The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-08 00:00:00

DEATH OF MISS HOWARD.

It is with sincere grief that we find ourselves
called upon to announce the sad bereavement which
has befallen Mr. lloward, of Corby, in the pre-
mature death of his amiable and accomplished

daughter.
The name of Howard is a household word among
us, symbolizing all that is noble and devoted, and,
if there be any consolation under such an affliction,
it is certainly to be found in the thought that she
has, in some sort, fallen a sacrifice to the noble de-
votion which has led the most zealous children of

the Holy See to join in the demonstration which the
present ceremonies in the Eternal City afford of the
undiminished vigour of the Church of the nine-
teenth century ; and that, at the cost of enduring
the risks of an insalubrious season in a sultry cli-

mate, in addition to encountering the chances

outbreaks of war and pestilence.
There is no doubt the splendid and unique func-
tions of Rome possess a continual and undying at-
traction for persons of every nation and every per-
suasion, but the dangers and inconveniences (and,
to the self-indulgence of our day, inconveniences
rank scarcely second to dangers) which surround
them in the month of June, are such] as to repel
most northerners who have not a special call to

attend in their capacity of members of the
hierarchy. Balls, concerts, hunting, parties of
pleasure, all the various forms of worldly gaiety,
and all the amenities of the greatest earthly per-
fection of weather moreover, join their attractions
to those of the Church's celebration of Christmas
and Easter, while the present festivities have a
purely religious significance.
In this spirit of devotion Mr. Howard and his
daughter went to Rome a few weeks ago in order
to be present at the Centenary of St. Peter. God,
in His inscrutable wisdom, saw fit to accept their
tribute in different ways. While he is left to wit-
ness the triumph of the Church militant she has
been taken to join in the prevailing contest of the
interceding hosts above.
The young lady whose untimely end we are to-
day summoned to mourn was Mary Frances—or,
as her friends loved to call her, Mafra—eldest
daughter of Mr. Philip Henry Howard, of Corby
Castle, Cumberland, and Eliza Minto Howard, nee
Minto Canning, of Foxcote, Warwickshire. She
had but just completed her twentieth year, and,
added to the interest which always attaches to
youth and beauty, her virtues and piety had spe-
cially endeared her to her numerous family, and to
a large circle of acquaintance, by whom the blank
caused by her loss will long be felt, while the poor
of her neighbourhood at home will no less lament
the deprivation of her gentle charity.
The illness to which she has so early fallen a vic-
tim was a virulent form of typhoid fever, which took
but a few days to complete its deadly work. Pre-
pared by the consoling rites of the Church, her in-
nocent soul passed into the hands of her Creator on
the evening of St. John the Baptist's day.
The body was carried to the parish church of
Sta. Maria del Popolo, according to established
custom, on the night of Tuesday, the 25th inst., at-
tended by a long procession of frati. The solemn
obsequies were celebrated next morning—Matins
of the Dead at 8.30, followed by a Requiem Mass,
at which assisted the Right Rev. Dr. Strain, Bishop
of Edinburgh ; the Rev. F. Neve, D.D., Rector, and
the Rev. W. Giles, D.D., Vice-Principal of the
English College, Rome ; the Hon. and Rev. Mgr.
Edmund Stonor, Mgr. Howard, the Hon. and Rev.
John French, S.J., M. l'Abb6 Toursel, of the French
Chapel, London ; the Rev. William Wheeler, Rev.
R. Belany, &c., &c.
Letters of condolence were received from the
Archbishop of Westminster and the other English
prelates now in Rome, regretting they were com-
pelled to attend the Cousistory, by order of the
holy Father, at the same hour. Mgr. Talbot was
in attendance on his Holiness.
Prince and Princess Massimo, Principe d'Arsoli,
Principe Giustiniani Bandini, Marchese and Mar-
chesa Eugenia Serlupi, Marchesa Spinola, Lieut.-
Col. and Mrs. Forbes, Professor Valery, Mrs. Van-
sittart, Mr. Hugh Chomeley, Mrs. Stone, Mr. and
Mrs. Pierce Netterville, Mr. and the Misses Robin-
son, Miss Simpkinson, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Redmond,
Capt. d'Arcy, and a number of sympathizing friends
were also present. Mr. Palmer was confined to the
house by an attack of gout, or would have attended.
Among those in England on whom this sudden
grief will fall most heavily are Mr. Howard's two
younger daughters, now at a convent school in the
north of England, and his son, a fine and promis-
ing youth, pursuing his studies at the old English
college of Stonyhurst, who will probably hardly
have had reason to think their sister's indisposition
serious till they received the announcement of its
fatal termination. Indeed, one of the most touching
incidents of this melancholy event is, that a letter
from young Mr. Philip Howard was on its way out
to his sister, expressing his interest in the glorious
scene in which she was expecting to take part, and
his affectionate solicitude lest she should have felt
any touch of the Roman fever, at the very time
when she had already succumbed to its influence !
It is impossible to repress a sigh of human sor-

row at seeing cut short a career so full of promise,
the enjoyment of an honoured lineage, .a loving
kindred, every augury of a bright and useful future,
and all we are prone to prize ; yet, who would not
envy the peaceful passing of the bright, untroubled
spirit still unspotttd by the world, on the very
threshold of the earthly shrine of religious truth,
and amid the waving censers of its brightest cele-
bration.— Westminster Gazette.

FETE TO THE VICEROY OF EGYPT AT THE
CRYSTAL PALACE.—His Highness the Viceroy has accepted
the offer of the directors of the Crystal Palace, who pro-
pose to entertain hint with a file of unusual brillance.
The day has not yet been fixed. It is expected that tho
sultan will be also entertained at the Crystal Palace
shortly after his arrvial in this country.

ROSSINI'S MUCH-TALKED-OF " HYMN," says the
Musical Standard," has fallen flat upon the ear of expectant
Parisians. Like most pieces composed for particular oc-
casions, it has proved a failure, and will be consigned to
"limbo," in company with such musical nonentities as
" grand installation odes," and efforts of that kind only
born to be forgotten.