EARL WHITWORTH. May 13. At Knowle, Kent, after three days illness, aged 71, the Right Hon. Charles Whitworth, first Earl Whitworth of Adbaston, co. Stafford, Baron Adbaston, Lord Whitworth of Newport Pratt, co. Galway. G. C. B. a Privy Councillor, Lord of the Board of Trade and Foreign Planta tions, High Steward of Stafford-uponAvon, and D.C.L... The Whitworths are an ancient Stafford shire family, which, in the beginning of the last century, produced a nobleman between whose character and that of the late Earl there are many points of similarity. Like him he was celebrated for the number and importance of his embassies, like him created Baron Whitworth of Galway, and, as if to complete the resemblance, died in the year 1725, leaving no heir to his title. The deceased Earl was grandson of a younger brother of this nobleman, which younger brother, who was M. P. for Minehead, Surveyor-General of his Majesty's Woods and Forests, and Secretary of Barbadoes, settled at Leybourne, in Kent. His son, Sir Charles Whitworth, Knt. also M. P. for Minehead, married (June 1, 1749) the eldest daughter of Richard Snelley, esq. Commissioner of the Stamp Office, and had issue by her three sons and four daughters, the eldest of whom is the subject of the present memoir. He was born at Leybourne Grange, but in 1776 removed with his father to Stanmore, Sir Charles having, with his eldest son's consent, obtained an act of Parliament which enabled him to sell Leybourne to James Hawley, esq. M.B. and F.R.S. whose son, Sir Henry Hawley, Bart. now resides at that beautiful seat. Earl Whitworth was educated at Tunbridge school, under Mr. Cawthorne the poet, and Mr. Towers, the translator of Cæsar and other Latin classics. Among bis school-fellows were Colonel James, of Tytham Lodge, Kent, Christopher Hull, esq. of Sidcup, and the late Lord Eardley. To the second of these he was fag; and, it is not a little remarkable that the third was created a baronet whilst at school, which occasioned a holiday and treat, &c. Soon after leaving this academy, Mr. Whitworth became au officer in the Guards. His first diplomatic mission was to the Court of Poland, whither he was sent as Minister Plenipotentiary in 1786. War saw was then the centre of intrigues; for a new partition of Poland happened to be meditating at that moment, and the generous attempt at national independ ence proved but the signal for the final overthrow of that ancient state, Even then the King, an accomplished but weak prince, was dictated to in his own capital by the Ambassador of St. Petersburg; and the successor of John Sobieski who saved Vienna from the Turks, and of those powerful princes who held Prussia in vassalage, and considered the Russians as à wild Tartarian borde, was reduced to the humiliating necessity of complying with the cruel mandates of Frederick, Leopold, and Catharine. After residing two years in Poland, Mr. Whitworth was recalled, and in Sept. 1788 nominated Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Russia. Warsaw had presented the singular spectacle of a King retained a kind of state prisoner in his own capital, while a foreign Ambassador assumed all the functions of royalty; but St. Petersburg, on the other hand, exhibited a heroine possessed of a masculine mind, adored by her own subjects, holding Poland in chains, and threatening to render the Greek cross triumphant on the shores of the Hellespont. But Catharine was surrounded by French philosophers, and statesmen ; and this circumstance, in addition to some recent events of a disagreeable nature, had created somewhat of an aversion in the bosom of this princess to the British Cabinet, if not to the Nation. From this feeling consequences unfavourable to the commerce of England might have been anticipated, but the French Revolution forewarned her of her own danger. lo 1793, when the English ministers determined to take part in the confederacy against France, it was thought proper to invest the Ambassador at St. Petersburg with the Order of the Bath, to add dignity to his mission; and Sir Charles Whitworth from this moment began to act a conspicuous part on this, now become the great theatre of European politics. A more intimate connexion than had hitherto subsisted became an object of mutual desire; a subsidiary treaty began to be hinted, and the death of the Empress alone prevented its completion. The zeal of her son and successor, Peter III., re quired but little stimulus to induce him to make a common cause with the chief potentates of Europe. He entered into the contest with a degree of enthusiasm worthy of the days of chivalry; while his General, Suwarrow, at the head of a chosen body of troops, conferred new lustre on the Russian arms. But the sudden reverse that occurred in Switzerland, added to some misunderstanding relative to Holland, 80 OBITUARY.-Earl Whitworth. Hollaud, and a coolness that took place between the two Imperial Courts, were calculated to effect an alteration in the aspect of public affairs. This was completed by a domestic incident, for the introduction of an obscure actress produced a complete change in the politics of Russia, and all that had been achieved by the talents of our minister there was overturned by the arts of a cunning and intriguing female, · On the return of the Ambassador he was created, March 21, 1800, an Irish Peer, by the title of Baron Whitworth of Newport Pratt, co. Galway, and soon after the critical situation of this country in respect to the northern states, all of whom complained of the conduct of England, required the intervention of an able diplomatist; and Lord Whitworth was commissioned to this office. Having made the necessary dispositions, he repaired to Copenhagen, in the character of Plenipotentiary Extraordinary. While his Lordship commenced a treaty with the Count de Bernstorff, a nobleman of great talents and influence, his mission was backed, and his arguments supported, by a strong squadron, consisting of nine sail of the line, four bomb-ketches, and five gunboats, which entered the Sound under the command of Admiral Dickson. As such guests, however disagreeable, were not to be slighted, the Prince Royal, who had for some years taken upon himself the management of public affairs, immediately signified his wishes, in form of an invitation, that they should anchor in Elsineur roads. As the Court of Denmark was at that period assured of support from the neighbouring states, her ministers held a high language, and, considering England as the aggressor, affected rather to demand than to yield submission. However, after a considerable time had elapsed in discussion, in consequence of the exertions of our Plenipotentiary, an adjustment at last took place, Aug. 29, 1800. Lord Whitworth, on his return to England, found some relaxation necessary after the hurry of two long journies, and the labour and fatigue incident to a tedious and intricate negociation. He also contrived to twine the roses of Venus around the caduceus of Mercury, by an union peculiarly auspicious in every point of view. This marriage took place, April 7, 1801, with Arabella Diana, widow of John Frederick, third Duke of Dorset, and eldest daughter and coheir of Sir Charles Cope, second Baronet of Brewern, co. Oxford, by Catharine, youngest dau. of Sir Cecil Bishop, fifth Baronet of Parham, Sussex (and afterwards second wife of the first Earl of Liverpool). In the mean time new and unforeseen (July, occurrences had taken place ;-France loudly threatened us with all the terrors of an invasion; and our fleets, on the other hand, scoured the narrow seas, intercepted her shipping, and blockaded ber harbours. Notwithstanding these marked appearances of a violent and lasting animosity, a negociation, which had been for some time depending, was accelerated at this critical period with all the subtilty of diplomatic refinement. For some time past an active intercourse had taken place between the two Governments; flags of truce and defiance were actually displayed at the same time, and in the same strait; so that while Boulogne and Dunkirk were bombarded and blockaded by hostile squadrons, the ports of Dover and Calais were frequently visited by the packet-boats and the messengers of the Courts of St. James's and the Thuilleries. At length Lord Hawkesbury, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, after a long but secret negociation with M. Otto, during which the humiliating intervention of a third person was not recurred to, as on a former occasion, suddenly announced the signature of preliminaries of peace between England on the one part, and France, Spain, and Holland on the other. After the lapse of nearly six months, during which the public expectation was amazingly excited by alternate hopes and fears, the long-expected treaty was signed, ratified, and promulged according to the established forms. The treaty of Amiens, concluded March 27, 1802, was considered by some politicians rather as a cessation of hostilities than a definitive pacification; and the event proved that too many ob. jects of importance were left open for future discussion. Lord Cornwalls, notwithstanding this, returned from the Congress welcomed by the well-merited applause of his countrymen. He was succeeded first by Mr. Jackson, then by Mr. Merry, and finally by Lord Whitworth, who, having been made a Privy Councillor, was sent to Paris towards the latter end of 1802, as Ambassador Extraordinary aud Plenipotentiary. (see vol. LXXII. 1148.) On his Lordship's arrival at Paris he found himself, like his predecessors, surrounded by difficulties. The war had indeed ceased, but the hostility of the mind was not yet ended. A rivalship in commerce had succeeded to a rivalship in arms, aud the Custom Houses of the respective nations were in a state of direct hostility. A variety of circumstances tended to render this negociation delicate in the extreme; such as the renunciation of Parma; the mission of Sebastiani; the occupation of Holland by a considerable army; the violation of the rights of the Swiss Cantons; and, above all, the aggrandize ment 1625.] OBITUARY.-Earl Whitworth. ment of France by means of fresh acquisitions. These, and a variety of other objects of equal importance, seemed to embitter this embassy, and to render it disagreeable to all engaged in it. On the other hand, the First Consul complained of the personalities with which the newspapers in London were filled, particularly one published in French by the emigrant de Peltier (lately deceased, see Part i. p.647.); of the countenance given to the ex-bishops and refugees, particularly Georges, afterwards executed at Paris; of the book published by Sir Robert Wilson, and a variety of other real or supposed injuries. But it was the retention of Malta that appears to have been the chief object of dispute, and the ostensible cause of the war that ensued. After a number of previous conferences with Talleyrand, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Buonaparte at length sent for the English Ambassador, in the beginning of 1803, and a long and important interview took place. The English Ministry, however, persisted in the resolution of not evacuating Malta, although a categorical answer was in the mean time demanded by General Andréossy, the French Ambassador at London. On this a rupture appearing to be inevitable, his Majesty, in March, 1803, sent a message to both Houses of Parliament, stating the preparations making in the ports of France and Holland, and recommending the adoption of such measures as might be consistent with the honour of his crown and the security of his dominions. A subsequent interview between Lord Whitworth and Buonaparte, instead of healing appears to have widened the breach, and his Lordship's prompt and dignitied repression of the Usurper's intemperate address, before a full court and all the foreign ministers (a relation of which was printed in vol. LXXIII. 270), is celebrated throughout Europe. Lord Whitworth, on his first interview with Mons. Talleyrand, remonstrated against the insult offered to him, as alike offensive "to his public and private feelings." He added, that he had repaired to the levee "to pay his respects to the First Consul, and present his countrymen, but not to treat of political subjects; and that unless he had an assurance from himn that he should not be exposed to a repetition of the same disagreeable occurrences, he should be under the necessity of discontinuing his visits to the Thuilleries." Similar remonstrances were also made in the King's name, by order of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; but Malta again became the bone of contention, and projets innumerable were formed, presented, and debated, relative to the possession of that important island. At length GENT. MAG. July, 1825. 81 the English Minister, in consequence of positive orders from his Court, delivered in his ultimatum, and declared that if no convention on this basis was signed within a week, he had received instructions to terminate his mission, and return to London. As the Court of the Thuilleries would not accede to this, it was proposed by Talleyrand, as a mezzo-termino, to relinquish Malta to Russia; but difficulties occurred in respect to this plan, and Lord Whitworth demanded the necessary passports for his departure. These were at length obtained, although not without great difficulty, and after three successive messages, on which his Lordship left Paris May 13, 1803. From this moment every idea of peace vanished, and in the course of three days an order of Council was issued for reprisals, which, of course, produced a new war. Thus the embassy of Lord Whitworth was suddenly terminated; and whoever considers the peremptory instructions from bis Court on the one hand, and the resolute determination of the First Consul on the other, will allow that the ablest negociator could not have prolonged the armed truce (for it does not deserve the name of a peace), which had subsisted between the two countries from March 27, 1802, when the treaty of Amiens was signed. to May 10, 1803, when a renewal of hostilities ensued. After an interview with the Cabinet Ministers in London, Lord Whitworth repaired to Knowle, where for some years his Lordship chiefly resided, rendering himself exceedingly popular by his attention and politeness to all descriptions of persons. His native county, in the course of the war, furnished large bodies of volunteers and yeomanry, and he himself was not wanting in his exertions to encourage their patriotic efforts. No sooner was the country menaced with a descent, than he raised and clothed at his own expence the Holmesdale battalion of infantry, composed of 600 men, and he frequently repaired to their head-quarters at Maidstone, to inspect their condition. On March 2, 1813, Lord Whitworth was made a Lord of the King's Bed-chamber; on the 14th of June following he was created a Peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Whitworth of Adbaston, co. Stafford, and in August succeeded the Duke of Richmond as Viceroy of Ireland (see an account of his entry into Dublin, Vol. LXXXIII. ii. 285.) At the enlargement of the Order of the Bath in Jan. 1815, he was made one of the twelve Civil Knights Grand Crosses; and Nov. 25 that year was advanced to the dignities of Baron Adbaston and Earl Whitworth. He resigned the Lieutenancy of Ireland in Sept. 1817, when 82 OBITUARY.-Dr. Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury. when Lord Talbot was appointed to suc ceed him. As before observed, he never having had issue, all his titles have died with him. His Lordship's loss is universally lamented by his neighbours, and especially by the poor, to whom he was a sincere, active, and judicious friend. It was his habit and delight to employ, in occupations suited to their strength, poor old men and women about his house, garden, park, and farm. In this useful charity he spent some thousand pounds a year; and the aid privately rendered to objects of compassion in other ways by the Earl and his Consort were extensive. He was an amiable and kind-hearted man in all the relations of private life, and was considered by all who knew him, one of the best examples of an English Nobleman. JOHN FISHER, D.D. BISHOP OF SALISBURY. May 8. At his house in Seymour-street, London, aged 76, the Right Rev. John Fisher, D.D. Lord Bishop of Salisbury, Chancellor of the Order of the Garter, Provincial Precentor of Canterbury, and F.S.A. This exemplary prelate was born in 1748, the eldest of the ten sons (eight of whom grew to man's estate) of the Rev. John Fisher, Prebendary of Preston in the church of Salisbury, Rector of Calbourn, in the Isle of Wight, and Chaplain to Bishop Thomas, the preceptor of George the Third. He received the earlier part of his education at Peterborough, where his father was then Vicar; and was thence removed to St. Paul's School, London. In 1766 he was admitted at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he took the degree of B.A. 1770. In 1773 he was elected a Fellow of St. John's College, and in the same year proceeded M.A. In 1780 he proceeded B.D., and in that year was appointed tutor to his Royal Highness Prince Edward, afterwards Duke of Kent, In 1781 he was nominated Chaplain to the King, and appointed one of the Deputy Clerks of the Closet. In 1783 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. In 1785 his attendance upon Prince Edward ceasing upon his Royal Highness going to Germany to finish his education there, he went to Italy for his health; and was recalled from Naples in 1786, on being appointed by his Majesty a Canon of Windsor. September 5, in the following year, Mr. Fisher married Dorothea, only dau. of John Freston Scrivenor, esq. of Sibton Abbey, Suffolk, by whom he had one son and two daughters. Having proceeded D.D. in 1789, he resigned his canonry in 1803, on being promoted to the see of Exeter. In the end of the same year he was appointed preceptor to the Princess Charlotte of [July, Wales. In 1805 he published "A Charge to the Clergy of his Diocese at his primary Visitations in 1804 and 1805," 4to. The following year was printed his "Sermon. preached at St. Paul's at the yearly meeting of the Children educated in the Charity Schools of London and Westminster," 4to. and in 1807 "A Sermon preached before the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in the Abbey Church, Westminster, on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 1807, being the day appointed for a General Fast," 4to. The latter excellent discourse is reviewed in vol. LXXVIII. i. 804. It contains some earnest observations on the then existing defect of accommodations for public worship. In the same year Bishop Fisher was translated to Salisbury. In 1818 was printed at Guernsey, a Sermon he had preached from Col. i, 24. at the consecration of St. James's Church in that island. Sincere and unostentatious in his piety, he was at all times desirous to promote, to the best of his judgment and the utmost of his ability, the cause of true religion and practical benevolence. Ever the firm and steady friend of all that was valuable in society, his anxious wishes and active services were unceasingly devoted to the security and prosperity of our Established Church. He was an accomplished scholar and a sound divine; but the ordinary laborious duties of an extensive diocese, and the extraordinary and important avocations to which his attention was imperatively called for a considerable period, left him little leisure to employ his pen in literary pursuits. But his superior merit, both as to ability and integrity, was admitted and proclaimed by the flattering attention he at all times received from his Majesty King George the Third, than whom no one was better able to discern, or more willing to appreciate, what was truly and intrinsically valuable. Of the good opinion his Majesty entertained of the Bishop, no stronger proof could be given than that he was selected to superintend the education of the Princess Charlotte of Wales, the presumptive heir to the throne of these realms. With how much credit he conducted himself in that arduous and important office, and how deeply the country was indebted to him for the promising prospect of future public benefits, which the acquirements of that amiable and illustrious Princess held forth to the nation (although it pleased Providence to withdraw her from us prematurely), is already sufficiently known, and will ever be gratefully remembered. In the peculiar duties of his diocese, the Bishop was most exemplary and attentive. Anxious not only to correct abuses, but to promote what was beneficial to the general and local interests of the church, he was at all times most readily 1825.] OBITUARY.-Lord Kilmaine.—Sir J. G. Egerton, Bart. readily accessible to his clergy. He was not merely their Diocesan, but their father and friend. To every thing suggested to him he gave a most willing attention and serious consideration; and his warmest support and co-operation to all that was praiseworthy, and tended to a laudable object. In the relations of private life, they who experienced his excellent qualities will bear testimony in the poignancy of their feelings, to what, in language, they will find it impossible to express. With all the cheerful vivacity and engaging urbanity of manners, the overflow of a truly amiable and well-ordered mind, he was invariably modest, humble, kind, benevolent, and charitable, even to an extreme. The principal feature in the Bishop's character was the command of his temper. Suffering during life under bodily indisposition, he was seldom heard to complain; but bore pain with a patient smile, well known to those about him. He seemed to make it his first study that the mind should not partake of the irritability of the body. If an expression of impatience escaped him, it was followed by instant placability; and a restlessness discovered itself in his manner, until by some act of kindness every unpleasant impression was effaced from the mind of the offended party. His anger was never provoked on his own account: seldom stirred, except when he heard the absent attacked,-a practice in which he never indulged himself, nor was able silently to endure in others. It roused him in his most placid moods. From pride of place and person he was entirely free. And although he passed the larger portion of his life in the intoxicating air of a Court, was distinguished by the personal friendship of his Sovereign, and elevated to the highest rank of his profession, he preserved uniformly his natural character. Mild, quiet, bumble, and unassuming, he was ready always to attribute his rise to the preference of his Royal Patron, rather than to his own deserts. If vanity ever discovered itself, it was when he related with honest pride the act of self-denial and integrity to which be owed his advancement. And this, he used to thank God, he had had the grace to practise, and the King the goodness to appreciate. Of his piety and charity it is not meet to speak, excepting only this, that his unbounded benevolence was at once the ornament and fault of his character. He wished to oblige and serve every man that approached him; and by bis urbanity and accessibility, led the over sanguine to entertain hopes he never in tended to raise, and which no human means could realise. Such a disposition was incompatible with the vice of avarice. 83 He expended a large portion of the revenue of the see in acts of benevolence, and left his bishoprick as he came to it, master only of his private fortune. On the 16th his remains were interred with appropriate ceremony in St. George's Chapel, at Windsor. The body was conveyed in a hearse drawn by six horses, caparisoned with purple velvet covering and rich plumes of ostrich feathers, with escutcheons and armorial bearings. The hearse was followed by five carriages of the Royal Family, one of which belonged to Prince Leopold; also by three mourn. ing coaches with four horses each; the family carriages; the carriages of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Bishop of St. David's, the Bishop of Winchester, and Bishop of St. Asaph; the carriages of the Earl of Pembroke, Earl Nelson, Lord Bridport, Wadham Wyndham, esq. and several others. The body on entering St. George's Chapel was met by the Rev. Dean and Canons, together with the Rev. Mr. Gossett, the Rector of Windsor, the Rev. Mr. Sumner, and the surrounding clergy. The whole were dressed in their full canonicals. The burial service was read by the Dean; and the body was deposited in a vault in the Chapel prepared for the purpose. A portrait of his Lordship, as Chancellor of the Garter, adorns the Great Room in Salisbury Palace. LORD KILMAINE. May 23, At his house in Pulteney street, Bath, aged 60, the Right Hon. James Caulfield Browne, 2d Baron Kilmaine of the Neale, co. Mayo, 8th Baronet, and a Governor of the county of Mayo. He was the eldest son of John the first Baron, by Alice Caulfield, 2d dau, of James, 3d Visc. Charlemont, and sister of the first and celebrated Earl of that name. He succeeded to his father's titles June 7, 1793, having married, on the 25th of July preceding, Anne, 4th dau. of the late Right Hon. Sir Henry Cavendish, of Doveridge Hall, Derby, Bart. by Sarah Baroness Waterpark. By this lady Lord Kilmaine had issue four sons and one daughter; the eldest, John Cavendish, now Lord Kilmaine, married Jan. 4, 1822, Eliza, dau. of David Lyon, esq. of Portland-place. |