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labour, was, a very few years later, still more exasperated by a talk of renewing the convict system; and there were not wanting colonists to declare that, if another convict were sent out, the province would sever from the mother country. English men and women who had made that splendid territory their home had discovered how much they had poisoned the very atmosphere by peo pling it with a race of criminals; and when the hideous evil had been swept from the colony, so far from declining, the country only attained a greater prosperity than ever. The author of the reform foresaw those consequences, but he did not wait for them, turning his indomitable energy to another scene of action.

"Ever since Cook first discovered New Zealand, the England of the South, it has been regarded as a desirable accession to our empire; but about 1837 certain French voyagers shewed a wish to try what their country could do in coloniza tion, and Wakefield urged the immediate occupation of the islands. The New Zealand Association was established under high patronage, Wakefield becoming a director, and one of the most splendid of our colonies was added to the territories of Queen Victoria. In 1837, however, broke out one of those conflicts in Canada which disclosed something rotten in the state of our colonial relations; and here was another field for the reformer. In a species of viceregal Government, with a local Parlia ment, Canada enjoyed many of the benefits which flow from the constitutional system of England; but Wakefield detected the flaw. The Ministers appointed by the Governor were not accounted responsible to the Parliament -were not removed if they failed to obtain a majority; and in the disregard of our principle of responsible government' Wakefield pointed to the blot in our colonial system. Lord Durham went out to Canada as Governor-General, with a special commission to investigate the causes of the outbreak. Buller was the secretary, and the report which was la'd before the Crown resulted in establishing for Canada that form of responsible government which rapidly extended to other colonies. The portion of the report which bore the name of Charles Buller is well known to have been the autograph work of that singularly intelligent and amiable statesman, who was so deeply respected and beloved by all who knew him; but GENT, MAG, VOL. CCXIII.

Charles

even in that portion, and still more in the remainder of the volume, can be traced the influence, if not the hand, of the man who was Lord Durham's private secretary, Edward Gibbon Wakefield.

"He had done too much work. When he returned to London and to his labours in the direction of the New Zealand Association, his health gave way. He has been known to declare that he has turned giddy at the very sight of New Zealand House. He sought repose in the south of France, and latterly in New Zealand, where several of his relatives had settled; and here, for some few years, he had been so completely removed from English affairs that his name is almost forgotten. His books, with a few imperfect exceptions, were directed to expose a state of things that has passed away; and thus, admirably written as they were, they have not retained a lasting hold on the library. He did his work more through others, -his pen being merely auxiliary to his use of men,-associations and committees. This very brief and imperfect recital of his principal achievements, however, will suffice to shew that there is no part of the British empire which does not feel in the actual circumstances of the day the effect of Edward Gibbon Wakefield's labours as a practical statesman; and perhaps the same amount of tangible results in administrative and constructive reform can scarcely be traced to the single hand of any one other man during his own lifetime."

MR. WALTER NELSON.

Aug. 2. At Chelsea, Mr. Walter Nelson, one of the Assistant Keepers of the Public Records.

The deceased was born in February, 1818, and was the youngest of the twelve children of Mr. John William Nelson, formerly Storekeeper of Her Majesty's dockyard at Deptford, and afterwards a ship-broker at Rotherhithe, but retired from business when his son Walter was born.

Mr. Walter Nelson received an excellent education at the school of the Merchant Tailors' Company, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Bellamy.

It is necessary to preface the account of Mr. Nelson's public employment with 3 P*

a short sketch of the state of that portion of the Records upon which he was chiefly engaged. To those at all interested in the noble collection of our national muniments, nothing is more painful than to look back over the history of that portion now known as the "Miscellanea of the Queen's Remembrancer of the Exchequer." It may be read in the reports and papers relating to the affairs of the Record Commissioners, and especially in the evidence taken before a committee of the House of Commons appointed in 1836 to enquire into those affairs. The collection had been operated upon at intervals since the commencement of the century, but the labour had been completely thrown away. Its removal in 1822 to temporary and most improper places of deposit was so conducted that many were stolen. Again removed to a mews, and then to a riding-school, suffering grievously at each change, and at last costing as much (according to official testimony) as would have built a Record Office, it was handed over to the officers of the Record Com. missioners.

Witnesses told the committee referred to of the thousands of cubic feet the documents comprised, the hundreds of eight-bushel sacks which they filled, the skeletons of rats found among them, and the state of filth and decomposition, "almost pestilential," in which they were found. The unsatisfactory state of things shewn by the Report of the Commons Committee was brought to an end by the passing of the Record Act, and the formation of the official establishment in 1840.

Mr. Nelson was one of the "school of transcribers" professed to be training for the work of calendaring the Records while the turmoil of editors, record-keepers, and sub-commissioners was going on. He was engaged in the year 1834 in making copies of Rymer's transcripts in the British Museum for the Record Commission. He continued so occupied till the spring of 1837, when he was appointed with others to assist the late Mr. Hunter in describing and

classifying the mass of documentary matter to which we have referred. On the formation of the Record establishment, Mr. Nelson was appointed to a clerkship, with a certain position of seniority on account of his previous occupation.

The details of the work of arrangement and description of such a mass of documents as that upon which Mr. Hunter and his staff were engaged must be sought for, by those having courage for the task, in the pages of the early Reports of the Deputy-Keeper of the Public Records. For the purpose of the present notice, it may be enough to indicate its general character by the description given it, of "A Collection of Documents relating to the Receipt and Expenditure of the Royal Revenue," extending from the reign of Henry the Second to that of George the Third. At first sight, to modern eyes, this would seem to refer only to the personal expenditure of the sovereign, but it really includes all the public officers of the country. Sheriffs, constables of castles, collectors of talliages and dues, masters of mints, and other holders of offices, accounted equally with the keeper of the king's horses or wardrobe, his bailiff or builder, to the Exchequer, the countinghouse of the sovereign.

It soon became evident to Mr. Hunter, and those engaged with him, that the mine of material under their hands was quite unwrought. It was full of new facts relating to the state of the arts, the social progress and condition of the country, which had been shut out from the consideration of historical enquirers by the previous state of the documents.

Mr. Nelson soon distinguished himself by the interest which he took in the prosecution of the work-by his care and skill; qualities which soon caused his chief to defer very much to his judgment and opinion. His heart was in his work, and he felt a pleasure in recovering from the neglect of ages, and restoring to its place among the muniments of his country, an account detailing conditions of life and manners,

or reports of new incidents, in the times of our Plantagenet kings. Such occupation is not without its charm.

A very large portion of the Calendar of Escheators' Accounts and Inquisitions is the result of his labours; and he also paid great attention to the arrangement of the early Taxation Accounts, and those relating to Royal Ambassadors. Perhaps it is not too much to say, that had his suggestions been acted upon, a readier means of turning these stores of information to account would have been carried out.

One has but to look over the list of Mr. Hunter's contributions to the Archæologia, and his other literary works, to see how wide was the range of the documents in his charge, and how valuable the information which they supplied. Other writers, and other members of the Archæological Institute, and of the kindred societies which have sprung up under similar influences, have made great use of the same stores: and all were greatly indebted to Mr. Nelson for his knowledge of the documents, the cordial attentions he paid to enquirers, and the ready assistance he afforded them.

It was especially on this account that Mr. Nelson deserves notice. He is the first who has deceased of the new class of Record officers trained to their work, which has been called into existence by the statutory establishment of the Office, the circumstances out of which that establishment had its rise, and its liberal administration under the Masters of the Rolls.

Madox, Dugdale, and other antiquarian writers of their period and of later times, had no difficulty in making the public documents available; but to some extent it was a question of interest or favour, and it was certainly not thought an essential part of the duty of a public officer to facilitate their researches, or

It remained for the late Master of the Rolls to recognise, to the fullest extent, the principle that the country's muniments were the property of the literati of the country; and, in deference to their wishes expressed by their memorial in the year 1851, to give them a right to consult the contents of the Record Office without fee or favour.

It was only by slow degrees that the new office was completed and the outlying buildings cleared of their records, and the last was the (literal) breakingup of the State Paper Office in the year which has passed. This transfer brought a great addition to the literary section of the Record Office, and it was necessary to separate it from the business portion. In that year Mr. Hunter died; Mr. Nelson, who had passed through the second class of officers, was appointed to the vacancy in the first class, and to be the head of the literary search department.

In that position he had full scope for carrying out the principles upon which he had previously acted, and he extended to all who were brought into contact with him the utmost attention and courtesy, often saving them considerable time and trouble by directing them where best to find the objects they sought for, and placing his skill and general professional knowledge com. pletely at their disposal and service. Among his fellow-labourers in the Office his kindness and cordial urbanity will long be remembered.

Though evidently suffering greatly some months previous to his decease, he neglected to avail himself of medical aid, and continued at his post till within three days of his death. He died unmarried.

CLERGY DECEASED.

Aug. 20. Aged 67, the Rev. James Bullock,

give them the benefit of their knowledge M.A., Rector of High Ham, Somerset, and late

and experience. The previous conditions of many of the offices themselves quite precluded this being the case, and a jealous grudging spirit was too often encouraged and acted upon.

GENT. MAG. VOL. CCXIII.

Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford.

Aug. 23. At Newton-house, Perth (the residence of his brother-in-law, Archibald Spens, esq.), aged 69, the Rev. Frederick Ayckbowm, M.A., Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Chester.

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Aug. 24. At Little Rimington Rectory, Gloucestershire, age: 81, the Bev. R. Wilbraham Ford, Rector of that parish, and for fifty-four years Vicar of South Cerney.

Aug. 25. At Satterton Vicarage, Lincolnshire, the Rev. Joseph Nankicell Townsend, M.A., only child of the late Thomas Townsend, Eng., Chief Judge of the Zillah Court, Madras, and of Pulteney-st., Bath.

In Harewood-sq, aged 66, the Rev. William Lucius Coghlan, M.A., late Vicar of St. Maryde-Lode, Gloucester.

At the Parsonage, Malpas, near Newport, Monmouthshire, aged 62, the Rev. Francis Foreman Clark, B.A.

At the residence of his son 'St. Mark's-sq., Regents'-park), aged 70, the Rev. James Clark, late of Leamington.

Aug. 27. At Berne, Switzerland, aged 39, the Rev. Chas. J. 8. Russell, B.A., Incumbent of St. John's, Walthamstow, eldest son of Joshua Russell, esq., of Stoke Newington.

At the Priory, Bicester, aged 72, the Rev. W. W. Dickins, M.A., Prebendary of Lichfield, and Rector of Adisham-with-Staple, Kent.

Aug. 29. Aged 57, the Rev. John Henry Kendall, M.A., Vicar of Treneglos and Warbstow, Cornwall.

Sept. 2. At Sibton Abbey, the Rev. Charles Henry Green.

Sept. 3. At Leytonstone, Essex, aged 40, the Rev. John Pyndar Wright.

Sept. 5. At Boulogne-sur-Mer, aged 65, the Rev. Henry George Salter, M.A., late of Gorleston, Suffolk.

Sept. 6. At Addington-park, aged 82, the Most Rev. John Bird Sumner, D.D., Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. See OBITUARY.

At Bedford, aged 80, the Rev. Dr. Brereton, D.C.L., F.S.A., F.G.S., formerly Fellow of New College, Oxford, and for more than fortyfour years Head Master of the Grammarschool, Bedford. See OBITUARY.

Sept. 8. At Walwyns Castle Rectory, Pembrokeshire, aged 71, the Rev. Robert Synge, only surviving son of the late Sir Robert Synge, bart.

At Barton Cliff, near Lymington, aged 30, the Rev. Edmund Luscombe Hull, B.A., late of Lynn, eldest son of the Rev. E. Hull.

Sept. 9. At his father's residence, Hydepark-square, aged 33, the Rev. Robert Stafford, M.A. Oxon., late Curate of Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair.

Sept. 13. At Brighton, the Rev. Edward Rolles, M.A., second son of the late ViceAdmira' Rolles.

At Padworth Rectory, aged 32, the Rev. Philip Windsor Curtis, second surviving son of the Rev. G. W. Curtis, Rector of Padworth, Berks.

Sept. 15. At Kennington, aged 72, the Rev. Henry Scawen Plumptre, second son of the late Very Rev. John Plumptre, D.D., Dean of Gloucester.

Sept. 16. Aged 62, the Rev. Henry Cooper, B.D., Vicar of Rye. He was born on the 20th

September, 1800, in the adjacent parish of Ieklesham, and was the fifth son of Thomas Cooper, esq., of New-place, by Mary his wife. He was first educated under Dr. Rawes, at Bromley, and thence removed to Lewes Grammar-school, and on 6th July, 1824, he was entered of St. Edmund's Hall, Oxford, but left on the recommendation of the Rev. Dr. Fearon, of Ore, to study theology under the Rev. Mr. Rogers, at Olney, Bucks. It was here that he formed the acquaintance and nitimately secured the friendship of Dr. Harcourt, the then Archbishop of York, by whom he was ordained as Curate to the Rev. Thomas Foxley, at Batley, near Dewsbury, Yorkshire. On the death of the Rev. John Myers, in October, 1834, the Rev. H. Cooper was presented to the Vicarage of Rye, by Elizabeth, Countess Dowager of Burlington, formerly Lady Elizabeth Compton, and was inducted on the 18th November following. It was at the instance of the Archbishop of York that the degree of B.D. was conferred on the new vicar, by Dr. Howley, the then Archbishop of Canterbury. He married 16th June, 1831, Sarah, the second daughter and coheiress of Francis Sykes, esq., of Dewsbury, by whom, who survives him, he has left an only daughter. His funeral took place on Monday, the 22nd September, in a vault he himself had had prepared in the new cemetery. His remains were followed to the grave by his four nephews; George Slade Butler, F.S.A., his executor; the Corporation of Rye; the Rural Dean and neighbouring clergy, and many parishioners and friends.

Sept. 17. At Morcott-hall (the seat of Samuel Richard Fydell, esq.), the Rev. Edward Brown, of Lyndon, Rutland.

Sept. 18. At North-hill, Colchester, aged 78, the Rev. Vicesimus McGhie Torriano, M.A., Rector of East Donyland, Essex.

Sept. 20. At Aylesford, Kent, aged 79, the Rev. Edward Garrard Marsh, M.A., Canon of Southwell and Vicar of Aylesford.

DEATHS.

ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. June 25. At Calcutta, Anna, the wife of H. Grosvenor Paynter, esq., of the B.C.S.

July 6. At New York, aged 74, Charles Kenneth Mackenzie, esq. The deceased, who lost his life in a fire at a coffee-house where he resided, it is said was for a time in early life aide-de-camp and military secretary to the Duke of Wellington. He was a man of good family and connections, a ripe scholar, and an excellent linguist, with great and versatile literary attainments, having been a contributor, in his early years, to both the "Edinburgh" and "Quarterly" Reviews, and the Encyclopædia Britannica, having also, at a later period, been the leading writer of editorials for one of the London daily Conservative journals.-Edinburgh Courant.

July 8. At Sealand, near Chester, aged 71,

Mr. Henry Wedge. This gentleman and his uncle, Mr. Thomas Wedge, who resided at Sealand from 1788, and died there in March, 1854, in his 93rd year, superintended the construction of several of the embankments by which large tracts of land have been reclaimed from the estuary of the Dee.

July 15. At Devonport, aged 70, Major-Gen. Wm. Furneaux, R.A., second son of the late Rev. James Furneaux, of Swilly, near Plymouth.

July 17. At Roi Bareilly, aged 34, Margaret Maclean, the wife of Major Maxwell, of H.M.'s 34th Regt.

July 26. At Wolfeville, Nova Scotia, Anne, wife of the Rev. Dr. Cramp, President of Acadia College, and the youngest surviving dau. of the late Wm. Burls, esq., of Lower Edmonton.

July 30. At Jhansi, Major F. W. Pinkney, C.B., of the Madras Army, Commissioner of Jhansi.

At Boolundshur, Wm. Henry Lowe, esq., B.C.S., youngest son of John Lowe, esq., of Hyde-park-sq.

Aug. 1. At Calcutta, aged 24, George John Richards, esq., B.A., late Scholar and Hulmian Exhibitioner of Brasenose College, Oxford, and of H.M.'s B.C.S.

Aug. 10. At Paris, aged 59, M. Erin Corr, member of the Royal Academy of Belgium, Director of the School of Engraving of the Académie Royale des Beaux Arts of Antwerp, and Knight of the Order of Leopold. As an engraver he had obtained the highest European reputation. His principal works are the "Saviour," from Leonardo da Vinci; "Christ upon the Cross," from Vandyke; the "Queen of Holland," from Scheffer; and "King Leopold," from Waffers. M. Corr had only just completed his magnificent engraving on copper-plate of Rubens' celebrated picture, "The Descent from the Cross," (a work which has cost him ten years of hard labour and anxiety,) and had gone to Paris to superintend the first impressions, when he was suddenly seized with mortal illness. He has left two orphan children. M. Corr, who was born at Brussels in 1803, was the son of an expatriated Irishman, who had taken a part in the rebellion of 1798. His brother, M. Corr Vander Macren, a citizen of Brussels, is now for the third time Judge of the Tribunal of Commerce of that city. Aug. 14. At Devonport, aged 74, Harriet Elizabeth, widow of Capt. Richd. Creyke, R.N. Aug. 17. At Spa, aged 70, Gen. Lord James Hay, Col. of the 86th Regt. His Lordship, who was a younger son of the late and brother of the present Marquis of Tweeddale, entered the army in 1806, served throughout the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns, and had received the War Medal with eight clasps. He retired from active service, however, many years ago, and spent his time in comparative seclusion at Seaton-house, Old Aberdeen, a property to which he succeeded through his wife, Elizabeth, only child of James Forbes, esq., the former proprietor. Lord James was made

a Lieut.-General June 20, 1854, and had only a few months ago (1st June 1862) been promoted to the rank of General. Lord James, who was in politics a Conservative, held the office of a Deputy-Lieut. and Commissioner of Supply, &c., of Aberdeenshire, but took little active part in public matters. For several years, however, on the formation of the Aberdeen Railway Company, he was chairman of the directors, but resigned some time ago. He was of retiring habits, and his health had declined since Lady Hay's death, Sept. 30, 1861. His Lordship leaves two sons and two daughters, one of them married to M. Gudin, the celebrated French marine painter.

At Boampilly, Secunderabad, Elizabeth Ann, wife of Col. Cherry, 2nd Madras Light Cavalry, Aug. 18. At Jersey, aged 52, Col. George Fredk. C. Scott, late 76th Regt.

Aug. 19. At his residence, Dublin, Major Wm. Percy Lea, late 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers, eldest son of the late Samuel Percy Lea, esq.

Aug. 20. At Leamington, aged 76, Matilda Eliza, the last surviving dau. of the late Thos. Cobb, esq., of Elstree-hill, Herts., and Calthorpe-house, Oxon.

Aug. 21. At Hampstead, aged 63, George Sawyer, esq., M.D.

In Langham-st., Portland-pl., Catherine, youngest dau. of the late Thos. Dax, esq., Senior Master of the Court of Exchequer. Aug. 22. At Bovey Tracey, Devon, aged 35, Adelaide Henrietta, second dau. of the late Sir Gregory Lewin, Q.C.

At Bath, aged 62, Henrietta, eldest dau. of the late Adm. Buckle.

Aug. 23. At Exeter, while on a visit to her brother, Col. Crawley, R.E., Sarah, dau. of the late Rev. Richard Crawley, formerly Rector of Rotherfield, Sussex.

Aug. 24. At Gartincaber, Perthshire, aged 68, John Burn Murdoch, esq., of Newch.

Aug. 25. At his residence in the Close, Salisbury, aged 58, John Henry Jacob, esq., Major of the First Administrative Battalion of Wiltshire Rifle Volunteers, and Capt. Commandant of the First (Salisbury) Company. The deceased was the son of the Rev. John Henry Jacob, Prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral and Rector of South Tedworth, and grandson of John Jacob, esq., M.D., an eminent physician of Salisbury. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, had travelled extensively, and for the last thirty years or more had been a very active magistrate for Wiltshire; he also took a leading part in the transaction of the civil business of the county at the Quarter Sessions. Major Jacob was a personal friend of the late Lord Herbert; and, like him, he was a Conservative in early life, but his views, as he grew older, underwent a change on several of the most important topics of the day. He, however, interfered but little in politics, although he seconded the nomination of Mr. S. Herbert for South Wilts. at the general election for 1841, and on eight subsequent occasions. He married the dau.

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