The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-10 00:00:00

INQUEST ON THE BODY.

An inquest, valich did not terminate until four o'clock
yesterday afternoon, was held before Mr. Waltley, the
Coroner, and a Jury consisting chiefly of County
Magistrates, upon the remains of Henry Brooke Parnell,
Baron Congleton, at his Lordship's residence, No. 43,
Cadogan-place, Chelsea.
The Coroner having taken evidence of the deceased
Nobleman being found suspended to the bed post in his
sleeping chamber at half-past 9 o'clock On Wednesday
morning, by his valet Manning, and of prompt medical as-
sistance having been called in, proceeded to examine
the Hon. John Parnell, his Lordship's eldest son, as to
the state of the deceased Nobleman's mind. The witness
stated that in the early part of the month of April last
his father had a severe attack of fever, which brought on
delirium, and from that period his Lordship had been
attended by Mr. Bolton, a surgeon, and occasionally by
Dr. Chambers.

The Coroner asked the Jury if he should adjourn the
inquest for the attendance of Mr. Bolton, or if they
would like to have the second son of the deceased Noble-
man examined ; but, as they made no reply, he briefly
summed up, and observed that it was their duty to in-
quire, in all cases when a person was found hanging,
whether it was the act of himself or not. The Coroner
then expressed, at some length, his abhorrence at the
barbarous state of the law in providing punishment upon
the dead, in cases of self-murder, and after some further
observations, the Jury returned a verdict of" Temporary
Insanity."

The family of the Parnells, from:which the late Noble-
man drew his origin, were, for a long period anterior to
the time of Charles 11, resident at .Congleton, in the
county of Chester, but, in the time of that King they par-
cased an estate in Ireland, and fixed their abode in that
kingdoM. This estate went by the name of Rathleague,
which is situated in Queen's county, and is held by the
family to the present day.
Among the ancestors of the deceased, the most notable
was the Archdeacon of Clogher. author of the " Hermit,"
ana who was Prebendary of Dublin in 1713, and Vicar
of Finglas in 1716. This celebrated man was the friend of
Pope, Swift, Addison, Congreve, Steele, and all the literary
spirits of his day. Swift's humour on one occasion made
a high man bow to the Doctor. Swift, it is related, in-
troduced the Archdeacon to the Lord-Treasurer Harley,
and, in his usual dictatorial manner, insisted upon his
Lordship's going, with his staff of office in hand, into the
ante-chamber, where Dr. Parnell was waiting to receive
him. his Lordship good-humouredly complied, and
the three great men had a day's laugh at the facetious
ideas of the Dean.

Besides John Parnell (now Lord Congleton), whom
Sir Henry had by his wife, Caroline Elizabeth, the
eldest daughter of Earl Portarlington, he has five other
children, two of whom are sons, and the other three
daughters. Of these ladies, the fourth child and eldest
daughter is married to the Right Rev. Charles Lungley,
who has, since his marriage, been elevated to the bench
of Bishops, but who at that period was head master of
Harrow School.

The late Lord's father was always spoken of in high
terms of commendation. At the time the Irish volun-
teers formed themselves into those redoubtable bodies,
bent upon preserving themselves and their liberties, Sir
John Parnell, who was the staunchest among thenumber,
was the Commandant of the Mary borough volunteers.
His son possessed much of the figure, and many of
the mental characteristics of his father. Sir John was
plain, frank, and convivial : as a financier he was able,
and educated with the view to a diplomatic station ; he
made no unstatesman-like figure in the Ministry of
which he formed part : his countenance was no less
benign than animated, and his eye, full and penetrating,
bespoke his ability and talent.
One of the questions in which, when Sir Henry
Parnell, he appeared most conspicuously before the
House of Commons, was on the night of the 13th April,
1810, when he made his celebrated speech on a motion
for a Select Committee to inquire into the collection of
tithes in Ireland. On that occasion he showed, with
true and eloquent earnestness, the grievances inflicted by
this system on Ireland. He gave it as a palpable fact.
that " so great was the poverty of many thousand people •
who pay tithe there, that if they existed in this country,
under similar circumstances of indigence, they would be
considered as entitled to parish assistance." His views
of the subject were high and honest. He sought to
exonerate the peasantry—to get rid of the direct pay-
ment by the Catholic, Presbyterian, or Quaker, to the
Protestant clergyman, and lastly, to give the clergy a
just and fair equivalent. Notwithstanding his strenuous
speech on the subject, his party were in the minority.
Another night, on which he no less signalised him-
self in the House, was on the memorable occasion when
the Right Hun. Henry Goulburn made a motion for
leave to bring in a Bill to amend certain Acts relating to
unlawful societies in Ireland. This was on the 10th of
February, 1825. He was opposed to the measure. He
believed it to be one that would terminate in confusion
and rebellion. He reviewed the various cases of affray
which were said to call for such an Act, and proved them
to be justifiable cases, and such as originated out of no
secret societies, but the just feelings arising between man
and man. He revealed the measures of the association
attacked, exposed the errors of his" antagonist, and de-
monstrated the evils alleged to have been caused by the
mal-administration of Lord Wellesley.
In 1824-5, the Chamber of Commerce at Dublin, being
desirous of having his opinion upon the then existing
" Butter laws," he turned his attention to the subject,
and produced a talented pamphlet entitled " Observations
on the Irish Butter Acts." The gist of his argument I
was to show that the then existing Acts were violative of
every sound principle of trade, and that most erroneous
opinions were entertained on the score ; but, like a man
of talent, while he proposed to repeal the existing regu-
lations, he advanced and provided others in their stead.
His treatise on "Financial Reform,"published originally
by Murray, in 1830, will always rank as a sterling and
authoritative book. In drawing up this valuable volume,
his own clear views upon the subject. together with his
active collating of the numerous Parliamentary accounts
and pamphlets upon the points he treated on, tended to
produce a systematic, enlarged, and copious work.
On Lord Oriel's retirement from public life, the subject
of this iremoir.was not only the principal instrument in
carrying the Holyhead Road Bills through Parliament,
but continued to be, as long as there was necessity and
occasion, one of the most efficient of the Commissioners.
Fully impressed with the importance of rendering the
communication between Dublin and London perfect, he,
untiredly, for twenty years, kept the subject in his con-
stant view—laboured to convince Government of the
grand utility of the measure—procured the consent of all
the numerous, and, in some instances, turbulent bodies of
local trustees on the line of road—arranged the sea com•
munication between Holyhead and Dublin, and finally
accomplished his purpose. His treatise upon " Roads,"
published by Longman, in, we believe, 1836, was the
result of much of the skill and science gained by him
during his application to this subject.
Telford was his intimate friend, and acknowledged to
have acquired from him " so perfect a knowledge of road-
making in all its branches, as enabled him to produce
the most valuable treatise which has appeared in Eng-
land on the history, principles, and practice of that
species of national improvement." Such are Telford's
own words. About this period he became an honorary
member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
A work perhaps not so generally known, but equally
excellent fur the accuracy and depth of research which
characterised it, was published by Ridgway, of Picca-
dilly, entitled " The History of the Penal Laws against
the Irish Catholics from the year 1689 to the Union." It
reached a fourth edition in a very short period.
On the dignity of Baron being offered to him by the
Melbourne Ministry in 1841, he chose for his title the
ancient name of the seat in Cheshire, where his family
from the earliest times had been located. Congleton, in
which the dememe of the Parnells was situated, lies
beautifully in a eh ep valley, on the banks of the Dane