orator invests the dry details of business with the attraction of personal feeling, for no one was a more refined master of persuasion than Sir Robert Peel.
To the reader his speeches may appear encumbered with a weight of matter, and embarrassed by the necessity of exact statement in the presence of inveterate foes. But from the hearer this was concealed by the triumphant march of the argument and the masterly disposition of detail. In expounding a policy he delighted in an exhaustive form of argument, wherein the possible courses of action were in turn reviewed and rejected, until the last remaining appeared to be dictated to his audience by necessity rather than to have been chosen for them by the minister. Nor was he less eminent in reply when he combined promptitude with prudence. If the occasion suited, he could be witty, and with a look or a phrase could effectively convey contempt. But what was most admirable was the temper in which his speeches were cast. From instinct or from experience, or both, he infallibly knew where to take his stand with the House of Commons, and could mingle in the exact proportions which the occasion demanded the spirit of combat with the scope and dignity of a statesman. His finest efforts are those of the latter period of his ministry, when the consciousness of his coming fall gave him freedom and the strength of conviction inspired him with the splendid assurance of victory. Of the orators of that period, it may be said that Plunket was the most brilliant, and Canning the most charming, but that the weightest was Peel.
The motives of his life were simple. Among the chief was the excellence of civil government. In his view that end was to be attained by amending the laws without altering the constitution, so that the same minister who revolutionised the penal code could oppose the reform of parliament. At an age when most men are entering upon a profession he was set to rule Ireland. Thus early placed in the routine of office, he had often to decide later between old pledges and new ideas. But when once the choice was taken—and it was always a masculine and unbiassed reason that eventually chose—no one was more adverse to half measures and halting instalments of policy. He became as bold as before he had been cautious.
But what most impressed those who knew him was his unvarying sense of public duty, which was carried by an iron will into every detail of action, and round the whole circle and sphere of conduct. Thus the colleague who had stood by him in his greatest trials could say, ‘I never knew a man in whose truth and justice I had a more lively confidence’ (Wellington, 4 July 1850). This sentiment was shared by the people at large. He had first attracted their attention by his policy in regard to catholic emancipation in 1829, and as time went on he won their complete confidence. His repeal of the corn laws, though it alienated the majority of his party, was recognised as a sacrifice made for the public good.
In an age of European revolutions, Peel may alone be said to have had the foresight and the strength to form a conservative party, resting not on force or on corruption, but on administrative capacity and the more stable portion of the public will. As for his more specific achievements, they are the mitigation of the rigour of the penal laws, a sound financial system, a free unrivalled commerce, the security of our persons from civil disorder, and the cheapness of our daily bread. Other political leaders may be credited with a more original eloquence, a greater obedience to the ties of party, or a stricter adherence in age to the political principles which animated their youth. But no other statesman has proved more conclusively that the promotion of the welfare of his countrymen was the absorbing passion of his life.
[By far the most important authorities are: The Collection of the speeches delivered by Sir Robert Peel in the House of Commons, 1853, in 4 vols.; Memoirs by Peel, published by Earl Stanhope and Lord Cardwell, 1856–7, in 2 vols. and 3 pts. (pt. i. The Roman Catholic Question; pt. ii. The New Government, 1834–5; pt. iii. The Repeal of the Corn Laws, 1845–6); Sir Robert Peel, his Life from his Private Correspondence, published by Viscount Hardinge and A. W. Peel (Viscount Peel), at one time speaker of the House of Commons, edited by C. S. Parker, 1891, in 1 vol., two more to follow. Of biographies previously issued, the chief are: Life and Times of Sir Robert Peel, by W. Cooke Taylor and Charles Mackay, in 4 vols.; The Political Life of Sir Robert Peel, an analytical biography by Thomas Doubleday, 1856, in 2 vols.; Leben and Reden Sir Robert Peel's, by Von Heinrich Kunzel, 1851, in 2 vols.; Sir Robert Peel, Étude d'Histoire Contemporaine by Guizot, 1856; Life and Character of Sir R. Peel, by Sir Lawrence Peel, 1860; Sir R. Peel, an historical Sketch, by Lord Dalling, 1874; Peel, in the Twelve English Statesmen Series, by J. R. Thursfield, 1891; Sir Robert Peel, in the Prime Ministers of Queen Victoria Series, by Justin McCarthy, 1892; Peel, in the Statesmen Series, by F. C. Montague, 1888; Sir Robert Peel, by G. Barnett Smith, in the English Political Leaders Series, 1881; The late Sir Robert Peel, a critical biography, by G. H. Francis, 1852; A Personal Sketch of Sir R. Peel, by Cap-
