contact with detachments of the army sent against him, and seldom shunned an engagement. In one instance, by the melancholy slaughter of a large body of the 'Ancient Britons,' he executed what in military parlance would be termed a brilliant affair; and when Holt was beaten or outnumbered, he generally contrived to effect his retreat without any serious loss; on one occasion in particular, when he was supposed to be surrounded by the King's troops, Holt retired with his corps unbroken." 165 There is scarcely a glen in Wicklow that has not been rendered notable by his exploits. Through the negotiation of Mrs. Latouche with Lord Powerscourt, Holt surrendered on 10th November 1798, on condition that his life was to be spared and that he was to be transported to New South Wales with his family. Though he strenuously denies the imputation in his memoirs, passages in the Castlereagh Correspondence state that he "gave much information." He sailed along with other convicts from Cork on the 24th August 1799, and reached Port Jackson after a five months' voyage. He received a free pardon for good conduct in 1809, and in 1812, having amassed a little property, returned home. On the home passage of sixteen months, he was shipwrecked on the Falkland Islands, and encountered other adventures. In the year 1814 he settled at Dunleary (now Kingstown), as a publican, and invested his savings in house property. He died on 16th May 1826, aged about 70: his family returned to New South Wales. Holt is described as five feet ten inches in height, well made, of compact muscle, and remarkably athletic and vigorous; his hair was black, his eye-brows heavy and bushy; his eyes small, dark, and penetrating. He had the power of readily assuming a commanding or determined look, but there was nothing ferocious in his appearance, and his smile was beaming with benevolence. His manners were simple and unaffected. His voluminous memoirs, copied from his dictation by an illiterate amanuensis, were carefully edited by Crofton Croker, in 2 vols. in 1838, and are a valuable contribution to the history of Ireland and New South Wales. The first volume recounts his adventures in Ireland, the second deals principally with his life in Australia. 87 165
Holwell, John Zephaniah, a writer on Indian affairs, was born in Dublin in September 1711. He went to India in 1732 as a surgeon, and in 1736 became a member of the Court of Calcutta. In 1756 he defended Fort William, Calcutta, against Surajah Dowla, Nabob of Bengal; but was obliged to surrender on 20th June, after a gallant defence. He and 146 companions were, the evening of the surrender, shut up in the memorable "Black-hole" of Calcutta, a room some twenty feet square, where the wretched prisoners soon became frantic with suffocating heat and insufferable thirst. But twenty-three survived a night's confinement. They were liberated from captivity by Clive a few months afterwards. It is from Mr. Holwell's narrative we learn the particulars of this outrage. In after years he raised a monument at his own expense to his fellow-prisoners who died in the Black-hole. After a short visit to England, he succeeded Clive in 1758 as Governor of Bengal, in which office he was superseded about the end of 1760. He died in England in 1798. In his various works he treated especially of some of the native systems of religion — believing them to be of divine origin. His principal books were: Indian Tracts (1764), Historical Events relative to Bengal and Indostan, and Mythology of the Gentoos. 16 38
Homes, William, a divine well known in America, was born in the north of Ireland in 1663. He received a liberal education, when a young man removed to New England, and there taught school for three years. He returned to Ireland, and was ordained at Strabane in 1692. Again removing to New England in 1714, he settled as a minister in Chilmark, where he died 20th June 1746, aged about 83. He was the author of sermons on the Sabbath, Secret Prayer, Church Government, as well as other theological works. His son, Captain Robert Homes, married a sister of Benjamin Franklin. 37*
Hone, Horace, an eminent miniature painter, was born in Dublin about 1753. It was at his house that Captain Grose died. The decay of Irish prosperity after the Union obliged him to remove to London, where he died in 1827. Many well-known prints of the time were engraved from his originals. 145
Hone, Nathaniel, R.A., a painter, who lived in the 18th century, was a native of Dublin. In early life he went to England, and followed the profession of an artist in several parts of the country, particularly York, where he married a lady of some means. Eventually he settled in London, where he ranked amongst the first painters of miniature portraits. He was chosen a member of the Royal Academy at its first institution, but took offence at one of his pictures, intended as a satire on Sir Joshua Reynolds, being rejected for the exhibition.
