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March 30. 1797, Violante; April 1. Maria, in "The Citizen;" 3d, Estifania; 4th, Susan, in "The Follies of a Day;" 6th, Bizarre, in "The Inconstant;" and finally, on the 8th, Lady Teazle. On the night of her retirement, the anxiety of the public to see the last of this delightful actress was so great, that the theatre was crowded by a brilliant audience immediately after the doors were opened. Towards the conclusion of the play Miss Farren appeared deeply affected; and, when Mr. Wroughton came forward to speak some lines which were written on the occasion, her emotions increased to such a degree, that she was under the necessity of receiving support from Mr. King. The fall of the curtain was attended with repeated bursts of applause, not unmingled with feelings of regret, for the loss of an actress then in the zenith of her charms, and while her dramatic reputation was in the highest esteem of the public. On the 8th of May following she was married to Lord Derby by special licence, at his Lordship's house in Grosvenor Square; and she was soon after introduced at Court, and was one of the procession at the marriage of the Princess Royal to the Duke of Wirtemburgh.

After her marriage, the Countess of Derby on no occasion obtruded herself on public notice, or in any way descended from the propriety of that acquired station of which she had become the ornament. The noble pair spent most of their time at their seat, Knowsley Hall; where Lady Derby was in the daily exercise of benevolence and charity, and where, after several years of ill health, and much suffering, she died, on the 23d of April, 1829.

The Countess gave birth to three children, of whom the youngest only survives. They were: Lady Lucy-Elizabeth, who died in 1809, at the age of ten; the Hon. James, who died in 1817, at the age of seventeen; and Lady Mary-Margaret, married in 1821 to the Earl of Wilton.

Her Ladyship's remains were interred at Ormskirk, on the 30th of April.

The foregoing Memoir has been compiled from various dramatic and periodical publications.

No. III.

LIEUT.-COLONEL DIXON DENHAM, F.R.S., &c.

LATE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF SIERRA LEONE.

ALTHOUGH it is our usual occupation to record the lapse of life among the brave, the learned, the wise, and the good, an unusually painful feeling accompanies its exercise in the present instance. Unhappily cut off at the age of forty-three, at the very moment when, by a fortunate and rare combination of circumstances, he became placed in a situation to which his talents and disposition were peculiarly adapted, the early doom of one so eminently qualified to do useful and honourable service to his country and the world, of one who, in public and in private, was universally admired, honoured, and beloved, — is an event which cannot be contemplated without the deepest concern. In the Biographical Index to our last volume, we expressed our regret that we had been unsuccessful in our efforts to obtain materials which might enable us to give such an account of this active, intelligent, amiable, and celebrated man, as would at once do him justice and be gratifying to the public. Since that period, we have been favoured, from the most authentic source, with the following highly interesting little memoir.

The parents of Colonel Denham, although not prominent in station, were of exemplary character, and unimpeachable integrity. They had three sons, one of whom died in infancy. Of the survivors, Dixon was the younger, being born on the 1st of January, 1786, in Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, where his parents resided for several years.

At an early age, he was admitted a scholar at Merchant Taylors' school; and on leaving it was placed, on friendly terms, with a gentleman having the management of an extensive property in Wiltshire*, with a view to his acquiring some knowledge of business; but his singularly pleasing spirit and address were such, that he very soon became the favourite of the family, and his visit turned out to be one rather of pleasure and enjoyment than of improvement. On his return to London, he was placed with an eminent solicitor, and excellent man, in very extensive practice. And here, again, the influence of his attaching qualities operated unfavourably for his welfare; as the master soon became the too kind and indulgent friend.

Running a little out of bounds, the even tenour of young Denham's professional pursuits was interrupted; and, seeking a more enlarged and enterprising sphere of action, he entered the army, as a volunteer, in 1811, and served during the whole succeeding period of the campaigns in the Peninsula. He did not, however, obtain his commission in the English army until he had served a considerable time in a Portuguese regiment; and it was hardly earned, for rougher and worsepaid service has seldom been endured. But he was supported in it by the peculiar talent which he possessed in surmounting difficulties. At length, however, he was appointed to a lieutenancy in the 23d Fusileers.

The great advantages which his British commission gave him, and of which no one knew better how to avail himself, now made his life one of comparative ease and comfort. Amidst the various vicissitudes of a campaign, battles, skirmishes, and alarms; forced marches and bivouacs; sometimes in tents without food, at others with abundant provender, but exposed to inclement weather, with no other

* He had here frequent opportunities of meeting the celebrated Mr. James Wyatt, whose youthful and joyous disposition is well remembered by all who knew him, and who took great pleasure in making himself the playmate of young Denham, when the latter ought to have been sitting at the desk in the counting-house.

canopy than that of heaven, Denham's sumpter-mule was seldom without at least one well-filled pannier; and every one in the division thought it good luck to fall in with him after a march.

Here, also, his happy tact and unfailing flow of spirits made him beloved by his equals, whilst his exemplary attention to his military duties secured him the good opinion and favour of his superior officers. Sir James Douglas, who commanded the regiment of Portuguese infantry to which Denham was appointed, soon became, and ever continued, his fast and powerful friend; and they served together until the return of the British army to England.

His division was actively engaged in the attack on Badajos, and in the battles of Salamanca, Vittoria, and others. At Toulouse, while acting as Aide-de-Camp to Sir James Douglas, he had the distressing yet grateful task of carrying off the field his friend and commanding officer, who was struck, while riding by Denham's side, by a cannon-ball near the ankle. Amputation became immediately necessary; and it was performed amidst the still fast-falling shot from the fort above them. Sir James's horse was killed by the same shot; and Brigade-Major Birmingham received another through the body nearly at the same instant, and fell dead upon the spot. Quarters were found for Colonel Douglas in the town; although with great difficulty; for not only was the hospital filled with wounded, but the court-yard was so crowded with them, that it was difficult to step without treading on the men. The gallantry of a brave serjeant, however, a fellow-sufferer, who was just able to move, and who instantly offered his bed to his superior officer, enabled Colonel Douglas to receive those attentions which were indispensable at that critical and anxious moment. The writer of this Memoir has heard Sir James Douglas declare that he owed the preservation of his life on that day to Denham's care and exertion; and he, in his turn, derived the most heartfelt gratification from the consciousness that he had made some real return to his kind commander for all his constant favour and protection. Sir

James perfectly recovered, and is still in the enjoyment of good health.

On the evacuation of Portugal, Denham was reduced to half-pay; but he sought employment, was soon appointed to the 54th regiment, then commanded by Lord Waldegrave, and, joining the British army in the Netherlands, shared in the honours of Waterloo, and accompanied the allied armies on their entry into Paris.

Again reduced to half-pay on the peace establishment, he passed some years on the Continent, both in France and in Italy; and in 1819 was admitted into the senior department of the Royal Military College at Farnham. He there pursued his course of studies with great credit, under the excellent system laid down by Sir Howard Douglas, the Governor ; and obtained the approbation and confidence of that accomplished officer, whose military and scientific character stands so high as to make his personal favour an enviable distinction: and in that light Denham ever viewed it.

It is, however, as the traveller in northern and central Africa that Colonel Denham's name will be remembered by the world; and it was in that arduous and perilous undertaking that the peculiar strength and energy of his character were most prominently displayed. Whether we consider the intrepid manner in which, after the disheartening interview with the Sultan of Fezzan, he returned alone to Tripoli, and at once charged the Bashaw himself with bad faith towards the English Government, and compelled the fulfilment of his engagements; his happy tact in conciliating the Arabs (the circulating medium, as they may be called, of those barren wastes), and others of the wild family of nature whom he encountered in the desert; or his address in so quickly gaining, on his arrival at Bornou, the confidence of the good Sheikh with whom he resided eighteen months, an admirable union of courage and temper, perseverance and moderation, is discovered throughout his whole career, which proves his singular fitness and ability for such a species of enterprise. A narrative of his Travels and Discoveries in Africa was published by

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