The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-27 00:00:00

THE EDUCATION BILL.

Trade.

It is said that the Government intend to accept the
amendments of Mr. Torrens with reference to the election
of a School Board for the metropolis, adopting the Parlia-
mentary divisions, and election by the ratepayers, the
expense to be defrayed out of the Common Poor Fund.

DEATH OF THE EARL OF

CLARENDON.
After a brief illness the Earl of Clarendon, K.G., Secre-
tary of State for Foreign Affairs, died this morning.
For some little while the deceased peer had been ailing ;
but no high importance was attached to the symptoms,
nor did they greatly interfere with the performance of
his duty. Only last Thursday the Earl was examined
before the Select Committee on the diplomatic ser-

vice. On the following day, however, he was seized

with a complaint which is described as diarrhoea. Sunday
skewed a great change for the better ; and on Monday
the Times published a confident assurance of speedy re-
covery. Immediately after the publication of that jour-
nal—at six o'clock the same morning—the statesman died.
His family is illustrious ; its name stretches far back

ito the annals of England. The late representative,
;eorge William Frederick Villiers, G. C. 8., P.C.,

and P.C.L., was the fourth earl of the title, and was the
son of the ion. George Villiers, . himself the third son of
the first earl. The late statesman's predecessor was John

Charles, third . Earl of Clarendon, who succeeded his
brother in 1824, the late representative taking the peerage
in 1838. The subject of this notice was born on January
12th, 1800, and therefore dies at the age of seventy. in
1839 he married Lady Katherine Grimston, eldes.t

daughter of the first Earl of Verulam. By her he
had three sons, Edward, Lord Hyde, born in 1846 ; Georg•
Patrick Hyde, born in 1817 ; and Francis Hyde, born in
1852. Three daughters, all older than the sons, complete
the family. They are Constance, born in 1840, and mar
ried in 1864 ; Alice, born in 1841, and married to Lord
Skelmersdale in 1860 ; and Emily Theresa, born in 1843.

One brother of the late Earl is the well-known Right
Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers, the advocate of Free

The late Foreign Secretary entered the diplomatic ser-
vice early in life, and this act determined the character of
his career as a politician. To the last he was rather a
diplomatist than a statesman. After completing his edu
cation at Cambridge, he took a commissionership of
Excise at Dublin, and in this office displayed
considerable abilities. After the regulation amount of
waiting, he • obtained higher employment. In
1831 he arranged a commercial treaty with France, and
in 1833 became Minister Plenipotentiary at Madrid.
This post he retained until 1839, returning to England
and taking his seat in the House of Lords after the title
devolved upon him. Work was soon found for him in
England. In 1840 he became Lord Privy Seal in the
Melbourne Administration ; and before the end of the
same Year he took the Chancellorship of the Duchy of
Lancaster. In 1841 Sir Robert Peel came into power,
but in 1846 Lord John Russell's turn arrived, and Lord
Clarendon was made President of the Board of Trade.
A higher dignity soon awaited him. Shortly after his
accession to the Board of Trade he was offered the Lord-
Lieutenancy of.lreland, and commenced his period of
office early in 1847. Needless to, say how arduous
were his labours. He governed the island until
1352—the time of the famine, and the most trying term,
perhaps, in the recent history of Ireland. He was re-
lieved of his thankless office by the resignation of the
Ministry, and the succession to power of the Earl of
Eglinton. Soon Lord Clarendon returned to a more
familiar sphere of labour. In 1853 he was invited to take
the Foreign Office. Here very exceptional and remark-
able testimony to his services was borne by the Cabinets
of the day. When Lord Aberdeen's Ministry fell in
February 1855, the Earl of Derby, being sent for by the
Queen, expressed a desire to retain his assistance at the
Foreign Office; and when Lord Derby failed to form a
Cabinet and Lord Palmerston acquired power, the Whig
leader followed the example of the Tory. Lord Clarendon
remained Foreign Minister until 1858. Great responsi-
bility fell upon him during that period. The Russian
War involved the most difficult points of foreign policy
-that have arisen since Waterloo. Lord Clarendon's course
daring this period laid him open to some stricture.
Before the contest it was complained that he
displayed some disposition to yield to the Emperor of
Russia, and there can be little doubt that he viewed the
war with small favour. Much, however, is owing to him
on account of his conduct of the difficult negotiations be-
tween England, France, Sardinia, Austria, and Turkey.
When peace was under consideration Lord Clarendon
went to Paris, and represented England at the con-
ference in conjunction with Earl Cowley. On
this occasion he acted with firmness in exacting due
conditions from Russia, and especially in respect of her
ht to the Isle of Serpents. After the defeat of the
Palmerston Ministry on the Conspiracy Bill, Lord Claren-
don did not again take office, his post—to the disadvantage
of the country in the opinion of many people—being filled
up by Lord John Russell. For six years the Earl of
Clarendon took no active part in politics. In 1862 he
was named by the Queen one of a committee to carry out
• the project for erecting a memorial to Prince Albert, the
other members being the late Earl of Derby, Sir Charles
Eastlake, and Mr. Cubitt, then Lord Mayor of London.
In 1864 Lord Clarendon again came to the front as Chan-
cellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. In the Cabinet
armed by Earl Russell, after the death of Lord Palmer-
ston, the Earl of Clarendon took his old post as Foreign
Secretary. When the Gladstone Ministry acceded to
power he resumed the old familiar office, and was Secre-
tary of State for Foreign Affairs when he died.
Lord Clarendon's later policy is matter of recent con-
temporary history. It was in the main a policy of peace,
but he did not push the doctrine of non-interference
very far, and in the recent Greek affair, he took
a prominent part in arranging the conference which
resulted in the humiliation of the little kingdom.
In this affair England supported Austria in discounte-
nancing the discreditable practices by which the Greeks
kept up the insurrection in Crete, that insurrection being
entirely' fomented by Greek aid ; and notwithstanding
the resistance of Russia, the terms agreed upon at the
conference were so favourable to Turkey as to give that
State a new lease of life. In the quarrel between the
Porte and the Khedive of Egypt, Lord Cla-
rendon also interfered, though with much less
reason, in the interests of Turkey. In the ne-
gotiations which are still unsettled between Eng-
land and America, touching the Alabama claims, Lord
Clarendon was fully at one with his predecessor, the pre-
sent Earl of Derby. He was willing to consent to a
settlement, but not to such a settlement as would com-
promise the honour of England. A short time ago the
deceased ail returned from a visit to the continent, and
ex--are,a ea the cpinion that the relations between the
wanous States were never before in a condition so favour-
able to peade. Every body knows what was the last
melancholy affair which engaged his lordship's attention.
The inquiry into the wretched brigandage muddle was on
the way when the statesman died.
This loss places a vacant garter in the hands of her
Majesty, and deprives the Queen's University of its Chan-
cellor. Lord Clarendon will be succeeded in his title by
his son, Lord Hyde, whose removal from the House of
Commons to the House of Perrs will create a vacancy in
the representation of Brecon.