The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-27 00:00:00

THE SUN. LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1841

SIR FRANCIS CHANTREY, R.A. SUDDEN DEATH OF THE EARL
Of him under whose hand the marble assumed the OF HAREWOOD.
softest and most exquisite forms of • loveliness—to whom CORONER'S INQUST.—The following are the informa-
the sculpture of the last fifty years has been indebted for tions of witnesses taken on the 25th of November, at
a high and intellectual change—whose chisel has crowded the Bay Horse Inusin Bramham, near York, on view of
our halls, saloons, and cities with lofty and breathing the body of the Right Hon. Henry' Lascelles, Earl of
images of great and good men--it falls to. our lot to Harewood, before Mr. John Wood, one_of tlie Coroners
speak, now that death has come suddenly upon him. for Yorkshire.
Born in 1782, at Norton, in Derbyshire, Sir Francis Joshua Wilkinson, pupil with the Rev. John Farlam,
Chantrey was elected a Royal Academician in 1818, and of Bramham, said, about
,a quarter before five o'clock
his extraordinary rise into notice before that time was , yesterday afternoon
,I will in the lane leading to Tad-
, owing to high and original development of his own fine caster, and coming tovvardl Arandiam, when I saw Lord
.powers. The truth of this is apparent from the following Harewood on horseback and rite's; towards Brarnhatn.
early fact : He was before me. A shertOistanee- before reaching
When Chantrey sent his bust of Horne Tooke to the Bramhamhe got off his: horse and- took. it towards the
Royal Exhibition,' he was young and unfriended, but, hedge on the left hand side of the road, and -stoOd him-
the immense merit of the work did not escape the eye of self -looking towards the field. I did. not observe that
Nollekens. He lifted it from the floor—set it before him, he was doing anytiting. His back with towards me as
moved his head to and fro, and having satisfied himself I passed him. ills horse was near to him, but he
of its excellence, turned round to those who were had not hold of it. I walketL on, and then turned.
arranging the works for the exhibition, and said; "There's round and saw the horse, but I did not see him. I
a fine—a very fine work—let the man who made it be went forwards home, and did not see hiMusly more. I
known—remove one of my busts, and put this one in its don't think the. horse was between me and his Lord-
place,
for it well deserves it." He sat for his own bust sub- ship, so as to prevent Me seeing him. When I passed
sequently to Chantrey, by whom his name was ever men- his Lordship did not appear to be staggering' at all, but
tioned with a depth of respect that amounted almost to stood still, looking towards the field. He did not ap-
tenderness or love. pear to me as though he was making water. There was
Nollekens was a great admirer of his' young friend no other per Son near him. I had previously met a man
Chantrey's art, and frequently, on the authority of Mr. who was going towards Tadcaster. It was rather dark
Smith, was heard to recommend him on all occasions at,the time, but there was a moon. had got as far:kkes
when opportunity offered. He had himself a dislike to Moon's house, when I looked back,. which was a gdeds
anything in the shape of ancient art, and when asked to way off. I could just see the horse. When I passed I
model a bust would constantly say, "Go to Chantrey, thought his Lordship's face on one side, which I saw,
he's the man for a bust ; he'll make a good bust for looked very pale, and I thought he was sick.
you : I always recommend him." Stephen Shepherd, of Harewood.house, whipper-in, ,
When Lord Elgin's marbles arrived in England, and said—l was in the service of the deceased. His Lord-.
the Committee of the House of Commons culled before ship's hounds went out yesterday. The meet Was at
them the men of the highest emiaerree to give their the cross-roads on Clifford-moor. Lord Harewood was
opinion as to their value and excellence, Mr. Chantrey, out with us, and we ran a fox to ground at Grimston-
among the number was questioned, and his suffrage with hill. His Lordship stayed with us until we tried
that of others, led greatly to their purchase for the coun- to dig. him out, and accompanied us to the
try. " Are you well acquainted with the Elgin mar- green-lane, which is between the 'l'adeaster and Leeds
hies?" "I have frequently visited them."—" In what turnpike-road and the Bramham and Tadcaster-lane,
class, as to the excellence of art, do you place them ?" on our way home. He then left us, and I after-
" Unquestionably in the first."—" Have you ever looked wards saw him trotting on the road about three
at this collection with a view to its value in money ?" quarters of a mile in advance of us. He was trotting
" I really do not know what to compare them with !" at the rate of about six miles an hour. I afterwards
"Do you think it of great importance to the art of sculp- went forward, and on getting near to Bramham I ob-
tuse that this collection should become the property of served a horse standing with a saddle on. It was then
the public?"—" I think it of the greatest importance.? dtisk, and I called out, but received no answer, and judg-
On the death of Sir Thomas Munro, the inhabitants ing it was his Lordship's horse I got off my horse, and
of Madras decreed him a bronze equestrian statue, which found the deceased lying on the ground with his feet
was ordered to be executed by Chantrey. His medal- towards the horse and his head up against a gate-post,
lion of the late King, modelled under his superintend- his head rather inclining into the ditch, and his left arm
ence by M. Collas, in the basso-relievo style, was a beau- in the ditch. His right arm was under his body. He
tiful work of art. was lying on his left side. His hat was off, and lay
Chantrey was a very prolific genius : his 'marble pro- about a foot before his head, apparently having dropped
geny are numerous. His busts first brought him into with the fall. He neither spoke nor moved, and ap-
notice, as instanced above, and laid the foundation of eared to me to be quite dead. The horse was at
his fame, and they are besides the most admirable pro- liberty, and standing about a • yard from the gate.
ductions of that kind in the world. Of his statues and Bamford, the huntsman, was coming up, and I called
groups there are scores, but of his busts hundreds. We to him to come on as quickly as he could, and he came
must name some few of our chief favourites :—Horne up directly. I had then got his Lordship sitting up,
Tooke, Rennie, Wordsworth, Scott, John Hookham and was untying his handkerchief, but his head fell for-
Frere, Raphael Smith, Professor Playfair, the Bishop ward, so that I was unable to get it untied. Bamford
of London, the late King. Of all these perhaps that of Sir untied it. The body was then removed to the inn at
Walter Scott is the best. The poet has a face as change- Brarnham in Mr. Fox's carriage, which had been sent
able and various as the characters he draws in his works, for. As far as I observed, his Lordship was in his
and an expression which nothing but genius something usual health during the.day, and I had not heard him
akin to his own could have hoped to have seized. In this complain of being otherwise. When I found the de-
remarkable bust the brow is'full of thought, the eyes ceased his smallclothes were loose, and within the gate
look through one, and there is a grave humour about the I found his whip and the instruments which 'I now pro-
mouth which seems ready to escape in speech. The whole duce, and which his Lordship was accustomed to use.
face is finished with the most fascinating skill. The poet There was nothing to induce me to suppose that his
sat whilst the sculptor chiselled, and there was many a Lordship had been in any way molested. I have known
merry word between them. the deceased for 25 yeah. I understood him now to be
_ _

The works of Chantrey are all of a domestic or his-
torical kind. His statues are numerous, and perhaps his
sitting ones are the best. Meditation and thought are
at their freedom when the body is at rest ; and though
some of our poets have conceived and composed in the
act of walking, yet a man who thinks, seated, must al-
ways look more like a man in grave thought than one
who stands, let him think ever so stoutly. James Watt
is still living, tits far as sculpture can prolong life : his
perfect imay meditating on the extraordinary power
which man .elds so easily and profitably, is preserved
to the world. The statue of Chief Baron Dundas was
graceful and unaffected ; that of Mr. Anderson was
the literal and perfect image of the happy and bene-
volent old man ; and that of Dr. Cyril Jackson
pleased all who knew its type, or love flowing draperies
and the memory of Christ Church-walk. Of Chantrey's
erect figures Washington mast undoubtedly be the fa-
vourite : the hero of American independence seems the
very personification of one wrapt in thought—a man of
few words, of prompt deeds; with a mind and fortitude
for all emergencies. Grattan in the statue is a being of
another class—earnest, voluble, in motion more than any
of Chantrey's works, and yet with something both of
dignity and of serenity beyond what the orator possessed.
Horner is anxious, apprehensive, and mildly grave ; you
look expecting him to speak. General Gillespie is a fine
manly figure. In all these works there is to be admired
a subordinate beauty—a decorous and prudent use of
modern dress. All its characteristic vulgarities are sof-
tened down or concealed. There is no aggravation of
tassels, no projection of buttons. Though the beholder
is conscious that there is an art used in biding these
deformities the skill of the sculptor contrived to con-
ceal it in nature.
Chantrey's groups, though the most admired, were
not perhaps the happiest of his works. The Two Child-
ren, the Two Females on Wildman's monument, and the
Mother and Children on that of David P. Watts, are cer-
tainly most our favourites. The pathos of his two chil-
dren goes to the heart,of every mother ; the exquisite
sweetness of workmanship is subdued by the sentiment.
His Lady Louisa Russell is one of those fair and happy
images of youth, which even old age might go a long
journey to worship.
Chantrey's invention of the new-pointing machine, an
instrument used by sculptors 'for measuring statues,
though lying in a subordinate line of art, is truly valu-
able, and far surpasses that discovered by Bacon, the artist,
for its accuracy and rapidity. Hudon, the eminent French
sculptor, on visiting London, saw this instrument for the
first time in Bacon's studio, and expressed himself so
strongly concerning its beauty and its usefulness, that
Chantrey made him an immediate present of one. Some
time afterwards a gentleman who had come through
Paris called on Bacon, and observing Chantrey's instru-
ment, exclaimed, in surprise, "So you have got Monsieur
Hudon's instrument for taking points ; I see you don't
object to copying the French in some particulars."
An explanation took place, when it appeared that
Monsieur Hudon had passed it off for an invention
of his own. Chantrey, indeed, was so pleased with
his new instrument, that he caused correct working
drawings to be prepared, and sent as a present to Canova,
the illustrious Italian acknowledged the benefit which
such an instrument would confer on. art, but he lamented
that he could not find a head. in Rome mechanical
enough to comprehend the drawings.
Chantrey was more than any one else the most ad-
mired and loved friend of Nollekens, and during the last
hours of this latter remarkable man, was ever at his
side. His last visit to the Royal Academy was attended
by the former, and as he was carried up stairs in a kind
of sedan, Chantrey attended by his friend's side, and
listened to the last remarks he made upon the scenes
and groups about him. He was then borne to his coach,
he gave the persons who helped him a guinea each—he
put his hand to his hat—Chantrey seated himself beside
him, and he bade farewell for ever to 'the Royal Academy.
Chantrey possessed a very choice and exquisite cabinet
of sculpture, antiques, medallions, &c. Many of these
he purchased at public sales. Nollekens' fine cast of the
head of Dr. Johnson, which he possessed and valued
much, he bought for ten guineas, almost four times as '
much money as Nollekens charged for his common cast
speaking of it he was accustomed to say "I think it
cheap at any price—it is, in my opinion, the finest head
our friend ever produced."
England may justly be proud of her Chantrey. His
works reflected back her image as a mirror ; he formed
his taste on no style but that of nature, and no works of
any age or country but his own can claim back any in-
spiration which they have lent him. lie called up no
shapes from antiquity ; he gave us no established visions
of the past : the moment he breathed in was his ; the
beauty and the manliness which lived and moved
around him were his materials, and he embodied
them for the gratification of posterity. He
seemed to work as if he were unconscious of any
other rival but Nature—the antique was before
him, but he preferred flesh and blood, and it would cer•
tainly have cost him far more labour to have imitated
the work of another school, than to have created an
image from the impulse of his own feeling. Robert
Burns said that the muse of his country found him as
Elijah did Elisha, at the plough, and threw her inspiring
mantle over him—and the same may he said of Chantrey.
It was a secluded place, a nameless spot, into which art
had never penetrated, that the inspiration of sculpture
fell upon him ; the desire of the art came over him be-
fore he knew to what toil he was tasking his spirit. Na-
ture tot& possession of his heart, and filled it with forms
of English loveliness, before he knew that the works of
Greece existed ; and to this must be attributed his suc-
cess and his fame. An air of freedom and ease, which
came not from the muscle but from the mind—of senti-
ment, making action her auxiliary, and a look of life
and reality was stamped on all his statues, busts, rnd
groups. This is not only the true but the classic sculp-
ture of our country. It is not Greek, but it is Christian.
By the fine Grecian taste of Canova, the good sense,
the originality of Chantrey, and his faithful adherence
to life and nature, sculpture, we trust, has ever been
delivered from the cold and unmeaning impersonations
which it before their time was wont often to assume.

73 years of age. I could not tell whether he had made
water. His nose was dirty, as though he had fallen
upon it. I did not observe -any blood, nor any mark
on his face.
Wm. Bamford, of Harewood, huntsman, said, I was in
the service of the deceased, and was out with the hounds
yesterday. His Lordship accompanied us. He con-
tinued with us until we were on our way home, and ap-
peared in good health and spirits up to the time he
left us. When I had got nearly to Bramham I heard
Shepherd, the last witness, holloaing out to me to get
on, and I did so, and then found the deceased at the road
side, and Shepherd trying to raise him up. The first
thing I did was to loose his handkerchief. I could not
discover any pulse or breathing, and he appeared to me
to be quite dead. The body was removed to this house.
I observed that the deceased's breeches were open in
front, both the waistband and
,the flap. I did-not ob-
serve whether he had made water. There was nothing
to induce me to suppose that he had been, in any way,
molested.
Thomas Scatchard, of Boston, surgeon, said—l saw
the body of the deceased about twenty minutes after it
had been found, and examined it externally. There was
no injury whatever to the body, except a slight scratch
on the chin, which I think had been caused by the WI,
and there was a little stain of blood on the neckerchief,
which appeared to have come from the scratch. In all
other respects the body presented its natural appearance.
I should suppose that tha death was occasioned by the
rupture of a blood-vessel at the base of the brain. I
have not the least doubt that the death was from some
natural cause, and not from any violence whatever. The
deceased was quite dead when I first saw him.
J. Francis Gibbs, of Harewood, surgeon, said, I have
attended the deceased professionally during the last
twenty-seven years. He had been in indifferent health
lately, but was very much better; so much so as to get
out and take his usual exercise. His Lordship had an
affection upon him, which required the use of an instru-
ment. The instruments now produced are those he was
accustomed to use daily, and he might have become faint
after the use of them, and have fallen from exhaustion.
The deceased was not subject to any disease, that I am
aware of, calculated to produce sudden death. I have
seen the body since death, and there is no appearance
whatever of any violence ; there is merely the slight
scratch upon the face which has been mentioned. I have
no doubt whatever but that his death was natural. His
age was seventy-three years on last Christmas .day.
Verdict—Died suddenly by the Visitation of God.

(From the Leed's Mercury.)
Henry Lascelles, Earl of Harewood, Viscount Lascel-
les, and Baron Harawood, Lord Lieutenant and Custos-
Rotulorum of the West Riding and High Steward of
Allertonshire, was born December 25, 1767, and, had he
lived till Christmas-day, would have attained his 74th
year. He succeeded to the title on the 3d of April, 1820,
and on the 3d of September, 1794, he married Henrietta,
eldest daughter of the late Sir John Saunders Sebright,
Bart. Her Ladyship died on the 15th of February, 1840.
By this marriage he, had eleven children, three of whom
are dead, namely, Edward Viscount Lascelles, barn in
1796, died abroad about three years ago ;. Wm. Franeis,
born 1801, died 1814 ; and the Hon. Frederick, born
1803, died 1823. ' The surviving sons and daughters of
his Lordship have intermarried with the first families in
the kingdom.
Edward, father of the late Earl, was born on the 7th
of January, 1740, and died on the 3d of April, 1820. On
•the 12th. of May, •1761, he married Anne, daughter of
Wm. Chaloner, Esq., who died on the 22d of February,
1805, leaving four children, namely, Lady Frances
Douglas, mother of the Earl of Morton, Edward, Vis-
count Lascelles, Hon. Henry, the second and late Earl,
and Lady Mary Anne, who, in 1801 married Richard
Yorke, Esq. The family motto of the Harewoods is, In
solo Deo salus—Salvation in. God alone. His Lordship
is succeeded in his title and estates by Henry, Viscount
Lascelles, of Goldsbro' Hall, who was born on the 11th
of June, 1797, and who consequently is in his 44th year,
In July, 1823, he married Lady Louisa Thynne, second
daughter of the Marquis of Bath. His Lordship, we be •
lieve, has eleven children, the oldest of whom, Henry
Thynne, now Viscount Lascelles, was born on the 18th.
of June, 1824, and is therefore now in his 17th year.
The late Earl has left no fewer than 34 grandchildren,
and of the most beautiful scenes that could possibly be
contemplated was exhibited at Harewood 'House every
Christmas-day, when every member of the family assem-
bled to honour the birthday, of.the Noble Earl.
He served in four successive Parliaments, and was the
Conservative candidate at the ever-memorable contested
election for the County of York in 1807, when he was
defeated. The poll commenced bn Wednesday, May 20,
and finally closed on Friday, June 5. The total number
of votes recorded' was 33,972—namely, for Wilberforce,
11,686 ; for Lord Milton, 11,177 ; and for Mr. Lascelles,
10,937. After losing his election for the county, he
served five years in Parliament for Westbury, in Wilt.
shire. In October, 1812-, he was elected for Pontefract.
On the 11th of the same month he was elected for the
county of York by the ursolicited suffrages of the free-
holders. Ile withdrew from the representation of the
county at the general election of 1818, and on the 2d of
June, in that year, ho was chosen for Northallerton. He
.succeeded to the Earldom in 1820. Since that period,
his Lordship has interfered but little in political matters.

NEW WORK BY THE AUTHOR OF " THE
SUBALTERN."—If a narrative of perilous adventure by
flood and field—if traits of heroism, not the less interest-
ing, because appertaining to private soldiers—if a record
of the sufferings inseparable from war, the more exciting
inasmuch as they were nobly surmounted, can attract
the curiosity and sympathy of readers, then will Mr.
Gleig's new military story, gleaned from the recollections
of the pensioners of Chelsea Hospital, be all-command-
ing. incidents of the most stirring nature are here de-
tailed; all calculated to arouse feelings of patriotism and
exultation in the sturdy, brave, and unpretending deeds
of our English soldiers, in all parts of the globe..
ACCIDENT ON THE NORTHERN AND EAST-
ERN RAlLWAY.—Yesterday morning, as a man named
James Cutts, who is a labourer employed on the works
of the Northern and Eastern Railway, was at his work
near Hoddesdon, he was knocked down by ono of the
carriages, by which his head and shoulder were so se-
verely injured that ho was brought up immediately to
the London Hospital.
FAILURE IN MANCIIESTER.—Private letters
from Manchester, adverting to the failure of Gisborne,
Wilson, and Co., the calico printers, state the amount of
liabilities at about 80,000/. The immediate cause of the
stoppage is referred to the Bank of Manchester, which
, stands as a creditor for 6,0004