Chapter XXV (4)

The Rev. John Lingard, D. D., one of the most deservedly eminent scholars and writers of the Roman Catholic church in England, and one of the most distinguished historians of the time, died at Hornby, in Lancashire, on the 17th of July, at the advanced age of 81 years, and his remains were buried at Ushaw College, Durham, with which he was once officially connected. The deceased priest has left a reputation that will probably survive that of any of the persons of his sect who have been brought into notice by the recent agitations in England. His career as a controversial writer commenced while he was a young man, and was continued through a large portion of his laborious life. He was an unknown priest at Newcastle-on-Tyne, when, in 1804, he issued from the local press in that town his _History of the Anglo-Saxon Church_, a work which constituted the first and most efficient effort to attract popular attention to those ecclesiastical institutions of the Saxons, which are now familiar objects of study and speculation. In 1805 he published Catholic Loyalty Vindicated. The next year, the bishop of Durham, in a charge to his clergy, having attacked the Roman Catholics, Mr. Lingard answered him, in Remarks on a Charge. This brought on a sharp controversy, in which several persons of ability took part, and Mr. Lingard published a General Vindication of the Remarks, with Replies to the Reverend T. Le Mesurier, G. S. Faber, and others (1808). These two pamphlets were followed, on the same subject, by Documents to ascertain the Sentiments of British Catholics in former Ages (1812); a Review of certain Anti-Catholic Publications (1813); and Strictures on Doctor Marsh's Comparative View of the Churches of England and Rome (1815). In the last of these publications, Mr. Lingard asserted that the church of England was modern, compared with that of Rome; an assertion which so much irritated the late Doctor Kipling, that he was absurd enough to threaten the author with a process in Westminster-hall, if he did not prove the truth of what he had stated. In 1809 Mr. Lingard published the Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church in an enlarged edition. Doctor Lingard is principally known in foreign countries as the author of a History of England till the Revolution of 1688, of which ten editions have appeared and which has been translated into several languages. Although the object of this work is the vindication of the Roman Catholic church and clergy in England from the alleged misrepresentations of Protestant writers, yet it is allowed to be written in a candid and dispassionate tone. As a historian, the author is acute and perspicuous, judicious in the selection and arrangement of his materials, and clear and interesting in his narrative. He wrote from original sources, which he examined with care and diligence, and on many points gave new and more correct views of manners, events and characters. In 1826, he published a Vindication, &c., in reply to two articles in the Edinburgh Review (Nos. 83 and 87, written by Dr. Allen), charging him with inaccuracy and misrepresentation. A more favorable notice of the History appeared in No. 105 of the same Review.

The editions of his History, an English version of the Gospels, and other learned publications, in pamphlet form, consumed the time unoccupied by religious duty, or by converse with the neighbors and friends, who continually courted his society.

For the last forty years Dr. Lingard held the small and retired preferment belonging to the Roman Catholic Church in the village of Hornby, and there the historian resided, near to Hornby Castle, the seat of his attached and constant friend, Mr. Pudsey Dawson. After a lingering illness, he closed in this retirement his mortal career.

Dr. Lingard's residence was a small unpretending building, with three windows, connected with a little chapel built by himself, where, till last autumn, he regularly officiated. A door of communication opened into it from his house, the lower window of which lighted the room where he usually sat, and where he wrote the History of England. His garden consisted of a long strip, taken off a small grass field of about half an acre in extent. Here he passed much of his time, in the indulgence of his taste for rural occupations.

The private virtues of Dr. Lingard were as remarkable as his public talents. His whole habits of life were charmingly simple; his nature was kind, his disposition most affectionate. Always they were agreeable and profitable hours passed in his society, his mind was so richly stored, his knowledge so varied, his fund of anecdote so inexhaustible: a pleasantry and good humor pervaded his conversation at all times. He never sought controversy in visits among his friends. When questioned on the matters of his own faith, he would speak freely; those warmly attached to the Established Church or other creeds, widely differing from him in religious principles, never felt restraint in his society, or anticipated any sharpness or acrimony. In personal appearance he was rather above the middle height, and of slender frame; and though he had reached to full four-score years, his dark brown hair was but slightly tinged with gray: his small dark twinkling eye was singularly expressive, and his countenance bright and animated. The annexed portrait is from the miniature taken in 1849, by Mr. Scaife, and engraved for the last edition of the History of England.

It has been reported, though on doubtful authority, that very high positions in the Roman Catholic Church were more than once offered to Dr. Lingard. There is, it is believed, little or no truth in this; but those who knew his simple habits, and his love of retirement, would not be surprised at his preferring, even to the purple, his peaceful residence in the loveliest locality of the loveliest of England's northern valleys.

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Horace Francois della Porta Sebastiana, Marshal of France, and for some time Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis Phillippe, died in Paris on the 14th of July. He was born in Corsica, in 1775, and having entered the French service in 1792, rose rapidly through the different ranks to that of colonel. Colonel Sebastiani took an active part in the revolution of the 18th Brumaire, and, in 1802, the First Consul sent him on a mission to the Levant. After having brought about a reconciliation of the differences between the court of Sweden and the regency of Tripoli, and compelled the Pacha to acknowledge the Italian republic and salute its flag, he repaired to Alexandria, and had an interview with General Stewart, in order to insist on the terms of the treaty of Amiens for the evacuation of Alexandria. To this demand the English general replied that he had not received any orders from his court. M. Sebastiani went therefore to Cairo, and in conferences with the pacha offered to open a communication with the beys; but the offer was not accepted, the orders of the Porte being to make it a war of extermination. He afterwards went to St. Jean d'Acre, with the object of settling with the pacha a treaty of commerce, and found him pacifically inclined. In November he set out on his return to France, having accomplished all the objects of his mission. He was, after his arrival, employed on various services, and, among the rest in a diplomatic mission to Germany. He distinguished himself in the campaign of 1804, was wounded at the battle of Austerlitz, and obtained the rank of general of division. Napoleon entertained a high opinion of his diplomatic talents, and named him, in 1806, ambassador to the Ottoman Porte--a mission which he filled for some years, with much ability. He established at Constantinople a printing-office for the Turkish and Arabic languages, and by this means contributed not a little to the French influence in that country. The English having forced the passage of the Dardanelles, and menaced Constantinople, Sebastiani immediately organized a plan of defence, marked out the batteries, and prepared for the most vigorous resistance; but the inhabitants broke out into insurrection, and he was obliged to depart for France. He was subsequently sent to Spain, where he distinguished himself on numerous occasions; and he served in the Russian-German war under Murat. July 15, 1812, he was surprised by the Russians at Drissa, but he recovered his character by his exertions at the battle of Borodino. On the invasion of France, he had a command in Champagne, and defended Chalons. April 10, M. Sebastiani sent to M. Talleyrand his adhesion to the provisional government, and, June 1, received from the king the cross of St. Louis. On the return of Napoleon, in 1815, he was elected deputy of the lower chamber, and after the second abdication of Napoleon was one of the commissioners to treat for peace with the allies. In 1819 he was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies, by the island of Corsica. His lucid and manly eloquence was employed to throw light over all the great questions of finance, war, foreign politics, and domestic administration, and he evinced at once the talents of an orator and the knowledge of a statesman. After the revolution of 1830, General Sebastiani received the port-folio of the marine in the Guizot ministry, and in November that of foreign affairs under Laffitte, which he retained under Perier. He received the baton of Marshal from Louis Phillippe, and had retired from active political life, when, in 1847, the assassination of his daughter, the Duchess de Praslin, by her husband, affected him so much that he never recovered from the blow.

Ladies' Midsummer Fashions.

There are few changes to notice in the modes de Paris. Every thing at this season is, of course, made in an airy style, and of very light materiel. We copy two of the most graceful costumes in the recent books of patterns.

I. _Morning Dress_ of white muslin, with flounces, ornamented with needlework. Many dresses intended for neglige morning costume in the country consists of a skirt of checkered or striped silk, printed muslin, or some other light material. For morning neglige a variety of very pretty caps have appeared; they are of worked muslin, and are trimmed with ribbon and fine Valenciennes.

II. _Visiting Dress_ of glace or rich silk, with three flounces, embroidered. Mantelet of a splendid black lace, lined with pink silk, and richly trimmed with a deep fall of black lace, which also encircles the open sleeve. Bonnets of white _paille de riz_, decorated in the interior with red and white flounces.

_Coiffures_ are extremely simple in form. A wreath of ivy leaves intermixed with small clusters of jewelry, and attached at the back with a long lappet of gold lace, fastened by noeuds of pearls and emeralds, has a fine effect. Head-dresses of blonde are extremely becoming, forming three points. These are fashionable for concerts, &c. They are placed backward on the head, the points at the side being attached with a profusion of flowers, the centre one falling over the back comb. Another style is of a lappet of white blonde, and another of plain pink tulle; the lappet of blonde being fastened just over the shoulder, and a little backward, with a bunch of grapes--the pink one, which is very wide, covering the bosom like a veil, and drooping as low as the waist.

Fashionable colors are of all light mixtures, such as gray, lilac, fawn, mauve, green, and peach color--white, pink, and blue predominating for evening toilette.

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From a Daguerreotype by Brady, taken for the International. 1851]

Residence of MR. COOPER. Cooperstown. From a drawing by MISS COOPER.]

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