The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-22 00:00:00

" that hesitation and superabundance of gesture with the
,ilands, which were perceptible to the last when Lord
•ralraeraton spoke unprepared and was seeking for words,
for," adds Sir Henry, in terms of graceful extenuation;
though he always used the right word, it often caused
Pains to find it." It is curious, by the way, to bear, in
remembrance . the fact that when in the October of 1809
Fie Chancellorship of the Exchequer was first offered to
41/11, he had only once, namely, upon the delivery of his
maiden speech in the previous session, opened his lips
within the walls of Parliament. The complexion of the
times, then and now, certainly presents a striking contrast
"sa contrast so striking as to betray clearly a distinction
'bath a difference. Could anything, for example, in the
.rsremotest degree resembling the incident recounted by Lord
raloaerston in one of his letters, dated February 27, 1810,
occur in the same arena (i.e., in the House of Commons)
nowadays
n," We had last night," he wrote to the Hon Frances
envie, "a most extraordinary display of foil-, coarse-
and vulgarity from Fuller, who, because Sir John
ftluitruther, the Chairman of the Committee, would not
take notice of him when he several times attempted to I i
ttorder to put some very gross and very absurd questions
Lord Chatham, flew out into such a passion, and
inv?re, and abused the Chairman and the House to such
uegree that it became at last necessary to commit him
tO custody. As he went out he shook his fist at the
'Peaker, and said he was a d-d insignificant little
Puppy, and, snapping his fingers at him, said he did not
[ire that for him or the House eitr. He i s now amsing
"Iruself with the Sergeant-at-Armhes, and, I think,u was
very lucky in not being sent to Newgate or the Tower."
More like a squabble among rowdies on the floor of
'cugree,e, all that, than a scene in the British House of
Commons.

Throughout, these volumes have about them the re-
freshing charm of speaking the truth right out in regard
1•° everyone, however exalted in position. Sometimes, it
I▪ s
true, the plain speaking of Lord Palmerston in his con-
fidential correspondence is carried almost to the extreme,
of indecorum. Of his colleague and political chief, Lord
Liverpool, he says at one part (i. 167), "Liverpool has
acted as' he always does to a friend in personal questions
shabbily, timidly, and ill !" Another while (i. 178)
he numbers among his Ministerial entourage "old women
w•
t the Chancellor (i.e., Eldon), spoonies like Liverpool,
Ignoramusses like Westmoreland, and old stumped-up
Tp°ries like Bathurst !" Later on (p. 202), speaking
of the great Austrian Prime Minister, he ex-
c,lahns that " Metternich must be an idiot if he
does not see that Russia is the windward quarter of the
'leavens." Of the French Minister (and Marshal)
4ebastian he speaks scornfully (i. 322) as " a self-sufficient
consequential coxcomb." As for the Sing (George IV.)
17.40 " hated" Lord Palmerston, the latter always refers to
his Most Gracious Majesty with an unmistakeable blend-
4of dislike and contempt. Of the heir presumptive
;), the Throne, afterwards William IV., then Duke of
'tarence, Lord Palmerston does not hesitate to aver
Suite frankly (i. 295) that, "in fact, he was half mad."
14111 speaking, seemingly, was then the rule, even to
rudeness, openly, by • word of mouth, and not
elniply in private journals and confidential cor-
respondence. Instance this (1. 212) Lord Anglesey's
address to the Ministers of State seated together in a
Cabinet, when he brought back to them the Duke of
n.-•
e-u•Ligton's acceptation of the post of Commander.in-
Chief_

do,`
ha
Well, entlemen, I have done what you sent me to
I veg brought you the Duke of Wellington's accep-
"on of the Commander-in-Chief; and by God, mark my
as sure as you are alive he will trip up all your
gels before six months are over your heads."
'lore than simply a brutal threat ; a bold and most
el/44cioue prediction. Sometimes in this discursive work
We light upon an old friend, if not with a new face, with
ceetainly a new expression ; as in the instance of Jekyll's
-.l7niliar epigram, the exact reading of which is thus
scven (I, 117) : _ _

"Lord Chatham, with his sword undrawn,
Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan;
Sir Richard, eager to get at 'em,
b Stood waiting—but, for what !—Lord Chatham ! "
1...0ut few striking incidents have to be recounted in this
42graphy : one there is, for example, at pp. 144 and
▪ 4, in the first volume, where Lord Palmerston very nar-
rs3wl3, escapes assassination on the Bth of April, 1818,
--ert shot at by a madman, one Lieutenant Davies, who
„
ligghtly wounded him in the hip as he was going up the
Lita4rs at the War Office. But the vivacity of the hero of
e memoir, as sketched by the animated pen, now of
raself, now of his admirably, well chosen biographer
``'ir Remy Bulwer being the very man for that office),
carries the reader on from the first page to the last
44 alone pleasantly, but delightfully. " I have dwelt, I
rQliess, with detail and pleasure on this early epoch of
~t(1 Palmerston's life," says Sir Henry at one part
Lv., 123), "because, to those who only saw or knew him
Lu.ilis old age, there 'is something that freshens and
"Lightens his memory on turning to his youth, when we
Le Min stepping on to the platform of life with the same
"3• '
and somewhat jaunty step, and yet with the same
▪ ells and business-like intent that carried him on cheer-
ZS' and steadily along a sunshiny path through his long
Therein lay the personal charm of the man, the
rtra▪
et of his long-sustained and perennial popularity.
llge is it, nevertheless, to find it recorded of such a
as this, a man of such frank and genial temperament,
tit throughoht the whole of his life he had but two in-
sates, his brother-in-law, Mr. Sullivan, and his school-
-4311°W. Sir George Shee. Not that he was isolated from
erstenal friendships like Mr. Pitt or the late Sir Robert
:el) but that those two, Shee and Sullivan, were alone
4.,eng all his friends distinguishable as his intimates. His
"gtvalrous character and generous sentiments as a
13°tical leader rendered his name an object of
pridei among the great masses of his fellow-
-1• !trYmen. He was the representative Englishman
bs..-"kla time among foreign nations. His policy as a diplo-
o' tic chief enabled him more reasonably than any men
t
bobie generation to apply the boast—not ostentatiously,
t truthfully and naturally— Civis .Romanus sum—to the
hag subject of the Crown of England in either hernia-
his hatred of oppression prompted him to inter-
v,"36 energetically in 1828 in behalf of the Greek men and
A;reell and children carried off into captivity from the
,2tea by the forces of Ibrahim. His political sagacity
Zt Prescience enabled him, in 1829, to foretell at Paris,
r_v-Prlths beforehand, the downfall of Charles X., and the
of Louis Philippe as his successor—" the result would
traebably be [in such and such a :contingency]," he wrote
his brother (p. 350) on the 4th December, 1829 :—" a
-17• 4°,., Re of name in the inhabitant of the Tuileries, and the
th"" of Orleans might be invited to step over the way
'`eta the Palais Royal." His patriotic devotion to his
e°h:l4„ try led him to regard with mingled scorn and indig-
othe ignoble policy of those who in a craven spirit
opoee to us the voluntary disintegration of the
weh Empire—men whose hearts are not stirred
bela them, as was his, as is that of his congenial
GataPher, by the magnificent hyperbole by which Daniel
Webster declared that every day, hour by hour, the roll
rethe British drum encircles the two hemispheres ! It is
11,,,,,taarkable, nevertheless, to observe that Sir Henry
_'wer can say most accurately, when speaking of Lord
o7leraton's foreign policy, that though he was generally
7ells to keep England on the side of Liberal
h ,7"lolls—he had not any system of policy in
"gam
• to • foreign states his notion being
i~1)1Y that every question should be treated on
'SWII merits. • Having as yet merely, we presume, one
tout the work in which Sir Henry 13ulwer has undertaken
recount the life of Lord Palmerston, we can already,
without hesitation, congratulate the former upon the skill
Which he has carried out his own intentions in re-
d,t° one who was during so many years his personal
;tut and his political leader. He has performed the
e.lltcate and responsible task undertaken by him
". simplicity and impartiality, "feeling cer-
t44'), as he tells his reader upon the very
tw eauhold that "the more simply and impartially" he
ta:"(1 Make known the character of Lord Palmerston, the
ti:telikelY he was " to secure to his memory the admira-
-44:1 and esteem of his countrymen." That admiration
eo. esteem, which Lord Palmerston won so largely and
vorYed so long, his biographer through these luminous
kulles is doing his very best to perpetuate.

tip ITEItPRISE IN IRELAND.—The Dublin papers
hePefully of a revival of enterprise in Ireland,
eol 11g as proof of this the reappearance in their
ns of long parliamentary notices—a goodly number
low—ileating a purpose to carry out several valuable
the tuaProvements. A bill is to be promoted to purify
draTi River Liffey and perfect a system of main
Raainagf_e for Dublin that will be a model for the
lia,""rY, boards of other towns to adopt. . Mr.
esf7Tette will be the director of this large
a rrPrise. But besides it, Dublin is to be furnished with
bt: of tramways, which will do a great deal to facilitate
oftTer, and enable the increasing suburban population
easg Lrisb metropolis to reach their warehouses more
lulch: • The city is very scattered, and the want of
Pia a scheme has been much felt. There are rival
de 1.18, however, for this purpose, between which a
l‘lettil will have to be arrived at. The people of
a 12:, also are active about the establishment of
market and abbattoir, and if their design
1,1:8 not
A ;.
4'3 miscarry other towns will join in the movement.
further, a Belfast Drainage and Improvement
Way;*rlu. various plans for short extensions of Irish
or ea— ea— '`t• Party in Dublin contend strongly that a board
bubplmittee to investigate these projects should sit in
teaseun not London to prevent the inconvenience and
of of bringing Witnesses to England. Thus much
xv6°.rne government a large number of Irishmen support
tile are bY no means in favour of anything like repeal of