The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-09 00:00:00

at the helm, and on the second occasion with the, Court
and the Parliament equally devoted to him, he never
could maintain himself in power. Nor, notvrithatand-
ing his consummate Parliamentcry tactics, c.tan be be
described as the greatest party leader t that ever
flourished among us; for he contrived to e estroy the
most compact, powerful, and devoted party that ever
followed a British statesman. Certainly, not' withstand-
ing his great se ay in debate, we cannot reco guise him
as oar greatest orator, for in many of the sv tpreme re-
quisites of oratory he was singularly deficient. But
what he really was, and whet posterity will ac knowledge
him to have been, is the greatest Member of Parliament
that ever lived.
"Peace to his ashes ! His name will be often ap-
pealed to in that scene which he loved so well, and never
without homage even by his opponents."
Many parts of the above come with peculiar force and
grace from the hand of one who gained no I ittle cele-
i
as
it
iteruhpeppuoerartgeseadna i
very
heedreyliv
niyolpioeounarer: of
ipnßotieui:t
cele-
brity by his former attacks on Sir Robert Peel, and
tthihiusea denunciationslhand
tn ooft,i
dt
animosity
e,utahnodhf
rest to these pages when we consider the t the two
chief actors in that stormy struggle which they so
vividly recal, have both passed away, and both under
suddena
ld
leeaatdhe or faLfteorrdyGeuerosrogfe Bi
circumstances of a peculiarly afflicting nature. The
his almost instantaneous rise into public gnotice as a
neanettiinveek,pteorrei .it tatmheernwirtyh
life, impart to his name a strange and roma laic inte-
rest which the record in this volume will ten d greatly
eit
soe
,aknneh
taaenthctereda.
chtyiTy
tehheeo puhoua.rnt rdaLoi t of the
Lord
rdhi
s George
re
ioarPngdreo
andtewetai
was
Protection
)iigsntrdaecpehhdi
gallant leader of a forlorn hope, and as such, we can-
not help sympathising with his struggles, e' ten while
disapproving of their obj▪
ect and desiring thtiir defeat.
Added to this gallantry of bearing and a chivalrous
hopefulness that held nothing to be impolsible, he
brought to the struggle also qualities not less im-
portant—an energy of will that nothing could dis-
turb, and an application to business that nothing
:
could weary. His predominant characteristic was
leiatrianaelstanaersese.r
ofT onlyhreputationethreab
acquired during a po-
litical
years was certainly
earned by an amount of labour
and application not
often condensed into three times that period. Often,
political d titles for
erval. This sort
four, and often
eighteen
without
nt told,taking
e fowouoatds
during
e engaged
twenty_
in
ne
of labour, be it remembered, though not always, of
course, of the same duration, was not taken up by fits
onth. y and vi gorously
The nornings
were occupied by interviews with individual a of va-
danayd satfatratrs,dbayut a
awda s t
apaunrtshu
va-
rious classes and various callings, capable of :Iffording
after month. m
information on the topi▪ c under discussion in the
House, for Lord George adopted no reatiy-made
statement of facts. Every question was subjected to
the most searching investigation, and if the Protec-
tionist leader occasionally arrived at wrong conclu
sions, as we cannot but think he did on certain
matters, that can certainly be attributsd to
no want of proper cauti▪
on on his
part. The minute and elaborate nature of
his researches into the details of any matter that he
" took up" is amply evidenced by some extracts from
his correspondence (given in this volume) with
parties able to afford him the necessary information.
This correspondence gives a very favourable idea of
the business-like qualities of Lord George Bentinck.
The earnestness and seal which. he displayed in mat-
ters of, apparently, trifling importance, are almost
sufficient of themselves to account for the prominent
position established by the fallen Protectionist party.
. " Ile came forward," observes his biograper, "with
details in support of his principle and policy which it
had been before believed that none but a Minister could
command. Instead of experiencing the usual and, inevi-
table doom of private Members of Parliament, and
having his statements shattered by official information,
Lord George Bentinck was the assailant, and the suc-
cessful assailant of an administration on these verytheads.
He often did their work more effectually than all their
artificial training enabled them to do it. His acute
research, and his peculiar sources of information, roused
the vigilance of all the public offices of the country.
Since his time there has been more care in. preparing
official returns and in arranging the public correspon-
dence placed on the table of the House of Commons."
mornings devoted to these investigations, his days
were constantly occupied by attendance on Com-
mittees, and his evenings and nights were al ways
passed in the House of Commons when it was sitting.
He grudged even the time spent in a dinner at Bel-
lamy's ; "he always thought that something would
be said or done in his absence which would not have
occurred had he been there—some motion whisked
through or some return altered. Hi▪ s principle was
that a Member should never be absent from his seat."
No one can read this biography without admiring the
wonderful energy which it records ; the motto of
Lord George, according to what we read of him in
this book, might indeed have been "Thorough," for
mind and body, heart and soul, did he devote himself
to the cause in which he believed. To one sacrifice,
however, even his resolute heart was not quite in-
different, as fa feelingly mentioned in the following
passage :

" Ii was the day after the Derby, May 25th, the
writer met Lord George Bentinck in the library of the
House of Commons. He was standing before the book-
shelves, with a volume in his hand, and his countenance
was greatly disturbed. His resolutions in favour of the
colonial interest, after all his labours, had been nega-
tived by the Committee on the 22d, and on the 24th his
home Surplice, whom he had parted with among the
rest of his stud solely that he might pursue without
distraction his labours on behalf of the great interests
of the country, had won that paramount and Olympian
stake, to gain which had been the object of his life. Ho
had nothing to console him, and nothing to sustain him
except his pride. Even that deserted him before a
heart which ho knew at least could
yield him oy mpathy.
He gave a sort of superb groan y
All my life I hove,
been trying for this, and fbwhat have I sacrificed r ificed it!'
be murmured.

.. 4lt was in vain to offer solace.
You do not know what the Derby is I '
he
moaned out.
~ . yes, I do ; it is the blue-ribbon of the turf.'
... it is the blue-ribbon of the turf,' he slowly re-
peated to himself; and sitting down at the table he buried
himself in a folio of statistics."
Very affecting are the coucluding pages
work, in which is simply and naturally recorded the
last interview between Lord George Bentinck and his
friend and biographer. The session had closed, and
Mr. Disraeli, about to leave London, called at Har-
court Howe to bid his friend farewell. They passed
the morning together, "rather indulgin in the gof this
con-
templation of the future than in retrospec. Lord
George was serene, cheerful, and happy." They
parted at the gate of Harcourt House. .. He put
God bless you ;
forth his hand to bid farewell, and his last words were
characteristic of the man, of his warm feelings and
of his ruling passion—.4 '
work, and the country will Come round us.' ewe In less
than a month from that day the lifeless body of Lord
George Bentinck was discovered by the way side at a
little distance from his native home. Friends and
political must
opponents lamented together over the sudden
departure of that energetic spirit, and, according to the
stood by his side in an arduous and unequal struggle ;
who often shared his councils and sometimes, perhaps,
beautiful concluding passage
soothed his cars; who knew well the greatness of
his nature, and esteemed his friendship among the
ge in this volume, " one who
gs, has stepped aside from the
strife and passion of public life to draw up this record
of his deeds and thoughts, that those who come after
us may form some conception of his character and
career, and trace in these faithful, thou
chief of worldly blessin
gh imperfect
pages,
such, and as a memento of a very stirring period in
an English Worthy. ' As
tohfe country, this work will be
phoisrttoraryituorfe
long valued. It will be perused with very general
feelings of sympathy and admiration by both friends
and opponents, for it appeals not to the narrow pre-
judices of one class or party, but to those generous
sentiments which are common to all—admiration for
the politthiceal
a gallant nature and sympathy for faithful friendship.
______

There
SEVERN AND
DESTRUCTIVE INUNDATION or m
flowing of the Wye and Severn, but particte a serious WYE.--GLOUCESTER,
over-
river.SATURDAY.--
It appears that in the middle of dallarly the former
spout and deluging rains fell in North Wale e week a water-
and Severn rose, and the result Was, that when the Wye
" fresh" cam down the Wye on Thursd a tremendous
all the country along the course of th:Y and yesterday ;
laid under water, and at Hereford the w river was soon
than it has been known for more than ater, was deeper
On either side of the bridge over the W 4alf a century.
the traffic between Hereford, Ross, GinYne, across which
and South Wales is conveyed, there wcaesster, London,
some five or six feet of water • consequently, th a depth of
coaches was rendered impossible, and no publice passage of
from Hereford to this city through Ross, arrived conveyance
It was reported in Gloucester that this bridge yesterday.
swept away, but the report, we are told, had been
was unfounded
The only means of communication between the two *
was through Ledbury. An early coach from(;ro cities
Hereford, after proceeding as far es Ross, returned ucester to
this city, deferring its journey until this day csaatgain to
We understand, too, that a very sudden rise took Pis urday.)
mid-day yesterday in the Severn, at Worcester and
,creeabkout
bury, and the meadows near the _hours submerged oes-
depth of some IS inches in about an , the
water rising
a
rapidly afterwards. A great deal of damage has been done,g
but at present the accounts are very confused, owin_
g to th
difficulties of communication.
THE CALEDONIAN ASYLUM. Of the numerous
charitable institutions supported by. voluntary contributions
which shed a lustre on the metropolis ofd this
kingdom, per-
haps there is ncne more interestingdaedn
for
the
maintenance
and education of the children
c S‘co hrs and sailors who
have served their country, and of tc rnen who are unable
from poverty to educate their children. These are
eh to b the special
pleaders of this charity. It is mu e the
that the
funds are not iusu flourishing a state as its friends coul I wish,
but, with a benevolence that does credit to its members, the
Caledonian Society have announced that the proceeds of
their annual ball, which takes 1
p ce on Thursday next, will
e
be devotid entirely to its r plenishment, and "We hope EIC..
cess will crown their efforts.

THE SFCEFTABY or BANKRUPTS.—on Saturday
a Bill was printed, by order of the House of Lords, to abo-
lish the office of Secretary of bankrupts,.the
and to give in present holde
co-
forward byto the Lord Chancellor.r. Bill "3 brought