OBITUARIES, FOREIGN. 



655 



Ing other students, was graduated in 1826, and 

 took charge of an academy at Groton, Mass. 

 In 1829, the year of his marriage, he accepted 

 a professorship of Mathematics and Natural 

 Philosophy in Western Reserve College, at 

 Hudson, O. Here he wrote much in opposi- 

 tion to slavery, and in 1833 removed to New 

 York city, to edit the "Emancipator." He 

 was then made secretary of the American 

 Anti-Slavery Society, and edited in 1834-'35 a 

 paper called " Human Rights," and in 1835- 

 '38 the "Quarterly Anti-Slavery Magazine." 

 Through his continued opposition he incurred 

 the enmity of the pro-slavery people, and when 

 he appeared at one of their meetings he was 

 threatened with death, driven away, and pur- 

 sued to his home. He was once besieged in 

 his house in Brooklyn by a mob, and an unsuc- 

 cessful attempt was made to kidnap and re- 

 move him to South Carolina. In 1838 he went 

 to Boston, and in April, 1839, became editor 

 of the " Massachusetts Abolitionist." He then 

 wrote for the " Emancipator " and the " Chron- 

 icle," and in 1846 established the " Chrono- 

 type" newspaper, which was not exclusively 

 devoted to abolition. This he conducted till it 

 was merged in the " Commonwealth " (1850), 

 of which also he was for a time the editor. 

 He was then occupied for a year (1852) in pre- 

 paring for the Union Mutual Life-Insurance 

 Company, of Boston, certain mathematical ta- 

 bles, and afterward devoted much of his time 

 to the study of insurance. He agitated suc- 

 cessfully, in 1858, for reform legislation bear- 

 ing upon insurance methods, and was then 

 made Insurance Commissioner of Massachu- 

 setts, gaining a national reputation as an au- 

 thority upon all branches of American under- 

 writing. After the close of his term of office 

 (1866) he devoted himself to mathematical 

 work, the consideration of the labor question, 

 industrial education, and the currency, writing 

 occasionally for the press upon current topics. 

 He was in favor of free trade, and was an ad- 

 vocate of woman suffrage. He published in 

 Boston, in 1841, a translation, in verse, of La 

 Fontaine's "Fables" (2 vols. 8vo), giving his 

 personal attention to the sale, and in 1866 " A 

 Curiosity of Law." He also published many 

 pamphlets and reports. His wife died in 1875, 

 and few of his eighteen children survive him. 



OBITUARIES, FOREIGN. Abereorn, James Ham- 

 ilton, Duke of, in the peerage of Ireland, born 

 in London, Jan. 21, 1811 ; died there, Oct. 30, 

 1885. He was educated at Harrow and Ox- 

 ford, and in 1832 married a daughter of the 

 Duke of Bedford. He was Lord Lieutenant 

 of Ireland from 1866 to 1868, under Earl Der- 

 by's Administration, and again on the return 

 of the Conservatives to power, in 1874, he was 

 appointed to the same place and held it for 

 three years. The Duke was one of the great 

 Irish landlords, owning 63,557 acres. One of 

 his daughters is the wife of the present Gov- 

 ernor-General of Canada. The Duke was one 

 of the most popular peers of his time. 



About, Edmond, a French author, born in 

 Dietze, Lorraine, Feb. 14, 1828 ; died in Paris, 

 Jan. 17, 1885. He bore off many prizes in the 

 Lyceum, and in 1848 won the chief prize for 

 Latin composition, which entitled him to a 

 course at the Normal School at state expense. 

 He became a professor in the French School at 

 Athens. In 1853 About returned to Paris and 

 published a humorous satire on the manners 

 and morals of the Hellenes, entitled "LaGrece 

 contemporaine." The hopes of the Greeks for 

 aggrandizement through the Crimean War were 

 dashed by this amusing exposure of their na- 

 tional foibles. They took their revenge in hiss- 

 ing down a play called " Guille>y," which About 

 produced in 1856. He followed up his attack 

 with the novel of " Le Roi des Montagues," 

 representing the leaders of the Liberal party 

 in the Athenian Parliament as in league with 

 brigand chiefs. About swallowed his repub- 

 lican principles in order to receive lucrative 

 employment on the official "Moniteur" and 

 other newspapers. His books on Greece at- 

 tracted the attention of the Emperor, and his 

 feuilletons of " Manages de Paris " made him 

 the favorite author of the Empress. He was 

 accordingly taken into the band of writers who, 

 too irreligious to be received by the Empress, 

 were made the familiars of Prince Napoleon. 

 His style sparkles with witty epigrams and hu- 

 morous conceits. Some critics rank "Made- 

 Ion " (1863) as his best work ; but " Germaine " 

 (1857) is more popular, and " Trente et Qua- 

 rante" (1858) and " L'Homme a 1'Oreille cas- 

 see" are universally preferred for the gro- 

 tesque and laughable fancies woven into their 

 stories. The success of "The Man with a 

 Broken Ear" was such that the author was 

 encouraged to write the other fantastic tales 

 of u Le Nez d'un Notarie" and "Le Cas de M. 

 Gue>in." In 1858 About's brilliant style and 

 satirical gifts were employed by the Emperor 

 in the congenial task of lampooning the Pa- 

 pacy. Napoleon was contemplating the with- 

 drawal of the French garrison from Rome, to 

 engage in war with Austria. For the pamphlet 

 on the " Roman Question " About was deco- 

 rated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor. 

 He continued his attacks on the Papacy in 

 " Lettres d'un jeune Homme a sa Cousine 

 Madeleine," to publish which the newspaper 

 "L'Opinion Nationale" was founded express- 

 ly, until the imperial policy was again changed. 

 In "The New Map of Europe and Prussia" 

 (1860), and a series of editorial articles in the 

 " Constitutional," he shadowed forth other 

 phases of the Emperor's policy, and continued 

 to serve Napoleon III with his pen in the vain 

 expectation of political reward for the remain- 

 ing ten years of the Empire, making enemies 

 in all parties. His drama "Gaetena" (1862) 

 was damned by reason of the author's unpopu- 

 larity. Rendered easy in circumstances by his 

 marriage to a wealthy heiress, Mile, de Guiller- 

 ville, he wrote with less care and labor. His 

 later novels are " Le Turco " (1866), " L'lu- 



