Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/784

 766 HOLLAND a Past Life " (1871). His son by his first wife, Sir Henry Thurstan Holland, is to arrange and publish a collection of his papers (1874). HOLLAND, Henry Richard Vassal!, baron, an English statesman, born at Winterslow house, Wiltshire, Nov. 21, 1773, died at Holland house, Kensington, Oct. 22, 1840. He was the only son of Stephen Fox, second Lord Holland, and a nephew of Charles James Fox, at whose hands, according to Macaulay, he received his "political education." He succeeded to his father's title when a little more than a year old, and was educated at Eton, and subse- quently at Oxford, where he graduated in 1792. In 1793 he travelled extensively over Spain, making himself familiar with the lan- guage and literature of the country, and sub- sequently visited other portions of the conti- nent. In Italy he formed a connection with Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Richard Vassall, and wife of Sir Godfrey Webster, who procured a divorce from her and recovered damages in 6,000 from Lord Holland. The latter married her in 1797, and took by royal license the surname of Vassall, in lieu of his patronymic of Fox ; but his children retained the latter name. In 1798 he made his first speech in the house of lords, and thenceforth was a frequent participator in debates, being to the close of his life a steady and consistent whig. Between 1802 and 1805 he made an- other long visit to Spain, and in 1806 he was appointed joint commissioner with Lord Auck- land to arrange with Messrs. Monroe and Pink- ney, the American commissioners, the matters in controversy between England and the Uni- ted States. In 1806 he published " Some Ac- count of the Life and Writings of Lope Felix de Vega Carpio," to which he subsequently added a biography of Guillen de Castro, which ap- peared in 1817 under the title of "Lives of Lope de Vega and G. de Castro." This work, the fruit of its author's visits to Spain, without aiming at profoundness, treats the subject in a genial and appreciative manner. It was fol- lowed in 1807 by " Three Comedies from the Spanish," and in 1808 he edited, with a long preface, Mr. Fox's fragment entitled "A His- tory of the Early Part of the Reign of James II." He held the office of privy seal for a few months in 1806, and resigned with his col- leagues after the death of Fox, because the king refused to concur in Catholic emancipa- tion, and on account of the failure of the ne- gotiations with France. He resided in a pri- vate capacity at Vienna during the session of the congress of 1814-'15, and rendered himself conspicuous by an ardent opposition against the policy adopted toward Napoleon, until the government ordered him to leave the city. Several times in parliament he demanded a milder treatment of the ex-emperor at St. He- lena. Lady Holland assisted the prisoner by sending him books, periodicals, and other com- forts. Under the reform ministry of Grey in 1830 he was unable from ill health to accept an appointment as cabinet minister, but he took the office of chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, because it gave him a vote in the cabinet council, and held it until his death, with the exception of the brief ministerial in- terregnum in May, 1832, and the period of Sir Robert Peel's administration from December, 1834, to May, 1835. Lord Holland was much esteemed in private life for his courtly grace of manner, genial humor, and amiability; and Holland house, his suburban residence, a build- ing having many interesting historical associa- tions, and stored with much that was rare and beautiful in art and literature, was for nearly 50 years the resort of eminent personages and the scene of elegant hospitality. (See " Hol- land House," by Princess Maria Liechtenstein, an adopted daughter of the fourth Lord Hol- land, 2 vols., London, 1874.) Although in men- tal calibre inferior to Charles James Fox, to whom he bore a strong family resemblance, he was an effective speaker, and, according to Macaulay, was more distinguished in debate than any peer of his time who had never sat in the house of commons. His " Foreign Rem- iniscences," published by his son (8vo, Lon- don, 1850), is a work full of gossip and pi- quant anecdotes. The first two volumes of "Memoirs of the Whig Party during my Time, by Henry, Lord Holland " (1854, edited by his son), are inferior to his earlier works. A publication entitled " The Opinions of Lord Holland, as recorded in the Journals of the House of Lords from 1797 to 1840," appeared in London soon after his death, affording a complete view of his public career. He had projected a life of his uncle, but never ad- vanced beyond the collection of a few notes and materials, which are included in Lord John Russell's "Memoirs and Correspondence of Charles James Fox." He was succeeded by his son, HENRY EDWARD, fourth baron, born March 7, 1802, died in Naples, Dec. 18, 1859. He was member of parliament for Horsham in 1826-'7, and in 1839-'42 minister to Tuscany. As he died without issue, the title became ex- tinct, Holland house and the other estates be- ing inherited by his sister, married to Thomas, Lord Lilford, who died March 15, 1861. HOLLAND, Josiah Gilbert, an American author, born in Belchertown, Mass., July 24, 1819. Having studied medicine and practised for three years, and afterward edited a literary journal for a few months in Springfield, Mass., he passed a year in Vicksburg, Miss., as super- intendent of public schools. In May, 1849, he became associate editor of the " Springfield Republican," and two years afterward one of the proprietors of that journal, in which con- nection he remained till 1866. Since 1870 he has been the conductor of " Scribner's Month- ly " in New York. He has for many years been a public lecturer on social and literary topics, and has written many books, those of a didac- tic character under the nom de plume of " Tim- othy Titcomb." This series includes "Letters