Scotch-Irish parentage. He graduated from Union College in 1848, began the practice of law in 1853, and soon became conspicuous at the bar of New York. In the decade before the Civil War his professional reputation was assured by his share in the famous Lemmon Case, involving the validity, under certain conditions, of the Fugitive Slave Law (q.v.), and by his management of the case, which resulted in securing for colored persons equal rights with white persons in the street cars of New York. In the period of the war he served at different times as Inspector-General and as Quartermaster-General of the State of New York, and gained wide recognition for his particularly effective work in preparing the New York troops for the field. Having identified himself with the Republican Party in its early days, he obtained from President Grant in 1871 the highly desirable office of Collector of the Port of New York, and four years later his administration of the office was indorsed by a reappointment. His relations with practical politics and his attitude toward civil-service reform not tending long to maintain harmony between himself and the incoming administration, he was removed from office by President Hayes. The power of his friends, however, was such that in 1880, partly as a concession to the unsuccessful supporters of Grant, he was nominated for the Vice-Presidency, and upon his election to that office manifested an activity in senatorial politics quite unusual with vice-presidents. In the factional fight for the control of the New York patronage, he continued in alliance with Roscoe Conkling, the leader of the ‘Stalwart’ faction, against the ‘Half Breeds.’ This bitter controversy culminated in the resignations of Senators Conkling and Platt; but the situation seemed altered a few months later, when, upon the death of Garfield, Arthur succeeded to the Presidency. His administration of that office, however, was marked by a realization of its responsibilities, and by principles of procedure different from those which had earlier controlled his actions as a politician.
Those who anticipated the introduction of partisan motives into the executive policy were shown clearly to be in error, and the administration, although not brilliant, was in many respects creditable. The tariff formed the chief object of party legislation, and important Congressional action was taken with reference to the problems of polygamy in Utah, of the Chinese, of the development of the navy, and of civil-service reform. On the other hand, the ‘Star-Route’ frauds (q.v.) had not disappeared from notice, and the prevalent dissatisfaction with the methods and accomplishments of the Republican Party was typified in the defeat of Arthur's Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Folger, by Grover Cleveland (q.v.) in the gubernatorial contest in New York. President Arthur was avowedly a candidate for the nomination in 1884, but was defeated by James G. Blaine (q.v.). He died in New York City, November 18, 1886. See United States, Administration of Arthur.
ARTHUR, Sir George (1784-1854). An English colonial governor, born at Plymouth. He entered the army in 1804, served with marked distinction in several campaigns, and in 1814 was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of British
Honduras. From 182.3 to 1827 he was Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania, and in the latter year was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. During part of 1841 he
acted as Deputy-Governor. From 1842 to 1846 he was Governor of the Presidency of Bombay, India, in which capacity he carried on the Deccan survey, quelled the Kolapur insurrection, and did much firmly to establish British sovereignty.
ARTHUR, Joseph Charles (1850—). An American botanist. He was born at Lowville, N. Y., studied at the Iowa Agricultural College and Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Bonn universities, and from 1884 to 1887 was botanist to
the New York Agricultural Experiment Station. He was appointed professor of vegetable physiology and pathology at Purdue University and botanist of the Indiana Experiment Station in 1887. With Dr. Coulter and Dr. Barnes he edited a Handbook of Plant Dissection (1886). He is an editor of the Botanical Gazette, and has published numerous papers,
including History and Biology of Pear-blight.
ARTHUR, Julia (1869—). The stage name of Ida Lewis, an American actress. She was born at Hamilton, (3nt., May 3, 1869. At the age of fourteen she appeared on the professional stage, and then, after three seasons, went to England to study music and drama. Having returned to New York, she met with success in The Black Masque, and in A. M. Palmer's company as Mercedes, etc. In 1895 she appeared
in London with Irving at the Lyceum, playing Rosamund in Becket, and other parts. Next year she accompanied Irving and Terry to America. In 1897 she brought out in New York A Lady of Quality on an elaborate scale; the following season she appeared as Rosalind in As You Like It, at Wallack's Theatre. October 24, 1899, she produced, at the Broadway Theatre, More Than Queen, from the French of Emile Bergerat, taking the part of Josephine Bonaparte, which obtained a great success. In March, 1900, an illness in Philadelphia led her unexpectedly to leave the stage. She is the wife of B. P. Cheney.
Consult: J. B. Clapp and E. F. Edgett, Players of the Present (New York. 1899) ; and L. C. Strang, Famous Actresses of the Day in America (Boston, 1899).
ARTHUR, Timothy Shay (1809-85). An American story-writer, born near Newburgh, N. Y. He wrote a great number of moral and domestic tales and sketches which formerly had much popularity. One of the most popular of his stories was Ten Nights in a Bar-room. He founded Arthur's Home Magazine in 1852. He died in Philadelphia.
ARTHUR, William (1819-1901). A British author and clergyman, born in Ireland. He was in India for three years as a missionary; afterwards secretary of Wesleyan Church Missionary Society, and president of the British Conference, and was principal of the Wesleyan College in Belfast from 1807 to 1871. He is the author of Personal Reminiscences of a Mission to the Mysore (London, 1847): The Tongue of Fire, or True Power of Christianity (1856; 40th edition in 1885, and many reprints), and other works.
