The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-25 00:00:00

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THE SUN.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 1859.

The luminous historian of the middle ages, born
in 1778, expired on Saturday, the 22d of January,
1859, having attained, consequently, the ripe age
of an octogenarian: As the fruits of those eighty-
one years, HENRY HALLAM has left seven incom-
parable volumes as his contribution to the treasures
of the national literature. These same volumes
being the two octavos of his History of Europe
during the Middle Ages--the two octavos pf his
Constitutional History of England—and the three
octavos of his Introduction to the Literary History
of Europe during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and
seventeenth centuries. As one of the brilliant group
of men of letters who began their intellectual labours
in this country simultaneously with the com,:
mencement of the present century, Mr. HALLAM,
had survived almost every one of the illustrious
contemporaries of his youth, had survived to become
Romanorum. He enjoyed for
several years a foretaste of his fame in the hereafter,
an anticipative relish of his posthumous reputation.
His writings had long taken rank among the classic
lore of his native land. His own generation had,
for the most part, passed away—another had grown
up and partially died again—he found himself
in his old age in an epoch which, to himself and
his works, was all but posterity. LINGARD dead,
TYTLER dead, SHARON TURNER dead—HALLAM
remained among us until the close of last week, the
last of our elder historians. The distinction enjoyed
by him among that race, as one of the world's greatest
annalists, hadbeen long recognised as one not simply
of eminence, but, in some respects, of a pre-eminence
quite extraordinary. Held by his impartial hand,
the balance of historical justice hung ever with a
perfect equipoise. It was in generous and cordial
recognition of this that incomparably the greatest
annalist of the next generation, as he likewise is, to
our thinking, in the new style of his composition,
the most perfect prose writer in the English lan-
guage—Lord MACAULAY—wrote in his famous re-
view of the Constitutional History these emphatic
words of commendation—" We should probably
like Mr. HALLAM's book more, if, instead of point-
ing out with strict fidelity the bright points and
the dark spots of both parties, he had exerted him-
self to obliterate the one and to blacken the other.
But we should certainly prize it far less. Eulogy
and invective may be had for the asking. 'But for
cold, rigid justice, the one weight and the one mea-
sure, we know not where else we are to look." Not
certainly to Lord MAcAuLAv himself. Eulogy and
invective arc had from him in abundance without
the asking. He has proved himself a perfect
master since then in the contrasting arts of
blackening and whitewashing—flattering 'WILLIAM
of ORANGE, for example, into an impossible para-

gon malignantly distorting the lineaments of

JAMES the SECOND into an equally impossible

monstrosity. Altogether presenting a marvellous
contrast in this to " that cold, rigid justice,"

before which, one and twenty years ago,
the noble annalist had paused avowedly
in unaffected wonder and admiration. Recognising
the total absence of this great attribute of inflexible
justice in the opus magnum of MACAULAY, the his-
torian of Europe, Sir ARCHIBALD ALIsON remarked
in Blackwood's Magazine, for April, 1849, at the
close of his review of the two first volumes of the
" History of England," by MACAULAY, that
" Nothing but the adoption of it, and taking his
seat on the Bench instead of the Bar of History,
is required to render his noble work as weighty as
it is able, and as influential in forming the opinions
of future ages, as it will unquestionably be success-
ful in instructing the present." It was admirably
said thus by ALIsoN, in Maga for April, 1849, but
the words were MACAULAY'S own ; for—in the
Edinburgh Review of 21 years previously, in the
number for September,lB2B, at the commencement
of the criticism already referred to, upon HALLAM'S
" Constitutional History," Lord (then Nlr.) MACAU-
LAY spoke thus of the style of its composition—
" The language, even where faulty, is weighty and
massive, and indicates strong sense in every line."
Observing of it also—" It often rises to an eloquence
not florid or, impassioned, but high, grave, and
sober ; such as would become a State paper,
or a judgment delivered by a great magistrate,
a SOMERS or a D'AGUESSEAU.” Adding, thereupon
these remarkable words of commendation—" In
this respect the character of Mr. HALLAM'S mind
corresponds strikingly with his style. His work
is eminently judicial. Itswhole spirit is that of the
bench, not of the bar. He sums up with a calm,
steady impartiality, turning neither to the right
nor to the left, glossing over nothing, exaggerating
nothing, while the advocates on both sides are
alternately biting their lips to hear their conflicting
mistatements and sophisms exposed. On a general
survey we do not scruple to pronounce the ' Con-
stitutional History' the most impartial book that we
ever read." It is the weed won by HALLAM'S
historical writings generally—that high fame as an
annalist, singularly just, serene, and dispassionate.
Before this century had yet entered upon its teens,
just fifty years gone by, at the dawn of 1809, Mr.
HALLAM was sufficiently distinguished as a critic
to call down upon him the cynical sneer expressed
in a well-remembered line in Lord BYRON'S "English
Bards and Scotch Reviewers"
" Herbert shall wield Thor's hammer, and sometimes,
In gratitude, thou'lt praise his rugged rhymes,
Smug Sydney, too, their bitter page shall seek,
-And classic _Hallam much renowned for Greek."
Nearly thirty years ago, namely in 1830, Mr,
ITALIAN' received one of the two fifty guinea gold
medals instituted by his late Majesty King GEORGE
the Fourth—the second being awarded to a
great writer still happily surviving, WASHING-
TON IRVING—both medals being awarded
for eminence in historical composition. The home
love, the domestic joys and griefs of the distin-
guished annalist but just now gone from among us,
will live for ever in the exquisite numbers of
ALFRED TENNYSON'S "In Memoriam." The re-
mains of the venerable historian may now at last
mingle with the dust of his beloved and
lamented son ARTHUR—the theme of that most
touching and resplendent commemoration.

How many of us would like just now to stand
behind one of our governors in the Cabinet Council!
It would enable us to gratify not a few, could we
but, "on authority," state what Lord DERBY or his
second in command were really proposing to one
another. Lord DERBY, however, has just told us
to look for nothing of the kind; he would not take
the bait at a City dinner, and now he is even more
reserved. If he must receive a deputation to press
on him the claims of an unrepresented borough,
yet he tells them he must receive them in silence.
Not one of the unrepresented constituencies may
know whether they have a chance or not—and all
fair, too; for the alternative is to tell none what he
will do for them, or to have such a crowd of appli-
cations as will compel him either to tell everything
or to offend some. As the Government could
hardly reveal its plan before Parliament meets, we
do not see what other course the Premier could
adopt.

Yet, smoothly and silently as opinion circulates
amongst the Right Honourables and Lords of the
Cabinet, we cannot help imagining, every now and
then, that the bits of straw floating on the surface
indicate a movement in some direction. Guessing,
perhaps—a wrong guess it may be—yet when some
people are very curious, and others very secret, how
can the former help guessing ? We fancied then
we saw a straw floating in a direction which rather
pleased us—for it was in the direction of the Ballot,
and seemed to indicate that the tide was flowing
that way in the counsels of Government itself.
There was a glorious Reform meeting last Friday
night in the immense hall of St. Andrew's, Norwich,
one in which a very large number of the middle
classes of the old city met a yet denser crowd of
the Operative class to pass cordially resolutions of
the same tenor as have been passed in Birmingham,
Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bradford, and
numerous other places, The meeting was not only
a vast, but an enthusiastic one, and proves with
so many others that there is nothing really like
apathy on the subject of Reform. The Whig Mayor,
a respectable man enough, had refused to call a
common hall ; the citizens, therefore, indemnified
themselves by calling a public meeting, at which
they did full justice to their cause, and concluded
by ordering their resolutions to be forwarded to
JOHN BRIGHT and Lord DERBY.

The marked feature of the meeting, however, was
its giving more preminency to the Ballot than any
other the reports of which we have yet seen.
Lord Buitv was there, and declared Ws views in
favour of it, in accordance with his votes. Mr.
SCHNEIDER, the other member, was confined by
illness to his room, but wrote, after recommending
as he had done before, a £5 borough franchise and
a £lO for the counties, " The main point, however,
must be the Ballot, the adoption of which I consi-
der as absolutely and indisputably necessary., to
secure the purity and freedom of election." And
besides other speakers, the well-known. "Norwich
Operative," Mr. C. J. BUNTING, who knows, if any
man does, the wants of his class—observed « The
extension of the franchise, however—though the '
franchise was, he believed, the right of every
working man—was not the great point after all ;
the Ballot was what they wanted, and what they
must have."

But we were almost forgetting our straw ; it is
a letter from Sir HENRY STRACEY, the Conser-
vative candidate, who, it will be remembered, was
defeated at the late East Norfolk election by Major
COKE. Chiefly, he had reason to know, because
a noble lord's influence was used against him; while
he believes that the tenants, if they had voted by
Ballot, would have voted for him. Shortly after Sir
HENRY announced himself, in pretty strong ilan-
page, a convert to the Ballot, and having been

invited to the great Reform meeting, his engage-
ments not permitting him to attend, he wrote as

follows

_
" Sir HENRY begs to assure Mr. CoiiiAN- that he

------------
shall be much interested in the proceedings at that
meeting, and he earnestly hopes that the subject of
the independence to which the elector is entitled may
be a prominent one at the meeting; that the absur-
dity of calling him 'in all instances ' a free and in-
dependent elector' may be pointed out, and that the
farce, and; in fact, insult to the voter in so calling
him may be shown, when his vote is in some in-
stances compulsorily suppressed,and in others coerced
to the violation of both his conviction and his con-

science.

" Sir HENRY trusts the hands of the Government
may be strengthened to five the voter from the abuse
now existing of this constitutional privilege.
" 39, Dover-street, Jan. 28, 1839."

New, over and above this.being the language of
an avowed and sincere Tory, a gentleman deservedly
of high standing with his party, we can but notice
two things: One is, that Sir HENRY writes from
London; we may presume, therefore, that he is
more likely to know the views of the leaders of his
party than if he were deep down in the
country among the partridges and pheasants.
The other is that he speaks of strengthening
the hands Government to free the voter from his
• • of
present shackles! It is least obvious that this
friend of the present Government, who ought to
have good opportunity of knowing the tone of
feeling which pervades it, speaks of it as no friend
of the late Government, would have ventured to
speak of that. Who would have thought of strength-
ening Lord , PALMERSTON'S hands, or even Lord
JOHN RUSSELL'S in securing the independence of the
voter ? There has been, indeed, for some time a
rumour that the Government thinks of granting a
permissive ballot. Even this would be but some-
thing which depends wholly on the way in which
it is done. It has been rumoured that it is to be
granted when three-fourths of the constituency
demand it—this would be a nullity. Where the
Ballot is really wanted, three-fourths of the consti-
tuency dare not ask it. To vote for the ballot
would entail punishment for life on the dependent
elector. The demand for the Ballot, unless, indeed,
the demand were made by tke Ballot itself, must
always come from the minority of independent
electors who felt that there own independence was
neutralised by the dependent condition of others.
One-fourth, or one-sixth of the electors ought to be
competent to demand the ballot. We have no doubt
whatever that if once a few constituencies adopted
it, the practice would rapidly become universal. We
only hope the Government will adopt our oft-ten-
dered advice. We are fully confident it is their
interest to do so, and they now see that one of the
staunchest Conservatives in the kingdom believes
that the Ballot would save his party. It would
save, it by elevating it to the position of the party
which trusts the people.

THE, CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF

ROBERT BURNS.

25TH JANUARY, 1759.
25TH JANUARY, 1859.

A magnificent lithographic engraving has been
published by Messrs. Maclure and Macdonald of
Glasgow, as au appropriate commemoration of this
world-famous anniversary. As the central point
in this beautiful work of art is the Portrait of the
immortal ploughman poet, by D. Macnee, R.S.A.
—Robert Burns with his " black brows and his
sun•eyes," as Carlyle has described him—glorious
Robin with a noble brow worthy of a bay wreath,
and manly features expressive of a lofty genius
and an exquisite sensibility. Yet the portrait is in
not one line of it a mere idealisation. It is an un-
mistakeable likeness—a picture of the man as he was
(now between 60 and 70 years ago) in the bloom
of his manhood. Encircling this portrait is a
laurel garland, scattered round which are pic-
turesque groups illustrative of one or other of the
bard's glorious masterpieces. Here the Royal
Bruce clad in armour cap-a-pie, seated on his war-
horse, cheering on his warriors with uplifted
battle-axe upon the field of Bannockburn! Here
is the Ayrshire ploughman guiding the keen
share along the trail of that furrow in which
the uprooted. daisy died into the immortality of
verse ! Here Tam o' Shanter on his grey mare
clattering, like one " gane daft," across the bridge,
whither he is chased through the weird midnight
by " Cutty Sark" and her sister witches ! Here
Willie, having brewed his " peek o' maut," carouses
with Rob and Allan, his immemorial boon compa-
nions. Yonder sits the glorious songster himself
at the tavern table, hobnobbing—with the " twa
dogs" by his feet, sitting to have their portraits
taken by his brush of fame. Yonder, again, are
the Jolly Beggars, footing it to the squeaking
strings of the, fiddlei, and carousing merrily in
their rags and squalor. Burns is there a stripling
in the corn field, first dreaming of love and song from.
the tender glance of the young gleaner beside him
—an unconscious muse in russet. Burns is here in
domestic pride as a father and a husband, where
his " own wee wifie" holds up to him in her arms
the youngling infant—the elder children " toddling
stacher thro'," clinging about his knees with lov-
ing endearments. Altogether, the engraving is
charming. It will be right welcome to-day in
many and many a household. And, framed upon
the wails within which these songs of music and
poetry have long been familiar as household words
in the mouths of a whole people—this picturesque
and beautiful lithograph will long serve as a grace-
ful memento of to-day's centenary.

His Excellency the Ambassador of France and
the Duchess de Malakhoff left Albert-gate Houso yester-
day, on a visit to the Duke and Duchess of Wellington at
Strathfieldsaye, Hants, until Saturday.

The Duke and Duchess of Wellington are at
present at Strathfieldsaye, Hants, where they intend to
receive a select circle during the week.

The Marquis. of Hartingtou, M.P., it is said, will
return home from his tour in Italy in order to attend his
Parliataentary duties.
The Earl Jermyn has left his residence in
Eaton-place on a visit to the Duke of Rutland at Belvoir
Castle, Leicestershire.

The Countess of -Desart will leave town to-day
for Windsor Castle, to succeed the Viscountess Jocelyn as
Lady-in-Waiting on her Majesty.

The Countess of Long,ford and Lady Louisa
Pakenham have arrived rit tha Queen's Hotel, Upper Nor-
wood.

The Dowager Countess Somers has arrived at
her residence in Grosvenor-place, from Eastnor Castle,
Herefordshire.

The Count d'Alton has left the Brunswick
Hotel for Paris, in route for Rome.

Viscount Sydney has arrived at his residence in
Cleveland-square from visiting the Marquis and Mar
chioness of Ailesbury at Savernake Lodge, Wilts.

Viscount and Viscountess Emlyn are expected
in town on the 2d of next month from Golden Grove, South

Wales.

Viscountess Tocelyn, whose term of waiting on
her Majesty expires to-day, on leaving Windsor Castle will
repair to Broadlands, Hants, and join the circle visiting
Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston.

Lord and Lady Colchester will leavo Berkeley-
square to-day for Windsor Castle, the noble lord and Lady
.having been honoured by an invitation to visit her Ma-
jesty,

Lord Wm. Powlett has arrived at his seat,
Downham, Norfolk, from Raby Castle, Durham, where
his lordship has been staying with the Duke of Cleveland.
Lady Caroline Neeld intends to leave town to-
day for St. Giles's, Dorset, on a visit to the Earl and
ye
Countess of Shaftesbury.
Lordathfi emsa and L, a
udayntAs.rthur Hay left town yesterday
on. a visit t 9 the Duke and Duchess of Wellington, al
str
_ _

Sir Michael and Lady Octavia Shaw Stewart are
expected to arrive at their mansion in Belgrave-square to-
day, from a continental tour of several months.

The Right Hon. Henry and Lady Mary Labou-
chore will return to town on the Ist of next month, from
Stowey Park, Soraersetshire, for the season.
_ .

The Right Hon. Sir Charles and Lady Mary
Wood are expected in town in a few days from Hickieton
Hall, Yorkshire.

The Right Hon. Charles Pelham Villiers, M.P.,
arrived at his residence in Sloane-street, yesterday, for
the season.

Lady Caroline Charteris has left Claridge's Hotel
for Nideley Lodge, Kensington.

Mr. and Lady Mary Stanley and the Hon.
Eleanor Stanley byre enee_ted Jo arrive in ,town _at the end
of the week from Scotland,