Obituary.

placed in the position of an inferior . On the Ecclesiastical Bill for abolishing the collegiate character of Southwell Church ( 1 S 40)—which is precisely what Mr . Beresford-Hopo and his friends want to re-establish , not only in Southwell but iu all larger towns—Lord Lincoln and Mr . Gladstone Avere tellers for an alternative proposal to create four canonries of £ 16 a year for parochial

purposes . They received 14 votes , and their opponents 54 . On the 7 th of February , 1842 , it was Lord Lincoln , then Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests , Avho was deputed by the House of Commons to congratulate Prince Albert on the occasion of the birth of the Prince of Wales . The same nobleman who heralded the heir ' s birth , officially , to the Commons , became one of his royal highness ' s highest officials in his Duchy , acted as his guardian on his foreign tour , and Avas visited on his death-bed by the prince in person .

As Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests , he signalised himself by providing out of tho Crown Lands for the neglected clergy of tho Forest of Dean , and for the spiritual interests of 11 , 000 souls dependent on their daily labour on Crown property . Dr . Bowring , Mr . Joseph Hume , and Mr . Thomas Duncombe opposed this "fresh encroachment of the Church ; " but even Mr .

Henry Berkeley supported it , and it Avas carried . With Acinous services of practical utility , the improvement of drainage , the Avidening of the streets , the establishment of Victoria-park , the proposal of an embankment between Westminster and Blackfriars , the Earl of Lincoln ' s domestic career closed in 1846 . As Chief Secretary for Ireland he left no markand- indeedhis temperament

; , was hardly suited to Irish latitudes . The duke had been a Lord of the Treasury in 1834-5 , Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests from 18-11 to January 18-1-6 , and Chief Secretary for Ireland from January to July of that year . In December , 1852 , he accepted tho post of Colonial and War Secretary ( for both then were combined ) in Lord Aberdeen ' s Cabinet .

When the Colonial was separated from the War Department , the duke , in choosing the latter , had shown patriotism and ambition ; but he could not make or remodel a Avhole vast disorganised system in the face of the demands of the Avar . Gradually tidings came home which wrung all hearts . The troops had no greatcoats , no medicines ; hut there Avas a A ast quantity of biscuit

and coffee , only the biscuit Avas mouldy and the coffee green . The opening of the session of 1855 Avitnessed the beginning of the end . Mr . Roebuck gave notice in ^ the House of Commons of a committee of inquiry into the Avhole administration of the war . On the day when he was to bring it on Lord John Russell resigned office . The motion came on . Lord Palmerston and all his colleagues manfully stood by the duke . "Tho Duke of Newcastle . " said Mr . Hculev .

always candid and generous , " is the most ill-used man in England ; his colleagues got him into a fix , and then left him . " The motion Avas carried to the astonishment of the House , by 305 to 148 . Next day Lord Aberdeen resigned , and in a manly way eulogised the duke , whose explanation and vindication can hardly yet have been forgotten . What ' stung him into a noble and touching

eloquence was the charge of "indifference and indolence . " "My lords , " he exclaimed , " as regards the charge of indolence , I can only say that the public have had , at all events , every hour and every minute of my time . Not one hour of recreation or amusement have I presumed to think that I was entitled to take . M y lords , the other charge , that of indifference , is still more

painful to me . Indifference , my lords , to Avhat ? Indifference to the honour of the country , indifference to the success and the safety of our army ! My lords , I have myself , like many who listen to me , too dear hostages for my interest iu the welfare of the military and naval services of the country to allow of such asentiment . I have tAvo sons engaged in those two services , and that , alone , I think , would be sufficient to

prevent me from being indifferent ; but , my lords , as _ a Minister—as a man—I should be unworthy to stand in any assembly if the charge of indifference under such circumstances could be truly made against mo . _ Many a sleepless night I have passed , my lords , thinking over the evils Avhich the public think , and say , I could have cured , and Avhich , God knows ! I Avould have cured if it indifference

had been within my power . Indolence and are not charges that " can truly be brought against me . I deny the charges ; and I trust that my countrymen will before long bo satisfied , whatever they may think of my capacity , that there is no ground for fixing this unjust stigma upon me . " No fair man could deny the justice as Avell as the indignant emotion manifest in been

this vindication , Avhich has long siuce justified . The Duke Avas out of office from 1855 to 1859 , when tho present government was formed , and he was appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies , which he held till April last . This time his grace Avas appointed to the office for Avhich his talents and acquirements admirably fitted him . The present condition of our colonial possessions—regulating their own affairs , exercising all the privileges of self-government—renders the office of Colonial Secretary an easy one as it respects the

parliament of this country , Avhatever may be the nature or amount of his correspondence with the colonies ^ themselves . During the five years of his grace ' s holding the seals the only prominent incident was his excursion to Canada and the United States in company with the Prince of Wales . There his travels through the two countries was an almost continual ovation , and would ious dissen

have been so altogether but for the relig - sions between Roman Catholics and Orangemen . _ The Orangemen showed no lack of loyalty , but they insisted on showing it in their own way ; and the duke , with a becoming sense of what Avas due to the dignity of the Crown , Avould not suffer the Heir Apparent to be mixed up in party and polemical demonstrations . With this had

one exception , neither the Prince nor the Secretary any cause to regret their visit to this maguificent possession of the British Crown . He continued at his post afterwards , Avorking quietly , unostentatiously , but with rare diligence and conscientious industry , till , towards the close of last year , symptoms of failing health appeared , which obstinately refused to yield to medical treatment . He Avould have resigned , it is said , sooner than he did , but remained at his post at the personal request of the Premier , who highly appreciated his

ser-Aices . The ducal house of Clinton has had an uninterrupted malo descent , concurrently with the tenure of landed estates , from a date prior to the dissolution of the monasteries . But the Clintons date to an age long prior to that event ; by some they are said to have been of Anglo-Saxon extraction . They held lands near Woodstock , Oxfordshireas early as the middle of the 13 th century ;

, and we find John de Clinton , of Amington , county Warwick , summoned to Parliament in 1299 ( 27 th Edward I . ) as Baron Clinton of Max-stock . His son , Sir William , successively became Chief Justice of Chester , Constable of Dover Castle , and Warden of the Cinque Ports ; aud , having been one of those who surprised Mortimer at Nottingham CastleAvas created Earl of Huntingdona

, , title Avhich became extinct at his death without male issue . His nepheAv , the fourth Lord Clinton , was a sharer iu tho military glories of Edward III . aud the Black Prince ; and his descendant , Edward , ninth lord , Avho attained the highest rank as a naval commander during the reigns of Henry "VIIL and his three immediate successorsAvas raised in 1572 to the Earldom of

, Lincoln , Avhich is still extant in the family as the second title . The ancient Barony of Clinton , being a barony in fee and descendible to female heirs , passed aAvay into another line in 1692 . Henry , tho seA enth Earl , was one of the officers of the Court to Prince George of Denmark , and filled the posts of Paymaster-General and Constable