Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/124

 116 SMITH were published under the titles " Story of Mont ii /mKQ<k m1 "To China and Back" Ulano" (1853), and "To China
 * and since his death his brother, Ar-

-uith, has. published from his 'sketches " Wild Oats and Dead Leaves" (1860), and Par is and London "(1867)". xMMlI Alexander, a Scottish poet, born m Hlmarnook, Dec. 31, 1830, died at Wardie, near Edinburgh, Jan. 5, 1867. He was the son of a pattern designer, and himself became a pattern designer for a lace factory m Glas- gow In 1852 he published serially in the -Critic" his poem "A Life Drama,"_ issued with other poems in book form in 1853. In 1854 he was appointed secretary of the uni- versity of Edinburgh (a post which he re- tained till his death), and about the same time delivered a series of lectures. His later poeti- cal works are: "Sonnets of the War," in con- junction with Sydney Dobell (1855) ; " City Poems" (1857); and "Edwin of Deira" (1861). He also wrote in prose " Dreamthorp " (1863) ; "A Summer in Skye" (2 vols., 1865); "Al- fred Hagart's Household" (2 vols., 1866) ; and "Miss Oona McQuarrie" (1866). A posthu- mous volume, "Last Leaves," was edited by P. P. Alexander, with a memoir (1868). SMI III, HI, an American missionary, born at Northford, Conn., Sept. 15, 1801, died in Bey- rout, Syria, Jan. 11, 1857. He graduated at Yale college in 1821, and at Andover theologi- cal seminary in 1826, and on May 23 of the latter year sailed as a missionary of the Ameri- can board for Malta, where he took charge of the missionary printing establishment. In 1827 he went to Beyrout to study Arabic, and in 1828 returned to his work at Malta. In 1829 ho made a tour with Dr. Anderson through Greece, and in 1830-'31 with Dr. Dwight of Constantinople through Armenia and Georgia to Persia, opening the way for the Nestorian mission at Urumiah. In 1832 he visited the United States, and published a work by him- self and Dr. Dwight entitled " Missionary Re- searches in Armenia." He returned to Bey- rout in 1833. In 1838 and again in 1852 he was the travelling companion and coadjutor of Dr. Edward Robinson in his explorations in Palestine. After the journey of 1838 he went to Leipsic to superintend the casting of a new font of Arabic type, in which he im- proved the form of the letters, making them more distinct and nearer the style of the writ- ten letters. He revisited the United States in 1839, and again, on account of severe illness in 1845. From 1847 he was engaged upon a translation of the Bible into modern Arabic which has been completed since his death b Dr. C. C. Van Dyke. He published a volum of sermons and addresses (1834). SMITH, George, an English oriental scholar born about 1825. In 1866, while examinini r;*e store of Assyrian paper casts in th British museum, he discovered an inscription of Shalmaneser II., which gave an account o the war against Hazael. In 1867 he assistec preparing a new volume of " Cuneiform In- criptions of Western Asia" for the British museum. Thereafter the study of the cunei- orm texts became his sole occupation. His >rincipal earlier discoveries, published in the ' Transactions of the Society of Biblical Ar- haBology " are : a tablet noticing the eclipse if June 15, 763 B. C. ; notices of the Israeli- ish kings Azariah, Pekah, and Hoshea; ac- jounts of the conquest of Babylonia by the Elamites in 2280 B. C. ; a curious religious calendar of the Assyrians; and a tablet con- .aining the Chaldean account of the deluge, which he afterward discovered to be the elev- nth in a series of twelve giving the history jf an unknown hero, whom he believes to >e the same as the Nimrod of the Bible. In 1871 he published, at the cost of Mr. Fox Dalbot and Mr. J. W. Bosanquet, his great work on the history of Asshur-bani-pal, giv- ing the cuneiform texts, transcriptions, and of the " Daily Telegraph " sent him on an ex- ploring expedition to Nineveh, and in 1874 tie went there again. He obtained over 3,000 entire or fragmentary inscriptions, and many other objects of great importance. He pub- lished in 1875 an account of these explora- tions, and contributed a volume on the history of Assyria to the series of "Ancient History from the Monuments;" also "The Chaldean Account of Genesis" (German translation by H. Delitzsch, with notes by F. Delitzsch, 1876), a series of legends from the cuneiform inscrip- tions resembling the Biblical accounts. He is now (1876) exploring the Euphrates valley. ^ SMITH, Gerrit, an American philanthropist, born in Utica, N. Y., March 6, 1797, died in New York, Dec. 28, 1874. He inherited from his father Peter Smith, a partner of John Ja- cob Astor in the fur trade, one of the largest estates in the country, consisting chiefly of land in almost every county of New York and in nearly all the states of the Union. He graduated at Hamilton college, Clinton, N. Y., in 1818, and for many years his chief occu- pation was the management of his property, his residence being at Peterboro, Madison co. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar when 56 years old (1853). In 1825 he joined the colonization society, and contributed large- ly for the removal of colored people to Africa. Ten years later he withdrew from it and joined the American anti-slavery society. He gave away large quantities of land in public and pri- vate charity, and in 1848 distributed 200,000 acres, in parcels averaging 50 acres. In 1852 Mr. Smith was elected a representative in con- gress ; but he did not like public life, and re- signed at the close of the first session. While in congress he voted with the party opposed to slavery, and made several speeches on that side. A few years later he contributed large- ly to the struggle for free institutions in Kan- sas, in which his friend John Brown became
 * ranslations of the historical documents per-
 * aining to this reign. In 1873 the proprietors