Another notable Victorian figure has passed away in Sir Theodore
Martin, who died on Wednesday within a month of completing his ninety-third year. Well known as the trusted friend of Queen Victoria and the biographer of the Prince Consort in the realm of literary jeux d'esprit he achieved immortality, in collaboration with Professor Aytoun, with the inimitable "Bon Gaultier Ballads,"—a collection of squibs and parodies standing midway between those of Canning and Calverley, and partaking of the merits of both. Sir Theodore, who recently observed that literature had been the recreation of his leisure hours, not the serious business of his life, and who practised for more than sixty years as a leading Parliamentary agent, was married in 1851 to Helen Faucit, the famous Shakespearean actress. As a boy he often saw Sir Walter Scott in the streets of Edinburgh or in Court as Clerk of Session, and till within a week of his death his vivid and generous interest in life and letters remained unimpaired.
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