Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 26.djvu/377

 anxiety appeared until he was taken ill after bathing at Kingston House, near Abingdon, and died six days later, 14 Aug. 1868. He was buried near his younger son in the Roman catholic cemetery at Fulham. He was survived by his widow and three children. Higgins was six feet eight in height, and was a man of noble and amiable presence. Portraits by Sir Francis Grant, in which a toy-terrier was introduced by Landseer, and one by Reginald Cholmondeley are in possession of his family. A photograph of Grant's portrait is prefixed to his memoir.

Higgins was famous for his skill in newspaper correspondence. His talents were, he said, first revealed to him through the impression made on the committee of his club by a letter complaining of a bad dinner which he had drafted for a friend. His first published article, called 'Jacob Omnium, the Merchant Prince,' a satire on mercantile dishonesty, appeared in the 'New Monthly Magazine' for August 1845. He frequently used the name or the initials of his hero, and is generally known by it. His writings brought him the acquaintance of Thackeray, who dedicated to him the 'Adventures of Philip' in 1862. Thackeray's ballad on 'Jacob Omnium's Hoss' commemorates his friend's assault upon the Palace Court, which was abolished in consequence. Higgins's letters to the 'Times,' under various signatures, such as 'Civilian,' 'Paterfamilias,' 'Mother of Six,' 'A Thirsty Soul,' &c., always commanded notice, and exposed many abuses. His connection with the 'Times' was ended by a dispute in 1863. His letters, supported by articles, had led to a court-martial upon Colonel Crawley for oppressive treatment of a sergeant. The colonel was fully acquitted; the 'Times' was converted to his side; made difficulties about admitting a letter of self-defence from Higgins; published a severe reply to it, and then closed the discussion. Higgins privately printed his correspondence with the proprietor of the 'Times' upon the occasion. Higgins wrote other articles in the 'Edinburgh Review,' and especially in the 'Cornhill,' edited by his friend Thackeray. When the 'Pall Mall Gazette' was started, he showed especial skill in writing the 'Occasional Notes,' which were then a comparative novelty. In controversy Higgins had in the highest degree the journalist's faculty of presenting his case tersely and going straight to the main points.

Higgins published: In 1856 he printed privately some of his articles as 'Social Sketches.' These were published in 1875 (with some additions) as 'Essays on Social Subjects,' with an excellent memoir by Sir William Stirling-Maxwell.
 * 1) 'Is Cheap Sugar the Triumph of Free Trade?' a letter to Lord John Russell, by Jacob Omnium, 1847. This was followed in 1848 by a second letter with the same title, and 'a third letter to Lord John Russell &hellip; with an appendix.'
 * 2) 'Cheap Sugar means Cheap Slaves,' 1848.
 * 3) 'The real bearings of the West India Question,' by Jacob Omnium, 1848.
 * 4) 'Light Horse,' 1855.
 * 5) 'A Letter on Administrative Reform,' 1855.
 * 6) 'Letters on Military Education,' 1855 and 1856.
 * 7) 'Letters on Army Reform,' 1855 (?) (the last four reprinted from the 'Times,' and described as by Jacob Omnium).
 * 8) 'Three Letters to the Editor of the "Cornhill Magazine" on Public Education; by Paterfamilias,' 1861; republished in 1865 with essay from the 'Edinburgh Review.'
 * 9) 'The Story of the Mhow Court-martial &hellip; by J. O.' (reprinted from the 'Cornhill' of November 1863), 1864.



HIGGINS, WILLIAM (d. 1825), chemist, born in co. Sligo, was the nephew of, M.D. [q. v.] He entered Pembroke College, Oxford, but did not matriculate in the university. After working with his uncle for a while, he left him in consequence of some disagreement. In 1789 he published at London ‘A Comparative View of the Phlogistic and Antiphlogistic Theories, with Inductions’ (2nd edit. 1791), in which he was clearly the first to enunciate the law of multiple proportions. Dalton, about 1802, adopted independently a similar hypothesis. Higgins made an unworthy attack upon Dalton in a treatise entitled ‘Experiments and Observations on the Atomic Theory and Electrical Phenomena,’ 8vo, Dublin, 1814, in which he set forth his superior claims to be considered the author of the atomic theory. In 1791 Higgins was appointed chemist to the Apothecaries' Company of Ireland, a post which he vacated in 1795 to become chemist and librarian to the Royal Dublin Society. Under act of parliament his office was raised about 1800 to the dignity of a professorial chair. On 12 June 1806 he was elected F.R.S., but never presented himself for admission (, Hist. of Roy. Soc. App. iv. lxviii). Higgins died in 1825. He was a man of eccentric, indolent habits. His style of lecturing was very quaint, and many anecdotes are told about him. To vol. i. pt. i. of the ‘Transactions’ of the Dublin Society for 1800 he contributed ‘An Essay on the Sulphuret of Lime as a substitute for Potash; or a New Method of Bleaching.’ He published also ‘A Syllabus of a Course of Chemistry for the year 1802,’ 8vo, Dublin, 1801.