OF

January.

MARQUIS OF AILESBURY. The Marquis of Ailesbury, K.G., died on January 6 at Savernake Park, his seat near Marlborough. He was born on November 20, 1804, and married May 11, 1837, Lady Mary Caroline Herbert, third daughter of George Augustus, eleventh Earl of Pembroke. The late peer was educated at Christ Church, Oxford; was summoned to the House of Lords in his father's Barony of Bruce in 1838; succeeded to the marquisate on the death of his father in January 1856; and succeeded to the earldom of Cardigan on the death of his cousin, General the Earl of Cardigan, in March 1863. He was lord-lieutenant of the county of Wilts, was Master of the Horse from June 1859 to July 1866, and again from December 1868 to February 1874. In 1864 he was made a Knight of the Garter. By his lordship's death without children, the marquisate devolves upon his brother, Lord Ernest Bruce, M.P. for Marlborough, which he has represented in the House of Commons since 1832.

MR. COBBETT.

Mr. William Cobbett, whose name is so familiar to the public as a suitor in Westminster Hall, died suddenly on January 12 as he was on his way through the central hall of the Houses of Parliament to the Lords' Committee Room E, where he had an appeal in the day's list for hearing before the Lords Justices of Appeal. It was an appeal in the action of Cobbett v. Lopes,

which was one of a series of actions he had brought against judges in connection with an attempt on his part to obtain the release of the Claimant by means of a writ of habeas corpus. He was in attendance the previous day before their lordships, ready to argue the case in person; and on January 12 he was going to the Court when he staggered as if in a fit, and fell against the wall close to the watchman's room in the central hall. The watchman and a policeman, running to his assistance, took him into the room, placed him in a chair, and sent for a doctor. Some brandy was administered without any effect, and when a surgeon arrived he pronounced him dead. The deceased gentleman was the eldest son of the celebrated William Cobbett, and brother of the late member for Oldham, who died some months ago.

M. COURBET.

The French painter Courbet, whose name figured so prominently in the doings of the Commune, of which he was, in 1871, one of the leaders, is dead. He was born at Ornans (Doubs), June 10, 1819, and was thus in his 59th Educated at the Royal College year. of Besançon, he was intended by his father for the Bar, and was sent to Paris in 1839 to study law. His artistic tastes prevailed, however, and he devoted himself to painting, his first picture being exhibited in 1844. After taking lessons from M. Steuben and M. Hesse, he identified himself with the Flemish, Florentine, and Venetian schools, and at the Exhibition of 1848 his works achieved a success amount

I

ing to a triumph. In 1855, being dissatisfied with the place assigned to his pictures by the jurors of the Exposition Universelle, he exhibited them privately. He was a medallist of 1849, and received further honours at the Art Exhibitions of 1857 and 1861. His greatest recent notoriety, however, has resulted from the part he took in the proceedings of the Commune; more especially from his having ordered the destruction of the celebrated Vendôme column. After the capture of the city by the Versaillists, he was tried by court-martial, September 2, 1871, and condemned to six months' imprisonment and a fine of 500 francs for his acts of rebellion. He was ordered, as the result of a civil process, to pay the cost of re-erecting the column, and it is only a few weeks since his remaining pictures, &c., were sold by auction with that object, realising, however, a miserably inadequate sum.

GENERAL SIR E. CUST.

General the Hon. Sir Edward Cust, K.C.H., the eminent military historian, died on January 14. The late general was born in London in 1794, and was the youngest son of the first Baron Brownlow by his second wife, the daughter of Alderman Sir Henry Banks. After completing his education at Eton and Sandhurst, he joined the army in 1810, became lieutenant the same year, captain in 1813, major in 1821, lieutenantcolonel in 1826, colonel in 1841, majorgeneral in 1851, lieutenant-general in 1859, general in 1866, and on April 9, 1859, he was appointed colonel of the 16th Lancers. Sir Edward joined the Duke of Wellington's army prior to the advance from Portugal in 1811, and continued with it up to the cantonments on the Adour in 1813, having been present with the 16th Light Dragoons at the battle of Fuentes d'Onor, and with the 14th Dragoons at the battles of Salamanca, Vittoria, the Pyrenees, Nivelle, and Nive, the investment of Ciudad Rodrigo, siege of Badajoz, and generally in all the affairs of that period, until he quitted the duke's army on promotion. For his eminent services he received the war medal with seven clasps. In 1821 Sir Edward married the only daughter of Mr. Lewis Boodle, she having been a woman of the bedchamber to the late Duchess of Kent. From 1818 to 1832 he represented Grantham and Lostwithiel in Parliament. He was equerry to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, and

when that Prince ascended the throne of Belgium he received the honour of knighthood. In 1845 he was appointed assistant-master of the ceremonies to the Queen, and master of the ceremonies in 1847, a deputy-lieutenant for Cheshire in 1847, and shortly afterwards a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold of Belgium. He was the author of a pamphlet on "Colonies and Colonial Government," a work on the lives of the warriors of the seventeenth century, and of "Annals of the Wars of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries," an invaluable standard work to the student of military history. In 1854 he was made an honorary D.C.L. by the University of Oxford. When the new Promotion Warrant came into operation, on October 1 of last year, Sir Edward retired in accordance with its provisions.

Sir

SIR EDWARD CREASY.. We have to record the death, on January 27, of Sir Edward Creasy, late Chief Justice of Ceylon, after a short attack of bronchitis. The deceased expired at 15, Cecil Street, Strand, having only arrived there three days previously from his country residence, Moira House, Hampton Wick. Edward Creasy was recently a lecturer in jurisprudence to the Inns of Court, and was the author of the "Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World," "The History of the Ottoman Turks," "The Rise and Progress of the British Constitution," and other works of interest. He formerly won high honours at Eton, was a fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and being afterwards called to the Bar, went the Home Circuit. As a barrister he acquired considerable practice, and became assistant-judge of the Westminster Sessions Court. He was subsequently appointed Chief Justice of Ceylon, but two years ago resigned this post from ill-health, and although not having served quite his full time on the Colonial judicial bench, was awarded a full retiring pension by the present Government, who held his literary and professional talents in high esteem, although in politics he had been all his life a consistent Liberal. Sir Edward Creasy had passed his 60th year.

DR. DORAN, F.S.A.

The well-known popular author, Dr. John Doran, F.S.A., died on January 25, at his residence at Notting Hill, after

only a few days' illness, in the 71st year of his age. His parents were old inhabitants of Drogheda, in the county of Louth, but he was born in London in 1807, and received his early education abroad, chiefly in France and Germany. He first became known to the world of letters as a contributor to the Literary Chronicle in its earliest and best days. For the last forty years he has been a constant and voluminous writer. His first substantial work"The History of Reading "-procured for him the degree of M.A., and subsequently that of LL.D., from the University of Marbury, in America. This work he followed up by an edition of "Xenophon's Anabasis," with Notes; a "Life of Young," prefixed to Tegg's edition of that poet's works; "Table Traits and something on them; " "Habits and Men;" 66 'Knights and their Days;' "Queens of England of the House of Hanover;" "Monarchs Retired from Business;" "History of Court Fools;" "New Pictures on Old Panels;" "Lives of the Princes of Wales;" ""Her Majesty's Servants, containing a Brief History of the Stage in England," &c. He also edited "The Last Journals of Horace Walpole " and the "Bentley Ballads." Dr. Doran a few years ago succeeded to the editorship of Notes and Queries on the retirement of Mr. Thoms, and he was a large contributor to the best periodical literature to the very close of his active and laborious life.

CAPTAIN DILLON, R.N.

Captain William Ward Dillon, R.N., died at Newliston House, Barnstaple, on January 4, in his 62nd year. The deceased served as second master of the "Wellesley," 72, at the taking of Chusan and destruction of the forts of the Bocca Tigris, and was master of the "Cruiser," 16, at the capture of Canton, Amoy, &c. In September 1843 he was appointed to the "Hyacinth," 18, Commander Francis Scott, on particular service; in July 1849 to the "Dædalus," 19, Captain G. G. Wellesley, in the Pacific; and from February 1851 until 1855 commanded the "Cockatrice," tender to the "President," also in the Pacific. He commanded the "Naiad" storeship at Callao from 1856 until October 1861; was staff commander of the "Fisgard from August 1865 until March 1868; and from the latter month until promoted to retired captain April 11, 1871, was harbour master at Falmouth.

LORD KINNAIRD.

The death of Lord Kinnaird took place at his seat, Rossie Priory, Perth-shire, on January 7, after a brief ill

ness.

His lordship, who was in the 70th year of his age, had been suffering from cold for a few days, but nothing serious was apprehended. On January 5 inflammation set in, and developed itself so rapidly that all hope of recovery was abandoned next night. The deceased, George William Fox Kinnaird, ninth baron, was born in April 1807, and succeeded his father in 1826. He was educated at Eton, was Master of the Buckhounds from 1839 to 1841, and filled the office of Grand Master of the Freemasons of Scotland. He was a Knight of the Thistle, a Privy Coun cillor, and Lord Lieutenant of Perthshire. The late peer was a Liberal in politics, and took an active part in many social movements having for their object the well-being of the working classes. He was one of the few peers who belonged to the AntiCorn Law League, over one of the great meetings of which in Covent Garden Theatre he presided.

SIR W. STIRLING-MAXWELL.

The death of Sir William StirlingMaxwell, Bart., M.P., occurred at Venice on January 15, from typhus fever and congestion of the lungs, after an illness of eight days. The deceased baronet was in his 60th year, having been born in 1818. He was the only son of the late Sir Archibald Stirling, of Keir, the representative of an old and wealthy family. He graduated B.A. at Trinity College, Cambridge, 1839, and M.A. four years later, after which he resided for some time in France and Spain, devoting himself to the study of Spanish literature and art. In 1848 he wrote "The Annals of the Artists of Spain; "in 1852, "The Cloister Life of Charles V. ;" and in 1855, "Velasquez and his Works." From 1852 to 1865 he represented Perthshire in the House of Commons as a Conservative. In the latter year, by the death of his maternal uncle, Sir John Maxwell, he succeeded to the title and estates, and was again returned to Parliament, as member for Perthshire, where a seat becomes vacant by his death. He was elected Rector of St. Andrew's University in 1863, Lord Rector of Edinburgh University in 1872, and Chancellor of Glasgow University in 1875. At the general election in 1874 he was again returned

to the House of Commons as M.P. for Perthshire, of which county he was Vice-Lieutenant. He was also a Deputy-Lieutenant for Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire, a trustee of the British Museum and of the National Protrait Gallery, and a member of the Senate of the University of London. In 1876 he was created a Knight of the Thistle, being the only commoner who enjoyed that distinction. Sir William StirlingMaxwell married, in 1865, Lady Anna Maria Leslie-Melville, second daughter of the Earl of Leven and Melville, by whom he has issue living two sons, John Maxwell, born in 1866, and Archibald, born in 1869. In 1874 a melancholy accident left Sir William a widower. He subsequently married the Hon. Mrs. Norton, who died in June last.

GENERAL DE LA MARMORA.

This celebrated soldier and statesman died at Florence on January 5. Alphonso Ferraro, Marquis de la Marmora, was born in November 1804. At 14 years of age he entered the Piedmontese military academy, and in 1823 joined the army as lieutenant of artillery. He had been a major three years when the war of independence broke out, and soon distinguished himself in various actions, receiving the gold medal for valour. He rendered especial service on April 8, 1848, at Pastringo, where, by making a diversion in the rear of the Austrians, he enabled the Piedmontese, who had been thrown into disorder, to recover their formation. During the agitations of the autumn of 1848 he rendered important service to the King, Charles Albert, and when the armistice with Austria was denounced in March 1849 he was entrusted with the command of a corps of reserve, having been previously raised to the rank of general. He was too far off to render any assistance when the disastrous battle of Novara was fought. The new King, Victor Emmanuel, made him a lieutenantgeneral, and named him Minister of War, a post which he had twice before occupied for a few weeks. In this capacity he set to work to reorganise the army, simply with a view to efficiency, and by patient and arduous labour in time fitted it for the great work which was before it. Pursuant to the treaty of January 29, 1855, by which Sardinia was admitted to the concert of the Western Powers, a Pied

montese army was sent to the Crimea, and De la Marmora was appointed its commander. His force rendered excellent service in repulsing the Russians at the river Tchernai, although it was denied a foremost part in the campaign. In 1859 De la Marmora again took his place in the army, which was formed for the war of independence, and when the battle of Solferino was immediately followed by the peace of Villafranca, he rejoined the Cabinet as Minister of War and Marine. He was subsequently charged with some important missions to Berlin and St. Petersburg. After the occupation of the Two Sicilies by Italian troops, he was named Prefect of Naples in succession to General Cialdini, and subsequently the entire direction of the political affairs of the new province was entrusted to him. In September 1864 De la Marmora was charged to form a new Cabinet. After the removal of the Government from Turin to Florence had deranged the balance of parties, he became the head of a Ministry which lasted till 1866. In this capacity he for two years pressed the French Emperor to recall his troops from Rome in accordance with the well-known September Convention, while he also protested against the project entertained by the Spanish Government of sending troops to Rome to protect the Pope. In 1866 Austria was rapidly arming, and De la Marmora took advantage of this fact to raise the strength of the Italian army. At the same time he procured the passing of a law which armed the Government with ample power in view of a great crisis. In June, having previously transferred his political functions to Baron Ricasoli, he accompanied the King to Cremona, from whence a declaration of war against Austria was issued by the Italian Government. On June 24, however, he lost the battle of Custozza. The victories of the Prussians and the earnest desire of the Emperor of the French to make peace preserved Italy from the usual consequences of defeat, and the territories of Victor Emmanuel were increased by the addition of that of Venice, which was handed over by Austria to France, and by the latter to Italy. The circumstances under which Italy was brought into co-operation with Prussia in 1866 were not satisfactory to De la Marmora, who engaged in a sharp controversy on that subject, and also upon the causes of the illsuccess of the Italian army in 1866. For the last few years the veteran has