The  late  Lord  Vernon.  443 
thing  which  I suggested  or  put  forward  ; and  though  we  did 
not  always  agree  upon  everything,  as  was  to  be  expected  in 
such  a large  inquiry,  I always  found  in  him  the  most  fervent, 
honest,  straightforward  friend  that  anybody  could  wish  to  have. 
Active  as  he  has  always  been  upon  this  Council,  energetic 
as  he  has  been  on  all  occasions  regarding  everything  connected 
with  the  welfare  of  this  Society,  and  agriculture  generally,  I 
consider  it  to  be  a national  loss  that  he  has  been  so  early  cut 
off  in  what  1 must  say  was  a very  useful  career ; and  I cannot 
but  think  that  his  energy  in  the  subject  which  he  had  recently 
taken  up  has  been  the  cause  of  his  sudden  decease.  I believe 
that  the  Bill  which  he  had  drawn  up,  and  which  only  yester- 
day he  was  to  have  brought  before  the  House  of  Lords,  was 
too  great  a strain  upon  his  brain,  for  up  till  two  o’clock  yester- 
day he  was  apparently  in  good  health,  and  at  eight  o’clock  he 
was  no  more.  I did  not  think  it  would  be  right  or  proper 
that  we  should  meet  to  do  the  ordinary  business  of  the  Council 
without  expressing  our  sincere  and  earnest  regret  at  so  great  a 
calamity.” 
It  would  be  a mistake  to  think  that  what  related  to  agriculture 
directly  or  indirectly  engrossed  Lord  Vernon’s  attention  to  the 
exclusion  of  other  subjects.  Even  without  referring  to  the 
management  of  his  own  collieries,  to  which  he  gave  the  most 
minute  and  watchful  attention,  he  found  time  to  take  a pro- 
minent part  in  county  affairs  of  whatever  kind.  He  was  a 
Governor  of  the  important  Repton  School,  had  been  Chair- 
man of  the  School  Board  for  some  years,  and  this  is  how  he  is 
spoken  of  by  one  of  his  fellow-workers  there  : “ Lord  Vernon’s 
death  is  a national  loss,  but  it  touches  us  here  very  nearly ; no 
one  can  in  any  sense  replace  him.” 
An  Oxford  friend,  a man  of  high  standing  in  the  University, 
in  alluding  to  his  loss,  adds  that  it  had  been  his  intention  to  have 
proposed  his  name  on  the  first  opportunity  for  the  distinction 
of  an  hon.  degree ; and  this  perhaps  is  a fitting  place  to  men- 
tion that,  with  the  assistance  of  Sir  James  La  Caita,  he  com- 
pleted the  elaborate  and  expensive  edition  of  Dante  which  had 
been  begun  by  his  father.  Only  a few  copies  of  this  very  fine 
work  were  printed  and  sent  to  certain  public  and  to  a few 
private  libraries. 
If,  as  all  that  has  been  said  abundantly  shows,  there  was  in 
Lord  Vernon’s  character  something  which  made  even  those  who 
had  with  him  mere  business  transactions,  feel  at  once  drawn 
towards  him,  and  prompt  to  claim  him  as  a friend,  it  can  be 
well  imagined  how  warm  were  the  more  intimate  relations  of 
his  life,  among  his  immediate  neighbours,  his  tenants,  and 
his  employes. 
2 G 2 
