Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/754

712  of books on slavery and its relation to the civil war led to an invitation to lecture on this subject in New England, as he had already lectured gratuitously throughout Ohio. During the war his father's slaves escaped from Virginia and were settled by him in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He was for a time editor of the Boston "Commonwealth." In 1863 he went to England to enlighten the British public in regard to the causes of the war, and there wrote and lectured as a representative of the anti-slavery opinions of the north. He also contributed to &ldquo;Fraser's Magazine&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Fortnightly Review.&rdquo; Toward the close of 1863 he became the minister of South Place religious society in London, remaining there until he returned to the United States in 1884. He was long the London correspondent of the Cincinnati &ldquo;Commercial.&rdquo; &ldquo;The Rejected Stone, or Insurrection versus Resurrection in America,&rdquo; first appeared under the pen-name &ldquo;A Native of Virginia,&rdquo; and attracted much attention before the authorship became known. &ldquo;The Golden Hour&rdquo; was a similar work. Mr. Conway was a frequent contributor to the daily liberal press in England, and has written extensively for magazines in that country and in the United States. A series of articles entitled &ldquo;South Coast Saunterings in England&rdquo; appeared in &ldquo;Harper's Magazine&rdquo; in 1868-'9. He has published in book form &ldquo;Tracts for To-day&rdquo; (Cincinnati, 1858); &ldquo;The Rejected Stone&rdquo; (Boston, 1861); &ldquo;The Golden Hour&rdquo; (1862); &ldquo;Testimonies concerning Slavery&rdquo; (London, 1865); &ldquo;The Earthward Pilgrimage,&rdquo; a moral and doctrinal allegory (London and New York, 1870); &ldquo;Republican Superstitions,&rdquo; a theoretical treatise on politics, in which he objects to the extensive powers conferred on the president of the United States by the Federal constitution, and advocates, with Louis Blanc, a single legislative chamber (London, 1872); &ldquo;The Sacred Anthology,&rdquo; a selection from the sages and sacred books of all ages (London and New York, 1873); &ldquo;Idols and Ideals&rdquo; (London and New York, 1877); &ldquo;Demonology and Devil-Lore&rdquo; (1879); &ldquo;A Necklace of Stories&rdquo; (London, 1880); &ldquo;The Wandering Jew and the Pound of Flesh&rdquo; (London and New York, 1881); &ldquo;Thomas Carlyle&rdquo; (1881).

CONWAY, Thomas, Count de, soldier, b. in Ire- land, 27 Feb., 1733; d. about 1800. He was educated in France, entei'ed the army, and in 1777 had at- tained the rank of colonel and the decoration of St. Louis. On the recommendation of Silas Deane he came to the United States and offered his services to congress. He was made a brigadier-general, 13 May, 1777, was present at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. It is chiefly as the leader of the " Conway cabal," a conspiracy to deprive Washing- ton of the command of the army, that he is known to history. This plot was developed during the autumn of 1777, and received the open or secret support of a strong faction in congress, including some able and patriotic men, who were dissatisfied with what they thought the supineness of Wash- ington and the southern army, in contrast with the victory that had just been won at Saratoga by the northern army under Gates. Even John Adams exclaimed : " I am weary with so much insipidity," while Dr. Benjamin Rush actively supported the dissidents. Through the influence of this faction Gates was made president of the board of war, and a Canadian campaign was proposed, which Lafay- ette was to lead, with Conway to assist him. Em- bittered by Washington's opposition to his promo- tion, Conway wrote anonymous letters to prominent men, alleging Washington's responsibility for re- cent military disasters. He was thought to have even forged Washington's name to papers designed to further the plans of the conspirators. But Gen. James Wilkinson, under the influence of wine, dis- closed some passages that had appeared in a letter from Conway to Gates, and Washington thus be- coming apprised of the conspiracy against him, its power was soon gone. Lafayette, also, refused to lead the proposed expedition unless Baron de Kalb should be made his second. Conway's promotion to major-general was confirmed, 14 Dec, 1777, in spite of Washington's disapproval. But in the following March, having lost favor with congress, his resignation, offered conditionally, in a fit of petulance, was accepted unconditionally, and he was obliged, against his will, to leave the army. In July, 1778. Gen. John Cadwallader, a stanch adherent of Washington, challenged Conway to mortal combat because of his attacks upon the commander-in-chief. The meeting took place, 22 July, and Conway was badly wounded in the mouth. He fell on his face, but raised himself and remarked to his adversary : "You fire with much deliberation, general, and certainly with a great deal of eft'ect." As soon as he was able to sit up he wrote a humble apology to Washington. He shortly afterward returned to France, where he re-entered the military service, and was appointed governor of Pondicherry and the French settlements in Hin- dustan. He is charged with having ruined the French prospects in India by a quarrel with Tippoo Saib. In 1792 he was sent to take command of the royalist array in the south of France, but dur- ing the revolution was obliged to flee the country.

CONWAY, William, sailor, b. in Camden, Me., in 1802 ; d. in Brooklyn, N. Y., 30 Nov., 1865. He was a sailor in the U. S. navy for forty years, and was stationed at the Warrington or Pensacola navy-yard when it was surrendei'ed to the southerners on 12 Jan., 1861, serving at the time as quartermaster. When ordered by Lieut. Frederick B. Kinshaw to lower the U. S. flag, he replied: "I have served under that flag for forty years, and I won't do it." Shortly afterward Mr. Conway was sent to the north, where he remained until his death.

CONWAY, William A., actor, b. in London; drowned himself off Charleston bar in 1828. He was educated for the bar, but appeared on the stage at the Haymarket theatre, in London, terminated a three years' engagement in 1816, starred till 1821, and came to the United States in 1823. He appeared as Hamlet and other tragic parts in New York and Philadelphia, visited the western and southern cities, took passage early in 1828 for Savannah, and threw himself into the sea while on the voyage. He won the affections of Mrs. Piozzi, whose letters to him were published in 1843. As Coriolanus he was excelled by Kemble alone. &mdash; His son, Frederick B., actor, b. in Clifton, England, 10 Feb., 1819; d. in Manchester, Mass., 6 Sept., 1874. He early developed a taste for the stage, and had won a fair position in his profession in England, when he came to the United States in August, 1850. Here he formed an association with Edwin Forrest, and played Iago to his Othello, De Mauprat to his Richelieu, and other companion parts. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Conway married, in May, 1852, Miss Crocker, a leading actress, and the two thenceforward acted together. In 1859 they opened Pike's opera-house in Cincinnati with a first-class company, but the engagement was not profitable, and they returned to the east. In 1861 they visited England, and filled a short engagement at Sadler's Wells theatre, London. After their return they became star-actors, and made an extensive and