Letters from Parma, of the 9th instant, announce that the resolution
has been taken at Vienna to deprive the Duke of Parma of the
administration of his states, and to put in a regency, of which Ward
is to be the head. The elevation of Ward affords not only a singular
instance of the mutability of human affairs, but of the tendency of
the Anglo-Saxon race, when transplanted to foreign countries, to
emerge to eminence, and surpass others by the homely but rare
qualities of common-sense and unfaltering energy. Ward was a Yorkshire
groom. The Duke of Lucca, when on a visit to this country, perceiving
the lad's merit, took him into his service, and promoted him, through
the several degrees of command in his stable, to be head-groom of the
ducal stud. Upon Ward's arrival in Italy with his master, it was soon
found that the intelligence which he displayed in the management of
the stables was applicable to a variety of other departments. In fact,
the duke had such a high opinion of Ward's wisdom, that he very rarely
omitted to consult him upon any question that he was perplexed to
decide. As Louis XII. used to answer those who applied to him on any
business, by referring them to the Cardinal d'Amboise, with the words:
'Ask George,' so Charles of Lucca cut short all applications with 'Go
to Ward.' He now became the factotum of the prince, won, in the
disturbances which preceded the revolutionary year of 1848, a
diplomatic dignity, and was despatched to Florence upon a confidential
mission of the highest importance. He was deputed to deliver to the
Grand Duke the act of abdication of the Duke of Lucca. Soon after, in
1849, when the Duke of Lucca resigned his other states to his son,
Ward became the head counsellor of this prince. Ward was on one
occasion despatched to Vienna in a diplomatic capacity. Schwarzenberg
was astonished at his capacity; in fact, the _ci-devant_ Yorkshire
stable-boy was the only one of the diplomatic body that could make
head against the impetuous counsels, or rather dictates, of
Schwarzenberg; and this was found highly useful by other members of
the diplomatic body. An English gentleman, supping one night at the
Russian ambassador's, complimented him upon his excellent ham.
'There's a member of our diplomatic corps here,' replied Meyendorff,
'who supplies us all with hams from Yorkshire, of which county he is a
native.' Ward visited England. The broad dialect and homely phrase
betraying his origin through the profusion of orders of all countries
sparkling on his breast, he rarely ventured to appear at evening
_soirées_. Lord Palmerston declared he was one of the most remarkable
men he had ever met with. Ward, through all his vicissitudes, has
preserved an honest pride in his native country. He does not conceal
his humble origin. The portraits of his parents, in their home-spun
clothes, appear in his splendid saloon of the prime-minister of
Parma.--_Newspaper paragraph._