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FOREIGN LITERATURE, SCIENCE,
SCIENCE, AND ART.

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THERE was something extremely touching in the spontaneous and universal feeling which was called forth by Sir Robert Peel's short illness and almost sudden death. We have no doubt that the ceremonial inquiries of strangers and political opponents were not only dictated by kindly courtesy, but prompted by genuine anxiety and regret. The carriages which crowded the purlieus of Whitehall were filled alike by those who had honored him and those who had wronged him, or had complained of wrong at his hands. The bitterest spirit of party could scarcely create a difference of feeling at such a time; and the hearty and unreserved sympathy which every public journal expressed, from the moment of the fatal accident, represented not only the general sentiment of the country, but the shock which professed and practical politicians universally experienced on the sudden removal from the arena of the great parliamentary leader. Yet it was still more interesting to observe the sensation which was created by the melancholy circumstances in those, who, being neither colleagues nor rivals, opponents or followers,

VOL. XXI. NO. II.

of the dying statesman, could never have regarded him with the peculiar interest which personal intercourse seldom fails to create, even where it has only served as the occasion for personal hostility and conflict. Thousands who never left their names at the door, or saw them recorded in the papers, inquired anxiously for the latest intelligence. Scarcely a passenger went by without stopping to repeat the universal question, or heard the discouraging answer without an expression or look of regret. Some hours after the announcement of the fatal result, groups of people still remained opposite the house of the deceased, looking at the silent and empty walls in which he had breathed his last. The bodily remains were within; the last visitors had withdrawn; no sight could be expected to attract or reward curiosity; the crowd was only brought and kept together by the natural and unconscious tendency to realize a feeling by connecting it with visible locality as its home. Neither the shutters in shop-windows, nor the lowered flags on the river, nor all the other becoming and customary symbols of general

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mourning, were more significant of the public consciousness of loss than these spectators collected in Whitehall Gardens to look on vacancy, while the pomps and vanities of a royal levée were inviting the gaze of idlers within a quarter of a mile. About the same hour, the House of Commons adjourned in respect to the memory of its chief, on the motion of his veteran opponent of more than thirty years. The earnestness and sincerity with which Mr. Hume declared that he could not express his feelings were more fitting to the occasion than any flight of eloquence. The speeches which were delivered on the next day in both Houses of Parliament, the demonstrations of respect and sorrow which have been made by the chief provincial towns, and the compliments paid to the deceased statesman by the French Assembly, sufficiently record the unanimous estimation of Sir Robert Peel's services and public character.

and more exclusive champions, and no one knew the exact point at which he might next take his stand in the struggle between movement and resistance. Those who trusted him believed not that he would adopt this measure or that, but that he would judge of successive questions honestly and carefully, and, above all, that the country would be guided by his judgment. Such was the private or unexpressed opinion which has now almost for the first time made itself heard in the form of general regret for the loss which the country has suffered. It was not unnatural that, during his lifetime, the public or audible sentiment should appear to be widely different. It is the function of platforms and meetings, and it has become the function of newspapers, to express the peculiarities and distinctive shades of political opinion, and often of party feeling. Sir Robert Peel was to all parties either obnoxious or formidable, and no sect of politicians could glorify in his person the embodiment of its own peculiar doctrines. Until the recent change took place in the management of the Morning Chronicle, the statesman, most trusted by the country, had no supporter in the daily press; and it is remarkable that in the latter part of his administration he was the object of open hostility to the whole body of the metropolitan newspapers, with the exception of one weekly journal. That public writers should reserve their praises for those who share and represent their own views of policy, is unavoidable, and possibly useful; but the public opinion, which they are mainly instrumental in forming, requires, from time to time, the correction of the silent uncontroversial judgment which we have spoken of as private opinion.

Some, perhaps, may have been surprised at the universal sorrow for one whose living virtues had received a recognition so scanty and so cold; but it would be sceptical to question the sincerity of the general feeling, although it would be alike unsafe and ungenerous to insist too strongly on the praises wrung from opponents under the impulse of a sudden misfortune. Some part of the general impression is, no doubt, to be attributed to the natural sympathy which accompanies all who are placed in a great, or even in a conspicuous position. The imagination is more easily moved by the fate of those whose person and character have long been familiar to it; nor is the reality of death at any time so vividly felt as when it occupies all minds simultaneously. Nevertheless, there remains, after every deduction, a large amount of genuine regret and sincere appre- A part, also, of the frequent indisposition ciation which is personal and peculiar to the to recognize, during his lifetime, the merits deceased alone. The contrast between the which have of late been so fully admitted, eulogies heaped upon the dead, and the may be attributed to a serious defect in his faint praise or bitter hostility which so often character, his incapacity of exciting personal waited on the living statesman, is not only attachment and enthusiasm in those with the result of natural sympathy, but the index whom he acted. The traditions of the party of the wide variance which often exists be- in which he was bred had never prescribed tween public and private opinion. The the careful cultivation of social influences wide-spread reliance on his patriotism and over political adherents, which has so long practical wisdom, which was known to all contributed to cement the power of the who mixed in society beyond the range of Whig aristocracy; but all parties alike are mere professional politicians, had little oppor- sensible to a genial and hearty bearing on tunity of expressing itself in public, and lit- the part of their chosen leaders. Sir Robert tle need of utterance. He had not only Peel may have obtained and deserved the ceased to be a party leader, but he was not regard of those who were nearest to him, but considered the representative of any special he had none of the warmth and expansivepolitical doctrines. Free-trade had older ness of nature which invites general cordial

ity, and converts followers into friends. His | reserved coldness of manner, his want of sympathy for the reasonable ambition of his younger adherents, and for the difficulties in which his policy might place his supporters, chilled many a willing attachment, and accounted for much of the bitterness of opponents who had once been on his side. Much self-denial and patriotism was required for the warm support of a Minister who forgot to speak to his friends in the street, or walked out of the House during the climax of their speeches. The world at large is little affected by the social qualities of a statesman; but there is no more legitimate source of influence than that which arises from the cordial attachment of personal admirers. In escaping the dangers which beset the hero and idol of a social circle, the successful Parliamentary leader dispensed with one of the most genuine tests, and with the happiest, though not the highest, form of greatness.

Some benefit may, perhaps, arise from this deficiency, if it renders the formation or continuance of a Peelite sect not improbable. There is seldom any advantage in a name which keeps parties from moving with circumstances. In the absence of a body of exclusive doctrines, a personal influence, like that which was exercised by Fox, might, in the case of Peel, have stiffened and condensed itself into the badge of a separate party. In the absence of friendly enthusiasm, he has left no rule of conduct sufficiently definite and narrow to form the bond of a political association. His soundest principle was a wise regard for expediency, and his distinguishing faculty was an admirable sagacity in discerning it. Where the safest and most convenient course was to be found, he steered the vessel of the State with little regard to the opinions of his crew, or even to sailing orders which he might himself have issued. If any of the rising pilots who are to weather future storms wish to follow and imitate their predecessor, they must not merely profess a preference for the starboard tack, or for the leeward sea channel, because he may have adopted them with success. They must learn, like him, the signs of the winds and the currents; and, above all, when they have discovered their course, they must resolve, like him, to follow it. Except the pursuit of his own individual interest, a politician can have no meaner rule of action than that of party expediency. On the other hand, the highest principle which a statesman can hold is the preference of

national expediency to all other considerations. It often happens that party interests prescribe rigid adherence to some proposition which passes for a principle. The interests of the nation is more changeable and various in its forms; and thus, by a ready fallacy, the mere partisan often succeeds in denouncing the advocate of the true objects of government as a mere follower of expediency, and, by a false inference, as a traitor to principle. A party which had no common purpose but to promote the public interest, might call itself after the name of Peel, if, in adopting its rule of conduct, it had not already ceased to be a party.

Still more valuable is the lesson which he taught by example, that success, and not display, is the object of political exertion. Though his life seemed to be spent in Parliamentary debate, it was marked, in all parts of its course, by the practical results which it produced in the institutions and administration of the country. By no means exempt from the love of display, nor superior to the temptation of claptrap, he distinguished himself from the mere debater and rhetorician by the use to which he turned his oratorical triumphs. To effect his objects, it was necessary to possess the power which is vested in a Parliamentary leader, and which can only be acquired by mastery in the art of talk; but at the point where the vanity of the charlatan is satisfied, he felt that the function of a statesman began. In his early years, while the world only gave him credit for repeating, in somewhat more plausible language, the party creed of the Irish secretaries of the day, he found means to establish the efficient police force, which seems to be the only modern institution which has taken root in the sister island. The improvements in the criminal law which marked his tenure of the Home-office, the establishment of the London police force, the Act of 1819 for resuming cash payments, and the Bank Charter Act, which, a quarter of a century later, provided for the maintenance of the same principle, may serve as specimens of the practical activity to which Sir Robert Peel's Parliamentary speeches served merely as preparations and flourishes. It is true that he was no philosophical inventor or far-sighted political prophet. Ricardo and Horner may have anticipated him in finance, and less ingenious speculators may have observed the inefficiency of the ancient watchmen; but for the certainty of procuring change for a five-pound note we are indebted to Peel's bill, and if we can carry it along

the street in our pockets in safety we may generally thank the "Peelers.' The blue coat and truncheon which guard our towns, instead of the cumbrous and dangerous military apparatus which on the continent watches equally against pickpockets and rebels, may alone outbalance the windy wisdom of many an ambitious lifetime. There may be many true doctrines which he never preached, but there are none which he preached in vain. Let it be considered how much is included in the proposition, that he never recommended an object as desirable which he did not live to realize. His truisms and egotisms will soon be forgotten, and pos- | terity may feel little gratitude for his solemn declaration that it was wise to reform proved abuses; but the changes which he effected will have modified the national history, and by their results he will be judged. If his fame survives, it may serve to point the moral that talking is only useful when it facilitates acting, and that the art of Government consists, not in enunciating doctrines Conservative or Liberal, but in wisely and actually governing.

It is not, however, uninteresting to consider his character in the subordinate capacity of an orator.

The Duke of Wellington, in a few broken sentences, interrupted by emotions which affect us very differently from those of softer and more susceptible natures, selected only one quality of his friend for praise, as that which had most strongly impressed him. "He always told the truth. I do not believe that, in the whole course of his life, he ever made an assertion which he did not believe to be the fact." Thus the straight-forward, time-honored soldier speaks of the much reviled "Traitor of Tamworth ;" not in accordance, perhaps, with common opinion, and to the surprise even of many admirers of the deceased. There was no charge more constantly brought against him by his opponents than that of verbal sophistry and wilful obscurity of language. The subtlety which they denounced as cunning, the careful ambiguity which seemed a preparation for trimming, the reserve which sometimes covered itself with a cloud of phrases as a safer concealment than silence, were all rather excused than denied by his adherents, who could not themselves but sometimes smile at the balancing of reciprocally destroying negatives in his periods, and the safe and catholic generality of the truisms to which he publicly pledged himself. "Poor Peel!" said a great moral humorist once, "who so often acts the

truth, and seems destined never to speak it." Once, when he was asked to explain his intentions as a landlord, he replied, that if a deserving tenant applied to him for a lease, he would not pledge himself to abstain from hesitating long before he refused to take the proposal into consideration. At another time he informed the House of Commons, with the air of a candid convert to a paradoxical novelty, that he must, whatever might be the consequences, express his belief that Louis Philippe, then in the height of his prosperity, was the greatest monarch who had ruled over France since the time of Napoleon. Nevertheless, we believe that the Duke of Wellington is as correct in his judgment as he is sincere in uttering it, and he at least "never made an assertion which he did not believe to be the fact." In his own case, he would probably have answered the inquiry as to the management of his estate, by an announcement that "the Field Marshal considered the question impertinent;" and of Louis Philippe he would have said nothing, unless he had something to say. Yet Sir Robert Peel, in fact, said the same, though in a manner less intelligible and less dignified. The promise, as to the leases, will be found by eliminating the equation to import, that he would act as might seem expedient when the case occurred; and the proposition as to the King of the French amounted to an elaborate and articulate nothing. It is by no means the uniform duty of a statesman to gratify public curiosity. When inopportune, it may be more dignified to rebuke it; but Sir Robert found it more popular, perhaps more amusing, to baffle it, while he formally complied with it: nor must we forget that it is sometimes a part of secresy to withhold the admission that there is a secret. rect false statement, or of prevarication, he could not be justly accused; but it must be admitted that his obscurities, and his elaborate statements of useless generalities, were wholly deliberate and wilful. When he wished to convey a fact, or to communicate an opinion, no man was less liable to misconception. His language was cloudy only when it dwelt on matters which, however clear to himself, were not fitted or not ripe for parliamentary inspection. Of his future intentions, he would speak in well-turned periods, which left his hearers wondering at his communicativeness, and at their own incapacity to profit by it, till at last they acquiesced in the modest conviction, "that all they knew was nothing could be known." When, on the other hand, he had a difficult and com

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