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Leader (1850-1860), 24th May 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17, Hay 24, 1850.] THE LEADER. 497

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      Sir Robert Peel's Memoirs. Memoirs Of Th...

      of Aberdeen , Wellesley , Ripon , Palmerston , Huskisson , and Lamb , with other consp icuous statesmen in behalf of Emancipation , the poverty of the Tory party in intellect and oratory , had shaken what was called the Protestant interest in England , while the rise of O'Connell had strengthened the Catholic interest in Ireland . Lord John Russell , testing the temper of the House of Commons by his motion for the Repeal of the 'lest and Corporation Acts , had obtained its assent to the broad principles of religious tolerance , equality , and freedom . Peel himself , in suggesting arguments against this innovation , implied his contempt of the mass of men deputed to represent the great British nation in Parliament . " House of Commons' arguments , " he said , " are arguments for people who know very little of the matter , care not much about it , half of whom have dined , or are going to dine , and are only forcibly struck by that which they instantly understand without trouble . " Add to this the rapid approximation of parties , the increase of kindly feelings in the community , the abatement of religious jealousies , and it becomes apparent that the prerogatives of intolerance in 1828 stood on a feeble basis .

      The debates on the Test Act acted as an experiment on the mind of the ¦ watchful statesman . He reconciled himself to Repeal , by the arguments " which he used afterwards to reconcile himself to Emancipation . "The Commons will pass Repeal . Is it advisable for the Church , that Repeal should be rejected by the Lords ? " A natural circumstance to be considered was " the prospect of being victorious or beaten . " "A high line and a good line "is " the best possible , if it succeeds , and is supported by a large majority . But if it fails ? 15 "I do not say there ought to be equality of civil privileges , all I say is , that I should be sorry to rest the question of our Establishment upon that issue . "

      We see here the change that was working in his mind . Reporting progress to the Bishop of Oxford , he expressed a doubt whether the " private sentiments" of Lord John Russell and Lord Brougham were not inimical to the very principle of a State Church . Next , referring to the hesitation of the Bishop of Durham , he said , " Let him trust to his own judgment , and not to that of Lord ltedesdale , Lord Winchilsea , and the Duke of Newcastle . " Following rapidly upon these debates was that on Sir Francis Burdett ' s motion for the consideration of Catholic claims , carried by a small majority —the first that had been obtained . No member who spoke attempted to conceal the great progress made by the question in Parliament or the House of Lords . With the exception of Peel himself , not one man of distinguished capacity opposed the resolutions , and Peel was too judicious and practical not to take into the calculation the danger of forcing into the Whig lobby , and thus identifying with the Whig party so many men whose talent must "influence the future decisions of the House of Commons . "

      O'Connell ' s election for Clare , the validity of which the Government did not venture formally to dispute , opened " a tremendous prospect . " Peel then began to balance between the obstinate Tory party and the party inclined to liberal concessions . Of the former he wrote : — Their answer to all such appeals is the short , in their opinion the conclusive , declaration , " The Protestant Constitution in Church and State must he maintained at all hazards and by any means : the maintenance of it is a question of principle , and every concession or compromise is the sacrifice of principle to a low and vulgar expediency . " This was easily said ; but how was Ireland to be governed ? How was the Protestant Constitution in Church and State to be maintained in that part of the empire ? Again I can anticipate the reply : — " By the overwhelming sense of the people of Great Britain—by the application , if necessary , of physical force for the maintenance of authority—by the employment of the organized strength of Government , the police , and the military , to enforce obedience to the law . "

      But Catholicism in Ireland hud become an uncontrollable power . Peel took his part , decided to concede what it was impossible to refuse , without endangering the public pence , and thus deserved the gratitude of his countrymen , while he incurred the bitter reproaches of the Tory faction : — This is a very delicate matter to disenss ; but why have I deferred for twenty years this vindication of my conduct ? Why have I consented to submit for that long period to every reproach which malice , or mistake , or blindness to the real state of affairs , could direct against me , except in the hope that the time would come ( I cared little whether I were in the grave or not when it should come ) when delicate matters might eafely be discussed , and when , without prejudice to the public interests , or offence to private feelings , the whole truth might be spoken ?

      Yet he resolved to retire from the Wellington Cabinet . His reasons were that , while prepared to support a plan of concession , he had been too deeply conmiiltcd on the question , had expressed too . strong opinions in respect to it , had incurred too much jealousy and distrust among the Catholics to come forward with grace , as the originator of the ^ measure . His withdrawal from the Government was seriously opposed . For a time , however , it seemed that not only he , but the entire Cabinet , must resign , the king preserving still the inveterate prejudices of his father . " From these sentiments , " said the king , " I never ' can , and never will deviate . " He did deviate from then ) , however , after a , Cabinet consultation with his Ministers , whom he dismissed with a salute on each cheek , accepting their resignations , and next day surrendering to all their proposals . to remain in oihee

      Peel ' s last objection was overcome , and ho consented and introduce tlie Emancipation Bill . His last obstacle was the Bishop of Limerick , who offered to lay down his life for the rights of persecution . His , however , was not an uncharitable zeal . Like the lay peer who , in 1831 , offered to arm his tenantry against the Whigs , this spiritual lord wi \ 9 , nevertheless , a charitable opponent . Others accused Peel of pusillanimous fears , of selfish ambition , of dishonest inconsistency . His reply is , that , had they imputed to him n want of early foresight and sagacity , a too pertinacious adhesion to a hopeless cause , an undue deference to party engagements , and the wishes of tho English constituencies , against the force ol an irrcsibtible necessity , ho might have found it diflieultto give tho charge a decisive refutation . But his only fear was the fear of public calamity ; his only ambition was that of boing " a daring pilot in extremity . ' in such a

      ' spirit he wrote this vindicatory memoir . In such a light impartial history will place the . record of his character and policy . The events of 1828 and 1829 cannot be read , in future , without the aid of this monumental volume . When the second , on the Ministry of 1834-85 and the third , on the Corn Laws , are published , they will be no doubt equally interesting , and , as historical materials , equally important . "Without attributing , then , to Earl Stanhope or Mr . Cardwell , a morbid exaggeration of reserve—for they only have read the manuscripts , aud they only are in a position to judge of them—we must add that we learn with as much surprise as regret that the history of the Cash Payment Act , the Reform BiJJ , Chartism , and Foreign Affairs , during the last thirty-five years , will receive no illustration from the Peel Papers . This Memoir is so rich in political texts , in historical allusion , in traces of party action and personal character , that ten such volumes would have been more welcome than three .

      ; Twelve days before his death , Sir Robert Peel , in a debate on Tahitian affairs , uttered a generous eulogy on the public character of M . Guizof . And now M . Guizot , * six years after the death of Peel , lays an elaborate tribute on his tomb . It is an interesting passage in the personal history of our times ; the Fallen Statesman contemplating the dead , and , in a melancholy cynicism , envying him , that he " perished in his prime . " M . Guizot , in the shade of his retirement , recals studiously , and in broad suggestive chapters , the events of Peel ' s career , analyzing the influences that accompanied him on his entrance into parliamentary life , his relations with Castlereagh , Canning , the Duke of Wellington , the new party of the Economists , the Crown , the House of Peers , the House of Commons , the public questions of his day . All this is written in M . Guizot ' s most calm and reflective manner . It is sure of translation into English- ' —the Peel literature would be incomplete without it . What regrets are here avowed : —

      " " Wise and glorious councillor of a free people 1 " Thus , on the morrow of his death , his country praised him . I -will say happy as well as glorious—happy in the end , no less than in the varied course of his career , despite the fatal accident that brought it to a violent close . For fort } ' years Sir Robert Peel had been engaged in the political arena , l perpetually contending , oftentimes vanquishing . On the eve of his death , though , still in the arena , he stood in tranquil dignity , spreading from his place in Parliament the light of a long experience over the politics of his country . There he enjoyed serenely that ascendant influence admitted and accepted by all . And he died , regretted by sovereign and people , respected and admired by the adversaries whom lie had overthrown , as well as by the friends who had conquered with him . God rarely accords to one man so many favours . He had gifted Peel at his birth with highly mental faculties as well as fortune . He had given him a place in such an epoan , that his great qualities could be exercised with success in great affaire . After tie final triumph , he recalled him suddenly , without diminution of his power or glort like a noble workman , who , completing his labours at the close of the day , goes at once to receive his supreme reward from the Master whom he has served so

      well . Peel , eays M . Guizot , was not apolitical theorist ; his policy was not governed by general ideas , or even by logical principles . His was , on the contrary , an essentially practical mind , consulting facts at every step , as the navigator consults the signs of the weather . But , though he did not regulate his policy by general principles , he respected the principles of other statesmen , and never acted an ungenerous or unpatriotic part . M- Guizot has introduced some interesting personal reminiscences of Peel . His intercourse with him took place in 1840 , when M . Guizot represented France at the Court of St . James . He remarked , he says , that the English statesman , always animated by a love of honour and justice , seemed to have

      been impressed with a mingled feeling of sympathy and fear , by the history of the French Revolution of 1789 , but was in no way identified with "the maxims and passions of the old Tory party . " What especially struck him was " the constant and earnest preoccupation of his mind with the interests of the working classes in England . " " Through the political reserve of the minister the emotions of the man continually penetrated . " "I perceive , " Peel said to Guizot , " too much suffering and too many perplexities among them . They are the danger and shame of our civilization . It is absolutely necessary to render the condition of the working man more happy and less precarious . I know we cannot do all that may seem good ; but we can do something , and we ought to do what we can . " " That , " adds M . Guizot , was the idea which appeared to mark for Sir Robert Peel the line ot hi 3

      future policy . " -,, ,- •« These sentences are valuable to history . Indeed , it is by a rare coincidence that we are presented , simultaneously , with Peel on himself , and Guizot on Peel .

      Sir Robert Peel's Memoirs. Memoirs Of Th...

      . ~^ o " n « rirticlo appearsin the current number of tho , Dew .

      Hay 24, 1850.] The Leader. 497

      Hay 24 , 1850 . ] THE LEADER . 497

      Ruskin's Modern Painters. Modern Painter...

      RUSKIN'S MODERN PAINTERS . Modern Painters . Vol . IV . of Mountain Beauty . By John Ruekin M A Smith , Elder , ana Co . Tiif third volume of the Modem Painters has scarcely quitted the library table for the shelves , ere the fourth volume conies to bring fresh stones ol wondrous eloquence , close and patient observation , daring paradox , and subtle disquisition . This volume is more special than its predecessor ; that iH to say , concerns the painter more entirely , treating of the special subjects of mountainslullsbanksstones &

      ( if his art , Buch as tho appearances , , , , e . But all Art is one , and Mr . Kuskin writes of painting with the cverpresent consciousness of Poetry , Sculpture , and Architecture as equally or almost equally , implied . Thin it is which gives the wide and permanent charm to his writings . Interesting as they arc to painter , they almost equally fuse mate ho general public , because in them may bo read rare cnUcisms of Natural a mmrances and of Artistic representations . Let R . A > in ease and m poase SiabWc over Mr . Ruskin ' s dicta , and triumph over h " ™ f ^ ° ^ ™» l or sceini . iK " we , the public , read him , and arc both taught and delighted by m I t ! oTnorely argumentative parts wo . nay think him Boph . st . cal or complete ; in tho individual criticisms pronouncing absolute jud gments on 1 ' : " ? * , .... I * nwi nr ™« nt . we may think him capricious , wilful , and utterly

      , b s ie tho tru * we . nay neither accept hi . dicta reacting Art , nor n » ver lets o A ' tis h , but wo must aft fool subdued b y his eloquence , en igh onod by hi--novel views , stimulated by h »» thought * . nrtruotod by h » " Jtevucde Monde

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 24, 1856, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24051856/page/17/