New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-05-10
SIR ROBERT PEEL.
AS A CURRENT TOPIC, AS THE SUBJECT OF
FOUR NEW BOOKS. AND AS A
LETTER WRITER.


half forgotten; the state of the public MIND is'
with respect TO their memory. one of apathy.
Il was so In Lord Beaconsfelds case; the Beacons-
Geld legend was never set fairly on its legs uil
two or three years after his death. 1t Is SO al
this moment with regard TO Palmerston; bus name
evokes but moderate degree OF enthusiasm WIFI
mentioned. Others might be named
The lamp of Peel's fame has ever, indeed, been
kept alieht by one or two of his most 1aitniui
disclples: by Mr. Gladstone above ALL who seldom
misses an occasion of pouring in, OF on, nttle
fresh OIL The points Of sympathetic contact DC
tween them were many more than those purely
political or economical ones of which we near
most often When in ss4 Sir Robert Peels young
est son was chosen Speaker Of the House OF Ooni-
mons. a post which ne has filed with the most
conspicuous ability and dignity, Mr. Gladstone was
Primo Minister and Leader OF the House In oner-
ing his congratulations TO Mr.. Arthur reel, ne
referred to him as the son of man whose fol-
lower have been, and for whose name and char-
scter down to this late hour of my life 1 retain
an unbroken and undiininished veneration." The
Peelites nave long ceased to be o force in Eng
lish politics; as party or section of party
they have ceased TO exist but the greatest oil
them Is as great force as ever, or almost as
great. and his loyalty to lis old chief has abated
nothing Of its fervor
But when spoke of the revival Of interest in
Peel, referred to the new lives of him that had
appeared. Within short time three have been
published two of them within the last few months.
and now fourth volume, autobiographlcal rather
than biographical is ont -Four books IN quick
succession about q single statesman VINO has neen
dead more than forty years are sufficient TRIBUTE
to the vitality Of his fame. OF the three SNORT
biographes-short because shortness is the iashlon
Of the time-the best is Mr.. j. X. Ihurshelds,
which is one OF Messrs. Macmillan's Twelve Eng
Nsh Statesmen" series. 4 critic of authority mas
said of il that it is worthy companion 10 MI
John Morley's "Walpole" is the same series q
very high and wel-deserved compliment. III is
written with great soberness-and this, aithough
Mr. Thursfleld is a journalist; leader-writer on
"The Times" in fact-with deep knowledge Also
both of Peel and of his times. This soberness, OF
seriousness, is maintained without ever touch
of dulness. The book is very far, indeed, from
being dull. 1t is most attractive and readable
full of vivid portraits and pictures that are adj
mirabie, with much sound thinking and pohucal
acuteness.
Last of the four comes Mr.. Charles Stuart
?arker's volume, in which we have Peel as seen
in his own and other letters in early life, 1888
1912; as Irish Secretary, ls12-1e1e and as Sec
Peels first great conversion, on the question of
Roman Catholic Emancipation in 1929, but is
the more interesting because it deals with
period of his life less familiarly known. What
Mr.. Parker has to communicate about Peels
family and boyhood, about Peel at school and at
the university, is more TO the purpose than most
such records. During most Of his public life
Peel, IL not posing, studied department Mr.
Thufsfeld, in describing the memorable scene
when, In l643, Golden attacked Peel as iadlvid-
ually responsible for the condition Of the country,
says there never was more oonsummate master
Of the histrionics of debate He might have made
the observation wider. Not in debate only was
Peel great actor lie understood bis country
men, and knew how powerfully they are i'm
pressed by the demeanor of the men whom they
elect to rule over them.
When Lord Liverpool made Peel Chief Secre-
tary for Ireland he wrote TO the Duke Of Rich
mond, then Lord Lieutenant, commencing Peel
to him as q man Of great franlIness and openness
Of manners. The Peel whom his colleagues and
the House of Commons knew for nearly thirty
years was q man OF cold, cautious. and calculat-
ing temperament reserved, shy, even awkward,
in intercourse wearing mask, anxious about
the proprieties intensely self-oonscous extremely
careful Of his own and others dignity To his In
feriors or equals he was ungracious; to his SUI
periors, for l suppose kings and queens must be
deemed his superiors, he was unbending When
young Hudson, Gentleman Usher, afterward that
Sir james Hudson who as British Minister at
Turin, made himself considerable name, brought
him at Rome the Kings commands to return TO
London and form Ministry, the young Gentle
man Usher had travelled hard and fast and
reached Rome in nine days, 3" think" said Peel,
"you might have made the journey in day less
III. Nho, l., a.
Queen cent for him on Lord NIelbourne's resigna-
tion, his manner and language to the young Sover-
eign were such that it Is on record the Queen
was deeply mortified" and the Wings as Mr.
Thursneld says were able to present themselves
TO the country as defending a royal lady against
an insult, alike unmanly and unconstitutional. II
need not be inferred that Peel was violent OF
discourteous, but simply that, he had beer
before with George Third and William, lie was
hard and perhaps a trife pcremptory. He could
neither adapt himself readily to the customs Of
courts nor give way gracefully on minor points
while holding fast TO the substance as Disraeh
for example, could and did.
So marked Is the contrast, then, between thC
feel whom Lord Liverpool discovered in 1912 anC
the later Peel that one may fairly conclude th(
transformation came from a deliberate resolve OF
,is own part. He adopted bearing for public
life as an orator adopts a style, or an arts
chooses In what manner he viii paint. Most in
teresting is it therefore 10 see him among hi
family, and then at Harrow and at Oxford withou
too much faint of that formality which sat s.
stiGly on him in later life, like coat longe
Of the mode Byron's account Of him is too wei
known to quote again. That of Charles King
president of Columbia College, is less trite an
not less descriptive. He recalled Peel as light
haired, blue-cyed, fair-complexioned, smiling good
natured boy" less gregariOus than bis fellows
OVERLOOKING with mental energy so good clossi
and 30 good fellow that it has happened 70 tn
writer more than once, after half-holiday, whe
each boy Of the upper forms was required
produce copy of Latin or Greek verses, 10 sc
Peel surrounded, while the school-bell was We
ringing, with boys who had neglected their exel
cises, calling upon him TO supply them, which h