LAWRENCE, JOHN L. M. 



LITERATURE, AMERICAN. 543 



LAWRENCE, Joira LAIRD MAIR, Baron, a 

 British statesman, born March 4, 1811, died 

 Jane 27, 1879. His education was directed 

 with a view to civil service under the East In- 

 dia Company, and in 1829 he received his first 

 appointment as writer to the Company. He 

 hold iu the succeeding years various posts, and 

 on all occasions discharged his duties with such 

 ability that in 1848 he was appointed Commis- 

 sioner of the Trans-Sutlej Provinces. For 

 short periods at about the same time he acted 

 as Resident at Lahore. The second Sikh war, 

 which broke out in 1848, resulted in the an- 

 nexation of the Punjaub. A Board of Admin- 

 istration was appointed for the government of 

 the new province, consisting of Mr. John Law- 

 rence, his brother Henry, and Mr. Mansel ; and 

 in 1852 John Lawrence was made Chief Com- 

 missioner. Under this government the Pun- 

 jaub was ruled so wisely and so satisfactorily 

 to the native population that, although newly 

 annexed, the province stood almost alone in 

 its adherence to the English when neighbor- 

 ing and distant districts broke out in open mu- 

 tiny against foreign rule. The new adminis- 

 trative system had greatly ameliorated the con- 

 dition of the people of the Punjaub, and order 

 and peace had taken the place of lawlessness. 

 Upon the outbreak of the mutiny, the vigilance 

 and energy of John Lawrence contributed ma- 

 terially to the work of upholding English su- 

 premacy in India. Skillfully turning to ac- 

 count the natural configuration of the province, 

 he isolated it from the mutineers by stopping 

 all means of communication. In 1858-'59 he 

 was the first Lieutenant-Governor of the prov- 

 ince. In 1856 he was made a K. 0. B., and in 

 1857 G. 0. B. He was created a baronet in 

 1858, sworn a member of the Privy Council, 

 and on the creation of the order of the Star of 

 India was made K. S. I. The Court of Direc- 

 tors of the East India Company granted him a 

 life pension of 2,000, which, under a special 

 act of Parliament, he continued to enjoy, to- 

 gether with his full salary, when he became 

 Viceroy of India. He succeeded Lord Elgin 

 in that post in December, 1863, and held it for 

 the usual period of five years. In April, 1869, 

 he was created Baron Lawrence. After his 

 final return from India, he took a prominent 

 part in philanthropic and educational move- 

 ments in England. On the formation of the 

 London School Board in 1870 he was chosen 

 its chairman, and he held that post until 1873, 

 when he resigned. In questions of Indian pol- 

 itics he continued to take an active interest, 

 and during 1878 and 1879 he frequently wrote 

 letters to the " Times," in which he warmly 

 opposed the Afghan policy of the Government 

 a policy which was a distinct departure from 

 that which he had carried out, and which had 



been described by the phrase of "masterly 

 inactivity." In India the news of his death 

 called forth expressions of grief and sympathy 

 from all classes of the people, and the Viceroy 

 in Council ordered that on July 1st, at all the 

 seats of government throughout India, the flags 

 should be lowered to half-mast, that thirty- 

 one minute-guns should be fired at sunset, and 

 that the last gun should be fired and the flag 

 dropped at the same time. 



LINDERMAN, Dr. HENRY R., Superinten- 

 dent of the United States Mint, born in Lehman 

 township, Pike County, Pennsylvania, Decem- 

 ber 26, 1825, died in Washington, January 28, 

 1879. He studied medicine with his father, 

 and completed his course at the University of 

 New York. He returned home, and practiced 

 his profession till 1853, when he was appoint- 

 ed chief clerk in the office of the Director of 

 the Mint at Philadelphia, in which position he 

 continued for twelve years, when he resigned 

 to engage in private business. He was ap- 

 pointed Director of the Mint in 1867, and held 

 that office for two years. On account of his 

 great experience and thorough knowledge of 

 such subjects, he was appointed by Secretary 

 Boutwell to examine the mints on the Pacifio 

 coast and adjust some intricate bullion ques- 

 tions. He made many valuable reports to the 

 Treasury Department upon various subjects 

 connected with the mint service. In 1869-'70 

 he was associated with Comptroller Knox in the 

 preparation of the coinage act of 1873, which 

 was a codification of all the mint and coinage 

 laws of the United States, with important 

 amendments, and established the mint and assay 

 offices of the United States as a bureau of the 

 Treasury Department at Washington. When 

 this act took effect, on April 1, 1873, he was 

 appointed by President Grant Superintendent 

 of the Mint, and organized the Mint Bureau in 

 the Treasury Department, and from that time 

 had the general supervision of all the mints and 

 assay offices in the United States. His reports 

 as Superintendent of the Mint are exceedingly 

 valuable documents. The one for 1877 con- 

 tained an elaborate and able argument in favor 

 of the gold standard. He was the author of a 

 volume on " Money and Legal Tender," pub- 

 lished in June, 1877, which has received the 

 highest praise. Dr. Linderman was socially a 

 genial and kind-hearted gentleman, and accus- 

 tomed to the practice of a liberal hospitality. 



LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1879. 

 Contemporaneous American literature is not 

 less distinctively national in character than that 

 of former epochs, nor comparatively less pro- 

 lific and nationally complete. Yet it has lost 

 its more salient and effective national charac- 

 teristics. The attention to literary correctness 

 and raathetic refinement, and the repugnance to 



