WHITE. RICHARD GRANT. 



WISCONSIN. 



785 



WHITE, RICHARD GRANT, an American au- 

 thor, born in New York city, May 23, 1822; 

 died there, April 8, 1885. He was the son of 

 a wealthy South Street merchant, and was 

 graduated at the University of New York. He 

 studied medicine, and later was admitted to 

 the bar, but entered upon a literary career. 

 He became a musical and art critic, and was 

 soon a recognized authority on those subjects. 

 He next bec?ime known as a contributor to the 

 magazines, his Shakespeare articles attracting 



RICHARD GRANT WHITE. 



much attention. These were followed in 1853 

 by his lirst volume, "Shakespeare's Scholar," 

 which led in turn to a critical edition of Shake- 

 speare's works. Another special department 

 in which he worked was philology. Of sev- 

 eral volumes that he published on this sub- 

 ject, the best known is " Words and their 

 Uses." When the civil war began, he did good 

 service to the Union cause by contributing a 

 series of able articles to the London " Specta- 

 tor," in which he furnished the information 

 and argument best calculated to disillusionize 

 the British people of their sentimental sym- 

 pathy for the South. But his chief work at 

 this period was " The New Gospel of Peace," 

 which was issued anonymously, and was by 

 far the most generally popular of all his works. 

 It was a broad and exceedingly pungent satire 

 upon the Copperhead and peace-at-any-price 

 factions, in the form of biblical annals. In 

 VOL. xxv. 50 A 



1861 he published " National Hymns, How they 

 are Written and How they are not Written," 

 nn essay embodying many of the hymns that 

 had been written in competition for a prize of 

 $600, which was not awarded. In 1863 he 

 published a volume entitled "The Genius of 

 Shakespeare." His "England Without and 

 Within " provoked much discussion and some 

 sharp criticism, but his main points were 

 generally untouched. This was followed in 

 1884 by lk The Fate of Mansfield Humphreys." 

 The last literary labor to engage his atten- 

 tion was the gathering of a number of 

 Shakespearean studies, which had ap- 

 peared in various periodicals. He had so 

 far completed the task that after his death 

 other hands made the few necessary cor- 

 rections, and the book was published with 

 the title of " Studies in Shakespeare." 

 Of special interest and value to Shake- 

 speare scholars is the portion of the work 

 devoted to glossaries and lexicons. Mr. 

 White contributed many elaborate and 

 carefully written articles to the Ameri- 

 can and other Cyclopaedias. For nearly 

 a quarter of a century he held the office 

 of chief clerk of the Revenue Bureau of 

 the New York Custom-House, which he 

 resigned in 1878. His life was retired, 

 and his intimates were not numerous. At 

 concerts and at the opera his tall, erect, 

 and striking figure (he was six feet three 

 inches) was very familiar. He was a man 

 of many accomplishments and achieve- 

 ments, but almost exclusively devoted to 

 literary and artistic pursuits. 



WISCONSIN. State Government. The fol- 

 lowing were the State officers during the 

 year : Governor, Jeremiah M. Rusk, Re- 

 publican ; Lieutenant-Governor, Samuel 

 S. Fifield ; Secretary of State, Ernst G. 

 Timme; State Treasurer, Edward C. Mc- 

 Fetridge; Attorney General, Leander F. 

 Frisbie; State Superintendent of Public 

 Schools, Robert Graham ; Railroad Com- 

 missioner, Nils P. Haugen ; Commissioner 

 of Insurance, Philip L. Spooner, Jr.; Com- 

 missioner of Labor Statistics, Frank A. Flow- 

 er. Supreme Court: Chief Justice, Orsamus 

 Cole ; Associates, William P. Lyon, David Tay- 

 lor, Harlow S. Orton, and John B. Cassoday. 



Legislative Session. The Legislature met on 

 Jan. 14 and adjourned on April 13, the longest 

 session since 1867. The bills that became Jaws 

 number 471. The following is a summary of 

 the most important acts passed : 



The following new offices were created : State Vet- 

 erinarv Surgeon, State Pension Agent, State Factory 

 Inspector, a board of five to examine and license appli- 

 cants and regulate dentistry, and five commissioners to 

 examine and license applicants for admission to the bar. 

 Creating a system of agricultural institutes, to be 

 beld in each county, during the winter, under the 



Guidance of the professors of rural topics from the 

 tate University, assisted by leading specialists. 

 Appropriating $30,000 to build and equip a State 

 School for Neglected and Dependent Children, the in- 

 stitution to be constructed on the cottage plan. 



