The Press.
London, England, 1857-01-10 00:00:00

SIR ROBERT PEEL'S LAST SPEECH.

THE last speech of Sir ROBERT PEEL (we mean
the present baronet of that title) is the most
degrading of all his mountebank exhibitions.
That such a man should bear the name of a
late eminent statesman, is a ludicrous instance
of Fortune's caprice. The great Protector was
succeeded by RICHARD CROMWELL , the Lord
CHATHAM, who humbled the house of Bourbon,
was followed by the Lord CHATHAM of Walche-
ren ; the good Lord LYTTELTON had for his son
the wicked Lord LYTTELTON ; and in the pedi-
gree of the PEELS, Sir ROBERT the sensible is
followed by Sir ROBERT the --; but really

it is possible, however, that the Court of
Russia, the Prince DE DONE (one of the inde-
cently assailed), and M. DE MORNY may pass
over the Lord of the Admiralty's expc-
sure of himself. All those personages "have,
also, heard of GEORGE FREDERICK YOUNG, and
what that gentleman publicly said to Sir
ROBERT PEEL. Episodes of the sort we
allude to are not readily forgotten in the
Courts of Europe, especially when the per-
formers (like Sir R.
name, which they st

tempt.
We should certainly
Mr. FREDERICK PEEL after

brother's " oratory."
LEECII ever drew any

humour as the contrast

.PEEL) inherit mat
:rive to bri
y like totie:'lo.. rz' •
after peisis—,,i
Neitiott *1.4
earicat
,rast be.,
4 ;14 1;41
•
Fri re•

26

" Peelites," of whom a witty writer recently
remarked :
That, after all, they were of the same weight—Mr. Fred.
being a pound of lead, and Sir Robert being a pound of
feathers.

LORD PALMERSTON'S
" DICTATORSHIP."
THE partisans of Lord PALMBRI4TON do not
show their usual tact in appropriating to their
chief the title of Dictator which has been
somewhat ironically bestowed upon him by a
writer in the Netv Quarterly Review. It is no
doubt true, as the reviewer observes, that the
English people aro always ready, in times of
great public danger, to invest with almost
absolute power any statesman who is called to
the head of public affairs, and who gives
evidence of capacity and zeal It is much
better that the ordinary principles of Party
Government should remain in abeyance for a
term, than that the nation should seem
divided at a crisis when all its energies
require to be directed against a common foe.
The Government of Lord ABERDEEN was over-
thrown because an impression prevailed that
it had not entered heartily on the war, and
because, as plainly appeared by the revela-
tions of Lord JoHN Itossm.r., its members were
not united among themselves. It is quite
erroneous, however, to assert that Lord PAL-
MERSTON was the choice of the country. There
was no popular movement in his favour, and
still less did the Legislature show any desire
for his appointment. The censure of the
House of Commons on the Aberdeen Govern-
ment fell as heavily upon him as upon any
other member of it. When Lord JOHN RUZSE LL,
scared by the appalling accounts from the
Crimea, insisted on the necessity of a change
in the Win' Department, Lord PALMERSTON
remained silent and content. In his capacity
of Home Secretary he most unaccountably
delayed to urge forward the embodiment of
the Militia, though the measure was of the
most vital and pressing importance. He was
besides a member of the Cabinet which had
agreed to open negotiations for peace with
Russia while the great battle before Sebasto
pot was still pending; and he constructed his
Ministry on the distinct understanding that
those negotiations should proceed in exactly
the same manner as if no change had taken
place. These circumstances were all fearfully
against Lord PALMERSTON. At first his appoint-
ment was received rather with sullen submis-
sion than with anything like the popular
acclaim which we are told by the Globe wel-
comed it. It was not until after Mr. DISRAE LI'S
motion in the Commons had compelled the
Ministry to throw aside their ambiguous lan-
guage and uncertain conduct, and had drawn
from Lord JOHN RUSSELL that warlike decla-
ration which destroyed him as a public man
when the secret transactions of the period
were revealed, that Lord PALM E RSTON'S
Ministry assumed a settled appearance, or
enlisted any considerable amount of public
sympathy iu support of it.
It was a necessity of the public situation, on
the fall of Lord ABERDEEN'S Ministry, that
whoever had been Premier must, if he had
shown due appreciation of the realities of the
time, and had prosecuted the war with vigour,
have commanded the support of the country.
The people demanded, with an eagerness
bordering on frenzy, some grand development
of the national might. Had the Premiership
fallen into the hands of Lord DERBY,
or Lord E LLEN BOROUGH, or even of Lord
Jens RUSSELL, the Administration so con-
structed would have been certain to receive
a fair trial from the country. The decisive
vote which overthrew the Aberdeen Adminis-
tration, and the forbearance shown towards
the patchwork Cabinet which succeeded it,
are two of the greatest incidents in modern
annals. They evince a force of public and
patriotic feeling, and at the same time of