The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-07-02 00:00:00

DEATR OF LORD CLARENDON.

One of the moat popwar and one of the moat. die-
6nm:defied of the hereditary pears of England peened
away on Monday morning at twenty minutes pact Rix
o'rlaik. The death id Lord Cisamdtin aill make a
se, t‘ind VOW na Elglish ariciety. Trusted by all rooks,
from the Sovereign whose fliebaShip he had for many
years osejoyed, Le W.:; roe of the tow men who held the
respect or all classes r.f her Majesty's subjects. He
was a genuine Liherala: aana. strong ampules- Magnet',
tempered by the ingrain:, of his raek and position. Of
ti.e deoewied Foreign Mthister it may tas said, that he
was eerier unfaithfal to the cause of the people, and
never unmindful of his obligations as a noble. Officially,
he kept himself very notch to the work upon which he
was beat informed, and in which, tor the last fifty years,
it may be said he was constantly enga fed. He was
the last great representative of the oil diplomatic
achooL He ball, indeed, &European reputation from
Lis long connectian with the Foreign Office and abroad,
as well as here, be will be greatly regretted by a very
large number of private friends. rlitica3ly, hia death
ban happened at a most unfortunate moment for the
public aervice, ou Mg to the protect stato of many ha-
portent questions conneetcd with our foreign policy.
His constitution' impaired by frequent attacks' ef
low., by age, and by the unceasing duties of his high
office, 'roved unable to resist the weakening effects of
all attack of dim-Awl, which he Licentiously neglected
fm trate rLaya. Lord Clarendou leaves three coos and
there dim:Mem, who were devoted in their affection
1. r their fat,hr. r. The eldest daughter is married to the
o ler of Lord Derby, the second to Lerd Skidmore-
dabr, and the youngeat to Mr. oda, 11mar11, the EugLah
Imo* d'affairce at Rome.
Tao Rieht Honourable George William Frederick
KG, G.C.8., co bom almost with the
present ea mum on Jarman. 12. 1890. His father. the
Hon. George Vildera, was brother of the second 11 iel,
and 1 e succeeded to this title in 1838. Earl
Clarendou woo all Hir life a diplomatist. He mitered
the aervice very early, and in 1833 WAR appointed
BrAi. h ltilirdetrr Pienip veritiary at the Galva of
Mrdrid. liven years later he was made a Privy
Councillor. Under Lord Melbourne he held the office
f Lord Privy Si al and Chancetlor of the Duchy of
Laacaater from 1839 to 1841. In 1846 he become Pre.
aideut of the Board of Trade, and a year afterwards
was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, at
which pest lie remsined Gd 1852. In February,
1853, he took the poet of Secretary for Foreign
Affairs. At this time the Esateru question was
engaging the serioue attention of politicikns,
and the aggreseive policy of Ramis, shortly after'
wards committed this country to a share in the
Crimeroi war. IT, ion the fall of Lord Alxtrdeen'd
Ministry, Lord Dtsby. who attenipted to form a
Ministry, invited Lord Clarendon to retain hia p aition
awl when, open Lord Derby's failure to collcct a
Caoinet, Lord Palmerston succeeded to power, the
Lace arrangement was made, raid the Earl hill the
seals of office until 1858. Ii 18.14 he a. ain held office
nod -r Lord Palmerstain, this time as Coen:teller of
the Derby of Lancaster, which pest he exckanged for
that tat Foreign Secretary late in 1865, retiring with
the Liberal 'Ministry durieg the following year. He
telnsed the lava dim if Derby to join the Con-
eel-yeti. Reform Ministry, and upon the accossion of
Mr. Gladstone to power, at the end of 1888, he re-
sensed bia former position, which be held till hisdeath.
The chief affair with which he had to deal in his
latter tenure of office wee the difficult and delicate
matter oi the Greek brieandage. which can hardly yet
be co:aid-red timmmated. He managed this effair
m miser which maiatainerl the Motility of the
Crown without pushing the eaten of Great Britain to
ac unwittrautable extent against a weak awl di.tracted
Power, and him eithelact was such as to elicit the c ins°
mendatioas of VI parties. His sudden death hen trans.
[erred the fin 1 a.lj.estaniint of the diffi salty to other
heeds. Take Lis format chic', Lard Palmeraten, he
Mad in barrio,.

The deco eseal E 1 was dessen led from the bret'aer
ref tho Mere who was Ligh to the fAVullr of James
the First.
Amongst the mlny horonrs and dignities of which
he was the racipiseet, the late Earl- Was created a
Ksight ref the Garter in 1819, and he was also Chan.
cellor of the Queen's University in Ireland.
He will be succeeded in his tet`e by his von, Lord
Hyde who, removal from the House of Commons tv
the Hence .4 Peers will crate a vacancy in the repre-
sentation of Brezun.

The Times ha,: the following leader on the death of
Lord lflar,ndon
- •

Orly last week Lard Clarendon, though yielding somewhat
to the infirmitree of age, miss before the world, an able, at.'
live, and vigorous Minister, and to-day melt will be discos- '
sing lids nets is them of an Isistoricel character lie hes
peered away surbiculy, with the reigns of office In his hat d.,'
with Ms teculties meteelyed and his reputation use
ditoivielled It is .better to end to—to be a political per-
swinge up to the hour if tilseold etre end not sae whose
deeds Urn' to le grimmest from Annual Reeistere or thee
verstithm • folder men. To a quick awl proud genius there
is semethieg unutterably meet al in the reflection that some
day it iney be -ado him, ti Sueerfl hills lags the veteran oe
the stage." Lead Clarenden snub tiny thought as little of
time ant; pnesinle with a luau who times shot his name
must be long befere the worth But if cc may venture ti
divine lei eentimente, he ler tint Wive wished to die, as he
has stied, in harness, and to be to the last a Minister
of England.
Lord Clarendon had reached the term widen in ancient
days was assigned we the limit of man's active and useful
But many a man in onr generation keeps his health aed his
faculties to those fouocore sears which were acid of old to
be but labour and sorrow, and when we hear that a sinus.
men or a lawyer is seventy years of age we do not at all
figure to our minds a decrepit body era falling mind. This
was eminently exemplified in Lord Clarendon. He was le,rn
in the year 1,00, an epoch distirguished by the birth of a
band of gifted men, of whom tome have passed away, while
others, wbose names will reality occur to our readers,
remain behind to add to the dignity and reputation
of Perllament. But from his despatchee, his con-
versation, or his method of conducing business, no one
would have supposed tied ha had exceeded the age at which
all mental functions ere most powerful. As a general rule,
the sphere of a man's activity is fixed by the time hots forty.
Rarely doers It happen that the moat energetic spirit enters
on an entirety new career when once Middle life is attained.
But iu the path which has 011 Ce been chosen a man works
more energetically, more systematically, and more suecesss
fully in late middle age than in any former period of life.
This is the age to which a really able man acquires
a love of work, which overmasters every other sense
of enjoyment The privairnall are passing away ; pleisure, in
the tense of amusement and distraction, ceases Ito
attract; curlostty has been satisfied, and the concentrate,'
energies of the see' are thrown int, the employment which
has become the ruling passim. Experience anti acuteness
derived from the p t unite with this obstinate assiduity In
' enabling the works, to master his holm Se with a quickness
' that seems like intuition, and that it continently occurs that
we find old men who, by the number of hours they work
and the results they attain, shame their younger col-
leagues. Lord Palmerston Wed this devotion to work, ARIL
am hid Lord Clarendon To the lest he was as large in
, principles, as at curate In details, as prompt in action,
as if he bed been fifty instead of severity. Take, for
' Instance, the mutter of the Greek Belgends. it is well lmown
that Lord Ulareroliiii felt acutely the murder of our counts p.
men lie was anxious lest it should he thought he had left
any means unempit pad to save them. But, If there were
any misgivings!, they most have been dispelled by the papers
published on tile eueject. Whoever else was apathetic,
there was one who was zeal Inearnate, anti that was Lord
Clarendon, Whoevt r else might endeavotir to evade action,
Lord Clarendon was urging despatch sad tearing to shreds
the excines put forth fir leaving things alone.
Lord Clarendon was a man ellen as the highest type of
Mehl ife in England prodocen Ile was one who was trained
in public empleiemente, not one of those who rise irregularly
Ite greatnese by Meta. In Parlisment. Ile was never la she
Howie of Common; and it is itepomible to deny that this
wee a disadvantage to him. Bet he received an education
which In lie own line was not infer her to that of Parliament.
Re was bred to eiplomacy, and while qtrite a boy was an
atteelig at St. Petersburg. Gil his return we find him at work
in the Excise, then, a, move, an important part of our finaeci .1
systam. In neither of these departments could the
young Mr. Villiers make much show, but in either
he could obtain appreciation. The merits of a young
and attentive dlphnnatist are not widely rumoursti,
but they 1:04 be diecovered by thoce whose good
word Is fortune. Mr. Villiers was content Is lee kat) wii at
an able panne servant lii his own sphere, and be does not
appear to have en utht Perliantentery life. The Whig
Cabinet understeod his merits, and, at the early age of en
he wee lent to Spain as Minister Plenipotentiary. From
that time he wes tuflicientiy I efore the country to he as-
sociated with the aid political nernes of the dsy ;
• his advance in. employment and in fame was &teeny,
and without retroeresiton. One of his greatest achieve-
ments was she gevernment of Ind ind at the time of
the trautees of 1818. At that code, time there may
nut lime Men more danger than eurine the late Ferias
compirecy, but there Was undeueteilly lures alarm. This
was emsed by the crash of thrones rell over the Continent,
the outburet of Socialist passion in the great cities of Europe,
and also by the attitude of our owls Eeglisli democracy, which
was then Very bitter, vicious, mei dentructive. It was
beagle ed by many who were by no means alarmists that the
State would have at ooze two hostile classes no its hands.
one In such island, and that these would be supported
by ',reign empathy, If not ity something more. Lord
Clarendon never lust his heed hi Ireland. Ile was
never frightened, and consequently he was never cruei
Ito ne,,,,,nt the offendsrs nee after another to testi e,
ard amid ail the menace.' of the time the nries duly
convicted them, and thsy were removed from the place I
win re they were earldom In the Russian War, again, he
worthily supported the honour and hiteresta of this count, y,
and though the chief State papers of the time proceeded
Irons the hued pail of M. Thonvenel, be sat he the Congress
which closest the war as the chief British representative, and
may thus be salt to have reaehed the height of his own !
political fortunes. Since that time—that is, during the last
twelve years—he hoe been the ruling mind in our relation.
with foreign POWCIT.
Since Lord Aberdeen no Minister had been intimate with
ao many Sovereigns, anti theatre was more than once enabled
to smooth over dissensions wasigh were tending to become
dangerous. A notable instance of this occurred of late,
when he acted as intermediary bet-coon the King of Prussia
, and the Emperor Napoleon, and was enabled to convey per.
• sonal assurances which assueged the jealousy of the French
and the corresponding suspicion of the Prussiane. In fact,
, lie had become, if not the Nestor of diplomacy, at am
rate one old enough and respected enough to take
a high personal position in dealing with men both
at home and abroad. An ordinary man could never have
attained this position, nor could even a mere politician,
however clever. There is a class of men who will get up any
subject, and who probably might know the geography of

Europe Or Asial-7--Ktri—aer an all the school of Palmerston d
Clar.mdon But, without the brilliancy, the geniality. the
working power which such men us he we now lament i.os-
ze,•e I, these attdonoolti are uselew, and the will soon
perceives haw feeble is the devourer of Wile toolo in com-
parison with large-hearted and truly statesineulike moo.

The Pall Mall Ga:elle, retneinhering that the very
det:ir:tb`et ,1051 i '.y of good manners in not fe,t °Nee
niaif <sited in the ',Fent sty, pays the following
tribute to the memories of the late Lorel. Palmeroion
arvi Lord C.arendon :
Althcuch Lent ClAno<lnn has posted away Trim the scene
of thlt p-Ittical life in which im has so long h irliS a con-
spicnoua part, It is well to oteerve one lesson at least that
may Di learned by the stu,y of his career. He belonged to
a so tot of statesmen who thief this country for many years,
smi owed their influence not so much to their intrinsic m.riu
or it their abilities aa to the possession of a wieldy too little
mined in the present day, we mem good manners. It has
been well said that goad breeding, like charity, not only
covers le multitude of faults, but to a certain degree, sup-
Ohs the want of some virtues ; for, in the cnumon
ii tern:sine of life it an 's as good nature, and often
dots whit mere good nature cannot always do—it keen,
bells wits and foe's wi hi I those bmnds of decency
stilt It the former are too apt to trantgren and which
the latter raver know. Thera was about Lrrd Claren-
don and also about Lord Palmerston • bonhomie which
obsruied alike both friends and foes. They Is< tee
art of taking the stioc iron the pirforinance of disagrucab.e
dirties. They never willingly gave offence. A natural in-
stinct led them to avoid < flooding the prejudices or hutting
the feelings either of their political autagonists or of those
with whoin In their Meer; they were brought into daily in-
tereour<e. Consequently they were popular even with their
opir.ncnte, and I iithfully served hy their subordinates
I hero was no bitterness in their method of transacting pull.
lie MIAOW' ; eith a kindly word or a cheelf ut smile they
sof texcil down the asperities which without tact too often
spring like briars in the path of pubic men, and cause them
to he one had of thorns plantcd by their own unskilful hands
Thole IS, as Addison remarks, no cocky or COliValliation to
be Sept up in the world without good stature or something
which must bier its appearance and supply its place. For
this reason manitioti hate been forced to invent i< Mud of
artificial humanity, which is what we express by the word
good breeding. For if we sxumlrio thoroughly the idea of
what we call so, we shall find it to ho nothing else but an
imitation and mimicry of good nature, or in other term.,
elf drdity, co.nplatunce, and etvlnesi of temper reduced to
an art. With Lord Ciarendon the, merito were natural It
nahtlit he wished that those who have not hy nature his
genial temperament would adelA a "kind of eritlhial
Imimmity." and assume at least the appearance or that good
breeding which constituted his peculiar clowns.