The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-21 00:00:00

(From the Carlisle Journal.)
In the presence of an assembly of the inhabitants
of Carlisle and Cumberland so vast as to suggest
comparisons with the gatherings during the crisis
of the great reform agitation, the Mayor of Carlisle,
on Wednesday, unveiled the statue of the late
James Steel, which has been erected in the Market-
place. Ten days ago the statue was safely raised to
its position on the pedestal, but, in accordance with
custom, it remained shrouded from the public gaze
until the ceremony.of inauguration had been per-
formed. That having been done on Wednesday,
with the most admirable good taste and effect, the
uncovered monument now graces the principal
square of this city, and forms a very remarkable
addition to the public ornaments, not of Carlisle
only, but of the lingdom.
The history of the man, whose memory his fel-
low-cititizens and friends have thus highly ho-
noured, is a familiar one in this northern county.
There are few inhabitants of Cumberland who have
not not heard the story of the struggles of his
youththe victory he gained in his manhood, and
the honours and influence which were accorded to
him before he was cut off while yet the vigour and
activity of his spirit and intellect were undiminished.
Born in 1797, in a rank of life which made it al-
most a matter of ambition to aspire to the position
of printer's apprentice, he found himself at the age
of 12, after having for a short while assisted his fa-
ther at the loom, employed in that capacity in the
office of the Carlisle Chronicle, a journal which had
but a temporary existence in this city. When it was
discontinued, he was transferred to the office of the
sTournal, the newspaper to which his future exertions
were destined to give new power and usefulness.
Here his intelligence attracted the attention of the
then proprietor and editor, Mr. Jollie and Dr. Ire-
land, and he came to be employed in assisting in the
local reporting, which at that time was very diffe-
rent from the same branch of newspaper work in
these days. Mr. Steel used to relate that his first
essay in this department was in attending a nota-
ble pugilistic encounter, where he caught a severe
cold that laid him up for many months. The period
of his illness and progress to recovery was not un-
employed. He found out the sweet uses of adver-
sity, and in the study of the best English authors
cultivated a national good taste and improved
abilities, that were of a high order. The foundation
of the knowledge that in future guided him, and
the upright principle and public spirit by which he
was through life animated, was no doubt laid at this
time, and encouraged by the example and advice
of honest and virtuous parents. He returned to his
profession with fresh energy and inspired with a
determination to seek an honourable career,—and
it was probably in great measure owing to the ex-
perience and habits thus early acquired, that he was
afterwards not more distinguished by his talents
than by his cdnscientious, sedulous, and laborious
discharge of every kind of duty. In 1829, having
completed his apprenticeship and been partly initi-
ated in the literary work of a newspaper, he en-
gaged himself as printer and publisher of the
Whitehaven Gazette. The editor of that journal
was very thankful for any assistance in his own
particular labours from the fresh pen of Mr.
Steel, and the real duties of the editorial chair
were for a number of years chiefly -performed by
the ostensible printer and publisher. While here
Mr. Steel married—forming a connection which
issued in a numerous family and gave him domestic
sympathy, comfort, and happiness for life. In 1826
he was invited to become editor of the _Kendal
Chronicle, and that post he held for two years. The
energy of his character, the vigour of his pen, and
the ardency of his sympathy for the popular cause
and for all the movements towards civil and reli-
gious freedom then swaying the nation, had here
scope for development, and became widely recog-
nised. He bore no small part in the great election
contests between Mr. Brougham and the Lowther
domination, and his name came to be known through-
out the north of England. At this time the Carlisle
Journal was in want of a mind such as Mr. Steel's
to guide its course, to aid the efforts after liberty,
and to retain the support of the people of Cumber-
land. Mr. Joule and Dr. Ireland were both dead.
Mr. Steel, who had continued on friendly footing
with the family of the proprietor, offered his ser-
vices, and he was gladly installed in the editorial
chair. Here he exerted himself unceasingly and
effectively for the promotion of Liberal principles,
and for the breaking up of the system of political
exclusiveness and corruption which had become
intolerable to the country. The time was then
out of joint, and in setting it right no one
aided more strenuously than the editor of the
Journal. Carlisle, in great measure througla his
exertions and those of a warm band of friends,
took a prominent position in urging on the cause
of Reform. It is difficult now-a-days to realise
to the mind the excitement that then existed; the
nation preparing itself to throw off the effete yoke,
and the rulers marking every one who distinguished
himself on the popular side, and watching for op-
portunities to pounce upon him. The local his-
tories of the Reform struggle have yet to be fully
written, and when that for Carlisle comes to be
recorded, the name of James Steel will be a
prominent one. ' Meetings, at which grave ques-
tions were deliberated, were held at five or six
o'clock in the morning ; injudicious ardour had to
be restrained, and the flame of agitation had at the
same time to be kept at the proper point. To the
labours of such men throughout England it is
owing that the country had Reform instead of
Revolution. Then came the struggle for Municipal
Reform, and the breaking up of the old close cor-
porations. To the carrying of this measure Carlisle
contributed its aid, and one of the principal direc-
tors of the local movement was the subject of this
notice. At last the citizens were endowed with
the management of their own affairs, and among
the first to whom they entrusted them was Mr.
Steel. In the course of 1831 Mr. Steel had been
admitted to a share in the property'of the Journal,
and on the 17th of September, 1836, the day which
witnessed the reduction of the stamp duty, the
newspaper became his sole property. From that
time he took position as one of the foremost citizens.
In the great election struggle for East Cumberland
in 1837, it was acknowledged that Mr. Steel and
the Journal were the real antagonists that de-
feated Sir James Graham and his newly-ac-
quired Tory allies. His able management of
the election and his stern consistency of prin-
ciple were acknowledged by the people of Eest
Cumberland presenting him with the site
,of a house in Carlisle, on which he erected his
future dwelling place. He was elected Mayor in
1845 and again in 1846, and he was an Alderman
at his death, having been a member of the Council
ever since its reform. In all the works for the
benefit of the municipality he bore an active part,
and to their elaboration and carrying out he brought
an eminently practical mind. He brought more—
he brought a high character for thorough honesty
and public spirit,
td a reputation for sagacity and
foresight, that roost 4 disarmed opposition, and
made discordant elements work together in har-
mony. It was this that made him so truly honoured
in the latter life. The public looked
upon him as the impersonation
colnafide of integrity, and
,entertained profound
lie
never confidence in the soundness
a his judgment. empted to make his
will law, or presumptuouslyatol act the autocrat ;
hut to his consideration ever plan was asb submitted,
and almost all, knowing the
clearnessp of which
. he
MIS actuated and the
his ionte.ll.ect,
readily accepted ' and acted upon
civic body,
While thus exerting himself in the
is at once deliberative and executive, he y'
ac-
tively participated in all the other movements for
the good of One city and for the promotion of edu-
cation. At hi's death he was Vice-President of the
Mechanics' In: stitute, and he had lent a helping
hand to many of the lesser reading-rooms. As
a journalist his characteristics were akin to those
by which he a ras otherwise distinguished in the
eyes of the public. Fearlessness, force, clear-
ness and quickness of apprehension, kept
him ready-arme d for any emergency. No stain
was ever cast u pon his honesty or his honour,
and in public mat ters his sole motive was the highest
public principle. He was jealous of anything that
had even the apps arance of corruption, and chal-
lenged it wherever he thought he detected it. He
did not always escape unscathed in purse by the
encounters into which he was led, but so plain wag
the bona fides with which he acted, and the nature
of the objects which he sought, that all attacks upon
him passed harmlessly. In the time at which he be-
tt life men's passion s ran higher upon public subjects
than now, and they e -vas a degree of acrimony in pub-
lic •
rnmaliffin that has happily been greatly modi-
fied.; butmr. st)cel, although an unsparing, was ac
toi ll
-
knowledged
generous foe. His genial nature
made him loved in-tirivate : and few men have had
more or warmer fiends.
rThroughout life he had
been a martyr to a sinamar internal disorder that
baffled the best medical' skill;and, after a period of
severe suffering, to this enra he yielded his life in
his 55th year. His death
:lace on the 1.041 of
December, 1851. His funeral the most large-13r
attended, perhaps, of any that ever 1•:5.-eurred in Car-
lisle,—and at their next hismeeting.
hisfel
lew • coun-
cillors recorded their deep sorrow fo
loss, and
transmitted their condolence to his widow.
A month after his death a public meeting wag - 1,1
in the ToWn Hall to deliberate about raising a „,,,-eThe'"
rial in his honour. The speakers were the lateit,
John Dixon. Mr. P. II Howard, Mr. G. G. Mounsei:
Mr. James Ross, and others, and an influential con_
II -atm was appointed to collect subscriptions. Money
pcured in, and at first, amongst several proposals,
opi. uion preponderated in favour of " a monumental
fowl fain, surmounted bya clock-tower,in some public