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    Jp#*. ] T^E^ 181

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    COMIC HISTORY OF HOME. The Comic History...

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    Disraeli's Bentinck. ' Lord George Benti...

    ft reluctant hand , ^ Strong in feeling , keen in sigHfc , ' Peel thm slow to estimate necessity ' * and with . , conscious unsuitableriess for theory or high art , Tie left tlipse portions of the ^ ork to- others ^ not without : sympathy in their success . 3 % e Hope ; p ; t Qpj ^ on ^ was hj ^ . ^ s ^ mept , not- h ^ s master . He loved , not to t > e " head . of a , n office / ' oi * , eyen of an administration- —a , s , § g rival of the House ofBedjfa ^ seems to . d ^ -fbut he loved . natural distinction , arid ! enjoyed the ^ i ^ . Disraeli would hatfeb 6 en far mdre suitably associated with such a man than with a Bentinck , with whom his companionship formed one of the combinations recordAnd the illustrates the

    ofrnn ( Tpat on . biography oddity . > In the ; - -j ., life ofvift . country gentleman is inserted ^ poetical view of the Jew ?> .: $ M * f ! ? t ° ^ < F $ d . estmy \ they are the real Christians ; they are the leaderi \ of / . the wo ^ Jd ; " t 4 S Semitic element " , is gaining , the "Republic oftlie ' 'F ^ rr ^ Weai ^ the yery chair of & t . JPeter is " a Semitic throne ; " and the really successful go-ahead " pr 6 gress" -making _ part of mankind is the one saturated with this Semitic element . A Jew who glories j ^ . the past and itfce ; fut ^ their real greatness , and ignores the total and final disruption—sat with a country gentleman froni jSTewmarlcet , and wMthe Pelopjdas to the iEpaminondas m the expiring glprjesof a protectionist flare-up . The Epaminondas was ofa different stamp '' : — , ¦ , .:...., , ,

    " Lord George JBentinck had sate for eighteen r years inparliament ,, and before he entered it hadteenfor ttiree years the private secretary of Mr . Canning who had married the slsfer of the Ducliess of Portland . Such a post would seem a happy commencement of a public career i but whether it werfr tile uritimely death of his distinguished relative or a nattoal indisposition , \ Eord George ^—though he retained his seat for King ' s Lynn , in which he had succeeded his uncle , the late governor-general ofJndia- 'rdirected his energies to other than parliamentary pursuits . For some time , he had followed his profession , which was that <> f arms , but of late years he had hecoine absorbed . inthe pastime an 4 . fortunes ofthe turf , in which his ' whole being seemed engrossed , and which he pursued on a scale that perhaps has never been equalled . " -

    ? ' He was not a very frequent attendant of the house . He might be counted on for a party division , and when , towaards . the termination of the Melbourne ministry , the forces were very nearly bsdanced and the struggle became very close , he might have been observed on more thanone occasion entering the house at a late hour , clad in a white great coat , which softened , but did not conceal , the scarlet hunting-coat . Although he took no part in debate , and attended the house rather as a club than a senate , he posessed a great and peculiar influence in i-fcl He was viewed with interest and often with extraordinary regard by every sporting man in the house . With almost aU of these he was acquamted ; some of them , on either side , were his intimate cpmpanibns and confederates . l

    " His eager and energetic disposition ; his quick perceptioiij « fea * jijdgnient , arid prompt decision ; the tenacity with whichhe' dung td Ms " opinions ; his frankness and love of truth " ; hi ^ daiing and speculative spirit ; his lofty bearing , blended as it was witharsimpli ^ i ty of mann er very remarkable ; the ardour of his friendships , even the fierceness of his bates and prejudices ; all combined to form one of those strong characters whoiwhatevertmayibe . their pursuit must always direct and lead . Nature had clothed this vehement spirit with' a material form which was in perfect harmony with its noble ' and commanding character . Ho was tall , and remarkable for his presence ; his countenance almost a model of manly heauty ; the face oval , the complexion clear and mantling ; the forehead lofty and white : the nose aquiline and delicately moulded ; the upper lip short . But it was in tho dark-brown eye that flashed with pieroing scrutiny that all the character of the man came forth : a brilliant glance , not soft , but ardent , acute , imperious , incapable of deception or

    of being deceived . " ' '• .... Introduced to politics from a scene where he had had to deal with real objects , and had been familiarized with energetic measures and decision , Lord George imparted something of his own reality to the action of the Protectionist party ; Ho was no doctrinaire ; he conformed to the fashion of the day , arid " got up statistics " , to support his views , and he got them up with much ingenuity ;> but we are not yet so distant from the scene as to be led away by Mr . Disraeli ' s dramatic account of it , and to suppose that Lord George ' s figures from Burn ' s Glance had that thrilling effect on the House which the muse of history , wooed by Disraeli ' s artful tongue , delights to think that she remembers . The influence that Lord George did attain was by the vigour and obstinacy of his resistance to

    1 eel , and , above all , by tho genuine character of that resistance . It was not the inherent value of his statistics , but tho moral effect of tho sincority which mado him , a sporting man , grapple with , blue books and with witnesses in committee . In short , a strong , hearty , English man , he did not content himself with seeming to do what was expected of him as lender of a party , but ho really tried , might and main , heart and soul , to do it . Ihat , boliovo , is tho whole moral of the story told by Mr . Disraeli ; and it is a valuable one , if the demoralized and enervated politicians tha ! infest tho Houso of Commons could but apply it . J / ho volume possesses anothor point of interest just now , since wo aro informed that the Protectionists have resolved to revive the policy of

    Lorn George Bentinck "in all its integrity . " What , then , was that policy p it wa 8 to resist Freo Trade , whether applied to corn , manufactures , sugar , or any other article of British or colonial production ; and to give profitable omploymont in Ireland , by lending 16 , 000 , 000 ^ . on ^• ovornmont security , at a low interest , in aid of 8 , 000 , 000 / . to bo provided by companies ' , for tho construction of railways . . Most of this policy is out of dato , and , if ii woi-o not , it would require tho energy of a Bontj nek to urgo it . , Tho question for tliO'Protootionista—and they will find Wio moral urgod by many an illustratipn in Mr . Disraeli ' s volume—is ^ not whether thoy can revive tho policy , but whothor thoy can rovivo tho strong man P ¦

    -I no solo portion of Lord Goorgo's policy which retains anything like posthumous vitality is tho projoct fop encouraging Irish railways . It is unquestionably open to the objootion that it proposes to enoourago secondary mstoad of primary omi > loymonts \ but tho idea has boon supported hy high praotioal autliovity ; and suoh alteration as has taken place in Ji'olnnd aincd his death is favourable to a moro rapid development of industry . Ab a contrast to tho siwious test labour of tho famine time , the

    project looked well , and real railways would be a better bequest than unuseable roads ; though , formerly , to construct a system of railway would only have been to erect that most melancholy of Irish monuments , a modern ruin ,--a new enterprise , whose , works should be left to crumble , by the utter neglect of a listless industrial population j but , with the impulse given to industrial development in Ireland , by the joint effects of a thinned' population , the Encumbered Estates Act , and better seasons , it is ( juite possible that a ^ sudden creation of railways might not prove so vain a labour . Lord George Bentinck ' s proposal , therefore , still possesses some interest . ,

    Lord George had always supported railway enterprise , especially on the ground that the money invested on them is spent in the country . To railway enterprise , Lord George ascribed the recovery of England from the depression of 1841-2 , when 1 , 500 , 000 persons were on the parish rates , 400 , 000 able-bodied men receiving out-door relief , and 83 , 000 within workhouse walls , < f to a condition of affluence hardly before known in her annals . " Why not apply the same remedy to Ireland ? He thought

    that it would be possible to hasten , by anticipating , the development of industry in that country ; and , with characteristic energy , he set about the work . He obtained the advice of Mr . Robert Stephenson , Mr . Laing , and Mr . Hudson ; and , by their advice , two engineers of ability , Mr . Bidder and Mr . Smith , were despatched , to investigate the subject on the spot .. The Irish Railway Commissioners of 1836 , had already recommended a system of railways , but the weakness of the Government , at that time , forbade the project . The Devon Commission confirmed all the recommendations of that previous report . The Ulster railway is used even more . than the Scotch and English , by the labouring population :

    " When Mr . Smith of Deanston was examined by a parliamentary committee and asked what measure of all others would be the one most calculated to improve the agriculture and , condition of Ireland , he did not reply , as some might have anticipated , that the most efficient measure would be to drain the bogs ; but his answer was , * advance the construction of railways , and then agricultural improvement will speedily follow / To illustrate the value of railways to an agricultural population , Mr . Smith of Deanston said , * that the improvement of the land for one mile only on each side of the railway so constructed would be so great , that it would pay the cost of the whole construction / He added , that there were few districts in Ireland in which railway communication could be introduced , where the value of the country through which the railway passed would not be raised to an extent equal to the whole cost of the railway .

    Arguing on an area of six hundred and forty acres for every square mile , after deducting the land occupied by . fences , roads , and buildings , Mr . Smith of Deanston entered into a calculation of the gain derivable from the mere carriage of the ^ produce of the land , and the back carriage of manure , coals , tiles , bricks , and other materials , and estimated the saving through those means on every square mile to more than 300 * ., or something above 600 ? . on 1280 acres abutting each mile of railway , this being the difference of the cost of carriage under the old mode of conveyance as " compared with the new . Following up this calculation , he slftjjvcd that fifteen hundred miles of railway would improve the land through which it passed to the extent of nearly two million acres at the rate of a mile on each side ; and taken at twenty-five years' purchase would equal twenty four millions sterling in the permanent improvement of the land . " Want of domestic capital has been the chief obstruction to Ireland ; and to that Lord George addressed himself :

    " The proposition of Lord Georgo Bentinck was , that for every 100 ? . expended to the satisfaction of the imperial government in railway construction , 200 ? . should be lent by government at tho very lowest interest at which , on tho credit of tho government , that amount could be raised , so that if two millions were produced annually for four years by the Irish companies , the imperial government should advance an additional four millions , ensuring in Ireland for four years tho expenditure of six millions a year in public works of an useful and reproductive nature . This proposition was recommended by Lord George as offering an amplo security for tho

    public loan . Tor this purpose ho adduced evidence to show that the worst railroad ever yot constructed in this country , or Scotland , or Belgium , would afford an amplo security under such circumstances . He assumed that tho government would lend the money at 3 £ por cent , and take tho whole railway as security . Consequently a line paying 11 . upon 30 W . expended would allbrd amplo security for 200 ? . lont by tho state , at 3 ? . 10 * . por cent ., and he was thoroforo prepared to prove thut a lino which paid but a dividend of 2 ? . 6 * . 8 tf . per cent , would afford porfect security for tho intorbst of tho loan made by tho government . "

    The project was to provide work for 110 , 000 men , to improve tho valuo of the landlords' property , to return to tho State not only the interest on tho monoy , but revenue , in tho excise on goods consumed by navigators , & c . This project , wo presume , is still tho best part of the . Protectionist policy , —tho least negative part ; but where is tho Georgo Bentinck Y 1 Disraeli , indeed , still survives ; but , alas ! the country gentlemen have little sympathy with him : they havo not enough ot tho Semitic elomont" in thorn ; and he is too artiste for their comprehension .

    Jp#*. ] T^E^ 181

    Jp # * . ] T ^ E ^ 181

    Comic History Of Home. The Comic History...

    COMIC HISTORY OF HOME . The Comic History of Home , from the founding of the City to tho end of the Commonwealth . By Gilbert Abbot u Beckct . Illustrated by John Leech . J Bradbury and Evnna . Ttib humorous and punning story of tho " Wolfs Nursling , " which a Beckct lias written / and John Leech exaggerated by tho grotcaquencas of his laughable illustrations , is now complete in onovolumo , and nJJockot undertakes a serious dofonoo of his Comic History in tho preface , byway of miticatinir the objection which ho . knows will bo made in various ot lus book

    miarters to the very spirit and purport . . " Those persons , ' * ho says , " aro grievously mistaken who havo imagined , that in this , and in simi lar books from tho same pen , the object lias boon to treat history as a moro farce , or to laugh at truth—the aim ot tno writer liavint ? " invariably boon to expose lalsohood , and to bring into moritod contempt all thiib has beon injudiciously or dishonestly held up to gonoral admiration . " So far & Beokot is on strong ground , and hm

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 21, 1852, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21021852/page/17/