THE DUKE'S PREMIER. •
THE Tories have not found "another PITT in PEEL." It would have been strange if they had ; for even supposing the ability of the two Ministers to have been on a par, the circumstances in
which they were placed were essentially different. But PEEL's infe- riority to Pirr in statesmanlike qualities has been manifest from the
time that he became a leading personage in public affairs. Pm had the sagacity throughout his Ministerial career to connect himself with the strongest party in the nation. He never would have attempted to maintain his ground against the coalition in Parlia- ment, had he not been secure of the Country, as well as the Court, te fall back upon. He made a very different use of the first French Revolution from what PEEL made of the second. Had PITT been Miaister in 1830, he would have seen that the effect of the Three Days of July was to strengthen the party of the Movement, as in 1794 he was enabled to profit by French excesses so as to aug- ment the power and influence of the party of Resistance. He would never have chosen the period of the July Revolution to avow hostility to all Reform. On the contrary, judging from all his actual conduct, we should say that he would have endeavoured to sail gently down the stream of pubic opinion—soothing, not exas- perating, the natian. Had PITT lived in our day, he would have reverted to his old priaciples of Reflirm, and deprived Earl GREY of the chief honmr of his public LE!. But Sir ROBERT PEEL is deficient in the sagacity which points out to a statesman the proper time for modifying his opinions and changing his line of conduct. As Mr. SHELL told him a few nights ago, " he does not go before—he does not even accompany e‘ents." This judgment is sanctioned by a reference to the re- corded facts of his public life. At the breaking up of the LIVER- POOL Cabinet, it was open to PEEL to join CANNING or WEL- LINGTON; he committed the blunder of joining the latter. There was a want of political foresight. CANNING saw that the tide was turning against Toryism, and prepared to turn with it. PEEL, though a candidate for Ministerial power, chose the side of the Aristocracy against the People. When the Dissenters had be- come so powerful that they could compel the abolition of the Test and Corporation Acts, PEEL in unmeasured terms declared that they enjoyed already as much freedom as was consistent with the safety of the Established Church. Ile yielded, however, to a Par- liamentary majority ; and ought to have profited by the lesson. But he was unteachable. The concession of the Catholic claims came next. He resisted till the physical force of the Irish popu- lation extorted the concession' and then gave way. Was not this a sufficient warning that the once haughty and omnipotent Church and Tory party had " fallen from its high estate?" The cry for Reform was again heard in the land. The French Revolu- tion of July stimulated the British People to demand something better than a mockery of representation; but, uninstructed by the past, Sir ROBERT PEEL degraded himself to a level with the most ignorant bigots of his party, and championed the cause of the Boroughmongers' —as if the times had not altered, and public opinion had remained stationary for the preceding twenty years.
Well—after a fruitless struggle in behalf of the doomed system of corruption, Sir ROBERT PEEL was once again forced to submit to the spirit of improvement that had gone abroad. He acknow- ledged that the country must in future be governed in accordance with the new system of popular representation. Such were his professions; but had he the wisdom so to act? No. He associ- ated himself with the old Tories. He thwarted the Reformers whenever the opportunity offered, or he damaged them by his in- sidious support. He was a party to the defeat of Lord MEL- BOURNE'S Tithe Bill ; and when the opportunity arrived, put him- self at the head of a Ministry whose real aim was to give the least possible Reform, and preserve the most of Church and Corporation abuses. This, his last attempt to oppose the spirit of the age, has had the same fate as his previous efforts : he has been utterly defeated. It is surprising how any person acquainted with the political career of Sir ROBERT PEEL can fail to discern the fatal defect in
his character as a statesman—his deficiency in sagacity and fore- sight. It sometimes happens that a public man is so fettered by the trammels of party that he has no opportunity of escaping with honour and adopting a new course. But this apology cannot be
pleaded for PEEL. Never had statesman so fair an opportunity of joining the popular party, as he had after the Catholic Eman-
cipation Bill was passed. That measure removed old land-
marks, and broke up the Tory phalanx. PEEL could have carried off a large party, and formed an honourable alliance with the Liberals, who had generously given him the most cordial and effectual support. But no—lie adhered to the ignorant, narrow- minded, but resolute Duke, who exercised that influence over him which strong minds possess over the comparatively weak. _ It was not, then, from want of a good opportunity to join the Liberals, that Sir ROBERT PEEL remained in the anti-national ranks; but, as we believe, from his want of the faculty of dis- cerning the probable course of public events and the signs of the times. This deficiency will for ever prevent his becoming an able statesman : but it has not prevented his remarkable success as a Parliamentary debater. His well-trained dexterity, his smooth plausibility, his affected candour, his readiness in the argumentum ad hominem, his tact in pouncing upon the weak points of an adversary's position, and in maskine.b those of his own side, his clear diction and masterly delivery, are denied by none. He would have been a capital barrister ;. for his skill in making the most of the point he has to argue, and the facility with which be turns accidental occurrences to his own purpose, arc prominent features in his character as a rhetorician. Besides, a barrister is mot expected to be sincere: the grand defect in PEEL'S Parlia- mentary displays would scarcely be considered a fault in the advocate paid for the job. But in the House of Commons it detracts largely from the effect of his oratory. He is palpably artful, conspicuously insincere: all the world sees that he is per- forming a part. He is called " Sir Robert Plausible." Perhaps O'CONNELL is as artful an orator ; but lie has the faculty of ap- pearing careless, and natural, and sincere, while delivering his most efkctive speeches. In this respect he is immeasurably PEE L'S superior.
On a consideration of Sir ROBERT PEEL'S public life since be became an influential and leading person in the country, and giving hint full credit for his powers as a debater, and his habits of close application to business, we are led to conclude, that he would be an excellent instrument, but a bad director. Let some master-mind chalk out a line of policy and a series of measures for him to defend, explain, and carry through Parliament, and ho would be invaluable in the House of Commons. But, lacking genius and the higher gifts of intellect, he has manifested his in- capacity to originate large and commanding views— to strike out any new course of proceeding in times of danger and difficulty; and moreover he clues not profit by the experience of the past. He is therefore a dangerous adviser ; and any Ministry into which he may yet find his nay would do well to bear in mind his con- stant failures, and beware of folio aing his counsel, however plau- sibly it may be urged.
Previous page
