Lord Lytton, formerly Viceroy of India, and 1ntter17
British Ambassador in Paris, died suddenly on the afternoon of Tuesday, the 24th inst. He had been more or less seriously ill for many weeks, and was compelled to take much morphia to alleviate severe pain. The drug, while soothing the pain, excited instead of quieting his nerves, and after writing rapidly for some time, he suddenly gave a cry and expired from a spasm of the heart. He was a man of such varied though imperfect powers, as diplomatist, litterateur, and poet, that had he been a Frenchman under a Monarchical regime, he might have been accounted great. As it was, however, Englishmen can only place him among the might-have-beens. He failed, on the whole, as Viceroy, leaving a most difficult legacy in Afghanistan ; and if he succeeded in Paris, it was mainly because of his personal charm for French society, which has induced French journalists to speak of him with rare appreciation. It is hoped that the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, though he has completed his term of diplomatic ser- vice, may be induced to accept the Embassy.
