The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-26 00:00:00

DEATII OF SIR LAMES GRAIIAM.

(From the Times.)
Sir J. Graham died, at Netherby, shortly before
noon yesterday. For the last 18 months he had been
suffering from attacks of acute pain in the heart on
the east extra mental or physical exertion. On
Thursday week, having dined with his family as
usual on the previous day, he was seized with pain
of more than usual severity in the heart. Remedies
were applied ; the attack yielded to their influence,
and he gradually improved. Last Thursday he was
so much better that he told his medical attendant
he thought he should shortly be able to dispense
with his services, and, after having had dinner in
his bedroom, he retired to bed about 6 o'cicck, say-
ing he felt all the better for having sat up longer
than usual. Soon after that he had another attack
of acute pain, which did not yield to the remedies
applied. He expressed a strong conviction that it
was useless to try any more remedies, as he was
quite sure, from the long continuance of spasms and
from his general feeling, that his end was at hand.
He then gradually sank during the night, and died
at a quarter before 12 yesterday. His faculties were
bright and unimpaired to the last, and he died ex-
pressing the utmost resignation.
His death will take the country by surprise.
Although he had retired from the cares of office, his
interest in public life was undiminished, and in the
last Session of Parliament no man was more regular
in his attendance at the House of Commons. Night
after night, even in those dreary periods of the even-
ing when the House thins, he was to be found in
his place, and listening with the greatest patience
to the longest drawn speeches, In the financial de-
bates
of the Session he took an especial interest, and
late at night, when evidently longing for repose, he
might be seen standing at the door of the House,
anxious to go, and yet Fairing over the members'
shoulders eager to catch the last words of the debate.
His support was always of immense advantage to a
Government. If he opened his mouth to speak,
it was said to be worth fifty votes, and
now this tower of strength has suddenly fallen
—the chosen lieutenant of Peel and of late the
chief of the Peelites. If he was not a great states-
man, he was certainly a powerful Minister. He was
too timid to take the first place in politics, and per-
haps he was too unsettled ever to be a safe guide.
On the other hand, his administrative ability was
of a high order, and his eloquence, assisted as it was
by his great stature, his noble presence, and his fine
voice, was exceedingly effective. These combined
made him a most formidable opponent in Parlia
vent, and, with his vast knowledge of detail, a
most valuable member of any Cabinet. His place,
however, was strictly that of a lieutenant. He was
not a commander of men. With all his ability, he
was never poplin. He was one of those men
who are more than mediocre, but who do not fulfil
the expectations which they excite.
_ _

He was of the same age and standing as Lord
Russell—the year of his birth being 1792. The de-
scendant of an ancient Scottish family, ho was born '
at Netherby, and like many of the young Whigs,
was educated at Westminster School. From there
he went to Queen's College, Cambridge, and very
speedily entered upon public life. Travelling for
his pleasure abroad, he was induced to become.
Private Secretary to Lord Montgomerie, British
Minister in Sicily, during the most critical period
of the war. Lord Montgomerie became ill, and the
entire management of the mission devolved upon
him. The young man in this, his first taste of the
real business of life, showed the stuff that was in
him. He worked ten hours a day, so that when
Lord William Bentinck returned to the Embassy,
he, although 'previously unacquainted with Mr.
Graham, requested him to retain the post. He per-
formed several important services in this capacity.
To him has, indeed been assigned the praise of
having conducted the negotiations which led to the
separation of Murat from Napoleon ; but this, we
believe, is an honour which more properly belongs to
Lord Aberdeen. The war ended, be returned to
England, and in 1818, after a most severe contest, ob-
tained a seat for Hull. At this time he was known
as the Yorkshire Dandy, a title procured for him by
his fine appearance, and by a style of speaking
which seems to have been too studied and flowery.
His watchwords on the occasion of the election
were Parliamentary Reform, the .Abolition of un-
necessary Places and Pensions, and the Suppression
of the Slave Trade. The ideas conveyed in these
words were not very acceptable in those days, and
in 1820, at the election which ensued on the death
of George 111., he lost his seat for Mull. Subse-
quently he became member for Carlisle, and took a
high position in politics on the strength of his
pamphlet on "Corn and Currency," in which, while
insisting on the necessity of reducing taxes, he de-
clared for " the free importation of corn, with a
moderate protective duty." His influence was so
strong that in the Reform Ministry of Earl Grey
he had an honour which his contemporary, Lord J.
Russell, did not enjoy—a seat in the Cabinet. He
was made First Lord of the Admiralty, and the
men of Manchester refer to the expenditure of those
days as the model for ours. In 1834 he seceded
from the Whigs with Mr. Stanley, and gradually
came round to the so. called " Derby Dilly " till he
joined the party of Sir Robert Peel. He became
Peel's righthand man. No orator could be more
brilliant or telling than Lord Stanley, but Lord
Stanley -was too independent, and the Premier was
glad to transplant him to the Upper House. On
Graham he chiefly rested, and Graham was of the
nature to give such a man as Peel a thorough-going
support. In some respects, however, he was as much
a weakness as a strength. He was most unpopular.
The incident of opening certain letters in the Post-
office brought on his head a storm of public disap-
probation ; and his haughty manner of dealing
with the Scotch Kirk, which ended in the Disrup-
tion, made him hated with a most bitter hatred
north of the Tweed. His strength lay in his power
of work and power of argument. The celebrity of
the Peelites for administrative ability was largely
based on the effectiveness of Graham. After
Peel's death, partly from constitutional timidity,
partly from a desire for repose, he withdrew
by degrees from the excitements of political
warfare. His part was chiefly to turn the balance
of party, to give the weight of his authority to his
friends, and now and then to overwhelm his adver-
sary.with mild sneers or cutting compliments. He
managed always to make the Tories excessively
angry. No man roused Mr. Disraeli's or Lord
Derby's resentment so much—a resentment most
openly displayed. It was a proof of his power, but
it may be doubted whether it was equally a proof
of his wisdom. Sir James was not a farseeing man.
He was a child of the hour. Indeed, on one occasion
he characteristically defended the thesis that every-
thing was changing, and that it was the business
of a politician to be somewhat of a weathercock.
The late Sir James Robert George Graham was
the eldest son of Sir James, the first baronet, by
Lady Catherine Stewart, the eldest daughter of the
seventh Earl of Galloway, and was born on the Ist
of June, 1792 ; consequently he was in his 70th
year. He married in July
1819, Fanny Callender,
youngest daughter of Sir James Campbell, of
Ardinglass, by which lady, who died in 1857, he
leaves issue Frederick Ulric (married to the eldest
daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Somerset)
and several sons. Among his daughters two are

IA La
married, one to the Hon. E. Duncombe, ALP., and
the other to Col. Baring. He is succeeded in the
baronetcy and estates by his eldest son, Frederick
Ulric, born April 2, 1820. The present baronet was
attached to the Embassy at Vienna in 1842, and
subsequently entered the Ist Life Guards.

By the death of Sir James Graham the country
has lost one 'who stood in the first rank of its politi-
cians. It is for the next age to say whether he deserves
the title of statesman. The verdict in such a case
is difficult to anticipate. The contemporaries of the
deceased have, perhaps, been disposed to judge him
hardly. Sir James Graham never attained the
highest political honour—the post of Prime Mini-
ster ; and it is likely that at no period of his career
would the popular feeling have ratified such a choice
on the part of the Sovereign. The prominent mem-
ber of three great Administrations, the Minister to
whose judgment even Peel sometimes deferred, the
able administrator and indefatigable man of business
had not the qualities which enable meennitbolyl,eaodr
parties, to dictate the decisions of an ass