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HORN HORNER. 



" we are indebted, in an eminent degree, for the 

 classical and appropriate style which now generally 

 characterises our furniture and domestic utensils. 

 Like most other innovations, his was described as 

 whimsical and puerile by some persons as if it 

 were unbecoming a man of fortune to indulge in 

 the elegant refinements which wealth placed at his 

 command: whilst others caricatured the system, 

 by cramming their apartments with mythological 

 figures and conceits, jumbled together without pro- 

 priety or meaning." Mr Hope was, in all respects, 

 a munificent patron of art and of artists, and even 

 of the humbler mechanic; for he has been known 

 to traverse obscure alleys, lanes, and courts, to find 

 out and employ men of skill and talent in their 

 respective pursuits. Thorwaldsen, the Danish 

 sculptor, was chiefly indebted to him for the early 

 support and patronage which he experienced. By 

 him the genius of young Chantrey was called into 

 action, whilst the more mature talents of Flaxman 

 were honourably employed. In 1809, he pub- 

 lished " The Costume of the Ancients," in two 

 volumes, royal 8vo. ; in fixing the price of which, 

 in order to promote its more extensive circulation, 

 he at once sacrificed 1000 of the cost. The 

 figures, which were chiefly selected from fictile 

 vases (many of them in his own collection), are 

 engraved in outline, and the greater part of them 

 by that eminent master in that style, Mr H. Moses. 

 Three years afterwards, he published his " Designs 

 of Modern Costumes," in folio. These works 

 evinced a profound research into the works of anti- 

 quity, and a familiarity with all that is graceful 

 and elegant. His " Anastasius ; or Memoirs of a 

 Modern Greek," an historical and geographical ro- 

 mance in three volumes, which appeared in 1819, 

 evinced at once the general knowledge, the fancy, 

 and powers of the author. It presents a faithful 

 picture of the customs, manners, and countries of 

 the Turks and Greeks. Besides these produc- 

 tions, he contributed several papers to different 

 periodical publications ; and, at the time of his de- 

 cease, was engaged in passing through the press a 

 work " On the Origin and Prospects of Man." 

 That work has since been published. Mr Hope 

 died on the 3d Feb. 1831. He married in 1806, 

 the youngest daughter of the archbishop of Tuam, 

 and left three sons. 



HORN, (a.) The various uses to which the 

 horns of cattle are applied afford a curious exam- 

 ple of the ingenuity and economy with which our 

 arts are prosecuted. The horn consists of two parts: 

 an outward horny case, and an inward conical- 

 shaped substance, somewhat between hardened 

 hair and bone. The first process consists in se- 

 parating these two parts, by means of a blow 

 against a block of wood. The horny outside is 

 then cut into three portions, by means of a frame- 

 saw. The lowest of these, next the root of the 

 horn, after undergoing several processes, by which 

 it is rendered flat, is made into combs. The mid- 

 dle of the horn, after being flattened by heat, and 

 its transparency improved by oil, is split into thin 

 layers, and forms a substitute for glass in lanterns 

 of the commonest kind. The tip of the horn is 

 used by the makers of knife-handles and of the 

 tops of whips, and similar purposes. The interior, 

 or core of the horn, is boiled down in water. A 

 large quantity of fat rises to the surface : this is 

 put aside, and sold to the makers of yellow soap. 

 The liquid itself is used as a kind of glue, and is 

 purchased by the cloth-dressers for stiffening. The 



bony substance, which remains behind, is ground 

 down, and sold to the farmers for manure. Be- 

 sides these various purposes to which the different 

 parts of the horn are applied, the chippings which 

 arise in comb-making are sold to the farmer for 

 manure, at about one shilling a bushel. In the 

 first year after they are spread over the soil, they 

 have comparatively little effect; but during the 

 next four or five, their efficiency is considerable. 

 The shavings, which form the refuse of the lan- 

 tern-maker, are of a much thinner texture. A 

 few of them are cut into various figures, and 

 painted and used as toys; for they curl up when 

 placed in the palm of a warm hand. But the 

 greater part of these shavings are sold also lor 

 manure, which, from their extremely thin and 

 divided form, produces its full effect upon the first 

 crop. 



HORNER, FRANCIS, an able parliamentary 

 speaker, and one of the early writers in the Edin- 

 burgh Review, was born at Edinburgh on the 12th 

 of August, 1778, and was the son of a respectable 

 linen-draper in that capital. When sufficiently 

 old, he was sent to the high-school of Edinburgh, 

 where, with much praiseworthy diligence, he made 

 himself a distinguished scholar among numerous 

 contemporaries. From this place he proceeded to 

 the university of that city, and under the auspices 

 of the celebrated Dugald Stewart, he advanced 

 highly in his studies, and among other acquaint- 

 ances, became intimate with lord Henry Petty. 

 This nobleman, in 1806, held the office of the 

 chancellorship of the Exchequer, and through his 

 interest the return of Horner to represent the bor- 

 ough of St Ives in the imperial parliament was se- 

 cured. At the next election following, however, 

 he lost his seat, and then betook himself to the 

 profession of the law, and after due time was 

 called to the bar. Subsequently, on the resigna- 

 tion of viscount Mahon, he supplied that noble- 

 man's place, as member for Wendover; and imme- 

 diately was nominated to the commission for in- 

 vestigating the claims upon the Nabob of Arcot. 

 Arcot is a considerable district of Hindostan, form- 

 ing part of the Carnatic ; and for the many services 

 done by the East India Company to the nabob and 

 his son, the nabob, Azim-ul-Omrah, formerly ceded 

 the whole district to the East India Company by 

 treaty, in 1801: and on this occasion, the British 

 government undertook to adjust the claims made 

 by the creditors of the nabob, for whose satisfac- 

 tion an annual revenue of 340,000 pagodas was set 

 apart. Commissioners were, in consequence, ap- 

 pointed both in India and in London, for the in- 

 vestigation of the claims, and these boards have 

 been in existence, and in operation, since 1805, 

 endeavouring to unravel the mysteries in which 

 the accounts were involved for fraudulent pur- 

 poses. Out of a sum exceeding thirty millions 

 sterling, claimed against the estate of the nabob, 

 the commissioners set aside claims to the amount 

 of upwards of twenty-seven millions on the grounds 

 of fraud, and of that very common crime in India, 

 forgery. Mr Horner was appointed one of these 

 commissioners; and in 1810, likewise, he was 

 chosen on the bullion committee, during which 

 service he made a most elaborate, though unsuc- 

 cessful effort for the return of cash payments. He 

 supported alderman Combe's motion, to pass a 

 vote of censure on ministers for having obstructed 

 an address to his Majesty, from the lord mayor and 

 corporation of the city of London ; and on the re- 



