webster's 'Acting Drama ;' most of which had attained some success 

 on the stage. In 1843 he produced 'The Mirror, or Hall of Statues,' 

 a musical burlesque. In connection with the drama, also, he published 

 in 1844 ' Scenes from the Rejected Comedies by some of the Compe- 

 titors for the Prize offered by Mr. Webster : ' these 'Scenes' were a 

 series of parodies upon living dramatists (including one of himself), 

 which had appeared in ' Punch ' previous to their publication in a 

 separate form. In 1846 he published ' The Quizziology of the British 

 Drama.' In conjunction with his schoolfellow, Mr. Henry Mayhew, he 

 started several comic periodical works, of which ' Figaro in London,' 

 begun about 1830, was undoubtedly the precursor of 'Punch.' When 

 that work had swallowed up its rivals, Mr. A Becket became a constant 

 contributor to it, and the adventures, the epistles, and anecdotes of 

 Mr. Dunup were among the most laughable morceaux of that publi- 

 cation. He took a pride in the work, and it was his boast that, till 

 the period of his death, no number appeared without something, how- 

 ever small, from his pen. His humour was without malice, and dis- 

 played a varied reading, with considerable knowledge of the law; 

 in the midst of his ebullitions of fancy, he had not neglected the more 

 serious studies of his profession. He was trained as a lawyer ; and in 

 March 1846 his reputation induced Mr. Charles Buller to entrust to 

 him the investigation of the iniquities practised in the Andover Union. 

 This he conducted in a most satisfactory manner, and in his report he 

 displayed a clear and solid judgment in sober and well chosen lan- 

 guage. Some leaders in ' The Times' on the same subject have been 

 also attributed to him : he had previously been an occasional contribu- 

 tor to that journal. His conduct of the Andover inquiry led to his 

 appointment in 1849 as magistrate of the police-court of Greenwich 

 and Woolwich, whence he was removed ia 1850 to that of South wark 



. positions which he held in an irreproachable manner. Besides an 



edition of ' The Small Debts Act, with Annotations and Explanations,' 

 published in 1845, he produced the ' Comic Blackstoue,' which was 

 published in 1844-46; a 'Comic History of England,' published in 

 monthly parts, forming a volume completed in 1848 ; and a ' Comic 

 History of Rome,' also in monthly parts, completed in 1852. He 

 likewise, in 1845, edited George Cruikshank's ' Table Book.' After a 

 very short illness he died at Boulogne, on the 28th of April 1856. 



AMHERST, WILLIAM PITT, 2ND LORD AND IST EARL, nephew 

 and successor of the first Lord Amherst [AMHERST, JEFFERT, BARON], 

 was born in 1773. He was sent as ambassador to China early in the 

 present century, but was wrecked on his return in the Eastern seas, 

 and with difficulty reached Java in an open bout. He succeeded 

 the Marquia of Hastings as governor-general of India in 1823. He 

 signalised his administration by the first Birmes-c war, which was 

 brought to a successful issue by the arms of Lord Combermere, and 



resulted in the annexation of Assam, Aracan, Tenasserim, and other 

 provinces of the Birman empire to the British dominions. He was 

 created an earl in 1826, and resigned his post in India in 1827, when 

 he was succeeded by Lord William Bentinck. He spent the latter 

 years of his life in retirement, and died in March 1857, in his eighty- 

 fifth year. 



* ANSTED, DAVID THOMAS, a distinguished living geologist, was 

 born in London about the year 1812. He was educated at Cambridge, 

 where he was one of the most zealous and distinguished scholars of the 

 celebrated professor of geology in that university, Adam Sedgwick. On 

 the retirement of Mr. John Phillips from the chair of geology in King's 

 College, London, Mr. Ansted was appointed his successor. He subse- 

 quently became assistant secretary to the Geological Society, and 

 editor of the ' Journal ' and ' Proceedings ' of that society. In 1844 

 he published his first work on geology, in 2 vols. 8vo, with the title 

 ' Geology, Introductory, Descriptive, and Practical, with numerous 

 illustrations, comprising Diagrams, Fossils, and Geological Localities.' 

 This work, which was written in a clear and elegant style, at once 

 obtained for its author a high position as a geologist. The subject of 

 geology was treated in it in a more systematic manner than in 

 any previous treatise ; the practical departments of the science were 

 also more fully developed. In 1845 he published a smaller work, 

 which was an epitome of the first work, and was called ' The Geolo- 

 gist's Text-Book.' At this time Mr. Ansted delivered courses of 

 lectures in many of the literary and scientific institutions of the 

 metropolis and the larger towns of England. In this way he was 

 largely instrumental in diffusing a knowledge of those sound princi- 

 ples of geology which are recognised so extensively in this country, 

 and have made it the most popular of the various branches of natural 

 knowledge. In 1847 he published a popular manual on geology, 

 entitled ' The Ancient World, or Picturesque Sketches of Great 

 Britain.' At the time of the discovery of gold in Australia, Mr. 

 Ansted produced a little \olume, intended as a geological guide to 

 those who were engaged in seeking for the precious metal, with the 

 title of 'The Gold-Seeker's Manual.' He also produced a smaller 

 work on the subject of geology, including mineralogy and physical 

 geography, intended as a text-book for those attending geological 

 lectures, with the title 'An Elementary Course of Geology, Mine- 

 ralogy, and Physical Geography.' One of his most recent contribu- 

 tions to geological literature is the " volume on ' Geology ' iu ' Orrs 

 Circle of the Sciences.' All these works are written in a popular 

 style, and have supplied a largo proportion of the general reading on 

 the subject of geology at the present day. Independent of these dis- 

 tinct works, Mr. Ansted .. has written several papers on geology, 

 which have been published in the Journals and Transactions of 

 societies devoted to geological science. Of these the following may be 

 mentioned : ' On the Carboniferous and Transition Rocks of Bohe- 

 mia' (Proc. Geol. Soc., vol. iii.); 'On the Zoological Condition of 

 Chalk Flints, and the probable causes of the Deposit of Flinty Strata 

 alternating with the upper beds of the Cretaceous Formation ' (Annals 

 and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii.) ; ' On a Portion of the Tertiary 

 Formations of Switzerland' (Trans. Cambridge Phil. Soc, vol. vi.). 



