ment of differences between Russia and Turkey; his Majesty's thanks for the supplies; an allusion to the wisdom manifested in reducing the interest of the Five per Cents.; and the expression of his grief at the distress in Ireland, accompanied with anassurance that the benevolence and sympathy manifested in this country on the occasion are just ly appreciated in the sister kingdom, and will doubtless promote "brotherly love and affection among all classes and descriptions of his subjects." We confess that we were somewhat disappointed at the slight texture of this official summary. We had been hop ing, that at the close of an unusually long and busy session, when so many important subjects, foreign and do mestic, had been under public dis cussion, and great anxiety was felt both at home and abroad respecting the views and policy of this country, the Royal Speech would have dis closed something of the sentiments and intentions of Government. The British public have been accustomed to look to the speeches at the opening and closing of Parliament as official landmarks, by which their own opi nions are to be guided, and the general views of the executive to be judged of; a feeling of disappointment, there fore, is excited whenever they dwindle down to mere formal prologues and epilogues to the session, with little ex plicit information either as to the past or the future. Whether, under the circumstances of this country, these periodical statements should be as minute and expository as those of the United States of America, may fairly be questioned; but, still, a government, depending as much as ours does on public opinion, and requiring to maintain the confidence and conciliate the affections of the people, may justly be expected not to omit so fair an opportu nity of officially stating their views on points of the highest interest to all classes of the community. No allusion is made to the state of Portugal, Spain, or South America. Nothing is said of those plans of international policy which have led to the appoint ment of the approaching congress at Vienna. Nothing is said of Greece or Turkey, except that the cause of the former seems to have been abandoned by Russia. Nothing is said even of our own agriculture or commerce, or of any measures being in contemplation for the permanent relief of the acknowledged distress in Ireland, and for the general amelioration of her wretched condition. At the same time, we admit, that, though fewer measures of general policy have been matured than we had hoped for at its commencement, the last session of Parliament has produced no small benefit to the public. Taxation has been considerably reduced; Ireland has been assisted for the moment; some partial measures for her benefit have also been adopted; and the whole of the system of that part of our empire has been fully discussed, so as, we trust, to clear the way for adopting radical and not very distant remedies for her wretchedness and depression. The principles which govern our agricultural and commercial relations have also been examined with attention; and we have little doubt that the public mind has been much enlightened on the subject, and prepared for the introduction, at no very distant period, of a better system-a system of general and unrestricted freedoni.-The great inconveniences and evils of some fundamental provisions of the Marriage Act have been generally at length acknowledged, and a law has been passed to remedy them; though, unhappily, it has been so much patched and altered in its progress through the House of Lords, that it retains few features of its original character, and has become liable to very serious objections, as we intend to shew at large in our next number. We had prepared an abstract of the Act for insertion this month, but our remarks upon its provisions having swelled beyond our expectation, we found ourselves obliged to defer them. The new law takes effect from the 1st of September. We are grieved to add, that another long and laborious session has closed without any legislative measures respecting those great and often discussed questions which relate to the moral and religious interests of the population, such as the wider diffusion of Christian education; the removal of the existing impediments to the multiplication of places of worship; the reform, or rather the abolition, of our present system of Poor Laws; the mitigation of that unchristian state of bondage in which so many thousands of our fellow-subjects are still held; to say nothing of the evils of gin-shops, lotteries, Sunday newspapers, and other violations of the Sabbath. One encouraging exception ought not to be overlooked: the It is now with feelings of the deepest humiliation and pain that we have to record, that, before Parliament had been prorogued a week, the man who had borne the most prominent part in all its deliberations, and who for some years past may be considered as regulating the course both of our foreign and domestic policy, has sud deuly been removed, by a self-inflicted death, from the scene in which he occupied so large a space, and has appeared, unsummoned, at the tribunal of his Creator and Judge, to give an account of the deeds done in the body. The particulars respecting the death of the Marquis of Londonderry are now so well known, and have excited so much of intense feeling throughout the country, that it would be super fluous for us to state them. Suffice it to say, on this afflicting subject, that there seems no room to question the propriety of that verdict of insanity which was returned by the coroner's inquest, however short may have been the continuance of his mental de rangement, and however opposed to the calmness and courage, and to the evenness of temper, which had always marked his character, and which had not undergone any perceptible change, as far as respected his public demea nour, down to the very moment of the prorogation of Parliament, was the act which terminated his life. We cannot, however, quit this part of the subject, without expressing our extreme surprise and regret at the general doctrine said to be enounced on this occasion by the coroner. He is said to have laid it down as his decided judgment, that the act of suicide was, in all cases, of itself a proof of insanity; in other words, that a verdict of felo de se must in all cases be an unjust verdict. A dictum so in jurious in its tendency, so decidedly opposed to the express letter of the law of the land and to innumerable previous decisions of inquests, and so much at variance with the opinions of the ablest legal commentators among others, of Blackstone-we hardly expected would have been deliberately uttered by a judge on so grave and solemn an occasion, But having been promulged, we deem it our duty thus pointedly to notice and to reprehend the sentiment. The frequent occurrence of self-destruction of late among our public men, induces us to make a few remarks on the subject, which, had the present unhappy instance stood alone, we might have spared. But, on considering several of them attentively, we are inclined to think, that, among the chief pre-disposing causes to that state of mind in which our great enemy finds us most accessible to his temptations, is the neglect of the Sabbath as a day of repose from the pressure of secular business. Without dwelling on the protection which religion, with all its attendant blessings of the fear and love of God, of peace and holy resignation, of superiority to the world, of patience, and hope, and joy-would affordagainst those undue cares, and overweening anxieties, and agitating apprehensions, which enfeeble the mental energies, and leave the mind open to the delusions of a inorbid fancy, or to the artifices of the devil, we shall confine ourselves to this single point, the employment of the Sabbath-day. It was mer cifully given to us by the Almighty, among its many other beneficial purposes, as a day of rest; and in none of his appointments are his wisdom and goodness more apparent, whether we regard the advantages arising from its strict observance, or the many evils which accompany its neglect. What would be the miserable condi tion of our peasantry, without this interruption of their unvarying toil? Not merely brutal ignorance, and recklessness of all that lies beyond the present life, but bodies early worn down with labour, premature old age, and rapidly wasting lives. See this exemplified in the case of our WestIndian bondsmen. Multitudes of them, after toiling under the lash of the driver through the week, are compelled to employ the Sabbath in cultivating the ground for their own subsistence,-for the food which is to sus tain them, while working for their masters' benefit, during the other six days. What is the consequence? Let the stationary or decreasing population of one and all of our sugar colonies, even at the present moment, after all the vaunted ameliorations of which so much has been said, furnish the reply. While, in this country, the population increases with a rapidity which asto nishes the economist, under innumerable disadvantages arising from the operation of our Poor Laws, the want of food, &c. &c.; in the West Indies, a climate particularly favourable to the African race, with a soil which pours forth profusely, and with comparatively little effort, the food of man, his growth is nevertheless stunted, a blight seems to arrest the progress of population, and the increase, if there be any instances of general increase, is very inconsiderable. We do not attribute this effect wholly to the utter neglect of the repose of the Sabbath: many other causes, without doubt, operate powerfully in producing it: we nevertheless must regard it as exercising a most malignant influence on the comfort, and health, and longevity of the Slave. We have spoken hitherto of the effect on the human frame of uninterrupted bodily toil. But is the effect of intense and unceasing mental application less injurious to the powers of the mind? May not its tone be relaxed, and its faculties enfeebled, by perpetual toil? Is no regular recur rence of repose required to prevent the machine in this case from being overstrained? If the lawyer in full employment will devote his Sunday to anxious consultations; if the merchant will refuse to leave behind him in his counting-house on that day the perplexities of business; if the statesman, after a week of anxious and harassing discussion, with every faculty on the stretch, and with innumerable official demands on his time, will deny to himself the repose which the Sabbath mercifully offers to him; can we wonder that the frame should give way under such unintermitted exertion? The newspapers all dwell on incessant application to business as having generated, in the case of Lord Londonderry, the morbid feeling which armed his own hand against his life; but they seem to have forgot how much the weekly admission of a day of rest from secular affairs would have preserved his faculties from the fatal effects of a constant strain upon them. This awful event certainly holds out a lesson of the utmost importance to our statesmen, and in general to all persons deeply engaged either in public or private business. It should teach them to moderate their secular anxieties to the measure of Christian duty; and, above all, to cultivate those habits of devotion and cheerful piety, which are the best alleviations of the weight of worldly care, and the best preparative for a tranquil discharge of public and private duty. At least, it should lead them to the more punctual observance of the sacred rest of the Sabbath, as necessary, independently of the higher uses to which it may be applied, for the preservation of their health, and faculties, and temporal comfort; even if it were not a duty enjoined by the Almighty, and essential for the welfare of the soul. As if to prepare the mind and body for the duties of the Sabbath, it has been the wise custom of Parliament not to meet for business on Saturday evening; yet how common is it for our public men to lose all the benefit of this arrangement, by devoting the evening of Saturday to the Opera, and the morning of the Sabbath to the routes which commence when the Opera closes, and, after a few hours of feverish rest, giving a large portion of the remainder of that sacred day to a renewal of their secular deliberations! And all this time God and the soul are forgotten! We speak generally. It were easy to mention several painful illustrations of these remarks, and of the evil consequences of rejecting the repose mercifully commanded by our gracious Creator, and enjoined by the laws of the country. Whether the case of Lord Londonderry furnishes another exemplification, can be decided only by those who knew his private habits. Still, the occasion seemed naturally to call for this admonition to our public men, not to continue to employ for secular purposes, as it is to be feared too many do, the day which was given us to prepare to meet and support the business and cares of the present life, by cherishing the hopes and expectations of a better. We omit, for the present, any attempt to appreciate the character and principles of this departed statesman. The fundame stal principle, of his policy appeared to us to be expediency,a principle which may doubtless lead to right conclusions, but which is at the same time of perilous application. Of many of the measures of foreign and domestic policy, to which his view of expediency led him, it was impossible not to approve; but undoubtedly there were others, in which even views of expediency, if we were to take no higher measure of human obligation, would have led us to differ from his Lordship. But on these points we feel no inclination to enlarge at the present moment. We sincerely lament his untimely end, and sympathize with those who were more immediately connected with him, and to whom his mild and amiable manners had, we understand, particularly endeared him. Indeed, he was remarkable for the urbanity of of his deportment; and he possessed, in an eminent degree, the faculty of smoothing, by the suavity and calmness of his discourse, the ruggedness of pubfic debate, and of disarming the hostility of his opponents. The arrangements for supplying his Lordship's place have not yet been completed; at least, are not known to the public. The difficulty of finding any one person prepared at once to step into all his Lordship's offices appears to be very great. The King is now on a visit to Scotland, where he has been received, if not with all the profusion and dissipation displayed last year in Ireland, yet with a cordial and loyal welcome, suited to the habits and tastes of the country. His Majesty has followed up the wise and liberal plan of excluding all party distinctions in his intercourse with his Scottish subjects. ECCLESIASTICAL PREFERMENTS. Rev. J. Cleobury, Piddington Perp. Cur. Oxford. Rev. J. Deacon, St. Etheldred Cur. Norwich.. Rev. J. Footit, Barnby in Willows V. Notts. Rev. R. Greeves, Diddington V. Oxf. Rev. R. Hales, Hillington R. Norfolk. Rev. E. Hibgame, Whittlesford V. Cambridge. Rev. M. Irving, Sturminster Marshall V. Dorset. Rev. J. Jones, Cradley V. Worcesters. Rev. W. Michael, Compton Dundon V. Somerset. Rev. E. Polehampton, Greenford Magna R. Middlesex. Rev. J. H. Randolph, Fobbing R.Essx. Rev. J. W. Whittaker, Blackburne V. Lancashire. Rev. W. Wilson, Elmstead V. Essex. Rev. J. Worgan, Pebworth V. Glouc Rev. Wm. Yeadon, Waddington R. Lincolnshire. Rev. Mr. Plumptree, Senior Assistant Master in the Lower School; and the Rev.T. Briggs, Fellow of King's College, Fellows of Eton College, vice Drs. Roberts and Heath, deceased. Rev. James H. Monk, B. D. Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge, Dean of Peterborough. Rev. H. Barnes, Monmouth V. Rev. H. Brereton, Halesbury R.Dors. Rev.J.Comins, Hockworthy V.Devon. Rev. Francis Ellis, Long Compton V. Warwickshire. Rev. J. M. Glubb, St. Petrox Perp. Curacy, Devon. Rev. G. Earnest Howman, Sunning V. Berks. Rev. T. Hooper, Yatton Keynell R. Wilts. Rev. F. Jefferson, Ellington V. Hunts. Rev. W. G. Judgson, St. Michael's Perpetual Curacy, Cambridge. CHRIST, OBSERV. No. 248. Rev. Henry Law, St. Anne's R. Manchester. Rev. A. F. Lloyd, Inston R. Devon. Rev. Dr. Morris, Elstree R. Herts. Rev. B. Noble, Whalley V. Lancashire. Rev. Hugh Pearson, D.D. St. Helen's V. Abingdon, and Radley and Drayton Chapelries, Berks. Rev. J. Powell, Long Stanton V.Salop. Rev. T. Selkirk, St. John's Perpetual Curacy, Bury, Lancashire. Hon. and Rev. Hugh Percy, to be Archdeacon of Canterbury. Rev. J. Croft (rector of Saltwood), Prebendary of Canterbury. Rev. Reg. Heber, Preacher at Lincoln's Inn. Rev. H. C. de Crespigny, Neatishead V. Norfolk. Rev. Robt. Collinson, Holme Cultram V. Cumberland. Rev.T. Hill, Chesterfield V. Derbysh. Rev. T. Jackson, East Cowton V. Yorkshire. Rev.J.Leggett, East Tisted R. Hants. Rev. C. S. Luxmore, Broomyard V. Herefordshire.. Rev. John Page, B. D. Gillingham V. Kent. Rev. G. Palmer, Harlton R. Camb. Rev. Howell W. Powell, Heapham R. near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. Rev. N. Simons, Ickham R. Kent. Rev. Thomas Skrimshire, South Creak V. Norfolk. Rev. J. Thomas, Great Burstead V. Essex. Rev. W. Upjohn, Bynham V. Norfolk. Rev. J. G. Whaley, Witnesham R.Suff. Rev. W. B. Whitfield, Lawford R. Essex. Rev. H. North, nominated a Chaplain to the Duke of Cumberland. DISPENSATION. Rev.T. Wellings, to hold with Church Lench R. Worc. Bromfield V. Salop. 4 A LADY ELEANOR ELIZABETH KING. To the Editor of theChristian Observer. AMONG the many valuable papers in your work, perhaps there are few more extensively useful than the sketches which have appeared of the characters of departed Christians. It is in the hope of adding another encouraging example of the power of true religion to purify the corrupted heart of man, that the following description of a lately departed eminent Christian has been attempted. There may not at first sight appear any thing very striking in this memoir; but, notwithstanding the unobtrusiveness of the character and excellencies of the lamented subject of these remarks, she exhibited such a dignity and politeness, combined with the greatest humility; such a steadiness and fortitude, with lowliness and meekness; such a discernment into character, with candour and charity; such a deadness to the world, without any offensive singularity; and such a consistency of conduct and zeal for religion, free from any tincture of self-righteousness, or bigotry, that this brief record of her character, it is trusted, will not be uninteresting or unprofitable to the Christian reader who desires to follow her as she followed Christ. Lady Eleanor Elizabeth King was the daughter of Edward, first Earl of Kingstou, of Kingston Lodge, in the county of Roscommon, Irelaud; and she was possessed of a more ample fortune than is usual among single women, even of her elevated rank; but while the world offered itself to her in its most attractive forms, she was peculiarly distinguished by lowliness, meekness, and self-denial. She was a model of the Christian female character, possessing that "meek and quiet spirit," which, we are told," is in the sight of God of great price." But while she thus shewed herself a follower of Him, who was "meek and lowly of heart," she was singularly free from the defects of character which sometimes accompany these graces. In seasons of danger and distress, she was calm, collected, and capable of judging and acting. This fortitude was shewn in times of more than ordinary calamity and trial; particularly in the Irish rebellion, when, under Providence, she probably owed her life to the fidelity of a servant, whom no bigotry to his religion could induce to swerve from his fidelity to his beloved mistress. It was also strikingly display. ed in another instance, when she was suddenly bereaved of an endeared sister, who, being much younger than herself, she had, after the death of their mother, the Countess of Kingston, brought up, and who was unto her as a daughter." Lady Eleanor always declared that in this hour of sudden and deep affliction she felt the strongest sense of the love of God; while the anticipations of the time and the place where she and her beloved Frances should meet to part no more, not merely blunted the edge of sorrow, but filled her with peace and hope. Though, from early and extreme ill health, Lady Eleanor King was debarred from forming any matrimonial connexion, she was highly useful in the education of the children connected with her for two generations. On the death of her mother, she undertook the entire charge of her younger sisters; and upon that of one of them, Lady Frances Tennison, she affectionately supplied the same loss to her two infant sons as she had before done to their excellent mother. In the discharge of the duties of education, she united with all her natural gentleness and Christian affection the utmost steadiness of authority. They to whom she entrusted the business of tuition, had never reason to complain that their hands were weakened or their endeavours frustrated by injudicious indulgence on her part. A happy combination of qualities, which at the same time produced love and respect, was conspicuous in all her ordinary intercourse in social life. With a humility and kindness never perhaps exceeded, she uniformly preserved a dignity of manner suited to her rank, The greatest plainness and simplicity, short of injudicious or affected singu. larity, marked her dress, and furniture, and arrangements; yet it was always acknowledged that she was a highly elegant and polished woman. Her table was conducted on the plan of avoiding all unnecessary expense and display, while here xtensiv hospitality |