TOPICS OF THE DAY.
PEEL'S POSITION.
CIRCUMSTANCES demand of us another of those occasional inquiries by which we have attempted to mark the steps in the course of parties and the national affairs. This Whitsuntide may prove an epoch in the history of England—or the life of Sir ROBERT PEEL; for, notwithstanding the obvious decrease of his greatness since last year, he is still by so far the most prominent personage of our time, that his position in the twofold character of party-leader and statesman may be deemed almost synonymous with the state of the nation. We enter on the subject with reluctance : but the truth as it is in us must be told, even at the risk of damaging one whom we would fain serve, because at present we know not who else is capable of saving the country from great disasters. And then there is this comfort in the performance of the disagreeable duty—that if he has the capacity we attribute to him, he will be rather helped than injured by the plain speaking of as earnest a supporter as ever Minister had ; and if he has not, why then it is all of no consequence. CIRCUMSTANCES demand of us another of those occasional inquiries by which we have attempted to mark the steps in the course of parties and the national affairs. This Whitsuntide may prove an epoch in the history of England—or the life of Sir ROBERT PEEL; for, notwithstanding the obvious decrease of his greatness since last year, he is still by so far the most prominent personage of our time, that his position in the twofold character of party-leader and statesman may be deemed almost synonymous with the state of the nation. We enter on the subject with reluctance : but the truth as it is in us must be told, even at the risk of damaging one whom we would fain serve, because at present we know not who else is capable of saving the country from great disasters. And then there is this comfort in the performance of the disagreeable duty—that if he has the capacity we attribute to him, he will be rather helped than injured by the plain speaking of as earnest a supporter as ever Minister had ; and if he has not, why then it is all of no consequence. When the MELBOURNE Government expired of incapacity in 1841, it was a question whether Sir ROBERT PEEL possessed the qualities required for success in his new position. Some of his flatterers said, that as he had gained that position by consummate skill as leader of the Opposition, so he would display the highest qualities in the exercise of power. His detractors insisted on his propensity for being" behind time," on his want of active courage, on the shortness notwithstanding the clearness of his sight. Others perceived that, whether he owed office to his own talents or the self-sought weakness of the Whigs, he had got the opportunity to act a great part ; that the country was in much need of such a performance by somebody ; that nobody else had any title to the public confidence : and these demanded a fair trial for Sir ROBERT PEEL. His difficulties were fearful, and the more so for being in a great measure novel. He had not the slightest chance of being able to carry out the views of the bulk of his own party : as statesman he was under the necessity of giving offence to the most numerous and active section of those whose party-leader he was. They had little confidence in him, and he no sympathy with them. He was lost if be did not adopt a good deal of that national policy which the late Ministry had recently proposed in order to save their places, and which they could not but maintain in Opposition: he was com- pelled to look for support as a statesman rather to his foes than his party friends. Besides this, he had to deal with Lord MEL- BOURNE'S legacy of a serious deficiency in the revenue. It was a most awkward predicament. His first steps were extremely cautious : or rather, he stood still at first, most cautiously ob- serving, weighing, and preparing for action. His firmness in resisting the attempt of the Whigs to force him into rash declara- tions of policy, will not have been forgotten. When he proceeded to action after ample deliberation, everybody was surprised. Re- markable as had been his caution, it was now equalled by his bold- ness. His proposal of the new Tariff and the Income-tax was a deed of rare political courage, all things considered. The rage of the Whigs, and not a few of his own party, proclaimed his triumph before it was achieved. We may attribute his cool obstinacy in standing by his measures against party foe and friend, rather to his knowledge of the public confidence in him which his boldness bad created, than to that passive courage, or firmness when his line is taken, for which even his enemies give him credit. What with the boldness and the firmness, he evinced that degree of originality and self-reliance, which alone can impress the mind and win the confidence of a nation. It was said that the House of Commons had got a master, for the first time in this generation of politicians ; and the country believed that PEEL was really "the pilot to weather the storm." The effect was curious. As soon as PEEL had accomplished his valorous purposes by means of steady resolution, his " difficulties " vanished. The bigots of Monopoly
and Toryism bowed the head in submission to his strong will ; the Whigs slunk away from before the public into their clubs and drawing-rooms, and, even there and to each other, acknowledged
that their game was up ; O'CONNELL and his Tail were forgotten ; party was dead, and politics a distasteful topic ; quiet people en- joyed themselves, relying on PEEL to keep things quiet ; and the great Minister's "difficulties" were reduced to some more and less distant dangers which might grow out of the economical condition of Great Britain and Ireland, but which it was supposed that PEEL would in due time apply fitting means to avert. PEEL had done it all : there was nobody like PEEL. So much for affairs at home. Then the very difficult ASHBURTON mission proved successful, and Ca- nada was so quieted that troops might be safely withdrawn ; PEEL getting the credit in both cases. And lastly, Fortune favoured PEEL in Afghanistan and China. Sir ROBERT could hardly have wished for a better position, whether as statesman or party-leader, than that which he enjoyed at the end of last year.
Whether as statesman or party-leader, what may be said of him now ? In six months a striking change for the worse has befallen him in both characters. We will endeavour to describe with fair- ness the deterioration of his poAkm.
As statesman, Sir ROBERT PEEL suffers from the rebellious con- dition of Ireland, which it was his business to prevent, and which seems to have taken him by surprise ; from the erroneous calcula-
tions of his Chancellor of the Exchequer, for which he is held re- sponsible; from the imperfections of his proposed reform of the Ecclesiastical Courts; from- the failure of his endeavour to provide
education for the little wretches of our manufacturbig system ; from his dismissal of Mr. ROWLAND HILL, which has led to the belief that he is indifferent to Postage-improvements and can lend himself to the jealous obstructiveness of subordinate Red Tape ; from the contemptuous indifference with which he treated the City memorial and Mr. CHARLES BULLER'S masterly pleading for inquiry into the means of Systematic Colonization ; from the probability that he intends to disregard Sir JAMES GRAHAM'S promise that the subject of the Poor-law for England should be fully discussed this session ; from neglecting to devise a substitute for the merely mischievous Whig Poor-law for Ireland ; and above all, from the fact that the session seems likely to result in no one legislative measure for the improvement of the material or moral condition of the people ! The first of these reproaches is the worst. Sir ROBERT PEEL is not " governing" Ireland. It seems to depend on a toss-up whether we are to see a Milesian rebellion or a massacre of the Irish by the Orangemen—whether Ireland is to be ruled by O'CoNNELL or according to the views of the Duke of CUMBERLAND that was. We admit, we admire, the gentleness, the moderation, the sincere desire to be just, which have distinguished the Execu- tive of Ireland under Sir ROBERT PEEL. But what then ? Good intentions, the most virtuous acts, however creditable to the indi- vidual, are not statesmanlike if the end of them is conspicuous failure—still more if the result is (what Sir ROBERT PEEL is now being driven towards) measures of an opposite character. Of what avail can be Lord ELIOT'S moderation and impartiality, if they are to be succeeded by the brutal violence of either of the Irish fac- tions? In Ireland a merely Grandison policy may lead to a CUM- BERLAND or O'CONNELL policy. Goodness without wisdom and boldness is of no sort of use in the government of Ireland. It would not be boldness but base cowardice to let the Orangemen butcher the Irish—not moderation, but excessive folly, to let O'CONNELL proceed till the Irish masses get beyond his control. Sir EDWARD SUGDEN'S mode of stopping him is absurd. Where is the difficulty-conquering PEEL of 1842 ? In England and Scotland, latent Chartism will reappear if there should be civil war in Ireland. The real source of Chartism and Socialism, and all the other revolutionary isms, is economical suffer- ing: where is Sir ROBERT PEEL'S remedy ? The revenue fails : Sir ROBERT PEEL is no longer deemed a great Finance Minister. Everybody feels that "something for the country" is wanted, and Sir ROBERT PEEL proposes nothing. He appears now as the be- wildered Minister.
As the leader of a party his position is no better. Those of his supporters whom he offended by his last year's statesmanship, have him now at their mercy. He is so little master of the House of Commons this year, that he will probably have to withdraw or mu- tilate Government measures of importance. The Whigs, whose party was extinct six months back, are crowing at PEEL'S embarass- ments, and beginning to talk about coming in again. The Prime Minister has scarcely a zealous supporter in the whole newspaper press. It is his deficiency of statesmanship during the present year, which has brought him down as a party-leader; and the effect corresponds in degree with the cause. This change has been so rapid, that it is felt more than understood. One sees it in the faces rather than hears it expressed by the lips of that no-party class whose confidence in Sir ROBERT PEEL was his best reliance. They are not angry with him, but very sorry for his mishaps. They have no faith in anybody else. They dread the warlike PALMERSTON ; the MELBOURNE-RUSSELL•NORMANEY prostitution of the Queen's name and court to party purposes ; the bribing of O'CONNELL to uphold a government of shams, and shifts, and inconsistencies, and sudden conversions, and starts of desperate feebleness. They yet hope, though faintly, not from any encou- raging indications in the aspect of politics, but merely because they anxiously wish it, that Sir ROBERT PEEL may recover the confi- dence of the country. It must be done quickly if at all.
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