1855.

JANUARY.

1. At Edinburgh, aged 83, Sir Adam Ferguson, knt., Deputy Keeper of the Regalia of Scotland, and a retired Captain in the army; the intimate friend of Sir Walter Scott. Sir Adam was the eldest son of Dr. Adam Ferguson, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. It was at the mansion of the Professor that Scott, then a mere boy, saw and received a word of recognition from Robert Burns; and the intimacy between Sir Walter and Sir Adam, begun in very early life, was only terminated by the death of the former. Entering the army in the early part of the present century, Ferguson attained the rank of Captain in the 101st Foot, Feb. 4, 1808, and served with the Duke of Wellington in several of the Peninsular campaigns. In Oct. 1812, he was taken prisoner, and was not released until the peace of 1814, when he returned home to find Scott busy with the building of Abbotsford. On the 8th of October, 1816, he went on half-pay. In the year 1818 he was appointed Deputy Keeper of the Regalia of Scotland, which had been recently found; and received the honour of knighthood from George IV. on the occasion of his visit to Edinburgh four years after. The wit, fun, and gallantry of true heartiness of Scott's friend can never be forgotten by those who are acquainted with the biography of the poet. Sir Adam married in 1821 the widow of George Lyon, esq., of London, and daughter of John Stewart, esq., of Stenton, Perthshire.

2. At his seat, Killadoon, co. Kildare, in his 87th year, the Right Hon. Nathaniel Clements, second Earl of Leitrim (1795), Viscount Leitrim (1793), and Baron Leitrim of Manor Hamilton, co. Leitrim (1783), Baron Clements of Kilmacrenan, co. Donegal, (in the peerage of the United Kingdom 1831,) K.P., a Privy Councillor for Ireland, Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of co. Leitrim, Custos Rotulorum of co. Donegal, and Colonel of the co. Donegal Militia. His Lordship was the elder son of Robert the first Earl by Lady Elizabeth Skeffington, eldest daughter of Clotworthy, first Earl of Mas

sareene.

Before the Union, he was a member of the Irish House of Commons for the borough of Cavan. He succeeded

to the peerage on the death of his father, July 27, 1804. He was created a peer of the United Kingdom at the coronation of King William IV., in 1831; and nominated a knight of the order of St. Patrick in 1834. Since the year 1829 his Lordship had declined to receive an hereditary state pension of 985l., to which he was entitled in compensation for the abolished place of Searcher of the Customs in Ireland. The Earl of Leitrim married Mary, eldest daughter and co-heir of the late William Bermingham, esq., of Rosshill, co. Galway, and has left issue.

3. At Maidstone, aged 62, Lieut.-Col. Hugh Andrew Fraser, 45th Foot, late Major 42nd R. Highlanders.

At Cairo, aged 42, Henry Edward Goldsmid, esq., Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay.

At Swindon, Catherine Mary, widow of the Rev. James Grooby, Vicar of Swindon. She has left upwards of 10,000l. to charitable purposes ::- Church Building Society, 2,000.; Clergy Society, 2,000l.; Clergy Orphan Society, 2,000l.; Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2,000; Christian Missionary Society, 1,0007.

At Anglesey, Gosport, aged 86, Harriot, widow of Adm. George M'Kinley, sister to the late Vice-Adm. Hollis.

4. At the residence of her son, Dukestreet, Westminster, aged 79, Sophia, widow of Sir Mare Isambard Brunel.

At Fairy Hill, Gower, aged 54, the Hon. Juliana Hicks, wife of the Rev. Samuel Phillips, Rector of Pickwell, Leicestershire, and Vicar of Llanddewi, Glamorganshire, youngest daughter of the late Sir Gerard Noel Noel, and sister to the Earl of Gainsborough,

5. Aged 63, Charles Biggs Calmady, esq., of Langdon Hall, Devonshire, son and heir of Adm. Charles Holmes Everett, who, having married the heiress of the very ancient Devonshire family of Calmady, assumed that name by Act of Parliament. He married in 1816, Emily, eldest daughter of William Greenwood, esq., of Brookwood, Shropshire. That lady died only four days before him, on the 1st of January.

At Skelton Castle, Yorkshire, aged 80, the Hon. Charlotte Wharton, widow of the Rev. William Wharton, Vicar of Gilling, near Richmond, and aunt to the Earl of Zetland; second daughter of Thos. first Lord Dundas, by Lady Charlotte Wentworth, sister to William Earl Fitzwilliam.

6. At Saxlingham, Norfolk, in his 67th year, the Rev. Sheldon Jodrell, Rector of that parish, brother to Sir Richard Paul Jodrell, bart.

At Seighford Hall, aged 81, Francis Eld, esq., a Magistrate and Deputy-Lieut. for Staffordshire.

7. At Brighton, at her son-in-law's, W. D. Seymour, esq., M.P., Emilia, relict of the Rev. Brackley C. Kennett, Rector of East Ilsley, Berks, youngest daughter of the late Rev. H. Vaughan, of Tretwr, Brecon.

At St. Leonards, aged 40, Lady Anna Maria Charlotte Wyndham, wife of William Johnson Monsell, esq., M.P. for co. Limerick, and sister to the Earl of Dunraven.

At St. Andrew's, John Argyll Robertson, M.D., F.R.S.E., late President of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.

9. At Wootton House, aged 85, Elizabeth, widow of Capt. Hood, who was killed in the action between the Mars and l'Hercule, in 1798.

10. Suddenly, of apoplexy, in Drummond-place, Edinburgh, aged 60, the Hon. Patrick Robertson, one of the Judges of the Court of Session. He was born in Edinburgh in 1794, the son of James Robertson, esq., a writer to the Signet. He was admitted an advocate at the Scottish bar in 1815. In November, 1842, he was elected dean of the faculty of advocates: and on the retirement of Lord Meadowbank, in November, 1843, he was appointed a Lord of the Court of Session. In 1848 he was elected Rector of Marischal College, Aberdeen. Lord Robertson was the author of "Leaves from a Journal and other fragments;" and a second volume of his Poems has recently appeared. He married in 1819 a daughter of the Rev. Thomas Ross, D.D., Minister of Kilmonivaig.

At Brighton, Caroline, widow of

Major-Gen. James Power, R.A., and eldest daughter of the late Henry Browne, esq., of Portland-place,

10. At Clapham, aged 27, William Edward Wing, esq., F.L.S., Secretary of the Entomological Society.

At Westbourne-terrace, Hyde Park, Rear-Adm. Sir Richard O'Conor, knt., and K.C.H. Sir Richard entered the navy in 1798, and saw a great deal of active service. During 1813 he superintended the naval yards on the Canadian lakes, and in 1814 was flag-captain to Comm. Sir J. L. Yeo at the capture of Oswego, where he had the direction of the boats and gun vessels employed in landing the troops. He was advanced to post-rank on the 16th August following, and in 1815 returned home. He was nominated a Knight Commander of the Hanoverian Guelphic order on the 25th January, 1836, and knighted on the same occasion by King William the Fourth.

At Swallowfield Cottage, near Reading, aged 68, Miss Mary Russell Mitford. Miss Mitford was born at Alresford, in Hampshire, on the 16th December, 1786. She was the only child of a physician, practising at Reading; her mother was the only daughter of the Rev. Dr. Russell, of Ashe, in Hampshire, a man of scholar. ship and letters. Her father, as her own "Reminiscences" have told us, was a sanguine, cheerful, and speculative man, who tried physic, played at whist, spent every one's money, and something more (including a 20,000l. prize won in a lottery), and made every living creature about him love him, lend to him, and forgive him. To this love and to his extravagance his daughter's life was sacrificed. Miss Mitford's education, from ten to fifteen, was received in a school in Han's-place, Chelsea. At this school was a teacher who had been governess in several families of distinction, wrote poetry and plays, taught her pupils to do the same, and was a clever woman. Miss Mitford was placed under the special care of this lady; and being very frequently taken to Drury Lane Theatre when John Kemble was in his glory, both became devoted to the drama, and Miss Mitford received an impression which had an important influence on her future life. No other influence seems to have proved so powerful on her subsequent literary career, except, perhaps, her eager perusal of the dramatic works of Voltaire and Molière, and her recollection of the dramatic exhibitions at Reading School, under the famous Dr. Valpy, of which she was always a spectator.

These reminiscences are charmingly told in her introduction to her dramatic works. Of her first appearance as an author she thus pleasantly speaks in the same autobiographical memoir. "In my very early girlhood I had followed my destiny, as a pupil of Miss Rowden, by committing the sin of rhyming. No less than three octavo volumes had I perpetrated in two years. They had all the faults incident to a young lady's verses, and one of them had been deservedly castigated by the Quarterly.' "Mr. Gifford," she adds, "afterwards made amends for the severity of his strictures on the young girl's book, by giving a very favourable and friendly notice of the first series of 'Our Village.'' The volumes in question all appeared in 1806. Her passion as an authoress was dramatic composition, and her principal works which made their way to the public stage were "Julian," 1823; "Foscari," 1826; "Rienzi," 1828; and "Charles the First." She has related with great frankness many interesting details connected with their production. "Rienzi" had a temporary success; and, among other critics of mark, we are told that "Maria Edgeworth, Joanna Baillie, and Felicia Hemans vied in the cordiality of their praises." The author of "Ion" also cheered her by his advice and sympathy; through his sug gestion it was that she wrote her next best play, "Foscari." Her "Charles the First" was suppressed by George Colman, the licenser, as of dangerous principles, though the spirit of the piece was ultraloyal, and, as the author herself said, "in taking the very best moment of Charles's life, and the very worst of Cromwell's, she had, in point of fact, done considerable injustice to the greatest man of his age." To the magazines, the annuals, and other periodicals, Miss Mitford's contributions were numerous. At length, in the sketches of "Our Village," she hit upon the vein most profitable in its direct advantages, and most favourable for her literary reputation. The "Lady's Magazine" had the honour of first bringing these charming papers before the public, about the year 1819. The general verdict of popular taste has approved of "Our Village," as presenting true sketches of English rural life, while a warm and cheerful tone of kindliness and domesticity pervades the work. Those who look for romance and excitement in what they read, have little patience for scenes so quiet and homely; but there will always be a goodly number of sympathising admirers of Mary Russell

Mitford's stories. Happy both for herself and for her readers was it, when, in the words of her own affecting narrative," the pressing necessity of earning money, and the uncertainties and delays of the drama at moments when disappointment or delay weighed upon me like a sin, made it a duty to turn away from the lofty steep of Tragic Poetry to the every-day path of Village Stories." Four other volumes of sketches were added, the fifth and last in 1832. For her work entitled "Belford Regis; or, Sketches of a Country Town," the neighbouring town of Reading suggested the materials. Numerous other tales followed, all of which were very popular. In 1852 Miss Mitford produced her "Recollections of a Literary Life; or, Books, Places, and People," in three volumes, 12mo. This was not a personal narrative, but "an attempt to make others relish a few favourite authors as heartily as I have relished them myself." However, the anecdotes and reflections which form the bulk of the book, while rendering it delightful reading, furnish the best illustrations of the writer's taste and character. A new edition of "Our Village" appeared in the same year, and in 1854 her dramatic works were collected in two volumes, 12mo. Her last work was "Atherton, and other Tales," 1854. Very pleasant is the picture of the peaceful evening of her life in her cottage home in Berkshire, as given in her own pages, and in those of kindred hearts who have visited her. In some recent American records of travel, there are gratifying notices of Mary Russell Mitford in her old days. Declining health, and an accident about three years ago from her pony-chaise being overturned, have required greater seclusion of late; but the active and genial disposition of her mind remained, and she has passed away amidst regrets which surviving writers may well be ambitious of equally meriting.

11. At Cheltenham, aged 42, Capt. John Erskine, late of 17th Regt., third son of the late Colonel Erskine, C.B., 48th Regt., and nephew of the late Marquess of Winchester.

At his residence in the North Bailey, Durham, aged 93, John Ralph Fenwick, esq., M.D., a magistrate for the county.

At Bourton-on-the-Hill, co. Glouces-, tershire, in the 92nd year of his age, the Rev. Samuel Wilson Warneford, D.C.L., Rector of that parish, and of Lydiard Millicent, Wilts, and an Hon. Canon of Gloucester Cathedral. Dr. Warneford was born in 1763, at Sevenhampton, near High