SIR ROBERT PEEL'S DEBUT AS A POPULAR LECTURER.
Sift ROBERT PEEL is determined to astonish the world by the versatility of his talents. Not contented with rivalling the Whigs and Radicals in Parliamentary eloquence, he is determined to start against them in their own especial field—the Education of the People. He is bent upon snatching the laurels from the brows of BROUGHAM and BUCKINGHAM. In short, he has made his debilt at Tamworth as a popular lecturer. Sir ROBERT PEEL'S inaugural lecture at the opening of the Tam- worth Library and Reading-room shows that he has been a sedu- lous reader of the publications of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; and what is more, that he has profited by their perusal—that his retentive memory has been abundantly stored from those repositories. Sir ROBERT PEEL was evidently aware that he ventured on deli- cate ground : he felt the eyes of the Conservative and Church par- ties inquiringly bent upon him in his novel position. He was therefore guarded in his expressions : and yet he contrived to ex- press several sentiments sufficiently Liberal to take the wind out of the sails of the present Ministry.
He took advantage of the admission of some working men into the Committee of Management, to say-
" I cannot help thinking, that by bringing together, in an institution of this kind, intelligent men of all classes and all conditions in life—by uniting toge- ther, as we have united, in the Committee of this institution, the gentleman of ancient family and great landed possessions with the skilful mechanic and arti- ficer of good character—I cannot help thinking that we are all establishing a bond of social connexion that will derive more than common strength from the pure motives that influence us. and from the cause in which we are engaged. (Applause.) I cannot help believing that we are harmonizing the gradations of society, and binding men together by a new bond; which, as I said before, will have more than ordinary strength on account of the object which unites us." (Loud applause.)
He vindicated the admission of females to " equal power and in- fluence in the management of the institution" with males-
" We propose that the institution shall be open to the female as well as the male portion of the population of this town and neighbourhood ; because we consider that ire should have done great injustice to the well-educated and virtuous women of this town and neighbourhood, if we had supposed that they were less capable than their husbands or their brothers of benefiting by the in- struction which we hope to give, or if we had supposed that they were less interested in the cause of rational recreation and intellectual improve- ment. We propose, also, that they shall have equal power and equal influence in the management of this institution with others; being well assured that the influence which a virtuous woman can hold (if it be necessary to call it into action) will always be exercised in favour of whatever is sound and profit- able in respect to knowledge, and whatever is decorous and exemplary in respect to conduct."
He apologized for the nomination of two established clergymen of the town as ex officio members of the Book Committee : slyly hinting at the possibility of getting rid of them- . The result of the regulations is, that two-thirds of the Book Committee are laymen—that the Committee of Management is wholly composed of lay- men; and in the almost inconceivable case that these powers should be abused, an authority is reserved to the subscribers by giving notice of an alteration in the fundamental regulations. Three-fifths of the subscribers have the power to alter these fundamental regulations : and can I have a doubt, that if the existing checks were not sufficient, that if the power were abused, (as I hold it cannot be,) the great body of the subscribers in this town would bring under consideration the propriety of altering the regulations ? "
He was particularly urgent upon farmers to study ; devoting a goodly portion of his lecture to illustrate the advantages they might derive from an acquaintance with scientific principles and bookkeeping— "It had been also suggested that popular lectures might he given on a sub- ject of the greatest importance—upon the simplest method of keeping a clear account of profit and loss. (Applause.) Now, he was informed that nothing could be more imperfect than the accounts which were kept by a farmer of the daily outgoings of his farm, and the profit returned from actual outlay."
Sir ROBERT PEEL repudiated the notion that intellectual pur- suits are incompatible with business; and he alluded to the exist- ing state of society as rendering study, on the contrary, indispen- sable to success in life. He refuted with equal success the notion that increase of knowledge is unfavourable to morality and religion. Now let the reader dispassionately review the principles avowed and defended in these extracts. The condition of society rendering it impossible for any man to keep his ground who does not study ; the importance of knowledge towards the formation of the moral
man and the successful man of business; the hint at the advan- tage of a knowledge of accounts ; the vindication of the admission of the working-classes, and even of females, to a share in the ma- nagement ; the pointing out the way to get quit of the clergymen when their countenance should no longer be wanted,—if all these. things do not go to make up a rank Radical lecture, we do not know what does.
Ah 1 he is a sly fox Sir ROBERT PEEL. He hushed the mis- givings of his Conservative friends, by speaking disparagingly of politics- . I shall shortly leave you, for the purpose of engaging in the scenes of warfare on the great arena of political contention ; but if I can believe that before my departure I have laid the foundation-stone of an edifice in which men of all political opinions and of all religious feelings may unite in the furtherance of knowledge without the asperities of party-feeling, then I can safely say that I shall be repaid with tenfold interest for any time I have spent, or any attention 1 have given to the formation of this institution."
And by declaring that political and religious controversy were banished from the institution-
" They accept their offices and perform their duties subject to this other rule—that, in the formation of the library, and in the selection of the subjects for public lectures, every thing calculated to excite religious or political ani- mosity shall be excluded. They accept their powers subject to this other rule—that no discussions on matters connected with religion, politics, or local party differences, be permitted to take place in the reading-room.
And all the while, he was advising his auditors to keep a jealous eye upon ecclesiastical functionaries, (for a majority of three-fifths of the people would be entitled, according to his principle, to pre- vent clergymen taking part in public business); advocating a univer- sal suffrage beyond what is demanded by the Chartist, (admitting females, and all above fourteen years of age, to participate in the franchise) ; declaring that the advanced state of society demands a higher education for all ; expatiating upon the advantages of arithmetic in a way that would charm Mr. HOME himself; in short, doing every thing in his power to sap and undermine the glorious structure of " Church and State."
We are prepared to find the Whigs enviously disparaging Sir ROBERT'S lecture. They will say that it is heavy : and we cannot honestly deny that it is. They will say that his big words and solemn emphasis when talking of his little library with its fifty-seven subscribers, contrast ludicrously with BROUGHAM'S inaugural dis- course at the opening of the Liverpool Mechanics Institution : and we must admit that there is something in the remark. Lastly, they will say that his lecture contains nothing more than what Lord BROUGHAM, Mr. MACAULAY, and many others, have been repeating over and over again for the last twenty years. But this is precisely the point in which Sir ROBERT shows his mastery over them. They took upon them the sweat and burden of the day in advocating the claims of the Catholics : he stepped in just at the moment when those claims were about to carry themselves, and obtained the honour of emancipating the Catholics. He is playing the same game now : the Whigs have been talking for long years about elevating the working-classes; Sir ROBERT sees the time has come for admitting them to the full rights of citizenship, and is preparing to secure for himself the credit of performing that act of justice.
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