Chapter 9 of 49 · 3715 words · ~19 min read

Part 9

HARRIGAN, EDWARD (1845- ), American actor, was born in New York of Irish parents on the 26th of October 1845. He made his first appearance in San Francisco in 1867, and soon afterwards formed a stage partnership with Tony Hart, whose real name was Anthony Cannon. As "Harrigan and Hart," they had a great success in the presentation of types of low life in New York. Beginning as simple sketches, these were gradually worked up into plays, with occasional songs, set to popular music by David Braham. The titles of these plays indicate their character, _The Mulligan Guards_, _Squatter Sovereignty_, _A Leather Patch_, _The O'Regans_. The partnership with Hart lasted from 1871-1884. Subsequently Harrigan played in different cities of the United States, one of his favourite parts being George Coggswell in _Old Lavender_.

HARRIMAN, EDWARD HENRY (1848-1909), American financier and railroad magnate, son of the Rev. Orlando Harriman, rector of St George's Episcopal church, Hempstead, L.I., was born at Hempstead on the 25th of February 1848. He became a broker's clerk in New York at an early age, and in 1870 was able to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange on his own account. For a good many years there was nothing sensational in his success, but he built up a considerable business connexion and prospered in his financial operations. Meanwhile he carefully mastered the situation affecting American railways. In this respect he was assisted by his friendship with Mr Stuyvesant Fish, who, on becoming vice-president of the Illinois Central in 1883, brought Harriman upon the directorate, and in 1887, being then president, made Harriman vice-president; twenty years later it was Harriman who dominated the finance of the Illinois Central, and Fish, having become his opponent, was dropped from the board. It was not till 1898, however, that his career as a great railway organizer began with his formation, by the aid of the bankers, Kuhn, Loeb & Co., of a syndicate to acquire the Union Pacific line, which was then in the hands of a receiver and was generally regarded as a hopeless failure. It was soon found that a new power had arisen in the railway world. Having brought the Union Pacific out of bankruptcy into prosperity, and made it an efficient instead of a decaying line, he utilized his position to draw other lines within his control, notably the Southern Pacific in 1901. These extensions of his power were not made without friction, and his abortive contest in 1901 with James J. Hill for the control of the Northern Pacific led to one of the most serious financial crises ever known on Wall Street. But in the result he became the dominant factor in American railway matters. At his death, on the 9th of September 1909, his influence was estimated to extend over 60,000 m. of track, with an annual earning power of $700,000,000 or over. Astute and unscrupulous manipulation of the stock markets, and a capacity for the hardest of bargaining and the most determined warfare against his rivals, had their place in this success, and Harriman's methods excited the bitterest criticism, culminating in a stern denunciation from President Roosevelt himself in 1907. Nevertheless, besides acquiring colossal wealth for himself, he helped to create for the American public a vastly improved railway service, the benefit of which survived all controversy as to the means by which he triumphed over the obstacles in his way.

HARRIMAN, a city of Roane county, Tennessee, U.S.A., on the Emory river, about 35 m. W. by S. of Knoxville. Pop. (1900) 3442 (516 being negroes); (1910) 3061. Harriman is served by the Harriman & North Eastern, the Tennessee Central, and the Southern railways. It is the seat of the East Tennessee Normal and Industrial Institute, for negroes, and of the American University of Harriman (Christian Church, coeducational; 1893), which comprises primary, preparatory, collegiate, Bible school, civic research, commercial, music and art departments, and in 1907-1908 had 12 instructors and 317 students. Near the city are large deposits of iron and an abundance of coal and timber. Among manufactures are cotton products, farming tools, leather, tannic acid, furniture and flour. Harriman was founded in 1890 by a land company. A clause in this company's by-laws requires that every conveyance of real estate by the company "shall contain a provision forbidding the use of the property or any building thereon, for the purpose of making, storing or selling intoxicating beverages as such." Harriman was chartered as a city in 1891, and its charter was revised in 1899.

HARRINGTON, EARLS OF. The first earl of Harrington was the diplomatist and politician, William Stanhope (c. 1690-1756), a younger son of John Stanhope of Elvaston, Derbyshire, and a brother of Charles Stanhope (1673-1760), an active politician during the reign of George I. His ancestor, Sir John Stanhope (d. 1638), was a half-brother of Philip Stanhope, 1st earl of Chesterfield. Educated at Eton, William Stanhope entered the army and served in Spain, but soon he turned his attention to more peaceful pursuits, went on a mission to Madrid and represented his country at Turin. When peace was made between England and Spain in 1720 Stanhope became British ambassador to the latter country, and he retained this position until March 1727, having built up his reputation as a diplomatist during a difficult period. In 1729 he had some part in arranging the treaty of Seville between England, France and Spain, and for his services in this matter he was created Baron Harrington in January 1730. Later in the same year he was appointed secretary of state for the northern department under Sir Robert Walpole, but, like George II., he was anxious to assist the emperor Charles VI. in his war with France, while Walpole favoured a policy of peace. Although the latter had his way Harrington remained secretary until the great minister's fall in 1742, when he was transferred to the office of president of the council and was created earl of Harrington and Viscount Petersham. In 1744, owing to the influence of his political allies, the Pelhams, he returned to his former post of secretary of state, but he soon lost the favour of the king, and this was the principal cause why he left office in October 1746. He was lord lieutenant of Ireland from 1747 to 1751, and he died in London on the 8th of December 1756.

The earl's successor was his son, William (1719-1779), who entered the army, was wounded at Fontenoy and became a general in 1770. He was a member of parliament for about ten years and he died on the 1st of April 1779. This earl's wife Caroline (1722-1784), daughter of Charles Fitzroy, 2nd duke of Grafton, was a noted beauty, but was also famous for her eccentricities. Their elder son, Charles (1753-1829), who became the 3rd earl, was a distinguished soldier. He served with the British army during the American War of Independence and attained the rank of general in 1802. From 1805 to 1812 he was commander-in-chief in Ireland; he was sent on diplomatic errands to Vienna and to Berlin, and he died at Brighton on the 15th of September 1829.

Charles Stanhope, 4th earl of Harrington (1780-1851), the eldest son of the 3rd earl, was known as Lord Petersham until he succeeded to the earldom in 1829. He was very well known in society owing partly to his eccentric habits; he dressed like the French king Henry IV., and had other personal peculiarities. He married the actress, Maria Foote, but when he died in March 1851 he left no sons, and his brother Leicester Fitzgerald Charles (1784-1862) became the 5th earl. This nobleman was a soldier and a politician of advanced views, who is best known as a worker with Lord Byron in the cause of Greek independence. He was in Greece in 1823 and 1824, where his relations with Byron were not altogether harmonious. He wrote _A Sketch of the History and Influence of the Press in British India_ (1823); and _Greece in 1821 and 1824_ (English edition 1824, American edition 1825). His son Sydney Seymour Hyde, 6th earl (1845-1866), dying unmarried, was succeeded by a cousin, Charles Wyndham Stanhope (1809-1881), as 7th earl, and in 1881 the latter's son Charles Augustus Stanhope (b. 1844) became 8th earl of Harrington.

Before the time of the first earl of Harrington the Stanhope family had held the barony of Stanhope of Harrington, which was created in 1605 in favour of Sir John Stanhope (c. 1550-1621) of Harrington, Northamptonshire. Sir John was a younger son of Sir Michael Stanhope (d. 1552) of Shelford, Nottinghamshire, who was a brother-in-law of the protector Somerset. Sir Michael's support of Somerset cost him his life, as he was beheaded on the 26th of February 1552. Sir John was treasurer of the chamber from 1596 to 1616 and was a member of parliament for several years. He died on the 9th of March 1621, and when his only son Charles, 2nd baron (c. 1595-1675), died without issue in 1675 the barony became extinct.

HARRINGTON, or HARINGTON, JAMES (1611-1677), English political philosopher, was born in January 1611 of an old Rutlandshire family. He was son of Sir Sapcotes Harrington of Rand, Lincolnshire, and great-nephew of the first Lord Harington of Exton (d. 1615). In 1629 he entered Trinity College, Oxford, as a gentleman commoner. One of his tutors was the famous Chillingworth. After several years spent in travel, and as a soldier in the Dutch army, he returned to England and lived in retirement till 1646, when he was appointed to the suite of Charles I., at that time being conveyed from Newcastle as prisoner. Though republican in his ideas, Harrington won the king's regard and esteem, and accompanied him to the Isle of Wight. He roused, however, the suspicion of the parliamentarians and was dismissed: it is said that he was for a short time put in confinement because he would not swear to refuse assistance to the king should he attempt to escape. After Charles's death Harrington devoted his time to the composition of his _Oceana_, a work which pleased neither party. By order of Cromwell it was seized when passing through the press. Harrington, however managed to secure the favour of the Protector's favourite daughter, Mrs Claypole; the work was restored to him, and appeared in 1656, dedicated to Cromwell. The views embodied in _Oceana_, particularly that bearing on vote by ballot and rotation of magistrates and legislators, Harrington and others (who in 1659 formed a club called the "Rota") endeavoured to push practically, but with no success. In November 1661, by order of Charles II., Harrington was arrested, apparently without sufficient cause, on a charge of conspiracy, and was thrown into the Tower. Despite his repeated request no public trial could be obtained, and when at length his sisters obtained a writ of _habeas corpus_ he was secretly removed to St Nicholas Island off Plymouth. There his health gave way owing to his drinking guaiacum on medical advice, and his mind appeared to be affected. Careful treatment restored him to bodily vigour, but his mind never wholly recovered. After his release he married,--at what date does not seem to be precisely known. He died on the 11th of September 1677, and was buried next to Sir Walter Raleigh in St Margaret's, Westminster.

Harrington's writings consist of the _Oceana_, and of papers, pamphlets, aphorisms, even treatises, in defence of the _Oceana_. The _Oceana_ is a hard, prolix, and in many respects heavy exposition of an ideal constitution, "Oceana" being England, and the lawgiver Olphaus Megaletor, Oliver Cromwell. The details are elaborated with infinite care, even the salaries of officials being computed, but the main ideas are two in number, each with a practical corollary. The first is that the determining element of power in a state is property generally, property in land in particular; the second is that the executive power ought not to be vested for any considerable time in the same men or class of men. In accordance with the first of these, Harrington recommends an agrarian law, limiting the portion of land held to that yielding a revenue of L3000, and consequently insisting on particular modes of distributing landed property. As a practical issue of the second he lays down the rule of rotation by ballot. A third part of the executive or senate are voted out by ballot every year (not being capable of being elected again for three years). Harrington explains very carefully how the state and its governing parts are to be constituted by his scheme. _Oceana_ contains many valuable ideas, but it is irretrievably dull.

His _Works_ were edited with biography by John Toland in 1700; Toland's edition, with additions by Birch, appeared in 1747, and again in 1771. _Oceana_ was reprinted by Henry Morley in 1887. See Dwight in _Political Science Quarterly_ (March, 1887). Harrington has often been confused with his cousin Sir James Harrington, a member of the commission which tried Charles I., and afterwards excluded from the acts of pardon.

HARRIOT, or HARRIOTT, THOMAS (1560-1621), English mathematician and astronomer, was born at Oxford in 1560. After studying at St Mary Hall, Oxford, he became tutor to Sir Walter Raleigh, who appointed him in 1585 to the office of geographer to the second expedition to Virginia. Harriot published an account of this expedition in 1588, which was afterwards reprinted in Hakluyt's _Voyages_. On his return to England, after an absence of two years, he resumed his mathematical studies, and having made the acquaintance of Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, distinguished for his patronage of men of science, he received from him a yearly pension of L120. He died at London on the 2nd of July 1621. A manuscript of Harriot's entitled _Ephemeris chrysometria_ is preserved in Sion College; and his _Artis analyticae praxis ad aequaliones algebraicas resolvendas_ was published at London in 1631. His contributions to algebra are treated in the article ALGEBRA; Wallis's _History of Algebra_ (1685) may also be consulted. From some papers of Harriot's, discovered in 1784, it would appear that he had either procured a telescope from Holland, or divined the construction of that instrument, and that he coincided in point of time with Galileo in discovering the spots on the sun's disk.

See Charles Hutton, _Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary_ (1815), and J. E. Montucla, _Histoire des mathematiques_ (1758).

HARRIS, GEORGE, 1ST BARON (1746-1829), British general, was the son of the Rev George Harris, curate of Brasted, Kent, and was born on the 18th of March 1746. Educated at Westminster school and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he was commissioned to the Royal Artillery in 1760, transferring to an ensigncy in the 5th foot (Northumberland Fusiliers) in 1762. Three years later he became lieutenant, and in 1771 captain. His first active service was in the American War of Independence, in which he served at Lexington, Bunker Hill (severely wounded) and in every engagement of Howe's army except one up to November 1778. By this time he had obtained his majority, and his next service was under Major-General Medows at Santa Lucia in 1778-1779, after which his regiment served as marines in Rodney's fleet. Later in 1779 he was for a time a prisoner of war. Shortly before his promotion to lieutenant-colonel in his regiment (1780) he married. After commanding the 5th in Ireland for some years, he exchanged and went with General Medows to Bombay, and served with that officer in India until 1792, taking part in various battles and engagements, notably Lord Cornwallis's attack on Seringapatam. In 1794, after a short period of home service, he was again in India. In the same year he became major-general, and in 1796 local lieutenant-general in Madras. Up to 1800 he commanded the troops in the presidency, and for a short time he exercised the civil government as well. In December 1798 he was appointed by Lord Wellesley, the governor-general, to command the field army which was intended to attack Tipu Sahib, and in a few months Harris reduced the Mysore country and stormed the great stronghold of Seringapatam. His success established his reputation as a capable and experienced commander, and its political importance led to his being offered the reward (which he declined) of an Irish peerage. He returned home in 1800, became lieutenant-general in the army the following year, and attained the rank of full general in 1812. In 1815 he was made a peer of the United Kingdom under the title Baron Harris of Seringapatam and Mysore, and of Belmont, Kent. In 1820 he received the G.C.B., and in 1824 the governorship of Dumbarton Castle. Lord Harris died at Belmont in May 1829. He had been colonel of the 73rd Highlanders since 1800.

His descendant, the 4th Baron Harris (b. 1851), best known as a cricketer, was under-secretary for India (1885-1886), under-secretary for war (1886-1889) and governor of Bombay (1890-1895).

See Rt. Hon. S. Lushington, _Life of Lord Harris_ (London, 1840), and the regimental histories of the 5th Northumberland Fusiliers and 73rd Highlanders.

HARRIS, JAMES (1709-1780), English grammarian, was born at Salisbury on the 20th of July 1709. He was educated at the grammar school in the Close at Salisbury, and at Wadham College, Oxford. On leaving the university he was entered at Lincoln's Inn as a student of law, though not intended for the bar. The death of his father in 1733 placed him in possession of an independent fortune and of the house in Salisbury Close. He became a county magistrate, and represented Christchurch in parliament from 1761 till his death, and was comptroller to the queen from 1774 to 1780. He held office under Lord Grenville, retiring with him in 1765. The decided bent of his mind had always been towards the Greek and Latin classics; and to the study of these, especially of Aristotle, he applied himself with unremitting assiduity during a period of fourteen or fifteen years. He published in 1744 three treatises--on art; on music, painting and poetry; and on happiness. In 1751 appeared the work by which he became best known, _Hermes_, a philosophical inquiry concerning universal grammar. He also published _Philosophical Arrangements_ and _Philosophical Inquiries_. Harris was a great lover of music, and adapted the words for a selection from Italian and German composers, published by the cathedral organist, James Corfe. He died on the 22nd of December 1780.

His works were collected and published in 1801, by his son, the first earl of Malmesbury, who prefixed a brief biography.

HARRIS, JOEL CHANDLER (1848-1908), American author, was born in Eatonton, Putnam county, Georgia, on the 8th of December 1848. He started as an apprentice to the printer's trade in the office of the _Countryman_, a weekly paper published on a plantation not far from his home. He then studied law, and practised for a short time in Forsyth, Ga., but soon took to journalism. He joined the staff of the Savannah _Daily News_ in 1871, and in 1876 that of the Atlanta _Constitution_, of which he was an editor from 1890 to 1901, and in this capacity did much to further the cause of the New South. But his most distinctive contribution to this paper, and to American literature, consisted of his dialect pieces dealing with negro life and folk-lore. His stories are characterized by quaint humour, poetic feeling and homely philosophy; and "Uncle Remus," the principal character of most of them, is a remarkably vivid and real creation. The first collection of his stories was published in 1880 as _Uncle Remus: his Songs and his Sayings_. Among his later works are _Nights with Uncle Remus_ (1883), _Mingo and Other Sketches in Black and White_ (1884), _Free Joe and Other Georgian Sketches_ (1887), _Balaam and His Master and Other Sketches and Stories_ (1891), _Uncle Remus and His Friends_ (1892), _On the Plantation_ (1892), which is partly autobiographic, _Sister Jane_ (1896), The _Chronicles of Aunt Minervy Ann_ (1899), and _The Tar-Baby and Other Rhymes of Uncle Remus_ (1904). More purely juvenile are _Daddy Jake the Runaway and Other Stories_ (1889), _Little Mr Thimblefinger and his Queer Country_ (1894) and its sequel _Mr Rabbit at Home_ (1895), _Aaron in the Wildwoods_ (1897), _Plantation Pageants_ (1899), _Told by Uncle Remus_ (1905), and _Uncle Remus and Br'er Rabbit_ (1907). He was one of the compilers of the _Life of Henry W. Grady_, including his _Writings and Speeches_ (1890) and wrote _Stories of Georgia_ (1896), and Georgia from the Invasion of De Soto to Recent Times (1899). He died in Atlanta on the 3rd of July 1908.

HARRIS, JOHN (c. 1666-1719), English writer. He is best known as the editor of the _Lexicon technicum_, or _Dictionary of the Arts and Sciences_ (1704), which ranks as the earliest of the long line of English encyclopaedias, and as the compiler of the _Collection of Voyages and Travels_ which passes under his name. He was born about 1666, probably in Shropshire, and was a scholar of Trinity College, Oxford, from 1684 to 1688. He was presented to the vicarage of Icklesham in Sussex, and subsequently to the rectory of St Thomas, Winchelsea. In 1698 he was entrusted with the delivery of the seventh series of the Boyle lectures--_Atheistical Objections against the Being of God and His Attributes fairly considered and fully refuted_. Between 1702 and 1704 he delivered at the Marine Coffee House in Birchin Lane the mathematical lectures founded by Sir Charles Cox, and advertised himself as a mathematical tutor at Amen Corner. The friendship of Sir William Cowper, afterwards lord chancellor, secured for him the office of private chaplain, a prebend in Rochester cathedral (1708), and the rectory of the united parishes of St Mildred, Bread Street and St Margaret Moses, in addition to other preferments. He showed himself an ardent supporter of the government, and engaged in a bitter quarrel with the Rev. Charles Humphreys, who afterwards was chaplain to Dr Sacheverel. Harris was one of the early members of the Royal Society, and for a time acted as vice-president. At his death on the 7th of September 1719, he was busy completing an elaborate _History of Kent_. He is said to have died in poverty brought on by his own bad management of his affairs.