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In our second edition last week, we announced the dangerous illness of -Sir William Molesworth. For some weeks, indeed, Sir William had been ailing more or less ; but on Friday last his disease--gastric fever, following suppressed gout—took an alarming turn, and a fatal termination was apprehended. At one time on Saturday there appeared to be grounds for hope ; but the appearance proved fallacious; the patient wasgradually sinking, until noon on Monday, when be ceased to breathe.

Cut off in his prime, and iu possession of one of the highest offices in the-State, Sir William Molesworth had from a oomparatively early age occupied a conspicuous place in the public business of this country ; and the memoir of his life is interesting beyond the average of English public life in these days. All the newspapers have contributed notices ; but the fullest and beat, though not in some particulars free from mistake, is the following, which appeared in the Times of Tuesday morning.

"Sir William Molesworth was in the forty-fifth year of his life. Not many days since, the Times recorded his usual punctual attendance in Cabinet meetings. He had foregone the enjoyment of his autumnal vacation, and of his magnificent country-seat and estate at Pencarrow in Cornwall, that he might discharge his public duties at the present critical period in the history of Europe.and Asia--in a word, that he might do his duty in the councils and Cabinet of his Sovereign. Not in the enjoyment of the best health, he had been lately residing in Brighton, but was constantly in the habit of coming up to London when the business of the Colonies or Cabinet meetings required his attention and cooperation. It is only a few days since any of his friends or medical advisers entertained the least anxiety on his state of health, much less the slightest fear that his valuable life was in any danger. But those who best knew his early life and antecedents had marked a visible decline in..his physical power. Sir William Molesworth inherited a bad con- stitution. He was a weakly child, a youth whose body was a frail mould for a fast and active mind. His grandfather and his father both lived onlyto -middle age. He inherited gout and a strumous constitution. In the last session of Parliament his tendencyto-sleep was generally observed, and was the subject of goodnatured but serious remark. The excitement, attrition,

and labour of public life, undermined his physical system. Ile is num- bered with the many who could not keep pace with the railway lamed of the times.

" Sir William Molesworth, we believe, is the last of his race. The baronetcy expires with him. He was the last lineal representative of an old Cornish family of large landed possessions, originally of Irish extraction. The first baronet, a former Governor of Jamaica, was created by William the Third a noble of the Revolution of 1e88, the date of the baronetcy being the year after. Sir William's father died in 1823 ; the deceased, Ins elder son, having been bornin London, in Upper Brook Street, in 1810, and being therefore fatherless at-the tender age of thirteen. In the estimate of cha- racter this irreparable loss of a male parent is to be considered. We do not know at what ' boarding-school,' Many, or at what public school, the subject of our brief memoir was first educated ; but it is certain that at Cambridge be was rusticated for sending a challenge to :mortal combat to his tutor ; that he was thence sent to Edinburgh ; that in theUniversity of Modern Athens ' he was early initiated iu classics, mathematics, and-the mist of metaphysics, by an Italian refugee ; and that afterwards, under the care of an attached and faithful foreign servant, he passed to .a German university. In this latter soil hismisid took root: He acquired the German language; and, discipline relaxed, he followed the bent of his own vigorous talents. In classical knowledge he had arrived in Germany not deficient. As-a mathe- matician he had longpaased the asses' bridge. He left England with a full average acquirement of general knowledge. In Germany he concentrated his intellectual powers and learned philology and history. His Saxon mind soon moulted the mysticism of the German school. He realized all the ad- vantages to be derived from Teutonic education. Sir William, released from collegiate study, next made -the usual tour of Europe. Ile was still in his minority when he returned home in 1831. Young Germany had given him his political bias. His first appearance in public was at a Cornish county meeting, on the agitation-of Parliamentary Reform in 1831; and his juvenile speech was recorded and 'noticed .at that period in our columns for its earn- est advocacy of that revolutionary measure. The local Liberals marked the young baronet of broad, acres and fresh politics as an appropriate candidate for their future representative in Parliament. Sir 'William Molesworth, scarcely out of his ,teens, in December 1832 was returned with Mr. W. L. Trelawny, unopposed, as a .Member for the Eastern Division of Cornwall. He walked over the course, to the dismay and horror of the old stagers and aristocracy of both parties, 'Whig and Tory. On the Peel dissolution of Par- liament in 1834-'5, he was returned again, An January of the latter year, and unopposed, for the same constituency. In the summer of 1837, in the dissolution under Lord Melbourne's Premiership, the cry of Register, re- gister,' had disorganized and reduced Sir W. Molesworth's party. The votes of the tenants.at-will and a natural reaction against extreme and ultra opi- nions gave his Conservative -opponents the majority, and the ex-Member retired withoutagain seeking his first seat. Sir 'William, keenly alive to the change in .publio opinion and the downfall of his local influence, had pre- arranged his appearance before a new constituency. He was put forward in -July of that year, elected as the colleague of the late Mr. Edward Baines (proprietor of the Leeds Mercury) for Leeds, and returned for that borough. On the dissolution .of 1841 he had reason to suspect that Leeds could not return two Liberal Members. -He-accordingly did not contest the Northern town, giving his interest to /dr. Hume. That old veteran -showed less sa- gacity than his junior : 11.r.'Hume was defeated by Mr. William Beckett, and lost Leeds-by -a minority of forty-three .votes. "Sir William Molesworth then remained out of Parliament, biding Ids time, for four years; _derint which interval he used to say that he gave himself a second and a sounder political education. He read and thought, and .accumulated capital for his.future senatoriaLlife.

"In September 1845, the late.baronet 'found a breach in the Metropoli .

tan representation. Mr-Benjamin-Wood, one of the Members for ,Southwark, died, and-Sir William Molesworth came _forward as the Liberal candidate for the vacant seat. He was opposed -by two other candidates of extreme and opposite politics. . An ultra-Tory and an ultraltadical Dissenter were his opponents. Placed between two.firee, 'he was politically besieged. His vul- nerable point -was his stanch adhesion to Idaynooth. 'He was denounced as

:a heretic, and at the same time as an ally of .his Holiness the Pope ! Sir William met.the charge with .unffincliing moral courage and by a direct-and • manly bearing. He claimed the :right .of privatejudgment, and :he told his opponents that. he was responsible to his Creator, not to man. Yew can-

didates ever passed through suchen ardeabon the hustings. He gained the respect of men of all political opinions throughout the country, and he had a large majority on the poll against.both his competitors. He defeated the Orangeman and theNonconformist. He achieved his electoral-victory by a frank declaration that he would rather lose A seat in Parliament than im- morally discount truth or surrender-his conscience. "In the ensuing .dissolutionratily 1847, Sir William was a second time

returned' for Southwark, and unopposed: In January 1853, on. his accept- ance of the office of Tint Commissioner of .Public Works, on the formation of Lord Aberdeen's Administration, he -was reElected witholit opposition. Recently, on his translation to the Colonial Office, he was again unopposed an the vacation of his seat.

4' We have thus briefly traced him as .a Member of the House of Cora- mons.and as a Minister of the Crown. He was doubtless selected as an ad- ministrator by Lords Aberdeen and Palmerston because be was the repre- sentative of advanced Liberalism--ois.a gentleman, a man of. talent, political position, and property. in that character, as a member of the present Ca- binet, his loss is great indeed. The.brief.period of his administration of the Colonies gave.no opportunity of testing his capacity for that important Office. It must remain an unsolved problem; but none doubted his integrity, or his ability for the duties of his recent high preferment. ".As a Commons debater Sir -W Molesworth was not of 'first-rate emi- nence. 'His speeches in 'Parliament-were few, but -always valuable. Those on the Colonies in 1838, in 1840 on the state of the -nation and the condition of the people, on transportation in 1837-'8, and on many important social and economic questions -were of great merit and immense practical -utility.

"His speech on the ballot in the last session, when he was alone in the Cabinet in favour of-that open' question, was honourable to his independ- ence and truth of character. 'Nor in the discussion of that mode of -voting did he palter with truth. He advocated the ballot in favour of the demo- cracy against the aristocracy ; but he also contended, for it as a protection of the people against demagogues, and as a limitation of extreme democratic influence.

"Sir William's best speeches in:Parliament were, it is well known,' pre- pared.' They were the result of reading, labour, and reflection. He was rather a dull speaker,' and his.manner was formal and samewhat dogmatic ; but he was always listened to with attention and respect. 'His orations might sometimes, from the subject-matter, he tedious and comparatively un- interesting ; but they were few and scarce, and-almost always on important social and national interests. Such a public man may impartially be pro- nounced a patriot ; and his country can ill spare him-in times when so many public men have shown themselves selfish and unpatriotic. "Sir William Molesworth, moreover, respected the public press as the great luminary of public.opinion. Ile regarded At as the mainspring of our po- litical institutions ; -he did.not -declaim against it ribald '; . he didnot seek to corrupt it, nor when it was incorruptible to ' license ' it. His family motto was Sic fidem teneo.'

"The right honourable baronet had also a literary reputation. Many years ago he purchased the copyright of the Westminster Beview, and du- ring his temporary proprietorship he was his own editor, contributing many articles on polities and political economy. Failing to realize the cost of poo- duction, after a large outlay and heavy loss, he satisfied himself that he was no competent editorial speculator, and wisely determined to put up with his first loss.

"Sir William was in his earliest years of manhood a great admirer of Hobbes. He long devoted his leisure to the collection of materials for a life of the Philosopher of Malmesbury. In 1839 he commenced, and afterwards completed, at a coat of many thousand pounds, a -reprint of the entire mis- cellaneous and voluminous writings of that eminent but sceptical and un- popular author. He printed the Latin and philosophical works in five hand- some octavo volumes, including all the 'obsolete mathematics ' • and subse- quently he also printed and published, uniform, the English works, in eleven volumes—all accompanied with numerous expensive plates and engravings. His intended biography of Hobbes, we believe, was far advanced, but it re- mauls in manuscript uncompleted. For both classes of Hobbes's works the editor compiled with great labour excellent and copious indexes, invaluable to the scholar-and-philosophical inquirer. His literary industry, intact, was untiring and it is only to be regretted that, with such application, he should not have devoted himself to a more useful and popular subject. Still the- publication was a valuable contribution to the republic of letters. We doubt if the sale ever repaid the cost of the binding and lettering of his manitold volumes; but the -works of Hobbes entire have been pieced,by his munifi- cent presents of copies,in most of our university and provincial public libra- ries, and only a man of fortune and accomplishments could have undertaken such a costly republication. It is to be hoped that the materials of Sir Wil- liam's biography of Hobbes, of whose private life and correspondence little is known, may be completed and made public. We should then know more of the English Machiavel. As Sir William in his later years modified some -dine earlier political aspirations, so we might have -found that his philoso- phical and metaphysical opinions were in a degree tempered by years and deeper study. At all events, his tastes and pursuits were at all times intel- lectual, and he was earnest in his ardent desire to add to the common stook of knowledge and to elevate human nature.

"Sir William Molesworth will not be easily replaced in his particular vo- cation in polities, in literature, or in the office of Minister for the Colonies. He-was a public man justly respected, and in private life had many warm and devoted friends.

"Sir William in 1844 married Mrs. West, widow of Mr. Temple West, of Mathon Lodge, Worcestershire; by whom he has left no issue. His last brother died unmarried. One sister survives, married to hir..11ithard Ford., of well-known literary reputation."

The Morning Post compresses a fair estimate of Sir William into a few nervous and comprehensive sentences.

" Tbe representative of an ancient and distinguished family, surrounded with every circumstance of wealth and accomplishment of scholarship, Sir William Molesworth devoted himself at an early age to the study of polities, rather as a-higher branch of moral philosophy than as a means and weapon towards the active conflict of life. His object was to influence the reason rather than address or influence the passions of his fellow 'men; he sought to lead to the happiness and augment -the welfare of his countrymen by proofs and persuasion and aimed to arrive, by analysis and deduction, rather than by...eloquence and force, at those reforms which more trenchant hands would have snatched at once from the reluctant grasp of what was regarded by politicians of his school as a dominant aristocracy. -Cahn, oenteroplative, and analytical to the highest degree, Sir 'William Molesworth, the enthusiastic student and admirer of Hobbes, became gra- dually-an-acolyte of the more practical sohool of Bentham ; whence advan- cing into the arena of disputation in the Westminster Review, and other poli- tical organs of the time' he. was gradually drawn into the open field of arrayed combatants, and found himself early engaged with Mr. Roebuck and the small party -about him, a warm partisan on the side of extreme Radi- calism.

"But the pride of birth, the possession of -weslAh, ,:the dignity of landed estate, the polish of scholarship, and the calm contempjatieeness superin- duced by his primary studies in a higher school ef philosophy., and, possibly a keen and subtile perception of What was ridiculous and exaggerated in toilet restrained the young baronet, even at this early period, from the none in- teroperate ardour of his then compatriots. Though to the last moment of his existence a consistent Liberal, he stopped at alixed point, until the great men of the day had, by the force of circumstances, come up with him ; and -when, sobered by mature years, and the experience that all political contests had, though by different roads, but one great aitn—the good of the country— Sir 'William-Molesworth became the practical official, already ripening into the statesman, such as the Cabinet of _England hue now to lament his too early death:" 2he .Daily,News adds some touches not contained in the ether notices. " From.the Dist he avowed himself a member of the not numerous but energetic and accomplished partywhich went by the designation of the 'Phi- losophical Radicals.' His most intimate associate during this period of his -career was Mr. Temple Leader, with whom he for a time kept house in com- mon. The men were essentially most unlike' Molesworth a deep and earn- est thinker, with literary tastes • Leader a dashing, talented, impulsive spi- rit. Similarity of age and independent generous-sentiments formed their bond of union. Less akin in opinions, but-more like to Molesworth in his tastes and intellectual habits, was the late Charles Buller, with ,whom he lived on terms of confidential intimacy. Common intellectual pursuits kept him in (dose alliance 'with Mr. George Grote and Mr., John Stuart Mill."

Ettn-attachdd -friend of 'Sir William Molesworth enables us to supply some omissions, and -to correct some mistakes that have crept into ac- counts hurriedly compiled to meet a want of the moment.

For example, it was a mistake to suppose that the baronetcy is extinct: the title goes to thelleverend Hugh Molesworth, cf Cornwall, cousin to the late baronet, Sir William was not educated in Edinburgh .by ".an 'Italian refugee," but his education was conducted under the superintendence of a distin- guished clergyman of the Church of England. At this period of Sir William's life, his mother removed to 'Edinburgh, on purpose to watch over her son ; and she took pains to surround himin her own house with the society of some of the most cultivated men-in the Scottish capital. When 'Sir William went to ccrntinue'his studies in Germany, he was not under the care of a "foreign" servant, but of.a Scotch servant; who was transferred to him from his mother's household. That faithful attendant, who more than once saved him during severe illness, remained devotedly attached to the baronet till the last, and was with him at the hour of hie.death. Everybody thatInew Sir William Molesworth knew Mackin.

only by degrees that we arrive at a full sense of the thorough-con- sistency and independence of Sir William Molesworth's political career. The firmness and clearness of his intellect came out strongly when the Maynooth grant was called in question. This was about the period that Sir William stood for Southwark, in September 184.5. He was not In Parliament at the time when the Maynooth grant was voted, and there was no absolute necessity for him to express an opinion on the question; but he was challenged for an expression of his opinions, and he did not withhold it. Mr. Miall stood against him in Southwark as the champion of the Anti-Maynooth party ; but instead of avoiding the ques- tion, Sir William met it boldly ; and, as the TitneS says, the manly bear- ing with which he vindicated the sight of private judgment and' the judicious character of the measure, although they risked his suceess for tlse moment, greatly contributed to strengthen the esteem for his cha- racter.

It'lends a strong testimony to the sound policy of consistency and frank- ness in the long run, when we contrast Sir William's final position as a Cabinet Minister with his want of support at ■Leeds. His death con- fessedly is a serious loss to the moderate Liberal party represented by the Government. It is, however, an imperfect statement of the reason for his retirement from Leeds in 1641, to say that he had reason to suspect the constituency could not return two Liberal Members. He declined to -contest the representation, because he lost the support of the loading Whigs, chiefly through the great Peace meeting which he bad, held at Leeds-when this country was in imminent danger of a rupture with France. On that occasion he maintained that France and England ought to be allies ; that they, more than the other nations of Europe, were in- terested in thecking the Russian aggressions upon Turkey ; and that to go to war with France would be playing the genie of Russia. Russia should be told, he insisted, that France and England would not interfere with the internal affairs of Turkey, but that if the Czar did so France and England would punish him. Not long since, Sir William was ac- cused by Mr. Cobden, the Member for the West Riding, of inconsistency because he joined Lord Palmerston in the French alliance and in defence of Turkey against the aggressions of Russia. It is curious to see, that through all these changes of political relations, Sir William stands conspi- cuous for the complete and thormsghgoing consistency- of his course.

Sir William was a most conscientious lover of truth. No temptation was sufficient to make him swerve from its utterance, or palter with his own apprehension of facts. He took the greatest possible pains to test the accuracy of his statements before he used them in his speeches. .It -Was from the strongest conviction that he became an advocate of free trade at an early period, when few of the most advanced men of the Li- beral party went further than a demand for the repeal of the Corn-lawe, if so far.

His personal character was simple in the extreme, and modest almost to diffidence. He was not only laborious, but methodical to a degree. His notes on the subjects of his investigations the notes prepared for his speeches, his diaries, and his accounts, afford evidence of this ; and they were written out with extreme neatness. Even in illness his studies were carried on like n business; and when confined to his bed, he has beep. found with the cover laden with papers. His physical and moral courage was perfect, but to cpurage he added the magnanimity of a really generous temper. At times he was suscep- tible of heat on the Ant moment of irritatiou ; but when that was pest, he never retained a particle of resentment or vindictive feelieg.3