The Press.
London, England, 1856-05-31 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Chief Secretary for Ireland, and he exulted in
having a long " tail" of Irish members follow-
ing at his heels. In those days the Irish
representation was filled by a more aristocratic
class than at present, and many old politicians
still remember the personal gratification
shown by young Mr. Peel, when distinguished
commoners of far-descended birth, like the
Knight of Kerry and Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald,
were his constant companions. One would
suppose from Mr. Doubleday's tone that Sir
Robert Peel was marked by republican
severity of style. There never lived a man
(and we do not say it to his disadvantage) who
more enjoyed the pride of being the leader of
the country representatives of England than Sir
R. Peel. He admitted the fact Wins .1f when in
1840 he proudly contrasted his position," at the
" head of the gentlemen of England," with
that of Lord John Russell. Is it not beyond
doubt that Sir Robert Peel delighted to
have young noblemen looking up to him as a
Gamaliel ?

That there was some serious defect, some
absent element from the character of Sir
Robert Peel, is admitted by nearly all his
critics. Mr. Doubleday writes :

As a statesm•n, his political character will be to future
historians, as it his been to most of his contemporaries a
puzzle, save and except to those who may be fortunate
enough to possess and appreciate the only key to the
mystery. To the ordinary observer the course of Sir
Robert Peel must ever appear both tortuous and inconsis•
tent; and by every observer it mist. at best, be viewed as
a policy wanting those requisites which critics maintain
every series of dramatic action ought to possess, " a
beginning, a middle, and an end." To those who are
inclined to approve of it and to those who are inclined
to blame it, as a fragment only can it be viewed.
Contemplate it as we will, it must ever appear as an
arch without a keystone, or as a dramatic series of acts
without a catastrophe; in short, as an acted enigma never
finished. in which the obscure is never cleared nor the dark
illuminated.

The apology for 1829 corroborates under his
own hand the truth of the foregoing descrip-
tion. We aie convinced that Sir Robert
Peel's fame will suffer in the verdict of poste-
rity when contemplated, not as a public charac-
ter, but as a statesman His career had no
unity, and the acts associated with his name
were not originated or perfected by himself.
It was one time said by a keen observer of
men that " Sir Robert Peel's position since
" the Reform Bill was to act as the diploma-
" tist to a capitulating aristocracy:" and we
see that the Atheneum, in a cool review of his
career, observes, " He was always in the front
"of the battle, and always surrendering." He
has himself in the last paragraph of his apology
tried to extenuate his conduct by saying. "It
" was no ignoble ambition " which actuated
him. But we consider that a chief of party
must not, after acquiring power by a connec-
tion, thus seek to gain popularity at the ex-
pense of his friends. Mr. Doubleday writes :
It seems quite certain that his fame can never be that
of a great Minister : although in his owls time he has
been styled " great," by those who compared him with the
lesser men who were his opponents. When compared
with the leaders of toe Whig party his superiority is at
once manifest : but calm reflection will show that this au•
periority rested on his possession of two or three highly
available but not great qualities, of which his rivals were
destitute, or nearly so.
There is much truth in that remark. Neither
Lord Pahnerston nor Lord John Russell
were politicians of the station of their
predecessors. Canning died in 1827, and at
the same period a consummate orator, Mr
Plunket, was removed to the House of Peers.
In a short time after Mr. Brougham was also
raised to the Woolsack. and Mr. Huskisson
had met his death in 1830 So that when the
new Reformed Parliament met in 1833, Sir
Robert Peel in political knowledge and variety
of Palliatnentary knowledge was superior to
his adversaries. It was observed at that time
how vaunting his manner became, and if Mr.
Brougham or Mr Copley had remained in the
Lower House, he would not, perhaps, have
assumed such a dictatorial tone. It must,
also, be recollected that neither Walpole,
Chatham. Pitt, nor Fox, had the enormous
advantages of alliance with such an over-
powering reputation as that of Wellington.
We doubt whether without the alliance with
that great man Sir Robert Peel ever could
accomplish so great a position in the eyes of
the country.

521

Mr. Doubleday, though a Radical, is a hearty
admirer of Sir Robert Peel, and gives him
much praise throughout his pages. Yet the
conclusion of his " analyti2al biography" is is
the following strain .

The real springs of his actions he never could disclose
nor did he ever divulge (if he knew them) the ultimate
and dual results to be expeeted from his policy. That
policy has, therefore, ostensibly neither beginning nor
end ; nor dues it possess any features which can make it
generally intelligible. To future historical students Sir
Robert Peel's character, therefore, must ever appear to
be one of those the extraordinary nature of which all men
admit, but upon every other portion of which the clouds
of doubt must continue to rest. Like St. Thomas k
Racket, Cromwell, Machiavelli, the Emperor Julian,
Ignatius Loyola, and others, be will be variously esti-
mated as his character is contemplated from various
points of view; whilst the time key to his character and
career remains hidden from the great majority of those
who in future time shall think, or speak, or write concern-
ing him.
That passage reads strangely by the aide of
the apology for 1829. Sir Robert Peel puzzled
even himself ! But we see no " enigma " in
his career. "He had not," it was rightly said,
"a grand and comprehensive creed ;" and a
statesman must have some moral support if
he has to play a first part in a country swayed
so powerfully by " opinion "as England. He
was intelligible neither to himself, to his
friends, nor to his foes, except on the supposi-
tion that his rule of action in politics was "to
" look to the last state of the poll." A states-
man of the second, a Parliamentary oelebrity
of the first class, would appear to be his rank
in our historical senators.

We have read some parts of the work of
Mr. Doubleday with pleasure It is often
crotchetty, and it is not free from errors of a
political kind. but it is manly and indepen-
dent, and contains much information. It
deserves a plaice in the politician's library, as it
is a summary of contempo►ary changes, and
contains some passages of vigorous reflection.
But it is sometimes excessively unjust, and
some of its dicta are delivered with the flippancy
pardonable to a journalist working against
time, but culpable in an author the master of
his own pen.

The Crown Ward. By Archibald Boyd.
Three Vols. London : Bentley.

Ir is exhilarating to read a romance which,
without servilely imitating Scott, represents
that free and buoyant spirit of adventure which
is the charm of his narratives. We are not sure
that the iefects alleged against Scott are not
to be reckoned amongst his merits. It was
Lecause be was so purely objective, and because
he did not write with any higher motive thane
to present a panorama of stirring human
action, that we seek in his pages relief from
the intellectual strain of real life His fictions
we know did not satisfy himself ; he was un-
eatt, if he beheld them in his house, or in the
hands of his family ; he wrote them as a means
of making money, and cared very little fur
them when they were out of his hand ; but the
judgment of the world has approved them as
admirable for mental recreation, and we may
he quite sure that as physical tastes commonly
guide us rightly in what is wholesome for the
body, there is a principle in mental taste to
guide us in what is healthful nourishment for
the mind. Scott's novels do not throw the
mind back upon itself; they charm the mind
from itself, and rest and exercise it at the
same time. Were they less skilful, the rest
would not be so refreshing; were they more
powerful, the exercise might be too severe.
It is in constant and sustained adventure
that Mr. Boyd makes good a claim to be
classed with Scott He has not the higher
qualities of the great romancist. In " The
Crown Ward " we miss the poetical descrip•
Lions of Scott, and the vigour which seized
on the dark and terrible characteristics of
mediEeval times, to impart shade and nerve to
his pictures and to raise an impression of
sublimity. He often sacrificed pity to terror,
and embodied action in shapes of vengeance.
Of this form of dr.imatic power Mr. Boyd does
not appear capable. He creates suspense by
the progress of his narrative, but in no in-
stance does he venture beyond the pleasing in
results. He engages the mind, but does not
thrill it, though without such thrill the
fascination of fir** can seldom be oomplete.