New-York daily tribune., 1861-09-08

daily bread or winning desirable eociai position
the pubGc service az q field Of grateful excieneh''
This ia more common in England than IL le neIe'
tbouoh even here we have men OF ample fortunes
l;l,e Secretary Cameron and Gen. Wadsworth, WHO
choose the steep and thony road OF toll ana danger
when thew might solace themselves in the primrose
maths Of ease and luxury. But the much larger num-
he, If u Gentlemen Of England who live at home at
ao.a,, orsotos vet more numerous class there who
rsb 20 tho excitements of Parliament and the Minis
~ 60, relief from the tedum Of idle liie One OF this
nnmber WAS the late Sidney Herbert, who songht re-
80 j.; the Uouse of Lords as Lord Herbert, OF Lee,
anly month or two before he died but sought 1t in
vain beeause he had not sought it sooner. Mr. Her
bert was the second son of the Earl Of Pembroke the
dozenth or go of the line, and the heir presumpve
and inevitable of the title and estateshs BROTHER the
present Earl, being very old man with cor
respondingly old Countess, and without children. The
present Earl having been long resident of the CONT
nent the prncely estate Of Wilton at the disposal
of his heir and brother as fully as if he had aresdy
come into possession. He enjoyed an ample fortune
in Lis own right and possessed the culture and ase'
which most adon high station, and his lot seemed 10
be as enviable one as could well be imagined
With every possible inducement to career OF re-
fined ease aud elegant pleasures, he chose rather lie
of hard parliamentary and official work, for the most
part in opposition or in subordinate positions de had
nothing of gain or promotion to win by his life OF toll,
but only the satisfaction of thirst for activity for
| prominence before the public, and, we doubt not,
sincere desire to deserve well of his Queen aud coun-
try. lie was a very Industrious and useful puphc
man. though not of tie highest order OF abilities, and
not probably, of that gift of influencing other MINDS
which would have secured 70 him what is the ultimate
hope of every English statesman, the head OF the
Treasury. lie wac Secretary to the Admiralty during
the Peel Administration and aiterward Secretary
at War and Of the Colonies holding the first post at
,he time of bis death. He was Secretary at War DUR
ing the Crimean War, and in that capacity he VIII go
into history as il was under his administration that 'no
frehfu abuses of the Commissariat and of the Hos
nitsi Oenartment were abated. lie will be always re-
! membered as the Minister who sought out Florence
nightingale and virtually put her at the head oil the
bospitals Useless as that was, and unfrutul OF
good results and cruel the loss OF life and the
snfyerinps of the sound as well as of the sick and
wounded during its first campaign, 1t did have the eec
of attracting public attention TO the condition oil the
common soldier as il had never been before and oil
making impossible the horrors which he used TO endure
He continued hard at work in the CommOps and in the
War Office up to a very late day. when he went up to
the Peers as iess laborous scene faction but without
resgning his Ministry. But the overwork Of many
wears had told too seriously upon him. and he died the
other day atthe early age for an English public mani
of fifty years.
One cannot but respect man who, with every pos
sble temptation to sendugence assured rank, ample
fortune, social popularity gave himself up to the
transaction of public affairs. His fresh title and bis
great expectations are inherited by his son boy Of
eleven or twelve years old. Mr.. Willis, in The Home
Journal Of last week, says on the authority OF
charming Englishwomsn visiting in this country
that the romance of his life lay in the deep affection be
entertained for Caroline Norton which she is supposed
to have reciprocated. why they married was
| known only to themselves The surmses of friends,
the conjec,ures Of enemies, equally ct fault on
that matter They both guarded their secret jealousy
sacredy." We hardly think this can be the case in
England; but If so, fully competent to explain
| the mystery The reason why Mr.. Herbert and the
Hon. Mrs. Norton were never married was this-thst
in 1877, when he was a schoolbOy at Harrow, she in
Cured the incumbrance Of husband in the person Of
the Hon. George Norton, which incumbance she still
endures that discreditable police magistrate
having overcome the bad habit Of living, which was
at last 30 happily conquered by Mr.. Wopsles great
aunt Whether they ever wished to intermarry we
know not; but, if they did they must both of them
have been painfully aware of this slight impediment
in the way Of their doing And we rather think the
fact was not 90 much the food of friendly hostile
conjecture as The Home Journal its correspondent
apprehends. Mr.. and Mrs. Norton have been separ-
ated for many years, ever since the scandaous suit
brought against Lord Melbourne, which broke down 30
dsagracefully for Mr. Norton. But they were never
divorced OF course he had lost his suit, htcoud not
get divorce edamsges in law being an essen
tia preliminary at that time. And until the late Mar
rage and Divorce Act passed. three four years ago.
woman had no chance to get one at all The SIN against
marriage was the only recognized ground Of divorce,
and it was next TO never granted to . wife for tbe
crime of the husband. For century and half there
were but four such instances and those were Of
of incestuous adultery on the part Of the husband.
Since the reign of Sir Cresswell Cresswel, woman
can obtain divorce for her husbands adultery agga
waited by cruelty, but for nothing else At any rate,
Mrs Norton is now and has for twenty years. been
the lawful wife of Mr.. Norton, which Circumstance
must have saved Mr.. Herbert and Mrs. Norton from the
perplexy into which their never having married seems
to have thrown the fair friend Of Tile Home Journal.