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George Bethune English (7
Mar 1787 - 20 Sep 1828) |
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migration:
Cambridge, Middlesex Co., MA to Egypt to Washington D.C. |
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George Bethune English - bio 1 |
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| George Bethune English, an author
and adventurer, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts
on 7 Mar 1787. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1907
and was admitted to the bar, giving up the law for theology.
In 1813 he published, "The Grounds For Christianity Examined"
which was denounced by theologians.
After editing a county newspaper
in the West, English became a lieutenant in the United
States Navy and sailed to the Mediterranean. On reaching Egypt
he was in due to resign and became an artillery officer in
the Egyptian Army under the Pasha. English took part in the
war with the Abysinnians in 1820, but the experience was unfortunate
and he then became an agent of the United States in the Mediterranean
area.
George English returned to the
United States in 1827, but was unable to get another
appointment. Some of his other published works are: "Five
Stones Out of the Brook", "Letter to Mr. Channing
Regarding His Two Sermons On Infidelity", and "An
Expedition to Dongola and Semnaar". English died in Washington,
D. C.
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Source_bio 1:
ENGLISH FAMILY HISTORY
American Genealogical Research Institute
Heritage Press, Inc.
Washington, D.C.; 1978 |
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George Bethune English - bio 2 |
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George Bethune ENGLISH, adventurer
and author, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 7 March
1787" died in Washington, D. C., 20 Sept., 1828. He was
graduated at Harvard in 1807, and then studied law, but neglected
his practice and turned his attention to theology. While studying
Hebrew in Cambridge he began to doubt the truth of the Christian
religion, which he attacked in a book entitled "The Grounds
of Christianity Examined " (Boston, 1813). Edward Everett
answered this in 1814, and in reply English wrote "Five
Smooth Stones out of the Brook." Subsequently he edited
a western paper for a time, and then sailed to the Mediterranean
as a lieutenant of U. S. marines. On his arrival in Egypt he
resigned his commission and joined Ismail Pacha in an expedition
against Sennaar in 1820, winning distinction as an officer of
artillery.
As an experiment, he revived the ancient scythe armed war chariot,
which was destroyed by being driven against a stone wall in
Cairo, and he also employed camels for dragging a cannon.
George English next became an agent
of the U. S. government in the Levant, but in 1827
he returned to the United States and went to Washington, where
he remained until his death.
Samuel L. Knapp, his friend, composed
an ingenious epitaph recounting the incidents of his
life. George English's genius was versatile, and he possessed
remarkable facility for acquiring languages. Besides the works
mentioned above, he published replies to William E. Channing's
two sermons on infidelity (1813), and a "Narrative of
the Expedition to Dongola and Sennaar" (London, 1822;
Boston, 1823).
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Source_bio 2:
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia
Copyright © 2001 |
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page created: 20
Jun 2003 / updated: 06 Mar 2010 |
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© 2001-2012 Barbara English West. All rights reserved. |
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