MARRIAGES. 13. At Dover, W. Paxton Jervis, esq., of Beech Hill, Surrey, to Mary Ann, widow of George Barnard, esq. 15. At Surat, George Reynolds Scott Burrows, esq., 15th B.N.I., to Emilie Eliza, daughter of Lieut.-Col. Goodfellow. 16. At the Church of the Holy Trinity, Westbourne-terrace, James Findlay, esq., to Eleanor Sarah, daughter of the late Sir Daniel Keyte Sandford, D.C.L. At Trinity District Church, Twickenham, John Walrond Clarke, esq., 10th Hussars, to Mary, daughter of Sir William Clay, bt., M.P., of Fulwell Lodge, Twickenham. At Taunton, Major S. Trevor, Madras Art., to Mary Anne, daughter of T. Aubrey Gapper, esq., of Wincanton. At Streatham, George Henry Moubray, esq., R.N., to Eliza Ann, daughter of George Moore, esq., of Trieste. 17. At Botleys, the Rev. Frederick H. Hotham, to Eleanor, daughter of Robert Gosling, esq., of Botleys Park, Surrey. At Huddersfield, Frederick Charles Grant Ellerton, esq., to Henrietta Hudson, daughter of William Heise, esq., M.D., of Dublin. 18. At Plymouth, the Rev. Henry Worsley, Rector of Easton, Suffolk, to Clara Magdalene, youngest daughter of the late Capt. Sir W. G. Parker, bt., R.N. At Edinburgh, Major William Case, 32nd Regt., to Adelaide Maria, daughter of the late Lieut.-Gen. Sir Jeremiah Dickson, K.C.B. At Edinburgh, Wm. Heriot Maitland, Com. R.N., to Elizabeth Kinnear, daughter of the late William Stark Dougall, esq., of Scotscraig, Fife. At Clapham, Major Sir Arthur De Capel Broke, bt., of Oakley Hall, Northamptonshire, and Ahadoe, Cork, to Elizabeth Zilpah, relict of the late J. J. Eyre, esq., of Endcliffe, near Sheffield. At Rathdowney, Queen's County, George F. Pollock, esq., of the Inner Temple, to Fanny, eldest daughter of the Rev. Henry Herbert. At Wretham, John Fergusson, esq., of Wretham, to Julia Anna, daughter of the late James Fisher, esq., of Hingham Hall, Norfolk. At Wolverhampton, Rupert Kettle, esq., to Miss Cooke, of Merridale. 19. At the British Embassy, Florence, Col. Sir Henry Fairfax, bt., to Sarah, daughter of William Astell, esq., M.P. for Bedfordshire. 20. At St. George's, Hanover-square, John Moore Cole Airey, esq., to Amelia, daughter of G. D. Walsh, esq., of Lisbon. 22. At Carisbrooke, J. W. Alexander Stewart, esq., Madras Art., to Mary Emily, daughter of the late Major Serjeantson, 50th Regt. At Paddington, Capt. Crosbie, R.N., to Maria Louisa, daughter of the late Charles Harris, esq., of New Fishbourne, Sussex. 30. At Stowmarket, Henry Coldham Mathew, esq., of Pentloe Hall, Essex, to Emily De Vere, daughter of the Rev. A. G. H. Hollingsworth. - At Aberdeen, Samuel Tate Freeman, esq., to Mary, daughter of the late Col. Martin Lindsay, C.B., 78th Highlanders. 31. At Compton Martin, John Drew Pratt, esq., of Pratt's Hays, Devon, to Edith, daughter of the late Bellenden Bulteel Hutcheson, esq., Bath. DEATHS. 1850. NOVEMBER. 9. At Paris, in his 78th year, M. Joseph Droz, a most eminent French writer, and a member of the Académie Française. M. Droz was born at Besançon, the capital of Franche Compté, a district of France remarkable in earlier days for its attachment to its ancient princes and to the Catholic Church, and its intense aversion to its French conquerors; in later times for its frantic devotion to the French Republic, and the extent of its crimes and its infidelity. M. Droz was descended from one of those ancient families of the magistracy whose traditional integrity, severe morals, and somewhat mutinous independence, constituted, among other qualities, the vital force of the old society of France. The early youth of the future moralist was in remarkable contrast to the piety and modesty of DEATHS.-Nov., 1850. his age; but he had lost his mother when very young. His character was impetuous and rebellious: religion, which at a late period he so nobly professed, appeared to him but as an object of fear and repugnance; he loved learn. ing, he even had literary ambition, but the routine of study fatigued him; he quarrelled with his instructors and refused to be educated. The judgment of his father placed in his hands the "Discourse of Method" of Descartesthe work of that great inquirer took a firm hold on his mind, and philosophy became from that moment the vocation and the dominant passion of his life. But neither the time nor the teacher were favourable to religious impressions: the materialism of the eighteenth century then reigned without a rival; irreligion was universal; and Descartes, rejecting from his severe system of inductive inquiry all that was not derived by pure reasoning from ascertained premises, was not a teacher for faith. Young Droz, not unnaturally under the circumstances, became a Deist; but the foul taint which had affected his mind did not vitiate his morals-he dreamed of showing that a rationalist may equal a Christian in the practice of all duties towards his fellow men; the covert wickedness and irrationality of the pretended philosophy of the day disgusted him; and he devoted his life to study and the practice of virtue. When the Revolution broke forth, it was hailed by young Droz with the same delight as it produced at its first dawn in so many enthusiastic minds-a transport which all its crimes and sufferings did not suffice to quench. Young Droz came to Paris to seek an occupation; but willingly avoided the sight of revolutionary horrors in the republican armies; he entered a corps raised in his native province, was made captain, and served three years in the army of the Rhine. During the Reign of Terror he was sent to Paris on a mission to Carnot, and there witnessed with horror the frightful executions of that most miserable period, yet without being alienated from revolutionary doctrines. Having been obliged to quit the army through ill-health, he returned to Besançon, and resumed his philosophic studies; and, having been appointed a professor in the central school of the Doubs, he then entered upon his true calling, and produced his first philo sophic essays, in which he still warmly applauds the Revolution. In 1803 he took up his residence in Paris, where he was readily admitted into the friendship of a knot of noble and talented men. He was already married when he came to the capital, and his domestic happiness was the origin of his public fame; the ideal world he had fancied was realized, and in the overflowings of his heart he published an "Essay on the Art of being Happy"-a charming work, which had a quiet and durable success; happy himself, he had communicated at least an idea of happiness to others. This fortunate union lasted through 47 years of uninterrupted affection. In 1811 his literary merits received that acknowledgment which is the great reward of French authors, in the honour with which the French Academy distinguished his "Eulogy of Montaigne." After the Restoration his genius took a new direction; a remarkable "Essay on the Beautiful in the Arts;" a work which exhibited a singular appreciation of the beautiful as it was developed in ancient monuments, and an equally singular blindness to the immense domain which Christianity had opened to the arts-to its twenty generations of artists, the unknown and sublime creators of our cathedrals, of our demolished cloisters and splendid châteaux, of the innumerable treasures of painting, sculpture, and music, which had nothing to envy or borrow from Paganism. Truth had not yet dawned upon his soul. In 1823, having endured life for half a century, M. Droz published the result of his experience in his "Moral Philosophy; or the Different Systems on the Science of Life;" a work in which an hesitation in the author's mind is very apparent, illdisguised under an assumed certainty. The summits of truth had begun to be visible. This work opened to him the gates of the Academy, whose choice he justified by publishing, as a continuation of the work which had deserved it, his "Application of Morality to Politics." In this excellent work M. Droz appears to have first set his clear judg ment to work on the moral aspect of the strange events which had passed, were passing, and were yet to pass around him. That judgment was unfavourable to the actors in those eventful scenes; he unhesitatingly condemns the men who, under peaceable governments, DEATHS.-Nov., 1850. incited the people to revolution, considering those subversions as mere means of civilization; and his prescient thought said-27 years ago-"Give us the Republic, and we shall not enjoy one single day of liberty, but shall have two days of tyrannyone under the populace, and the other under some despot. Our republics are monarchies where the throne is vacant." These essays were the prelude to that great work which has entitled M. Droz to public gratitude and the esteem of posterity, The History of the Reign of Louis XVI., during the years that the Dangers of the French Revolution might have been prevented"-the production of a great and philosophic mind, which solves to the advantage of society a problem which has been frequently explained to its disadvantage: he protests against that 'mendacious fatality' which has been assigned as an explanation and an excuse of the most melancholy crime in French history; he declares that the Revolution might and ought to have been prevented; and that not having known how to prevent it, an attempt might at least have been made to direct and arrest it at the necessary point. An analysis of this great work, by a mind equally able and philosophic, was given in the eloquent address of M. de Montalembert to the French Academy, when that eminent orator took the place of M. Droz in that assembly, and from which this sketch is derived. M. Droz ascribes the failure of the French Revolution, not to the crimes and violence of the National Assembly, which he considers rather a consequence than a cause, but to the follies and weakness of the Constituent Assembly-deficient in justice, courage, and humanity-above all in common sense. The day when the Constituent Assembly, after the massacre of the 14th of July and the 6th of October, remained cold and calm, divided and uncertain, when it consented to enter into discussion with the insurrection, and ended by joining it that day the doom pronounced France was lost. In the austere judgment which in this his great work M. Droz passes on the errors and crimes of the past, nothing reveals the sympathies of his youth for that fatal period; he respected truth too much to seek a justification for his errors. It does better; it reveals was the progress he had made in moral and religious as in political order. That scrupulous love of truth which had guided him in his historical studies procured for him the certitude and peace which he still felt the want of in his soul; his researches made more and more manifest the weakness of natural religion and the best human system of morals. The discovery filled him with consternation. He felt himself hesitating between a powerless philosophy and a false religion. He yet continued his studies. Examining the causes of the superiority of Christianity over philosophy in the art of influencing and directing men, he saw that religion had the advantage of giving with its precepts the power of putting them in practice. His mind was disturbed by the reflection, when the last blow was given by the parting farewell of the companion of his life. The Christian end of that gentle and beloved woman, the eloquence of her last words, rendered sublime by faith, completed the work of study and reflection. A year after the publication of his work on the Constituent Assembly, in 1844, he published his profession of faith, under the title of "Thoughts on Christianity." He there encounters face to face objections and prejudices of the most formidable kind. The clearness of his language well corresponds with the tranquil serenity of his soul, and he judges at one glance the infirmities of society and their only remedy. The new convictions of his soul were strengthened by the friendship of the devoted Affre, Archbishop of Paris, and was confirmed by the martyrdom o that Christian priest on the scene of his mission in the disastrous days of June, 1848. The Revolution of February surprised him at his last work, the "Confessions of a Christian Philosopher." "I had just finished," he said, "the recital of my errors and of the benefits of Providence to me, when a revolution suddenly broke forth. Age is sapping my strength. I can searee do more than raise my hands to heaven, and I even now feel them heavy. But even to my last sigh prayers will issue from my heart for my country." He now retired into the bosom of his family. His last worldly interest was in the Academy of which he had been so long an ornament. He fell sick on returning from a sitting of that Society, DEATHS. and died a few days after. His struggle with death was so mild that even his last sigh was not heard; a quarter of an hour after he had ceased to live his grandchildren came as usual to kiss his hand, and to request him to pray for them. DECEMBER. 29. At Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, aged 56, William Hamilton Maxwell, the Irish novelist. This dashing and popular writer was a native of Ireland, the only son of a merchant at Newry. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and took holy orders, much against his inclination, which was decidedly bent on military matters; and in 1820 he was collated by the Archbishop of Armagh to the prebend and rectory of Ballagh, a wild place in Connaught, destitute of any congregation or cure of souls; though it afforded what he was admirably capable of dealing with-plenty of game. Mr. Maxwell's first attempt at author ship was whilst residing in a retired shooting-lodge in Ballycroy. Here he wrote "O'Hara," which was not very successful; but his next undertaking, the "Stories of Waterloo," were purchased by Mr. Colburn for 100%. and a second and third volume were afterwards added, and paid for at the same rate. His next work was "Wild Sports of the West," which was also very successful; and he had now established his reputation as an agreeable and ready narrator both of sporting and military anecdotes. Turning to fiction, he wrote a popular novel named "Captain Blake; or, My Life," which was followed by numerous other publications, all having some reference to military adventures or history. Besides these books, he was a frequent contributor to Bentley's Miscellany and to the Dublin University Magazine; but, notwithstanding his popularity and success, he never learned the art of making a provision for the future, and, after the failure of his health, and the consequent exhaustion of his animal spirits, he passed his latter days in much misery and distress. JAN. 1851. JANUARY. 1. Aged 54, the reigning Prince Leopold, of Lippe-Detmold. At Castle Dawson, Capt. Harry Brereton Trelawny, Grenadier Guards, eldest son of H. B. Trewlawny, esq., of Hertford-street, Mayfair. In his 82nd year, Dr. Linck, professor of Botany at the University of Berlin, director of the Royal Botanic Garden, and the oldest member of the Royal Academy of Sciences. He was the author of many valuable works on botany and the natural sciences. 2. At the Union Hotel, Cockspurstreet, aged 73, Mr. John Wilmot, of Isleworth, the eminent horticulturist, President of the Market Gardeners' Society. He was greatly celebrated for the cultivation of that delicious fruit the strawberry, of which he raised some of the finest varieties. At Witton Hall, Durham, aged 79, George Taylor, esq. In Albert-street, Regent's Park, Brevet Major Fitzmaurice William Coltburst, late of the 57th Foot. 3. At his seat, Ashridge Park, near Hemelhempstead, aged 38, the Right Hon. John Hume Egerton, Viscount Alford, M.P. for Bedfordshire, and Colonel of the Royal North Lincoln Militia. Lord Alford was born on the 15th of October, 1812. He was the elder of the two sons of the present Earl Brownlow, by his first wife Sophia, second daughter and coheir of Sir Abraham Hume, bt., by the Lady Amelia Egerton, sister of the two last Earls of Bridgewater. Whilst he was still a boy he was designated heir in remainder to the large estates of the Earl of Bridgewater, by the will of his great-uncle John William the seventh Earl, who died in 1823. The Earl left his estates first to his widow, and subsequently to Viscount Alford, accompanied by the extraordinary condition that they should not pass to the heirs male of his body if before his decease he had not been raised to the title of Duke or Marquess of Bridgewater; nor was he to retain them for more than five years after his accession to the dignity of Earl of Brownlow, unless the same object had been accomplished. He was first elected DEATHS. JAN. member for Bedfordshire at the general election in 1836, and continued to represent that county. His lord ship was a Conservative in politics, and a zealous supporter of Sir Robert Peel until the repeal of the corn laws. Lord Alford came into possession of the Bridgewater estates on the death of the Countess, Feb. 11, 1849, and took the name and arms of Egerton only by royal licence dated March 15 following. His lordship married, on the 10th of February, 1841, Lady Marianne Margaret Compton, eldest daughter of the Marquess of Northampton; and has left two sons, John William Spencer Brownlow (now Lord Alford), born in 1842, and Adelbert Wellington, born in 1846. The singular provisions of the will of the Earl of Bridgewater are now before the Court of Chancery. (See LAW CASES.) 4. At his residence near the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, in his 79th year, General the Right Hon. Sir James Willoughby Gordon, of Niton, in the Isle of Wight, bt., G.C.B. and G.C.H., a Privy Councillor, Quartermaster-General of the Forces, and Colonel of the 23rd Fusileers. Sir Willoughby Gordon was the son and heir of Francis Grant, esq., Capt. R.N., who assumed the surname of Gordon, in 1768, pursuant to the will of his maternal uncle, James Gordon, of Moor-place, co. Herts, esq. He entered the army in 1783. In 1793 Licut. Gordon accompanied Lord Hood's fleet to the siege of Tonlon as a volunteer, and he was present in 1796 at the taking of the French forces at Bantry Bay, on the Irish coast. Having exchanged from the 66th to the 85th Regiment, he commanded the 85th at the taking and occupation of Madeira in 1808. In the spring of 1812 Col. Gordon was appointed quartermaster-general to the forces in the Peninsula, under the Duke of Wellington, and up to his decease retained that office at home, with the greatest satisfaction to the commander-in-chief and the army. He was present at the capture of Madrid, the siege of Burgos, and in the retreat into Portugal. On the 4th of June, 1813, he became a major-general, and in Nov., 1815, he was appointed to the colonelcy of the 85th Regiment. In 1818 he was created a baronet of the United Kingdom. In 1823 he was removed to the colonelcy of the 23rd Regiment; in 1825 he was nominated a G.C.H., and in 1831 a G.C.B. He was advanced to the rank of lieut.general in 1825, and to the full rank of general in 1841. He was sworn a privy councillor in 1830. Sir Willoughby was much esteemed for his urbanity and soldier-like qualities, and was a valuable colleague of his Grace the Duke of Wellington. Sir Willoughby Gordon married, on the 15th of October, 1805, Julia Lavinia, daughter of Richard Henry Alexander Bennet, esq., of Beckenham, Kent. 5. At Worcester, aged 87, Ann, relict of Humphrey Chamberlain, esq., and last of the ancient family of Draycot, of Draycot-in-the-Moors, co. Stafford. At Broomhall Cottage, Shooter's Hill, in his 57th year, Thomas Stephens Davies, esq., F.R.S. London and Edinburgh, and F.S.A., Professor of Mathematics in the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. Mr. Davies was a gentleman of great scientific acquirements, and was a frequent essayist in periodicals devoted to philosophical investigation. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1831, and contributed several original and elaborate papers to its "Transactions." His larger works were the eleventh edition of Dr. Hutton's "Course of Mathematics," 1836-7; "Solutions of the principal Questions in Dr. Hutton's Course of Mathematics," an octavo volume of 560 pages; the twelfth edition of Dr. Hutton's "Course," in 1841; an additional volume, the contents of which were entirely new, 1843; and a considerable portion of "The Mathematician," of which he was joint editor with Dr. Rutherford and Mr. Fenwick. At Nancy, his birthplace, Dr. Leuret, physician of Bicètre, well known by his profound works on mental derangement and the anatomy of the brain. |