The Press.
London, England, 1855-12-01 00:00:00

1134

eldest son and heir (to his titular rank and
property) have hitherto been overlooked with
too good natured contempt. People treated
him as a il owder-cracker, that would go off
harmless—alll noise aid no mischief. His
attempts at wit were yeAfectly harmless. Hip,
friends were gravest when he was most f
tious, and his enemies of whom* had not a,
few) smiled over his pathos. We talked for.
the Ballot, and the House of Common%
laughed; he assailed the Jews, alL'Patiersalia
jeered. A blustering elocutionist, he lent him-
self as " a curiosity to Mechanics' Institutes,
and recited speeches from the poets, re-
ealleci„Caroline WilhelraingAmelip.Skegas, and
got up enthusiasm about "Shakspeare and the
musical glasses." Some political gentlemen
wished to hold a meeting at Tamworth. The
friend of the Ballot wrote to his land steward
*verbose anti swaggering epistle in the style
of a Brummagem Bashaw, and called Sir.
G. F. YOUNG " a miserable impostor." Upon
which Mr. YOUNG, after the old English fashion,
" showed fight" ; and what did Sir ROBERT
then? Well; no matter what he—didn't. In
his own language, applied to certain naval
characters, " the country expected more after
" all the money that had been expended on

" him."
Then, after various flounderings about, and
efforts to acquire a " Corsica Boswell" style of
notoriety, Lord PALMERSTON remembered the
son of an old friend, and resolved to give him
a chance. He was made Lord of the Admiralty,
and it was hoped that he would subside into
a Red-tapist, like his brother FREDERICK. The
appointment was a bad one. For a variety of
reasons, which we cannot state here, Sir ROBERT
PEEL should not have been selected, to the
exclusion of the young Whigs and Liberals of
the Ministerial connection. It was the Pre-
mier's own act, and it was trifling with the
public service to select such a peculiar kind of
character for an important office. The nomi-
nation, however, had the effect of honour. It
recalled the fifth book of Rabelais, and how
" Queen Whim's" officers were employed.
" Some with a couple of foxes ploughed a
" sandy shore, and did not lose their seed;
others sheared asses and got long fleece
,; and others pitched nets to catch the
id, and caught cock lobsters in them."
member for Tamworth is the Premier's
'k lobster."
, of all the outrageous speeches ever de-
Ted by an official person, the harangue of
Amu Pzet, at the Mayor of Tamworth's
dinner, is the most extraordinary that ever
under our notice. A Lord of the Ad-
miralty assailed the Commanders of the Baltic
Black Sea fleets! Holding a seat at the
Admiralty, Sir ROBERT PEEL not only publicly
-iticised and attacked the policy and conduct
the last naval campaign, but he also as-
persed the talents, and almost called in
question the courage of our present and ex-
-)mmanders of the fleets.
','roin time immemorial the various
fiches of the public services have, on their
tncy being impugned, looked to those in
to fight their battles, and defend them
the impertinent censure of censorious
;tenders. Such a spectacle as an official
person assailing public servants in the highest
and most responsible places, and con-
' -uing in the Government, has not been
except on the night when Mr. OSBORNE,
wther Admiralty subordinate, attacked the
trdeen Ministry in its dying throes. But
there was an immediate change of Mi-
tstry, and the subordinate remained in, while
aiperiors went out. In 1829 the Attorney
;Cal (Sir CHARLES WETHERELL) attacked
Wellington Cabinet, in what he called
humorously " his last words and dying
speech," but before next noon the speaker
out of office. How long, we should like
ask, is Sir ROBERT PEEL, the official im
peacher of the British fleets, to be permitted
to remain in the Admiralty?
re observe, also, that in the chief Ministe-
organ only condensed versions of this dis-
graceful harangue have been printed. The
Lord of the Admiralty makes several distinct
charges against the navy
What they wanted was men with energy and vigour,
three thousand miles away, to carry out the policy of ule
Administration at home.
dee