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 308 STANLEY STANLEY, Thomas, an English author, born in Hertfordshire in 1625, died in London, April 12, 1678. He was educated at Cambridge, and resided for several years in the Middle Tem- ple. He published " Poems and Translations " (1649); "History of Philosophy, containing the Lives, Opinions, Actions, and Discourses of the Philosophers of every Sect" (3 vpls. fol., 1655-'62; Latin translation by Olearius, Leipsic, 1711); and an edition of .ZEschylus with a commentary and a Latin version (1663 ; new ed. by Dr. Butler, 4 vols. 4to, Cambridge, 1809). In 1814-'15 appeared an edition of his poems with a biographical memoir by Sir Egerton Brydges. STANSTEAD, a S. county of Quebec, Canada, bordering On Vermont ; area, 407 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 13,138, of whom 5,763 were of Eng- lish, 3,212 of French, 2,599 of Irish, 1,016 of Scotch, and 408 of German origin or descent. It contains Lake Massawippi and a part of Lake Memphremagog, and is traversed by the Stanstead, Shefford, and Chambly, the Massa- wippi Valley, and the Grand Trunk railways. Capital, Stanstead. STANTON. I. A N. E. county of Nebraska, intersected by Elkhorn river ; area, 432 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 636 ; in 1875, 1,157. The surface consists chiefly of rolling prairies. The chief productions in 1870 were 15,640 bushels of wheat, 9,255 of Indian corn, 6,548 of oats, 3,630 of potatoes, 8,645 Ibs. of butter, and 943 tons of hay; value of live stock, $27,521. Capital, Stanton. II. An unorganized S. "W. county of Kansas, bordering on Colorado ; area, 720 sq. m. It is drained by tributaries of the Arkansas river. The surface is rolling. STANTON, Edwin MeMasters, an American states- man, born in Steubenville, Ohio, Dec. 19, 1814, died in Washington, D. C., Dec. 24, 1869. He was a student in Kenyon college from 1831 to 1833, was admitted to the bar in 1836, be- gan practice in Cadiz, Harrison co., Ohio, and soon afterward was elected prosecuting attor- ney for the county. After acquiring a large circuit practice he removed to Steubenville. From 1842 to 1845 he was reporter of the de- cisions of the supreme court of the state, and prepared vols. xi., xii., and xiii. of the Ohio reports. In 1845 he successfully defended Caleb J. McNulty, clerk of the house of repre- sentatives, tried in the criminal court of Wash- ington for embezzlement. In 1847 he removed to Pittsburgh, Pa., but for nine years after- ward retained also an office in Steubenville. His first appearance before the supreme court of the United States was as counsel for Penn- sylvania in the case of the state against the Wheeling and Belmont bridge company, and thereafter his practice in that court increased so much that in 1856 he removed to Washing- ton. In 1858 he went to California as counsel for the government in certain land cases, and his services were specially important in the examination of Spanish and Mexican archives in their bearing upon titles. He was also en- STAR gaged in several leading patent cases. In 1859 he was one of the counsel for Daniel E. Sickles, tried for the murder of Philip Barton Key. In December, 1860, he was nominated attorney general of the United States, and served to the close of President Buchanan's administration, when he resumed the practice of his profession. In January, 1862, he was appointed secretary of war. His labors in this department were indefatigable, and many of the most important and successful movements of the war were originated by him. He continued as secretary after the succession of Andrew Johnson ; but his support of congressional measures which were vetoed and repassed, and his opposition to Johnson's plan of reconstruction, led the presi- dent (from whom the power of removal had been taken by the tenure of office act), on Aug. 5, 1867, to request his resignation. He refused to resign, but on Aug. 12 he gave way under protest to Gen. Grant as secretary ad interim. On Jan. 13, 1868, the senate reinstated him. On Feb. 21 the president appointed Gen. Lo- renzo Thomas secretary of war ad interim, and Mr. Stanton refusing to vacate, the impeach- ment of the president followed. (See JOHN- SON, ANDREW.) Upon the president's acquittal, May 26, Mr. Stanton resigned. The senate in confirming his successor adopted a resolution that Mr. Stanton was not legally removed, but relinquished his office ; and subsequently con- gress passed a vote of thanks to him for the great ability, purity, and fidelity with which he had discharged his duties. Although his health was much shattered by his arduous labors in the war department, his circum- stances compelled him to resume the practice of the law, and he argued several important cases. On Dec. 20, 1869, he was nominated by President Grant as an associate justice of the supreme court of the United States, and was immediately confirmed by the senate ; but he died after a brief illness from dropsy, be- fore his commission was made out. STAR (Gr. aarfip, acrpov), a luminous body beyond the solar system, not nebulous. The study of the stars includes two chief divisions : 1, the determination of the exact position and changes of position of individual stars ; 2, the inquiry into the laws according to which the stars are distributed throughout space, or rath- er throughout that portion of space within which, by means of the telescope, astronomers are able to carry on their researches. In the in- fancy of astronomy the stars were divided into constellations, chiefly for the sake of conve- nient reference, though partly also, as we learn from Aratus, Manilius, and others, because of fanciful ideas connected with mythological and astrological superstitions. Unfortunately, this rough and imperfect method of distribu- ting the star groups has continued to our own time, but with a modification of the method of indicating particular stars. Originally the brighter stars received different names; but Bayer introduced the plan of assigning to the