The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-05-19 00:00:00

POLITICAL CHARACTERS.

(From the Oxford Herald.)
SIR ROBERT INGLIS.
Sir Robert Inglis is one of the most honest and uncom-
; •ans in either House of Parliament, to the
promising politician
.
political principles which he has espoused he is devotedly at-
tached, and from them, even to the breadth of a hair, he has
never swerved, and we firmly believe never will swerve, either
to gain any advantage for himself, or to promote the objects
of the great party with which he is connected. There are
few men who feel so strongly in political matters, and fewer
still we should think more decidedly opposed to the present
administration than Sir Robert Inglis; but there is no indi-
vidual who is less of a " party man" ; true it is that he is one
of the most able and influential members of the Conservative
phalanx in the House of Commons, but he has never hesi-
tated to vote against and strongly oppose that party when he
has believed it to be acting wrongly. Unlike a certain noto,
rions olockhead, of whom we shall have to speak shortly, he
would never vote black to be white or white to be black, to
get the Conservatives into office or to keep them there. His
conduct with respect to the Roman Catholic Emancipation
Bill proves what we assert. When that measure was intro-
duced into Parliament by Tory Ministers, who had before
denounced it as unconstitutional and baneful, and when it
was supported by men calling themselves Tories and Church-
men, who had previously both spoken and voted against it,
Sir Robert Inglis was one of the foremost in condemning the
shameful tergiversation, and in taking active measures to
counteract it. Not only so, but be came forth the champion

of the Church and Constitution, both which were endangered
by that ill-judged, unfortunate measure, and, backed and sup-
norted by the good men and true in England's chief seat of
leaning, succeeded in ousting from a seat, the duties a
w &talc had betrayed and abandoned, one of the principal
members of the pro.popery administration, thereby teaching
him a lesson which he will never forget. Not to weary our
readers, let us bring them at once to the present session, and
ask whether the manner in which Sir Robert Inglis has acted
in the " Privilege Question "does not prove that he is not a
mere partisan, but an honest, uncompromising politician
Night after night did he speak against the monstrous claim
of privilege set up by the Ministerial leader of the House of
Commons and his underlings, though it was sanctioned lw
many of the most influential members of the Conservative
party. Night after night did he denounce every fresh injus-
tice which the ministerial clique proposed to commit. Night
after night-did he, at the head of a small but noble hand, di-
vide the house, so placing on record that, even in a Reformed
house of Commons, there were men who would not unction
the attempt to establishlan authority superior to the laws of
the land, and to treat with contumely the venerable judges of
the land. But how flattering to him must have been the re-
sult! He was beaten then, but he ttiumphs now ! He h-is
seen the cause of right and justice, though often cast down,
victorious at last! And that triumph and that victory, over
one of the most preposterous and extravagant pretensions
ever advanced by any body of men, is mainly owing to his
exertions.
By the vast majority of men of both parties in the House
of Commons Sir Robert Inglis is held in great respect.
Though his principles may be opposed, and his reascnings
dissented from, he is never personally attacked, save by one,
to be abused by whom is an honour. It is well known
that, let Sir Robert act as he may, he always acts from a
conviction that he is right, and not .from mere personal and
party motives. This is a principle by which very few of the
representatives of the people are actuated ; in fact, the
greater part of them cannot understand it, but they are not
unwilling to believe that it is something vastly to be com-
mended, and they respect it accordingly. Great deferent eis
always paid to everything that falls from Sir Robert Inglis,
not only by conservatives, but we may venture to say by
ministerialists also. He never bores the house with long-
winded harangues, but contrives to put what he has to say in
a moderate compass. Fine speaking he never attempts, nor
does he lord his speeches with " splendid patches" of rheto-
ric ; like the Duke of Wellington, he " says what he thinks,
and seldom quotes Latin." What he does say is to the point ;

. -
it goes at once to the subject-matter in hand, without any
flourishing, or branching into extraneous topics. His speeches
are such as one likes to read,—clear, plain, practical, and busi-
ness-like, evidently coming from a man who, knowing that
work has to be done, does it at once. It would be-well, wo
may observe, in passing, if the majority of our legislators
would act on a similar principle ; for we can tell them that
legislation is work, and not what many of them think it, play.
Sir Robert Inglis may be considered as the representative of
the church in the lower house of parliament. His zeal in
behalf of the national establishment is unwearied. It is not
that zeal without knowledge, which is not good, but the zeal
of an able, an experienced, and a religious man, deeply im-
pressed with the mightiness and the holiness of the cause he
advocates. Proud, indeed, and much to be envied is•the
position which he holds in connexion with our holy church—
a position to which his sterling talent and unblemished inte-
grity, not less than the fact that he represents the stronghold
of the church, justly entitle him ; and may Heaven grant he
may long live to enjoy it. •
The member for the University of Oxford is constant in
his attendance in his place in Parliament. His attention to
public business is very great. Rarely will his name be found
absent from the division lists ; never from the list of a divi-
sion of any importance. He is somewhat of a stickler for
order. To O'Connell he is quite a bugbear. Often and
often have I seen the burley agitator called to order by him.
Caring not for the blackguardism with which he is sure to be
afterwards encountered, Sir Robert Inglis never fails to in-
sist that O'Connell, when guilty of any gross indecency, shall
apologize to the house. He will insist upon it in a tone and
manner not to be denied, and in circumstances when other
hon. members would shrink from the contamination of a con-
test with the big beggarman. For this Sir Robert has en-
countered the enmity of that man, who, as a matter of
course, lets no opportunity pass without seizing it to spit
upon him his filthy venom, but at the same time he has
earned the thanks not only of every member of the House of
Commons, but of every one possessed of a spark of gentle-
manly feeling. We are happy to be able to add that Sir
Robert invariably treats the blustering mendicant with the
contempt he deserves.
Sir Robert Inglis is not only a Tory—we cannot apply to
hint the new-fangled name of Conservative—in thought,
word, and deed, but in dress and appearance as well. "He
is every inch a Tory." It would be useless for him to pass
himself off as a Radical, for he could deceive no one, his ap-
pearance would at once betray him. The world, in fact, can-
not contain a blockhead so great and so absurd, as he who
could by any possibility believe that the frank, open coun-
tenance, the bluff, honest, thoroughly English bearing, of
the subject of our sketch, could belong to a sneaking, sni-
velling Whig, or a blustering, headstrong Radical.

THE MARQUIS OF NORMANBY.
" A certain lord, neat, trimly dress'd,
Fresh as a bridegroom, and his chin, new reap'd,
Shows like a stubble land at harvest home;
He is perfumed like a milliner. ,
Oh ! he makes us mad
To see him smile so brisk, and smell so sweet,
And talk so like a waiting gentlewoman."
To no one can Hotspur's description of a fop be applied
with more propriety than to the Most Noble the Marquis of
Normanby ; for his lordship is a tall, smartly-made fellow
enough ; his features are sufficiently prepossessing for any
fair damsel to glance at a second time ? his forehead is lofty,
and around it cluster curls of the most luxuriant growth, the
darkest hue, and the most overpowering fragrance. He is
" neatly and trimly dressed, perfumed like a milliner." What
with his pretty face, his small delicate hands; his brilliant
teeth, his sable and sweetly-scented locks ; what with his
smart blue frock coat buttoned closely round a waist tightly .
laced to the smallest possible dimensions, and the most ap-
propriate possible shape ' • what with Lis -spruce kid gloves,
his tightly-fitted French boots, his gay satin stock, Lis glossy
hat, his pocket handkerchief of spotless white; what with
his fine person, his rouge, and paste, and scents, and dress—
the Marquis of Normanby's " outward man," is enough to
take by storm the heart of any very young lady still tinder
the control of her governess. Nature, it is evident, intended
for a " lady's man ;" he is a " lady's man" from top to
tit; from head to foot. He is eminently fitted to discharge
all the important duties which devolve on such.an important
functionary. He would pick up a pocket handkerchief with
the most enviable grace, and present it to its lovely owner
with a smile, which, if she were " on marriage thoughts in-
tent," would make her silly heart go pit-o-pat. No one
could nurse and fondle the poodle, bettee than he—no one
could turn over the leaves of the music book with more cor-
rectness. Great, in short, eminently great would he have
been hatthe confined himself to the sphere for which he was
destinecto intl,this greatness would not have been thrust upon
him, but ha_ would have achieved it by the force of his bril-
liant talent, unaided and unassisted; nor would he clone
have been the most favoured " lady's mi n" of the day, but
he might have assuredly become the head and leader- of the
renowned brotherhood of dandies, " the glass of fashion and
the mould of form, the observed of all observers." Even
now, amid all the care and responsibility of official and par-
liamentary life, few can equal him in dandyism. What emi-
nence, then, would he not have attained in that noble science,
had he devoted to it exclusive', his valuable time, his un-
tiring energies, his lofty and commanding talents!
The vastness of some men's ambition is astonishing; but
the ambition of Lord Normanby has been of a " vast vast-
ness : it has out-stripped that of all others. The inquiry
how such a man as we have described—and we appeal to all
who know him whether our description is incorrect—could
ever have entertained the notion that he would make a states-
man, would, we think, be found not uninstructive ; for it
would show the daring flights of which man's soul is capable
--the loftiness of his aspiring, the magnitude of his wishes.
The poet of all time tells us that " vaulting ambition cloth
o'erleap itself;" and the case of the subject of our sketch
proves, if proof be needed, the truthfulness of the axiom.
Most wofully, indeed, bath the " vaulting ambition" of the
Marquis of Normanby " o'crleaped itself:" That ainhitibn
led him to believe that he would make a statesman, that his

abilities in the difficult art of government would equal, if not
eclipse, those of the most eminent men either of the past or
present day. But what has been the result? Look at his
statesmanship irl Jamaica; look at his statesmanship in Ire-
land; look at his statesmanship in the Colonial-office. As
Governor of Jamaica, his government was of such a nature
that he was obliged to be recalled. As Lord-lieutenant of
Ireland, be played tricks so fantastic, that good and reflect-
ing men mourned, whilst the wicked and idle scoffed ; and
he acted in such gross violation of the laws of the land which
he was sworn to support and administer, that a deserving
vote of censure was passed upon him by one branch of the
legislature, and he may with good reason congratulate him-
self that he escaped so easily ; for if the practice of the good
old times had been still in force, his head would assuredly
have been in jeopardy. As Secretary of State for the Colo-
nies, his incapacity was so glaringly notorious, that even the
incapables of the present administration were forced to re-
move him : yet this man fancies himself a statesman ! and
this man, bedaubed, bedizened, brainless dandy as he is, finds
crawling parasites who can tell him, ay, and can tell the
world too, that he is a statesman, and that his government
of Ireland proves it ! Shame, shame upon thew ! Even
they might blush to give utterance to so monstrous an asser-
tion-.even they might know that the man whose talent pro-
perly qualifies him to act as a drawing-room ornament, or as
a useful attendant on a fine lady, is not the man to take part
in the government of a great kingdom—even they might
know that one who can afford to spend hours daily in friz-
zling and perfuming his hair, and who will condescend to act
as a walking-block to show off the elegant cut of some. fashion-
able tailor, is not the man in whose hands should be placed
the management of the internal affairs of such rt.n empire as
that of Britain.
Notwithstanding all we have said, we are constrained to
admit that the Marquis of Normanby possesses some ability.
such as it is. He is a ready and fluent, and rather agreeable
isdpeeaaskearre.
nIo-Ite
veryhas
numerous,aplentifn neither
icm
areal ()
they
r words, but his
of extraordi-
nary value. He is not backward in parrying attacks made
at him personally, or on any of the measures of the govern-
went with which he has been concerned. Let not: he sup;
posed that he is an orator. A man may be a ready or even
a good speaker, but have little more claim. to be called an
orator than his walking stick ; and so it is with Lord Nor-
manby. He delivers his speeches in the most graceful
manner ; every movement of his arms, every attitude has no
doubt been carefully studied before the looking•;glass ; every
smile has been rehearsed; every serious look committed to
memory.

" It makes me mad
To see him smile so brisk, and smell so sweet,
And talk so like a waiting gentlewoman."
Perhaps the noble marquis is of more service to the
government in the House of Lords than any of his colleagues,
none of them with the exception of Lord Clarendon, being
able to chatter so glibly ; and this, be it obsrved, in these
talking days, is no small qualification for a minister.. We
must not forget to state that Lord Normanby is the author
of two thrashy novels—" Yes and No," and " Matilda,, ''or
" Jemima," or "Jenny," or some such title. These works
found their way to the cheesemongers' and the lollypop shops
long ago ; soon after they were published they reached " that
bourne from which no hook e'er returns." The noble mar-
quis is also a celebrated actor in farces, and it is said his skill
in the mimic art is by no means contemptible.
And now we leave our readers to say whether a middle-
aged dandy of little talent, of acknowled incompetency as a
statesman—an unsuccessful author, but a tolerable farce
actor, is exactly the man they would wish to see tilling the
high and important office of Secretary of State for the Howe
Department.

OMINOUS COMMENCEMENT OF A MATIUMONIAL
--A short time ago, a young man named \N- Wien Allen. of
Walsall, deserted the second time from her Majesty'e tili,t
regiment of foot, now lying at Hull ; he was, :vs is usual, de-
scribed in the Hue and cry as a deserter, which caused the
police officers in the neighbourhood of Walsall to be on the
look-out after him, and about a fortnight ago, Richard Pal-
mer, one of the Walsall police, received intelligence that he
was gone to Aldridge Church to be married,
which appears
to have been the cause of his desertion both
oil this and the
previous occasion. Palmer repaired to Aldridge Church.
where he found Allen and the intended bride, with thcr
friends ; he secured him and took him to a neighbouring inn,
when all parties begged very hard that they might be mar-
ried. Palmer then sent to the Rev. H. Ilardinge to at.k if
he would marry them, to which the re.verend gentleman con-
sented, if the officer was agreeable. The party then retutneti
to the church. Allen was handcuffed to policeman Palmer
during the ceremony, after which he was brought to 'Walsall,
and safelylodged in the boroufh Priton till he •should be
for by hie rogicatkut,