Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/638

* NICHOLSON. 544 NICHOLSON. ■which resulted iu the capture of Port Royal, and in 1713 betame Governor of Acadia. In 1719, the proprietary cliaiter of South Carolina hav- ing been declared forfeited, Nicholson was ap- pointed royal Governor. He was knighted in the following year, and remained in South Carolina until 1725. In the same year he attained the rank of lieutenant-general. He publislied an in- teresting account of the capture of Port Koyal, entitled Journal of an Expedition for the He- duction of Port Uoyal (1711), reprinted by the Nova Scotia Historical Society in 1879: and An Apology or Vindication of Sir Francis y icltolson, Oovtrnor of .South Carolina (1724). NICHOLSON, JAME.S (1737-1804). An American naval otlicer, born at Chestertown, Md. He was present at the capture of Havana in 1762, lived in Xcw York from 1703 to 1771, then returned to ilaryland, and in 177.5 became cap- tain of the American sliip Defense. In March, 1770, he captured several British prizes; in June he was put in conimaiid of a twenty-eight- gun ship, the ]'irgini(i : and in October he was made ranking captain of the American na^'j'. His vessel was conhned for some time to Chesapeake Bay by a strict blockade, and during this period he and his crew took ])art as volunteers in the battle of Trenton. In .January, 1777, he succeed- ed Commodore Esek Hopkins as commander-in- chief of the American nay. in which position he remained until the close of the war. Early in 1778, while he was attempting to leave Chesa- peake Bay, his vessel ran aground and was cap- tured, but he, with most of his crew, managed to escape. On .Tune 2, 1780, in command of the TrumhuU, of 38 guns, he fought a drawn battle with the British ship Wi/alt. and in 1781, off the Delaware cajx-s. after a stubborn resistance, he was captured liy the Iris and General ilon1:. He was released at the close of the war, and re- turned to New York City, where he was appointed commissioner of loans. NICHOLSON. .Tames Willlvm Augustus (1821-87). An American naval officer. He was born in Dedham, Mass.. entered the United States Navy as a midsliipnian in 1838, became a lieu- tenant in )8.">2. and in 18.53-5.5 served on the Vandalia in Commodore 'SI. C. Perry's .Tapan ex- pedition. During the Civil War he commanded the steamer Isaac Smith, of the South Atlantic blockading squadron, in the battle of Hilton Head at Port Royal (November 7, 1801); was promoted to the rank of commander in 1802; was in the action with the Confederate flotilla on the Savannah River in the same year; com- manded the mimitor Manhattan, iinder Admiral Farragut. in tlir battle of Mobile Bay, and soon afterwards participatoil in the bombanlment of Fort Morgan. In 180500 lie commanded the steamer Mohtfian in the Pacific Squadron; in 1873 was promoted to be commander; and from 1870 to 1880 was commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He bec%me a rear-admiral in 1881, was placed in commaml of the European station in the same year; was present nt the bombard- ment of .Iexandria. Egypt, by an English fleet in 1882. anil by his prnnipt and energetic meas- ures did much to restore onler thereafter. In 18S3. having reached the age of sixty-two, he was retirid from service. NICHOLSON, .Tonv (1821 57). A British general and administrator in India. He was bom in Dublin, December 11, 1821. At eighteen he received a cadetship in the Bengal infantry. In 1841 he fought heroically to defend Ghazni against the Afglians, but was taken prisoner and cruelh' treated. His bscape was followed by a period of inactivity, during which he was sta- tioned at Meerut, doing duty as adjutant of his regiment. On the breaking out of the Sikh War in 1845, he served in the campaign on the Sutlej, and was present at the battle of Firozsliah, though he had no opportunity to distinguish him- self. After the war, through the recommendation of Colonel Lawrence, Nicholson, now a lieutenant, was appointed assistant to the Resident at the conquered capital, Lahore, and thus fairly trans- ferred to the political l)ranch of the service, iu which most of his future life was passed. But with the outbreak of the Sikh rebellion in 1848 came an interlude of military activity, in which he greatly distinguished liiniself. At the battles of Cliillianwalla and Oujerat he earned the ap- proval of Lord Goigli, to whom he was imme- diately attached. Wlien the Punjab finally became a British province. Captain Nicholson was appointed dep- uty commissioner tmder the Lahore Board, of which Sir Henry Lawrence was president. During .a furlou;.'h, 1850 to 1851, he studied military af- fairs in the greatEurnpean capitals. For five years after his return to India he was engaged in aii- ministrative duties among the savage tril>es of the Punjab. His success in bringing them under thorough subjection to law and order was very great; and such was the impression of fear and reverence wrought by the force and personal- ity of the man, tlutt he became among these rude populations, under the title of 'Xikkul Seyn,' the object of a curious kind of hero-worship. In the great mutiny of 1857 he did noble service for England in helping save the Punjab. When everything was safe behind him. he marched to reinforce the army of General Wilson, engaged in the siege of Delhi. His presence and counsels gave new life to the operations, and in every way he strove to expedite the delayed as.sault. When the attack on the city was at last ordered. Gen- eral Nicholson, as he was now, led the first col- umn. As the troops forced their way into the city. Nicholson exposed himself fearlessly to ani- mate his men. Conspicuous by his great stature, he became the mark of the enemy's bullets and fell, .shot through the body. After great suf- fering he died September 23. 1857. Consult: Kaye, Liies of Indian Officers (London, 1807); id,. Historii of the Sepoy War in India (ib.. 1807) : Malleson, Tlistori/ of the Indian Mulini/ (ib., 1897) : Trotter, Life of John Xichol<ion, Sol- dier and jldniinistralor, linned on Private and Hitherto T'npnhlishcd nocuments (ib., 1897). NICHOLSON, .TosEPii SiiiET.n (18.50—). An English eroiinnii-t. bom in Lincolnshire. He stud- ied at the universities of Edinburgh. Cambridge, and Heidelberg, He was private tutor at Cam- bridge. 1870-1880, and became professor of polit- ical economy at the I'niversily of Edinburgh in 1880. His writings represent a compromise be- tween the methods of the historical school of German economics and those of the T^nglish de- duct ivr school. In his principal work. Principles nf Political Fconnniii (3 vols.. 1803 1901), he closely follows the great work of .Tohn Stuart ^lill in his selection of material, but employs sta-