Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/559

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BENTINCK 539 tent congregation in London, where he nearly involved himself in fresh difficulties by his boldness of speech. On the accession of Eliza- beth he was appointed to the pulpit of Paul's Cross, and in 1559 to the see of Lichfield and Coventry. He published an exposition of the Acts of the Apostles, and translated into Eng- lish some parts of the Old Testament. BENTIXCK, an English noble family, with extensive connections in Germany and Holland. WILLIAM, son of the lord of Diepenheim, in Overyssel, Holland, was page and afterward confidential adviser to William of Orange, who in 1689, on becoming king of England, made him earl of Portland. He was prominent in the battle of the Boyne and in the peace of Rys- wick, and died Nov. 23, 1709. His son HENRY was in 1716 made duke of Portland, and died in Jamaica, of which he was governor and captain general, July 4, 1726. WILLIAM, sec- ond duke, born in 1708, married Margaret Cavendish, only daughter and heir of the sec- ond earl of Oxford, and died May 1, 1762. WILLIAM HENRY CAVENDISH, third duke, born April 14, 1738, died Oct. 30, 1809. He was twice prime minister under George III. (1783 and 1807-'9), and viceroy of Ireland for a short time in 1782. WILLIAM CHABLEB CAVENDISH, second son of the preceding, born Sept. 14, 1774, died in Paris, June 17, 1839. Entering the army at an early age, he served in Flanders with the duke of York, and was colonel be- fore he was 21. In 1799 he joined the Russian army under Suvaroff in Italy, where he con- tinued in active service till 1801 ; went out to India as governor of Madras in 1803 ; was made major general on his return in 1805 ; was sent on a mission to the Spanish court in 1808, relative to the French invasion of Spain ; com- manded a brigade under Sir John Moore at Corunna, in January, 1809; went to Sicily in 1810 as plenipotentiary and commander-in- chief of the English troops there ; bestowed a constitution on that island in 1812; conducted the expedition from Sicily to Catalonia in 1813, to operate in the rear of the French armies, hut was compelled to make a hasty retreat; took possession of Genoa in 1814, when the inhabitants revolted from the French, and threw up his commission in disgust when the Genoese (who claimed the reestablishment of their republic under England, under the con- vention which had been made) were given over to Piedmont. By this time he was lieu- tenant general. Returning to England, he was elected member of parliament for Nottingham, and voted with the liberal party. He was subsequently raised to the rank of full general, and was in 1827, under the government of Mr. Canning (a family connection by marriage), sent to India as governor general, in which capacity he continued till 1835, when ill health compelled him to resign. The results of his Indian rule were : the reduction of the latta (allowances made to the troops on the march), much to the discontent of the army ; the aboli- tion of flogging among the native troops, Brit- ish soldiers serving in the same country remain- ing subject to it; the prohibition of the suttee, or burning alive of the widow on the funeral pile of her husband ; the granting Englishmen leave to settle in India, though not belonging to the military or civil service ; the upholding of the native population as far as possible ; and the protection of the liberty of the press. Some of these alterations were made by order of the East India directors in England, and some were carried out contrary to the wish of the direc- tors. In 1834 he made war on the rajah of Coorg, annexed his territory, and pensioned him off. When he quitted India, the natives, who had looked upon him as the best friend they had had since the time of Warren Hast- ings, expressed their regret at a public meet- ing in Calcutta, and testified their respect by erecting an equestrian statue of him. He reentered the house of commons in 1836, for the city of Glasgow. GEORGE FREDERICK CAVENDISH, known as Lord George Bentinck, third son of the fourth duke of Portland, born Feb. 27, 1802, died unmarried Sept. 21, 1848. He rose to the rank of major in the army, became private secretary of Canning, who had married his aunt, and was member of parliament for King's Lynn from 1827 till his death. He voted in favor of the Catholic relief bill of 1829, supported Lord Grey's re- form bills, and denounced the alliance between O'Connell and the whigs, which he termed the Lichfield house compact, and which drove from office Sir Robert Peel, whom he had zealously supported. In 1846, when that statesman an- nounced his intention to favor the repeal of the corn laws, Lord George, who had always been regarded as a silent member, made a powerful speech which placed him at once at the head of the protectionists, and he was for the rest of his life the first man on the opposition side in the commons. Mr. Disraeli was his disciple, and afterward became his biographer (1851). Lord George was a famous patron of the turf. The still existing junior branch of the Ben- tinck family was founded by WILLIAM (1701- '73), the eldest son of William Bentinck, the first earl of Portland, by the father's second marriage with Lady Berkeley. He became lord of Rhoon and Pendrecht, president of the states of Holland and West Friesland, was raised to the rank of count of the empire, and by his marriage with Carlotta Sophi.a, only daughter and heir of Anthony II., the last count of Aldenbnrg, he came into possession of the letter's extensive entails, including those in Oldenburg. By his descendants this yonngei Dutch branch of the Bentincks was split into various branches on the continent and one in England. Count WILLIAM CHRISTIAN FRED- ERICK (1787-1855) was chamberlain to ths king of Holland. His brother CHARLES AN- THONY FERDINAND (1792-1864) acquired dis- tinction as lieutenant general in the English army, and Sir HENEY JOHN WILLIAM, another