his second son John Polhill, esq. of Cavendish square, Captain in 15th Dragoons, who died in 1828. The latter gentleman, by his wife Mary daughter of John Bennett, esq. of Walthamstow, had three sons: Thomas, who survived his father only six weeks; Charles, who died unmarried in 1813; and the subject of the present obituary. Captain Polhill retired from the army on succeeding to the family estates. He first contested the borough of Bedford on the memorable struggle of 1830, when Parliamentary Reform was, as it were, put to the vote of the country. So decided was opinion upon this important subject at Bedford, that Captain Polhill was able to contend successfully with no less a person than the present Premier, the very author of the Reform Bill.* The poll lasted ten days; 914 electors voted; Mr. Whitbread and Lord John Russell both voted for themselves; but Captain Polhill defeated the latter by one vote, having polled 491, of which 319 were plumpers. Mr. Whitbread's number was 515. After the passing of the Reform Bill, Mr. Whitbread and Captain Polhill were re-elected without a contest. In 1832 Mr. Crawley came forward on the liberal interest, and defeated Capt. Polhill, by three votes, the numbers being, W. II. Whitbread, esq. . 599 486 483 In Parliament Captain Polhill was a supporter of Sir Robert Peel, with whom he also voted for the alteration of the Corn Laws. He was for some time lessee of Drury Lane Theatre, and was himself the author of some successful dramatic pieces. He married in 1824 Frances-Margaretta, daughter of John Deakin, esq. (otherwise Dakeyne,) of Bagthorpe House, co. Notts, and by that lady he had issue three sons and three daughters, of whom one of the former and two of the latter died in infancy. His eldest surviving son, FrederickCharles, was born in 1826. MAJOR JAMES WEMYSS. Oct. 1. At Durham, aged 62, Major James Wemyss, High Constable of the county of Durham, formerly of the Scots Greys. Major Wemyss was noted for the same cool courage and collectedness in the army as he has exhibited in this department. As senior captain, it fell to his lot to lead the final charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo, the result of which was the final overthrow of the power of Napoleon. During the conflict Captain Wemyss had no fewer than three horses shot under him. Though severely wounded in the arm, he bravely led his followers into the midst of the conflict, and so greatly signarank of Major, and rewarded with a penlized himself that he was promoted to the sion. Major Wemyss was appointed to the command of the Durham rural police at its first establishment in that county, nine years ago, and during the whole of that period has given the utmost satisfaction to all clases by his mild but steady administration of the important powers confided to him. Under his management the force has become highly disciplined, and ranks with the first rural police forces detection of crime, and their general good in the kingdom, for the repression and demeanour. Under the trying circumstances of the pitmen's strike, their activity, courage, zeal, and forbearance were all equally exhibited, and on that occasion the gallant Major was indefatigable, and rendered important services. To those exertions are in a great measure to be attributed the fact, that no serious disturbance of the peace took place among that excited and inflammable population. His death occured in nearly the same way as that of Lord George Bentinck, recorded in our present number. When walking in a plantation two miles from the city, he was suddenly seized with apoplexy, and remained for some hours undiscovered. When found he was still alive, but wholly insensible. On a post mortem examination, it was found that the disease arose from the pressure on the brain of the pia mater, which was found thickened and highly inflamed. In private life Major Wemyss was noted for his kindness of heart and urbanity, and his loss is greatly felt. He has left a widow and family. EDWARD SAMPSON, ESQ. Aug. 9. At his seat, Henbury, near Bristol, in his 75th year, Edward Sampson, esq. a magistrate for Gloucestershire. The Mr. Sampson was born Aug, 15, 1773, the younger son of Edward Sampson, esq. of Henbury, Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1778, by Mary, eldest daughter of Nicholas Hicks, esq. alderman of Bristol. He was bred to the legal profession, and having practised for some years as an attorney, succeeded to Henbury on the death of his elder brother John Sampson, esq. unmarried, in 1830, and served the office of High Sheriff of the county in 1838. During his long life he had the happiness of possessing the respect and esteem of all classes. The aged, in their poverty, found him always ready to relieve their wants. young loved him as their adviser and friend. A sound churchman, a just but merciful magistrate, an unflinching conservative, he used all his energy to uphold the institutions which, under God, have rendered his country the first in the world. His charities were extensive, and judiciously bestowed. Those excellent institutions, the Clergy and Gloucestershire Societies, had the advantage not only of his pecuniary but his personal support. For upwards of forty years he had never failed (until 1847, when he was unable to attend from ill-health) to be present at their anniversaries held in Bristol. Mr. Sampson married, Nov. 24, 1807, Joanna, youngest daughter of George Daubeny, esq. alderman of Bristol, and has left issue an only son Edward Sampson, esq. born in 1810, who is M.A. of Balliol college, Oxford, and a magistrate for Gloucestershire. A daughter died in 1824, in her 16th year. MR. FRANÇOIS CRAMER. July 25. At his residence in Westbourne Grove, aged 76, Mr. François Cramer. This accomplished musician was the second son of William Cramer, formerly leader of the Opera band, and brother to the celebrated pianist John Cramer, who is still living. François was born at Schwetzingen, near Mannheim, in 1772. He was early instructed by an able master in the art of playing the violin. At the age of seven he left his native country to join his father and brother, who had settled in England. On his arrival in London, it was his father's anxious wish, by giving him good masters, to follow up what he had already so well begun; but the change of climate operating on his naturally delicate constitution, it was recommended by a very eminent physician, Sir Richard Jebb, that he should entirely discontinue the study of the violin, advice which was strictly adhered to by his father. A lapse of seven years having made great improvement in his health, at the age of fifteen his brother John suggested that he should take up the violin again, and he then earnestly applied himself to master all its difficulties. At seventeen he was placed in the opera band, of which his father was then leader. In the course of a few years he rose in the ranks of the orchestra, and became second violin to his father at the principal concerts and festivals. In the autumn of 1799 he lost his father (see the Gentleman's Magazine for that year, p. 906,) and in the ensuing season succeeded him at the Ancient Concerts as leader, which post he held until his retirement in 1844. For many years he was alternate leader of the Philharmonic Concerts with Loder, T. Cooke, Weichsel, &c. François Cramer for upwards of forty years was the leader at the great provincial festivals. He was an active member of the Royal Society of Musicians, and was much respected in the profession, as a kind-hearted, generous man. He has left a widow and large family of children to deplore his loss. His son William is one of the first violins in the Royal Italian Opera band. MR. T. H. SEALY. July 9. Mr. Thomas Henry Sealy, one of those many labourers in the field of literature whose personal distinctions bear no just proportion to the amount of their labour, because they work under cover of the anonymous as contributors to periodical publications. Mr. Sealy is best known by his "Porcelain Tower," published in 1842. He was the author, besides, of a volume of poetry, entitled, "The Little Old Man in the Wood." For many years, up till 1843, Mr. Sealy was the editor of the Western Archæological Magazine, published in Bristol: and from that time till 1847 he was the proprietor and editor, in the same city, of a weekly newspaper called the Great Western Advertiser, and of Sealy's Western Miscellany, in which he wrote some of his best tales. Heavy losses in connection with the paper, and the anxiety resulting, seem to have broken down his spirit and wasted his health. Though these had been for some time past declining, the consummation was rapid at the last. After a life expended, with all his means mental and material, in the service of literature, Mr. Sealy has now died, leaving three already motherless children, wholly destitute, we fear. Mr. Sealy was a contributor to many other publications than those already mentioned; and among his numerous papers were some esteemed translations from several of the Italian poets.-Athenæum. MR. JOSEPH F. ELLIS. May 28. At Richmond, Surrey, in his 65th year, Mr. Joseph F. Ellis. Thirty years since he arrived in London, from Ireland, buoyant with hope and full of promise of future distinction as a painter of marine subjects. His first essays were exhibited at the British Institution, where one of his pictures was sold for 601.; but from this moment he never found a patron. A party with whom he was intimate afterwards duped him out of several large works, which were his best performances; and, at the present day, if chance sends any of these to the auction-room, they still realise 307. or 401. each. After this misfortune, a succession of reverses and disappointments rendered him totally dependant upon a class of picture-dealers possessing neither liberality nor overmuch scruple of conscience. For these individuals he worked laboriously in endless repetitions of views in Venice, dozens of which have been paid for in sums that would have gladdened the heart of the hireling artist, if he had been permitted a little of the sunshine of patronage. These views in Venice have graced the catalogues of auctioneers in Pall Mall, Bond Street, and elsewhere, under the designation of Canaletti. For the last seven years he resided with a house-agent who dabbled in pictures. Here he found repose in an obscure, ill-ventilated bed-chamber, living on a small weekly pittance, and labouring incessantly at the easel in painting multitudinous copies of the pictures of Canaletti and Vernet, merely manufacturing them from good originals, brought from London for the purpose. After being duly dried and doctored, they were sent for the admiration of uninstructed cognoscenti, and for those unlearned in the capability of weighing the excellence of a living painter against the simulation of one of former days, executed under the influence of mental degradation and disgust. Mr. Ellis was, in his habits, frugal and unassuming, with a highly-gifted mind, well stored with anecdote and wit, personifying the very cream of Hibernian good humour and good nature. His best pictures are few in number, painted with a powerful impasto, and not leaning to the imitation of any former master. They are the fruits of his own study of natural objects, without reference to any convertionality.-Art Union Journal. COUNT LATOUR. Lieutenant-General Count Theodore Latour, who has been recently murdered at Vienna, in a manner so barbarous, so inhuman, so contrary to all the feelings of human nature, has been distinguished through a long series of years as one of the most eminent officers in the Austrian service. He was born on the 15th June, 1780, at Vienna, and was only son to the Imperial Master-General of the Ordnance and President of the Council of War, Count Maximilian Baillet de Latour, who died in 1806, who was owner of the property called the county of Latour, situated in the province of Luxemburg. This property was erected into a fief or entail in 1719, but the family mansion was destroyed during the French Revolution, and the property itself has passed into other hands. Educated at the Imperial Engineers' School, Theodore de Latour there received all that instruction, and acquired that solid knowledge, which was matured in after years, and which, at his first commencing his military career, caused him to be appointed on the Quartermaster's-General's staff, in which duties he was enabled to render valuable service. During the period that the Austrian army was engaged in a long succession of campaigns, Latour remained constantly on active service, and by his zeal, merit, and courage, obtained rapid promotion, so that, at the commencement of the war of liberation, he had already obtained the rank of Colonel. In Jan. 1814, he was appointed chief of the staff to the 8th army corps of the Confederation, then under the command of the Crown Prince, now King of Wurtemburg. The able dispositions adopted by Colonel Latour at the honourable and sanguinary affairs of Epinay, Brienne, Sens, Montereau, and La Ferre were publicly acknowledged at the time, and obtained for him the repeated thanks of the Prince commanding and the allied Sovereigns. The rank of General and many orders of knighthood " were amongst his recompenses and honourable testimonies. During the long peace that succeeded the campaigns of 1813, 1814, and 1815, Count Latour was continually called upon to take part in most important deliberations, wherein he showed his aptitude for administration, and by his cool and clear judgment was enabled to render great services to the Austrian Government. During many years he filled the office of Commissioner and President of the Military Board of the Germanic Confederation with great credit to himself and advantage to that body. At a later period he was appointed substitute for the General Director of the Engineer department (the Archduke John, at present AdministratorGeneral at Frankfort), or, in other words, Chief of the Engineer Corps and InspectorGeneral of Fortifications. The plans for the fortifications of Rastadt, &c., were matured and principally carried into effect under his superintendence. Upon the abolition of the Aulic Council of War at Vienna, Latour was appointed Minister of War and Chief of the War Department by the present Emperor. In this most difficult and perilous position he was enabled, by patience, firmness, and long experience, to temper the storm by which he was surrounded, and to accom. plish what many considered to be impracticable. His combinations with Radetzky led to the fortunate issue of the late campaigus in Lombardy, for he united to the talent of conception that of carrying into effect, and with this a wonderful faculty of economizing and producing resources. A man less gifted with courage, indefatigable zeal, constancy under difficulties, and readiness for extracting great results from small means, would have yielded to the pressure of events and the embarrassments by which he was surrounded. Up. right, unflinching, and devoted, he stood up to encounter, and for a long time mastered, the tempest. He could have retired a hundred times from an office which he never coveted, but was withheld from so doing by his devotion to the Emperor, by his disinterestedness, and by that generous, rational patriotism which caused him to stand to his post till a foul and bloody death terminated his long and honourable career. A short time before the abominable catastrophe which took place on the bridge of Pesth, Count Lamberg, the miserable victim of Hungarian atrocity, waited on his friend and subsequent fellow-martyr. Then it was that Latour gave Lamberg his instructions, with these prophetic words: -"Go and prosper, with the aid of Divine Providence, for the welfare and the peace of Austria and of Hungary. We may not meet again. We stand both upon the same perilous eminence. Both are moved by the same sentiments of attachment to our fatherland. Both have only at heart the general good. But we will meet the combat with courage, and accomplish the duties confided to us with honour, and without flinching, albeit death be our reward." Count Theodore Latour has left a widow, daughter of Count Borcier, and a daughter, a lady of great beauty and accomplishments, married to General Count Draskowich, and a son, an officer of promise, and captain in a regiment of infantry, and who served as aide-de-camp to Radetzky during the recent campaigns. LIEUT. GEORGE A. F. RUXTON. Aug. 30. At St. Louis, in his 27th year, Lieut. George Augustus Frederick Ruxton, esq. late of the 89th regiment. He was the third son of the late John Ruxton, esq. of Broad Oak, Brenchley, Kent. When serving with the 89th regiment in Canada Lieut. Ruxton imbibed a thirst for adventure; for which he was both mentally and physically peculiarly fitted. To Africa he first turned his attention, in the hope of adding to our geographical knowledge some of its unexplored and hitherto inaccessible lands. He had formed the daring project of traversing Africa in the parallel of its southern tropic-from Walwich Bay eastward: but the tracing of some fifty miles of coast was all that he was able to accomplish. Owing to the jealousy of the traders and missionaries established on the coast, he could not get from the natives that assistance which was essential for this great undertaking. He had time, however, to improve our maps, by expunging from them the Fish River running into Angra Pequena and those smaller streams described as falling into the sea between the Gariep and Walwich Bay. Before leaving Africa Mr. Ruxton made himself acquainted with the Bushmen; and contributed a paper on this interesting race to the Ethnological Society. Mr. Ruxton became afterwards a personal observer of the recent struggle between the Americans and the Mexicans, and has placed his stirring picture of its events on record in the columns of Fraser's Magazine. From this scene of warfare he made that exploration which resulted in his contributing to the Home and Colonial Library his " Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains;" to Blackwood the series entitled "Life in the Far West ;" and to the Ethnological Society a paper "On the Migration of the Ancient Mexicans, and their Analogy to the existing Indian Tribes of Northern Mexico," Mr. Ruxton was the author also of a pamphlet "On the Oregon Question;" wherein he took "a glance at the respective claims of Great Britain and the United States to the territory in dispute," with his usual acuteness.-Athenæum. CLERGY DECEASED. April... At Hicks's Bay, East Cape, New Zealand, the Rev. Charles L. Reay, formerly of Liverpool. Aug. 5. Aged 52, the Rev. James Leigh, of Belmont, Cheshire. He was of Trinity college, Cambridge, B.A. 1818, M.A. 1821. Aug. 8. Aged 39, the Rev. Edward Hawkins, M.A. of Spaw Park, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, formerly Fellow of Pembroke college, Oxford. Aug. 13. At Guildford, aged 85, the Rev. Thomas Oxenham, formerly of Welwyn, Herts. Aug. 21. At Harbury, Warwickshire, in his 90th year, the Rev. John Morgan, M.A. Vicar of Tenbury, to which he was presented in 1845. Aug. 24. At Culham, Oxfordshire, aged 76, the Rev. Robert Wintle, a Prebendary of St. Paul's, Rector of Compton Beauchamp, Berks, and Vicar of Culham. He was of Christ Church, Oxford, M.A. 1797, B.D. 1805; was collated to the vicarage of Culham in 1797 by the then Bishop of Oxford; and was presented to the rectory of Compton Beauchamp in 1813 by Mrs. A. Wright. Aug. 29. Aged 74, the Rev. R. Hughes, M.A. Curate of Llanidan-with-Landaniel Vab and Llanedwen, Anglesey. Lately. The Rev. J. Wilson, Perpetual Curate of Grinsdale, Cumberland, to which he was presented in 1829 by Mrs. Dacre. Sept. 6. At Rugby, aged 81, the Rev. William Birch, Rector of Glenfield, Leicestershire. He was of Corpus Christi college, Oxford, M.A. 1792, and was presented to Glenfield in 1846. At Thwaites in Millom, Cumberland, aged 39, the Rev. James Willis Sanders, M.A. Incumbent of that chapelry. He was of Trinity college, Cambridge, and was in 1842 appointed Chaplain to the London Hospital. At Barnham Broome, Norfolk, aged 34, the Hon. and Rev. Alfred Wodehouse, B.A. Rector of that parish, with Bickston and Kimberley. He was the sixth and youngest son of John second Lord Wodehouse, by Laura, only daughter and heir of John Norris, esq. of Wilton Park, Norfolk, and granddaughter of the Hon. and Very Rev. Edward Townshend, Dean of Norwich. He was presented to both his livings by his own family. He married in 1840 Emily - Hamilla, daughter of Reginald George Macdonald, esq. and niece to the Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe, and has left issue three sons and three daughters. Sept. 9. At Holt, aged 75, the Rev. Josiah Webb Flavell, Rector of Stody with Hunworth, Norfolk, and an acting magistrate for that county. He was of Christ's college, Cambridge, B.A. 1795 as 16th Senior Optime, M.A. 1798; and was pre. sented to Stody in 1801 by Lord Suffield. Sept. 10. At Harthill, Yorkshire, in his 80th year, the Rev. Jonathan Alderson, M.A. Rector of that parish. He was of Pembroke college, Cambridge, B.A. 1792, M.A. 1795; and was presented to his living in 1812 by the Duke of Leeds. Sept. 11. At Bristol, in his 35th year, the Rev. James Cowles Prichard, late Vicar of Mitcham, Surrey. He was the eldest son of Dr. Prichard, Commissioner of Lunacy. He was a member of Oriel college, Oxford. Sept. 12. Aged 48, the Rev. Arthur Trollope, M.A. for twenty-one years Curate of the united parishes of St. Maryle-Bow, St. Pancras, Soper-lane, and Allhallows, Honey-lane, London. He was a son of Dr. Trollope, formerly head master of Christ's Hospital, and a member of Pembroke college, Cambridge, M.A. 1822. He was an upright, conscientious, and hardworking man; and not only one of the most exemplary but also one of the most learned clergymen in the metropolis. He was too modest, manly, and independent, to seek preferment, although the proceeds of his curacy and lectureship, all he ever had in the Church, amounted only to 1401. a year; and his merits found no unsolicited patronage. At Babbicombe, near Torquay, aged 45, the Rev. William Pullen, M.A. late Rector of Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire, to which he was presented by the Lord Chancellor in 1831. He was the author of "A Vindication of the Church of England from the charge of Unsound Doctrine and Inefficient Discipline brought against her in a Letter from a Clergyman of his Communion to the Archbishop of Canterbury. 1835." Sept. 14. At Merry Bent House, Richmond, Yorkshire, aged 80, the Rev. Joseph Jones, late of Sandhutton. Sept. 17. At Bath, aged 64, the Rev. Anthony William Eyre, Vicar of Hornsea with Riston, Yorkshire. He was the son of the Rev. Anthony Fountayne Eyre, of Barnborough, Canon of York, by his second wife Honor, daughter of the Rev. |