Sir Arthur Helps, Clerk of the Privy Council, died on
Saturday, at the age of 60. He was an admirable official, and has been for many years a discreet and valuable extra Secretary to the Queen, and his -death is recorded by Her Majesty as that of a most faithful friend ; but to the world at large he is chiefly known as a most pleasant member -of society, and an Essayist of high, though not the highest rank. Singularly experienced and full of reflection, Sir Arthur Helps's sentences were sometimes as wise as proverbs ; but his writings, with all their grace and cultivation, will not live. Like his character, they have every merit except force. We have heard a story of Sir Arthur, which we cannot prove, but believe to be true, and which will explain the regard men bore' him better than any eulogium. After his appointment to the Council he lost his private fortune, and instantly placed his resignation in the President's hands, saying that the post was one which ought not, for constitutional reasons, to be held by an impoverished man. He regarded himself as a third person, and that form of disinterestedness, perhaps the rarest of all forms, was the note -of his very attractive character.
Previous page
