Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/260

 or the Black 'Republic' (2nd edit. 1889; French translation 1884). St John gave an unfavourable but truthful account of the republic and its savage inhabitants (cf., Une Conférence sur Haiti, Paris, 1888).

For nine years (from 14 Oct. 1874 till 1883) St. John was minister residentiary in Peru and consul-general at Lima. In 1875 he went on a special mission to Bolivia, and in 1880-1 witnessed the war between Peru and Chile. With the ambassadors of France and Salvador he negotiated an armistice in January 1881, and by his diplomatic firmness helped to protect Lima from destruction after the defeat of the Peruvians by Chile. He was created K.C.M.G. on 20 March 1881. In May 1883 St. John was sent to Mexico to negotiate the resumption of diplomatic relations with Great Britain. An agreement was signed at Mexico on 6 Aug. 1884, and was ratified, not without much opposition, mainly by his tact. He was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Mexico on 23 Nov. 1884, and remained there tiU 1893. In 1886 a mixed commission was appointed to investigate British financial claims on the Mexican government, and in 1887 a long-standing dispute was equitably terminated under St. John's guidance. From 1 July 1893 to January 1896 St. John was at Stockholm as minister to Sweden. He was created G.C.M.G. in 1894. Retiring from the diplomatic service in 1896, St. John spent his last years in literary pursuits. He died on 2 Jan. 1910 at Pinewood Grange, Camberley, Surrey. He married, on 29 April 1899, Mary, daughter of Lieutenant-colonel Fred. Macnaghten Armstrong, C.B., of the Bengal staff corps, who survived him. St. John's chief work, besides those mentioned above, was his authentic 'Life of Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak' (1879). He also wrote 'Rajah Brooke' (1899) for the 'Builders of Britain' series. St. John drew upon his early experiences in the Malay archipelago in two vivacious volumes, 'Adventures of a Naval Officer' (1905) and 'Earlier Adventures' (1906), both of which he attributed to a fictitious Captain Charles Hunter, R.N. A final publication was a collection of sympathetic but rather colourless 'Essays on Shakespeare and his Works' (1908), edited from the MSS. and notes of an unnamed deceased relative.

St. John bequeathed his portrait of Brooke by Sir Francis Grant (1847) to the National Portrait Gallery.

(1839-1911), Sir Spenser's youngest and last surviving brother, pursued a literary and journalistic career. He was a pioneer of boys' journals, starting and editing the 'Boys of England' and similar periodicals. He was also the author of 'Undercurrents: a Story of our own Day' (3 vols. 1860) and of many story books for boys. He died at Peckham Rye in poor circumstances on 20 Dec. 1911. He was twice married, and had seventeen children.

 SALAMAN, CHARLES KENSINGTON (1814–1901), musical composer, born at 11 Charing Cross, London, on 3 March 1814, was the eldest son and one of the fourteen children of Simeon Kensington Salaman, a member of a Jewish family of German and Dutch origin, by his wife Alice Cowen, an amateur pianist. Mrs. Juha Goodman [q. v. Suppl. II] was his eldest sister. Another sister, Rachel, married Sir John Simon (1818-1897) [q. v.], while a third, Kate (1821-1856), attained some reputation as a miniature-painter, and exhibited at the Royal Academy. After being educated privately Charles gave early evidence of musical talent, and had his first lessons on the piano from his mother. In 1824 he was awarded second place in the competition for studentship at the new Royal Academy of Music, but preferred to study the pianoforte independently, first with Stephen Francis Rimbault and then (1826-1831) under Charles Neate, the friend of Beethoven. Meanwhile in 1828 he studied under Henri Herz in Paris, and to him and to Neate his earhest compositions were dedicated in the same year. As a boy he played duets with Liszt and came to know Clementi. His first public appearance was at Lanza's concert at Blackheath, in June 1828. He composed the ode (with words by Isaac Cowen, his uncle) for the Shakespeare Festival at Stratford-on-Avon, 30 April 1830. In 1831 he commenced his long career as a pianoforte teacher. In May 1833 he gave his first annual orchestral concert at the Hanover Square rooms, when Mendelssohn's Concerto in G Minor was first rendered in public by a player other than the composer. At his annual orchestral concerts he introduced many distinguished artists and classical novelties. 