The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-02 00:00:00

THE LATE LORD ASHBURTON,

Two days ego, in a country churchyard in Hamp-
shire, the last duties were paid to the remains of
Lord Ashburton. Although he sat for many years
in Parliament, and once held a post in the Govern-

mint, his prominence in political or official life
would not have justified a notice of his public career.
As he was deficient neither in ability nor in the
ordinary ambition of Englishmen of rank and for-
tune, he would probably have contended for the

prizes of Parliamentary life, but for a weakness of
voice which disqualified him from succeeding as a

speaker, His judgment was unusually exempt
from the influence of prejudice, and his language,
though it was wanting in rhetorical ornament, was

•:-
remarkable for precision. There is always, how-
ever, a succession of Ministers and candidates for
office, and Lord Ashburton had no reason to regret
the circumstances which led him to stand in the

outer circle of the political arena. He would have
administered a State department with efficiency and

credit, but his gifts were perhaps better employed
in discharging and illustrating the duties of a

wealthy and accomplished nobleman. None of his
contemporaries of similar position more habitually
recognised the obligations which are annexed to the

possession of a great estate. His house was a centre
of the best society of his time, and his pecuniary aid
and personal services were always available for the
promotion of schemes which promised social or

economical advantages: He had learnt at Geneva,
where he received the part of his education which
he remembered with most gratitude, to take a strong
interest in the progress of physical inquiry, and al-
though his own scientific acquirements were not

considerable, he took pleasure in the society of
chemists and geologists,and in watching the progress
of their discoveries. His opinions on economical

questions, and on subjects connected with popular
. _

education, were more independent and original.
Some of the addresses which he delivered at public
meetings, or as president of different associations,
were distinguished by suggestive thought and con-

densed propriety of style. In a speech at Winchester,

on the method of teaching the first rudiments o:
knowledge so as to give the most effective cultiva.

on to the intellect, he first used the phrase o:

common things," which for some years afterwards

became almost proverbial in popular dihcus3ions on
similar topics. When he acted as President of the

Royal Agricultural Society, he showed with much
force and feeling that the art of farming had ad-
vanced more rapidly than any other industrial pro-
cess. In a short speech in the House of Lords on the
India Bill he summed up with remarkable effect the
arguments against the proposed abolition of the East
India Company. His defects as au orator taught
him to abstain with instinctive care from any waste
of words and from idle commonplaces. His few
public speeches singularly resembled the well known
addresses of the Prince Consort. It was repugnant
to his tastes and habits of thought to appear before
an audience unless he had something of his own to
say. The Prince himself fully appreciated the
modest sagacity of Lord Ashburton's intellect, and
the singular refinement of his character.
Another friend of Lord Ashburton's was Sir R.
Peel, who appointed him Secretary of the Board of

Control. There was probably no house in. which
the Minister felt himself more thoroughly at his
ease, cr where he felt a pleasanter recollection of the
gaiety which was seldom suspected by strangers.
After his death, Lord Ashburton passed through
Liberal Conservatism into alliance with the Whigs,
whose doctrines he had to a certain extent held in
his youth. He was a Free-trader before the true
theory was universally adopted, but ho loved to
dwell on the limited and insufficient range which
he ascribed to political economy. His disposi ion
inclined him to utilitarian views, but whenever lie
had occasion to adopt a rule of conduct he was uni-
formly practical and moderate. He had counted
among his friends some of those who were formerly
called philosophic Radicals, and he always re-
tained in some degree the trace of their opinions.
His divergencies from received theories were, how-
ever, merely the amusements of a critical intellect,
and this would never have interfered with his poli-
tical course if .he had taken an active part in public
business. It was the habit of his mind to find some-
thing to sympathise with in all his numerous ac-
quaintances, and at the same time he habitually
suspected the strict accuracy of the general propo-
sitions to which they clung. He had the faculty and
habit of appreciating the most dissimilar characters
and he delighted almost equally in the society of
veteran politicians, of brilliant authors, and of re-
cluse men of genius. His connections had brought
him much into the company of Americans, and he re-
ceived in his house the most eminent foreigners who
visited England. If he had a prejudice, it was dis-
played in a kind of good-natured irritation against
the narrow patriotism which assumes the uniform su-
periority of native persons and institutions. He was
always ready to defend France, Russia, or America
against unfriendly criticism. Yet it would have been
easy to show that his own qualities could never have
been so advantageously cultivated or employed as
in England.
It will be by his character rather than by his not
inconsiderable powers of intellect that Lord Ash-
burton will be best remembered. There was a
purity, a gentleness and delicacy, in his bearing
and in his inmost nature, which can scarcely be re-
presented by description. In the common inter-
course of society, and in the more intimate relations
of life, he seemed instinctively averse to thinking of
himself. He never assumed an offensive superiority,
or took a selfish advantage. Au entire absence of
vanity, combined with uniform self-respect, enabled
him without effort to consult the feelings of all
whom he addressed. His splendid hospitality de.
rived its chief attraction from the charm of a
manner which was visibly the outward expression
of a simple and gracious disposition. It is fortunate
that in England there is room for many kinds of
eminence, and the perfect representation of the best
form of private life, especially when it is combined
with the performance of many public duties, is no
unworthy object of ambition. A century and a
half ago Lord Ashburton's name would have been
inscribed in dedications and,in complimentary
poems, which might have expressed a genuine and
disinterested admiration. Though fashions have
changed, and though a more perfect civilization
has produced habits of comparative reticence, it is
not fitting that rare virtues should disappear with-
out a passing record. Some of the worthiest of
Lord Ashburton's survivors will cherish his memory
as that of one of the most faultless human beings
whom they have known.—Times,

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