The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-30 00:00:00

DEATH OF SIR WM. FOLLETT

This mela,echolv event, which had been daily antici-
pated during the whole of last week, took place on Sa-
turday afternoon, a little af er three o'clock, at No. 9,
Cumberlencl-terrace, Regent's-park. He had been very
restless during the previous night ; his strength was
completely exhausted, sot!, in the course of the day his
mind, worn out by suffering, occasionally wandered, as
is often the case with p .rsons carried off by consurn
At his decease, there were in the room Lady Follett,
his three brothers, Dr. Bright, and several members of
Mr. Pennel's family, in whose . house he breathed his
last. He has left six children. This distinguished
lawyer was born at Topsham, near Exeter, in Decem-
la,r, 1798, consequently he had not completed his
47th year. He was the son of Benjamin Follett, Esq.,
said to have been a timber merchant, by the daughter of
John Webb, Esq., of Kin-ale, Ireland. He has left
three brothers, and a sister, married to Dr. Bright.
One of his brothers is a Chancery barrister. another
holds an office in Chancery, and the third is a timber
merchant, at Exeter. He was married in 1830 to the
eldest daughter of Sir Ambrose Giffard, formerly Chief
Justice of Ceylon ; was called to the bar in 1824 ; stood
for Exeter, unsuccessfully, in 1832 ; was returned in
1835 for that borough, anti appointed Solicitor-General,
under Sir H. Peel's short Adtninistrati‘ n in 1834.35 ; and
succeeded Sir F. Pollock, as Attorney-General, in 1844.
His abilities as a lawyer, his excellent speeches in Par-
liament, on almost every subject which properly fell
within his department, and his amiable and upright con-
duct in all the relations of life, are so well known that
it is needless to comment upon them. Though a Con-
servative and something more, for he occasionally
unwillingly followed Sir Robert Peel, he was equally
beloved and respected by men of all shades of political
opinion, and perhaps the Liberals regret his death as much
as his best political friends. It may be a long time before
the blank which he has left in the bar and in the senate,
but more especially in the office which he latterly oc-
cupied with to much credit to himself, will ba filled up
with equal satisfaction to all parties. Ile will, of course
be succeeded by the Solicitor-General, and two vacan
cies in the representation thus be made, viz., for the
boroughs of Exeter and Abingdon. His death will be
regretted by his party on another account, for a general
belief, and we believe well founded, prevailed that he was
destined to fill the office of lord chancellor whenever
Lord Lyndhurst should resign the seals. Latterly he had
not shown any very strong bias in politics, and we have
little doubt he would have been a very impartial and
effective chancellor, but judging fro:n some of his
speeches to his constituents, it is probable that Sir H.
Peel might have had some difficulty in moulding him to
his will. We give, as a specimen, an extract from his
speech made at Exeter, in December, 1834 :
" We have seen, one by one, all that was respectable
for talent in public life, or most respectable in private
life, leaving the late ministry, until at last nothing was
left but a miserable section who were unable to oppose
themselves to the destructive part in the State—who were
unable to stand before the storm which they themselves
were instrumental in raising. It was evident that they
were bending to the storm which must soon have swept
them away, and all that remained of the monarchy and
the constitution. Luckily, by the accidental removal
from the House of Commons, of the last and mast re-
spectable among them, Lord Althorp, his accidental re-
moval gave the fatal blow to that ministry, and severed
the connecting link which held together the rickety
machine, which when he left it fell to pieces. What was
then to be done ? To whom were the people to look ?
To whom were we to look but to the king, the sovereign
of our country ? It was for him to act—it was for him
to take care that the monarchy should not suffer : it was
for him to take care that the constitution should not
suffer. He has called around him other men—men
whose names are familiar to the country ; a new
government has been formed by the king, and the king
is now appealing to the country for support. The king
can have but one object in what he has done—the sal-
vation of the constitution, and the safety and welfare of
the country. Safe shall we be in moments of political
excitement—when danger is abroad—when there is a
reckless spirit aiming to upset all that we admire—safe
will the country be if we take part with the king, and
those who are appointed by the king.":