The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-23 00:00:00

DEATH OF LORD CAMPER b 0117 N.

At an early hour yesterday morning, and after a
short illness, this venerable nobleman breathed his
last. his lordship, although not quite the father
of the Vpper House, was one of the very oldest,
/members, having taken his seat soon after he at-
tained his majority in 1806, and sat, we believe, in
sixteen Parliaments. He was the eldest surviving
son of the celebrated Admiral Lord Viscount Dun-
can, K. 8., by Henrietta, daughter of the Right
Hon. Robert Dundas, of Arniston, Lord President
of the Court of Session in Scotland, and eldest
brother of the famous Henry Dundas, first Viscount
Melville. Lord Duncan had four sons, of whom two
died in his lifetime. His third son, Robert Dundas
Duncan-Haldane, succeeded to the family estates,
and to the honours achieved by the great victory
off Camperdown on the 11th of October, 1797, when
the scheme of an invasion of Ireland by 40,000
troops under General Hoche, perished with the
Dutch fleet, which, as the fruits of "that great day's
renown," was either destroyed or captured. The
late peer chose his place .from the first with U
Whig opposition,-hut seldom spoke in Parliament
till 1820, when he took some active part in the trial
of Queen Caroline. In 1827 Mr. Canning's death
prevented his accepting office under that Minister
with Lord Lansdowne. In 1830-31 his lordship was
prominent in the discussions in the House of Peers
on the Scotch Reform Bill; and on the Coronation
of William IV. he was elevated to the rank of an
earldom, the King being pleased as his own special
act, and as a tribute to the memory of the first peer,
to adopt the unusual step in the case of a new crea-
tion of giving Lord Camperdown's brother and
sisters the rank of earl's children. Of late years
Lord Camperdown has not taken much part in
public life, and beyond the ample circle of attached
relations and friends, who shared his genial hos-
pitality, was best known amongst his own thriving
tenantry and his neighbours in the country, by
whom lie was generally beloved and respected.
Lord Camperdown married, in 1805, Janet,
daughter, of Sir Hew Dalrymple, Bart., of North
Berwick and Tantallon Castle, in East Lothian,
who still survives, together with two sons and two
daughters. His lordship is succeeded by his eldest
son, Viscount Duncan, the well-known M.P. for the
county of Forfarshire, who was born in 1812, and
married in 1839 Julia, eldest daughter of Sir George
and the Hon. Lady Philipps, of Weston House,
Warwickshire, by whom he has two sons, the elder
of whom is Robert, now Viscount Duncan, of
Balliol College, Oxford, and the second, George, is
now at Eton. Lord Duncan's only daughter was
lately married to Lord Abercromby.
The late earl's younger son, the Hon. Hamilton
Dunean, was for many years an officer in the Fusi-
lier Guards. His lordship's brother, Sir Henry
Duncan, who died in 1835, was a distinguished
naval captain.

LECTURE ON QUEEN BLIZ.IBETII.

Last evening a lecture was delivered at the
Southwark Literary Institution, by Miss Sarah
Thorne—a young lady who some short time since
made a very successful debut at the Surrey Theatre
as a tragedienne—on " The personal birth and cha-
racter of Queen Elizabeth, the events of her reign,
and the effect of her life on the England of the pre-
sent day." Dr. Challice presided on the occasion,
and in a few appropriate observations introduced
the fair lecturer to the audience.

Miss THORNE commenced her discourse by re-
ferring to the birth of Elisabeth at the Palace of
Greenwich, and having glanced at some of the in-
cidents of her oarly childhood, alluded to the fact
that, although she was remarkable for her winning
ways, she was likewise remarkable for her haughty
and arregant disposition—but this quality was to be
attributed to the bold and daring race from which
she sprung. Yet, notwithstanding this feature of
her character, she loved the people of England, and
was proud of their love for her, and this quality in
her was manifested throughout her whole life. The
lecturer then drew attention to the state of England
at the death of Edward the Sixth, and to the
rivalries which existed between the Protestant and
Roman Catholic parties in the State, and to the
efforts of each to obtain the ascendancy. The
latter were triumphant during the reign of Mary,
who, fearing Elizabeth, had her taken to the Tower
as a traitor to the Queen ; but this charge Eliza-
beth always denied. At length the death of Mary
placed Elizabeth on the throne of England, and
then it was that, under her auspices, Protestantism
struck its roots deep into the lard, and spread its
influence through other countries of the world.
Under Elizabeth the commerce of England flou-
rished ; our colonies were founded and extended ;
arts, science, and literature obtained high positions
amongst us; and some of the bravest sailors, sol-
diers, statesmen, poets, and scholars that ever ap-
peared in England, lived during the reign of the
" good Queen Bess," as she was familiarly and
fondly called. Although Queen Elizabeth was
what was vulgarly called "a strong•rninded
woman," yet she was womanly, and was very fond
of children. She was, however, somewhat vain of
her little hands and little feet; but this was a
weakness which Miss Thorne seemed to think was
not limited to Queen Elizabeth; for our own be-

loved Queen Victoria was well known to have a
very elegantly-proportioned arm, and somehow or
other this fact was made to appear rather promi-
nently in every painting in which her Majesty was
represented. The lecturer then adverted to the
" one blot" upon the character of Queen Elizabeth,
namely, the execution of Mary Queen of Scots ; and
although Miss Thorne would palliate it on the
ground of Mary's supposed guilt, she still did think
it was a blot. The circumstances of the attempt of
the Spaniards to land in this country were then
adverted to, on which occasion Catholics as well as
Protestants flocked to the standard of England's
Queen, determined to defend her and their native
country against foreign invasion. The death of
Essex was next glanced at, and its effect upon the
Queen was noticed in a very effective manner,
making, as the occurrence did, the death-bed of
Elizabeth a sad and painful picture to look upon.
Such were the chief points in the lecture under
consideration, which was neatly constructed
throughout, and many portions of which were elo-
quently written. Miss Thorne, whose enunciation
is clear and distinct, delivered the lecture in a most
graceful and effective manner, and was frequently
deservedly applauded by the audience.