father on some of his travels, particularly to Madrid, when the latter was searching for materials for his ‘Life of Sir Walter Raleigh,’ and he also travelled in America. He began to write tales when a lad, and translated about thirty of Gustave Aimard's Indian tales into English. His translations appeared between 1876 and 1879. In 1846 he edited the ‘Mirror of Literature,’ and in 1861 the ‘London Herald.’ As correspondent to various newspapers, his miscellaneous contributions to the press were numerous, but of no special note; and he was also a frequent contributor of papers to ‘Chambers's Journal’ and other magazines. He died in London on 15 March 1889.
St. John's original works were: 1. ‘Young Naturalist's Book of Birds,’ London, 1838. 2. ‘Trapper's Bride; and Indian Tales,’ London, 1845; several subsequent editions. 3. ‘Paul Peabody,’ London, 1853 (incomplete); another edit. London, 1865. 4. ‘Our Holiday: a Week in Paris,’ London, 1854. 5. ‘Lobster Salad’ (collaborated with Edward Copping), London, 1855. 6. ‘Quadroona, or the Slave Mother,’ London, 1861. 7. ‘The Red Queen,’ London, 1863. 8. ‘Snow Ship’ (adventures of Canadian emigrants), London, 1867; various editions subsequently. 9. ‘The Young Buccaneer,’ London, 1873. 10. ‘The North Pole’ (a narrative of Arctic explorations), London, 1875. 11. ‘Polar Crusoes,’ London, 1876. 12. ‘The Sailor Crusoe,’ London, 1876.
[Literary World, March 1889; Brit. Mus. Cat.]
ST. LAWRENCE, Sir CHRISTOPHER, twentieth or more properly eighth, Baron Howth (d. 1589), commonly called the ‘Blind Earl,’ was the third son of Sir Christopher, seventeenth baron Howth, and younger brother of Edward and Sir Richard, eighteenth and nineteenth barons respectively. His grandfather was Nicholas St. Lawrence, sixteenth baron Howth [q. v.] On the death of Sir Richard in 1558 he succeeded to the family estates; but the title of baron was not confirmed to him and his heirs male by Elizabeth until 1561 (Cal. Carew MSS. i. 311). He appears to have sat in the first parliament of Elizabeth's reign, and he and Lord Slane were instrumental in inducing Shane O'Neill to repair to England. He himself paid a visit thither in December 1562 with letters of credit to the privy council, and returned to Ireland on 28 Feb. 1563. In 1565 he signed a memorial to the queen commending the government of Sir Nicholas Arnold, and he was knighted by Sir Henry Sidney at Drogheda on 9 Feb. 1569 in acknowledgment of the assistance he had rendered the deputy against Shane O'Neill (ib. ii. 148). Subsequently, however, he gave great offence by the part he played in the agitation of the Pale against cess in 1577–8 [see under Nugent, Sir Christopher, fourteenth Baron Delvin]. In his examination before the council he justified his conduct by declaring that, ‘having read the chronicles and laws,’ he was convinced that the imposition was unconstitutional. But after five months' confinement in the castle he consented to admit that he had no intention ‘to gainsay any part of the queen's prerogative,’ and acknowledged ‘that, in times of necessity, the queen may lay charge upon her subjects here as fully as in England;’ whereupon, having been sharply reprimanded for his undutiful behaviour, he was set at liberty (ib. ii. 133). The question was, however, revived in 1586, and it was mainly in consequence of the opposition offered by him and Lords Slane and Louth that an attempt of Sir John Perrot [q. v.] to induce parliament to consent to a composition for cess was defeated. He was induced to confess his fault, and seems to have become reconciled to Perrot, to whom he sent, shortly before his death, an ‘intermute gossawk.’ He died at Howth on 24 Oct. 1589, and was buried in the south aisle of the abbey. Over him is a monument in high relief, with the effigies, it is said, of him and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Plunket of Beaulieu, co. Louth, though, as the inscription is now entirely obliterated, it is questionable whether they do not represent some earlier members of the family, conjecturally Christopher, thirteenth baron, and his wife (Lewis, Topogr. Dict. s.v. ‘Howth;’ Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, Irel. iii. 449). By his first wife St. Lawrence had Nicholas, his successor [see below], Thomas, and Leonard (Lodge; or, according to the pedigree in Harl. MS. 1425, f. 104, Richard, who married a daughter of Francis Corby of Queen's County, and Lionel, who married Ann Eustace), and three daughters, viz. Jane (d. 1577); Mary, who married Sir Patrick Barnwell of Turvey, and (?) Margaret. His second wife, by whom he had no issue, was Cecilia, second daughter of Henry Cusack, alderman of Dublin, who remarried, first, John Barnwell of Monctown, co. Meath, and, secondly, John Finglas of Westpalstown.
The well-known ‘Book of Howth’ (published by the master of the rolls), a compilation of considerable historical value, bears evidence of having belonged to him, and
