BOTTA, Vincenzo, author, b. in Cavaller Maggiore, Piedmont, 11 Nov., 1818; d. in New York, 5 Oct., 1894. He was educated at the university of Turin, in which he became professor of philosophy. In 1849 he was elected to the Sardinian parliament, and in 1850 commissioned, in association with Dr. Parola, another deputy, to examine the educational system of Germany. Their report on the German universities and schools was published at the expense of the government. In 1853 he came to the United States for the purpose of investigating the public-school system, settled here, became naturalized, and for many years filled the chair of Italian language and literature in the university of the city of New York. He married, in 1855, Anne Charlotte Lynch, the author. He published an “Account of the System of Education in Piedmont”; “Discourse on the Life, Character, and Policy of Cavour” (1862); “Dante as Philosopher, Patriot, and Poet,” with an analysis of the “Divina Commedia” (New York, 1865); and “An Historical Account of Modern Philosophy in Italy.” —
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His wife, Anne Charlotte Lynch, author, b. in Bennington, Vt., 11 Nov., 1815; d. in New York city, 23 March, 1891. Her father was a native of Ireland, who joined the rebels under Lord Edward Fitzgerald. He was captured, and remained a prisoner four years, when, still refusing to take the oath of allegiance, he was banished, and came to the United States, where he married and died a few years later. His daughter was educated in Albany, N. Y., and began early to write for literary periodicals. She removed to Providence, R. I., and there edited the “Rhode Island Book,” containing selections from the authors of that state (Providence, 1841). Soon afterward she returned to New York, where she has since resided, and in 1855 married Prof. Botta. Their house has been for many years open to a wide range of literary and artistic people, and Mrs. Botta's receptions have been attended by many of the most famous authors, painters, and musicians of Europe and America. During the Franco-Prussian war (1870-'1) an effort was made in New York city to collect funds for the suffering women and children of Paris. Mrs. Botta prepared as her contribution an album of autographs, photographs, and original sketches by celebrated artists, which was sold for $5,000. As the war had closed before the collection was complete, this sum was appropriated to found a prize at the French academy, to be awarded every five years, when the interest of this sum reached $1,000, for the best essay on the “Condition of Woman.” Mrs. Botta's style is musical, elegant, and finished. Among her best poems are “Paul at Athens,” “Webster,” “Books,” and “Wasted Fountains.” Her sonnets are especially successful. She published in periodicals innumerable stories, essays, and criticisms. The first collected edition of her poems (New York, 1848; new ed., 1884) was illustrated by Brown, Darley, Durand, Huntington, and other artists. Her “Leaves from the Diary of a Recluse” appeared in “The Gift” for 1845. She also published a “Handbook of Universal Literature” (New York, 1860), containing concise accounts of great authors of all ages and their works, which has been adopted as a text-book in many educational institutions. A memorial volume, with selections from her writings, prepared by Prof. Botta, appeared in 1894.
BOTTS, John Minor, statesman, b. in Dumfries, Prince William co., Va., 16 Sept., 1802; d. in Culpepper, Va., 7 Jan., 1869. Soon after his birth his parents removed to Fredericksburg, and
thence to Richmond, where they perished in the
great theatre fire in 1811. Young Botts received a
good education, began early to read law, and was
admitted to the bar at the age of eighteen. After
he had practised for six years he retired to a farm
in Henrico co., and established himself as a gentleman farmer. In 1833 he was elected as a whig to represent his county in the legislature, where he
at once became prominent, and several times re-elected. In 1839 he was elected to congress, and
there stood earnestly and ably by Henry Clay,
zealously advocating most of the points of the
great leader's programme, including a national
bank, a protective tariff, and the distribution
among the states of the proceeds of the public
lands. He was one of the few southern members
that supported John Quincy Adams in his contest
against the regulations of the house infringing
the right of petition, adopted by the majority in
order to exclude appeals from the abolitionists.
After serving two terms, from 2 Dec, 1839, till 3
March, 1843, he was defeated by Mr. Seddon, but in
1847 re-elected, and sat from 6 Dec, 1847, till 3
March, 1849. In 1839 he was a delegate to the
national whig convention, which nominated Harrison and Tyler. He had been a warm personal friend of John Tyler, elected vice-president in November, 1840, and who, by the death of Gen. Harrison, in April, 1841, became president of the United States ; but, soon after Mr. Tyler's accession to office, Mr. Botts, in a conversation with him, learned his intention of seceding from the party that had elected him, and he at once denounced him, and opposed him as long as he was president. In the presidential campaign of 1844 he labored earnestly for the election of Mr. Clay. In 1852 Mr. Botts resumed the practice of his profession in Richmond. He earnestly opposed the repeal of the Missouri compromise in 1854, and was in sympathy with those southern representatives who resisted the passage, in 1858, of the bill admitting Kansas as a state under the Lecompton constitution. On the disruption of the whig party, he joined the American party, and in 1859 an attempt was made by that political organization to nominate him for the presidency. He continued his practice, and remained in Richmond till the beginning of the civil war; but, being devoted to the union, and having used all his efforts, without avail, to prevent Virginia from seceding, he retired
to his farm near Culpepper Court-House, where he remained most of the time during the war, respected by the secessionists yet subjected to a great deal of trial and inconvenience. One night, in March, 1862, a squad of a hundred men, under the orders of Gen. Winder, came to his house, took him from his bed, and carried him to prison, where he was held in solitary confinement for eight weeks. His arrest was caused by the well-founded suspicion that he was writing a secret history of the war. Search was made for the manuscript, but nothing was found. After the close of the war, this missing manuscript, of which a portion had been, in 1862, confided to the Count de Mercier,
