faistrIlantous.
Parliament met on Tuesday, pro forma; and the Lords Commis- sioners—the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Haddington, and the Earl of Aberdeen—declared it to be further prorogued to Thursday the 1st day of February next ; when it is to meet, as the proclamation informs us, for the despatch of divers urgent and important affairs. The Commis- sioners and several officers of the two Houses were the only persons present The Directors of the East India Company have appointed the Reve- rend Henry Melville, B.D., of St. Peter's College, Cambridge, Prin- cipal of the East India College at Haileybury.
The Duke of Bordeaux visited Oscott College, at Birmingham, on Monday ; Dr. Wiseman, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the district, doing the honours.
Time has at length conquered the stout frame and heart of the veteran Lord Lynedoch ; who died on Monday night, at his residence in Strat- ton Street, after a short illness. Lord Lynedoch belongs rather to a past generation than to the present day ; but his story was in many respects too remarkable to be passed over. We abridge the biogra- phical sketch in the Times—
His father was Mr. Thomas Graham, of Balgowan, in Perthshire; his mother was Christian, fourth daughter of the first Earl of Hopetoun. Their son Thomas was born at Balgowan, in the year 1750. In 1774 his father died ; and in the same year, he married the Honourable Mary Cathcart, one of the three daughters of the ninth Lord Cathcart. It is a remarkable fact, that two other daughters of the same nobleman were married on the same day. Thus we find Mr. Graham apparently settled down for life, in the quiet, unob- trusive, happy condition of an independent country gentleman : and thus he continued, in the enjoyment of great domestic felicity, surrounded by many estimable and attached friends, for a period of nearly twenty years. He had by this time attained the mature age of two-and-forty, and to all external seeming was one of the last men in the world likely to enter upon a military life. In the year 1792, however, his domestic happiness was brought to a ter- mination by the death of his wife, to whom he was most tenderly attached. Their union had not been blessed by any children, but their mutual affection appeared to be too strong to need that additional bond. The effect of this melancholy event proved sufficient almost to unsettle the mind of Mr. Graham; and his grief was so deep and lasting as greatly to injure his health. He was recommended to travel, with a-view of alleviating the one and restoring the other by change of scene and variety of objects.
At Gibraltar he fell into military society; and there he first conceived the possibility of devoting himself to the profession of arms, Lord Hood was then about to sail for the South of France, and Mr. Graham had recently been a traveller in that country. He therefore gladly acceded to his proposition to accompany him as a volunteer. We accordingly find him, in the year 1793, landing with the British troops at Toulon, and serving as extra Aide-de-camp to Lord Mulgrave, (father to the present Marquis of Normanyy,) who was the General commanding in chief, and who marked by his particular thanks the gallant and able services of the elderly gentleman who had thus volunteered to be his Aide-de-camp. The events of that period gave Mr. Graham ampls means of indulging the passion which impelled him to a military life, Nor did he neglect any opportunity which circumstances presented : he was always foremost in the attack; and on one occasion, at the head of a column, when a private soldier fell, Mr. Graham took up his musket and supplied his place in the front rank. On returning to this country, lie raised the first battalion of the Ninetieth Regiment ; of which he was appointed Colonel-commandant on the 1011, February 1794. This regiment formed part of the army under the command of Lord Moira. It passed the summer of 1795 at Isle Dieu ; whence it proceeded to Gibraltar. On the 22d July 1795, the rank of Colonel in the Army was conferred upon Mr. Graham. Tired of the idleness of garrison life, he obtained leave to pass the summer of 1796 in the Austrian service : but next year be rejoined his regiment ; and proceeded to the attack on Minorca, under the command of Sir Charles Stuart. With the local rank of Bri- gadier, be conducted the siege of Malta ; and, after two years' resist- ance, took it, in 1800. Subsequently he travelled again, in the East, and in Norway and Sweden. In 1808, he served in Spain, under Sir John Moore. For his services at the battle of Baroasa, with the rank of Lieutenant-General, in 1811, he received the thanks of Parliament. After a brief visit to England for the benefit of his health, he returned to the Peninsula ; and distinguished himself at Vittoria, in the retreat of Corunna, at the siege of St. Sebastian, and at the passage of the Bidassoa. Ill health obliged him to resign his command. In 1814 he was appointed to a command in Holland ; and on the 3d May in the same year he again received the thanks of Parliament, and was raised to the Peerage; having previously been created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, and subsequently a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. He was likewise a Knight of the Tower and Sword in Portugal.
For a number of years he represented his native county in Parliament ; and he had thus the gratification of receiving the thanks of the Rouse of Commons in his place as a Member. In 1821, be received the rank of General and the Governorship of Dunbarton Castle.
As years advanced, and the infirmities of age began to accumulate, Lord Lynedoch found the climate of Italy best calculated to sustain his declining energies ; but when the Queen visited Scotland, be came home, for the express purpose of paying his duty to her Majesty in the metropolis of his native Iind.
Lord Lynedoch was ninety-three years old when he died; having lived under five Sovereigns. The title is extinct.
Prince Louis Napoleon is said to be passing away his time in cap- tivity by" writing a voluminous work on the condition of the labouring classes in the various countries of Europe" ; having applied to persons in London for accurate information. It is unfortunate that princes are not apt to engage in these useful works when they are in power and are able to do something.
Previous page
