times. In 1796 he went to New York city, Imt returned to Burlington in 1808. His son's also followed the business of their father ; and the house of Charles Collins is now the oldest pub- lishing firm in the United States.
COLLINS, John, governor of Rhode Island, b.
8 June, 1717; d. in Newport, R. I., 8 March, 1795.
He was a prominent patriot during the Revolution,
and a commissioner to settle the accounts of Rhode
Island with congress in 1776, sat in the old con-
gress from 1778 till 1783, was governor from 1786
till 1789, and in the latter year elected a member
of the first congress under the constitution, but
did not take his seat.
COLLINS, Joseph Edmund, Canadian journalist, b. in Placentia, Newfoundland, 22 Oct., 1855. He was educated by private tutors, and in 1874 removed to Frederieton, New Brunswick, and studied law for a short time. Then he established the Frederieton " Star " newspaper, and subse-
quently the Chatham " Star." In 1881 he removed
to Toronto and assumed the city editorship of the
" Globe." He has published " Life and Times of
Sir John A. Maedonald," " Canada under the Ad-
ministration of Lord Lome," "A Sketch of the
Life of Lord Lansdowne," and other works, all
published in Toronto. He has also been a con-
tributor to popular periodicals.
COLLINS, Napoleon, naval officer, b. in Penn-
sylvania, 4 May, 1814 ; d. in Callao, Peru, 9 Aug.,
1875. He entered the navy in 1884 as midship-
man, became a lieutenant in 1846, was attached to
the sloop '* Decatur " during the Mexican war, and
was present at Tuspan and Tobasco. He com-
manded the steamer " Anacosta " in the Potomac
squadron in 1861, and took part in the engage-
ment at Acquia Creek on 81 May in that year.
He afterward received command of the gun-boat
" Unadilla," and for nearly a year was with the fleet
stationed off the coast of South Carolina, Georgia,
and Florida, and took part in the battle of Port
Royal and in various expeditions along the coast.
In July, 1862, he was made commander of the
steamer " Octorara" in the West Indian squadron.
In 1868 he was transferred to the steam sloop
" Wachusett " and sent in pursuit of Confederate
privateers. On 7 Oct., 1864, he bore down on the
Confederate steamer " Florida " in the harbor of
Bahia, Brazil, intending to sink her, but demand-
ed her surrender, and, as the captain and half his
crew were ashore, the lieutenant in command
deemed it best to comply. In an instant the
" Florida " was boarded, a hawser was made fast,
and the captor put out to sea, making no reply to
a challenge from the Brazilian fleet, and imharmed
by three shots fired from the fort. After the " Wa-
chusett" and her prize arrived in Hampton Roads
in November, while negotiations for the return of
the " Florida " were in progress she was run into
at her anchorage by a steam transport and sunk.
Brazil having complained that her neutrality had
been violated in this affair. Sec. Seward disavowed
the act 6f Commander Collins and ordered him to
be tried by court-martial. On 25 July, 1866, he
was promoted captain and placed in command of
the steam sloop " Sacramento." He was made a
commodore on 19 Jan., 1871, and on 9 Aug., 1874,
was raised to the rank of rear-admiral and placed
in command of the South Pacific squadron.
COLLINS, Patrick Andrew, b. in Ireland
in 1844. He came to the United States in 1848,
and settled in Chelsea, Mass. He worked at the
upholsterer's trade for eight years, gave his leisure
hours to study, entered flarvard law-school in 1868,
and was admitted to the bar in 1872. In 1868-'9
he was a member of the Massachusetts house oi
representatives, and in 1870-'l a state senator, in
1875 he was judge-advocate-general of the state.
He was appointed delegate-at-large from Massa-
chusetts to the democratic national conventions in
1876 and 1880, and was nominated for attorney-
general. In 1882 he was elected to congress, and
he has been twice re-elected. Mr. Collins was one
of the secretaries to the Fenian congress held in
Philadelphia in 1865, and has been an active mem-
ber of the land and national leagues since their
establishment. He was chosen pi-esident of the
Irish land league at the convention that was held
in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1884.
COLLINS, Thomas, governor of Delaware, b.
in 1782: d. near Duck creek, Kent co., Del., 29
March, 1789. He was for some time high sheriff
of Kent county, a member of the council for four
years, brigadier-general of militia from 1776 till
1788, member of the assembly, chief-justice of the
court of common pleas, and governor of the state
from 1786 till 1789.
COLLINS, Thomas Wharton, jurist, b. in
New Orleans, 28 June, 1812; d. 8 Nov., 1879. He
became a printer, then an editor, studied law, was
admitted to the bar in 1888, was reporter and clerk
of the state senate in 1884, then edited the " True
American," was clerk of the U. S. court in 1836-'8,
district attorney for the Orleans district in 1840-2,
judge of the city court in 1842-'6, a member of
the constitutional convention in 1852, and in 1856
was elected judge of the first district court of New
Orleans. At the close of the war he resumed the
practice of law in New Orleans, and in 1867 was
made judge of the seventh district court, which
office he held until the court was abolished, when
he returned to legal practice. He was the author
of a tragedy called " The Martyr Patriots," which
was successfully performed ; also of " Humanics "
(1860), " The Eden of Labor," and essays on soci-
ology, ethics, and politics, published in periodicals.
COLLINS, Zaccheus, philanthropist, b. in
Philadelphia, 26 Aug., 1764; d. there, 12 June,
1881. He was a member of the society of Friends,
a promoter of the advancement of the natural sci-
ences, and an officer or member of many jahilo-
sophical, humane, and religious societies. ^
COLLINSON, Sir Richard, naval officer, b. in
Gateshead, England, 7 Nov.. 1811 ; d. in Ealing, 18 Sept., 1888. He entered the navy in 1828. and, after service on the Pacific station, was assigned to the "Chanticleer," which was employed in making observations on the shores and islands of the Atlantic ocean. Being promoted a lieutenant in 1885, he joined the "Sulphur," and was employed in the examination of the coasts of Central America and Mexico, visiting California, Vancouver's island, Sitka, and fixing the position of Mount St. Elias. Subsequently he took part in the Chinese war, and was promoted captain and C. B. in 1842. In 1850 Capt. Collinson took command of an expedition to Bering strait, to continue the search for Sir John
Franklin. After passing three winters in the ice, and ascertaining the fact that the northern coast of North America was navigable by a sailing vessel from Bering strait to King William's land, he returned to England, and received the medal of the Geographical society. After service on the Defence commission and the lakes in Canada, he was promoted to flag-oflicer in 1862, and made a K. C. B. in 1875. He'is the author of "Nine Weeks in Canada " (Cambridge, 1862), and "The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher in Search of a Passage to Cathaia and India by the Northwest, A. D. 1576-8 " (London, 1867).
