102 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent- Persons. 



[Jan. 



service, the same persons again carried the 

 corpse. Shortly after, the crowd made way, 

 to allow the children of the general, con- 

 ducted by his domestics, to pass tlirough 

 them. The procession moved in the fol- 

 lowhig order : — A detachment of troops of 

 the line in two platoons ; a platoon of chas- 

 seurs of the National Guard ; the mourning 

 coach (drawn by two horses), in which was 

 an officer ; afterwards followed nearly 6,000 

 persons ; a platoon of troops of the line 

 at the head of the equipages, among ^^'hich 

 were the carriages of the Duke of Orleans, 

 M. de Chateaubriand, Generals Sebastian!, 

 Excelmans, &c. Messrs. Casimir, Per- 

 rier, and Ternaux pronounced severally a 

 discourse over the tomb of the deceased. 

 Twelve National Guards spontaneously at- 

 tended the funeral. 



DUCHESS OF ROTLANn. 



Nov. 29.— Suddenly, at Belvoir Castle, 

 Her Grace Elizabeth Howard, Duchess of 

 Rutland. This illustrious lady \^as tlie 

 daughter of Frederick, the late Earl of Car- 

 lisle, by Caroline, daughter of Granvill Le- 

 veson, the first Marquess of Stafford. She 

 was born on the 12th of No\ember 1780, 

 and married to His Grace the Duke of 

 Rutland on the 22d of Ai)ril 1799. Tlie 

 immediate cause of her grace's death was 

 an obstruction in the bowels, which resisted 

 all the remedies employed for its removal. 

 On Friday, three days before she died, slie 

 was gay and cheerful in the midst of her 

 family, and rode on horseback over the ex- 

 tensive farm and plantations at Belvoir. On 

 Saturday evening, for the first time, slie 

 complained of being seriously ill. At two, 

 on Sunday morning, the family-surgeon 

 was summoned to her grace's apartment ; 

 and, as she was thought to be in an ex- 

 tremely dangerous state, expresses were 

 immediately sent olf for Sir Henrj' Halford, 

 and other physicians, in various directions. 

 Drs. Wilson, Pennington, and Arnold 

 promptly arrived ; but Sir Henry Halford 

 did not reach the. Castle till five o'clock on 

 Tuesday morning, when the hand of death 

 was already on the duchess ; and, at half- 

 past eleven in tlie forenoon of that day, 

 she expired. Her grace, whose self-pos- 

 session was remarkable, was fully aware of 

 the imminence of her danger ; and the for- 

 titude with which slie bore her acute suf- 

 ferings, and viewed her approaching fate, 

 was in the highest degree affecting. Tlie 

 duke never quitted her bed-side till she had 

 ceased to breathe. In earl/ life she lost 

 four children — three sons and one daughter ; 

 but she has left seven (three boys and four 

 girls) to the care of their afflicted father. 

 In a beautifully-drawn character of her 

 grace, published apparently with the sanc- 

 tion of tlie family, it is stated that " in this 

 distiiiguishcd lady were united the attrac- 

 tive softness of the most perfect grace and 

 beauty, with a vigour of understanding and 

 a cleitrnesB of intellect seldom equalled in 



either sex. Her taste was pure and refined ; 

 she excelled in eveiy female uccom])lish- 

 ment, and, by her o\\m spontaneous efforts, 

 she, midst gaiety and pleasure, had stored 

 her mind with much solid knowledge. Her 

 piety was fer\'ent, simple, and unaffected : 

 her mind was early imbued \\ith a deep 

 sense of religion, which was confirmed l)y 

 reflection, even in the joyous days of youth- 

 ful happiness. In her, this feeling was not 

 (as is often the case) the offspring of mis- 

 fortune or suffering ; but it enabled her to 

 bear the heavy afflictions by which her early 

 wedded life was chequered, with a resigna- 

 tion and patient fortitude rarely to be found 

 in a 5'outhful female mind, and derived only 

 from an unbounded confidence in the wis- 

 dom and mercy of an all- wise Providence." 

 From the commencement of Belvoir Castle 

 (twenty-five years ago), the duchess had 

 been the presiding genius of the place : un- 

 der her ausjiices the groinids, the villages, 

 the roads, assumed a new and improved 

 character. Her grace was an eminent prac- 

 tical agriculturist, occupied a farm of more 

 than 800 acres, ])lanted timber and other 

 trees extensively, and was frequently com- 

 plimented with premiums from different 

 agricultural societies- About eight years 

 ago she had com])lcted in detail very beau- 

 tiful designs for an entrance to Hyde Park- 

 corner, and for the embellishment of the 

 Parks. Her taste and talent directed the 

 designer for the proposed quay on the north 

 bank of the Thames ; and she entered with 

 ardour and enthusiasm into various plans 

 for the im])rovement of London and West- 

 minster. She had also taken much pains 

 ill the formation of a plan for a royal palace, 

 suited to a sovereign of the British empire, 

 and which it was proposed to place in a 

 situation uniting all the advantages of 

 health, convenience, and magnificence. The 

 loss of such a woman, in private or in pub- 

 lic life, will not easily be repaired. Her 

 gi-ace's remains were, on the 9th of Decem- 

 l)cr, deposited in the family-vault of the 

 Rutland family, in the parish church of 

 Bottesford, where a long race of her noble 

 husband's ancestors and relatives repose. 

 The funeral procession, in which were forty- 

 six of his grace's tenants in full mourning, 

 left Belvoir Castle at ten o'clock ; and, pro- 

 ceeding through Redmile, Leicestershire, 

 and Elton, Nottinghamshire, arrived at 

 Bottesford about one. It was followed by 

 a long line of carriages and other vehicles. 

 Two of the caj-riages in the procession were 

 occupied by the immediate family ; one by 

 the Earl of Carlisle and his brother, and 

 the other by the brothers of her grace. The 

 duke joined the procession at the Rectory. 

 The cotfln, which was understood to weigh 

 nearly 8 cwt. , was covered with crimson 

 velvet, and a brass plate, and bore the fol- 

 lowing inscription : — " Elizabeth, Duchess 

 of Rutland, second daughter of Frederick, 

 Earl of Carlisle, k. g., bom 13th Novem- 

 ber 1780; died 29th November 1825." 



