Chiefs of parties : past and present, with original anecdotes

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THE SECOND VOLUME.

CHAPTEB. I.

PEEL, OE THE GREAT AMBIGUITY.

Chapter I. Peel, Or The Great Ambiguity

The second portion of Sir Robert Peel's history comprises the period between his fall from office in 1830, and his advent to power in 1841. It was, in many respects, the happiest portion of his political life, and one in which he appeared to great advantage. Bred up in an exploded system of politics (of which he approved to the last), Peel had to apply his exercised energies to new considerations, and he showed considerable resources and great self-reliance. On the subject of the Reform Bill, his opinions could not be said to have been original. He did not believe that the Grey Cabinet would

VOL. ir. B ever have ventured so far in the direction of revolution. He had no counter-measure of his own, and it was a great error in the Conservative strategy of the time, that there was not even the draft of a counter-measure of Reform, until the agitated period in the middle of the session of 1832. When the Movement party in a country like England undertakes a progressive movement, it is always well for Conservative rulers to have another policy in reserve, besides one of dogged opposition to change. But Sir R. Peel was then unused to the responsibility of constitutional opposition (in which he was afterwards so famous), and he allowed the initiative to be taken by the Whigs.

The leadership of the Commons had been given to Lord Althorpe, and that appointment misled Peel in his subsequent course. There had one time been a chance that Lord Brougham would have been the leader of the House of Commons. In that case, Sir R. Peel would have girded himself for the worst ; but he evidently thought that Lord Brougham had been gained over to some moderate measure, and Sir R. Peel had no apprehension of the leadership of Lord Althorpe, who was no debater. He underrated the prowess of his adversaries, and their great resources. His peeIj, or the great ambiguity. ^

own special talents lay in official administration, and in commercial subjects ; for it is clear that great moral subjects, in which the passions are roused, were not those suited to his mind. He did not appreciate that deep-lying enthusiasm, which is part of the English moral character, which smoulders for years together, and then blazes forth with fiery force. Rarely did statesman make a greater blunder than Sir R. Peel, in tamely waiting the shock of Reform in 1831.

" Reform " was an old subject in the country ; and for that reason Sir R. Peel seemed to think that there would be no innovation in its treatment. It did not occur to him that some of the greatest Parliamentary names had been on the Reform side, until the French Revolution interrupted the course of events, and caused alarmist passions to take possession of the English public mind. The two Pitts were in favour of Reform ; and the second of them, by abolishing the Irish Parliament, and incorporating its existence with that of the English Legislature, had shown how little he regarded mere prescription. By the Relief Act of 1829, also, Sir Robert Peel had, on a great scale, altered the Irish franchises, and he had introduced Roman Catholic members to the Enghsh House of

Commons, while he disfranchised the forty shilling freeholders. Was it not strange that so clever a man should have been so blind as to meet the Reformers with such a disdainful front as he exhibited towards them in the early part of the year 1831, after he himself had largely broken in upon Parliamentary prescription ?

For many years it was the custom to look upon Sir Robert Peel as a sort of professional statesman, whose chief aim was to possess the honour of being the adopted spokesman of the Tory " gentlemen of England." It was not supposed that he was great enough to be fired with the desire of becoming a ruling spirit, and his conduct at the Reform crisis was certainly unlike that of a great statesman. He had no ideas in the crisis — no plan for the future — no counter schemes to offer to the country. Nothing, truly, could have been more barren in invention than the course pursued by Sir R. Peel in 1831-2. Other statesmen had at various periods propounded various plans of Reform. Lord Clarendon, the Tory historian, in alluding to Cromwell's mode of dealing with the Legislature, declared that the notion of amendlno- the constitution of Parliament was worthy of happier times. Sir Robert Peel stood much upon prescription, and talked all the common-places which had been used on the subject for forty years. He spoke upon the subject with sense, knowledge, and plausibility, but without profound insight, masterly views, or ennobling conceptions. Not one soul-stirring speech came from his lips during those discussions, and he took no vigorous measure of political strategy, which might have partially dammed up the rolling tide of furious innovation. The bold counsels of Conservatism at that memorable crisis were maintained by the Duke of Wellington, the late Duke of Buckingham, Lord Lyndhurst, and Mr. Croker. In eloquence, Mr. Croker confessedly surpassed Sir R. Peel in the Reform debates. Closely grappling with his numerous adversaries, Mr. Vvilson Croker denounced the Bill as a gigantic party job, and dissected its provisions with the practised acuteness of a trained critic. The parliamentary success of Mr. Croker at that time actually mortified Sir R. Peel ; and none can deny that, in debating power upon that occasion, Mr. Croker carried the palm of superior eloquence from his Conservative competitors in the House of Commons. Monsieur Guizot scarcely does justice to Mr. Croker in characterising him merely as " a man of vigorous, clear, precise, and practical mind, and of persevering and pas-

6 CHIEFS OF TARTIES.

sionate will," Mr. Croker showed other qualities, but I pass on.

Amongst the most remarkable incidents of the Reform bill era, was the refusal of Sir R. Peel to join with other Conservative leaders, and attempt to form a Ministry in the summer of 1832, with an avowed Reform policy. The excuse that he gave was, because such a course would have been inconsistent in one who had always opposed Reform. There was want of candour in such an excuse. Why did he not offer a similiar plea in 1829, when he conceded a measure to which he had always been opposed ? His conduct in both cases could not have been right. If the dread of inconsistency was the reason why he refused to take Reform responsibilities on him in 1832, how could his unparalleled tergiversation in 1829 be defended ? The conduct of this extraordinary personage in 1825, 1829, 1832, and 1846, showed that his character fluctuated to and fro, and that on great public occasions, when pressure would be heavily applied, no one could tell whether Peel would be firm ? Such men ought never to receive the first places in historical memory, and in national applause. It is right that the chief honours should be assigned to stalwart natures, who preserve their manhood unshaken by passing circumstances. Constancy is a noble quality. It is one of the brightest moral attributes that human nature can show. It is the safeguard of many of the domestic virtues ; and the most gifted man, or the most graceful woman, can never secure our admiration for an hour, when we find them to be wavering, changeful, and uncertain. We excuse the weakness of the sex ; but in a man, and especially in one whose mission is to rule others, we hope for the steadiness which is first to rule himself. He is to master circumstances, and not to be their servitor. Even in the " mute creation," a strong hold upon human affection is possessed by the dog, whose bravery is enhanced by his strong fidelity to his friends. Constancy and courage mean the same thing to the soldier ; we hope for it in the lover and the friend ; and as citizens we demand it imperatively from him to whom we entrust our fair fame before the world, and whom we elevate as a leader into the highest political station. And in constancy Sir Robert Peel was lamentably deficient. The wavering which marked every step in his career, is most singular to contemplate.

After the Reform Bill passed. Sir Robert Peel, considered as a private individual, appeared cer" tainly to a great advantage in the House of Coramons. The First Reformed Parliament, with its crowd of empty and excited provincial politicians, gave Sir Robert Peel the exact sort of assembly in which he could shine pre-eminently, with many of the first, and with all the secondary accomplishments that mark a great British senator. His readiness and skill in debate, his complete knowledge of public business, his close mastery of the currency question, and his high merits as an artful and most persuasive speaker, were favourably contrasted with the lumbering manner of Lord Althorpe, and the declamatory vehemence of the Radicals. I always admired the varied senatorian abilities shown by Sir Robert Peel from 1833 to 1841. It was the period of his life in which, according to my judgment, he appeared most creditably ; and I shall endeavour to record the impression left upon me by his conduct at that time. In doing so, I shall give proofs to show how much I am entirely opposed to the rancorous criticism which would studiously disparage the great public abilities of Sir Robert Peel.

The movement party in 1833-4 was inadequately represented in Parliament ; for the Irish associations and Roman Catholic convictions of Mr. O'Connell rendered him quite unsuited (besides other circumstances) for popular leadership in England. The great Liberal Party could then not have been better led than by Mr. Stanley ; and it might have been preserved from the decrepitude of subsequent years, if to his commanding powers and masterly talent for debate, the leadership in the House of Commons had been assigned. His eloquent and singularly ready replies to the great Irish tribune would then have been armed with double effect ; and, in that position, he might have been enabled to save the Whig party from the ruinous alliance at Lichfield House, with a body of representatives with whom they would have been sorry to associate familiarly, though the English aristocracy is never squeamish about its political associates, as the history of faction from the time of Wilkes downwards amply demonstrates. Lord Althorpe was ineffective as a leader of the Reformed Parliament, and the amazed looks of all the new members, when they saw their leader stammering and faltering at the red box, told the tale of his utter oratorical incapacity.

The position occupied by Sir Robert Peel in the first Reformed Parliament was remarkable, and deserves special notice. The bravest heart of all his associates, that of Lord Lyndhurst, had begun to despair of the constitution. Others, also, of the old Tory connection croaked raven notes on the fall of the mixed government of England. " The boroughs were gone. The Church was paralyzed for ever, and the aristocracy entirely crushed." Such was their gloomy note, uttered with lugubrious monotony. But Peel, perfectly master of himself and his passions, applied himself with practical sagacity to the study of the new state of things ; and, like a great state architect, he calculated the materials at his disposal, while he drew out his large design of a party erected upon the broad and massive foundations of English society. Nothing better indicated the force and breadth of his practical intellect than the fact, that in his designs of a Conservative Party he was not narrowed to merely parliamentary views, but grasped in his mental vision the ample circle of the public at large. He had the odds against him. His reputation was associated with resistance to the Liberalism which was the fashion ; his name had long been the target of patrician and plebeian envy. The Duke of Wellington did not see the way before him, and the desponding tone of his allies was enough to damp the ardour of the most creative genius. Sir R. Peel sat in 1833 ia the House of Commons with only about a hundred and thirty members behind him, and his arms were apparently tied for political action. But as he proudly said, eighteen years afterwards, " I never despaired ;" and he lived to justify his views, and to die with popular regret.

As he looked around the benches, where, in former years, he had so many skilful and intrepid coadjutors, he might well have desponded. Some of the most promising of his associates in the Liverpool Cabinet were opposed to him, or gone to the Upper House. Lord Palmerston, Lord Ripon, and Mr. Charles Grant were Whigs. Mr. J. W. Ward (Lord Dudley) was no more. Mr. Croker had given up the game, and intrenched himself in the pages of the Quarterly Review. Sir Robert Inglis was a political archaeologist, not a practical statesman ; his mind was with the age of Queen Anne ; he was only a century behind the time — amiable and acconiplished — the Sir Charles Grandison of bigots — a great ornament to any cause, but without the perception of political actuality. Not until the next year was Mr. Gladstone, an jorator and a genius, returned to Parliament; and in 1833 there was only one member by the side of Sir Robert Pe^ in Opposition with eminent parliamentary talents. That was Mr. Shaw — Recorder of Dublin — ready and intrepid in debate, with the good taste of English, and the fire of Irish eloquence ; but the provinciality of his topics detracted from his utihty, and his constant encounters with the demagogues of his country had given him an Orange aspect, not natural to him.

What, then, had Peel to rely upon ? He had — himself. He had his unbroken constitution, his official experience of twenty years, his hoarded knowledge — the fame of one pitted against Canning, Plunket, and Brougham in debate — his strong English sense, practical though not splendid eloquence, and unrivalled capacity for the business of the Commons. Armed with these powers — strong in his own greatness — he stood up, with assured ease and complacency, to address, for the first time, the Reformed House of Commons. There was the greatest anxiety to hear him. The new members — the mercantile representatives of the large towns — wished to listen to the debater whose solid capacity and deep knowledge they had often admired in the reports ; and his old Whig adversaries in the Treasury Benches were equally anxious to see what tone he would take, and how he would suit himself to the new position. He commenced with an air of extreme modesty, and a well-acted humility. He stated, with much touching grace, that he was well aware of the great difference between his present and his former position before the House of Commons ; in other days he had been head of a majority, or of a large and powerful minority. The times now were altered. He was reduced to the station of a private Member of Parliament ; but still he was sure that, even in that position, the House would give him that fair play which it never refused to any of its members. His tone' of graceful humility was artfully assumed. It was a masterpiece of political histrionics, and was in itself a specimen of high oratorical art. His quiet manner, his air of modesty, his dulcet voice, his easy winding into the subject, and the style of candour with which he announced liis intention of supporting the Government where he could conscientiously, produced a most favourable impression on his audience. Most of the new members were deeply interested in commercial prosperity, and his sensible remarks on financial matters, which came out from the speaker with the ease of perfect knowledge, rivetted their ears.

Before three weeks had elapsed, it was impressed upon all the new members of the Reformed Parliament that Sir R. Peel was the first and most com.petent man of affairs in the House. His common sense and attainments told upon them all with great effect ; and his candour disarmed them of many prejudices against him. As he was beginning to rise in general estimation, so the Ministry were beginning to sink in popularity. Two measures which were carried, both absolutely necessary and required by public duty, exposed them to the ad captandum charges of being as absolutist, harsh, and anti-popular, as any Tories that ever had concocted' the Six Acts. The two measures were the New Poor Law, and the Irish Coercion Bill.

In the course followed by Sir R. Peel at that time, Events — the political deities which he worshipped — were highly favourable to him. England had become alarmed, and wealthy " Reformers" were getting panic-stricken. Many were disgusted with the Radicals who followed Mr. Hume, and more disliked the dictatorial tones of Mr. O'Connell. The conduct of the Irish Roman CathoHc body, and the use made of their newlyacquired power, alarmed others. Convulsions appeared probable. The state of the Continent was perilous, and capital trembled in the hands of its holders, " The English people," said Sir R. Peel in one of his semi-convivial revelations at Tarn worth, " are a people difficult to understand. But there is one thing plain amongst them. They love money, and the making of money, and it is of no use for sucii a people to possess money, if they have not the power of comfortably enjoying it. And, therefore, such a people will never be addicted in the long run to revolutionary measures." This view seems plausible at first, but it is essentially shallow. Violent measures and revolutionary proceedings ruled the English public for many years, and intimidated the heart of the statesman who once spoke the foregoing words, whose substance at least is faithfully reported.

A view of Sir R. Peel at this time, 1835-40, might make him look larger than he really was. His knowledge and talent for debate were universally admitted, but his will was deficient. He never could have overthrown the Liberals if their chiefs had not differed amongst themselves. The Duke of Richmond had originally been disgusted with the extraordinary mode in which the Catholic claims had been conceded, and his Grace had consented, with other distinguished pubhc characters, to join Earl Grey's cabinet in 1831 ; but, in 1834, when the Protestant Church was menaced by some of the Whigs, and by all of the Radicals, the Duke of Richmond, Mr. Stanley (Lord Derby), Earl of Ripon, Sir James Graham, and Lord George Bentinck (who was then a silent, but by no means inattentive politician), took up a decided stand, and said to the Movement party : — " Tiius far shalt thou come, but no farther. Here shall your crested breakers be stayed." They consented that the Church of Ireland, or, in more correct words — " The Church of Great Britain and Ireland," should be reformed, but not that it should be destroyed. The revenues of certain bishoprics were re-distributed in order to give more parochial efficiency to the clergy, but the funds were preserved from spoliation.

It was at this point of time that the basis for the Conservative party was really laid. " And even," said Mr. Stanley (Lord Derby), in his speech on the Approbation Clause in 1834 — " even if I saw a House of Commons about to pass such a measure, and if the Protestant parliament of a Protestant people were ready to endorse such a measure, I do not think that I am living in times when ai Protestant Sovereign, on a Protestant Throne, will consent to such a bill." The Whigs, who desired that the movement should be stopped, seceded from the Grey Liberals. Earl Grey himself vacillated and retired before the difficulties of the time ; Lord Brougham quarrelled with his colleagues and with himself; an O'Connellphobia seized on a large portion of the English

Whig gentry ; Brookes's club split in two sections, and the Liberal party appeared to be rent in twain.

The word " Conservative " is of older date than the Reform-Bill struggles. " The principle of the Whig party is amelioration," wrote Mr. Hallam ; " of the Tory party, conservation." The consolidation of the party took place on the return of Sir Robert Peel from Rome in December 1834. His friends always considered the circumstances under which he was sent for as being amongst the proudest of his recollections. It sounded well that the King of England should send a special express for Sir Robert Peel to Italy. It sounded better that, at such a crisis, the people of England waited for three weeks before they knew whether Sir Robert Peel would accept ofEce or not- There was an air of something grand in the Empire of England thus pausing upon the resolves of the member for Tamworth. Sir Robert Peel's political figure seemed larger than before under such circumstances.

But let us not now be deceived by the illusions of the time. In estimating the historical size of Sir Robert Peel, as contrasted with Walpole (with whom it is believed that he desired to be compared), or with the younger Pitt (to whom he bore not

VOL. II. c the least resemblance), we must not forget that Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, was always at the side of Sir Robert Peel. The Court, in 1834, had virtually cast itself upon the Duke of Wellington for aid, and the Duke " stood by his sovereign," and requested the help of Sir Robert Peel. Of that crisis, and of the greater part of the responsibility, the burthen rested upon the Duke of Wellington. Neither Walpole, nor the younger Pitt, had ever a WeUington at their right hands.

To some extent, the influence of the name and moral spell of Wellington diminish the greatness of Sir Robert Peel. But we do not forget how eagerly the overwhelming portion of the solid wealth of the city of London espoused the claims of Sir Robert Peel at his return from Rome. The famous " Bankers' address " was presented to him, signed by a great number of the first banking firms in London, in their own names, and by a multitude of wealthy merchants and influential citizens. All the names appeared in one huge advertisement published in the Times, to the exclusion of all other announcements, and for which the sum of £240 was paid. It was, beyond question, the greatest advertisement that ever appeared in that famous Journal, and the race

PEEL, OB. THE GREAT AMBIGUITY. 19

of Peel may proudly preserve it amongst their heir-looms.

The celebrated address to the Electors of Tamworth was one of the best documents ever put forward by Sir Robert Peel. Its tone was measured and yet masterly; its language bold and business-like. It produced great effect, and it was conceived in a statesman-like spirit. Its literary composition is the closest that ever came from the pen of Sir Robert Peel. He struck some chords which vibrated powerfully. Nothing could be better than his frank profession of the full acceptance of " the spirit of the Reform Bill," with the distinct understanding that such a phrase meant " a careful review of institutions, civil and ecclesiastical, undertaken in a friendly temper," but studiously disclaiming it, " if, by the spirit of the Reform Bill, it be meant that we are to live in a perpetual vortex of agitation ; that public men can only support themselves in public estimation by adopting every popular impression of the day — by promising the instant redress of any thing which any body may call an abuse — by abandoning altogether that great aid of government, more powerful than either law or reason — the respect for ancient rights and the difference to prescriptive authority" — all these passages we

c 2 repeat are most skilfully touched, and most judiciously worded. For England, in the winter of 1834, dreading further innovation, wearied of the vanity and vacillation of the Reform chiefs, disgusted with the truculence and browbeating tyranny of Mr. O'Connell and his Parliamentary followers, such an address was admirably calculated to produce an effect. I have seen some literary disparagement of this address; but one of its greatest merits was its practical character, so suited to a commercial people. It was plain, plausible, strong, and not at all prolix. It began with a good key-note for catching the ears of the monarchical people of England : — " On the 26th of November last, being then at Rome, I received from his Majesty a summons, wholly unforeseen and unexpected by me, to return to England without delay, for the purpose of assisting his Majesty in the formation of a new Government. I instantly obeyed the command," &c. &c.

Taken as a whole, this manifesto was eminently skilful, and it furnished a sort of political creed to his party for many years. I do not know where to look for a more dexterous document coming from a Premier's pen. It pleased the middle classes well, and had even some charms for many amongst his professional adversaries.

It was a statement well suited to popular circulation. It wants the polish, and the barbed incisive sentences which would be found in an epistle of a similar kind on such an occasion from the pen of Lord John Russell, but it is more safe than the political addresses of the noble Member for the City. The ■" Letter to the Electors of Stroud " (1839), by the last-named statesman is a choice piece of composition, but its refined touches would not be appreciated by the crowd ; its conclusion, " I will not lift the anchors of the monarchy while the signs of a storm are black in the horizon," is one of those soaring thoughts, coloured with fancy, and instinct with strong emotion, that were always wanting in the artificial eloquence of Sir Robert Peel.

Excellent as was the tone of this Tamworth address, we shall subsequently see, in 1839, how our Parliamentary Waverer again vacillated when pressure was upon him. He took office in 1834, with the Court and the Duke of Wellington to his back. He advised a dissolution, and the Whig aristocracy shook hands with Mr. O'Connell and the Priests, and established telegraphic communication between Woburn Abbey and the Vatican. Sir Robert Peel, in defending himself afterwards from the charge of presumption for having taken office declared, that "he never anticipated, after what had passed, that the Member for Dublin (Mr. O'Connell) and the Whig party could have coalesced." Neither could others have done so. It may be admitted that, as far as Lord John Russell and a few others were concerned, honourable feelings influenced the " Litchfield House Compact ;" but looked at without passion, and after the event, it was a flagrant scandal on the great Liberal party of England. Lord John Russell aspired to carry out the wishes of the illustrous Grattan in Ireland ; but, in order to do so, the Irish popular party should have been guided by minds nurtured in the manners of the school to which Charlemont and Mr. Grattan and Mr. Daly, and I willingly add, Mr. Flood and Mr. Curran, belonged.

Sir R. Peel was beaten by the " Litchfield House Compact." He fought his parliamentary battle with singular ability, and greatly increased his reputation as a debater — cool, artful, and never wanting in knowledge, ever master of himself, and often of his audience. Lord Stanley and Sir James Graham aided him on the flank, but it cannot be denied that he struggled gallantly in the van. Those who know his powers were not surprised at the resources which he displayed ; but the public out of doors had much to" learn of the range of his abilities, and in politics as in other callings,

His adroitness was a good substitute for real eloquence ; his command of Parliamentary knowledge, his familiarity with commerce, his sympathy with " the City," and his air of. business, all told well for him, and his adversaries universally admitted his great powers. Grave people compared him rashly with Pitt : but they forgot that young William Pitt, in the long session of 1784, facing Fox, Burke, Lord North, and an adverse majority, was in the twenty-fifth year of his age, while Peel in 1835 was forty-seven years old. The talents displayed by both at these two periods was admirable, but very different in kind. Pitt's power was precocious yet natural, and much of Peel's ability was the result of training and hoarded experience, and it is only to the former case of a young man struggling with a host — that the term " wonderful" is applicable. But in justice it must be recollected that Pitt in 1784 had the public out of doors with him, and that the uncrowned noun of multitude, "the people," was against Peel in 1835.

After some time spent in diplomatic preliminaries, an effective union between the Duke of Wellington, Lord Lyndhurst, and Sir .Robert Peel on the one side, and the Duke of Richmond, Lord Stanley (Earl of Derby), and Sir James Graham on the other, was carried into operation, and the Great Conservative Opposition, one of the most splendid confederacies that ever swayed the British Legislature, was consolidated. It was supported by an overwhelming majority of the aristocracy and gentry of the Empire ; the Church was in its favour, and so were a vast number of the leading persons in the learned professions ; the West End of London and the World of Fashion actively aided it , and " the City" though more divided) gave its confidence to the Conservative Chiefs. The tongue of Lord Brougham and the pen of Sydney Smith (by an odd coincidence) were simultaneously employed in deriding the pretensions of Lord Melbourne and his colleagues. Down to the death of King William, "the Court" was decidedly with the Opposition, and there never was so great an array of political strength in Opposition seen as in the Conservative party of that time. The Duke of Wellington, hale and vigorous, was recovering his popularity ;