382 STEVINUS active member of the whig party. In 1833 and for several succeeding years he was a member of the Pennsylvania legislature, and he became distinguished by his opposition to slavery. He was appointed a canal commissioner in 1838, and rendered important services to the state in the promotion of her system of internal im- provements. In 1842 he removed to Lancaster, and for six years devoted himself to his profes- sion. He was elected representative in congress in 1848 and reflected in 1850. He strongly opposed the fugitive slave law and the Kansas- Nebraska bill. He was again elected to con- gress in 1858, and held his seat till his death. In his latter years in congress he was a recog- nized chief of the republican party, and took the lead in all measures for emancipating and arming the negroes and for giving them citizen- ship. He also advocated acts of confiscation and other severe measures against the confed- erates ; and he was chairman of the managers for the impeachment of President Johnson. STEVINUS, or Steyln, Simon, a Flemish mathe- matician, born in Bruges about 1550, died at the Hague about 1630. The particulars of his life are unknown. In 1586 he published in Dutch a work on " Statics and Hydrostatics " and "Anew System of Fortification;" in 1589 a tract on the motion of the heavens ; and in 1599 a treatise on navigation (translated into Latin by Grotius, Ley den, 1624). In 1605 Wil- lebrord Snell translated into Latin most of the works of Stevinus, but died before completing the translation. In 1634 Albert Girard pub- lished at Leyden all his works in French, in- cluding a collection of geometrical problems. See Simon Stemn, by Quetelet (Brussels, 1845). STEWARD, Lord High, in England, the highest officer under the crown, who was formerly known by the Latin title of magnus seneschal- lus. Under the Plantagenets the office was hereditary, and was held by the house of Lei- cester, until forfeited by Simon de Montfort. Since the reign of Henry IV. it has been abol- ished as a permanent dignity, and is conferred for some special occasion, as a trial before the house of peers or a coronation. The lord high steward presides at the former, and at the close of the proceedings breaks his wand and dissolves the court. The office of steward, or Stewart, also existed from early times in Scot- land, and gave name to the royal family of Stuart, in which it was hereditary from the time of David I. (1124-'53) till the accession to the throne of Robert (II.) Stuart, grandson of King Robert Bruce, in 1371. STEWART. I. A S. W. county of Georgia, bounded W. by the Chattahoochee river, which separates it from Alabama, and drained by sev- eral of its tributaries; area, about 500 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 14,204, of whom 9,100 were col- ored. The soil is fertile. The chief produc- tions in 1870 were 271,288 bushels of Indian corn, 26,103 of sweet potatoes, and 13,643 bales of cotton. There were 703 horses, 1,933 mules and asses, 1,759 milch cows, 3,963 other cattle, STEWART 1,150 sheep, and 8,270 swine. Capital, Lump- kin. II. A N. W. county of Tennessee, border- ing on Kentucky, intersected by the Cumber- land river and bounded W. by the Tennessee ; area, about 425 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 12,019, of whom 2,700 were colored. The surface is undulating and the soil very fertile. Valuable iron ore abounds. The Louisville, Nashville, and Great Southern railroad passes through it. The chief productions in 1870 were 31,380 bushels of wheat, 428,311 of Indian corn, 26,623 of oats, 17,635 of Irish and 18,746 of sweet potatoes, 1,809 bales of cotton, 1,191,620 Ibs. of tobacco, 16,135 of wool, and 10,335 gallons of sorghum molasses. There were 1,579 horses, 2,158 milch cows, 3,575 other cattle, 8,939 sheep, and 15,652 swine; 3 manufactories of pig iron, and 1 of blooms. Capital, Dover. STEWART, Alexander Tnrney, an American mer- chant, born near Belfast, Ireland, Oct. 27, 1802. He studied at Trinity college, Dublin, but did not take a degree, emigrated to New York in 1818, and engaged in teaching. In 1823 he began, at No. 283 Broadway, a business which has gradually expanded into one of the largest mercantile concerns in the world. He sent a ship load of provisions to Ireland du- ring the famine of 1846, and made similar gifts to the sufferers by the Franco-German war and by the Chicago fire in 1871. In 1867 he was chairman of the honorary commission sent by the United States government to the Paris exposition. In March, 1869, President Grant appointed him secretary of the treasury, but his confirmation was prevented by the law which excludes from that office all who are interested in the importation of merchan- dise. Mr. Stewart has now (1876) nearly com- pleted the erection on 4th avenue and 32d street, New York, of a building costing more than $1,000,000, which is understood to be intended as a home for working girls ; and he is also building at Hempstead Plains, Long Island, on a tract of 10,000 acres, a town known as Garden City. STEWART, Balfonr, a British physicist, born in Edinburgh, Nov. 1, 1828. He studied in the universities of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and in 1852 engaged in business in Melbourne, Australia; but in 1854 he retired to Rich- mond, near Melbourne, and devoted himself to science. In 1855 he returned, and was assistant for six months to John Welch, su- perintendent of the Kew observatory, and afterward for three years to Prof. Forbes in Edinburgh, lecturing on mechanics and assist- ing in experiments. In 1859 he was appointed superintendent of the Kew observatory, and in 1861 examiner in the universities of Lon- don and Edinburgh. In 1868 he received the Rumford medal from the royal society. In 1870 he was appointed professor of natural philosophy in Owens college, Manchester, still retaining the directorship of the Kew observa- tory. Besides several papers in the "Trans- actions " of the royal society, he has published
