y.fit^r ■. .. ■■H ^ 1 A = A = u^ m X ^ = -° -- ^^ 33 3 ^ 6 = — s 2 — C= 9 = ^ ^^^ > 3 = ^^ — sss III -c 7 I ^^ l^- / V) ■ENGTLAOTID B5r WBOLI.. 'yfi/w?y ^ .-JZ/ym-^f^nO' v% C^.^^l^mi- a^^. a- .ySuj^^ % .::r^o^yy, naj. SAUNDERS' PORTRAITS AND MEMOIRS OF EMINENT LIVING POLITICAL REFORMERS THE PORTRAITS BY GEORGE HAYTER, ESQ. M.A.S.L. etc. (PAINTER OF PORTRAITS AND HISTORY TO HER MAJESTY), AND OTHER ExMINENT ARTISTS. AND THE MEMOIRS BY A DISTINGUISHED LITERARY CHARACTER. TO WHICH IS ANNEXED A COPIOUS HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, FRO^i THE ATTEMPT TO REPEAL THE SEPTENNIAL ACT IN 17:34, TO THE PASSING OF THE REFORM BILL IN 18.32. BY WILLIAM HOWITT. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY THE NEW PROPRIETOR, J. DOWDING, BOOKSELLER, 82, NEWGATE-STREET. 1840. / 53 PREFACE. It may be necessary to remark, in reference to the following pages, that caution has been used in abstaining, as far as it was possible, from all expression of opinion upon the various important political questions that are connected with the public career of the subjects of these biographies ; the proper object of the writer being, rather to exhibit the opinions of others in their acts, than to obtrude his own, or to anticipate the reader's. It is, moreover, hoped that the fairness of spirit, which ought to be a distinguishing feature of such a design as this, has been shewm in the selection of the names that adorn the volume now presented. The list comprises men of all degrees of political opinion as Reformers ; from those who, remem- berino- that the last feather breaks the camel's back, are willino- to throw off a feather or two, and then pause — to those who are for dashing the heavy, and almost crushing burden to the ground, heedless of the solemn duty of bearing it until it can be safely, because gradually, lightened. All who are here included, have taken their stand upon the right side of the line of policy laid down b}^ Lord Melbourne's Administration ; and to no one on the other side of that line, can be conceded the slightest pretension to the honours of a Reformer, or to the confidence of his countrymen. LIST OF PORTRAITS. I'AGE THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL GREY - - - - - - 217 THE MOST HON. THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE - - - - 185 THE RIGHT HON. THE VISCOUNT MELBOURNE - - - - 31 THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD HOLLAND - - - - - - 208 THE RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL, M.P. - . . - i THE RIGHT HON. THE VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, M.P. - - - 17G THE RIGHT HON. THE VISCOUNT MORPETH, M.P. - - . 214 THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE, (NOW MARQUESS OF NORMANBY) - - - - - - - - - 13.5 THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DURHAM 193 THE RIGHT HON. THE VISCOUNT EBRINGTON, M.P. (NOW LORD FORTESCUE) - - - - - - - . . 147 THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES POULETT THOMSON, M.P. - - - 101 THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL SPENCER (LATE LORD ALTHORP) - - 117 MR. SERGEANT TALFOURD, M.P. - - - - - - 109 GEORGE BYNG, ESQ. M.P. - - - - - - - - 98 THOMAS WYSE, ESQ. M.P. 104 ADMIRAL SIR EDWARD CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. - - - - 1.50 CHARLES BULLER, ESQ. M.P. - - - - - - - 17 H. WARBURTON, ESQ. M.P. 127 GEORGE GROTE, ESQ. M.P. - 47 JOHN TEMPLE LEADER, ESQ. M.P. - - - - . - 41 THOMAS POWELL BUXTON, ESQ. 121 WILLIAM JAMES, ESQ. M.P. 167 THOMAS WAKLEY, ESQ. M.P. 170 JOSEPH HUME, ESQ. M.P. - - - - - - - . 60 JOHN BOWRING, ESQ. LL.D. - - 53 LIEUT.-COLONEL P. THOMPSON - 72 J. A. ROEBUCK, ESQ. - - - 21 MEMOIRS. RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL, M. P., SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT. Among the titled few who have felt the insufficiency of the mere distinctions conferred by ancestry and rank — among the worthier spirits of old families, not necessarily illustrious because unques- tionably ancient, who have been prompted by patriotism and an honourable love of fame, "to scorn delights and live laborious days," — a foremost place must be accorded to the subject of this memoir. Lord John Russell is the third son of the present Duke of Bedford, by his grace's first consort Georgiana Elizabeth, second daughter of George Viscount Torrington. Lord John was born August 18, 1792, in Hertford-street, May-fair. For the coarser collisions incident to parliamentary life, he may be said to have been prepared by being placed in a public school, first at Sunbury, and subsequently at Westminster. His education was completed at the University of Edinburgh. According to the practice which prevails in families possessing electioneering influence, Lord John Russell was sent into parlia- ment so early as July, 1813, as member for Tavistock, at a period when he wanted one month of having completed his twenty- first year. We will not here enter at length upon the question of the expediency of permitting young men at so " tender " an age to enter upon the arduous and complicated cares which devolve upon a conscientious member of the House of Commons. To us it appears, that, up to the age of at least twenty-five, such persons, whatever their genius or industry, would be far more beneficially employed, as B 2 RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. regards both themselves and the country, in solid reading; in exten- sive travel, particularly into all parts of the United Kingdom and its dependencies; and in otherwise accumulating that abundant stock of bodily strength, and various information, which is to be so freely drawn upon by the exigencies of their subsequent career. It is true that the names of Fox and Pitt may be quoted in contravention of these remarks ; but we think it clear, that even these great men would have been still greater — more happy in themselves, and brighter ornaments to the senate — had they gone through the ordeal of time and training we have here ventured to indicate. It is not to be denied, however, that some juvenile legislators have shown themselves able debaters ; and among them a station at least respectable is strictly the due of Lord John Russell. From the outset of his parliamentary life, he attached himself to the progressive party — the only one that does not necessarily involve itself in endless absurdities and contradictions ; — measures of liberal and humane ten- dency have generally found in him an able and strenuous advocate ; and although, in his more influential days, he may have occasionally acted in a manner to command the applause of his and freedom's enemies, rather than that of their friends, yet, on a candid review of his whole career, w^e are willing to allow much for the difficulties of the positions in which he has been successively placed, and to ascribe his few apparent lapses to those " fears of the brave and follies of the wise," which, as no human being has been entirely exempt from them, every human being ought to be anxious to extenuate, more particularly when speaking of a long period of time expended in a wide and varied field of action. Before entering upon a detailed statement of Lord J. Russell's parliamentary career, it may be expedient to furnish a few data ia relation to his personal history, both public and private.— He entered the House of Commons, as before stated, in July, 1813 ; in 1817, he retired on account of illness, but was again returned for Tavistock in 1818, to the Parliament which opened in January, 1819. He was elected for Huntingdonshire in 1820; Bandon-bridge, 1826; Tavistock, 1830; Devonshire, 1831, 1832, iS34 ; Stroud, 1835. To the electors of the last-named borough he has again offered himself, in reference to the ensuing election. Lord John Russell RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 3 accepted the office of Paymaster-general, November 22, 1830, wliicli lie resigned in November, 1834. The more important post of Secretary of State for the Home Department he obtained April 18, 1835, on the return of the Melbourne Ministry, and still retains it, with tlie honourable duties of ministerial leader in the House of Commons. In the intervals of more pressing business, Lord John Russell has found leisure to make several creditable contributions to the national literature. His productions consist of — a Life of Lord William Russell, published (quarto and octavo editions), in 1815; a History of the British Constitution, which appeared in May, 1821 ; a tra- gedy, entitled Don Carlos, issued in the following year ; and a quarto work on the Affairs of Europe since the Peace of Utrecht, his latest performance, published in 1824. These have become in succession especial objects of assault and ridicule in quarters where party criticism too frequently takes the place of truth ; and Lord John may not inaptly apply to this class of his critics the scornful rebuke, which he puts into the mouth of one of his characters in Don Carlos, (the tragedy which is made a medium of so many farcical attacks upon the reputation of its author,) where a shaft is levelled at the calumniators who live but to decry and to defeat the efforts of men, anxious to add something to the store of good which the world contains, and to extend, in some degree, the list of honour- able examples to mankind^ " While they who have done nothing, are held up As capable of all things. Poor weak herd, Heaven save me from the breath of your applause !" Lord John Russell remained unmarried until April 11, 1835, when he. was united to Adelaide, widow of the late, and mother of tlie present, Lord Ribblesdale. By this lady he has issue, one daughter, Cieorgiana Adelaide, born February 6, 1836. The large share of public attention, which political circumstancer?, and his own ability, have conspired to direct towards Lord John Russell, calls upon us to trace his parliamentary course with some minuteness ; more especially, as we propose to diversify the dry enumeration of dates and occurrences with occasional extracts from his recorded speeches. These, if not instinct with the higlier attributes of orato- rical genius, will, we think, be found abundant in spirit, good sense, and good feeling. 4 RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. His first recorded address to Parliament was made in May, 1814, on a subject well calculated to excite the ardour of a lover of freedom and national independence. In decided terms he condemned the treaty between Russia and Sweden, (Great Britain becoming a consenting party,) by which Norway was wrested from Denmark, and made over to Sweden, as the price of Bernadotte's accession to the league against Napoleon. His Lordship also spoke strongly in favour of a proposed address to the Prince Regent, requesting him to remove the blockade, by means of which the Liverpool administration endea- voured to starve the Norwegians into submission to the Swedish rule. On the same general ground also — respect for national independence in the choice of governors — Lord John opposed the war against Na- poleon, in 1815. On Lord Castlereagh's motion (February 26, 1817), for the first reading of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Bill, Lord John made a long and able speech in condemnation of the proposed measure. An extract or two from his address will show, that even at this period, he was fully possessed with a feeling of the necessity for that parlia- mentary reform with which his name has since become so honourably identified, and fully prepared to defy the rant of " innovation," by which it was so long, so ignorantly, and so shamefully opposed. A supporter of this measure says, " that reform wears a most dangerous aspect because it is moderate — because it proposes to go step by step. Let my honourable friend consider to what this argument leads : it leads to the rejection of every species of reform because it is innovation. In tliis point of view, there was danger in the propo- sition made last night to reduce two of the lords of the admiralty, and my right honour- able friend who proposes to abolish the office of third secretary of state is a monster of terror and alarm. Another argument of my honourable friend was, that the danger must be great because the distress was great, and that the discontent was to be measured by the distress. And upon this sort of argument a priori does he propose to take away the liberties of the people of England. Without waiting to ask whether they have been loyal, whether they have been patient under suffering, and enduring in the depth of misery, he turns to them and says, ' Because you are starving, you shall be deprived of the protection of the law, your only remaining comfort.' Yet, upon such arguments as these, for he had little other, did my honourable friend rest his support of this bill. He told us he would not enter into the historical question, and that he knew not if the existing laws were sufficient to remedy the evil. On these two points, however, I think it necessary to dwell a short time before I give my vote. " Upon looking back to history, the first precedent which strikes us, is the precedent of the enactment of this law [the Habeas Corpus Act]. The year before this la.v RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 5 passed a plot was discovered, which, though it has since been mentioned only as an instance of credulity, bore at the time a most alarming appearance. Not less than two hundred persons, many of them of the first rank, were accused of conspiring the death of the king. The heir presumptive of the throne was supposed to be implicated in the conspiracy, and foreign powers were ready with money and troops to assist in the subversion of our constitution in church and state. Yet at this time did the Lords and Comm.ons present for the royal assent this very bill of Habeas Corpus, which for less dangers you are about to suspend. We talk much, I think a great deal too much, of the wisdom of our ancestors, I wish we would imitate the courage of our ancestors. They were not ready to lay their liberties at the foot of the Crown upon every vain or imaginary alarm." " I will only say one word more as to the cry for reform, of which so much use has been made. I would make another use of this cry. The House must soon discuss the whole question. It is not difficult to foresee, that the majority will decide in favour of leaving the Constitution untouched. Anxious as I am for reform, I am still more anxious that the House should preserve the respect of the people. If they refuse all innovation upon ancient laws and institutions, it is not to be denied that they will stand upon strong ground. I beseech them, then, not to cut this ground from under their feet — not to let the reformers say, ' When we ask for redress, you refuse all inno- vation. When the Crown asks for protection, you sanction a new code; for us you are not willing to go an inch — for ministers you go a mile. ^Vhen v:e ask for our rights, you will not touch the little finger of the Constitution ; but when those in autho- rity demand more power, you plunge your knife into its heart,' " On this speech Sir F. Burdett passed a high compliment, m liich, however, subsequent events have rendered much less valuable. He said " it was peculiarly gratifying- to hear the noble lord, with so much manliness and ability, supporting those rights in the defence of which his revered ancestor lost his life." It would be impossible, within our prescribed limits, to state indi- vidually all the occasions on which Lord John Russell exerted him- self in support of liberal measures and the amelioration of existing laws. He appears to have paid particular attention to every thing that regarded purity of election and the great general question of parliamentary reform. As yet, however, he was tameness itself com- pared with the Burdett of that day. On the 1st of July, 1819, Sir Francis moved " that early in the next session the House do take into its serious consideration the state of the representation." A short extract from Lord John's speech on this occasion will exhibit the parties in curious contrast, considering their present relative positions. He " wished to state distinctly that he did not agree with those who opposed all G RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. and every system of reform. He agreed in the propriety of disfranchising such boroughs as were notoriously corrupt, and would give his consent to any measure that would restrict the duration of parliament to three years. He could not, however, pledge himself to support a measure that went the length of proposing an inquiry into the general state of the representation, because such an inquiry was calculated to throw a slur upon the representation of the country, and to fdl the minds of the people with vague and indefinite alarms. The honourable baronet had complained that the reformers were represented to be wild and visionary theorists, and had called upon the House to state where those wild and visionary reformers were to be found ? If the honourable baronet did not know where to find them, he would refer him to those persons who had advised him during the last session to bring forward his celebrated motion for annual parliaments and universal suffrage." Ill December of the same year (1819), LordJolm Russell made his own first motion in favour of parliamentary reform. His speech on the occasion was universally allowed to be signalised by temperance and ability. He concluded with proposing four resolutions, to the effect — that boroughs proved to be generally corrupt should be dis- franchised, such electors as had not been found guilty of bribery to be compensated by the right of voting for the county ; — that the franchises should be transferred to great towns with a population of not less than 15,000 souls, and to some of the larger counties ; — that further provision be made for preventing bribery in election ; — and that Grampound, in which bribery had been proved to prevail, should cease to send members. These reasonable propositions were, however, withdrawn at the suggestion of Lord Castlereagh. In the course of his address. Lord John gave utterance to these enlightened observations : " The history of all free states, and particularly of that one on which Machiavel has thrown the light of his genius, demonstrates that they have a progress to perfec- tion, and a progress to decay. In the former of these, we may observe, that the basis of the government is gradually more and more enlarged, and a larger portion of the people are admitted to a share of the power. In the latter the people, or some class of the people, make requests which are refused, and two parties are created ; both are equally extravagant and equally incensed. lu this state, Avhen the party which sup- ports the government loses all love and respect for liberty, and the party which espouses liberty loses all attachment and reverence for the government, the constitu- tion is near its end." In 1820 and 1821, we find Lord John taking an active part on the popular side, in the case of Queen Caroline, in the settlement of the Civil List of George tlie Fourth, in support of Catholic Emancipation, and in various interesting questions which were agitated at that RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 7 stirring period. In 1821, lie succeeded, after repeated efforts, in procuring the disfrancliisement of the corrupt borough of Gram- pound, but the Lords, instead of transferring the franchise to Leeds, as he wished, gave two additional members to the county of York. On the 9th of May of the same year he again mooted the general question of reform, and submitted to the House resolutions to the effect — That grievous complaints were made in the kingdom of undue elections of mem- bers to serve in parhament, by gross bribery and corruption, contrary to the laws, and in violation of the freedom due to the election of representatives ; that in order to strengthen tlie necessary connexion between the Commons of this kingdom and their representatives, it was expedient to give to such places as M'ere greatly increased in wealth and population, but not at present adequately represented, the right of return- ing members ; that a select committee be appointed to consider to what places it might be advisable to extend the right of returning members without an inconvenient addition to the number of representatives ; and that it be referred to the same com- mittee, to consider further of a mode of proceeding with respect to any boroughs charged with notorious bribery and corruption, in order that such charges might be inquired into, and, if proved, such boroughs disabled from sending burgesses to serve in parliament. The motion was lost by a majority of 31. Noes, 155 ; Ayes, 124. In April, 1822, he again brought forward the subject of parlia- mentary reform, in a speech replete with information and sound philosophy. In the course of it, he thus pithily replies to those alarmists who live in real or pretended dread of the seditious spirit of the people. " It is of the nature of the people to push obedience almost to a fault. Nothing can be more false than the opinions of those who maintain, that agitators can easily, and without cause, excite the people to tumultuous and seditious practices. So far is this from being the case, that the disposition of every people is naturally hostile to agitators ; indeed, it is so strongly in favour of government, that the general mass of a country never can be induced to see abuse until it becomes intolerable, or be persuaded to take measures of precaution against a contingent loss of property and liberty ; nay more, they will frequently even submit to the greatest evils of misgovernment, before they venture to utter one word in their own behalf." So true is this, we may almost lay it down as a rule, that where a complaint is raised, a real evil is sure to exist. The orator then proceeds to argue the question on constitutional grounds — 8 RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. " The natural balance of the constitution is this — that the crown should appoint its ministers, that those ministers should have the confidence of the House of Com- mons, and that the House of Commons should represent the sense and wishes of the people. Such was the machinery of our government ; and if any wheel of it went wrong, it deranged the whole system. Thus, when the Stuarts were on the throne, and their ministers did not enjoy the confidence of the House of Commons, the con- sequence was tumult, insurrection, and civil war throughout the country. At the present period, the ministers of the crown possess the confidence of the House of Commons ; but the House of Commons does not possess the esteem and reverence of the people. The consequences to the country are equally fatal. We have seen dis- content breaking into outrage in various quarters — we have seen every excess of popular phrenzy committed and defended — we have seen alarm universally prevailing among the upper classes, and disaffection among the lower — we have seen the ministers of the crown seek a remedy for these evils in a system of severe coercion — in restrictive laws — in large standing armies — in enormous barracks, and in every other resource that belongs to a government which is not founded in the hearts of its subjects." *' It is my persuasion, that the liberties of EngUshmen, being founded upon the general consent of all, must remain upon that basis, or must altogether cease to have any exist- ence. We cannot confine liberty in this country to one class of men : we cannot erect here a senate of Venice, by which a small part of the community is enabled to lord it over the majority : we cannot in this land, and at this time, make liberty the inherit- ance of a caste. It is the nature of English liberty, that her nightingale notes should never be heard from within the bars and gratings of a cage ; to preserve anything of the grace and the sweetness, they must have something of the wildness of freedom. I speak according to the spirit of our constitution when I say, that the liberty of England abhors the unnatural protection of a standing army : she abjures the coun- tenance of fortresses and barracks ; nor can those institutions ever be maintained by force and terror, that were founded upon mildness and affection." ****** " The next objection to which I shall advert, is founded on that inveterate adherence to ancient forms however unsuitable, to old practices however abusive, which influences so greatly the decisions of the English parliament. As this objection has its strength more in the feelings and affections, than in any logical argument upon which it is grounded ; as it rests on superstition rather than on reason, I know not how to meet it better than by referring to an example in ancient story. The instance I allude to occurs in the history of Rome ; and here I must entreat the attention of the honour- able member for Corfe Castle, who may be styled the tory commentator, as Machiavel may be styled the whig commentator on Roman history. About 370 years after the foundation of Rome, there arose a contest, not very imhke the ques- tion which we are now debating, whether the two consuls should continue to be chosen from the patricians, or whether one should be chosen invariably from the plebeians. Appius Claudius (who was the prime advocate of aristocracy and existing institutions in that day) argued that the greatest evils would follow if any change was RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 9 made in the ancient forms. He contended, particularly, tliat none but a patrician could take the auguries — that if any alteration were made the chickens would not eat — that in vain they would be required to leave their coops. The language given to him by Livy is, " Quid enim est, si pulli non pascentur ? Si ex caved tardins exie- rint? Si occinuerit avis? Parva sunt hcec : sed parva ista non contemnendo majores nostri inaximam hanc rem fecerunt." Such was the reasoning of the Roman senator : reasoning, be it observed, not very different from that which is used to show that our constitution will be subverted, if any invasion be made upon the privileges of Old Sarum. But what was the result ? After a successful war against a foreign enemy, Camillas, the dictator, had to encounter the most dangerous sedi- tions at Rome, raised on this subject of the consulship. What did he and the senate do ? It will be imagined that they passed restrictive laws ; that they pro- hibited public meetings of more than fifty persons in the open air; that they punished the seditious orators, and restrained the liberty of speech for the futwre. No such thing. They assented to the petitions of the people. " Vix dum perfunctum eum bello atrocior doini seditio cxcepit : et p)er ingeiitia certamina dictator senatusque rictus, ut rogationes tribunicice acciperentur ; et comitia consilium adversd nobilitate habita quibus L. Sextius de plebe jjrimvs consul /actus." And what was the conse- quence, discord and calamity? Quite the reverse. After some further contest, the whole dispute terminated in favour of the people; and the senate, to celebrate the return of concord between the two parties, commanded that the great games, the ludi maximi, should be solemnised, that an additional holiday should be observed. Rome increased in power and glory ; she defeated the Samnites ; she resisted Pyrrhus : she conquered Carthage ; nor in the whole of her famous history is any complaint to be found on record, that the chickens declmed to eat, or that they refused to leave their coops on account of the plebeian consul." In spite, however, of reason and decency, the majority against the motion on this occasion was greater than on the preceding. In a House composed of 433 members, the numbers were 2G9 ; ayes 164 ; majority 105. On the 20th of February, 1823, Lord John moved, " that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into, and report to the House, the right of voting at present exercised, and the number of persons entitled to vote in every city and borough of England and Wales sending members to Parliament." Ayes, 90; noes, 128. The prin cipal opponent of this motion was the only "grace and ornament" of anti-reform, Mr. Canning. In April of the same year Lord John again introduced what may be termed his annual motion in favour of reform. It was substantially the same as that of the preceding year ; but he included a considera- tion which he had previously omitted to state — and this related to c 10 RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. the policy or justice of awarding "compensation" to the boroughs, which he proposed to disfranchise. His Lordship " thought it would be a wise economy to expend even a million of money in the purchase of boroughs to procure an honest representation of the people." This over-caution and anxiety to " conciliate those who were not to be conciliated," did not of course prove successful; the corrupt House refused the proffered purification, though coupled with compensation to Old Sarum. Throughout 1823, 1824, and 1825, numerous votes of Lord John Russell are recorded in favour of motions made by Mr. Hume, Lord Althorp, and others, for the prevention of extravagance in the national expenditure, inquiries into the state of L*eland, and other measures tending to the promotion of just and liberal government. In 182G, Lord John Russell's persevering efforts to procure parlia- mentary reform were encouraged by a vision of that success which at no distant period amply rewarded them. On the 1st of March in that year, a bill brought in by him, '•' for the better discovery and suppression of bribery and corrupt practices in the election of mem- bers to serve in Parliament," (in which he proposed to follow his former plan of disfranchising corrupt boroughs, and transferring the privilege to others more populous and wealthy,) was read a second time on the 14th of j\Iarch, and subsequently committed, but finally postponed to the next session. His annual motion on the general subject of reform was, however, again defeated this year by a majority of 124; 247 to 123. In 1827, the spirit of Russell quailed, on the subject of reform, before the ascendant genius of Canning. In May of that year (the semi-liberal ministry of Canning being then in power), Lord John stated that he had for the present abandoned the question of parlia- mentary reform ; attributing his dereliction, whether truly or not, to the lukewarm feeling of the public mind in reference to the subject; an apathy which he supposed to arise from the great and increasing- prosperity of the nation. In June of 1827, Lord John brought forward another subject with which his name is honourably connected — the repeal of the Test Acts. On this occasion he thus broadly stated his opinions in re- ference to the exclusion of citizens from civil rights on the ground of RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 1 1 their religious belief: — " Ever since I have been a member of this House, my votes have been guided by the principle, that the subjects of these kingdoms ought not to suffer any civil hardship, any civil penalty, any civil inconvenieix^e on account of their religious belief." As in the case of reform, however, Lord John declined for the present any decided movement for the relief of the aggrieved parties, stating that, " many of the Dissenters, feeling as it were by instinct, that a ministry was formed more favourable to religious liberty than any that had existed during the thirty-seven years in which their question had slept, doubted whether it were fair or politic to force such a ministry to an immediate expression of opinion on this impor- tant subject." He therefore postponed till next session his motion for the repeal of the obnoxious Acts. A bill for their abolition passed in the following session, but was much disfigured by the illi- beral alterations made in the House of Lords. In February, ] 830, Lord John's motion for leave to bring in a bill " to enable the towns of Manchester, Leeds, and Birmino-ham to return representatives to serve in parliament," was negatived by a majority of 48; ayes, 140; noes, 188. Had the anti-liberals been wise (not to say honest) enough to give way on this and similar occasions, the cata- strophe which finally befel them might have been prevented, or at least put off to an indefinite period. Fortunately, however, they were unwise. They persevered to their own loss, and the nation's gain. The besotted obstructives chose rather to outrage the common sense of the country, till the great mass rose against them as one man, to put down what they felt to be an unbearable insult, no less than a grievous injury. In May of this year (1830), Lord John Russell again displayed his liberal feelings, by speaking and voting in favour of the removal of the Jewish disabilities. In the same month, we also find him voting in favour of the following resolution, proposed by Mr. Labouchere, in relation to Canada. It stands in striking and melancholy contrast to the resolutions, which, as a minister, Lord John has recently " thought it his duty " (to use the phrase that expresses the established oflftcial excuse) to propose, with reference to the same important colony ;- 12 RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. *' That it is the opinion of this House, tliat a majority of the members of the Legis- lative Councils of Upper and Lower Canada ought not to consist of persons holding offices at the pleasure of the crown ; and, that any measures that may tend to connect more intimately this branch of the constitution with the interest of these colonies, would be attended with the greatest advantage. " That it is the opinion of this House, that it is not expedient that the judges should liold seats in the executive councils of Upper and Lower Canada, and that (with the exception of the Chief Justice), they ought not to be involved in the political business of the legislative councils. " That it is the opinion of this House, that it is indispensable to the good government and contentment of his Majesty's Canadian subjects, that these measures should be carried into effect with the least possible convenient delay." On tlie 28tli of the same montli (May, 1830), Lord John RusselJ decidedly opposed Mr. O'Connell's plan of parliamentary reform, (which included triennial parlianients, vote by ballot, and universal suffrage), and produced a modified one of his own ; this, however, was also rejected by a majority of 9G ; — 117 to 213. On the 1st of March, 1831, Lord John Russell, as the organ of the Grey administration, had the great and merited honour of introducing to the House of Commons the first grand outline of the proposed plan for parliamentary reform. The following passage in his address, in reply to one of the objections against the bill, strikes us to be well conceived, and happily expressed : — " It may be said, that one great and injurious effect of the measure I propose, will be, to destroy the power and privileges of the aristocracy. This I deny. I utterly deny that this plan can have any such effect. Wherever the aristocracy reside, receiving large incomes, performing important duties, relieving the poor by charity, and evincing pri- vate Avorth and public virtue, it is not in human nature that they should not possess a great influence upon public opinion, and have an equal weight in electing persons to serve their country in parliament. Though such persons may not have the direct nomi- nation of members under this bill, I contend that they will have as much influence as they ought to have. But if by aristocracy those persons are meant who do not live among the people, who know nothing of the people, and who care nothing for them — who seek honours without merit, places without duty, and pensions without service, — for such an aristocracy I have no sympathy ; and, I think, the sooner its influence is carried away with the corruption on which it has thriven, the better for the country, in which it has repressed so long every wholesome and invigorating influence." The second reading of the bill was carried, March 22, by a majority of one only : ayes, 302 ; noes, 301. In the committee, April 19, an amendment, proposed by General Gascoyne, "that the RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 13 iotal number of members be not increased," was carried by a majority of eight. This result led to the dissolution of the House of Commons, on the 22nd of the same month. On the assembling of the new parliament, Lord John Russell again (June 24, 1831) brought forward the all-important question of reform, to which the national mind was now thoroughly awakened. In the course of his speech, he gave an excellent sketch of English parliamentary history. On this occasion, the second reading of the bill was carried by a majority of 136 : 3G7 to 231. On the 12th of July, Lord John moved that the house should go into committee on the subject. In the course of the struggle on this question, the tories divided the house no less than seven times, and thus delayed the dreaded proce- dure till the following day. The bill, after undergoing many altera- tions, was passed in the Commons, on the 21st of September, by a majority of 109, but was lost in the Lords in the course of the following month. During the recess, ministers laboured incessantly to improve the details of the bill. It was aoain brouo-ht forward on the 12tli of December the same year (1831), and passed the House of Commons, without a division, on the 23rd of March, 1832. On the 7th of May, it was once more defeated in the House of Lords, on the motion of Lord Lyndhurst, that the first (the disfranchising) clause be post- poned. Two days subsequently the ministers resigned ; but so great and general was the feeling in their favour, that the king was com- pelled to recall them; the Duke of Wellington confessing that he was unable to form an administration that should possess the confi- dence of the country. The Lords, therefore, reluctantly gave way, and passed the bill without material alterations. In the course of a discussion on the measure, on the 14th of May, Lord John Russell thus explained and justified his present and former opinions on the subject of reform : — " It had been said, that he had changed his opuiions on the subject of reform. His opinions had, at all times, been expressed just as he entertained them at the time ; and yet, all that could be brought home to him on the subject of change of opinion was, that, from having been a reformer twelve years ago, and that not of the most moderate class of reformers — from being a reformer who proposed to take 100 members from places now 14 RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. represented in that house, and to give them to the counties and great towns — from being such a reformer, he had come to be the advocate of that reform, which for a long time he had endeavoured to render unnecessary ; namely, the total disfranchisement of the nomination boroughs. But that change in his conduct had been brought about ; first, by the obstinate resistance which had been made by the government now coming into ofHce, to the most moderate reform ; secondly, by the altered condition of the country ; and thirdly, by the opinions of many persons of the highest authority, differing from each other on the question of reform. He would mention two of those persons, by whose opinion he had been influenced, and it would be admitted that they had few opinions in common upon the general question of reform — Lord Grey and the late Mr. Canning. It was the opinion of both those statesmen, that, if any measure of reform was to be carried, it ought to be on such principles as would render it final, so far as it was possible for the legislature to make it so." Lord John does not pretend to say how far this is possible. The doctrine of final reform was a fit expedient for a politician like Mr. Canning to descant upon ; but it is unworthy of any reformer who would be thought enlightened as well as sincere. Lord John Russell, being now installed as an influential minister of the crown, partook fully in the fluctuating policy of the Grey ministry. In February, 1833, he had to defend the harsh tone of the king's speech, with reference to Ireland, against the fierce assaults of Mr. O'Connell, who had designated it as " bloody and brutal." In the same month, he voted against Mr. Hume's motion for the abolition of naval and military sinecures, and also defended the coercive measures preparing for Ireland. On the 23rd of July, he expressed himself, with some ingenuity, but with little reason, in opposition to Mr. Tennyson's motion for shortening the duration of parliaments. In February of the following year, he again evinced the anti-reform spirit by voting in favour of Lord Althorp's amendment, on Mr. Harvey's motion for an inquiry into the Pension List ; and in the following month, against Mr. Buckingham's motion for a committee to devise some plan for the Abolition of Impressment. For these, however, and other unpo- pular votes, he made some amends, by introducing a measure for the relief of Dissenters, in reference to the marriage ceremony. He also voted in favour of the admission of Dissenters to the universities. On this occasion, he pithily observed, " It had been said, that no necessity had been made out for such a measure as that now proposed. His answer was, that the necessity for continuing the existing restric- RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. 15 tions, oug'lit to be shown by those who were the advocates of them," The attention of parliament during this session (1834) was much engaged on the subject of the Irish Tithe BilL In relation to it, Lord John Russell o-ave utterance to sentiments which do honour to his theoretic liberality, but have a strong tendency to condemn the arbitrary and coercive measures he had lately advocated, as applicable to Ireland. The Peel parliament assembled in February, 1834, and on the 30th of March, Lord John Russell moved, "That the House do resolve itself into a committee of the whole house, to consider the Temporalities of the Church of Ireland." The debate continued during four nights, prin- cipally on the question of appropriating the surplus revenues of that establishment to purposes of general education. The resolution was finally carried by a majority of 33 ; — 322 to 289. A tribute paid by the orator on this occasion to the character of the Irish people, was conceived in a just and frank spirit, and seemed to spring from the heart. It is a pity that, in the acts of Lord John and of his colleagues, such sentiments were not always traceable. On the 3rd and 7th of April, further animated debates took place on the same subject. At the close of the last, on a division. Sir Robert Peel found himself in a minority of twenty-seven. On the following day, he and the Duke of Wellington intimated in their respective Houses that they had resigned. By the 12th of May, the new ministry was completed, under Lord Melbourne, when Lord John Russell became Home Secretary, and of course vacated his seat in parliament. He was defeated in his efforts to be re-elected for Devon shire, by means which evidently caused him to cast some " longing, lingering" looks towards the ballot; he was, however, returned for Stroud a few days subsequently. Mr. Grote's motion in favour of the Ballot was discussed on the 2d of June, when Lord John delivered himself in a very plaintive, and as far as the House was concerned, in a very persuasive strain. The important measure of Corporation Reform was brought for- ward by Lord John Russell, on the 5th of the same month (June, 1835). This was another act of liberal legislation, on a large scale, which will preserve with honour the names of Russell and his col- IG RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL. leagues, in spite of the various acts of weakness and vacillation that have po frequently disfig-ured their general policy. In August of this year, he made a spirited avowal of faith in the patriotic conduct of his radical supporters. — It had been nobly merited. Lord John Russell's position as ministerial leader of the House of Commons, has brought him so incessantly and conspicuously under public notice, that a distinct enumeration of his more recent motions and proceedings would be equally tedious and unnecessary. His his- tory would be, in fact, tliat of the ministry with which he is so inti- mately connected. There cannot be a doubt, that as an independent member, he would have condemned some propositions, which, as a minister, he has supported ; but it is equally true that, in an isolated position, he would have lacked power to carry the beneficial measures which have signalised his official career. With a few general remarks, therefore, on his personal and politi- cal character, we terminate the present sketch of an active and well- spent life. Upon a recent occasion, when referring to Sir Francis Burdett's contemptuous allusion to the " cant of patriotism," Lord John very happily remarked, that, " though the cant of patriotism might be disgusting, the recant of it was infinitely more so." Of his Lordship it may with truth be said, that he is as little liable as any man of his party to be charged with either. He is neither mean enough to cant, nor base enough to recant. He is not for an extreme of any sort ; his natural character and his acquired tastes unfit him for a bold flight, either for good or evil. " He creeps not, neither does he soar." He is not destitute of moral courage, but it lacks a monitor now and then ; he is not without statesman-like qualities, but they want the inspiring touch of genius. The honours he has won, whether voted by a corporation, or conveyed by a subscription for a reform tribute, he wears modestly ; and in private life, is wholly devoid of arrogance and assumption. EBGIUWEi) BY ±:.5CKlVt.N. ' '(p'^'lunn If/ Qj'^^a/y/f//.-///z />^OMXd^AuJiJ///yC'M(//.' J7 CHARLES BULLER, ESQ., M.P. It is not for us even to hint that the artist has rendered any thing short of justice to the honest and good-humoured face of Mr. Charles Buller, in the portrait upon the opposite. ]B*ge. But we are bound to assert that Mr. Buller is seldom chat'astfferised by any sternness of look. People, however, will look grave when sitting for their pictures. His face is like his speaking in Parliament; almost too lively and gay to correspond with our general notions as to the proper degree of dulness which ought to belong to a modern member of the Commons. It was a long time before his brother lawgivers could appreciate his wit; and the country (which looks for very different qualities in its great men) has not yet accustomed itself to his simplicity. If he would be a little more pompous, like Sir Robert Peel for instance, or a little more violent, like — here we mention no names, a crowd of his own and the opposite party will answer to the simile — if he would throw into his demeanour the smallest degree more gravity and ostenta- tion, he might attain a most unreasonable reputation and popularity. But he has attained a dangerous character for wit in the House of Commons; which, in this grave and matter-of-fact country, depresses his reputation with the House and the people too. As soon as he rises, the Speaker prepares instantly to be facetious. Mr. Buller says, " Sir, I rise (hear ! hear !) to present a petition from a Baptist congregation in the town of (cheers and laughter), praying that the existing disabilities under which the Dissenters labour (cries of bravo, and laughter from Lord Leveson), may be removed." Mr. Buller then makes a quiet and argumentative, sometimes an eloquent speech, upon the question before the House, and the House laughs all the way through; for Mr. Buller has the character for wit, and he would be dull who listened to him gravely. His speech upon the Ballot in 1835; his speech on the Irish Municipal Bill in February of this year ; and his admirable speech on Church Rates last May (the best speech of the night, perhaps of the session), have hardly D 18 CHARLES BULLER, ESQ., M.P. convinced the House, that he is fit for more than to cut jokes, or tickle legislators with points of wit. We must own, however, that the disadvantage, if any accrue to his character, from the reputation which he enjoys, is much of his own seeking and fault. He has looked too lightly and laughingly upon many subjects, which he might have pursued with better and stronger reason. Jokes, perhaps, flow more readily to his lips than arguments, and he has indulged in this indolent and facetious vein perhaps too liberally. His speech on the Record Commission, for instance, in which his case against the Commissioners was admirably put, we read over the other day, almost with pain, it is so disfigured by jokes of this description. If Mr. Duller were to look at that speech now, he would mourn over the dead and flat facetiousness about " rats," and " cats," and " stalactites,"* which deform it. It is true that there was an object in this ridicule, thtit the commission and the members of it, Don Roberto Inglis, and " el miilto nobre " Watkin William Wynne, were received throughout the country with a universal hoot of laughter and contempt. It is true that Mr. Duller upon this motion, got a Select Committee, of which he was chairman, and which in the course of a long and most laborious investigation proved that the industry and the objects of the Committee were far more serious than the speech of its founder — but Mr. Duller had better have never made the speech for all that. " Don't you keep people to do this for you?" said the grave old Turk to the English Captain who was dancing. In the same manner in England, re- garding jokes — people admire them, but they do not admire jokers. All Mr. DuUer's efforts in the House have been injured by this unlucky reputation. His excellent speech upon the Church Rate Dill, which we have mentioned, and that on the Irish Municipal Dill, have shown the House, however, how much higher is the ground he can take, and of what much nobler materials he is made. They are admirable in reason and style, clear, sarcastic^ argumentative, and eloquent some- times: and there is this great praise due to Mr. Duller, that he never contents himself with merely combating an abuse, — he proposes a remedy. In this respect, he is particidarly distinguished from the * Speech on Record Commission, Feb. 1836. CHARLES DULLER, ESQ., M. P. 19 lierd of " legislators," and even marked out for distinction above some of tlie rarer spirits. How many can pnll down who cannot build up ! How many can prove that one path is wrong-, who cannot point out to us the right one ! We could number up a half-dozen of " first-rate minds," according to common repute, which have, in- deed, the faculty of tearing an opposing argument to tatters, but which are totally incapable of laying down the basis of the true one. Such persons can extinguish the light whi^h the enemy holds to us, but have no lamp of their own by which to guide us through the dark. There are few men of Mr. BuUer's party who have his perfect and unaffected good judgment, (none except Mr. Grote,) who have the constructive and statesman-like qualities of the member for Liskeard. Mr. Duller is rather of the Gironde than of the Mountain ; his habits and taste (perhaps his health, also, which is delicate,) keep him aloof from the public display and the " agitation" of other reformers. Thus, in the radical meetings and the conclaves of patriots, who are more noisy though not more sincere, his voice is seldom heard, and his name not often mentioned. But though he has not any of the turbulent claims to popularity which belong to some other men of his party, though he is not very powerful out of the House, none are more attentive in it, more eagerly listened to, more sedulous in the discharge of public business when public interest demands their attendance. Mr. Duller has not learned his liberalism in a family school. Some gentlemen of his name advocate opposite principles in the House ; as did, for a long time, his own immediate family and con- nexions. In the good old times the Dullers possessed a great portion of the patronage and power which belonged to the county of Cornwall. His grandfather, we believe, nominated no less than six members to parliament for various boroughs in that county. His father, Mr. Charles Duller, was a younger son of Mr. Duller of Morval, and was for a long time in India, in the civil service of the East India Company. He was for several years member for West Looe, one of the boroughs in the nomination of his family ; which place the member for Liskeard also represented in the outset of his parliament.iry career. IMr. Charles Duller, junior, lost his seat for that borough because he voted for the Reform Dill ; and the consequence was, that, Avhen West Looe was placed in Schedule A., 20 CHARLES DULLER, ESQ., M.P. Mr. BiiUcr, on llie popular interest, was returned for Liskeard, with as much unanimity as if he had had all the family influence to back him. His conduct and opinions in parliament are best exemplified by liis votes. He voted against the Corn Laws ; against flogging in the army ; for triennial parliaments ; for the removal of Bishops from the House of Lords ; against the property qualification for members ; for the Poor Law Amendment ; against the repeal of the Malt Tax ; cigainst the rate-paying clauses of the Reform Bill ; for the system of National Education ; and the repeal of the Stamp Duty on News- papers. Mr. Buller is not quite thirty-one years of age : he was born at Calcutta in August, 1806. He was educated at Harrow; afterwards at the university of Edinburgh ; and then at Trinity College, Cam- bridge. Even there he was famous for his liberalism, and for the wit against which w^e have been crying out; and a noted orator at the Union, in the best days of that famous debating society. We do not believe that he took any great share in university struggles oi honours. He took his Bachelor's degree in 1828. He is a Barrister of Lincoln's Inn ; called in 1831 ; and made his first speech in parliament in 1830, upon Mr. Davenport's motion for Liquiring into the State of the Country. The principal motions which he has brought forward, are, an Amendment on the second reading of the Irish Coercion Bill, in 1833 ; an Inquiry into the State of Public Records, in February, 1836 ; an Intjuiry into the Law of Controverted Elections, at the same period ; and an Amendment on the Established Church Bill, in July, 1836. On the motions relative to Public Records and Elections, select committees were appointed, of which he acted as chairman. These committees made reports (the first, after a most laborious inquiry) ; in consequence of which Mr. Buller introduced two Bills on those two subjects, both of which are now pending in parliament. Mr. Buller writes with elegance and force : this opinion is founded, however, upon an acquaintance with only one or two specimens of his literary composition. He has contributed articles to the Foreign Quarterly, to the British and Foreign, and the London and West- minster Reviews. ENraLSSXD Br H. ROBINS OK, n ^- x^- '^ // T 21 JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M. P. Whex the subject of this memoir presented himself, about five years ago, as a candidate for the suffrages of the electors of the city of Bath, a demand was " thundered out " — we need not particularise the quarter — of " Who is Mr. Roebuck?" If a quaint form of ex- pression might be allowed, we should say that he has converted that note of interrogation into a note of admiration. He has deprived alike the advoccites of small reform, and the enemies of all reform, of any pleasure that might accrue from a contemptuous repetition of the question — "Who is Mr. Roebuck?" Neither the prevarication of the one, nor the effrontery of the other, will now dare to impeach the justice of the claim to reputation which Mr. Roebuck has, with striking rapidity, established and secured. Nbr was his name, at that time, either wholly obscure in a literary sense, or devoid of that interest which attaches to a descent from a public benefactor. The grandfather of this expounder of Radical philosophy was Dr. John Roebuck, whom we find mentioned in Chalmers' Biographical Dictionary with high honour, as " an eminent physician and great benefactor to Scotland." We cannot better in- troduce our sketch of Mr. Roebuck's career, than by offering a brief account of the character and pursuits of such a man. Dr. Roebuck acquired the foundation of that classical taste and knowledge, for which he was afterwards distinguished, at an academy kept by Dr. Doddridge. At the University of Edinburgh, and next at Leyden (then the first medical school in Europe), he pursued an arduous course of study, took his doctor's degree, and settled at Birmingham. Here new studies and new objects, extending greatly beyond those of his profession, became opened to his mind. He conceived high views of extending the usefulness of chemistry, and rendering it subservient to the improvement of arts and manufactures. Having fitted up a small laboratory, the first eftbrts of his genius and industry led him to the discovery of certain improved methods of 22 JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M.P- refining' g-old and silver, and particularly of an ingenious method of collecting the smaller particles of the precious metals which had formerly been lost in practical operations. Improvements in refer- ence to the production of sublimate, hartshorn, and other articles of importance, and successful experiments in preparing, by a cheaper and easier process, that essential to the ends of chemistry, sulphuric acid — were among the early rewards of his enthusiasm. These suc- cesses led him to associate with a gentleman of enterprising spirit, in the establishment of various works favourable to the manufacturing operations of the time. Among these was an extensive iron manu- factory on the banks of the river Carron, with the view of following out some discoveries which he had made, in studying the processes of smelting iron-stone, by which that operation might be greatly facilitated. The zeal and ability with which this object was pursued, were best manifested in the successful results ; the advantages which Scotland has derived from that (then) grand and difficult undertak- ing are undeniable. Dr. Roebuck greatly promoted the ends of science, and forwarded also the interests of more than one illustrious agent in scientific discovery. We need only mention the name of Watt, which Dr. Roebuck is represented to have had the honour of rendering better known both in Scotland and England. His active genius, however, did not rest here ; but, unhappily for his own fortunes, found a wide field of speculation in the extensive coal and salt works of the Duke of Hamilton, of which he became lessee. We quote his biographer for the result, which was, that " after many years of labour and industry, there were sunk in this project not only his own and the considerable fortune brought him by his wife, but the regular profits of his more successful works : and along with these, what distressed him above every thing, great sums of money borrowed from his relations and friends; not to mention that from the same cause, he was, during the last twenty years of his life, subject to a constant succession of hopes and disappointments — to a course of labour and drudgery ill suited to his taste and turn of mind — to the irksome and teasing business of managing and studying the humours of working colliers. But all these disappoint- ments his persevering spirit would have overcome, if the never- ceasing demand of his coal works, after having exhausted the profits. JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M.P. 23 liatl not also compelled him to withdraw his capital from all his different works in succession : from the refining work at Birmingham, the vitriol work at Preston Pans, the iron works at Carron, as well as to part with his interest in the project of improving the steam-engine, in which he had become a partner with Mr. ^yatt, the original in- ventor, and from which he had reason to hope for future emolument." His fortune, it may be supposed, never recovered the effect of these losses. It is painful to contemplate the disappointment of a mind equally fitted to enjoy the " high attainments of science and the elegant amusements of taste," his family suffering by the ruinous adventure — an honourable character and a sense of meritorious exertion alone surviving to console them. For literary occupation his practical life afforded little leisure ; yet he has left some essays, read in the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, which suffi- ciently testify to his talents, knowledge, and boldness of design. Preserving his spirit and good-humour to the last he died at the age of seventy-six, on the 17th of July, 1794. If this zealous labourer in the vineyard of usefulness, whose claim to respect rests upon his practical pursuit of good, sought through a long life to promote arts and manufactures rather than to " establish theories and hypotheses," it must be acknowledged that his grandson's aims have still higher objects — his endeavours a still wider scope. He has devoted himself early in life to the working out of " theories and hypotheses," which, whatever the practical operation of them may permanently be, are undoubtedly based upon principles less questionable even than those upon which great manufacturing expe- riments are made, and great workshops multiplied — upon principles " deep almost as life," identified with the moral improvement and the political existence of a people ; and indestructible so long as mind reigns over matter, and the course of human advancement flows on certain and unswerving as the tides. John Arthur Roebuck, whose father was the third son of the doctor, and who, on the maternal side, is, we believe, descended from the poet Tickell, the friend of Addison, and his under secretary of state, was born on the 28th of December, 1802. His present poli- tical sympathies with the condition of the dependencies of Great Britain, may have had an origin in early associations, for his birth- 24 JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M.P. place was Madras (Calcutta, as we have seen, having given birth to his political compatriot, Mr. Charles Duller). Perhaps Mr. Roe- buck would at once terminate any curious speculation of the reader's as to the scene of his education or the classical dignity of his teachers, by candidly, and perhaps proudly, claiming the merit of " having educated himself." However this may be, he is under- stood to be in no important respect deficient in elegant and scholar- like acquirements. That these have given point and finish to tlie speculations of a naturally inquiring and penetrative mind, has been apparent perhaps in some of his political addresses and orations, but still more in his miscellaneous writings of a critical and philosophical character. Some of the earliest of these worth specifying are the con- tributions to the Westminster Review; to which, if we remember, as well as to those which have appeared in the London and Westminster, the initials of the writer are afiixed. It was by his periodical con- tributions to literature that he first became known ; and next as the author of a Life of Mahomet, written for the Society for the Dif- fusion of Useful Knowledge. In the meantime, he had been pursuing a course of legal studies with earnestness and success — studies in which the natural conforma- tion of his mind, more perhaps than his physical temperament, quali- fied him to succeed. The result and reward of his labours was, his admission as a barrister of the Inner Temple, in the year 1832 ; the same year in which the promise he had given as an expositor of radical truths, and the confidence he had excited in the minds of several leading members of the liberal party, were signally marked by a formal recommendation of hhn, on the part of Mr. Hume, to the electors of Bath, then eager to enrol themselves among the radical constituencies of the kino:dom. His addresses to the electors did not disappoint expectation, and he was chosen member for that city at the first election under the reform bill. His first speech in parliament was delivered on the motion for the address : it was like many of his subsequent efforts, spirited, but not brilliant ; indicative of talent, but not exhibiting any rich resources of mind ; pointed, sarcastic, sometimes searching, but neither novel in its arguments, nor comprehensive in its plan. There were, however, in many of his succeeding addresses to the house, a readiness and an adroitness — a JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M. P. 25 tact — which seemed to denote that Mr. Roebuck would take rank rather among tlie skilful debaters, than the higher order of minds that form the class of thoughtful legislators and accomplished states- men. More recent events have tended to ripen in him a power which promises to ensure him, on his return to parliament, a place of high honour, one for which the combined qualities of the prompt debater, and the high-principled statesman, can alone create a qualification. To these we shall presently advert. To exhibit the course which Mr. Roebuck pursued upon entering parliament, and which he has with undeviating consistency followed up to the present day, it is only necessary to refer to the votes which he has given upon some of the leading questions of radical policy. We may enumerate his votes in favour of the ballot, triennial par- liaments, repeal of the rate-paying clauses of the reform bill, for the removal of the bishops from the House of Lords, for a property-tax, a repeal of tlie corn-laws, &c. — against flogging in the army, the laws of primogeniture, the property qualification of members, &c. lie has also originated, in two sessions of parliament, motions in favour of a system of national education, and one recently for an inquiry into the state of the Canadas. He is well known, moreover, to be an advocate for reforms of a wider and more deeply principled nature, than any that are likely to find favour in the house which assumes the title of reformed; for example, the principle of election in the House of Peers, free trade, the separation of church and state, the abolition of the penny stamp that shuts out the light of a free press, parliaments annually elected, and a franchise that should exclude no sane man in the three kingdoms from the right of repre- sentation, while he contributes to the taxation of the country. Mr. Roebuck has more than once triumphed in a contested elec- tion for Bath ; the development of his talents, and consistency of character, strengthening his claims from contest to contest. We must not omit to mention, that one of the most personally important results of his connexion with Bath, was his marriage in 1833, with Henrietta, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Falconer of that city, "the author of several learned works, and formerly Bampton Lecturer at Oxford." The political result was, such a gradually acquired strength of position in the House of Commons, as, supported by his constant enforcement E 2G JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M. P. of Canadian claims, and a residence of some years in the Canadas, led to Lis appointment as agent for the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, by that House, which took place in February, 1835. The immediate causes of this appointment, which is assuredly complimen- tary, and probably no less profitable to Mr. Roebuck, were the dis- putes still pendhig between the executive government and the House of Assembly. It appears that Mr, Roebuck went out to Canada when a mere boy, with his father-in-law, and only left that province in 1824, for the purpose of studying law in this country. One of his earliest con- tributions to the Westminster Review, was an article on Canada, in which he showed that nearly all the evils connected with the civil government there, are attributable to the constitution of the council, (the second branch of the legislature,) and that the remedy is to abolish the said council. The Canadians, however, are in the habit of looking to the United States for models of all matters of govern- ment, and therefore it is, that they demand an elective council, in order to render the second chamber a senate. In 1834, Mr. Roebuck brought the question before the House of Commons, and made an admirable exposition of the grievances of the Canadians, as explained in the ''ninety-two resolutions" of the Assembly. At that time the Assembly had an agent here ; a respected member of the Montreal bar, the Honourable Dennis B. Viger. But he was invariably treated with neglect by the Colonial Office, so that the Assembly had become disgusted with the conduct of the imperial government, and a dis- position very generally prevailed to have no agent in England ; in short, "to cut with the Colonial Oflftce." This was the feeling, when the Convention sat at Montreal, in 1834. At this time, however, it was suggested that Parliament and the press had not been tried, that these two instruments held out some hope, and that through them one more effort should be made to impress upon government and the people of England, a due sense of the grievances to which the Canadians were subjected. Accordingly, a petition, drawn up and signed by the Convention, was entrusted to an ardent advocate of Canadian interests, Mr. H. S. Chapman, with instructions to confer with Mr. Roebucl<, Mr. O'Connell, and Mr. Hume, on the state of Canadian grievances. JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M. P. 27 This was in December, 1834. In February, the question of a par- liamentary agent was discussed in the Assembly, and Mr. Roebuck was very properly appointed. Soon after this appointment, in June 1835, Mr. Roebuck com- menced the publication of a series of political " Pamphlets for the People," in which, assisted by some literary friends, he discussed the politics of the time ; the work, exempted from the stamp duty, commanded a considerable sale. His object was, to supply the industrious classes with, as far as might be, a kind of substitute for a stamped journal, to disseminate really "useful" knowledge, and thus to smooth the way for a total repeal of the law by which news- papers were withheld from the masses. The project was carried on with much spirit for a period of nine months ; but the circumstances of the time, and the parliamentary avocations of the editor, led to its abandonment. Not, however, before Mr. Roebuck, as the author of some strictures which need not be particularised, had become involved in an " atlair of honour" with Mr. Black (the editor of the Morning Chronicle), which, after two exchanges of shots, terminated in the parties separating, probably as little satisfied with each other as before. Mr. Roebuck evinced his spirit, without proving himself to be either right or wrong on the original point of dispute. He had previously placed himself in an "awkward position" by an indis- criminate and intemperate attack upon the whole body of political editors, subeditors, contributors, and reporters; in not one of whom could the " evil eye" with which, in his bitterness of spirit, he contem- plated the press, perceive a redeeming point of talent or honour. The conductors of the press, in short, were en masse a composition of ignorance and degradation — they were idiots and hirelings com- bined. Mr. Roebuck found it necessary to explain and retract in several instances ; but the virulence and injustice of so general an assault injured him in the estimation of many, as denoting an infirmity of temper, and a want of that self-respect and calm control over his own feelings, which should be the characteristics of a man occupying the station to which he had been called. It m.ust be owned that for a considerable period there was apparent, in the general tone and manner of Mr. Roebuck, a petulance and sourness — a " waspishness," perhaos, not to use the phrase offensively — that 28 JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M. P. materially weakened his position in tlie House, by detracting from the cordial appreciation which his powers would otherwise have com- manded. Even by his own party, at least by the hangers-on of the party, he did not appear to be thoroughly liked. His Canadian appointment gave him importance; his increasing practice in debate, and mature experience in parliamentary usages, his legal attainments and better cultivated powers, whether displayed in discussion in the House, or in the proceedings of committees, all tended favourably towards the establishment of that importance ; yet there was too fre- quently something in his manner that impeded his progress, prevented him from attaining due weight, and made him feel the difference between catching the eye of the Speaker, and commanding the ear of the House. His popularity out of doors, however, was not so retarded. In popular assemblies he stood up a favourite among the favourites ; and made progress, not more by the boldness and breadth of the principles he advocated, than by the freedom, fervour, and ability which he brought to their advancement. It is possible, perhaps, that in some quarters, where spleen was likely to be mistaken for strength, irritability for an honest indignation, and impatience for a generous enthusiasm, that the very causes of a want of command in the House of Legislation promoted his popularity, and increased the number of his adherents. But the judicious saw these symptoms of an infirm temper, and an apparently ill-regulated mind, with regret : many of his best friends with apprehension. Let it be now stated, as an excuse that admits of no question, but claims free acceptation, that all this time Mr. Roebuck's state of health was irregular and delicate, and that his mind when in exercise upon a course of policy pursued, or the conduct of political men, was too often maintaining a contest with his body. How frequently is it necessary to inquire into the condition of the stomach of a statesman, before we can perfectly un- derstand the real construction of his mental and moral character. Mr. Roebuck's healtji, however, gradually amended, and at the commencement of the present year, he felt strong enough to say and do all that he was deemed capable of by those who best understood the quality of his mind. The moment was favourable. Past events and present prospects impressed the party to which he belonged with JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M. P. 29 a conviction, that " something must be done" — that " somebody must speak out." The game which the Liberal Ministry had played, and still meant to play, was manifestly, in their eyes, a losing one for the people. With the new session, a new course must be begun ; the fallacy of the Whig argument must be laid bare ; the hollowness of the Whig principle of reform must be exposed ; the fruitlessness of acting over again the farce of the preceding session must be demon- strated ; and the great democratic principle of legislation must be distinctly and unreservedly laid down. There must be no further mistake : the Radical doctrine must be asserted, illustrated, and explained, so as to be intelligible ever after to the " meanest capa- city " in the House of Commons. To what extent this sense of the necessity of speaking out, and of running every risk of snapping the bond which held the Whig and Radical in union, was felt by the party to which Mr. Roebuck belonged, need not, if it could, be ascertained. It is enough that Mr. Roebuck himself felt it ; that he resolved to express it ; that he incurred the risks and the responsibilities freely ; that he set per- sonal considerations at defiance ; and stood up, on the opening night of the session of the present year, to rend and scatter the sophistries by which the ministerial course of action had been supported ; to exhibit the utter weakness of the w^eapon by which the giant enemy was, through another session, to be assaulted ; to expose the insanity or the hypocrisy of persevering in the old course ; to review the past, and prophesy of the future ; and to startle the aristocratic ear with an undaunted proclamation of the genius and philosophy of democratic government. For the singular steadiness and unsurpassed ability with which, right or wrong, he said what he designed to say, under circumstances of hostility on one side, and worse than hesi- tation on the other, calculated to excite dismay in many orators, and distrust even in the boldest, it is only necessary to refer to the memory of the whole public. This spirit was not abated as the session advanced ; Mr. Roebuck spoke frequently upon leading questions, and maintained the advanced ground which he had won. He did not fail, however, to support Ministers, while urging them to a quicker pace, and a more decided policy, and representing in its full force "the pressure from without." 30 JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK, ESQ., M. P. That this course procured him no good will from the Whigs may be true; but that through this, or any other manifestation of Radicalism, he lost his election for Bath in August last, may safely be denied. That failure was attributable to Tory intimidation, but still more to Tory registration, and not to Whig hostility or indifference; else, why was General Palmer rejected as well as Mr. Roebuck? Mr. Roebuck's genius has not hitherto manifested itself in inven- tion or discovery ; but he has a quick ear for truth, and great powers in combining the thoughts and speculations of his predecessors, so as to adapt them with the best practical effect to the times. Absence from parliament for a season may be of seiTice to him — he will not be long out of action. ENGasvED BriLEaait/saN. '^7^M0.'/;/r /^/////T////. /^f/ (/My n]/^. 31 EIGHT HON. WM. VISCOUNT MELBOURNE, FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY, &c. &c. At the commencement of a new reign, and on the eve of the assembling of a parliament elected, unlike the last, at a period when liberal advisers surround the sovereign, and reform is presumed to be in fashion at court, every fact and circumstance that may in the slightest degree influence the mind in forming a judgment of the character of the premier, is felt to be unusually interesting and sicrnificant. "What can we reason but from what we know?" and although, upon reviewing the circumstances of the time and the course too commonly pursued by public men, the past appears to offer but in few individual instances a ground whereon to build an accurate estimate of the future, yet every man's life presents some character- istic and distinctive points for speculation as to its onward course — *' pegs to hang a doubt on," or a hope — landmarks fixed and palpable enough to enable us to see whether it be a deceptive mirage, or a solid and level pathway, that is spread before us. If we glance back upon the political career of Lord Melbourne, we see nothing that could induce in any mind, that would speculate upon the future from the events of the past, a mistrust of the minis- terial course at this critical point in the progress of reform. So far as the premier's own disposition and intentions are concerned, a reference to his past life, whether in or out of office, would seem to give assurance that the great cause with which he is now identified will kindle in him more and more a spirit of devotion and enthusiasm. In Lord Melbourne's parliamentary life, we find none of those in- consistencies and contradictions of which so much of the political biography of the age is made up, and which have struck to the very root of that public faith in the integrity and honour of public men, 32 RIGHT HON. WILLIAxM VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. wherein we find so strong but simple a guarantee of the generosity and virtue of a nation. His political motto seems to have been — "But soft— by regular approach — not yet." His fire is not of that sort which " bursts out into sudden blaze ;" it has burnt up, even from the smallest possible spark, by slow degrees. The tree which now bears better fruit, hard and sour as it may some- times be, than any that has in the present age been gathered in Downing Street, was but a sickly and unpromising shoot, planted in a cold soil, springing up in comparative obscurity, and scarcely inviting through a long season the hand of culture. The premier's wisdom did not start into life, armed at all points, full-grown and perfect ; it was, for years after its birth, an infant still, increasing in strength and stature, but yet slender, weak, and timorous. His political " build " gave little prognostication of the " Atlantean shoul- ders" that alone are framed to bear " The weight of mightiest monarchies." Nor on that brow, which in its smoothness seemed satisfied will) the world unreformed, or appeared to brood only on the means of dis- covering a new pleasure, did we ever expect to see " Dehberation sit, and public care." What Shakspeare says of greatness, may with as much truth be said of reform ; some are born reformers, some achieve reform, and some have reform thrust upon them. Lord Melbourne was not like Mr. O'Connell, " a reformer in his cradle," — nor has he undergone the humiliation of having reform thrust upon him, like the Duke of Wellington, when he saw himself compelled to admit Mr. O'Connell into the parliament of protestantism. His has been the middle course ; he has " achieved" reform. He has taken the slow and sure path. His telescope of observation has been drawn out by measured degrees. He has opened his eyes wider and wider, as the day of enlightenment wore on ; and in proportion as the prospect grew be- neath his gaze, his progress also increased, perhaps, unconsciously — his step quickened — and his march forward became firm, unreluctant, and assured. It is true that in the judgment of the great body of the reformers, his ministerial march has not been rapid and decisive RIGHT irON. WILLIAM VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. 33 enoiigli ; yet looking to the leader's early opinions and associations, and to the influences that have operated upon his judgment during- upwards of a quarter of a century, we must rather give him credit for the steadfastness and the extent of his views, than censure him for his imperfect and narrow perceptions. While many reformers of his " order " have cooled. Lord Melbourne has gradually warmed ; while many more who commenced with ardour, have remained sta- tionary in spite of the changes of the time and fresh developments of opinion. Lord Melbourne has advanced (such as his ideas of advancement are) with the spirit of the age, and equally in liberality of sentiment and dignity of position has outstripped more hopeful competitors for distinction. This is much in his favour. It may be taken as an indication, if not as an assurance, that his progress has been the progress of principle, the movement of conscientious con- viction, the eifect of a gradual acquirement of political foresight and courage ; instead of a mercenary and contemptible compromise with his own opinions, and a surrender of his sense of truth, of right, and of justice, at the shrine of expediency — where so many of his con- temporaries have yielded up for sordid and vulgar ends, all that would have rendered them in the eyes of their countrymen, morally re- spectable, however politically imbecile. Lord Melbourne is, we believe, the first of his family who has risen to high rank in the state, although several of his ancestors were not unknown in the political world. Sir Matthew Lamb, of Brocket Hall, Herts, (Lord M.'s grandfather,) represented Peterborough in three parliaments, and was created a baronet in 1755. Peniston Lamb, son and successor of Sir Matthew, was raised to the peerage of Ireland in 1770, by the title of Lord Melbourne, baron of Kilmore, having previously sat in parliament for the borough of Marlborough. This nobleman was created an Irish Viscount in 1781, and finally elevated to the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1815, as Baron Melbourne, in the county of Derby. The present peer (eldest surviving son of the preceding) was born March 15, 1779, and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. The only domestic event of Lord Melbourne's early life, to which we need advert, is his marriage, in 1805, with Lady Caroline Pon- sonby, (daughter of the Earl of Besborough,) well known for her F 34 RIGHT HON. WILLIAM VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. literary talents as Lady Caroline Lamb. Li these sketches, professedly political, we do not intend to enter needlessly into the details of private life, for the gratification of an idle and sickly curiosity, but to confine ourselves for the most part to those broad and striking features of character, which alone constitute the claim of a statesman to general observation. The reader will, therefore, be spared all useless epi- sodical remark on the fate and peculiarities of this accomplished but unfortunate lady. In the same year that he assumed the conjugal yoke, the Hon. William Lamb entered upon the laborious duties of public life. As member for Leominster, he immediately joined the Whig party, which was then headed by the illustrious Charles James Fox. In thus acting, there are readers who will think that he offered presumptive evidence of that sound sense and liberal feeling which have for the most part characterized his subsequent career. Whatever objections may be urged against the Whigs, either as a party or as individuals, it is clear that a broad and bright line of distinction is to be drawn between them and their antagonists, the Tories. The Whigs, although at times practically wrong, are seldom so on system. They fail generally from political timidity — from a want of that force and perspicacity of mind which are indispensably necessary for carrying good principles into eflBcient operation. The Whigs in theory fully acknowledge the glorious right and duty of progression in the science of government : — that the people of the present day have the same right as their ancestors to improve in- herited institutions; that the Reform Bill was a measure as justifiable in itself, and as much in the natural course of events, as that change of dynasty which the most bigoted of Tories now hail as the "glorious Revolution of 1688." Mr. Lamb, ever on the rio-ht side of this broad bright line of distinction, has in later years defended its practical points more strenuously than many of his party seem disposed to do. Mr. Lamb, at the general election of 1806, (caused by the accession of the Whigs to office on the death of Pitt,) became member for a district of Scotch burghs, and in December of that year moved the address in answer to the King's speech. The tenure of office by the Whigs was very short. They retired honourably in 1807, rather than renounce their principles with refer- RIGHT HON. WILLIAM VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. 35 ence to the propriety of granting Catholic emancipation — a measure which, two-and-tvventy years afterwards, they saw tlicir adversaries compelled to concede, under an avowed apprehension of civil war, and after a bigoted opposition to it, which had been a continual source of danger, distraction, and expense to the empire. Mr. Lamb was elected member for the borough of Portarlington in 1807; for Peterborough in 1816, and again in 1818. He was chosen as one of the representatives of the county of Hertford in 1819, and re-elected in 1820. During many years of the long and chequered administrations of Perceval and Liverpool, Mr. Lamb continued in a course of moderate opposition, occasionally supporting the measures of government. In 1822, he appears to have considered that the gradually relaxing- policy of ministers claimed from him a more frequent support ; and this, without relinquishing the maintenance of the great principle of his party, that of Catholic emancipation, he freely accorded them, provoking now and then a reproach from some of the most zealous of his Whig friends. On the accession of Canning to office, five years afterwards (in 1S27), he identified himself with the semi-liberal politics of that brilliant rhetorician, but domineering and inconsistent statesman, by accepting the office of Secretary for Ireland. Mr. Canning, whose administration lasted only from April to August (when it closed with his death), was succeeded by Lord Goderich. In the following January, this feeble minister resigned the helm of power, which w^as then consigned to the energetic though unskilful guidance of the Duke of Wellington. Under Lord Goderich Mr. Lamb retained the Irish Secretaryship, and continued to serve with the Wellington administration, until the "retirement" of Mr. Hus- kisson in 1828 induced him to resign. The death of his father occurring a few w'eeks afterwards, occasioned his removal to the House of Lords. The prominent portion of Lord Melbourne's life commenced in 1830, with the formation of the ministry of Earl Grey. On this occasion Lord M. was appointed Secretary of State for the Home Department, and with some memorable exceptions, fulfilled its duties satisfactorily. The ill-ordered and worse-defended afl:air of Calthorpe Street, in 1832, was the first occurrence that shook the public confidence in his 36 RIGHT HON. WILLIAM VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. judgment and liberality. A little preventive sagacity might easily, in the opinion of persons not disposed to subject the ministry to rigid criticism, have obviated the disgraceful occurrences ; a little humanity afterwards in prosecuting inquiries, would have lessened the odium which this event attached to the ministry. Again, in 1834, an im- mense number of the working classes walked in procession to Lord Melbourne's office in Whitehall, in order to solicit a repeal of the sentence that had been passed on the Dorchester labourers — a sen- tence which, in its severity, at least equals any recorded incident of a similar nature during the legal despotism of Gibbs and Ellenborough. Lord Melbourne, however, and his colleagues, had not sufficient magnanimity to pay homage to the fine feeling of humanity and justice that occasioned tlie peaceable display ; but appear to have regarded it merely as a rude and vulgar attempt to interrupt the course of law. The objectionable sentence was not finally rescinded on principle, but essentially because the Orangemen, both in England and Ireland, had been led by their bigoted absurdities into a dan- gerous and illegal position. It is with pain we record these particular events in Lord Melbourne's career; but duty to the public, and even an enlightened feeling of regard for erring statesmen, equally require that the truth should be spoken on such occasions ; more especially when it is to be feared that convictions and feelings have been sacri- ficed, from anxiety to conciliate enemies whose secret contempt is much more dangerous than their avowed hostility. Lord Grey resigned early in July, 1834, from circumstances arising out of that fatal concession to the genius of Toryism, the Irish Coer- cion Bill. Much good was effected during his administration, and much more would doubtless have been done, had that nobleman possessed political courage equal to his other endowments. On the 14th of the same month, Lord Melbourne announced that he had been appointed Premier, and empowered to reconstruct the administration. The difficulties he had to contend aofainst at this important juncture were still greater than those which beset his pre- decessor; Lord M., however, struggled bravely with them, till the close of the session, which took place in August. A great chauge, and ultimately a great triumph, now awaited him. In November of this year (1834) died Earl Spencer, father of the RIGHT HON. WILLIAM VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. 37 then Lord Altliorp, a circumstance which occasioned a vacancy in the important office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and immediately led to a dissolution of the Ministry. In an interview which Lord Mel- bourne obtained with the King-, in order to announce the event, he received the unexpected information that, under all circumstances, His Majesty considered the secession of Lord Althorp equivalent to a breaking-up of the Ministry. The Duke of Wellington, who had no doubt long' been the object of secret predilection at Court, was entrusted with the formation of a new one. His Grace " recommended his friend, Sir Robert Peel," and parliament was forthwith dissolved. The new parliament met in February, 1835, and great hopes were entertained by the Tories that the plausible tactics of Sir Robert Peel would suffice to bring back their ^' long- summer-day" of quiet enjoy- ment. The result of the election for Speaker of the House of Com- mons showed, however, the insecure foundation on which their theories were based. In the Upper House, Lord Melbourne moved an amend- ment to the address, in which their lordships were made to express a hope that His Majesty's councils would be conducted in the spirit of well-considered reform ; and to lament the dissolution of the late Parliament, as having interrupted and endangered the vigorous pro- secution of measures to w^hich the wishes of the people were directed. The proposed amendment led to an angry debate on the causes of the late change of Ministry, but Lord M. did not press his motion to a division. The unpopular Peel-Wellington administration contended till April against adverse votes in the Commons; but on the 8th of that month the two leaders announced in their respective houses that, in conse- quence of the recent resolution of the House of Commons, on the Irish Tithe question, the Ministers had tendered the resignation of their offices, and only waited the appointment of their successors. Ere the lapse of a century, it is to be hoped posterity will be so far enlightened as scarcely to credit the monstrous fact, that on this as on other occasions, the Tory bigots, backed by some renegade Whigs, refused to concede the very reasonable proposition which merely sought to appropriate the surplus of Irish ecclesiastical income, to purposes of general education, after making ample provision for the maintenance of the Protestant faith ! 38 RIGHT HON. WILLIAM VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. The two Houses adjourned for a short space, in order to allow for making the necessary arrangements in the executive government, and on the 18th of April, Lord Melbourne announced that he and his colleagues had been sworn into office. One of the first and most beneficial acts of Lord Melbourne's second ministry, was the appointment of Lord Mulgrave to the Lord Lieu- tenancy of Ireland. It is in this important portion of the empire that the healing effects of a liberal Ministry have been chiefly felt and appreciated. The principles of liberty and reform have taken too deep root in England and Scotland to be eradicated, or perhaps even materially injured, by any change in the executive government. But in Ireland the laws have so long: been framed and administered in an exclusive and intolerant spirit, that had Lord Melbourne's ministry achieved no other good than the tranquillity of Ireland, their accession to office would have formed a subject of warm congratulation to all lovers of freedom and justice. Among the principal acts of a liberal tendency which have signalised the second Ministry of Lord Melbourne, may be mentioned the Muni- cipal Reform Bill, the dissolution of the Orange Lodges, and the great reduction in Newspaper Stamps. Many other reforms have been effected, and many more have been delayed (they cannot be finally prevented) by a short-sighted opposition in the House of Lords. In person and manner Lord Melbourne has many advantages. In debate he manifests a spirit of manly candour which bespeaks atten- tion to the soundness of his argument. A polished orator he certainly is not; but he possesses strong sense, and is equally superior to a petty irritability in himself, and a petty malice towards his opponents. There is a notion abroad that Lord Melbourne is sluggish in his nature, and averse to business ; but we know not that this opinion has any foundation but in Tory scandal. A malignant, and too often successful perseverance in the bestowal of degrading nicknames, and the unfounded imputation of unpopular personal habits, is one of the most common poisoned weapons of the viler portion of the party. None of their mere assertions, however often reiterated, can be safely relied on as facts. Lord Melbourne is not the only member of his Ministry who has been the subject of this species of attack. The best answer they can make to it, and the only one they need, will be RIGHT HON. WILLIAM VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. 30 an active and zealous perseverance in those liberal measures which have earned for their government the good wishes of the public and the hatred of their calumniators. We shall make but brief allusion to the most formidable shape which that hatred has yet ventured to assume. We know not what vile aspect it may yet put on, or what poisoned weapon it may be frantic enough to use, should court influence aid, as it promises to do, the energy of the Cabinet in abolishing English Church-rates, and redressing Irish grievances, civil and religious. On the 22nd June, 1836, a special jury, empannelled to try an action for criminal conversation, in which the Hon. George Norton was the plaintiff', and Lord Melbourne the defendant, delivered after a minute's deliberation a verdict in his Lordship's favour. The daring and desperate character of the expedients to which the enemies of the Melbourne ministry will not scruple to resort, was glaringly evinced upon this occasion. All deference to personal delicacy, all respect for private character and for public morality, was, in the eagerness of the Tories to strike a deadly blow at the reputation, and therefore at the official existence of the premier, most unblushingly set aside. The arrow, so far as his Lordship was concerned, happily missed its aim. The more reflecting and just-minded portion of the people only saw in the bitter and implacable animosity of the common enemy, a token that the Minister was not unworthy of confidence and respect. They read, in the story of his persecution, something like a certificate of the uprightness of his intentions and the constancy of his purpose. It was impossible that a discriminating eye could look with indifference or suspicion upon a character which the anti-nation 1 party deemed it worth while to honour with such wilful and malig- nant aspersions. To the slight speculation already offered upon the principle which governs the present policy of Lord Melbourne, we may add our impression that his Lordship would not hesitate to " enlarge his measures" in exact proportion to the demand, constitutionally and unequivocally made, by the great thinking masses of the people of these kingdoms. There is or was a pretty schoolboy maxim, rich in meaning, which, however expressed, may be thus rendered, " those who ask, are not to have ; those who ask not, want not." Upon this 40 RIGHT HON. WILLIAM VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. maxim, the Whigs have been too generally prone to act. Lord Melbourne, we conceive, adopts only the latter half of the conclusive rule. Those who have wants must make them known, if they expect redress at his hands. With him, a grievance must be declared, before it can hope for cure. He is not the p?'eiLV chevalier of liberal premiers ; he laughs at the notion of volunteering for a forlorn ho})e ; he is no knight-errant in politics, no ministerial Quixote, no sleep- less and ungovernable enthusiast in the cause of reform. To him, this is not the age of chivalry ; nor, if it were, is the prime-minister its pink and flower. His education, habits, character, and experience, all unfit him for tracing out in the social condition of the people the causes of evil, with a view to the application of practical remedies ; but those practical remedies he would not attempt to withhold, the evils of the existing system being laid bare to all eyes, and proclaimed by the voice of a nation. He must have the popular signature to the bond, before he will set his seal to it. He must have the guarantee of a decided majority of the suffering that a great wrong exists, before he deems himself justified in substituting a great right in its place. In short he is formed to follow, rather than to lead, public opinion. The people must help themselves, if they would derive help from him. So was it with the English dissenters on the cliurch-rate question ; so was it with the Irish Catholics in the matter of their many grievances. They spoke out, and found him not unwilling to listen. He will not risk " collision," and agitate society, by gratuitously pressing reforms upon a community indifferent to them. Proffered service, he recollects, has proverbially an ill odour. He will afford society no opportunity of regarding a social improve- ment as a state-impertinence. He will not " unsought be won." But if this view be correct, and Lord Melbourne be constitutionally incapable of anticipating social wants, and volunteering essential reforms, it may be scarcely less confidently asserted, that reforms, steadfastly sought and recognised as needful, will not, if depending upon his will, be reluctantly or ungracefully conceded. ^ X 41 JOHN TEMPLE LEADER, ESQ., M. P. A " faint heart" is no more calculated to charm a free constituency than to win a fair lady. Mr, Leader's political success affords a striking- example of what may be accomplished by a bold spirit evinced in a good cause. He has not been afraid to risk, and his reward has been prompt. He has not hesitated to make a sacrifice, and he has been honourably and triumphantly repaid. Three years ago he was simply a young gentleman of fortune, pursuing a course of wise plea- sure, and storing up practical knowledge as fast as he could gather it, by travelling in other countries, without dreaming of immediate distinction in his own. Two years ago, although a member of parlia- ment, his name had scarcely been heard of beyond the limits of the borough of Bridgewater. A twelvemonth since, although he had then attracted some observation in parliamentary circles both by his talents and independence of character, distinguishing himself from " The mob of gentlemen who vote with ease," at the beck of the minister or the bidding of the opposition-chief, yet nothing appeared less likely than that the youthful, inexperienced, and untried representative of a small constituency should all of a sudden shoot a-head in the race of distinction, obtain possession of a post of high honour, and stand prominently forward in the first rank of popular reformers. No event could have occurred more fortunately for Mr. Leader, than the opportunity which was afforded him, in the spring of the present year, of signalising his political courage, his patriotic enthusiasm, and his personal gallantry and " contempt for costs," by fighting the good fight of principle in the city of ^\'est- minster, against the fine old English Renegade, who had done his utmost (the personification of Falstaff's " Forcible Feeble,") to render morality a mockery, and sincerity a jest. This memorable passage-at-arms, and the victory by which it was so speedily followed, form the chief events in Mr. Leader's political G 42 JOHN TEMPLE LEADER, ESQ., M. P. life, on which a comment may be indulged; his career furnishing- us with little to record, and less to remark upon. John Temple Leader was born on the 7th of May, 1810, at Putney Hill, Surrey; the seat of his father, William Leader, Esq., who was member of parliament, first for Camelford, and afterwards for Win- chelsea, from 1812 to 1826. He received the groundwork of his education at the Charterhouse, and was thence transferred to Christ- church College, Oxford. Released from his books at the usual age, and with a due share of the honours of study, he entered upon a course of that "proper study of mankind" which consists in seeing human life, in some of its most varied, characteristic, and picturesque forms. Mr. Leader did not seek merely the most fashionable scenes, attractive in the eyes of the tourist, or pursue the common hackneyed route, the wonders of which we may make ourselves tolerably acquainted with by consulting the first novel or note-book at the nearest circulating library. Not bounded in his views of foreign sub- jects of interest by Paris and the Rhine, he travelled in several coun- tries of Europe, from Norway to Sicily, and in some he resided a sufficient time to enable him to form a deliberate judgment upon what he saw, to examine the state of society, to watch the operations of government — to speculate, while observing what the people were, upon what they might be made — and thus, by experience, observation, comparison, and thought, to qualify himself, on his return to this country, for the post which it was his ambition to attain, a seat in the council of the nation. His wish was speedily gratified. At the election which succeeded the temporary resumption of office by the Tories in 1834, Mr. Leader was chosen member for Bridgewater. This was in January, 1835. He took his seat in opposition at the commencement of the session, but during his first year did not venture upon any oratorical exploit, or ambitious display. He spoke briefly on the presentation of petitions on the Municipal Corporation Reform Bill, and on the Orange Lodges, having been elected on the committee to inquire into those unconsti- tutional societies. The following session he commenced with increased activity ; he introduced, in February, a motion for a committee of inquiry into the Select Vestries of Bristol. In March, he supported Sir William JOHN TEMPLE LEADER, ESQ., M. P. 43 Molesworth's motion relative to tlie regiments of GuarJs ; in June he seconded Mr. Grote's resolution in favour of the Ballot, and followed this by moving for an inquiry into the appropriation of the million voted for the Clergy of the Established Church in Ireland. At the commencement of the last session of this " Peel Parliament," that is to say, in February of the present year, we find Mr. Leader seconding Sir William Molesworth, on the question of abolishing entirely the Property Qualification for Members of Parliament. In March he associated himself with Mr. Roebuck, in taking an active part against the government resolutions relative to the aflfairs of Lower Canada, and moved as an amendment, that the Legislative Council of that province should be rendered elective. Failing in this, he sought to avert the threatened evil by moving that the reso- lutions of government should be postponed, in order to afibrd time to communicate with the Assembly of Lower Canada on some means fur producing pacification in that colony. During his short term of parliamentary duty, we find him recording his votes upon the following important questions — and, as every real re ormer will admit, recording them on the right side, and to his own honour : — For the Vote by Ballot ; for the Removal of the Bishops from the House of Lords ; for a Revision of the Corn Laws, of the entire repeal of which he is a strenuous advocate; for the Abolition of the practice of Military Flogging; for the Modification of the Law of Primogeniture in certain cases; for the Abolition of the Property Qualification for Members of Parliament; for the Repeal of the Rate- paying Clauses of the Reform Act; for the Repeal of the Malt Tax; and for the total and immediate Abolition of the Taxes on Knowledo-e. Within the same period, Mr. Leader was laudably active out of doors, giving his attendance at various public meetings, both in the metropolis and in the country, and frequently speaking w^ith admirable eflfect. It was soon remarked that there w^as a style and spirit about his addresses to the people that promised him popularity, and denoted a mind calculated to render services to the cause it supported. On some of these occasions — we may mention meetings at Bridgewater, in October, 1835, at Taunton, in September, 1836, at Totness, in December of the same year, at Bath, in January last, and in several addresses delivered during the two election contests in Westminster 44 JOHN TEMPLE LEADER, ESQ., M. P. that nave since occurred, Mr. Leader expressed his opinions in favour of shortening the duration of parliaments to three, or two, or even one year — of extending the sufirage as widely and as speedily as possible — of "reforming" the House of Lords — of instituting a thorough reform of the present system of county government — of establishing local courts — and adopting a system of national education. The liberality of sentiment thus evinced, and the talent with which it was supported, added to the weight which a reputation for wealth naturally confers, all tended to point out Mr. Leader to the radical reformers of Westminster as a gentleman every way qualified to sit as their representative, when Sir Francis Burdett might take it into his head to act with so much bare decency to his constituents as to resign the post which he only nominally filled. A public meeting of the electors having demanded this resignation. Sir Francis complied with the call, and ceasing to be their member, instantly reappeared in the character of a candidate. This was a stroke of policy not exactly anticipated; there was a gallant daring, a spirit of confidence amount ing to the chivalrous, in the step, that won for the Baronet a few good wishes, which, had the vacancy occurred in the ordinary way, would not have been his. On the other hand, the liberals were taken by surprise, and their chosen candidate, the man whom they had selected to try the question with their ex-member, was already in parliament, finug and safe in his seat for Bridgewater. Mr. Leader, however, remembered the adage about a *' faint heart," with which we set out; at every personal risk and inconvenience, with the chance of forfeiting his claims upon the electors of Bridgewater, and of being shut out of parliament for four or five years — with the certainty, moreover, of expending some thousands of pounds in this (as far as he was indi- vidually concerned) superfluous contest — he accepted the Chiltern Hundreds, and leaped undauntedly into the arena, to oppose the principles of a reformer to the want of principle of a renegade. No contest for many years past has excited so much interest. It was a contest voluntarily engaged in by both parties, and hazarded on either side solely on public grounds. It was a single combat, not between two mere candidates for parliamentary distinction, but between two members of parliament, quitting their posts in the assembly, with the view of hastening an adjustment of diiferences between their JOHN TEMPLE LEADER, ESQ., M. P. 45 respective parties by trial by battle, and of giving the constituency of that great city w^herein the representatives of the empire were sitting, an opportunity of declaring their sentiments upon the question at issue in the House of Commons itself. The personal contrast exhi- bited by the two chivalrous combatants heightened the effect. " Crabbed Age and Youth" had met in mortal strife. The famous fight between the gallant canine hero, and the hoary lion in whom enslaved habits had taken the place of a noble nature, presented but a tame image of the political encounter. It was the liberal spirit of St. George grappling with the old dragon of Toryism. " The eyes of Europe were upon Westminster," and the fate not simply of Ireland but of the empire seemed dependent upon the vote of every individual elector. The unparalleled energies of the Tories, the protestation of the Apostate himself, that he was a Reformer still, and absolutely unchanged, and the force of habit operating upon a section of the less zealous and enthusiastic portion of the liberal constituency, who having always voted for Burdett, deemed it a palpable inconsistency ever to vote for Leader, decided the struggle, by a result that just afforded the enemies of reform an excuse for celebrating a triumph, though the triumph it did not aftbrd them. The votes recorded on the occasion prove this. On May 12th, when the state of the poll was announced, the numbers were, for Sir Francis Burdett 3567, and for Mr. Leader 3052 ; the reformer being in a minority of 515. Exactly three months afterwards, under exactly the same registration, Sir Francis, by a timely retreat, covered by the most miserable excuse ever made by man, evinced his sense of the impossibility of being returned with Sir George Murray in opposition to two reformers. The result showed that he did right in shifting his place, as he had shifted his principles. Mr. Leader was returned for Westminster at the election in August, when he polled 226 more votes than Burdett had mustered in May among Tories and Liberals combined. His votes were — 3793, giving him a majority of 1173 over the proclaimed Tory candidate. Sir George Murray, the nominated of Burdett, and the hope of the Peel-Wellington circle. Mr. Leader's absence, therefore, from parliament has been but of brief duration. From his entire conduct during the contest in the spring, the success which has now rewarded him was universally 46 JOHN TEMPLE LEADER, ESQ., M.P. anticipated, whenever the occasion might occur. His manly and unaffected bearing, his frankness and energy, his intelligence and uprightness of character, rendered him upon a first acquaintance so general a favourite, that even those grave objections to his youth which the partizans of second childhood had vehemently advanced three months before, were given up when an unprejudiced appeal to consistency and reason was made; and perhaps there is no member of parliament who can more permanently and securely fix the affections of his constituents than Mr. Leader may do, by simply justifying in act the opinion of his integrity, by religiously abstaining from entering into any pledge which he may not be able to redeem, and by showing a noble respect for the represented, in preserving the just self-respect of a representative. ^o/c^M as the English grenadiers did before that of the Highlanders at Preston Pans and elsewhere. The details of the action are in the London Gazette of 18th May, 1821. The remnants of the beaten forces collected in Beni Bou Hassan ; and subsequently retired overland to Maskat, on the presumption that the pass on the other road would not fail to be occupied. Another expedition was as quickly as possible sent from Bombay, consisting of two European and two Sepoy bat- talions, under the command of Sir Lionel Smith. They took the same route ; but before leaving Soor, their camp was attacked in the night by their active enemy, and sustained some loss. Mohammed Ben Ali himself was at the same time wounded in the arm. The force proceeded before the town, and the Wahabees repeated their attack, at nearly the same place. They overturned a Sepoy battalion, but were received by the 65th regiment and repulsed. After this the town was soon taken, and the defenders obliged to surrender in one of the forts. The sheik maintained that he should have beaten after all, if a neighbouring sheik with a considerable force had not gone off into the desert after the first repulse. The prisoners were conveyed to Bombay ; the brother of the sheik in the interval dying of his wounds. At the meeting between the captive sheik and his original assailant, they agreed heartily on one point, — that it would have been a happy thing for both if the letter had reached its destina- tion. After some time, the unfortunate Wahabees were returned to their home through an agreement with the Imam ; and it would appear from the journal of Lieutenant Wellsted, that they are living in revived security, and with no rancorous recollections of their ancient misfortunes. If they will only abstain from piracy, may they worship one God there for ever ! It is by no means clear that the Wahabees may not be destined to play an important part ; and the English, if they can look beyond an occasional squabble with the water-borne portion, may have more influence with them than any other nation. An occupation of Persia by Russia, or a division of the Turkish empire, would raise the inde- pendent population of Arabia to political importance ; and very slight encouragement, would send tliem to plant the banner of reform at either Aleppo or Ispahan LIEUT.-COL. PERRONET THOMPSON. 93 In 1821, his regiment being ordered home, he applied for leave to proceed by way of the Red Sea, and in the following year passed by that route, accompanied by his wife, and a boy of six years old, since not unknown to the public as the author of " Twelve Months in the British Legion." The journey added one to the previous proofs, that among Mohammedans of every description, the presence of a woman is a passport to hospitality and respect. Through being too late in leaving Bombay, the voyage to Cosseir, which was performed entirely in Arab vessels, was protracted by contrary winds ; and more than a year was consumed in reaching England, Soon after the arrival of his regiment, he found himself senior captain ; and in June 1825, was pro- moted to an unattached majority. In Jan. 1827, he effected an exchange into the 65th regiment of foot, then in Ireland ; and in February ] 829, was promoted to an unattached lieutenant-colonelcy of infantry. After his return to England, he became a frequenter of the Spanish and Greek committees; which was the occasion of introducing him to the acquaintance of Dr. Bowring, and subsequently to Jeremy Bentham. His introduction to the last-mentioned remarkable indivi- dual, was in consequence of a plan for translating into Arabic his " Leading Principles of a Constitutional Code •" a work in which the translator made considerable progress, but has never been able to add the final process, of procuring the revision of a competent native. To the first number of the Westminster Review, then just appearing, he furnished the article on the "Instrument of Exchange;" which had been the result of eleven years' continuous study. He contributed nothing more till 1829, except the Arabian portion of the article on the "Arabs and Persians" in the number for Jan. 1826; in which was introduced a collection of reminiscences in the Persian Gulph, somewhat surreptitiously obtained from the lady who has been pre- viously mentioned. In Jan. 1829, he became a joint proprietor with Dr. Bowring in the Westminster Review ; and beginning with the article on the " Catholic Question," of which forty thousand were dispersed under the title of the " Catholic State Waggon," continued to write at the rate of three or four articles per number, making up- wards of a hundred in all, till the Review was transferred in 1836. His articles may be known, at least negatively, by the rejection of the formula of " We ;" an abstinence which to the utmost of 94 LIEUT.-COL. PERRONET THOMPSON. his power lie impressed on all concerned, after in October 1831 he had succeeded to the charge of Editor. The Three Days of Paris had given an impetus to the popular cause all over the world, and the Westminster Review was not backward in endeavouring to strengthen the impression. When the Belgian revolution broke out, Dr. Bowring was with his family at Paris. His co-proprietor wrote to him, " Leave father and mother and go to Brussells, and bring us a representative of the insurgents ;" and the active missionary landed from the first steam-boat, with Van de Weyer and the Belgian colours at his button-hole. In 1825, he attempted to serve the Greek cause, by two pamphlets in modern Greek and French ; one on the service of out-posts, and the other on a system of telegraphers for field service, accounts of which may be seen in the Westminster Review for July 1834. In 1826, he published the " True Theory of Rent," in support of the theory of Adam Smith against Ricardo and others ; in which view he was subsequently borne out by Say. And in the following year he published the " Catechism on the Corn Laws ;" a work which has since gone through many editions, and received many additions. In this and other publications on the same subject, he may boast of having collected and answered above six hundred distinct fallacies; so numerous is the crop that can be produced by interest grafted upon power. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1828. In 1829, he was the author of a w^ork entitled " Instructions to my Daughter for Playing on the Enharmonic Guitar; being an attempt to effect the execution of correct harmony, on principles analogous to those of the ancient Enharmonic." The object was to prove from the Greek writers on music, that the Enharmonic of the ancients was an unsuccessful attempt at obtaining correct harmony, or exact tune, under all changes of the key; and that the difificulties which have beset the ancient and modern students of the Monochord, are solvable by the discovery that the dissonances (meaning the Sevenths and Seconds of the key) are double, or have each two forms, differing by a comma, the choice of which is determined by the consonance which happens to be in connexion ; the Third and Fifth demanding the acuter form of the dissonance to make harmony with them, and the Fourth and Sixth the grave. He followed this up by the construction of an Enharmonic LIEUT.-COL. PERRONET THOMPSON. 95 Organ on the same principle ; on which subject and the preceding, details may be found under the heads of " Enharmonic of the An- cients" in the Westminster Review for April 1832, and " Enhar- monic Organ" in the same work for January 1835. In 1830, he made his first publication of an attempt to clear geometry of axioms, including the celebrated difficulty on the theory of parallels. The work, under the title of " Geometry without Axioms," was laboriously continued through five editions, with successive amendments. The generation of the straight line and of the plane, appeared to be satis- factorily referred to the Platonic property of the " perfection" of the sphere, — meaning the property by which it is turned round its centre without change of place ; — but the part relating to parallels laissait encore a desirer. The author is now engaged on a sixth edition, in which he expects to produce the results of three-and-twenty years continuous toil, with the advantage, at all events, of a reduction of one-half in point of length. He has perhaps done enough to show, that the problem is not of a nature untangible by human industry ; and it may finally turn out, that, like the problem known to navigators under the title of" clearing the lunar distance," it is capable of an unlimited amount of successive improvements, although never reduced to the simplicity it might be possible to desire. The later editions contained a collection of thirty unsuccessful attempts of ancients and moderns, at the solution of this vexata qiicestio ; a curious evidence of the interest attaching to the point. The work attracted more attention in France than here ; and a laboriously accurate translation was pub- lished in 1836, by M. Van Tenac, then professor of mathematics at the royal establishment at Rochefort, and subsequently attached to the ministry of Marine at Paris. In 1830 he was also the author of a pamphlet published by Ridgway on the "Adjustment of the House of Peers;" which obtained the remarkable compliment of being re- published in Cobbett's Register. In the same year, at the invitation of Jeremy Bentham, he edited the Tenth Chapter (being the part relating to military establishments) of his " Constitutional Code," and was the author of the notes, and " Subsidiary Observations " at the end. It cannot be omitted, that it was on his representation that the great man just mentioned, in one of the last works which pro- ceeded from his hand, altered his celebrated phrase of *" The greatest happiness of the greatest number," into " The greatest happiness;" 96 LIEUT.-COL. PERRONET THOMPSON. accompanying it with an earnest protest against the misconstruction which some had hit upon, of supposing he intended that the happi- ness of the majority, say for instance a majority of one^ was to be pursued at any sacrifice, however disproportioned, of the happiness of those who chanced to be in the minority. In 1834, he published at Paris, in answer to the proceedings of the Enquete or Commercial Inquiry then professed to be carried on by the French government, the '■'■ Contre-EnquHe. Par V Homme au.v Quarante Ecus ;'' in which the principles of commercial freedom, which had taken earlier root in England, were developed under a familiar form. The contents may be found at large, with a translation, in the Westminster Review for January 1835. At the general election in January 1835, he received 1386 votes at Preston, without being present. In June following, he was elected by a majority of five, for Hull his native place, and was subjected to the fine, amounting in this instance to four thousand pounds, which the institutions of the country leave at the discretion of political adversaries to inflict. Another consequence of this election, was the transfer of the Westminster Review ; both the proprietors being now otherwise engaged. His votes may be briefly described, as having been always on the popular side. From the analysis of the session of 1836, it appeared that in point of attendance he was third ; and on the fifteen most important divisions, was one of four who had voted at the whole. He was always opposed to the New Poor Law, while not accompanied by the removal of the Corn Laws ; and voted with Mr. Walter for inquiry. He also voted against ministers on the Factory Act Alteration Bill. There were few questions of importance on which he did not say something in aid of the popular cause ; and it may be gathered from the language of political opponents, that they thought he spoke too often and too much. The particular class in politics to which he defined himself as belonging, was that of the " repub- licans under compact." On the subject of religious liberty, he was always equally ready, whether to support the high Orangemen in their resistance to the forced attendance of the Protestant soldier on CathoHc ceremonies, or to oppose the progress of Sabbatarian perse- cution in the hands of the same individuals. The last of these ques- tions, though badly supported at first, he ultimately did much to lay at rest, by fairly placing the opposition on the basis of maintaining. LIEUT.-COL. PERRONET THOMPSON. 97 that tlie Judaical observance of a seventh day is not only not directed, but is prohibited among other Jewish peculiarities, in the writings of the Christian apostles. His freedom from professional trammels, was proved by his votes and speeches on military punishment, and on the government of the army ; and the last thing he did in the House of Commons, was to give notice that if returned again to parliament, he would move for leave to bring in a bill, to declare that no foreign prince or potentate can have any authority or succession within this realm. In discharge of an engagement with his constituents, he maintained a constant correspondence w^ith them on the proceedings in parliament ; which was forwarded generally twice a week, and published in two local newspapers, and afterwards republished under the title of "Letters of a Representative." In person he is short, and stouter than would now beseem a Light Dragoon; but capable of much fatigue, and insensible to irregularities of hours and seasons. Bold and acceptable as a popular speaker, but not prolix enough for the House of Commons. Combining the willingness to follow^, with the readiness to lead, his whole deportment may be traced to a single spring of action — the professional habit of desiring to sustain the character of " a good officer," in the furtherance of the cause he has espoused. The circumstances attending his election at Hull, made him unwil- ling to risk their repetition. On the dissolution of parliament, he declined standing for two important constituencies, because in the existing state of parties he v/ould not oppose a Whig candidate already in the field. The prospect of being elected by another con- stituency with the consent of liberals of all classes, was lost by a delay in the receipt of a letter. He tried to recover the ground by standino- for Maidstone, but failed, throuo-h causes which the residents in that borough are best able to explain. On the declaration of Lord John Russell at the opening of the new parliament, he considered himself absolved from further duties towards the Whig party ; and took the most decided course condemnatory of ministers, at the well-known meeting at the Crown and Anchor on the subject of Canada. Out of parliament by accident rather than by any defect of popular support, he may be considered as among those who on]y "bide their time" to return. o 98 GEORGE BYNG, ESQ., M. P. Mr. Byng is one of the very few remaining of those who formed part of the Commons' House, when that assembly was graced by the presence of those master spirits of the last age, whose surpassing eloquence, though ever and anon rushing into conflict " so brightly fierce" as to place even the state itself in jeopardy, commanded the admiration of Europe, and gave laws to the world. There did the member for Middlesex sit in council with Pitt and Fox, and Sheridan and Burke '' The state's whole thunder born to wield;" and he still lives, after half-a-century's services in the senate, enjoying the proud consciousness of never having swerved from the principles upon which he first embarked in public life, and holding fast to that integrity which " Will smooth his passage to the quiet grave." Mr. Byng descends from a family of considerable antiquity and respectability in the county of Kent. His great grandfather, Admiral George Byng, one of the most distinguished naval ofiicers in the British service, was first created a baronet, and then elevated to the peerage, as Baron Byng and Viscount Torrington. His great- uncle was the unfortunate Admiral Byng, whose judicial murder, in 1757, so deeply stains the pages of our national annals, and reflects such indelible disgrace upon the government of the day. Mr. Byng was the eldest son of George Byng, Esq., who repre- sented the county of Middlesex as colleague of the celebrated John Wilkes, and one of the most unflinching and able supporters of Mr. Fox in his opposition to the American war. He was born in May, 1764. In his tastes and habits he was what is generally denominated " a country gentleman ;" he was fond of rural sports, and given to old English hospitality. Upon the death rnvTOTLWEn isv vr . kot^tj . /^ Qj^dir^/a/CJy^^^nA^^. GEORGE BYNG, ESQ., M.P. 99 of his father, which happened in 1789, Mr. Byng offered himself as a candidate for the county seat thus rendered vacant ; and he was, in the following year, returned as the colleague of Mr. Mainwaring. From that time, he has sat as the representative of this great and wealthy county, and is entitled to the distinction of being " the father of the House of Commons." Upon his first entrance upon public life, Mr. Byng attached himself to the political party v/itli whom his father had acted, and under all the phases through which the government has since passed, he has maintained the character of a sound and consistent Whig. In 1803, he acted as nominee for Mr. Birch, before the Nottingham committee ; in 1804, he voted with the minority of 82, for an inquiry into the conduct of the Irish government relative to the insurrection in Dublin; he was one of the 204 members who supported Mr. Fox in his critical and important motion on the incompetency of the national defence, and he divided against Mr. Pitt's additional force bill. In the fol- lowing year, his name is found amongst the 217 for criminating the conduct of Lord Melville; and he afterwards joined in the prosecu- tion of that delinquent nobleman. Parliamentary reform was one of those measures that received the constant and hearty support of Mr. Byng, when it was not only un- fashionable, but unsafe, for a man to profess himself a reformer. In 1793, he supported Mr. Grey's motion ; and in later times, he steadily voted for every measure of the kind introduced into the House of Commons. He is, however, one of those who take their stand upon the Reform Bill, and express themselves as having been satisfied by the passing of that measure. Hence he has — unfortunately, as we think, even in reference to those very principles which he has in all other respects evinced an anxious desire to see realized in the admi- nistration of the country — opposed all attempts subsequently nuide to carry out and perfect the principle of the bill of 1832, which was declared b}'^ its authors to be the extinction of the system of nomi- nation, ar.d the conferring upon the community at lai-ge the right and the power to elect the representatives of the countrj^ in the Commons' House. Mr. Byng's name is found in most of the majo- rities against the ballot, and in those also against repealing the rate-paying clauses in the Reform Bill, which have been found to 100 GEORGE BYNG, ESQ., M.P. operate so injuriously in reducing the constituencies in populous towns and boroughs, and thereby throwing back into the hands of the Tories that baneful power which they wielded with such disastrous effect under the old system of representation. He is a very moderate reformer of the church ; contends that the corn-laws are a wise pro- tection to the farmer, as well as an indispensable provision for the very existence of the landlord ; and avers, in so many words, that having obtained the Reform Act, the people ought to be satisfied without agitating any further questions. It is gratifying to be able to throw aside all qualifying phrases, when speaking of Mr. Byng as the champion of civil and religious liberty, in the widest and most comprehensive sense of the expression. He was in the minority with Mr. Fox, when he first moved for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts in 1790; and more than once he placed his seat in great jeopardy by his steadfast adherence to the great principle involved in that question, and the bold and fearless manner in which he avowed such adherence. In 1805, when the question of Catholic emancipation was first urged upon the legis- lature, the member for Middlesex was to be found amongst the small but powerful band of liberals by whom it was supported, and he was never absent from any one division upon the question, until it was carried in 1829. To most other measures for the amelioration of our civil and political institutions, especially in Ireland, Mr. Byng has ever been found giving his support, and, excepting the error in judgment to which we have already adverted, we look in vain for any flaw in his public character. In person, Mr. Byng is tall and well formed ; and, although in his 74th year, he holds his head erect, and exhibits in his fine open coun- tenance and manly brow, the very model of " a fine old English gentleman," full of good humour and benignity. Mr. Byng married Harriet, eighth daughter of the late Sir William Montgomery, Bart. He is brother to Lord Strafford, who was elevated to the peerage in 1 835 ; cousin to Lord Torrington ; and uncle to Lady Ramsden, and Captain George Stevens Byng, M.P. i.Noit-UJiiJ liY Uat-iLOTE. '24^m//z/a ^v, ^ ^-^,y^^C^,A-, '^y^^^0^. Q/Mp.i. ;oi THE RIGHT HON. C. P. THOMSON, M. P. PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. The Rio-lit Hon. Charles Poulett Thomson is brother of Mr. George Poulett Scrope, member for Stroud, and son of the late J. Poulett Thomson, Esq., of Roehampton, in the county of Surrey, an eminent Russian merchant in the city of London. He was for several years a partner with his brother in the mercantile house already alluded to, the business of which was carried on under the firm of Thomson, Bonar, and Co. At the general election in 1826, the freemen of Dover, resident in London, resolved to put in nomi- nation for the representation of that port, which had up to that time been dealt with as the property of the lord-warden, some independent gentleman of liberal principles ; and with a view to secure his ser- vices, they applied to Mr. Hume. The lion, member assigned his con- nexion with tlie Angus Burghs (Montrose, &;c.), as the reason for not acceding to the request; but he undertook to bring forward a gen- tleman who would be found in all respects to meet their views. On the following evening, the Dover electors, resident in the metropolis, held a meeting, and Mr. Hume introduced Mr. Poulett Thomson to their notice and support. In his address upon this occasion, Mr. Thomson fully explained his political principles, which he declared to be " strictly in accordance with those entertained by the member for Montrose," and the meeting came to an unanimous resolution, not only to put him in nomination, but to secure his return for Dover — a contest for which had hitherto been a costly proceeding — without subjecting him to any expense. And they realized their object. Mr. Thomson was returned in the place of Mr. Buttervvorth, by whom he 102 THE RIGHT HON. C. P. THOMSON, M.P. was opposed, and at each subsequent election he was equally suc- cessful against Mr. Halcomb, the lord warden's nominee. At the first general election, held after the passing* of the Reform Bill, in 1832, Mr. Thomson was re-elected for Dover, as he had been on four previous occasions, free of expense ; but having also been put in nomination for Manchester, and returned for that borough, the hon. member terminated his connexion with his former constituency, by resigning, with their full approbation, we believe, his seat for the Cinque Port; and he has from that time repre- sented the important borough of Manchester in the House of Commons. As a member of parliament, Mr. Thomson soon distinguished him- self, not only by the liberal character of his politics, and his active and business-like habits, but by his general knowledge and experience, and his familiarity with the principles of a sound political economy. In the session of 1830, lie moved for the appointment of a select com- mittee to inquire into the existing system of taxation, the grounds for which he laid in an able and effective speech, exhibiting the mis- chievous incidence of many of the imposts levied upon the industry of the country, as also the waste of the public resources effected in their collection. Upon the accession of Earl Grey to office, at the latter end of the same year, Mr. Thomson's name was found in the list of the new ministry, as Vice-President of the Board of Trade, and Treasurer of the Navy — appointments that gave general satisfaction to the commercial part of the community. Upon his accession to office, Mr. Thomson retired from the mercantile firm to which he had belonged, and devoted himself wholly to the discharge of his official duties, at the Board and in the House of Commons, much to the benefit of the public service, and wholly to the satisfaction of his constituents. Lord Grey retired from office in 183-3, and Lord Melbourne suc- ceeded to the premiership. In remodelling his government, the noble viscount very wisely placed Mr. Thomson as President at the head of the Board of Trade, which office lie held until the dissolution of the cabinet in November of the same year, and resumed it upon Lord Melbourne's return to power, in April, 1835. We have already stated that Mr. Poulett Thomson's politics are THE RIGHT HON. C. P. THOMSON, M.P. 103 sound and liberal. He is, in fact^ a radical in principle — holding the necessity of the ballot, and the propriety of short parliaments ; as also the justice and policy of a repeal of the corn laws, and such a modification of the existing fiscal system as would relieve the springs of industry from all undue pressure, and transfer the burden of taxation to the luxuries and fixed property of the wealthy. Catholic Emancipation, the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, the Enfranchisement of the Jews, and all other measures tending to secure the most perfect liberty of conscience as well as equal eligibi- lity to ofiices of trust and emolument, have ever had Mr. Poulett Thomson's advocacy and support ; and if, since his accession to office, he has once or twice been silent when topics of popular interest, known to be in accordance with his own principles and feelings, have been under parliamentary discussion, we recollect but one occasion upon which he has permitted himself to be included in an adverse vote, in order to sustain the government majorit}" in the House of Commons. On Mr. Grote's last and gratifying division on the ballot, Mr. Poulett Thomson is found amongst the absentees ; but on Mr. Buncombe's previous motion for repealing the rate-paying clause in the Reform Act, his name is recorded in the majority against it. Here the trammels of office appear to have been stronger than the sense of public virtue, and the President of the Board of Trade permitted his fair fame to be blighted by saj'ing "aye'' to a question which his judgment must have repudiated. Few men, even of the ministerial phalanx, are so assidiious in the attention to parliamentary duties as Mr. Poulett Thomson. His extensive knowledge and sound judgment render him a person of "mark and likelihood" for committees of various descriptions ; and by his indefatigable attention to much of the private business of the House, he has rendered great public service. As a mere speaker, Mr. Thom- son fails. The subject-matter of his speeches is always sound, logical, and argumentative, but his delivery is exceedingly bad. This is over- looked or unnoticed, however, by reason of those intellectual qualities and that modest demeanour by which all his speeches are charac- terised. 104 THOMAS WYSE, ESQ., M. P. In no way can the name of a senator be introduced more honourably to the notice of the reader, in no way can it more readily bespeak the interest and the respect of the intelligent, the sound-hearted, and the philanthropic, than in connexion with the all-important subject of National Education. Among the names thus honourably associated, is that of the subject of the present memoir, Thomas Wyse, the mem- ber for Waterford. There is but one infallible remedy for all the evils, social and poli- tical, which legislative sages are for ever descanting on, and never combining to cure — and that one remedy is Education. There is but one want in which all other wants — manifold and grievous as they are proved to be by the present condition of the people of these king- doms — meet and concentrate — the want of Education. " Educate, educate, educate," sliould be the rallying cry of all enlightened Re- formers. To this point should the most constant, and the most strenuous efforts of political agitation be directed. If we are prepared to admit that a mere party object — a mere personal end — is all that the mighty but too much divided band of Reformers in the country is struggling to achieve, then we must acknowledge the soundness of Sir Robert Peel's maxim, that the battle must be fought in the regis- ter-court. But if we recognise, as the real object of this bitter and incessant contention, the interest of mankind instead of party, and the happiness of the many as well as the few, we come at once to the simple truth, which then stares us in the face till we blush to have been blind to it so long, that the real battle must be fought in the school-room. We know of no reformer but the schoolmaster. He it is who is destined to prove the great agitator of the age — and, in the end, the great pacificator — the sole redresser of wrongs, the only conquering hero whose glorious victories are in their consequences EKOaSSTED BVE SCKEI3r LONDOn. JDHK SATjmyJillS .TUil¥ 7, n-VTJTP.s' nUILUrSliS. Hl>I.BOBK BAMS THOMAS WYSE, ESQ., iM. P. 105 distinofuishable from defeats. What are we to think of those re- formers (as they call themselves) who witness the effects of systems of education in other countries, and of the want of it in our own ; who compare the returns relative to crime and ignorance, which, as in the case of Holland, afford so grand a lesson to the world, with the returns of crime and ignorance in boasted and boasting England, as set forth in those for the year 1837, which shew, that of 23,612 criminals, 8414 were destitute of all moral aids from education? What are we to think of " reformers" who have these truths before them, and yet refuse to take any share in advancing the cause of national education ? We are compelled to question, unhesitatingly, either their sincerity or their sanity. If they are not traitors, they are the most ignorant of dupes. Among such we have not to number Mr. Wyse. The subject of this memoir is the eldest son of Thomas Wyse, Esq., of the manor of St. John, near Waterford ; and was born in the month of December, 1791. He is the descendant of a Saxon family, cettled before the Conquest in Cornwall and Devonshire. His im- mediate ancestor crossed over to Ireland with Earl Strongbow ; and the Wyses still possess a portion of the estates then granted, the manor of St. John above mentioned, which was originally the resi- dence of King John, when Earl of Moreton. It was afterwards held, from the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, by the Wyses, and con- firmed to Sir William Wyse by Henry VIII. Sir A. Wyse was prior of the order, and ambassador from Queen Mary to the court of Naples. At the early age of nine years, the future advocate of the cause of education entered the Jesuits' College, at Stoneyhurst, where he had for his contemporaries Sheil, Standish, Lord Shrewsbury, and others. The Greek and Latin authors were here his principal studies. On quitting Stoneyhurst, he entered the university of Dublin as fellow- commoner. Here he early obtained prizes, first in Latin compo- sition, then in classical literature ; and, finally, he carried off both the chancellor's prizes, English and Latin. In the Historical So- ciety, prizes or medals were adjudged to him, in oratory, history, and composition ; and he was chosen to close the session, — an honour p 106 THOMAS WYSE, ESQ., M. P. which is highly rated ; the same compliment having been conferred on Plunkett, North, Phillips, Magee, &c. He was yet young, when the strength of his attachment to the reform cause, and of his sympathy for his unemancipated Catholic brethren, led him to take part in political life. He attended meet- ings, and spoke occasionally on behalf of objects identified with the interests of his country. Having entered the Society of Lincoln's Inn, one year of his life, in the prosecution of his studies, was passed in London, which in the year 1815 he quitted for Paris; whence, after a short visit, he re- turned, but again went abroad in the following year, having resolved to devote some months to a tour in Switzerland, Italy, &c., connect- ing this with a regular course of classical reading. In 1818 and 1819, he sought new, and still wider ground, travelling with Baillie, Barry, &c. to the East, visiting the " Isles of Greece," and passing through Asia Minor to Constantinople ; and for some months pur- sued a delightful course of studies on the Bosphorus, making himself acquainted with the principal modern works in the eastern tongues. Continuing his tour through Thrace to Chios, through Egypt, Nubia, Palestine, Syria, &c., traversing the whole coast of Asia Minor, he, after a very varied and lengthened series of observations, and studious inquiries, returned to Naples, and thence to Rome. Here, as in other places, he made various measurements and sketches of architecture; the schools, wherever he went, not being forgotten; and when opportunities of close inspection were afforded him, his notes enabled him to put a series of practical questions to the various eminent men whom he encountered in his travels, with a view to a comparative estimate of the state and progress of the great and universal dethroner of despotism — Education. Mr. Wyse returned in 1820 to England. Passing a portion of the winter in France, he established an intimacy with several distin- guished men in that country, Denon, Lacepede, &c., as he had already done with many of the most distinguished ornaments of art, scholarship, and science, in Italy, Germany, and other nations. In 1821, he returned to Italy, and there, at Canino, married a daughter of Lucien Bonaparte. Equal opportunities were now THOMAS WYSE, ESQ., M. P. 107 afforded him of gratifying his tastes, in the domestic recreations of his villa during the summer, and in the prosecution of inquiries and speculations relative to antiquities, painting, &c. during the winter in Rome. Mr. Wyse was once more in England in 1825. Devoting him- self to politics, he was appointed chairman of the provincial meeting of Limerick, and afterwards of Mr. Stuart's committee in the election of the memorable year 1826. In this he took a leading part, and had the gratification of seeing his party triumphant, and their objects materially promoted by great sacrifices and exertions. He was joined with others in preparing an address to the people of England. He also originated a system of liberal clubs, opposing, at the same time, the destructive doctrine of exclusive dealing. He was further active in the promotion of moderate provincial meetings at Water- ford, Kilkenny, Clonmel, &c. During this time Mr. Wyse gave to the world several literary productions, " Walks in Rome," " Oriental Sketches," and several manifestations of his political taste and classical enthusiasm. He is also the author of several articles in our popular reviews. Still more important political duties now devolved upon him. He was principally instrumental in getting up the great meeting, held in 1828 at the Rotunda in Dublin, to petition for Catholic Emanci- pation ; and to him was entrusted the task of drawing up the Address to the King, which was moved by the Earl of Glengall, and which Mr. Wyse seconded. When it was resolved, on the part of the Catholic Association, to send a deputation to England, to confer with the Protestant friends of the question, and to agitate in its behalf, Mr. Wyse had the honour of being chosen as one of the distino-uished three; his companions in the expedition being O'Connell and Shell. The following year ("the fatal year 1829") emancipation was carried. Mr. Wyse immediately addressed a letter to his Catholic brethren, recommending the suppression of the association. He shortly afterwards published his " Historical Sketch of the Catholic Association;" the Appendix to which contains a long and interesting outline of his views upon Education. At the election in 1830, he appeared as a candidate for the re- presentation of the county of Waterford, but resigned his pretensions 108 THOMAS WYSE, ESQ., M.P. in favour of Mr. O'Connell. Before he quitted the court-house, however, he was waited upon by a deputation, inviting him to stand for Tipperary. Without canvassing the electors, and after every opposition that could be brought against him, he was, after a con- test of eight days, returned as member for that county ; an event that effectually broke up the Tory aristocratic influence in Tipperary. In the same year he prepared an address to Earl Grey on education, brought his education bill into parliament, and was actively em- ployed in promoting other useful and necessary works of improve- ment. He retired from Tipperary in 1832, and, at the same election, was thrown out of Waterford, in consequence of refusing the pledge of Repeal. During the contest, he founded the Literary and Scientific Society of Waterford, Youghall, &c. He now devoted his time to some favourite scientific pursuits, still keeping in constant view the subject of education, which was dearer to him tlian all. His recall to public life was not long delayed ; for, at the election in 1835, an invitation was sent to him from Lyme Regis, for which place he was returned. In parliament, he proceeded to work, by moving for a committee on diocesan schools ; and he again brought in his bill for Irish education, his plan of which was referred to the committee. The following year witnessed the forma- tion of the educational society. At the election of last year, after a contest with the Beresfords, he was re-elected for Waterford ; and, during that year, was occupied in advancing educational interests, by attending meetings at Liverpool, Manchester, Bolton, Coventry, Cheltenham, and other places. One of the Inst of his efforts, and that a successful one, has been directed towards the establishment of what is termed (after a German fashion) the " Art Union ;" in other words, a society for encouraging a love and knowledge of art, by moderate subscriptions, promising many advantages to subscribers. When Mr. Wyse speaks in parliament, he speaks to the purpose. When he votes (and he is an active, though not a garrulous member) he votes for the interest of the people. We need not say, therefore, that he is a supporter of the ballot. He is more than that ; he is one of those Irish members, whose sympathies extend far beyond the limits of their own country; who support steadfastly and sincerely a national cause, instead of a purely Irish one. ^yh't^ 109 MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD, M.P. If, as the poet tells us, the steep to Fame's temple is " hard to climb," the paths to that proud eminence are fortunately numerous. It seldom happens, however, that a candidate for distinction attains his object by travelling along two or three roads at a time. The subject of our present notice is an exception to the common rule. He has attained distinction in several characters, and merits it in them all. As a lawyer, he has arrived at eminence early in life, and may look forward to tlie enjoyment of the highest honours of his profession ; as an orator, he has placed his name on the select list of those on whom nature has conferred the glorious power of giving to the finest thoughts and the finest feelings, a fitting and spontaneous expression ; and as a dramatic poet, he already ranks with the illus- trious men of his own time, and of times gone by, to whom the first impulse of his early youth was to pay homage and reverence. These high claims upon the respect and gratitude of his countrymen are crowned by his consistent and fervent endeavours in the character of a reformer ; and well may reformers be proud of being associated in a common cause with one whose genius and sincerity are alike calculated to adorn and to advance it. ' Mr. Serjeant Talfourd, as member for Reading, represents the town in which his parents and himself were born. His father, who was established there as a brewer, married the daughter of a dissent- ing clergyman, Mr. Thomas Noon, who had ofiiciated as minister of an Independent congregation in that town for upwards of thirty years. A family of eight children (all of whom, with their mother, are still alive) was the result of this union ; the subject of our memoir, who was born on the 26th of Mav, 1795, being named after 110 MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD, M. P. his grandfather, and educated in the form of faith which he pro- fessed. Some of his earhest years were passed at the Protestant Dissenters' Grammar-school at Mill-hill, which he quitted for the public Grammar-school in Reading-, conducted by Dr. Valpy. There his boyish devotion to the rigid faith of his family gave way to im- pressions in favour of the Church of England ; and there it was that circumstances begot in him not simply a taste for, but an enthusiastic love of that species of poetry, which at home was regarded as sinful, — the Drama. There the enduring truths of Shakspeare obtained an influence over his mind, the fruit whereof is seen in the addition which he has made to the dramatic treasures of our language ; and there, too, he early imbibed the ardent political feelings, which still render him the promoter of reform, and the advocate of popular liberty. The same publication that constituted him an author, proved him a radical ; and he was both, while yet a school-boy. His first printed performance was a poem, celebrating Sir Francis Burdett's liberation from the Tower. It appeared in the Statesman, and was followed by other outpourings, in prose and verse, of the feeling and imagina- tion of a young reformer. These, as well as performances of a less political character, attracted notice ; and he was, while yet at school, so far encouraged by the opinions of his friends, as to publish a little volume, entitled, " Poems on various Subjects." These we have had the advantage of perusing, and, assuredly, few juvenile essays ever exceeded this, either in force of thought or gracefulness of expression. The first of the series of poems, on the " Education of the Poor," was written at Mill-hill, on the occasion of a visit to that establishment by the celebrated Joseph Lancaster, on whom it la- vishes all the generous and unquestioning admiration of a youthful enthusiasm ; as in turn it apostrophizes in the same spirit the shades of Milton, Newton, Howard, Chatham, and Nelson. The amiable and ardent character of the young writer, the liberality of his views, and the kindliness of his disposition towards the world on which he was so soon to enter, were not less conspicuous than his taste and refinement as a worshipper of the muse, in some specimens of a didactic poem, also published in the same volume under the title of " the Union and Brotherhood of Mankind." MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD, M.P. Ill This youthful performance introduced its author to Mr. Joseph Fox, then known and esteemed for his services and sacrifices in the cause of education, who gave him a letter of introduction to Henry Brougham. To this distinguished person, at his chambers in the King's Bench Walk, the young poet repaired, and from him he re- ceived extreme kindness, and much good advice, both in person and by letter ; all tending to encourage him in his plan of working his way to the bar by literary exertion. It was this well-judged advice that led Mr. Talfourd, in April, 1813, to engage himself for a term of four years as a pupil of Mr. Chitty, whose name was even then famous, and whose practice was most extensive. No step could have been more judiciously resolved upon. The literary labours of the student, thus zealously devoted to law as well as literature, may be said to have commenced with a long essay, published in the Pamphleteer early in 1813, under the title of " An Appeal to the Protestant Dissenters of Great Britain," on behalf of the Catholics. It deserves a place among the most eloquent tributes to the justice of emancipation. " Many passage? bear the stamp of close and powerful reasoning ; others are evidences no less striking of a quick and subtle apprehension, and scarcely a sentence but denotes the easy play of an imagination equally graceful and vigorous." When this essay was composed, its author was under rather than over eighteen years of age ; others not less brilliant were written about the same time ; and they are undoubtedly entitled to rank among the most remarkable testimonies of great and rare powers with which the youth of genius ever enriched its country's litera- ture. We were forcibly struck with a critical examination of some objections taken by Cobbett to the Unitarian Relief Bill, in which the fallacies of that powerful writer are exposed with fearlessness and dexterity ; and still higher grounds for admiration are discover- able in some elaborate strictures " on the Right, Expediency, and indiscriminate Denunciations of Capital Punishment, with some Obser- vations on the true nature of Justice, and the legitimate design of Penal Institutions ;" a work which must be classed with the best trea- tises on that fruitful and interesting subject, exhibiting, as it does, great powers of study, a high moral purpose, a keen insight into the workings of the social system, tact in applying and combining the 112 MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD, M.P. arguments of previous writers, and original powers of reason and fancy not unworthy of the philosophy of the subject. Among other articles equally well written, and produced at a very early age, two may be mentioned, " Observations on the Punishment of the Pillory," and " An Appeal against the Act for Regulating Royal Marriages. " The style and manner of these various papers (it has been remarked) are frequently those of a young mind eager to express itself with free- dom and volubility; too intent perhaps on displaying the brilliancy of its resources, and throwing about its treasures of ornament and imagery with more prodigality than judgment ; but the speculations opened up, and the mode of reasoning pursued, the clear and strong understanding of an intricate question, and the forcible illustration of it by home-arguments, are far in advance of the years at which these striking powers were developed. Two years after this, in May, 1815, Mr. Talfourd, then just enter- ing his twentieth year, published his " Estimate of the Poetry of the Age," the only production of his pen, in prose or verse, to which he affixed his name until the pubhcation of " Ion." In his Sketch of the Life of his friend Lamb (Lamb, the world's friend !) he has alluded to this early estimate of the poetical genius of his contemporaries ; and however he may erroneously disregard other productions of his youth, on this he must naturally turn an eye of kindly remembrance, because it contains one of the first decided recognitions of the genius of Wordsworth, and fixes the writer of it as one of the earliest as well as the boldest asserters of a poetical supremacy which has, in later years, been universally though silently acknowledged. The four years of pupilage under Mr. Chitty having expired in 1817, Mr. Talfourd started himself as a special pleader; and his suc- cess was, in a short time, so decided, as to render him what he had not been up to this time, independent of assistance from home. He had considerable practice as a pleader, and what was still essential to him, and quite as gratifying, a ready market for all literary pro- ductions. He had, while with Mr. Chitty, assisted that gentleman to a considerable extent with his voluminous work on Criminal Law ; an acknowledgment of this appears in the preface. Subsequently the chief sources of his literary income, were " The Retrospective Review," and " The Encyclopcedia Metropolitana." The articles on MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD, :\I.P. 113 Homer, on the Greek Tragedians, and on the Greek Lyric Poets, (besides papers of a merely historical character) which appeared in the latter of these publications, were from his pen. His connexion with " The New Monthly Magazine" was formed in 1S20, and con- tinued for twelve years ; at first, indeed, he wrote a great portion of every number, and he regularly supplied the dramatic criticisms, which, for elegance and acuteness, are unexcelled in our time. Thus he went on, cultivating the severities of law in the morning, and at night the graces of literature, or the gaieties of the theatre — and becoming profounder, in a legal sense, for the relaxation and the change. More- over, as he had opened his estimate of the poetry of the age, by asserting that the world is never too old to be romantic, he evinced his preserved attachment to romance, by writing in 1826, the memoir of Mrs. Radclitfe, which is prefixed to her posthumous works. During these years also he contributed, at intervals, to " The Edinburgh Review," and " The London Magazine ;" and brought out an edition of Dickenson's '^ Guide to the Quarter Sessions." Mr. Talfourd was not all this time a mere speculating lawyer, or barrister briefless. His practice as a pleader continued prosper- ously for four years; when on the lOtli of February, 1821, he was called to the bar by the Society of the Middle Temple, and joined the Oxford Circuit and Berkshire Sessions. Oxford was the source of his first professional successes, where he early obtained a lead in important causes ; while his friends at Reading had an opportunity of promoting his interests, and rewarding his talents and exertions. The gradual extension of his business throughout the circuit induced him to retire from session, at the expiration of twelve years from his appearance there ; and now in 1 833, he determined on taking the coif. His application receiving the assent of Lord Brougham, he was in Hilary Term^ of that year called to the degree of Serjeant ; and since that time he has, with very few exceptions, confined his practice to the circuit of the Common Pleas. The exceptions are important ones upon public grounds. One was the defence of the True Sun, in the King's Bench, when he startled his contemporaries, and reminded them of the inspired orators of days gone by. Even the Tories paid tribute to his genius displayed thus commandingly ; a distinguished individual of that party, likening him to one of the chivalrous Q 114 MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD, M. P. and poetical reformers of old, remarked that" the arguments which he enveloped in a shining garb put to shame the naked impotence of the Solicitor's, and held up to public scorn the abject meanness of that tyrannical prosecution." Not less real and solid, and scarcely- less brilliant than this, was his defence of Tait's Magazine against the action of Richmond, in the Exchequer, It was about this time — at this very time when he was making these noble efforts, and when the labours of his profession seemed to require his nights as well as days for the performance of them — that his poetical temperament asserted itself in an anxiety to accomplish an object which he had sketched a few years before, as a thing that might be, but which he had made until now no attempt to realise. This was the composition of his finely thoughtful and impassioned tragedy of "Ion." He has himself described the progress of that drama, in terms plain and public enough to silence the silly reports about the number of years he had devoted to writing it. The fact is, that until 1833, it was merely a classical dream, a vision of beauty unrealised even to himself. Now, however, he resolved to write, as well as dream ; and before the termination of the following year, the drama was privately read to a few of his friends. It was upon their judgment that he resolved first to print it for private circulation ; and subsequently to sanction its performance for a single night, for the benefit of Mr. Macready. The genius of that admirable actor was as rightly exercised as his judgment had been; and the one night grew into hundreds. The success of the tragedy, wherever it was acted, was unequivocal, and the name of its author was, at once, and by acclamation, enrolled amongst those of the poets, so as to gratify in its utmost scope the wish which he must have repeated a thousand times after Wordsworth, lightening with it the coldest and driest tasks of daily pursuit — " Oh might my name be numbered but witli theirs, r Then gladly would I end my mortal days !" Instead of ending his mortal days, however, he was just about this time commencing a new life in Parliament. All who were well acquainted with his strong political sympathies, and the consistency with which he had preserved them — from the time when, in 1819, he MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD, M.P. 115 had signalised them at a public meeting in Reading, upon the Man- chester massacre; and by political articles, contributed to "The Cham- pion," then conducted by John Thelwall, to the period when he denounced, with such eloquence and fearlessness the prosecution of the press, and the Tory spy-proceedings of years gone by — unaf- fectedly rejoiced at the result of the Reading election in 1834, when Mr. Serjeant Talfourd was returned by a large majority, composed of all parties, as one of the representatives of his native town. His friends had long looked to the House of Commons as a stage on which his brilliant powers would ensure him a rich harvest of honour, and they hoped for a frequent and fearless exercise of them. In some respects, perhaps, they have been disappointed. His opening speech upon the Irish Municipal Reform question would have conferred a high reputation upon some speakers; but it was unequal to the expectation which Mr. Sergeant Talfourd had raised, and the fame which he carried with him into the House. He spoke, if we recol- lect, under very disadvantageous circumstances — early in the even- ing, with little or no preparation, and not from his own prompting, but from a desire to relieve another member from the responsibility of opening the debate. It would be inexcusable were he to allow such accidents to damp, in any degree, his ardour and confidence as a parliamentary debater ; especially as he has, on several subsequent occasions, given the most unquestionable proofs that the effects else- where produced, are by the same means to be produced in the House of Commons. We may point, for example, to the speech which he delivered in 1837, on introducing a bill for the amendment of the law of Copyright. The tone, the style, the illustrative references, like the subject itself, were new to the ear of the House, Impas- sioned eloquence offering homage to illustrious writers, dead and living, and enforcing the claims of struggling professors of literature upon that property " in song or sonnet" which the law allows to be wrested from them — this was a topic not likely to attract in such an assembly. Yet with what interest was it listened to — how forcibly were those struck by the argument, who had never bestowed a thought upon it before ; and how important all of a sudden became the claims of authors, in the eyes of honourable members who have never once opened book since they left college, save " Burn's Justice," and " Th no MR. SERJEANT TALFOURD, M. p. Mirror of Parliament." The speech of the member for Reading on this occasion, was one of the most argumentative as well as imagina- tive that have been heard for a series of years. Again returned to parliament at the election of last year, as mem- ber for Reading, the present session has witnessed another most impressive effort of Mr. Serjeant Tedfourd's, on introducing the ques- tion relating to the custody of Infants ; a subject which, like that of Literary Copyright, he has taken up with a full discernment of its bearings, and with characteristic solicitude for the cause of humanity and enlightenment which is involved in it. He has spoken, however, but on a few questions ; on still fewer has he voted inconsistently with a course of practical and complete reform. He is in favour of '' organic changes" in the Commons, but votes against the pro- position for relieving the Bishops from their attendance in the Lords. His parliamentary duties he discharges assiduously, when not on circuit ; yet he still finds time, however the law or the legislature may claim him, to discharge his duties to literature. Another tragedy has been composed since " Ion" appeared. During this interval, he has also given to the world the Letters of Lamb, with a touching and masterly sketch of the life of his old friend. Among the more inti- mate literary friends of Talfourd, by the way, we may enumerate some of the master-spirits of the time, Wordsworth, Hazlitt, Godwin, Coleridge, Leigh Hunt, Procter, Knowles, &c. Nor should we omit, among his friends, one who was, perhaps, the foremost of them, his " pastor and master," Dr. Valpy, to whom his grateful attentions were continued to the last ; these were shewn by regularly attending the meetings of the scholars, and by Avriting the epilogues to the Greek plays triennially performed. If his love of the drama, and his sensibility to early associations, were in some degree indicated in these attachments, we may almost go so far as to say, that his political predilections are not wholly in- visible even in forming that tie upon which so much of personal hap- piness depends. The subject of this sketch married, on the 31st of August, 1822, Rachel, the daughter of John Towell Rutt, Esq., a name which is most honourably associated with the patriotism of the early part of the present century, and which, held in affectionate regard by old reformers, should be gratefully remembered by younger ones. ETGRA7ED BYIl.SCKrVEN. Qj^ji>?y^y OyMn/i'^ ^ ^^^!^Za^^c 'O^. 117 THE RIGHT HON. EARL SPENCER. It is a disadvantage to the sons of peers, when, as in the instance before us, they succeed to the title late in life, that the opinions by which they desire to become known, and the services which give them a position in the world's regard, were expressed and performed under a name which was only provisionally and temporarily theirs. By the time the heir to a peerage has rendered his own name cele- brated and familiar as a household word in the mouths of his coun- trymen, he is no longer called by it. It is so with the nobleman whose career we have now to sketch. The name of Spencer, honour- able as it is in other respects, is in no wise connected with the world- filling renown of framing, proposing, and carrying the Reform Bill; on the other hand, the name of Althorp is inseparably connected with the rise, progress, and success of that measure. The family of which this nobleman is the representative, is a branch of the house of Spencer, Earls of Sunderland, (now Dukes of Marl- borough) springing from the Hon. John Spencer (youngest son of the third Earl of Sunderland) who for many years represented Wood- stock, and, for a short time, the county of Bedford. This gentleman was, upon the decease of his grandmother the celebrated Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, appointed Ranger of the Great Park at Windsor ; and, upon the accession of his brother Charles to the Duke- dom of Marlborough and the Churchill estates, he obtained the Althorp estates, the ancient patrimony of the Spencers. In 1761, his eldest son was created Viscount and Baron Spencer, and in 1765, Viscount Althorp, and Earl Spencer. John Charles, the present peer, is eldest son of the late and second Earl Spencer. His Lordship was born in May 1782, and completed his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained the honorary degree of M. A. His parliamentary career commenced at 118 THE RIGHT HON. EARL SPENCER. the earliest possible period, he being elected for Okehampton, upon his attaining the age of twenty-one. As a candidate, subsequently, for the representation of his alma mater he was unsuccessful ; but in 1806, he obtained, after a severe struggle, one of the seats for North- amptonshire. During the Fox and Grenville administration, he held office as a Lord of the Treasury, but of course went out with his party. A long course of opposition was now before him ; he was not at any time absent from Parliament, and from the retirement of the Whigs to their return to power, he kept his station consistently in the ranks of the more liberal of that party. Amongst that party, his connexions and wealth gave him importance, while the suavity of his disposition rendered him generally popular. On the formation of Earl Grey's Government in 1830, Lord Althorp was appointed to the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer; and this he retained through all the trials and difficulties of that government, and amidst a conflict of opinions not to be paralleled in the recent annals of par- liament, until his accession to the peerage in 1834— an elevation which involved the downfall of the administration of which he was the leader in the House of Commons. During this reign of four years as leader of the Lower House, his Lordship's authority and influence were unbounded. No minister perhaps ever possessed more individual power in that assembly than he had. His Lordship was never an orator, yet who spoke so irre- sistibly as he did ? Who that happened to be in the House can ever forget the reiterated acclamations which responded to his Lordship's spontaneous appeal to the representatives of the people in a moment of temporary embarrassment to the ministry. " Has the House con- fidence in me?" was the demand ; and all idea of dissent, all sense of difficulty, all conflicting sentiment, was instantly drowned in the tumultuous expression of one absorbing, and as it seemed, universal feeling — a feeling of personal attachment to the noble Lord repre- senting the government, and of confidence in that government upon his account. Mr. Pitt bullied the House, and frightened it ; " he was lord paramount, and would have his own way, simply because he chose it." This was not Lord Althorp's plan, and yet his influence was scarcely less complete. Whatever was done amiss. Lord Althorp, either by his candid confession of a blunder, or his good humoured THE RIGHT HON. EARL SPENCER. 119 mode of justifying it, contrived to make all well again, or to reconcile the House to what was not well. Whatever was, was right, during his Lordship's reign as ministerial leader. Dissensions in the cabinet, and opposition at court, frequently forced him into the backward road, instead of the advancing one — still LordAlthorp was sure of a majority tofollowhim. The cabinetmight adopt the very course which Reformers in the House, and the represented out of doors, least expected and desired them to take — still among those cabinet ministers there was a Lord Althorp, and in him the House had faith. His Lordship might, from his view of the ultimate prosperity of the reform-cause as depending on the ministerial existence of those who had for so many years supported it, depart from the line he had taken when in opposition, and break the promises he had formerly given ; still his Lordship was understood to mean only, that he postponed the performance of his engagement, that the fulfilment of his promise would come in due season, and in him, meantime, the House had faith ! The pre- servation of the cabinet, — the Grey cabinet first, the Melbourne cabinet afterwards, — seemed to depend from night to night solely upon the strength of the personal respect in which the ministerial leader was held ; solely on the popularity of Lord Althorp, the indulgence with which his mistakes, as a finance-minister, were entertained, and the confidence which was reposed in the excellence of his intentions. He was, in all cases, in all perplexities, in all emergencies, " the minister who meant well ;" and, assuredly, the world has never had a more striking example of the vast value which is attached to a reputation for good intentions. Nor did the exist- ence of a liberal government merely seem to depend solely upon him. He was its sole dependence. The King had understood from his prime minister that it was impossible to carry on the government without Lord Althorp as leader in the Commons ; and the prime minister understood from the King, not long after, that he was by no means to be allowed to make the experiment, as the Royal mind had come to the same conclusion. Accordingly, Lord Althorp simply became Lord Spencer — he was merely transferred from one house to another — he only shifted his seat in the cabinet, without retiring from ofHce ; and the apparently unimportant movement was fatal to the ministry. It was his Lordship's personal qualities, 120 THE RIGHT HON. EARL SPENCER. operating upon the minds of the Commons, that secured at that time official power to his party. Those qualities had obtained for him the distinguishing^ epithet of " honest Lord Althorp. They espe- cially fitted him for such a post at such a time; and these weighed powerfully and effectually against all objections that might be raised against him on the score of unfitness in a financial point of view, for tlie office which he held. Those who denied to his Lordship the possession of " the high qualifications necessary to constitute a states- man or a finance-minister," were nevertheless constrained to add, " excepting the moral qualities of honesty, good temper, and single- ness of purpose !" The exceptions, it will be admitted, are import- ant ; and let Earl Spencer's history be written as it may, if these qualities are by common consent accorded to him, he has little occasion to " break his heart" (as Sir William Molesworth says) about the refusal to assign to him the rest, even though that refusal be unanimous. There appears to be little doubt that it was the consciousness which his political friends had of his possession of these qualities for command in the Commons — their estimation of his general character, the placidity of his temper, and conciliatory disposition — their sense of the influence which his station gave him, and of the popularity he derived from a long advocacy of liberal measures, that prevailed upon the noble Lord to accept the office of " leader," rather than any personal ambition of his own. This was felt long before he ceased to hold the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was known as well out of the House as in it that his Lordship retained office purely out of consideration for his colleagues and their cause, and against his own inclination. The termination of his official career was, accordingly, tantamount to the termination of his political life. It was the end of his sacrifices. Since that period, he has scarcely taken any part at all in the political struggle which has been so fiercely carried on ; devoting himself to agricultural and farming pursuits, to obtaining prizes for achievements in improving the breed of cattle, and to the maintenance of the character of a " fine old English country gentleman." His Lordship married, in 1814, the daughter and heiress of Richard Acklom, Esq., but she died without issue. ENGRAVES BX" JOHU BRACK . ^^ ^^^i^^cz:^^ T/tiS'w/a/ ,ya^/i!^/ia, /u &^/i€^^^yza/M/e^(^Ja/\^^^.,/l^ 121 THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, ESQ. This gentleman is descended from a family of great respectability in the county of Essex. His long-continued and persevering exertions on behalf of the more depressed and unfriended of his countrymen, as well as of the suffering and enslaved in other climes, have flung a grace and interest upon his name which render it a grateful and a pleasant task to inscribe it among the foremost on the roll of honourable and honoured reformers. Mr. Fowell Buxton was born in the year 1786. Liberally educated at the college of Dublin, his naturally acute and benevolent mind early received a bias in favour of speculations intimately connected with the improvement of the moral condition of his fellow-beings. While yet young, he paid the closest attention to the subject of Prison Discipline; and in 1816, he published an excellent work, entitled. An Enquiry whether Crime and Misery are produced or prevented by our present system of Prison Discipline ; illustrated by descriptions of the several gaols, and the proceedings of the Ladies' Committee in Newgate. This work, which went through several editions, materially contributed to turn the public attention to the defective state of Prison Discipline ; a subject of reformation in which, though something has already been done, much more remains to be effected. In 1818, Mr. Buxton was returned to parliament as one of the mem- bers for Weymouth, which borough the hon. gentleman continued to represent in each successive parliament until the present. His defeat at the last election is a source of extreme regret to the friends of improvement, while it imprints yet another stain upon the character of toryism ; for it is to the unscrupulous intimidation and criminal proceedings carried on by the professors of that creed, that R 122 THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, ESQ the defeat of Mr. Fowell Buxton is attributable, after having repre- sented Weymouth for a period of twenty years. In all debates relating to the Criminal Laws, and to the Emancipation of Slaves, as well as in those which, in the hon. gentleman's opinion, affect the interests of religion, he has, throughout the period above- mentioned, taken an active and highly efficient part. Upon other questions than the above, the honourable gentleman has rarely spoken ; but his votes have always been given for the advancement of the liberal cause. On the 1st of March, 1819, a select committee was appointed to inquire into the state of Gaols and other Prisons of the country ; on which occasion, Mr. Fowell Buxton, who was nominated a member of the committee, received a high and merited compliment upon his past efforts, from Lord Castlereagh ; and on the following day he delivered a very able and convincing speech, on seconding the motion of Mr. James Mackintosh, for a committee on the Criminal Law ; a motion which was carried against government by a majority of 147 to 128. In May of the same year, he lent his warm support to a motion of Mr. Lyttleton against State Lotteries. In December 1819, upon the introduction of Lord Castlereagh's Seditious Meetings' Prevention Bill, Mr. Fowell Buxton brought forward a proposition for limiting the operation of the measure to three years, but was defeated by a majority of 328 to 153. On May 24, 1821, he again distinguished himself by an able and manly speech, as full of sound argument as of kindly and benevolent sentiments, in support of Sir James Mackintosh's motion for going into committee on the bill for mitigating the punishment of For- gery ; a motion which was carried against government by a majority of 118 to 74. In the same year he brought forward a subject on which he succeeded in creating a powerful impression on the public mind — the practice prevalent among the Hindus, of widows burnino- themselves upon the funeral pile of their husbands. This horrible and barbarous custom he afterwards used his zealous and unremitting exertions to put an end to. It was on the 15th of May, 1823, that Mr. Fowell Buxton brought forward a resolution in the following terms : — " That the state of slavery is repugnant to the principles of the British constitution, and THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, ESQ. ]23 of the Cliristian religion ; and that it ought to be gradually abolished throughout the British colonies with as much expedition as may be found consistent with a due regard to the welfare of the parties concerned." The resolution, however, was withdrawn, on the sub- stitution of others by Mr. Canning, as follows : 1st. "That it is expedient to adopt effectual and decisive measures for ameliorating the condition of the slave population of his majesty's colonies. 2d. " That, through a determined and persevering, but at the same time judicious and temperate enforcement of such measures, this house looks forward to a progressive improvement in the character of the slave population ; such as may prepare them for a participa- tion in those civil rights and privileges which are enjoyed by other classes of his majesty's subjects. 3d. " That this house is anxious for the accomplishment of this purpose, at the earliest period that shall be compatible with the well-being of the slaves themselves, with the safety of the colonies, and with a fair and equitable consideration of the interests of private property." To the above was added, " That the said resolution be laid before his Majesty by such members of the house as are of his Majesty's most honourable privy council." These resolutions were carried. A few days afterwards, we find him again at his post, dividing- in favour of Sir James Mackintosh's motion for the mitigation of the rigour of our Criminal Laws; a motion which was lost by a majority of 86 to 76. In March of tlie following year, Mr. Canning introduced his mea- sure for the more effectual suppression of the African Slave Trade, which was supported by Mr. FovvelJ Buxton in an eloquent address. The great principle of Negro Emancipation we now find him advocat- ing and enforcing by a series of strenuous and well-directed eftbrts, each of which was manifestly prompted by a feeling of perfect sin- cerity, benevolence and disinterestedness. Thus in May 1826, he moved for a committee to inquire into the extent of the Slave Trade in the Mauritius, and the treatment of the slaves there, which was ulti- mately agreed to. He also carried a motion in July, 1828, for an address to the king in favour of some amelioration of the condition ot the natives of South Africa, and in vindication of their rights and 124 THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, ESQ. liberties. In April 1831, he brought forward his motion for the Abolition of Slavery which, after some discussion, was adjourned for further consideration until the 26th of the same month ; bat in the in- terim, parliament was dissolved by King William, to give the people an opportunity of declaring their sentiments upon the Reform Bill. The government measure for the gradual extinguishment of Negro Slavery in the British colonies, was introduced by Mr. Stanley in May 1833; and on the 30th of the same month, the resolutions founded on that plan were introduced into the reformed House of Commons. The third resolution, which involved the principle of the compulsory apprenticeship, was met with a direct negative by Mr. Fowell Buxton, on the ground that it was unnecessary and imprac- ticable. Having been assured, however, by government, that the re- solution did not bind the house to any particular period of compul- sory labour, Mr. Buxton withdrew his motion, and proposed to insert words declaring that the labour was to be "for wages." This, like- wise, he was ultimately induced to withdraw ; but Mr. O'Connell insisted on dividing the house, and was defeated by a majority of 324 to 42. On the motion for going into committee on the bill, which had been brought in pursuant to the resolutions, Mr. Buxton again discussed the question of compulsory apprenticeships ; and concluded an able speech by moving, " That it be an instruction to the committee, that they shall not for the sake of the pecuniary interests of the masters, impose any restraint or obligation on the negro which shall not be necessary for his own welfare, and for the general peace and order of society ; and that they shall limit the duration of any temporary restrictions which may be imposed upon the freedom of the negroes to the shortest period which may be ne- cessary to establish, on just principles, the system of free labour for adequate wages." On a division, this amendment was lost by a majority of only seven (151 having voted for and 158 against it) ; and the result convinced the government, that they must make some concession in reference to the apprenticeships ; accordingly, on the following day, Mr. Stanley announced that ministers had resolved to reduce the period of predial apprenticeship from twelve years to seven, and of non-predial from seven to five. An amendment moved by Mr. Buxton, to reduce the period of apprenticeship to three years in all cases, was lost by a majority of 207 to 90, a remarkable contrast with the division of the preceding day. Subsequently, Mr. Buxton THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, ESQ. 125 moved, " That only one-half the amount of the compensation to the owners should be paid at once, the other being withheld until the period of the apprenticeship of the negroes had expired ; and until the negroes were put in possession of all the rights and privileges enjoyed by all other classes of his Majesty's subjects in the colonies ;" but the motion was lost by a majority of 277 to 142. In 1835, the hon. gentleman moved for a select committee to inquire whether the conditions on which the twenty millions were granted had been complied with ; but on government pledging itself that the intentions of the legislature should be fully and con- sistently carried into effect, he withdrew the motion. In July of the same year he obtained the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the treatment of the aboriginal inhabitants of the British colonies. It is easy to perceive, from this outline of the course which Mr. Fowell Buxton took while the Emancipation measure was under de- liberation in the legislature, and of the part which he has since per- formed in questioning the fulfilment of the contract and exacting a rigid observance of it, what would have been his conduct, during the recent crisis, had he enjoyed that seat in the national councils to which his character and his services entitled him. The leadership of the immediate-abolition party must have been conceded to him by acclamation ; and there can be little doubt that the cause of the slave- apprentices would have been served, though it could not have been rendered successful, by his earnest and unselfish advocacy. This at least is certain, that his sincerity, disinterestedness, and freedom from all factious feeling, would have stood out in most honourable contrast to the conduct of some of the immediate-abolitionists in the Lower as well as in the Upper House, who can neither lay claim to the merit of consistency in their suddenly acquired taste for agitation, nor to that purity of motive, and exemption from party bias and hostility to Ministers as Ministers, which should be the characteristics of the friends of humanity. Mr. Fowell Buxton has been a constant supporter of the bills in- troduced for promoting the *' better " observance of the Sabbath ; but without adopting all the crotchets of the several introducers of such propositions. Though unconvinced that legislation in this matter is more likely to be productive of evil than good, he is, we believe, too enlightened not to see that fanatical and gloomy restrictions to the 126 THOMAS FOWELL BUXTON, ESQ. extent meditated by some well meaning Sunday-reformers, would tend to the desecration rather than the holiness of the Sabbath ; and too just and too humane to subject the poor to hardships and severities which he would not cheerfully encounter himself, in proof of his own sense of religion as well as of his impartiality and fair dealing. This estimable man has also been an active and zealous sup- porter of all measures tending to further the great ends of humanity, and the inculcation of kindly feelings in his fellow-creatures. The subject of Cruelty to Animals has therefore awakened his attention, and the efforts for its prevention have had the advantage of his aid. The general policy of the Melbourne administration was warmly supported by him while in parliament. It is wholly foreign to his habits to take an active part in the work of political agitation out of doors ; but few men in the country look with more anxiety to the main- tenance of the leading principles of reform by the majority in parliament, and still fewer have a stronger or more righteous claim upon the constituent body to be returned once more as a member of that majority, than the late member for Weymouth. Mr. Fowell Buxton married in 1«07, Hannah, the daughter of John Gurney, Esq. of Norwich, It is scarcely necessary to add that he is a partner in the eminent and prosperous firm of Truman, Hanbury and Buxton. He is also a director of the Alliance Assurance Com- pany ; and serves as treasurer to the City Mission, and to the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline. I ;. ■l-J\SIBB.SY -Vr. H.MOTE . ^ 127 HENRY WARBURTON, ESQ., M.P. The present member for Bridport has had the honour of a seat in six successive parliaments ; and by the soundness and liberality of his principles, the ability with which he maintains them in debate, and the general steadiness and consistency of his conduct, has established his claim to the respect of the constituent body generally, and ranked himself among those really independent and public- spirited members, compared with whom so many of their parlia- mentary associates appear to be "honourable" only by courtesy. There are men of more brilliant powers in the house ; but there are none whose powers, such as they are, their possessors understand more clearly, or employ more profitably. Mr. Warburton commenced his labours in parliament by callino- attention to a subject which he appears to have deeply investigated, and on which he has since succeeded in rendering;' some valuable services to the cause of science and general enlightenment. We allude to a motion which he introduced in June 1827, upon the presen- tation of a petition " from the Royal College of Surgeons," com- plaining of the regulations of that institution. Having obtained the papers for which he applied, he in the following year performed the promise he had given, of zealously labouring for the correction of the many abuses which were known to exist in our colleges of science, and in the laws affecting anatomical studies in particular, by moving for a committee to inquire into the manner of obtaining subjects for dissection for the schools of surgery and anatomy, his object being to facilitate the progress of knowledge, and to weaken or remove those prejudices in the popular mind which had so long operated as obstacles to the diffusion of enlig^htenment. He succeeded in his motion; and the inquiry that ensued elicited much useful informa- 128 HENRY WARBURTON, ESQ., M. P. tion, and established the correctness of Mr. Warburton's views. He accordingly, in March 1828, obtained leave to bring in a bill to legalize and regulate the supply of subjects for the schools of anatomy. The bill passed the House of Commons, but was rejected by the Lords, whose prejudices on the subject, it must be owned, were coun- tenanced by too many out of doors ; and not unnaturally, when we remember the means by which subjects for dissection had hitherto been procurable, and the horror and disgust with which the practice of delivering over to the surgeons the bodies of the more atrocious class of criminals, had led the public generally to contemplate the process of anatomy. While the law, passing over ordinary criminals and paupers whose remains there were no living relatives to claim or care for, branded the wretch who had violated the most sacred ties of heaven and humanity, as worthy of being consigned after death to the hands of the anatomist, the anatomist was naturally associated in the popular idea with the executioner himself. He became an agent in administering the most terrible and revolting punish- ment, not the practical expounder of a natural system, the most exquisitely beautiful that can be imagined, the study and develop- ment of which are not less demanded by the necessities of the body than by the aspirations of the mind. To uproot all narrow and vulgar prejudices on such a point, and to teach the common mind to regard with no revolted feeling the necessary task of the anatomist, and the duty of providing such a supply of subjects as the progress of study may demand, should be the object of the legislature ; and in leading the representatives of the people to consider this necessity and this duty in a light so unobscured by the prejudices of the ignorant, and with a feeling so far removed from that which had formerly prevailed, as well in the councils of the nation as in the breasts of the sick pau- per and the sentenced criminal, Mr. Warburton has assuredly acted in the wisest spirit of statesmanship, and has rendered to the com- munity no mean or unenduring service. The prejudices here referred to, found an apt and unmisgiving representative in the late Mr. Henry Hunt, who, throughout the subsequent debates upon the question of legalizing and regulating the supply of subjects for anatomy, gave to it a strenuous and per- severing opposition, under the idea that he was protecting from HENRY WARBURTON, ESQ., M.P. 129 outrage the feelings of the poor, the great numerical majority — while in reality he was acting upon and encouraging the true tory doctrine, in supporting the ignorant prejudices of the one, at the cost of the many. Repeated discussion, however, upon such a question, neces- sarily rendered it too clear for effectual opposition ; and accordingly the bill which Mr. Warburton had again introduced at the close of the year 1831, w^as eventually passed in the May following. Its operation, there is reason to believe, has not disappointed the expec- tations of the advocates of the measure. A source of outrage upon the sanctities of the grave, and the sweetest and most affectionate sentiments of the living, has been removed by it ; society has been spared the shame and disgrace of compelling the anatomical student to remain in want of the very essentials of his study, or to sanction a most disgusting and brutal violation, not merely of the law, but of his own natural feelings of respect for the '' quick and the dead ;" it has also been saved from the humiliation of seeing the knife of the ana- tomist associated in the idea of the legislature with the rope of the hangman ; and thus even in a short space of time, the facilities of inquiry and study have been greatly increased, the ends of huma- nizing science have been advanced, a vulgar prejudice has been quietly surmounted, and the tone of public feeling has become insen- sibly healthier, manlier, and more elevated. Mr. Warburton has since pursued the objects which he had in view, when his mind first directed itself to the task we have been describing, by successfully moving, at the commencement of the year 1834, for a select committee to inquire into the various branches of the medical profession. The game laws, as existing when the member for Bridport com- menced his parliamentary career of usefulness, formed one of the numerous legal barbarities that found in him a zealous and uncom- promising opponent. It was early discovered, that to a keen eye for detecting abuses, he united a shrewd and ready pow^er for exposing them. His speeches from the beginning were invariably short ; but always to the point. He at once obtained the "ear of the House," and kept it. Few men among the staunch and persevering reformers, who are necessardy doomed to urge forward distasteful subjects at most inopportune seasons, and to oblige the opponents of improve- s 130 HENRY WARBURTON, ESQ., M. P. merit either to assent to what their very instincts teach them to resist, or to endanger their seats by offending a large body of their consti- tuents, have been called to "order," or interrupted by the cry of "question," so seldom as the member for Bridport, He has very rarely fallen below the point of promptitude and energy requisite in a practical reformer at such a period as the present, and he has never damaged his cause by over zeal, rashness of judgment, or the im- pulses of personal vanity. He never speaks but when he has really something to say ; he says it like a man who conceives that speech was given to us to express our thoughts and not to conceal them ; and crowding as much argument as he can into as few words as pos- sible, he never tires his auditors, or fails to strengthen his case. An instance of the point and force with which Mr. Warburton occa- sionally illustrates the subject he is discussing, may be noticed in one of his speeches in exposition of the iniquity and folly of the game laws, to which we have just alluded. " I have read," remarked Mr. Warburton, " in Mariner's account of the Tonga islands, that there the rats were preserved as game ; and though every body might eat rats, nobody was allowed to kill them, but somebody descended from their gods or their kings. This was the only country, and the only case I know of, which furnishes anything like a parallel to our game laws." Mr. Warburton's observations are always calm in tone, but searching, effective, and wholly unpretending. He is not a parlia- mentary orator, but as a debater his character is established. He does not profess to be brilliant, but he has the noble ambition to be useful. He speaks, not to display his logic, his learning, or his ac- complishments of any kind — but simply to promote his cause. Even in the House of Commons, qualities of this character are never unap- preciated. As illustrative of the good feeling and the love of fair play, which are generally seen to influence Mr. Warburton's conduct, we may notice a little incident which occurred at a period when the member for Preston above referred to had rendered himself exceedingly ob- noxious to every member of the house. When on the subject of the budget of 1831, Mr. Hunt was not allowed a hearing, and at last, in consequence of the interruption and tumult, moved an adjournment, Mr. Warburton in a spirit of chivalry seconded the motion, on the HENRY WARBURTON, ESQ., M. P. 131 ground of tlic interruption only, and said " he would always do so under similar circumstances." A declaration indicative of moral courage exceedingly well timed, and not unproductive of useful results. In the same year he took a very prominent and active part in the discussion upon the Bankruptcy Court Bill ; and, as a matter of course, it may be supposed, entered with all the ardour and firmness of a sincere and strenuous reformer, into the all-absorbing question of the time, the Parliamentary Reform Bill. This carried, he promptl} and strongly evinced his sense of what ought to be the altered state of things in the House of Commons, as reformed by the modern Magna Charta, ("Parva" seems now the more applicable word,) by supporting the nomination of Mr. Littleton the reformer, as speaker of the House, in opposition to the then lord of the ascendant, the ever overrated Mr. Manners Sutton, who was justly deposed in the fol- lowing year. Amono; the measures to which Mr. Warburton has o-iven an honour- able and efficient support, should be mentioned Mr. E. L. Bulwer's propositions on behalf of the rights of dramatic authors ; and a reform of the laws relating to theatrical entertainments. Mr. ^yarburton's advocacy in this instance was the more valuable, and the more honour- able to himself personally, from the fact of his holding a renter's share in one of the theatres that had "enjoyed" — to use the word in the sense attached to it, when speaking of persons enjoying a bad state of health — a share in the dramatic monopoly. This and all arrears he professed himself willing to give up, with the view of enabling the minor theatres to perform tlie legitimate drama, at a rate more adapted to the means of the humbler classes ; and thus to scatter the refining and humanizing influences of Shakspeare's writings, among those whom the law had left to find amusement and instruction in irredeem- able nonsense, unintellectual contortions, and the most vulgar and vicious buffoonery. Early in the session of 1833, Mr. Warburton expressed himself as well became an enlightened advocate of a comprehensive system of reform, on the grand subject of taxation. Having risen to second Mr. Robinson's motion for a commutation of taxes, he strongly recom- mended as the " one thing needful," the adoption of a graduated 132 HENRY WARBURTON, ESQ.,M.P. property tax— one, however, devised upon such a basis, and character- ised by such a consistency of design and equitableness of purpose, as to supersede, if established at all, " all other taxes whatever." The principles of free trade are warmly supported by the member for Bridport, and they are rarely touched upon in Parliament without callino- him up in advocacy of them. To the present corn laws he is of course opposed, recommending in place of them a fixed and low duty. He is an advocate for the abolition of all taxes on knowledge, whether in the form of a penny stamp upon newspapers, or imposed upon printing and paper. This is a subject in which he has taken an active interest. Among the measures which he has warmly supported may be mentioned the Beer Bill, all alteration of which he has sted- fastlv resisted. For the Ballot and the Repeal of the Septennial Act he has consistently voted ; he would abolish the property qualification of members of Parliament ; and is as favourable to a gradual exten- sion of the suffrage — not consenting to render it universal until a national system of education, (to which he is also friendly,) shall have been instituted, and its effects witnessed in the increased knowledge and better regulated habits of large portions of the labouring poor. To the abolition of the degrading barbarity of military flogging, and of the mischievous absurdity of imprisonment for debt, he has laudably devoted his zealous energies. Guided by common sense and a gene- rous sympathy upon these moral points, he is equally influenced by a plain and sound understanding, on matters relating to religious regu- lations and observances. He has spoken in favour of receiving affir- mations in place of oaths where necessary; and has constantly opposed all projects, whether more or less preposterous, for sanctifying the Sabbath by vexation and sorrow, and rendering the poor man's day of rest, the dullest and dreariest of the week. " I am not one of those," observed Mr. Warburton, during one of the discussions on a Sabbath bill, " who believe that men can be made religious by act of Parliament." Mr. Warburton, in the session of 1834, proposed a plan of taking the divisions of the House of Commons, to which it was agreed to give a trial ; but in its operation it appears to have partially failed, and he himself seconded Lord Ebrington's motion for rescinding the resolution of the House in its favour, declaring his impres- HENRY WARBURTON, ESQ., M. P. 133 sion, however, that the experiment had not been satisfactorily tried. It must be acknowledged that few members, during the years of Mr. Warburton's parliamentary life, have had a more constant ex- perience of the convenience or inconvenience of the mode of takino- the divisions than himself; for few members have been more punctual and unremitting in their attention to their duties as a representative. Perhaps we ought not to make a single exception to Mr. Warburton's prejudice. Take all the important divisions of the session, important not in a mere party sense, but in a national one (though it sometimes happens, and the present time witnesses the truth of the remark, that party interests and national interests are one and the same), and in whicli list will you discover the omission of Mr. Warburton's name ? As we have already remarked, he never speaks when he ought to be silent, so it may be asserted that he is rarely absent when he ought to be present. He has in fact reminded us of the time which he is in the habit of devoting to his parliamentary duties, by observing, when alluding to the inconveniences of the House from bad ventilation, that "he frequently spent twelve hours there at one sitting." Mr. Warburton's natural talents and habits of business render him a desirable acquisition on many committees — a fact which, coupled with his constancy of attendance during the debates on questions of public interest, renders his assertion less startlino- than it at first sight appears. He has spoken of himself, on one occasion (in 1825) as " a mercantile man engaged in business for a period of twenty-five years/' Mr. Warburton is a Baltic mer- chant. The member for Bridport does not rank in that class of reformers who are all apathy in Parliament and all agitation out of doors. He rarely takes part in the great struggle in which the people them- selves from time to time engage. He is seldom seen at a public meeting, nor is his style of oratory adapted to produce any great effect in such an assembly. He can " argue " a question, but he cannot declaim upon it. He can appeal forcibly to the reason, but he has no power to awaken the passions, or to " stir men's blood." He is a guide rather than an agitator. He can clearly and calmly explain the course which we should take, but he cannot kindle in us the darino' resolution to take it. Not that he is absolutely idle as a 134 HENRY WARBURTON, ESQ., M. P. labourer in the cause of improvement out of doors ; as evidence to the contrary, we slioukl refer to the prominent part which he had the honour and the merit of taking in the formation of the London Uni- versity. A man who occasionally gives twelve hours out of the twenty-four to the discharge of his duties within the walls of Parlia- ment, may reasonably be excused for limiting his exertions to a sphere wathin which they are so laboriously and exhaustingly de- manded. There are, however, two or three objections to the general rule of reason and justice which governs Mr. Warburton's opinions and conduct. The view which he has taken of the question of Literary Copyright, is, we venture to think, a deviation from the common- sense line which he usually observes, and inconsistent with the prin- ciples he professes, because it " carries them out" rather too far. He appears to see nobody's interest but the public's. His argument on the International Copyright Question seems to amount to this — that it is cheaper to steal books than to buy them ; whereas (leaving the morality of the argument out of the question) it is in the main a vast deal dearer. It must frankly be admitted, however, that Mr. War- burton seldom fads to discriminate with nicety, and to weigh with the most scrupulous and thoughtful care the claims of the public and the just rights of individuals. ENDRffVia) BTallDBIIISOH. ^/^^^^^^^-^^^^^ 135 THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. If unhappily for the world the Earl of iMiilgrave had been born in the meanest and most helpless condition of life, there cannot be a question that his natural talents would have raised him from obscurity, and that, by their honourable exercise, he w^ould have been enabled not only to administer to the literary pleasures of society but to win for himself a distino-uished station amono; the authors of the ao;e. But what literary honours that he otherwise might have won, could for an instant be put in the balance against the proud and imperishable dis- tinction which must ever be associated with this nobleman's name, as the liberal Lord Lieutenant of L-eland. How poor must have proved every harvest of reputation that he could possibly have reaped, in comparison w^ith that golden fruit of fame wdiich he has gathered, as the first governor of that distracted country who for centuries has dared to do it justice ; indulging the noble ambition of ruling by the gentle magic of the olive-branch instead of the keen and dazzling terror of the sword. Lord Mulgrave has acquired by the wisdom and virtue of his course as her majesty's representative in Ireland, a name that the most honoured and the most fortunate of his contemporaries must envy. , . . , . ,. . Before we attempt to trace the outline of the career of this gifted statesman and generous patriot, the family from which he springs claims some notice. It is generally stated by the peerage writers that this family is descended from Sir William Phipps, the inventor of the diving-bell ; but this must be inaccurate, as that ingenious person died without issue. The Earl of Mulgrave's family is, we believe, originally of Lincolnshire extraction. In the time of Charles I. Col. Phipps raised a regiment on his estate, joined the cavaliers at the head of his followers, and crowned his devotion to royalty by dying in battle. His grandson. Sir Con- stantine Phipps, an eminent lawyer, was, in the latter years of Queen 136 THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. Anne (1710) appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland, but died in retirement, leaving a son, William, who married Katherine, only daughter and heiress of Katherine, Duchess of Buckinghamshire and Normanby, who was herself the natural daughter and heiress of James II. by Katherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester. Lady Katherine Phipps succeeded to the estates belonging to Mulgrave Castle, in Yorkshire, upon the untimely death of her half-brother, the young Duke of Buckingham, whose early loss is deplored by Pope in a touching epitaph, that speaks of him as one " In whom a race for courage famed, and art, Ends in the milder merit of the heart." The son of the William Phipps above mentioned was elevated to the peerage of Ireland, in 1767, and was succeeded by Constantino John, a distinguished naval officer, who held many official situations, and was, on the 16th of June, 1790, enrolled amongst the peers of Great Britain as Baron Mulgrave. This nobleman was, in early life, the conductor of an expedition to the North Pole, then considered a most extraordinary undertaking. He was succeeded by his brother Henry (the father of the present earl) who, on the 7th of September, 1812, was created Viscount Normanby and Earl of Mulgrave, and died on the 7th of April, 1831. Constantino Henry, the present earl, was born on the 15th of May, 1797. He was educated at Harrow. The young Constantino, it is said, notwithstanding his descent from the cavaliers, early im- bibed those liberal principles on which he has so undeviatingly acted. At Trinity College, Cambridge, he took his degree as M. A. before he was quite nineteen. His coming of age, was celebrated by two important events ; his marriage with Maria, eldest daughter of Lord Ravensworth, and his entrance into Parliament as member for Scar- borough, a borough which had been represented by some of his family for a period of fifty years. Lord Normanby was nut long in Parliament without manifesting how widely he differed in political sentiment from his father, who had been a private friend of Mr. Pitt, and a staunch supporter of his principles. The young member could and would defer only to the opposite standard of political excellence. His maiden speech was THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. J 37 delivered on the Catholic Question. It was unequivocally success- ful ; and at the special request of the Catholic board, it was published for them as a pamphlet. The very first resolutions on Reform ever proposed by Lord John Russell were seconded by Lord Normanby, in a speech of considerable length and undeniable power — the only objec- tion taken to which, was one that must add to its merit in the judg- ment of reformers in these times — that it went too far in the course of Reform, and outstripped the specific resolutions he was seconding. Shortly after this, however, his lordship retired to the Continent, and resigned his seat in Parliament, " in which he had ever unhappily found his private feelings and obligations in constant opposition to his sense of public duty." His lordship continued his stay in Italy for two years. Having returned to England, he proceeded to devote to the cause of Reform the service of his pen. Of several pamphlets which appeared at that time, and commonly ascribed to him, one doubtless owed its author- ship to him. Its title was " Remarks on the Bill for the Disfranchise- ment of Grampound ; by a Member of the last Parliament." Enter- ing ably and generally into the question of Reform, it exposed the preposterous contradictions between the then distribution of the elective franchise, and the population and property of the country. In 1822 Lord Normanby was again returned to Parliament for the borough of Higham Ferrers. Impressed with a conviction of the imperative necessity of retrenchment, and with an honourable sense of his duty as a representative of the people, he brought forward a motion for cutting off" half that "plural-unit," the joint postmaster general. The proposition was negatived upon a division by a few votes only ; but in the course of the debate, the maintenance of useless offices was openly vindicated as necessary to the influence of the crown, and this was followed up by the discovery of a circular ad- dressed by the secretary of the treasury to the members supporting government, in which Lord Normanby, Lord Althorp, and Mr. Creevy were by name denounced as acting upon a system with a view to destroy that legitimate influence of the crown. The docu- ment was brought before the House by Lord John Russell, and gave rise to an animated discussion. Lord Normanby took the unusual step of bringing the question before the House in another shape ; his T 138 THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. motion for an address to the crown on the subject was carried by a small majority, and the duplicate office was summarily abolished. The part which he played so spiritedly and so ably in this affair sus- tained his reputation in the House as one of the most graceful and gallant ornaments of it that aristocracy had ever sent into the popular assembly of the nation. Malton was the next borough tor which Lord Normanby sat. His useful services were actively continued, as often as the circumstances of the time afforded him opportunities of signalizing his zeal and determination as a practical friend to retrenchment and reform. His last act in the House of Commons was the introduction of a motion of inquiry into the mysterious causes which led to a dissolution of the short-lived ministry that was formed on the death of Mr. Canning. No details were elicited, no mystery was cleared up, but public atten- tion was keenly awakened on the subject. The ill-health of the then Earl of Mulgrave, whose end was rapidly approaching, afforded a sufficient reason why Lord Normanby should not, at the election which succeeded, contemplate resuming his seat among the representatives of the people ; so that during the fierce and prolonged debates upon the Reform Bill on its first introduction into the House of Commons, he was not present to assume that leading position which otherwise he would have graced and sustained, with so much advantage to his own reputation, and to the cause of which he had been the constant and consistent advocate. On the 7tli of April, 1831, his lordship succeeded to the earldom, which he now enjoys. Thus elevated to the seat of his father in the House of Lords, he was in time to take his share in the important and necessary task of maintaining the justice of that measure, and of urging upon his fellow-legislators by hereditary right the expediency of yielding with the best grace they could command to the declared, undoubted, and irresistible decision of the nation at large. But before we proceed to trace his lordship's distinguished career, and to ex- amine the spirit of that statesmanship which has been happily his guiding-star as the Earl of Mulgrave, we must turn aside for a few moments out of the political path, and exhibit to the reader the literary claims which, as Lord Normanby, he has established upon remembrance and admiration. His lordship gave at an early period of his life THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. 139 proofs of his taste and predilection for authorship, of a lively fancy and elegant accomplishments, and of an acute observation, a keen and just perception, of the characteristics of that species of life with which by birth his lot was associated. It has been truly remarked that he has just written enough to make us regret that he has not written more ; and yet we must not forget that had more time been devoted to literary composition, and to the sentimental or satirical analysis of artificial life and fashionable character, some exertions would in all probability have been withheld from that great political cause which it was the especial province of a mind such as his, so proudly placed and so fortunately developed, to uphold with its utmost chivalry and enthusiasm. We concur with the author of a sketch of Lord Mulgrave's life, published several years ago in the New Monthly Magazine (from which we have derived many parti- culars of his biography) in regarding the author of " Matilda," " Con- trast," and " Yes and No," as the Froissart of fashion, one who writes what he knows, and describes what he has seen. " His novels," pur- sues his critic, " are actual pictures of actual scenes which will some years hence be referred to as authentic histories of national manners ; confined to certain classes it is true, but no more confined than the ancient chronicler's we have mentioned." The same writer (one in whose thoughts and style we can unhesitatingly trace a mind that has bountifully enriched the literature of our time, and whose admiration and respect Lord Mulgrave must assuredly regard as constituting one of the most acceptal^le and valued of his honours), remarks with no less truth, that " for accuracy, for keen perception of the ridiculous, for a happy flinging of ' wit's diamond arrows,' Lord Normanby has no equal." The opening scene of " Matilda" is described as possess- ing all the reality of life and all the humour of a comedy ; though an objection is taken to the attraction which is thrown upon guilt, in the charm with which the sweet sinner is invested. The fault of the heroine is found to consist in this — we like her too well. " Yes and No" is justly characterized as a delightful tale. The two heroes are the personifications of the negative and affirmative principles — a little too antithetical perhaps, as all abstract ideas are when embodied ; but well kept up throughout. There is a very natural sketch, in Germaine, . of a young man easily led and as easily turned ; while in Ladi/ 140 THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. Latimer we have a perfectly wrought out character, " an admirable female delineation," delightful in its slight vanities, its yielding to pleasures however frivolous and vain, but redeeming all by a frank- ness, and a kindly affectionate disposition, which the world cannot spoil. There is also an excellent life-like picture of an election in this novel. Mr. Stedman who, " as a representative of the soil, carried an acre or two of it on his boots and leather-breeches," and " looked the agricultural interest to perfection," is quite an historical portrait. The liberal principles of the author are very obvious in many scenes of this story, which, like that of Matilda, has obtained the compliment of a translation into the French. The same powers of original wit and active observation, were lavished on the scenes and characters of " Contrast." Lord Normanby, besides many miscellaneous compo- sitions in prose, and a few in verse, is the author of two charming little tales, "Clorinda," and the "Prophet of St. Paul's." We may also mention among the elegant tastes which Lord Nor- manby cultivated in his less grave and thoughtful days, ere the severe and sacred duties of legislation and government had demanded the monopoly of his powers, an inclination for private theatricals, which he superintended during his residence at Florence, to the infinite delight of the society in which he moved. The plays of Shakspeare, we are informed, have rarely been produced with such taste, appro- priateness, and accuracy of costume. Is this a frivolous fact to introduce as a portion of the veritable life of a great statesman? It must be a frivolous philosophy that would so deem it. An inordinate relish of such pursuits and pleasures is a vice indeed when evinced in a character that has no lofty passions to elevate and support it — no love of great purposes, no ambition to surpass others in a generous course of action ; but "where virtue is, these make more virtuous," and shed that grace upon greatness which is inseparable from refined tastes and intellectual accomplishments. It may also be remarked, that Lord Normanby was strikingly distinguished by one advantage, of no little value in the cultivation of such pastimes — the advantage of personal appearance. "He has," says one who accurately describes him, " a fine, manly and expressive countenance, and his bearing is that of a perfect gentleman," without the slightest mixture of that foppery which is too often the accompaniment of fashion. THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. 141 We must now turn, however, to the higher duties and pursuits, so worthy of the noblest ambition that could animate such a mind, which the changing circumstances of the time opened up to the Earl of Mulgrave, and imperatively called upon him to engage in and to execute. The cause of Reform was now so far prosperous and fashionable, as to hold out to its gifted advocate some reward for his zeal, and increased assurances of his power to cherish and advance its dearest interests. A rebellion, which had broken out in Jamaica, rendered it neces- sary to select, as governor of that island, a man in whom the bravest and the gentlest qualities were happily united. The Earl of Mul- grave, thus qualified, was invited to undertake the mission ; a mission which involved the gratifying and honourable office of pre- paring all parties — the slave-owner and the slave — for the great approaching change, which was contemplated on passing the Act of Emancipation. His Lordship sailed from England to assume the governorship of Jamaica, in June 1832. The nature of the duties that devolved upon him afforded him continual opportunities of sig- nalizing his moral firmness and personal gallantry. His decision of character, his high sense of duty, and his fitness to govern, were strikingly shown on an occasion of no slight difficulty and peril to himself — the " Unionists" having laboured to produce a mutiny among the troops through the medium of political agitation, and having so far succeeded as to create a scene of the most wild and disgraceful confusion. The governor's address to the soldiers was in all respects admirable, and deserves to outlive the occasion. Meanwhile, the Emancipation Act was making progress in the Legislature athome; and the best energies of such a governor were all-important to the success of the grand experiment. Lord Mulgrave, by the discharge of his important and difficult duties, won " golden opinions," and entitled himself to the respect of the planters, as well as the gratitude of the negro race. The measures which he adopted were characterized by boldness, tempered by discrimination and caution ; by " conscience and tender heart;" by statesman-like forethought and ever-accessible humanity ; by unbending principle, carried into successful action by conciliatory and popular manners. These had their natural tendency to smooth the way for the safe and prosperous operation of a vast and 142 THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. hazardous change ; hazardous, at least, it might and must have proved, had powers of mind and influences of manner less peculiarly adapted to the circumstances amidst which they were exercised, been employed to accomplish the beneficent mission of enlightenment, emancipation, and peace. The earl returned to England, and on the formation of the first Melbourne Administration, accepted the ofiice of Lord Privy Seal, which he filled until the breaking up of the Cabinet in November 1834. And now, in the pleasant task of tracing the various stages of his lordship's lofty and honourable career, we have arrived at the eve of that event, which was to Ireland as the dawn of a bright day after her long " night-time of sorrow and care;" as the commence- ment of a new and better life, after a moral and political existence in which the wrongs and sufferings of many ages were crowded into one. On the restoration of the Melbourne cabinet in the spring of 1835, the Earl of Mulgrave ventured, with a courage inspired by the wisest and purest sense of the innate strength of justice, and the inevitable triumph of the true over the false, to undertake the most important and elevated mission that modern times have witnessed — the mission of justice to Ireland — in the character of her lord- lieutenant. The Earl of Mulgrave landed in Dublin on the llth May, and was received with a shout of welcome from the warm-hearted and grateful population of the kingdom whose destinies were committed to his hand, that evinced the estimation in which his character was held, and an eager anticipation of the hopes and happy prospects which he brought with him. He at once became that Irish vara av'is^ a popu- lar, because an impartial, ruler. True it is, that Ireland has never been slow to give a welcome to her sovereign's representative, even when there was little to be hoped for from his coming ; and when by some strange chance a ruler has been chosen from the ranks of the professors of liberality, her respect has risen into ardour, her loyalty into enthusiasm. But the feeling which Lord Mulgrave kindled in the Irish heart, ere he had yet dwelt " a little month " among he peo- ple, was of a warmer, a deeper, and a more enduring character. He became the idol of the Irish, by simply abstaining from being their oppressor. Without surrendering one particle of the dignity which THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. I43 the representative of royalty might be expected to preserve ; without mingling more with the multitude than might be considered graceful even in the ornament and oracle of the court ; without flattering Catholic prejudices, inflaming Catholic passions, or exciting Catho- lic hopes which circumstances rendered it impossible to realize, he won the confidence of the millions, and divided public applause and gratitude with Mr. O'Connell. The governor of Ireland was hailed as her guardian ; the lord-lieutenant w^as every where received as the legitimate liberator. For the first time in the remembrance of the existing generation — for the first time in the history of their fathers — the spirit of justice and impartiality between Protestant and Catholic presided over the councils of the state. To see impartiality and jus- tice taking up their abode at the Castle, was, to the desponding Irish, like witnessing the return of the golden age ; the opening of a poli- tical paradise, the commencement of a new life. The phenomenon had occurred in spite of fate. They have not yet left oft' wondering. It is curious to observe how much, and how little, Lord Mulgrave has achieved for Ireland. How much ! — when we look to the course which he has pursued in purifying, as far as discretion dictated and opportunity allowed, the magistracy of the country — in fearlessly dismissing from time to time the blusterers and bigots who had abused their power, and pro- voked to strife the peasantry they should have protected from aggres- sion — in boldly bringing the justice himself to justice, and bidding his victim be of good heart — in refusing to entrust the magisterial ofiice to clergymen simply as clergymen, when their presence on the bench was not needful to the administration of justice, but was natu- rally productive of discontent and suspicion — in revising the lists of the sheriff's, by which the infamy of the jury-system has been abated — in declining to dispatch the military on civil errands, provoking the persecuted tithe-debtor to resistance, and sprinkling the path to the Protestant church with Catholic blood — in vindicating the law by putting it in force wherever violated, and, by the detection of criminals, lessening the actual amount of crime even when it seemed to have increased — in reforming, with this view, the constabulary system, which had been the promoter rather than the detector of offences, and so uniting in it Catholic and Protestant as to give both an ]44 THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. equal interest in repressing outrage, whether instigated by one party or the other — in elevating Catholic lawyers of eminence even to the judicial seat, and in promoting others to vacant offices, with the assurance that the religion they had derived from their fathers would no longer preclude their accession to the ermine — in bestowing the rewards which places of trust and emolument convey upon deserving men hitherto proscribed, and making talent and character the only titles to preferment and courtly honour ; — in thus convincing the great majority of the Irish people, that while the Protestant Few should be promoted after their deserts, and protected from all invasion of their just and equal rights, the Catholic Many should no longer be the sport of justice and the victims of power — no longer be the scorn of those to whom they should look for succour — no longer be political serfs because they were faithful to their religion ; or be branded as criminals because unstained by the deep guilt of silently submitting to a lawless and insulting tyranny. How much indeed has Lord Mulgrave done for grateful Ireland ! And yet how little is all this, when we contemplate what Ireland still needs! — when we attempt to calculate the extent of her grievances, and to fathom the depth of her distress. Lord Mulgrave has done all that a kind-hearted and even-handed judge could do; he has not only abstained religiously from every thing that could aggravate any one of the countless evils of daily endurance, but he has tried, and tried successfully, to cheer and elevate the feelings of the people, substituting a desire for peace for a sense of the necessity of strife. He has partially humanized the wild revengeful heart. He has eased the galling fetter, and sent a ray of light into the dungeon. But he has not set the limbs free, or unbarred the door. The victim to unjust legislation and arbitrary law is yet pining within. Rags are still the national costume ; Famine still sits by the fireless hearth of the peasant. Lord Mulgrave we repeat has done all that a righteous ruler could do ; but it was not in his province to prescribe the great remedy for Irish evils — to touch the seat of the disease. It was not for him, it was not in his power, to administer the grand legislative redress for the wrongs of Ireland. He has been unable even to provide against a recurrence of the injuries he has redressed, the revival of the corruptions he has cleared away, whenever an unhappy THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. 145 change in the administration may come, and toryism may again be in the ascendant. But once more let us echo the general voice of the Irish people, he has done all that honesty, humanity and wisdom could do, in his capacity of protector and pacificator. In the summer of 1836, Lord Mulgrave proceeded upon a tour through the southern counties of the country — through Kildare, Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Limerick, and Cork, where he made a brief stay ; he thence paid a visit to the Lakes of Killarney, and returned through Tipperary, the Queen's County, and Kildare to Dublin, His progress was one continued triumph. Seldom had Irish feeling, strong and ardent as it is, been so enthusiastically demonstrated. Public dinners, and addresses of congratulation and gratitude, everywhere awaited him; but these were cold and com- mon-place welcomes compared with the rapturous greetings of the half-clad and less than half- fed peasantry, who congregated from all quarters to form a guard of honour throughout the long and diversified extent of his way. The calumny and hatred with which the once-dominant faction repaid the noble efforts of Lord Mulgrave to tranquillize and re- generate the land, were not by any means lessened when, on the death of King William, the fair and youthful sovereign who ascended his throne, dispatched a missive of love and peace to Ireland, ex- pressing a warm approval of the policy which had been pursued by the lord-lieutenant, and a hope that it might be unremittingly con- tinued. Such a tribute to the spirit of truth in which he had discharged a most difficult and hazardous duty, might well operate at once as a reward and a stimulant — it also operated as a fresh provocative and a more poignant sting, to the deposed party whose dark and desolating policy was thus emphatically condemned. Immediately upon the assembling of the new Parliament of 1837, the attacks which had been repeated at intervals, and directed with increasing rage, and therefore with increasing impotence, gathered themselves into a grand concentrated assault — against which the noble earl calmly stood up in his place in the House of Peers, and defended himself with a dignity only equalled by the clearness of his explanation and the patriotism of his views. His vin- dication was triumphant; and the " facts " of his rancorous assail- ij 146 THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MULGRAVE. ants were shewn to be as false as their professions and as warped as their principles. Whatever may have been the merits of the Melbourne admini- stration, and the merits of good intentions few will refuse to accord to it, it is beyond dispute that its protracted existence is solely the work of Lord Mulgrave. It must have long since perished, but for tlie reluctance to withdraw from Ireland a lord-lieutenant, who possessed the magical power of winning the popular love, while he maintained inviolate the law. The liberal government of Ireland was the redeeming virtue of the administration — the prac- tical fruit into which its many promises had gloriously ripened. It was no less to England's interest than to her honour, that the hopes of Ireland should be cherished, and the new system of execu- tive justice maintained in all its force. The ministry has evaded blow after blow, escaped danger after danger; for Ireland could not afford to lose so soon, her upright, her enlightened, her gentle and generous ruler. ENORSVEI) HI TIT. HOIjL . 147 THE RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT EBRINGTON, M.P. A more liberal, dignified, and in every sense respectable, specimen of the aristocracy of the House of Commons could scarcely be pointed out than the noble lord who sits in the present parliament as the representative of North Devon. His lordship has an unquestionable claim to be well regarded by the party to which he belongs, not less from the consistency with which he has upheld the whig principle of government, than from his station and independence ; but during the official existence of the whigs, his claim upon their esti- mation and gratitude has been materially advanced, as on him has devolved, in more than one period of ministerial embarrassment, the task of assembling and uniting the scattered forces of the govern- ment, and rescuing the Cabinet from the perils of a " crisis." The family to which Lord Ebrington belongs deduces its origin from Sir Richard le Forte, a distinguished soldier in the invading army of William the Conqueror. At the battle of Hastings he pro- tected his royal chief by bearing before him a strong shield ; and thence the French term " escue " (a shield) was added to the original surname of Forte. The family name of Fortescue has been borne and graced by other men of valour, and has been dignified also by knighthood acquired through the deserts of learning. Sir John Fortescue, a very eminent lawyer and author of a celebrated treatise entitled " De laudibus Legum Anglise," was Lord Chief Justice of England in 1442, and Lord High Chancellor in 1461; Sir Hugh Fortescue, K. B., who had been summoned to Parliament in 1721, as Lord Clinton, in right of maternal descent, was, in 1746, created Earl Clinton and Baron Fortescue. The earldom expired, but the barony descended to the father of the present Lord Ebrington, Hugh 148 THE RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT EBRINGTON, M.P. FortescLie, who, on tlie 1st of September 1789, was created Viscount Ebrington and Earl Fortescue. His lordship has now reached a very advanced age. Viscount Ebrington, his eldest son, was born on the 13th of February 1783; and in 1817 was married to Lady Susan Ryder, daughter of the Earl of Harrowby. This lady, having borne him three sons, died in 1827. His lordsliip has for many years retained a seat in the House of Commons. He was elected Member for Tavistock in 1820, and being re-chosen at each successive election continued to represent that borough until 1831. At the election in the preceding year he had been returned as member for the county of Devon, for which he has ever since sat. Returned again for the county, he became its representative; and since the passing of the Reform Act has sat for the North Division. His lordship has for some years been colonel of the East Devon Militia ; and is also vice-lieutenant of the county. Mr. Newton Fellowes, his colleague in the representation of North Devon, is brother-in-law to Lord Ebrington. One of the obligations which his party owes to the noble lord, was conferred upon it at that critical moment, when, in 1831, the tory peers, headed by Lord Lyudhurst, made their grand assault upon the Reform Bill. The consequence of this movement, and the defeat of ministers, was the immediate resignation of Earl Grey and his colleagues. Then it was that Lord Ebrington, promptly and spiritedly stood up in the House of Commons, and moved an address to his Majesty, expressive of the confidence which tlie representatives of the people in Parliament reposed in the admini- stration of Earl Grey. The station, fortune, and family of the noble lord naturally tended, in such an assembly as that, to give weight to the proposition, and to throw a brilliant effect upon the position which he had chosen to assume. Never was a sentiment more loudly and rapturously echoed within the walls of the House, whether reformed or unreformed, than the sentiment of sympathj^ with the principles and objects of the Grey cabinet, to which Lord Ebrington gave so timely and so forcible an expression. The motion was successful, the cabinet was recalled, and the Reform Bill was carried. THE RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT EBRINGTON, M.P. 149 Throughout the long series of dangers and disasters to which the liberal cause (so far as it may be conceived to be identified with the maintenance of a liberal cabinet that can simply command a majority and no more) has been exposed, Lord Ebrington has abundantly evinced the constancy and sincerity of his zeal. In every time of trouble, on every occasion of danger or difficulty to the administration and its objects, the noble lord's energies and advice are always to be relied on. Even at the last meeting of ministers and their supporters in the Lower House, called to consult upon the course which the Reform majority should take in reference to the franchise under the Irish Municipal bill — whether to propose a compromise with Sir Robert Peel and the advocates of a ten-pound franchise, by advancing from five pounds to eight, thus meeting them more than half way — Lord Ebrington is represented to have taken a decided part with the more liberal reformers; to have re- pudiated the ministerial doctrine of concession upon such a point ; and to have successfully enforced tlie necessity of preserving the integrity of the principle in dispute, leaving to the peers the responsibility and odium of its violations. By this, and numerous other acts of sympathy with the Irish people, and of interest in the cause of Reform, Lord Ebrington has entitled himself to the respect of reformers, as one whose views of political change and improve- ment are neither narrow nor timid, when we remember the aristo- cratic prejudices by which he is surrounded, and the inevitable bias of birth and education. 1.50 VICE-ADMIRAL SIR EDWARD CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B., ETC. ETC. The gallant subject of the present Memoir furnishes a striking instance of the success which steadiness of nerve, of purpose, and of principle, can command for the same individual in very different fields of action. Sir Edward Codrington, for more than half a century, and from his early boyhood, has been devoted to a sea- faring life. Looking back, many of us considerably beyond the date of our own existence, we find him actively engaged under the flag of Nelson, amid those incessant watchings and exertions, and those brilliant victories of the British fleet, which distinguished the early part of the last great war. We find him successively em- ployed on various services and various stations, rising from rank to rank, in consequence of his repeated proofs of courage, diligence, and skill, till he achieved his highest honours at Navarin, so recently as 1827. After so long a career in a service apparently one of the least likely to allow of the development of the qualities most necessary to success as a public speaker, and at a late period of life, to find him entering Parliament, and successfully taking his stand against the oldest and most practised debaters, as a stanch advocate for the interests of the navy, and for general political reforms, marks the gallant admiral as no ordinary person. The same qualities, nevertheless, which gave him distinction in his profession, have been those which have enabled him to accom- plish in Parliament what could not have been very sanguinely anticipated; and those qualities are a singularly calm tempera- ment and clear head, united to an energy of purpose that nothing can daunt or weary out. When we come to speak of the chief event of his life and its consequences, we shall have sufficient evidence of these qualities. The parliamentary career of Sir Edward Codrington forms but Geo. Hayter. B Holl. ^J ^ ^^^ VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. 151 a very brief portion of his history ; five-sixths of his life have been spent on the ocean ; and to trace his professional biography with anything like completeness, would require a volume. He is descended from the Codringtons of Codrington in Gloucestershire ; a family which was of considerable importance so early as the reign of Edward III. : his ancestor being standard-bearer to the Black Prince. His elder brother, Sir C. Bethell Codrington, is still a resident there, having assumed the surname of Bethell on succedins: to the estates of their maternal ancestors, the Bethells of Swindon in Yorkshire. His nephew, Christopher William Codrington, Esq., son of Sir Bethell, is also Member of Parliament for East Gloucestershire. Mr. Codrington entered the naval service, July 18th, 1785, when fourteen years of age. June 17th, 1793, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and appointed to the Santa Marguarita frigate ; and soon after, at the special desire of Lord Howe, removed into the Pegasus, for the purpose of repeating his lord- ship's signals. He subsequently joined the Queen Charlotte, in which ship he bore a conspicuous part in the battles with M. Villaret de Joyeuse. In one of these, the encounter of the 29th of May, previous to the decisive battle of the 1st of June, he had a narrow escape for his life, being struck by the recoil of a gun, and thrown into the lee-scuppers on the opposite side of the ship, stunned, and immersed in water. He was entrusted by the ad- miral with his duplicate despatches relating to those engagements, and sent to announce the safe arrival off Dunnose, of the British fleet with the French prizes. In October 1794, he was made commander in consequence of his gallant conduct on these occa- sions, and was appointed to the Comet fire-ship, in which he continued till posted into the Babet, April 6th, 1795. He was with Lord Bridport when that ofiicer encountered the enemy's fleet oft' L'Orient. He was afterwards removed into the Druid, and assisted at the capture of a French frigate, armee en flute, with five hundred of Heche's body-guard on board, proceeding to join the rebels in Ireland, January 7th, 1797. He then passed into the Orion, May 24th, 1805, and continued to command this ship till December 17th, 1806. It was in this vessel that he bore a con- 152 VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. C0DRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. spicuous part in the battle of Trafalgar, which was fought on the 2l6t of October 1805. In this celebrated battle, which left to Great Britain undisputed sovereignty of tlie ocean, but cost her the life of Nelson, Captain Codrington brought the Orion to the assistance of the Colossus against the French Swiftsure, and pouring a broad- side into that ship, bronght down the main-mast and occasioned her to make signs of surrender. He afterwards came to the help of the Africa (64), against the French Intrepide ; opened a smart fire on that ship's starboard quarter, and then wearing round upon her stern, and bringing to on her lee-bow, between the Intrepide and the Africa, whose fire, without any disparagement to her, had been nearly silenced, he maintained so heavy and well-directed a cannonade, that in less than a quarter of an hour the Intrepide's main and mizen masts came down, and at about five o'clock she struck, having suflTered severely in the conflict. Towards the end of 1808, Captain Codrington was appointed to the Blake (74), and served under Sir Richard Strachan in the expe- dition to the Scheldt. On this occasion he volunteered to receive the flag of his friend Lord Gardner, in the al)sence of his proper flag-ship. The Scheldt was forced on the 14th of August, when the Blake, having no pilot, grounded off" Flushing, within gun-shot of the batteries, and continued engaged with the enemy for two hours and three quarters ; having twice been set on fire by red-hot shot. Sir Richard Strachan and Lord Gardner commended in the highest terms the conduct of the officers, seamen, and marines of the Blake; and the latter pointed out with warm eulogy the assistance which he had received from Captain Codrington. In the month of August 1810, he received a commission which demanded great prudence and fortitude. This was to remove four Spanish line-of-battle ships from Cadiz to Minorca, a measure ren- dered necessary by the rapid advance of the French in Spain. The ships were in every respect unfit for sea; they had only a few days' water, provisions, and fuel; their masts, sails, and yards, were not trustworthy ; they were leaky from decay, and had even shot-holes unstopped. Their bottoms were so foul that they could not work to windward even in moderate weather; they were fully ofiicered, and actually loaded with refugee passengers of high rank, although VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. 153 they were destitute of useful men to assist in navigating them. However, after thirty-eight days of exertion, assisted by the Norge (74), Captain Codrington succeeded in conducting them into Port Mahon, where they were safely moored, and delivered them up to the Spanish commodore. Sir Kichard G. Keats, who at that time commanded the squadron engaged in the defence of Cadiz, expressed his sense of the ability witli which this arduous piece of service had been executed. The tact and energy which Captain Codrington had on every occasion displayed, produced their proper effect on the minds of his superiors. Sir Richard Keats, on his return to refit at Gibraltar, immediately dispatched him again to co-operate with the Spaniards on various parts of the coast ; and here again he discharged his duty in so satisfactory a manner, that in April 1811, he was en- trusted with the command of a detached squadron on the eastern coast of Spain, and more particularly toco-operate with the projects in the defence of Tarrag-ona. The great contest was now going on in the Peninsula, which was eventually to drive the French invaders from the soil of Spain. The British and Portuguese armies under Lord Wellington and Marshal Beresford, were pursuing the French from post to post, wliile the British ships under Sir Charles Cotton, and afterwards Sir Edward Pellew, watched the coast, and were ready to intercept the French convoys and cut off the supplies of their armies in Catalonia and Valencia; while they poured in stores of every description, and, indeed, every possible assistance to their own troops and allies. In those operations Captain Codrington distinguished himself by his activity, skill, promptitude and humanity, in such a manner as laid the foundation of his future advancement. On the coast of Catalonia he rendered the most effectual assistance to the Spaniards under the Generals Saarsfeld, Lacey, and Baron d'Eroles. Under his orders, Captain Thomas of the Undaunted, landed his men near Cada- quirs, and made a successful diversion in favour of the Spaniards; and then proceeded to attack the Medas islands, on one of which was a fortress occupied by the French. This, which was an important post to them, enabling them to bring their supplies from France coastwise, he succeeded in wresting it from them, and placing in it X 154 VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODKINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. a garrison of marines. Tlic French liowever, that summer, reco- vered many of their losses in Catalonia, and gave the Spaniards some heavy blows, the most serious of which was the reduction of Tarragona. In the defence of this place, the English exerted themselves to the utmost, and Captain Codrington displayed an activity and ardour in bringing up troops to the aid of the Spaniards, and a rapidity of movement in conveying arms and other resources to the Spanish forces, which have few parallels even in our splendid naval annals. On the 5th of June, the French opened batteries against Fort Olivo, and by a cunning stratagem the following night got posses- sion of it. Their force was about sixteen thousand men, and they killed and made prisoners three thousand Spaniards. On the 6th, they destroyed an outwork called FrancoUi, and killed or wounded the whole garrison, amounting to one hundred and fifty-five men; and pressed on to storm the batteries of Orleans and St. Joseph. Captain Codrington had left Tarragona on the 16t.h of Ma}^ in quest of reinforcements. He had proceeded with General Doyle to Murviedro, where he received from General O'Donnell, two thou- sand three hundred men, with two hundred and thirteen artillery- men. These he conveyed with the utmost expedition, on board the Blake, Invincible, and Centaur, to Tarragona; each of them at one time carrying seven hundred beside her complement. At the same time he delivered to General O'Donnell two thousand stand of arms, accoutrements, and clothing, to enable him to bring into the field as many trained recruits as could supply the place of the regular soldiers thus detached from his army. This done, he hastened to Valencia, where he put on shore another quantity of arms so necessary to General Villa Campa and the Empecinado. By this means the army of Arragon was brought forward to act with that of Valencia. He then hastened to Alicant, where he took in as many materials for Tarragona as the ship could stow, besides eighty artillery-men, and a quantity of powder and shot, which he shipped on board a Spanish corvette at Carthagena. Touching at Mur- viedro again on his way back to Tarragona, a consultation was held witli General O'Donnell, who agreed to place four thousand more VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRIXGTON, M.P., G.C.B. 155 Spanish troops at his disposal, and to advance himself with the rest of his army towards the Ebro, to threaten the depots of General Suchet. These troops were removed with the greatest celerity to the scene of active operations, and every means which genius could devise adopted to save the place. Captain Codrington reached Tarragona on the 7th of June, when the French were already under its walls; having in the short space of three weeks effected all these operations. But the danger was pressing; and having in the course of the day and the night landed his materials, he again sailed on the morning of the 8th. On the 9th, he joined his squadron at Pensicola, and taking on board the division of General O'Donnell's army, the whole four thousand were embarked on the 11th, and entered Tarrao-ona on the 12th. At the request of General Miranda, he immediately conveyed him and the division under his command, in the British boats, to the neighbourhood of Villa Neuva, to join the Marquis of Campoverde, in order to threaten the flank of the besieging army. During the whole of every night the gun- boats and launches were employed in annoying the working parties of the enemy. The French vigorously pressed on the siege, and the Allies as bravely defended themselves. Captain Codrington had three thousand sand-bags made on board the ships and sent into the garrison. He had the women, children, sick, aged, and wounded, conveyed in the boats to Villa Neuva for security. Himself, with the Captains White and Adam of the Centaur and Invincible, brought off in their own boats two hundred men who had retreated to the mole after the French had taken the batteries; and landed them again at Milagro within the works at the east side of the town. Captain Codrington led the squadron as near to the mole as the depth of the water would permit, and drove the French from the advantageous position which they had gained. But all these stupendous exertions proved in vain. The French, on the 19th of June, carried the place by assault. A panic seized the Spaniards, who had fought hitherto so stoutly, and they now suffered themselves to be butchered like sheep. They were seen fljMng in all directions ; some sliding down the walls ; others stripping off their clothes and swimming to the ships. Captain Codrington himself in describing this scene says, "A large mass 156 VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. of people, some with muskets, and some without them, pressed along the road, suffering themselves to be fired on by about twenty Frenchmen, who continued running beside them at only a few yards distance. At length they were stopped by a volley of fire from a small party of the enemy, who had entrenched themselves at a turn in the road, supported by a second a little higher up, who opened a masked battery of two field-pieces. A horrible butchery then ensued ; and shortly after, the remainder of the poor wretches, amounting to above three thousand, tamely submitted to be led away prisoners by less than as many hundred Frenchmen." The launches and gun-boats had been sent from the ships the moment the enemy was observed collecting in the trenches ; but such was the panic of the Spaniards that the whole was over before a shot could be fired from the boats. The humanity of the English, however, never found ampler demands upon it. Every- where numbers of wretches were s«en swimming towards the ships, or cowering under the rocks, and everywhere the boats of the British were plying to pick them up and bring them off to the vessels. Six hundred miserable people were thus saved from the merciless hands of their pursuers, who had no possible hope of shelter but in the English squadron. The English captains, Codrington, White, and Adam, during these transactions, passed whole nights in their gigs, carrying on tlie operations for the defence ; nor could the incessant fire of shot and shells deter them from their noble endeavours to rescue the unhappy fugitives. It has been truly said that perhaps on no occasion were the valour and humanity of the English more finely opposed to the cruelty of the enemy. " The contrast," says Captain Brenton, " of the British and French off Tarragona, was exactly that of angels and devils." Notwithstanding the fall of Tarragona, Captain Codrington continued to hover on the coast, seizing every opportunity of annoying the enemy, and this desultory mode of warfare he continued through the whole of the year with great success. His conduct through the whole of this service had raised him high in the opinion of all parties, and testimonies of the most decided approbation were conferred on him by the Spanish authorities, and VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. ]57 by those at home. General Contreras, in his account of the siege, dechxred that, had he received the same support from the Spanish troops that he had done from the British squadron under Captain Codrington, Tarragona would not have fallen. Sir Edward Pellew, tlie commander-in-chief on the Spanish coast, praised his zeal, ability, and judgment, in the highest terms in his despatches. Letters expressing similar sentiments were received by him from the supreme junta, and other authorities of Catalonia, as well as from the British ambassador, Sir Henry Wellesley. Despatches were also forwarded from the Spanish government to the English Minister of State, recommending Captain Codrington to the particular notice of the Prince Regent, for the important and signal services rendered by him during his cruise in the Mediterranean ; and attributing to his " co-operation and advice a great part of the successful operations performed by the army of Catalonia.*" Such services and such distinguished testimonies to his merit necessarily heralded promotion, and accordingly his appointment to a Colonelcy of Marines bears date December 4th, 1813, and in 1814, he was ordered to America, and proceeded thither with his broad pendant on board the Forth frigate. On the 4th of June of the same year he was advanced to the rank of Rear- Admiral, and from that period served as Captain of the Fleet on the American station, under Sir Alexander Cochrane, whom he accompanied in the expedition up the Chesapeake ; when the city of Washington was taken, the American flotilla in Penobscot destroyed, the passage of the Potomac forced, and the city of Alexandria obliged to surrender all its shipping in the harbour; also, when the combined naval and military force entered the Petapsco to re- connoitre Baltimore, and a most decisive victory was gained by the troops and a battalion of seamen and marines over the American army. He also accompanied the expedition to New Orleans. In January 1815, he was made K.C.B., and upon the termination of hostilities, Admiral Codrington was directed by Sir Alexander Cochrane to hoist his flag in the Havannah frigate and return to England. On the 12th of September 1826, he was again advanced, and appointed Commander-in-chief of his Majesty's ships and vessels in the Mediterranean. This appointment brings 158 VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. US to the great event of Sir Edward's life — the battle of Navarin, an event which has been the subject of no little discussion, and which furnishes a striking instance of the manner in which a matter of great personal and national reputation may be embittered to the achievers of it by the force of party-spirit at home. The circumstances attending this transaction have been too eagerly canvassed, and are therefore too well known to everybody, to require from us more than a clear and concise statement. The Greeks, long oppressed and trodden under foot by the Turks, had at length raised the standard of resistance. A war of a nature such as might be expected, under such circumstances and between such parties, raged through Greece ; a war of butchery and extermination, rather than a struggle for victory regulated by the ordinary rules of warfare. All Europe was horrified by the continual news of the atrocities perpetrated on that once illustrious soil. The violence, the massacres, the violations, the burning of towns, and carrying off of wretched multitudes into foreign slavery, which were the daily exhibitions of unfortunate Greece, cried aloud for the interposition of the great powers of Europe which had derived so much of their civilization from that now wretched country. The savage struggle had gone on for years ; and if such interposition was withheld, there appeared no prospect of a termi- nation except in the annihilation of one party or the other. On this ground, during the administration of Mr. Canning, a treaty was entered into by this country with France and Russia, for the purpose, says the treaty itself, "of putting an end to the san- guinary contest, which, by delivering up the Greek provinces and the isles of the Archipelago to all the disorders of anarchy, pro- duces daily fresh impediments to the commerce of the European states." The high-contracting powers, "having besides received on the part of the Greeks a pressing request to interpose their mediation with the Ottoman Porte," therefore nominated plenipotentiaries to sign a treaty to effect the objects above named ; and who agreed upon certain articles, of which it is only necessary to insert the following : — "Art. I. — The high -contracting powers will offer to the VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. 159 Ottoman Porte their mediation, with a view of hringing about a reconciliation between it and the Greeks. This offer of mediation shall be made to that power immediately after the ratification of the treaty, by means of a collective declaration signed by the plenipotentiaries of the Allied courts at Constantinople ; and there shall be made at the same time to the two contending parties, a demand of an immediate armistice between them, as a preliminary condition indispensable to the opening of any negotiation.'' Additional and secret articles were also entered into, to compel the contending parties to the observance of an armistice ; and it was determined, immediately after the signature of these articles, to transmit eventual instructions, conformable to the provisions therein set forth, to the admirals commanding their squadrons in the seas of the Levant. This treaty, which was executed on the 6th of July 1827, was called the Treaty of London; and the admirals of the Allied powers, — Sir Edward Codrington, the English, the Chevalier de Rigny, the French, and Count Heiden, the Russian admiral, — having received their instructions, set actively about carrying them into effect with the utmost zeal and ability. We cannot enter into all the various measures and transactions originating in these instructions ; it is sufficient to state that Sir Edward, in the first place, announced to the fleet the existence and the nature of the treaty, and warned it that "the most particular care was to be taken that the measures adopted against the Ottoman Porte did not degenerate into hostilities." All possible means were to be tried, in the first instance, to prevent the necessity of proceeding to extremities ; but the prevention of supplies to the Turkish belligerents in Greece, as required by the treaty, must be enforced, — and, failing all other means, by com- pulsion ; for this was the language used by the British ambassador at Constantinople when Sir Edward Codrington applied to him for a clear explanation of the views of the Allied powers in regard to the enforcement of the terms of the treaty, — " if the speaking- trumpet icill not answer, you rmist use cannon-shot.'' Admiral Codrington lost no time in obtaining an interview with Ibrahim Pacha, the commander of the Turco-Egyptian fleet, when the required armistice was agreed to, but soon afterwards as readily 160 VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. broken by the Pacha himself; and the Turkish fleet persisting in the endeavour to throw supplies of troops and stores into Patras, — a circumstance in direct violation of the armistice, and one which the British admiral was required by his instructions positively to prevent, — the Allied fleet did not hesitate to assume a commanding- attitude. Sir Edward having assured the Pacha that any continuance of the attempt to throw in those supplies would be instantly followed by cannon-shot from the English vessels, the Turkish ships were now driven back by occasional firing into the bay of Navarin. Here Ibrahim, disappointed in his object of relieving Patras, had landed his troops in the bay, and wreaked his vengeance on the miserable Greek inhabitants of the Morea, butchering women and children, rooting up trees, and endeavouring to reduce the whole country to a desert. The Greeks appealing to Sir Edward, he dispatched Captain Hamilton to the Turkish camp, who was not, however, permitted to proceed to head-quarters, but brought back the most melancholy account of what was doing on shore. " Clouds of fire and smoke," reported this ofiicer, "shewed the work of devastation which was going on. The distress of the inhabitants, driven from the plain, is shocking ; women and children dying every moment of absolute starvation, and hardly any having better food than boiled grass. I have promised to send a small quantity of bread to the caves in the mountains, where these unfortunate wretches have taken refuge. It is supposed that, if Ibrahim remain in Greece, more than a third of its inhabitants will die of starva- tion." In this position of aflairs it was deemed by the admirals of the Allied fleet absolutely necessary to assume that attitude which should compel Ibrahim to give a reason for his infringement of the armistice ; and the combined fleet therefore sailed into the bay of Navarin, and drew up before that of the Turks; the French and Russian admirals having paid the English admiral tlie compliment of putting themselves under his direction. This was on the 20th of October 1827. The Turkish force consisted of three sail of the line, four double- banked frigates of 64 guns each, nineteen frigates, forty-nine corvettes and brigs, besides several fire-ships, in all eighty-nine ships, with four transports, mounting 2240 guns. The combined fleet of the Allied powers consisted of ten sail of the VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. 161 line, ten frigates, six corvettes and brigs, — in all, twenty-six sail, and mounting 1324 guns. Sir Edward gave particular directions that no gun should be fired unless the Turks should commence, which were strictly obeyed, and the ships took their stations without any act of hostility. Indeed, everything having been quietly carried on thus far, all idea of a fight on board the Asia — Sir Edward's ship, was given up ; the watch was called to square the yards, and the band was forming to play on the quarter-deck, when a firing of musketry took place into the boats belonging to the Dartmouth, and killed Lieut. G. W. H. Fitzroy ; the Dartmouth then opened a fire of musketry to protect her boats. Almost at the same instant two shots were fired from the Turkish vessels astern of Admiral de Rigny's ship, struck her, and wounded one of the crew, which of course brought on a return, and the cannonade soon became general. Thus commenced the celebrated battle of Navarin, which ended in the demolition of the Turkish fleet, sixty vessels of war out of the eighty-nine being totally destroyed, and the remainder driven on shore in a shattered condition; four corvettes, six brigs, and four schooners alone remaining afloat after the battle. The loss of killed and wounded, according to the account furnished by M. Letellier, the French instructor of the Egyptian navy was, of the former 2000, and of the latter 1109. Of the Allies there were killed 175, wounded 478. On the arrival of the news of this victory, but one sentiment seemed to animate all England. It was regarded as the certain termination of those barbarous outrages in Greece which had so long harrowed the public mind. The same sentiment appeared to pervade not only England, but the whole continent of Europe. Honours and congratulations were showered on Admiral Codring- ton by his own sovereign and by those of France and Russia. William IV., then Lord High Admiral, suggested to George IV. a suitable testimony of his approbation, which he immediately conferred — appointing Sir Edward a grand-cross of the Order of the Bath. The King of France, in his speech on opening his chambers, congratulated himself upon this victory, as "the foundation of the pacification of Greece, and as an accession of Y 1G2 VICE-ADMIRAL SIR K. CODRTNGTON, M.P., G.C.B. glory to the arms of France." He lost no time in conferring on Sir Edward the grand-cross of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis — the highest honour it was in his power to bestow ; and when Captain Fellowes of the Dartmouth, deputed by Sir Edward, waited on him to return thanks for the honour, his Majesty also conferred an order of knighthood on that officer. The Emperor of Russia, on receiving the news of the battle, instantly wrote to Sir Edward with his own hand, commencing — "Vice-Admiral Codring- ton, you have achieved a victory for which civilized Europe ought to be doubly grateful to you;" adding, "your name from this time for- ward belongs to posterity :" and he concluded by informing him that he had conferred upon him the Military Order of St. George. Be- sides other testimonies of a like nature, he directed Count Neselrode also to inquire of Count Heiden " how his Majesty could honour the son of Sir Edward, who was wounded in the battle, so as to prove his regard for him." Amid all these honours, there wanted but one more to complete the satisfaction of Admiral Codrington and those who had fought with him at Navarin, and that was the usual vote of thanks by Parliament. But unfortunately, the ministry which had formed the Treaty of London was gone by — Canning was dead — and the old school of tories, with Wellington and Peel at their head, were again in power. The measures of Canning as regarded his foreign policy had been of too liberal a nature for them, and nothing could induce them to sanction them or their results. Accordingly, on the opening of the session, there appeared in the king's speech the phrase of " this untoward event," applied to the battle of Navarin, which was immediately seized upon with avidity by that party, and spread like wildfire. The Turk was eulogized as "our ancient ally," and great lamentations were made that the Treaty of London should have led to "a collision so totally unexpected." In the debate upon the address, the Earl of Chichester, Lord Strangford, the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Londonderry, Lord Eldon, and other tory lords dwelt urgently on these points, and the phrase " untoward event" was thrown from one side of the House to the other in multiplied echoes. Lord Holland, on the other hand, in a ver}'^ able speech, ridiculed the idea of "our ancient alliance" with the Porte, defended the treaty, and maintained that Sir VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. 163 Edward had acted in strict accordance with his instructions. Lord Goderich, who had heen a party to the Treaty of London, Lord Lansdowne and others, defended the conduct of the AdmiraL In the House of Commons a similar discussion of the question occurred on the same occasion, in which Mr. Henry Brougham said — *' Against one paragraph of that address, he was most anxious to record at once his unqualified dissent ; having at the same time the fullest and firmest conviction that that dissent would be re- echoed from one end of the kingdom of the other. He alluded to the manner in which the late glorious, brilliant, decisive, and immortal achievement at Navarin was described, as being a matter to be lamented. This was the first time that he had ev^er seen men anxious to come forward and refuse credit when it had been called for, and set at nought the most splendid achievement of their arms. It had been reserved for some of the men of these times to triumph and be afraid — to conquer and to repine — to fight as heroes did, the conquest of freedom, and still to tremble like slaves — to act gloriously and repine bitterly — to win by brave men the battle of liberty in the east, and in the west to pluck from the valiant brow the laurels which it had so nobly earned, and plant the cypress in their stead, because the conqueror had fought for religion and liberty." These sentiments were responded to b\' Lord Althorp and Lord John Russell, the latter of whom charac- terized the victory of Navarin as "a glorious victory, a necessary consequence of the Treaty of London, and as honest a victory as had ever been gained since the beginning of the world." On the 11th of February, the Earl of Carnarvon in the absence of Lord Holland, moved in the Lords for documents respecting this afl:air, in order to ground a claim of recompense for the officers and men. On the 14th of the same month, in the Lower House, Mr. Hobhouse moved a vote of thanks to Admiral Codrington, in an admirable speech, and was warmly supported by Sir James Macintosh and others ; but the determination of ministers was so palpable, that both these motions were withdrawn. In all these debates the tories joined with all other members in both houses in highly applauding the gallantry and skill of Sir Edward, and the bravery of the whole fleet. They pretended, moreover, that no blame was meant to be imputed ; but it could 164 VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. not but be clearly felt, that it was implied that "this untoward event" might have been avoided. The error and injustice lay in blending the policy of the treaty, and the mere enforcement together. The policy might be bad — there might be many who seriously held it impolitic to weaken the Turkish power, to which we might have to look as a check upon the future designs of Russia, but the severest scrutiny only tended to shew that Sir Edward Codrington had most scrupulously acted on his instruc- tions, and it was only just to thank him in the customary manner for the discharge of his duty. The Speech represented " the collision as totally unexpected;" but what else could be expected by sane minds ? As was well expressed by Lord Lansdowne, " there was no meaning in establishing a hostile interference if we were not prepared for war." Sir James Mackintosh also as sensibly asked — "What were the admirals to do? Were they to negotiate? If they were, it must be to negotiate as admirals usually did, and as they could only do effectually, with their great guns." But through all these debates, the tories still maintained that they would themselves continue to enforce the execution of the treaty, and blamed Sir Edward for not having stopped the few Turkish vessels which escaped from Navarin to Egypt, and searched them for Greek slaves. This was, in fact, to commit afresh the very deed they were so loudly condemning. If hostilities were to be avoided, how accomplish an armed rescue of prisoners? If the act of fighting at Navarin was an outrage against " our ancient ally," this must have been another and more aggravated one. Sir Edward had, however, in pursuance of the spirit of his instructions, accomplished what our ambassadors could not do, a treaty with the Pacha of Egypt, by which those very prisoners were given up ; he had them conveyed at his own charge to Greece, our consul at Alexandria having no authority from home to do so. He obtained the evacuation of Greece by Ibrahim's army, with the exception of certain garrisons ; and the whole fruits of his energetic measures in the pacification of the Morea, and the clearance of the Mediterranean from piracy, were in a fair way of being ensured, when he was superseded in his command. With that lively sense of honour, that desire for justice to his fellow officers and seamen, and that steady perseverance which have VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. 165 always marked him, Sir Edward entered into a long correspond- ence with the admiralty and the government; calling upon them to declare whether any blame attached to his professional conduct; and to recompense the officers and men who fought at Navarin for their losses incurred there. Precedents in the cases of the seizure of Copenhagen, the attack of the Spanish fleet at Messina by Admiral Byng, afterwards Lord Torrington, and the storming of Algiers by Lord Exmouth, were cited by him, as they had been in the debates in Parliament. He memorialized the Lord High Admiral ; and again, at his own request, as King William IV.; who laid the memorial before the secretary of state, but without effect. It was said by many on the accession of Earl Grey to office that he would do the admiral justice, but those persons could not have recollected that Earl Grey was as little favourable to the administration of Canning as Welling- ton himself; he had been one of the most zealous echoers of the word " untoward " in the debates. A dogged inattention to Sir Edward's appeals was persisted in until he obtained a seat in Par- liament ; when, on June 17th, 1834, he brought forward the ques- tion of the recompense of the officers and men who fought at Nava- rin, and carried it, obtaining 60,000/. for that purpose. The space which we have devoted to the distinguished naval career of Sir Edward, will compel us to give a very summary notice of his parliamentary one. He was elected in 1832, along with Sir George Grey, for the borough of Devonport, and has represented it ever since. A more suitable representative it is impossible for a sea-port to possess. In general politics he may be classed with the moderate but decided reformers. He would shorten parliaments, but only to three years. He is an advocate for free trade ; for the abolition of the assessed taxes ; and of the corn laws ; he voted for corporation reform ; for the reform of the Irish church; with Mr. Buckingham, for the establishment of public libraries, walks, etc. for the people ; and he is an advocate for the ballot. But it is evident that he looks upon himself as more especially sent into the House to watch over the interests of the navy ; and on all occasions he has proved himself their stanch advocate. While calling for the most thorough inquiry into the pension list, he has uniformly resisted the reduction of the pensions and half-pay of the naval officers, on the ground that the former will be found to have been most meritoriously earned, and 166 VICE-ADMIRAL SIR E. CODRINGTON, M.P., G.C.B. that half-pay is not given as a retaining-fee for the future, but as a reward for the past. He opposed on this principle, Mr. Hume's motion of the 14th of September 1833, for the " abolition of sine- cure offices, and offices held by deputy in the army and navy." On various occasions since then, particularly on the debates on the navy estimates, he has re-asserted his opinion of the principle of half-pay, and confirmed it by reference to the decision of the twelve Judges in 1793, when the Duke of St. Albans' pay as a lieutenant in the navy was called in question. On several of these occasions he has in strong language characterized the treatment of the officers in the navy as scandalous, and their pensions as mean ; and has drawn many strikingcontrasts between those given for signal services, and the lowest ones given for no services at all. One such instance we remember as peculiarly effective, that of Mrs. Rosamond Croker with her 300Z. a-year for nothing; and the sister of five gallant officers who all died in active service, leaving her in charge of the children of one of them, refused a single penny from the govern- ment, though finally saved from w^ant by an annuity from William IV. of 50/. a-year. On the same occasions, he has strongly com- mented on the hardships of the pursers of the navy. On all occa- sions he has been ready to draw attention to cases of alleged injus- tice and oppression, as that of Dr. Williams, dismissed from his office of surgeon in the navy on charges proved to be false ; and that of Mr. Pearse, unfairly used in a contract for stone to construct Plymouth Breakwater. With the leaning of a veteran officer towards discipline. Sir Edward Codrington voted against the abolition of flogging in the army and navy, though, at the same time, expressing a strong desire that some substitute for this degrading practice could be found. On the other hand, he supported Mr. Buckingham's motion for the abolishing impressment, stating, that besides being contrary to the rights of the subject, it is one of the most prolific causes of flogging, no good regular sailor requiring the lash. In his own practice he is said to be extremely lenient, and to be greatly beloved by all who have served under him. In politics he is evi- dently less a party man than naturally of a liberal and kindly dis- position, and voting accordingly. In person he is tall, and alto- gether a fine specimen of the English gentleman. E N C'LIA}J KD hT S AMUS.I . S 11. P N ■■- : /// // ^yW/y/z./Y^/^yr^^'/yy oy. ^SaU/.c/^, ^;^/'^ 167 WILLIAM JAMES, ESQ. M.P. There is not in the House of Commons a more honest, straight- forward, and consistent reformer than Mr. James, one of the mem- bers for East Cumberland. His opinions are very decided, but they are palpably the steady results of fearless inquiry and upright conviction. We do not find him attaching himself to a mere faction, nor seeking popularity at public meetings, nor his own private advantage from any quarter. Whatever are the interests which induce the tories to battle for the continuance of things as they are ; restrictions in trade, monopoly of corn, anything in fact which conspires to keep up a high rental, those interests are his exactly as they are theirs, for he is, like them, one of the landed gentry. The bulk of his property is in land ; yet Mr. James's view of the real interests of every Englishman leads him to an exactly opposite practice to theirs ; whereby, if it would be pro- nouncing a harsh sentence to say that he shews himself a man of stronger integrity, we may, however, safely assert him to be a man of a clearer vision. Holding very liberal, and now very popular opinions, we nevertheless do not find Mr. James protruding them noisily on those occasions on which ambitious men seek to win public favour. Regarding himself as elected by his constituents to discharge the duties with which they have invested him in Parlia- ment, he has continued to enjoy the quiet of a country life and the social pleasures of his own family and circle during the intervals between the sittings of the House ; but the session once opened, there has Mr. James always been found at his post, boldly advocating measures and opinions such as are eagerly attributed by the tories to landless men, who have no stake in the country ; a certain proof, however we may agree or disagree with him as to the propriety of 168 WILLIAM JAMES, ESQ. M.P. his doctrines, of his honest and disinterested maintenance of them. Nearly twenty years ago he was found resisting the Castlereagh tory government, and acting and voting thenceforward with the extreme radicals of the time, such as Hume, Lambton (now Earl of Durham), Warburton, etc. During the time that Mr. Hunt was in Parliament, Mr. James did not hesitate to support his motions for parliamentary reform, extension of the suffrage, the abolition of the corn laws, etc., and similar measures then held to be most horrible and heretical. From 1820 to the present period, with some intervals when he had not a seat in parliament, Mr. James has uniformly exhibited the same bold, candid, and liberal demeanour, and his name is always to be found on the right side of the list of divisions on great and vital questions. He makes no pretensions to the character of a practical debater or finished orator ; his ardent desire is to fill his place as a country gentleman of the most independent class, and, as his position has given him the power, to promote in his day and generation, principles and measures for the general good. Mr. James is the grandson of William James, Esq., an eminent West India merchant at Liverpool, and son of William James, Esq. of the same place, by Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Nicholas Ashton, Esq. of Woolton Hall in Lancashire. By his mother's side he is descended of the ancient family of Warburton of Hef- ferton Grange, a younger branch of the Arley Warburtons, and a descendant of Judge Warburton, and of the celebrated Dr. Matthew Henry. He married in 1816, Fanny, daughter of W. C. Rutson, Esq. of Allerton Lodge, and has a family. Mr. James's father died when he was five years old, but he derived his political bias from his step-father, the well-known Col. Williams, late member for Ashton. He was born in Liverpool in 1791, educated at Eton by the Rev. John Bird Sumner, now Bishop of Chester, and afterwards took the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge. His first entrance into Parliament was for the city of Carlisle, after a severe contest with Sir Philip Musgrave, of Eden Hall, Cumberland. On this occasion he was proposed by Henry Brougham, who went down purposely, and supported by Sir James Graham, whom it was his fortune after- WILLIAM JAMES, ESQ. M.P. 169 wards to help to eject from the representation of East Cumberland for his political apostacy. On the close of Parliament in 1826 Mr. James retired, declaring in his place in the House, that its profligacy was such that he would not continue to sit in an un- reformed Parliament, if his constituents would offer him a salary of 1000/. a-year. He despaired of speedily seeing a reform of it; but about two years afterwards, the citizens of Carlisle prevailed upon him to stand their candidate again, to assist (for there was now a better hope) in passing a Reform Bill. They returned him, without a shilling of expense to him, but at a cost of several thousand pounds to themselves. He was returned again in the first reformed Par- liament. At the close of that Parliament he again retired to private life, till Mr. Blamire, being appointed Chief Commissioner of Tithe in 1836, he was elected to succeed him as member for East Cumberland. In 1837, in a determined attempt of the freeholders to rid themselves of Sir James Graham, Mr. James and Mr. Aglionby were returned, and Sir James, to the great joy of all the reformers of England, unseated. Our space forbids us to follow Mr. James at large through his parliamentary conduct ; but a reference to the speeches and votes, will shew him to have been, for many years, the advocate of the most thorough and searching reform, abolition of the corn laws, vote by ballot, free trade, annual parliaments, universal suffi'age, etc. On one or two of these points, we believe his opinions have latterly undergone some modification, and that he is now rather inclined towards household suffrage and a moderate fixed duty on corn. He firmly opposed the grant of 50,000/. for the coronation of the late king, declaring, in his opinion, that it was not only a shameful waste of the public money, but, at this time of day, a useless cere- mony altogether. He spoke and voted in support of Mr. Ripon's motion, in 1834, for the removal of the bishops from the House of Lords ; and, on more than one occasion, has avowed his conviction that the separation of the church from the state would benefit the church itself. z 170 THOMAS WAKLEY, ESQ. M.P. It would have given us great pleasure to have here presented a pretty full narrative of the career by which Mr. Wakley has raised himself from an humble position to that honourable and responsible one which he now occupies. That, however, it is only justice to ourselves to state, Mr. Wakley has himself prevented. In drawing up these memoirs, we are determined to give nothing upon mere rumour, or doubtful authority. We therefore — as we have done in all other cases — in the first place applied to Mr. Wakley to point out to us the sources from which we might draw those passages of his earlier life which could be obtained only from persons well acquainted with his progress. Mr. Wakley most promptly and cordially referred us to Mr. James Ireland Mills, as a gentleman not only well qualified, but, he was sure, " most willing to give the required facts." Mr. Mills wrote, assuring us that he would do it with the greatest pleasure. Relying, therefore, on these very flattering assurances, we have waited till the period of publication has prevented us from making other researches ; when lo ! neither Mr. Mills nor Mr. Wakley would give any answer to repeated applications for the MS. We record it as the sole instance of any thins: like discourtesv which we have met with in our intercourse with the many eminent personages whose memoirs we have yet given. But though, under these circumstances, we shall not choose to take any dubious matter, but shall pass briefly over the early life of Mr. Wakley, it shall not prevent us doing justice to his political character, and to his parliamentary conduct, — the materials for which are in our hands. Mr. Wakley has been long known as a radical reformer of the most thoroughgoing description, and for an unflinching expression of those democratic opinions which he enter- EL-C-RfiVED xT V,- H EGUETDU THOMAS WAKLEY, ESQ. M.P. 171 tains. There is not a member of the House of Commons who has better maintained that character of fearless honesty and bold advo- cacy of the peoples' riglits which he obtained out of it. Mr. ^Yakley was born at Wembury, near Honiton in Devonshire. We believe his father was a farmer there, and was living till the present spring. Mr. Wakley was apprenticed to Mr. Incledon, a druggist of Taunton ; but afterwards aspiring to the medical pro- fession, he went to London, and became a pupil of Sir Astley Cooper. He has since become well known as the editor of the Ballot news- paper, afterwards incorporated w^ith the Examiner, and more exten- sively of the Lancet, which he still continues. His active participa- tion in the radical politics of the metropolis for years, made him a prominent person in the eyes of all reformers; and his speeches at public meetings were distinguished by a daring and decisive elo- quence, that pointed him out to the liberal electors of Finsbury as a desirable representative in Parliament. In 1832 he stood a strong contest for that borough, but was defeated. In 1835, however, he was returned by a large majority, and re-chosen at the last election. Mr. Wakley pledged himself to his constituents, on being returned, to resign his seat when a majority of the electors called upon him to do so, and moreover declared that, at the end of every three years, he would present himself to them, in order that they might express their approbation or disapprobation of his parliamentary conduct, and, if they pleased, dismiss him; so that, as far as he was concerned, they might practically enjoy the benefit of triennial parliaments. We believe that he has been at all times read}^ to keep his word with the electors, but they have not had any occasion to call upon him to vacate his seat. Indeed, for a constituency approving of a radical representative, it would be difficult to find one more to their purpose. Mr. Wakley has, on all occasions, shewn himself a zealous advocate of the M'orking classes. An open, candid, and honest denouncer of invidious distinctions betwixt the rich and the poor, especially in legislation. Many of his votes and speeches have been on subjects connected with his own profession, and on the law relating to the appointment of county coroners; but, while evidently exerting himself for the honour and benefit of his professional order, it 172 THOMAS WAKLEY, ESQ. M.P. must be allowed he has never forgotten the benefit of the public. Among the subjects on which he has spoken in the House, may be mentioned, cliurch reform, military flogging, the stamp duties, property qualifications, municipal corporations for Ireland, county rates, state of factories, condition of the hand-loom weavers, the new poor laws, pension list, jury laws of Ireland, counsel for prisoners, — on all which he has invariably taken an entirely popular course. Mr. Wakley made himself conspicuous soon after his entrance into the House by his calling for better accommodations for the members of the Commons in the House of Peers when they pro- ceeded there to present any communications, — the honourable members being heretofore required to stand; and by, moreover, declaring when summoned there to meet the King at the opening of Parliament, he would exercise the right of keeping on his hat, ■which he accordingly did. The most important questions, however, on which Mr. Wakley has distinguished himself, have been those of the New Poor Law, the affairs of Canada, the transportation of the Dorchester labourers, and the calling on ministers to avow their real policy in the discus- sion on the Address to the House, in the opening of the first Parlia- ment of Queen Victoria, in 1837. Mr. Wakley, conscientiously dissenting from the principle of the New Poor Law, has not hesitated to denounce it, and to represent the appointment of Poor Law Commissioners to be absolutely unnecessary and uncalled for, and the arbitrary power committed to their hands as actually unconstitutional and mischievous. On Mr. Walter's motion for the inquiry into the working of this law, in August 1836, he made an able speech against it, and on February 20th, 1837, he seconded Mr. Fielding's motion for its repeal. On this occasion, he called attention to the fact, that the new law had been put in practice in rural districts, where the poor were ignorant and unorganized, but that in large towns its introduction had been carefully waved ; and instanced the fact, that the whigs of Notting- ham, in their anxiety to maintain the great principle of the bill, of giving no out-door relief, had been obliged to raise a subscription of 5000/. to prevent pressure on the workhouse. Lord Ho wick in THOMAS WAKLEY, ESQ. M.P. I73 reply, notwithstanding, cited Nottingham as a phice where the prin- ciple of the bill, of refusing all out-door relief, had been always acted on, even before the New Poor Law was passed. His Lordship must have been strangely misinformed. The principle had been tried, and had signally failed. In the case which Mr. Wakley quoted, it was felt to be totally incompetent to meet the exigencies of a large manufacturing population ; and it has continued to be so felt there. In the winter of 1836, the Review newspaper of that town stated that one-fifteenth of the population was on the parish. That in the great parish of St. Mary, 4000 were receiving relief, and nearly one thousand of these were in the house; so that the great principle of the New Poor Law broke down in upwards of 3000 cases, at one time, in one parish, in the very town selected as a proof of the working of the principle ! Mr. Wakley 's denunciation of the severity and impolicy of the ministerial treatment of Canada, was not less energetic than his denunciation of the New Poor Law ; but the two instances in which he has most eminently distinguished himself in his parliamentary career, are unquestionably his appeal in behalf of the Dorchester labourers, and his speech on the address, on November 20th, on the opening of the first Parliament of the present Queen. His speech on behalf of the Dorchester labourers was said by members even of the opposition to have been one of the most effective in its impression on the House which had been delivered for years, and had no doubt a very material influence on the final recal of those severely-treated men. But his speech and motion on the address, in November 1837, will be the longest remembered, both for the excitement which it occasioned, and for the consequences to which it has led. There was a feeling in the public mind, that ministers were not zealous in the prosecution of those reforms for which the people were looking, and on account of which they had placed the whigs in office. The ardour which they had displayed in the battle for the Reform Bill had evaporated ; a lethargy had grown rapidly upon the spirit of the cabinet. Those vaunts which Lord Mel- bourne had thrown out of what the ministers would do, spite of lords or tories, had proved mere moonshine. While the people 174 THOMAS WAKLEY, ESQ. MP. were agape for some further progress, the ministers seemed nodding on their elevation in the eyes of all the nation, like a set of men weary with past efforts, and now given up to a most enormous long doze, as though their work was all done. Mr. Wakley determined to take the opportunity afforded by the assembling of a new Parlia- ment, and the accustomed vagueness of an address in reply to the royal speech, to give ''the seven sleepers" a gentle shake, and ask them the plain question, whether they thought they had done their day's work. He therefore moved three amendments on the address, pledging the House to the extension of the suffrage, the ballot, and the repeal of the Septennial Act. Never was such a stir created by a simple motion for reforms, which had been mooted a hundred times. But the stir was not so much amongst the whigs as the radicals. With that want of union, mutual council and co-operation, which has always distinguished the radical leaders, and which has therefore, up to this moment, made them as weak as water, they were thrown into a condition of the most pitiable alarm and confusion. Alarm at what? Confusion on what account ? Lest they should endanger the ministry ! Lest they should appear disloyal ! They did not stop to reflect, that if ministers were sound, they could not endanger them by a mere question as to whether they meant to move on or not; — their answer in the affirmative would prevent all danger, all difficulty, and would moreover give them an accession of new strength. On the opening of a new reign, it would go forth through the nation that a renewed spirit of reform was in the cabinet, and the tidings would be received from one end of the country to the other with acclamation, and with a joyful sense of satisfaction, in which both sovereign and ministers would have found their account. How could tlie radicals appear disloyal, if the court were what it pro- fessed — a reforming court? Under the late monarch, ministers had pleaded in vindication of their tortoise-paced policy, that there was a secret influence at work which they could not control, — here then was an opportunity for announcing the glad intelligence, that that influence had perished with the monarch ; and that there was a youthful and a generous spirit on the throne, which was determined to find its glory in the promotion of the national felicity ; and Mr. THOMAS WAKLEY, ESQ. M.P. I75 Wakley's motion was, in that case, the most loyal of motions. The alarm occasioned by such a motion could only be founded in a strong suspicion that ministers 2vcre 7iot sound — that the court was not favourable to further reform. It could be only in this case that the motion could be ill- timed ; and if this was the fact, what did the radicals want ? OuIt/ to be deceived a little longer. The spirit of slumber seemed to have seized them as well as the ministers. They seemed to say in their alarm, "For God's sake dont prove it to us that ministers are not intending to move on. If you do, we must awake — we must be on the alert; our consti- tuents will call on us to be up and denounce this base policy." Thus the radicals lost the amplest opportunity which years have offered to them, of shewing by their union, and their preconcerted resolve to support Mr. Wakley's motion, their sagacity as politi- cians, — they left Mr. Wakley and Sir William Molesworth, who nobly supported this motion, to enjoy the glory alone. The imme- diate event proved their sagacity. Lord John Russell was obliged to take off his mask of reformation pretence, and announce his grand doctrine of Finality. Every day since has only shewn more strongly the wisdom of Mr. Wakley's policy, and his very con- temporary reform members are now compelled to confess that the whigs were carrying on a system of delusion towards the country which was thus demolished, and the people made acquainted with the fact, of far higher interest to them than the convenience of any ministry — that they must reform the Reform Bill. On this great occasion only twenty members voted for Mr. Wakley's motion, and 509 against it. Yet who will not now say that he was right, and that we had been deceived long enough ? We have not specified on this occasion the speeches of the radicals who most unreservedly condemned Mr. Wakley's act, as we are quite sure that they have long ago condemned themselves. And we shall close our brief notice of this able reformer with this ivell-timed measure ; only adding, what all the world knows, that Mr. Wakley has recently, after a severe contest, been elected to the office of coroner for Middlesex. 176 THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, G.C.B. BARON TEMPLE: SECRETARY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ETC. ETC. Lord Palmerston is of the family of the Temples, who trace up their ancestry to tlie Saxon period. They claim as the founder of their line, Leofric Earl of Mercia, husband to the Lady Godiva of Coventry. More genuine honour, however, is reflected upon the b'ne, by the celebrated and philosophic statesman, Sir William Temple; who was so conspicuous in the reign of Charles II., both as a statesman and an author. As a statesman, he maintained in a most corrupt age a high character ; and as a writer, even Hume says, that " he was almost the only one that kept himself alto- gether unpolluted by that inundation of vice and licentiousness which overwhelmed the nation." In 1722, Henry Temple, Esq., nephew of Sir William, was created a peer of Ireland, by the titles of Baron Temple and Viscount Palmerston. Henry John Temple, the present peer, is the tliird Viscount. His father, Henry, the second Viscount, married Mary, the daughter of B. Mee, Esq., and had issue — Henry John, the present Viscount, William, and two daughters : Frances, who married Captain William Bowles, R.N.; and Eliza- beth, who married Lawrence Sullivan, Esq. Viscount Palmerston was born the 20th of October 1784, and succeeded to the title in 1802. Henry John Temple commcncod his education at Harrow JiiQHJCrri: hi' JLCOOK ^^^^/U LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, G.C.B. 177 school ; continued it at Edinburgh, where he remained three years, under the tuition of the celebrated Dugald Stewart ; and completed it at Cambridge, where he entered himself of St. John's college in 1803. While still an under-graduate, he was, on the death of Mr. Pitt, requested to stand as candidate for the repre- sentation of the University in Parliament. His opponents were the present Marquess of Lansdowne, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the present Earl Spencer, then Lord Althorp. The contest was in favour of Lord Henry Petty. In the following year he entered Parliament for the borough of Newport, in the Isle of Wight, and took office under the Duke of Portland, as a Lord of the Admiralt3\ In the same year, upon the dissolution of Parliament, he offered himself again as candidate for the Univer- sity, in opposition to Sir Vicary Gibbs, and again lost tlie election, by only two votes. In 1811, a vacancy occurring, he was elected by a large majority. In 1826 he had another severe contest, being- opposed upon the ground of his support of Catholic Emancipation by Sir John Copley (now Lord Lyndhurst), by Mr. Goulburn, and by Mr. Bankes ; upon that occasion he was successful ; but in 1832, the great contest of the Reform Bill brought him and his constituents into such opposition of opinions that the connexion between them closed. Since the moment that Lord Palmerston entered public life, the bias of public opinion has been perpetually and powerfully towards greater liberality of government principles and reform of our insti- tutions ; and it cannot be denied that on the whole his Lordship has gone with the tide. He has not, it is true, run forward violently, or in advance of his colleagues ; on the contrary, he has for years acted with those whose opinions and principles of action subsequent events have shewn to have been in some degree opposed to his own. We cannot say that we are great admirers of this kind of policy; we prefer a manly and decided avowal of political opinion, and a spirit which is ready to sacrifice place, and an inclination for the business of government, to a candid and open maintenance of its principles ; but we can very well understand how different views may guide a different disposition. 2 A 178 LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, G.C.B. There may be those who are willing to "bide their time," and in the interval are content to run with the stream ; to administer the affairs of state as well as the circumstances of the times will allow them, ready, when more favourable circurhstances arise, to embrace them and promote their influence. We are quite disposed to regard Lord Palmcrston as one of this description. He seems, indeed, to have acted on the spirit of his own family motto, Flecii no frangil — to be bent, but not broken. Lord Palmerston was Secretary at War in 1826, when, upon the illness of Lord Liverpool, Mr. Canning was appointed Prime Minister. As soon as Mr. Canning's appointment was declared, the tory members of the cabinet retired ; the Duke of Wellington, Lord Eldon, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Westmoreland, Lord Bathurst, Lord Melville, and their adherents withdrew ; and a junction was formed between Mr. Canning and the whig party — Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Tierney, and Lord Carlisle entering into the cabinet. Upon this occasion Lord Palmerston became also, for the first time, a member of the cabinet.* Upon the resignation of Lord Goderich at the end of the year, a new government was formed by the Duke of Wellington ; and the Canning party, consisting of Mr. Hus- kisson, Lord Dudley, Lord Palmerston, Mr. Charles Grant (now Lord Glenelg), and Mr. Lamb (now Lord Melbourne), were invited to form part of that administration. They consented to do so, in order to prevent the injury which would have arisen to the catholic claims from the formation of a purely anti-catholic cabinet ; and upon the assurance that the foreign policy of Mr. Canning should be continued ; as a security for which the foreign department was to remain in the hands of Lord Dudley, while Mr. Charles Grant was to retain the Board of Trade, But four months afterwards, that is in May 1828, a difference arose in the cabinet upon a question of Parliamentary reform. East Retford was to be disfran- chised. Some members of the government insisted upon throwing the borough into the hundred, and others desired to take advantage of the disfranchisement of East Retford to transfer the two members * It is understood that Mr. Canning offered him the high office of Governor-General of India, but that he declined it. LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, G.C.B. 179 to Birmingham, tlieii unrepresented. Mr. Hiiskisson and Lord Palmerston were of the Latter opinion, and in the committee on the bill they voted for giving the members to the great town, while the rest of the cabinet voted for throwing the borough into the hundred. In consequence of that vote Mr. Huskisson and Lord Palmerston resigned, and were followed out of office by the other members of the Canning party, Lord Dudley, Mr. Grant, and Mr. Lamb. On this occasion Lord Palmerston made the following decisive and significant declaration in the House. "This country, under the administration of which my Right Honorable friend formed a part, has been raised to a point of proud pre-eminence which she never before attained. It is said that the course which we have thus so happily pursued is to remain unchanged. I trust it will. I con- fess, however, that there are prognostics, that there are symptoms, which inspire me with apprehension on the subject. I trust, however, that his Majesty's government will found their claim to the approbation of the people by maintaining, not in this country alone, but wherever their measures may extend, the ascendency of liberal, wise, just, and enlightened principles. Sir, it is only by pursuing such a course that his Majesty's government can obtain the confidence of the House and the public ; it is only by pursuing such a course, that they can secure the permanence of their own power." This was a plain avowal of firm and unequivocal sentiments ; and during the short period of his Lordship's connexion with the Wellington administration, the tone of his speeches had been equally bold and independent. This was on the 30th May 1828. In February of that year, he had, however, so far conceded to the restraints of his ministerial situation as to vote and speak against the abolition of the Test and Corporation Acts, but he spoke in such a manner as to yield more by his reasonings than he refused by his vote, and he rested his objection to the motion, not upon any dislike to the thing itself, but upon the inopportunity of the time when it was proposed. He avowed himself a warm advocate of religious liberty, and contended that restraints on con- science were not only absurd, but perfectly useless. That we had no right nor ground to suppose that there was any necessary con- 180 LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, G.C.B. Tiexion between a particular set of religious opinions and another set of political ones. That such restraints were unjust to the dis- senter, and perfectly useless to the church. That the church could in these days possess no safeguard but in the learning, piety, and practical morality of its clergy ; and that to seek to support it by imposing upon other sects, tests contrary to their consciences, was, so far from benefiting, the only way to destroy it, by the certain consequence of insuring the hostility of the injured. He therefore assigned as the simple cause of his voting at the present moment against the repeal of those acts, that he considered them, in fact, perfectly inoperative in practice, and that he was unwilling that the discontent of the Catholics should be increased by the removal of so trifling, or rather imaginary an evil, while their real and substantial grievances remained unredressed. The logic of this conclusion to so sensible a speech may be called flimsy, and it was through that very flirasiness that the real motive was probably intended to be plainly enough distinguished ; the great questions of Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary Reform were pal- pably hastening to a crisis, and his Lordship did not deem the question of the Test Act of sufficient moment to occasion a rupture in the cabinet. When the Catholic Emancipation bill was forced on the ministry by the determination of the Irish, and the masterly Bank stratagem of O'Connell, his Lordship was free from the trammels of ofiice, and he came at once forward with a force of reason and a splendour of eloquence which astonished the House and country. His speech in support of the bill produced the most vivid sensation at the moment of its delivery, and has always been regarded as the most consummate argument which was advanced in that signal debate, when all the energy of the intellect of the British Commons seemed roused into activity. The great bulk of the statements of the condition of Ireland, and the remedies which were really needed for that condition, are unfortunately nearly as true at this moment as they were then ; subsequent legislation has not superseded the value of one or the other. Nearly ten years have elapsed since the energetic sentiments of that speech were uttered, and what is yet the condition of Ireland ? — one of exclusion, and disability. It is true that a poor-law is intro- LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, G.C.B. 181 duced, that education is encouraged, that what was called " catholic emancipation " has been granted, that the government of Lord Normanby has done much to purify the administration of justice; but such has been the mass of evils heaped on that country for ages that a vast amount of " catholic emancipation" is yet needed. The monstrous protestant church yet stares the catholics in the face, with all its disproportioned revenues, and ruinous tithe system. The corporations are yet in the hands of protestants; murders of the most awful character, proclaim the discontent of the people, and O'Connell is still menacing " repeal." In 1830, proposals were made to Lord Palmerston and to one or two of the friends with whom he was acting, to join again the Duke of Wellington's government; but he and his friends declined these offers, upon the ground that with the cabinet as it was then composed, they could not hope to be able to carry out their own opinions and views ; and that unless the cabinet were to be recon- structed, and Lords Grey and Lansdowne were to belong to it, they should not wish to take office. Lord Palmerston has filled the important post of Secretary at War during a long succession of administrations, under Perceval, Castlereagh, Liverpool, Canning, and Goderich ; and under the three former, what could have been effected by any individual efforts of reform on his part ? But it was a period of momentous interest, during the greater part of which we were engaged in the most terrific war in which this country was ever involved, and therefore requiring in his office abilities and business habits of no ordinary description. To fulfil well the duties of that office was to confer the greatest benefit on his country ; and it is admitted by candid men of all parties that he did fulfil them ably. The very fact, indeed, of his long continuance in the same important office at such a period, is of itself a convincing proof of his masterly conduct in it; and that the Duke of Wellington should have requested him to continue to occupy the same post in his govern- ment, puts the matter beyond a doubt, — for no man is better qualified than His Grace, to judge of the requisite qualifications for a Secretary at War, and none could have had greater occasion to learn how his Lordship had so long filled the office. His conduct is 182 LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, G.C.B. represented, b}'^ those m ho had the best opportunities of observing, to have been most judicious. His industry in pushing on the business of the war department, and liis skill in arranging and systematizing its affairs, in bringing up heavy arrears of accounts, introducing better rules of military finance, his watchfulness to reward meritorious persons, and to render effective the whole machinery of his department, to have merited the highest praise. So far, indeed, as he had occasion to appear in his ministerial character in Parliament, he invariably acquitted himself with the utmost ability. He gave proofs, in replying to the perpetual financial attacks and badgering of Joseph Hume, that he was practically and intimately acquainted with the details of his own department. His speeches in his official character, were plain, clear, business-like, and bearing the most convincing testimony to his perfect acquaintance with his subject. The limits of these memoirs will not permit us to notice, except in the most passing manner, the main features and events of his Lordship's public life since he held his present office. Indeed, to describe the foreign policy of the whigs, and to enter into the details of our transactions in that department, would require a volume, and a large one too. We must therefore content ourselves with saying in a sentence, that Lord Palmerston's history since the passing of the Reform Bill, is the history of the whig administra- tion. His acts are the acts of the whig government, for he is in character and sentiment completely identified with the present cabinet. With those, therefore, who are inclined to condemn, and that severely, the whigs, for growing as they have proceeded cooler and cooler in the cause of reform, he must share the condemnation; and with those who are disposed to admit of excuses in the shape of opposition difficulties, and to look rather at what they have done than what they have failed to do, he will be entitled to an ample share of praise. We are told by many that our foreign policy has been feeble, timid, vacillating, and has consequently brought upon us encroach- ment and some contempt from foreign powers. But the very reverse of this is true; our policy has been uniform, steady, firm, and successful. Peace was our first object, and we have not only LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, G.C.B. I33 preserved peace for ourselves, but have prevented by our interpo- sition other nations from going to war. We effected a recon- ciliation between France and the United States, and between France and Mexico, and we mainly contributed to bring to a final settlement the quarrel between Holland and Belgium, which threat- ened in its outset to involve all Europe in war. The papers laid before Parliament about Persia and India, shew that our foreign policy with regard to those quarters has been firm and consistent; on the other hand, liberal principles and popular institutions have been established in Portugal and Spain by the aid and support of the whig government, it being beyond a doubt that if the tories had been in power, Miguel and Carlos, or at all events arbitrary and despotic government, would have been triumphant in the kingdoms of the Peninsula. Nor have the commercial interests of the country been neolected ; witness the treaties of commerce concluded with Holland, Austria, and Turkey. It is therefore by no means in any degree true that our foreign policy has brought upon us encroachment and contempt ; on the contrary, we have everywhere asserted our rights ; and England is highly and universally re- spected and looked up to by foreign powers in every quarter of the globe. No one can fail to have been struck with the masterly man- ner in which his Lordship has defended his policy in the House in reply to the attacks of the combined talent of the tory and radical oppositions. His speeches are always marked by the most thorough knowledge of his subject, and the readiness of his rebut- tance of the most complicated and ingenious charges. Some of them particularly, as his speeches on Portuguese and Belgian affairs, are splendid specimens of extempore reply. Besides these, we would refer to his speech on the foreign slave trade, on May 10th, 1S38, on Sir Robert Inglis's motion on that subject; as one giving a high idea of the Noble Lord's philanthropy of disposition, and not less of his great knowledge of the subject. It is valuable as giving a clear and historical exposition of all our negotiations with the other European powers for the suppression of this infamous traffic. Beyond the immediate sphere of his Lordship's official acts, we 184 LORD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON, G.C.B. may, in conclusion, allude to his zealous advocacy of the right of dissenters to admission to the universities, his declaration that " the state has an unquestionable right to deal with the property of the church," and his support of corporation reform, — as proofs of the truth of his assertion in the House, on May 14th, 1832: "I have no difficulty in saying that I have changed my sentiments, and that I have done so from having become wiser." o^ c^/c^7^^ t^ / /a/ccrc- r,zyt/e^jtii/( An^^e ^%n/i':-. 185 THE MOST HONORABLE HENRY FITZMAURICE PETTY, MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE, LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL, ETC. The career of this worthy nobleman has been so uniform and consistent, that we might almost compress the account of his public life into a sentence, by simply stating that it has been spent in the steady but temperate assertion of liberal principles. He is one of those high-minded aristocrats which no country but England could produce, at once zealous for the graduated ranks and honours, and the free spirit of the British Constitution; at once regardful of the dignity and immunities of his own order, and the dauntless advocate of the liberties of the people. We cannot point to a single individual in the titled class of this country who has more calmly, firmly, with more dignity and discretion, maintained that finely-blended character, the peer and the patriot. The talents and eloquence which his Lordship has, on many occasions, dis- played in both houses of Parliament, have sufficiently testified that he wanted only a higher stimulus of ambition in order to have made one of the most prominent figures in the political history of the last thirty years; and had he been thrown, like Pitt, Burke, or Sheridan, on the necessity for public exertion, the public would, without doubt, have derived the benefit of that necessity and himself a name of pre-eminent distinction. The enjoyment of all that wealth, rank, and political influence in this country bestow, have not, however, been able to corrupt the nature of the noble Marquess, nor to lull him altogether in the lap of domestic and 2 B \S6 THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE. social happiness; if they have, in some degree, diminished the amount of his public acts, they have left him still one of the most enviable characters on the stage of life, — a wise and upright states- man, dignified as his station requires, and patriotic as his country can wish. On all great occasions he has been ready to exert himself for the promotion of social and liberal government. His name will always be associated with those of Fox, Burke, Lords Holland, Brougham, Grey, and the Burdett of better days. Lord Henry Petty, the son of the celebrated Earl of Shel- bourne b}^ his second wife. Lady Louisa Fitzpatrick, daughter of John, Earl of Upper Ossory, was born the 2d of July 1780. His father, who was created Marquess of Lansdowne in 1784, died in 1805, when Lord Henry was twenty-five years of age; and his half-brother, the second Marquess, dying four years afterwards, without issue, Lord Henry succeeded to the title in his twenty- ninth year. Lord Henry Petty received the first portion of his education at Westminster school; he was thence sent to Edinburgh, and placed under the cai'e of Dugald Stewart, with other young noblemen. Here he became a member of the Speculative Society, to which Brougham and Jeffrey also belonged; and in its disputations first tried his talents for debate. He afterwards proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge; and having completed his education, he made a visit to the Continent, under the care of Mr. Dumont. On his return he became a member of Parliament for Calne in Wiltshire. Scarcely had he entered this great career of intellectual contest, when he boldly assailed the measures of Mr. Pitt, and that with an effect which was felt both through the House and the country. It was not for any person of eloquence or intellect to vanquish Pitt in one sense at that period. He had the whole force of the borough- mongers, the majorities of Gatton and Old Sarum, the Jews whose money was all-powerful in tlie purchase of close-boroughs, the West Indians and the East Indians who had paid their five and their ten thousand pounds each for seats in that House, where war-taxes, inqiosts, and bounties, were voted at their pleasure, and all sorts of villanous stratagems were impudently resorted to, by which a sold and deluded country was made a prey of, under the name of repre- THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE. ]87 sentative government, and plunged into wars without end, and debt without bounds. Pitt liad this mercenary host of harpies and leeches at his back, and triumphed by numbers of the prettiest set of scoundrels that were ever collected into one legislative chamber, alike over reason, eloquence, honesty and humanity. But still he was capable of feeling the infamy of exposure, and the country was not deaf to the sense of its degradation. Nothing, therefore, could be more galling to the minister, or salutary to the state, than sucli an opposition as Lord Henry Petty commenced. He took part in the inquiry into the iniquitous and cruel war in Ceylon. He resisted Pitt's bill for raising additional forces. He energetically supported the motion of Mr. Whitbread in 1806, for inquiring into the conduct of Lord Melville, as treasurer of the navy. The im- peachment of Lord Melville followed ; and so glaringly was the corruption of the case exposed, that our then corrupt Parliament could not refuse to carry it. This circumstance, together with the portentous aspect of Continental aflairs, appeared to hasten the death of the prime minister. On that event, his cabinet was broken up, the whigs came into power, and Lord Henry found himself, at once, representative of the Lhiiversity of Cambridge in the place of Mr. Pitt, and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the administration of Fox and Grenville. This was a success as rapid and brilliant as tlie most sanguine ambition could possibly promise to itself, and which fully answered to the rapturous applause w ith which Fox had hailed the j^outhful display of talent in his Lordsliip. But Fox himself did not survive his great political rival many months. His colleagues found themselves suddenl}^, without the safe guidance of his great mind, in an ocean of financial difficulties; and an attempt to grant to the Catholics their political rights, hastened the disso- lution of their government. Lord Henry now found the tide turning as rapidly as it had risen. Parliament being dissolved, his advocacy of the Catholic claims had given a death-blow to his interests at Cambridge;— he lost his seat there, and only entered Parliament as the member for the little borough of Camelford in Cornwall. The decease of his father, however, shortly after removed him to the Upper House, with the title of Marquess of Lansdowne. Lord Lansdowne continued in opposition, or, at least, uncon- 188 THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE. nected with the ministry, from Iiis entrance of the House of Peers till 1817, when, under the administration of Mr. Canning, lie became a member of the cabinet, but held no office. In 1812, on the assassination of Mr. Spencer Perceval, he was invited to take office in connexion with Earls Grey and Grenville ; but owing to certain stipulations proposed on the part of the whigs, the negotia- tion failed ; but during this long period of his continuance out of office, his Lordship found ample occasion for the exercise of his parliamentary talents and for a patriotic vigilance over the integrity of the constitution. From the date last specified commenced the dismal reign of the Liverpool, Sidmoutli, and Castlereagh junta. After the termination of the war, national distress grew to a fearful pitch. Taxation and ruined manufacturers spread destruction and starvation through the country. Instead of relief, by reduced expenditure and wise measures for the restoration of commerce, the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended ; spies and fomentors of sedition were sent through the country by that odious ministry ; famishing men were stimulated to riot ; the soldiery was let loose on the people; the prisons were filled with innocent men; and the liberties and prosperity of England seemed about to expire together. During this dark period there was great need for men of upright minds and fearless hearts, to withstand and denounce the bloody and destructive policy of this miserable oligarchy, and amongst such truly noble men, none stood with a more benign and firm dignity than the Marquess of Lansdowne. One of his first acts on his accession to the peerage was to resist successfully an attempt on the part of the Lords to restrict the Regent from any creation of peers during his regency. In 1814 he carried a motion for an address to the Prince Regent, praying him to take more effectual measures for enforcing the act for the abolition of the slave trade. In 1818 he strenuously resisted a bill of indemnity, intended to shelter the base instruments of those illegal acts on the part of the government during the wretched period to which we have alluded ; and this because the principle of the bill was alleged to be, to indemnify for acts dangerous in them- selves, but justifiable for reasons of state ivhich could not be disclosed in evidence! His Lordship most justly and laudably protested THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE. ]89 against such principles of government, and succeeded in, at least, preventing the extension of the bill to Ireland. During this dark period he drew the attention of government to many important subjects. In 1820, he moved for a committee, to take into consideration measures necessary for the protection and extension of our foreign trade; and must have astonished the ministers of that time, by recommending our abolition of all prohibitory duties; a relaxation of our navigation laws; permitting any nation to export to this country, its own produce in its own ships; and an entire abandonment of the transit trade. He ridi- culed the ministers' regulations tending to prohibit the importation of timber from the north of Europe, and to confer a bounty on that of Canada. He pointed out the vast advantages to be derived from a more liberal system of commercial intercourse with France ; but, above all, from the repeal of the absurd charter bestowed on the East India Company, by which our own merchants were expelled from the Indian seas, while those of all other nations were permitted to trade there; and we were compelled to give enormous prices for India produce, but especially for tea. He shewed that a boundless field of enterprise was yet to be opened in that region, and of mutual benefit to the natives of that and of this country. He took the same view of South America. Englishmen are greatly indebted to Lord Lansdowne for pointing out and insisting upon these most important matters. The attention which he thus awakened has led to the greatest results, and will produce yet more extraordinary ones. The subject was immediately taken up by the Commons, and in June of the following year, his Lordship had the pleasure of presenting to the Lords a report upon it by the Commons Committee, wlien he took the opportunity of calling the attention of the peers to the striking facts contained in it on the silk trade with India, and of pointing out to them what must be the consequences of a free trade with India, even in this one article, the raw material of whicli was no where found so excellent as in our Indian ter- ritories. AYithin a few days of this time he again introduced the continued atrocities of the slave trade to the House, and exposed the base 190 THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOVVNE. subterfuges by wliich foreign powers, wlio bad entered into treaty witli us to abandon it, still carried it on. In 1822, be took occasion, in reply to Lord Liverpool, on bis motion for an inquiry into tlie causes of tbe agricultural distress, to scout tbe nonsensical dogmas of tbe })olitical economists, tbat taxation is ratber a benefit tban a burden to a country, asserting tbat it was taxation wbicb pressed beavily on tbe country, and prevented its recovery from tbe distress under wbicb it groaned. In June of tbat year, bis Lordsbip called tbe attention of tbe peers to tbe condition of Ireland, and took a most comjirebensive and elaborate survey of its consuming evils, and of tbe remedies needed. From tbe liberal and bumane feeling, tbe enligbtened views, and vigorous judgment of bis Lordsbip, added to bis con- nexion by birtb and property witli tbe country, and intimate know- ledge of it, no man was more capable of laying tbis most important but difficult subject before tbe country. He went tbrougb all tbose topics wbicb bave since so continually occupied tbe attention of Parliament witli so little result. It is lamentable to tbink, tbat seventeen years bave since rolled away, and that sucb a mountain of tbe miseries tben so vividly described by tbe Marquess of Lans- downe as weighing on Ireland, should yet remain! — tbe excess of population and poverty, — tbe underletting of land, — absenteeism, — tbe tithe system, and all the trials and murders proceeding from it. Mr. Grattan, in tbe debate on the policy of ministers towards Ireland, on Wednesday, April 17th, said, " It is just fifty- five years ago since a proposition was made in the Irish House of Parliament to lay the grievances of the people of Ireland before the throne, and to call for redress ; and now, at the expiration of fifty- five years, he was sorry to say that Ireland remained still in the same state." Betwixt this period and 1828, when Mr. Canning came into power, perhaps the most important act of bis Lordship's political life was again calling the attention of the government to the affairs and position of South America, and urging upon it to acknowledge the independence of those provinces which had actually attained it. It is well known that tbis, however, was left to become tbe boast of George Canning, whose perception of the advantages and eclat THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE. 191 attendant on this act, may, nevertheless, be fairly supposed to have been sharpened by the previous exertions and energetic demonstrations of Lord Lansdowne. We have already stated that his Lordship became a member of the cabinet during Canning's administration, but without holding office. On the death of Canning, the country confidently looked for the government being put into the noble Marquess's hands; but in this it was disappointed. Lord Goderich was appointed Prime Minister, and Lord Lansdowne merely occupied the post of Home Secretary. The short duration of that administration is well known ; and from this period, to the formation of the Reform Ministry under Earl Grey, we need only allude to his Lordship's manly and cha- racteristic speeches on the abolition of the test and corporation acts', catholic emancipation, and for parliamentary reform, in 1831. We extremely regret that the limits assigned to this memoir will not permit us to go into tiie masterly arguments with which, on these occasions, his Lordship advocated the cause of civil and reli- gious freedom; but they were such as placed him in the foremost rank of pliilosophical reformers. The unanswerable manner in which he handled the arguments of the opponents of reform, is the more remarkable, because up to this period (as he himself stated in his speech) he had never, on any occasion, given his support to any motion for parliamentary reform. Having, however, once satisfied himself of its necessity, he lent it his most hearty support; and, after combating his enemies most gallantly on the second intro- duction of the bill to that House, on April 11th, 1832, he had the satisfaction of seeing it carried, after the most violent contest on record, and the temporary retirement of the ministers who had introduced it. Of these ministers he was now one of the most dis- tinguished, having been appointed Lord President of the Council on the formation of Earl Grey's administration, November 22d, 1830. This office he still continued to hold on the retirement of Earl Grey, and the succession of Lord Melbourne to the premier- ship; and retains it to the present period. The acts or opinions of his Lordship in office have not been so far distinguished from those of his colleagues as to require particular mention. As we have observed of Lord Palmerston, he must share the praise or blame of 192 THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE. the administration with which he is connected, as they may appear, to dift'erent readers, deserving. His Lordship has always shewn himself an advocate for temperate church reform, most liberal in his opinion of the dissenters, a stanch supporter of the New Poor Law, a defender of the Irish Coercion bill, and of the government measures regarding Canada; a friend of education. A more entirely upright and right-minded man we do not believe to be in the peerage ; and in private life he is represented as of kind and courteous manners ; ready to promote the interests of art and lite- rature, and to contribute to the general happiness and improvement of society. /?/ /'Tpmy/n.fi' iyr/^/y/ia/:^&/y/tZi///^ ■/ufi^ //!-