Mr. R. J. Nettleship, Tutor and Fellow of Balliol College,
'Oxford, and brother of Professor Nettleship, perished on Mont Blanc on Thursday week, August 25th, from the cold and exhaustion of a night passed in a bitter snow-storm, not far below the summit. It was a great disaster, for Mr. Nettle- ship appears to have been unusually loved and honoured,—as much, at least, for his gracious and simple character as for his fine scholarship. But it resulted from impredence in attempting the ascent on a day when, though the morning was fine, the clouds were gathering thickly, and a Fan wind was blowiitg. First-rate guides would not have allowed Mr. Nettle- ship to go on in such weather; but his two guides, though courageous and faithful, were not firm and peremptory, and allowed Mr. Nettleship to risk what he should never have been allowed to risk. The night of the 24th was passed in a hole in the snow, Mr. Nettleship being, it is said, the gayest of the three, and singing to keep up the guides' spirits. On the morning of the 25th he insisted on going on, though the snow- storm continued, and had obliterated all trace of the right track. He soon staggered, and became unsteady, and at last fell forward on his face, took each guide by the hand, closed his eyes, and expired. To hear of the gaiety, courage, and sweetness of Mr. Nettleship's last hours deepens the universal gloom which his death has caused.
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