This contribution makes the last Smithsonian Report a notable publication.
Lord Lilford: a Memoir, by his Sister.Smith, Elder & Co.
This is not to be considered a full biography, especially from the ornithological standpoint; it is the worthy tribute of a sister to the memory of a naturalist brother, and "to keep such a memory alive in the family to which he belonged." Lord Lilford must have had an unique and lovable personality, which impressed, amongst others, the late Bishop of London, who wrote an introduction to the volume, and who bore this witness:—"To me he was a man of remarkable attainments and singular charm, a man whom to know was a life-long possession." The limitations and compensations of his existence are fully set forth, and yet we rise from the perusal of the volume with the opinion that his life was, on the whole, a happy one. There were shadows, but not sufficient to quench a sunlight that pervades the letters which occupy the larger portion of the book.
There can be no doubt, as we read these pages, that Lord Lilford was not only an ornithologist at heart, but possessed a desire to do all in his power to further the interests of the science. His "Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Islands" is a publication which will prove a permanent monument to his memory, whilst his collection of living birds must have afforded a zoological lesson. The accident of high social position, with its wealth and leisure, he abundantly proved could be made a dominant factor in the study of nature, and we feel that the only discordant chord in the whole of a most charming and genial narrative is a quotation from the letter of the rector of the local living, who, speaking of the universal grief at the death of Lord Lilford, remarks, "Even the Radical papers have kindly notices." Why not? Surely politics are outside Zoology, and are largely the creation of environment. We neither particularly want to see Radical Peers nor Tory village artisans, the sense of proportion is a charm in life. But the subject of this memoir is outside these narrow restrictions; judged as an ornithologist by naturalists, or by the "abiding power of character," as expressed by the late Bishop, he strikes a deeper sympathy than can be expressed in the terms of a parliamentary jargon.
