had advanced beyond the policy of his party. Lord Castlereagh charged him with 'turning his back on himself.' On 24 July 1815 he married Miss Margaret Maclean Clephane, eldest daughter and heiress of Major-general Douglas Maclean Clephane. She was intimate with Sir Walter Scott. Though her poem ' Irene ' was printed for the sake of her family and friends, it was never given to the world, but her minor poems appeared in some of the 'Miscellanies.' After 1820 Compton took up his residence in Italy, where his house became a centre of attraction, and his influence was exercised in favour of many of the unfortunate victims of despotic authority both in Lombardy and in Naples. On 24 May 1828 he succeeded his father as second marquis of Northampton, and two years afterwards, on the death of his wife at Rome, 2 April 1830, he returned to England.
In 1832 he proposed in parliament that the law in respect to vacating seats on acceptance of office should be abolished, but his bill on this matter, although favourably received, was not carried. His name will be chiefly remembered for his taste in literature and the fine arts, and for his devotion to science. He was one of the earliest presidents of the Geological Society, and also presided at the meeting of the British Association at Bristol in 1836, and at Swansea in 1848. On the retirement of the Duke of Sussex in 1838 he was chosen president of the Royal Society, which office he held until 1849. He took the liveliest interest in the Archaeological Association, founded in 1844, and in presiding at the meeting at Winchester in 1845, after the rupture, he proposed that the designation should be altered to the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. He was not unknown as a poet, and he edited and published, for the benefit of the family of the Rev. Edward Smeedly, a volume entitled 'The Tribute,' which, in addition to his own verses, contained contributions from the majority of the best known poets of the day.
On the morning of 17 Jan. 1851 the marquis was discovered dead in his bed, and was buried at Castle Ashby on 25 Jan.
He was the author or editor of: 1. 'Irene,' a poem, in six cantos. Miscellaneous poems, by Margaret, marchioness of Northampton, ed. by the Marquis of Northampton, 1833, not published. 2. 'Observations on the Motion of Sir R. Heron, respecting Vacating Seats in Parliament on the Acceptance of Office,' 1835. 3. 'The Tribute,' a collection of miscellaneous unpublished poems, by various authors, ed. by Lord Northampton, 1837.
[Robinson's Vitruvius Britannicus (1841), pt. iii. pp. 1–24; Drummond's Noble British Families (1846), i. 12–16; Gent, Mag. April 1851, pp. 425–9; Times, 22 Jan. 1851, p. 5, said to be by Lord Monteagle; Illust. London News, 25 Jan. 1851, p. 59, with portrait; Doyle's Baronage (1886), ii. 631, with portrait.]
COMPTON, alias CARLETON, THOMAS (1593?–1666), Jesuit, was a native of Cambridgeshire. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1617, being then in the twenty-fourth year of his age (Southwell, Bibl. Soc. Jesu, p. 761). Having been ordained priest at Douay in 1622, he was sent to England in 1625 and was professed of the four vows 21 May 1628 (Foley, Records, vii. 154). He taught rhetoric and belles lettres in the English college at St. Omer, and philosophy and theology for many years at Liège, where he was also for a long time prefect of studies. He died at Liège on 24 March 1665–6. Oliver states he was deservedly admired for his classic taste and his skill in philosophical and theological science (Jesuit Collections, p. 72).
He wrote: 1. 'Philosophia Universa,' Antwerp, 1649, 1664, fol. The title-page is a fine engraving by Winceslaus Hollar, representing the author's patron, Maximilian, duke of Bavaria, seated on his throne. 2. 'Prometheus Christianus, seu liber Moralium in quo Philosophiæ finis aperitur. Simulque media quibus in homine formando in hominem utitur declarantur: ex antiquorum Philosophorum monumentis deducta.' Antwerp, 1652, 8vo. 3. 'Cursus Theologici tomus prior,' Liege, 1658, fol., tomus posterior 1664. Other editions of the 'Cursus Theologici,' 2 vols. Liège, 1659-64, Antwerp, 1624, 1634, 1684, 1710, fol. 4. 'Disputationes Physicæ, ubi etiam de Generatione et Corruptione,' Salamanca, 1676, 4to; founded on the works of Aristotle. 5. 'Disputationes in universam Aristotelis Logicam,' Salamanca, 1716, 4to.
[Authorities cited above; Backer's Bibl. des Écrivains de la Compagnie de Jésus (1869), i. 1348; Cat. of Printed Books in Brit. Mus.; Gillow's Bibl. Dict. i. 546; Dodd's Church Hist, iii. 311.]
COMPTON, Sir WILLIAM (1482?–1528), soldier, only son of Edmund Compton of Compton in Warwickshire, must have been born about 1482, as his age was eleven years 'and more' when his father died in 1493. Henry VII, whose ward he then became, appointed him page to Prince Henry, duke of York. In 1509 Prince Henry became King Henry VIII, and Compton was rapidly appointed groom of the bedchamber, chief gentleman of the bedchamber, groom of the stole, constable of Sudeley and Gloucester
