tion of his real eminence. He had, it is true, two qualities, ordinary enough in their nature, but which lay at the foundation of much of his success-namely, industry and simplicity of character. The first sprang mainly from the last. There probably never was a man in his exalted position so free from conceit or self-assertion. He was essentially a modest man in his estimate of himself; and woke up, comparatively late in life, to a consciousness of what his powers could effect. The result of this temperament was to preserve him entirely from that snare of clever men, the notion that he knew anything by intuition. Whether the matter was great or small, he never supposed that he understood it till he had applied himself to master its details; nor did he ever imagine that he knew more of it than another, until he had ascertained that he did so.. This habit of accurate investigation, pursued during half a century of official life, had not only stored a retentive memory with an immense amount of information, but had given his mind a power of close and rapid generalisation which he knew he could trust, because it always worked on secure materials. Therein lay one secret of his success; but when he had the materials within his grasp, his rapid power of sifting was of the rarest and most remarkable quality. His mind was supposed to be merely practical, because he only gave out his practical conclusions; but, in reality, he had great powers of subtle analysis; the main distinction between him and reasoners more apparently philosophical, being, that with him the process was entirely internal, and he thought the product only worthy of public elucidation.

"A remarkable instance of his characteristic assiduity, which was prominently open to public observation, was the resolution with which, in 1855, he set himself to master the forms of the House of Commons, and the details of its ordinary business. He had been until then chiefly a departmental minister; and when he had found himself at the head of the cabinet, and leader of the House, he discovered that even his long experience of that body had not rendered him familiar with many of its usages. Most men at the age of seventy would have been content with the general knowledge which they possessed, and to trust the rest to subordinates or chance. But his sense of duty, and his habits of thorough work, allowed of no such course. He set himself to learn the routine of his new position with the same patient investigation with which, more than forty years before, he had mastered the details of the War Office. Early and late was the Premier in his place; one of the first to come, and one of the last to leave. Day after day saw him before half-past four; night after night did the summer morning find him at his post. His first appearance, as leader of the House of Commons, was not entirely successful; but, by the end of the session of 1855, he had effectually grappled with and overcome the difficulty. He continued what he had thus commenced throughout the whole of his premiership; nor was it until a very few months before the close of his last session that failing health compelled him to relax it.

"Those who doubt or question his power of acute analysis would do well to study-for some of them are stored with comprehensive views as well as valuable information-his speeches on the international questions which, from time to time, have been discussed in the House of Commons since the close of the Crimean war. He evinced in these discussions a grasp of general principle, a perspicacity of reasoning which the greatest lawyers in the House might have envied, and which, in point of power and cogency, gave his views a value far beyond those of any other lay member of that body. If these speeches are ever collected they will be found to constitute a repertory of public law, cleared of all technicality of language or thought, but replete with maturity of reflection, and applied with simplicity and force to the actual cases which arise.

"Another popular impression in regard to Lord Palmerston is, that he was inclined to treat matters of grave import with levity. This was especially the keynote of those who desired to disparage him during the last year of the Crimean war. The public, however, very soon discovered that no accusation could be more

unjust.
and the country there was not a tinge of levity.

In Palmerston's views of the service he owed to the queen

"Two other traits of his inner political character we may mention-elements very necessary to a great leader of men. He was entirely fearless, and he never deserted a subordinate. He came to his convictions deliberately. His wellbalanced mind and temperament had little in it of the impulsive. He thought without excitement and without passion; but the conviction once attained, the resolution once taken, he never looked back. He might be swayed by the public once-before his determination was made, but never afterwards. And having himself a strong sense of the responsibility of office, he had sympathy for all under him; and his counsel in difficulty, and his support under imputation, were never failing-the only sure way to obtain hearty and zealous service."

Nor must we omit here the opinions of the leading journal. The Times, of October 19th, 1865, wrote as follows:

"One of the most popular statesmen, one of the kindliest gentlemen, and one of the truest Englishmen that ever filled the office of Premier, is to-day lost to the country. The news of Lord Palmerston's death will be received in every home throughout these islands, from the palace to the cottage, with a feeling like that of personal bereavement. There is not a province in our vast colonial empire, and there are few civilised nations in the world, which will hear, without an emotion of regret, that Lord Palmerston no longer guides the policy of England. Never again will that familiar voice be heard in the councils of Europe, or in the British senate, of which he almost seemed a part; never again will that native gaiety of spirits enliven the social circle in which he loved to move. The death of no other subject could have left such a void in the hearts of his countrymen, for no other has been identified so long or so closely with our national life. Born in the first year of Pitt's first administration, and some years before the downfall of the old French monarchy, he had witnessed the whole drama of European politics in the nineteenth century, and in the most important scenes of it had taken a leading part. So extended and so various an experience in state affairs is almost without a parallel in history; and the vigour of mind and body which enabled him to lead the House of Commons when he had passed the age of eighty, has certainly been given to very few in ancient or modern times.

"He who could win and keep a commanding position in this free country for more than half a century of foreign wars and domestic changes, against formidable opponents, but without making a personal enemy, who could increase in prestige and parliamentary address with advancing years, and who died Prime Minister, enjoying to the last the full confidence of the sovereign and the people, must have possessed one of those rare combinations of qualities which men call greatness. His almost unique success raises Lord Palmerston above the ordinary level of his contemporaries, and places him in competition with the most eminent of his predecessors. Judged by this standard, he must be allowed to have fallen short of that heroic type of character which we associate with a few-very few-historical He had not the splendid oratorical genius and daring spirit of Chatham, the lofty magnanimity of Pitt, or the constructive ability of Peel. His name will not be remembered in connection with the triumph of a grand cause, nor was his life devoted to the development of any single idea; and yet he was a great man, unless that title be confined by an arbitrary limitation to a prescribed class of moral and intellectual virtues. In everything but rhetorical accomplishmentsclassical graces of diction-he was more than the equal of Canning, his early friend and leader. In political knowledge and practical acquaintance with all the departments of state, he was greatly superior, not only to Canning, but to all Canning's successors, if we except Sir R. Peel. In familiarity with the labyrinthine complications of modern European diplomacy, he excelled all living politicians at home or abroad. In the art of distinguishing the prevailing current of public opinion, in

readiness of tact, in versatility of mind and humour, in the masterly ease with which he handled the reins of government, and in the general felicity of his political temperament, he had no rival in his own generation. To these gifts, however, he added an unwearied application to duty, which would itself have earned him a high position in the state. The secret and source of his great popularity was his boundless sympathy with all classes of his countrymen. He was a truly large-hearted man, and moved among men and women of every rank as one of themselves. His unfailing good-humour and inexhaustible animal spirits, if they obscured to some extent his more solid endowments, not only carried him through anxieties under which many a younger man has sunk, but endeared him to all who came within their influence. Nor was this kindness and affability merely superficial. It may not be generally known, that when an attempt was made on his life by a crazy officer at the War Office, his first act was to draw a check for the expenses of his assailant's defence. That act was characteristic of the man; and Englishmen were proud of him, not so much because he bearded foreign despots in his prime, or exhibited marvellous physical activity in his old age, as because they believed him to be a stout-hearted and benevolent statesman of the good old English stock. They did him no more than justice. Lord Palmerston was, perhaps, too little of an optimist, and too little of an ideologist; but he had our interests and the interests of humanity at heart; he had an utter hatred of oppression and wrong in every shape, and a genuine desire to redress every practical grievance.

"He has left none like him-none who can rally round him so many followers of various opinions-none who can give us so happy a respite from the violence of party warfare-none who can bring to the work of statesmanship so precious a store of recollections. It is impossible not to feel that Lord Palmerston's death marks an epoch in English politics. The old order changeth, yielding place to new.' Other ministers may carry into successful effect organic reforms from which he shrunk; others may introduce a new spirit into our foreign relations, and abandon the system of secret diplomacy, which he never failed to support; others may advise her majesty with equal sagacity, and sway the House of Commons with equal or greater eloquence; but his place in the hearts of the people will not be filled so easily. The name of Lord Palmerston, once the terror of the continent, will long be connected in the minds of Englishmen with an epoch of unbroken peace and unparalleled prosperity, and cherished, together with the memories of the reign of Queen Victoria."

We extract a criticism, of a less genial character, from the Fortnightly Review, October, 1866.

"Just this time last year Lord Palmerston died. After sixty years of official life, passed first in one then in the other camp of political warfare, he was supposed to know all the secrets on both sides, and to have such an accumulated stock of practical wisdom, that his decision in political matters was sure to be correct. His fiat was accepted by nearly the whole English nation; that is to say, all that part of the English nation which is educated and thinking, and possessed of political power. He endorsed Lord Russell's axiom, to rest and be thankful; and the nation did rest during the whole period of his premiership. It may be a question whether we are not now paying severely for this long holiday. During Lord Palmerston's life, we had an opportunity of settling, in a peculiarly advantageous manner, the difficult questions which now surround us. He possessed a weight and authority with both political parties, such as no longer exists. Had he really earnestly pressed any measures on the House of Commons, they would almost instantly have been carried; but his nature was light and insouciant; he hated to look forward to the future, and the nation was only too happy to shirk its duties, and lay on him the responsibility Lord Palmerston was too indulgent a leader. His followers were allowed a perpetual 'delices de capoue.' In his time the House of Commons was-as it had been before the Reform Bill-a most

*

agreeable club. No hard work could possibly be done; the minister was omnipotent; serious questions were laughed aside; experienced old Whig ministers knew exactly how little they could do without losing their places; the public money was voted lavishly; and members started off, after unfruitful sessions, to their various amusements. When Lord Russell and Mr. Gladstone, last year, succeeded Lord Palmerston in the direction of affairs, they found the whole political system relaxed, and too many professing Liberals considered that matters could not continue as they were. They had a nominal majority of seventy, and they thought it was to be wielded at will. They imagined they strengthened themselves by taking into their confidence some gentlemen of the ultra-Liberal party, whereas they really frightened and disgusted the mass of their supporters. They had earnestness and energy without tact; whereas Lord Palmerston had tact without earnestness or energy.

From abroad came criticisms on his lordship in abundance. We first quote the Journal des Débats :-" Entering public life at a very early age, at the beginning of the century, he has never since ceased to take an active part in the affairs of his country. We shall subsequently consider, in a special article, this long political career, sometimes so brilliant, often contradictory as to the principles and means employed, but immutable in its inspiration, which was to serve the interests of England at any price. It is this, without speaking of the remarkable talents of Lord Palmerston, which explains the popularity he enjoyed up to the last moment among his countrymen; and certainly, if anything in the world ever was sincere, it is the unanimous regret expressed this morning by the English press-upon this point a very faithful echo of public opinion. We at least are not singular in considering the policy of Lord Palmerston as having nearly served its time, and as no longer responding to the ideas and wants of the present day; but, in addition to his other merits, the celebrated minister possessed that of being pre-eminently English. He was English from his heart, by instinct and by intelligence. He loved England passionately; and we ought to add, to the praise of our neighbours, that similar temperaments are not rare among them."

Another French paper, the Constitutionnel, observed-" For a statesman, old age, when physical only, is a source of strength, and a prestige. Then, the more the years accumulate, the more youthful remains the popularity. Such was the case with Lord Palmerston. He has grown older and greater, and he has not been driven from his post of Prime Minister by fatigue or want of confidence, but by death. No one thought of reminding him of the song of old Simeon; his eightyfirst year was surrounded with respect and reliance, and thus were recognised the services he had rendered, and those he might yet perform. In presence of his tomb we will only remember the readiness with which the noble lord, in 1851, recognised the new order founded in France under the great name of Napoleon. We will only call to mind the policy which gave birth to the treaty of commerce, and to which is due the brotherhood of the soldiers of France and England on the fields of battle of the Crimea and in the extreme East.. The popularity which Lord Palmerston enjoyed for sixty years, and the regret with which his death inspires his countrymen, are naturally explained by the consideration that his principal virtue was always love for his country. Whether his ideas happened to be just or not, whether he was timid or adventurous, whether he was right or wrong in his judgment of the allies, adversaries, or rivals of England, he was always guided by his British patriotism. Let us not reproach him for that; but let us rather admire, and at the same time try to imitate him-let us be French, as Lord Palmerston was English."

According to La France-"The esteem felt in France for the character of the illustrious minister has caused his contradictions to be frequently passed over; and the imperial government more than once preferred to modify its original views rather than compromise the elevated object which the cordial understanding of the two great western nations is pursuing. But apart from the hesitation which

was attributable more to early prejudices than to strong convictions, how many fine qualities, how many potent ideas, how much energy and address were there not in Lord Palmerston! He was a political genius of the completest and widest scope. He was a statesman, a legislator, and a great debater; he held in his hand all the strings of European diplomacy, and never allowed one of them to escape into the domain of chance. But, above all, what a subtle and delicate intellect! What humour! What a genial and ever youthful delivery, notwithstanding his eighty-one years! The loss England has sustained in him is immense. With him disappears the last representative of the politicians who were contemporaries of the republic and of the first empire. Is it a system which descends with him into the tomb? The future will teach us."

The Opinion Nationale wrote-"During the sixty years that he has entered into political life, he has never ceased to occupy, either in power or in opposition, an important place. A rare mixture of prudence and decision, of suppleness and vigour, has kept him for more than half a century in the foremost rank of British statesmen: he combined, in the highest degree, the qualities and the defects of his country, which loved to recognise in him one of the most finished examples of the English character. Latterly, every rumour, every discussion ceased around him; it seemed that Great Britain had grown old with her First Minister. His death will probably be the signal for a new classification of parties; and if the foreign policy of England is not likely to be changed, internal questions, and especially electoral reform, are likely to demand a large share of attention. France does not lose a friend in Lord Palmerston. Still we cannot announce his death without paying a last tribute of respect to the eminent statesman, who, sometimes our ally, sometimes our adversary, will be known in history as one of the accomplished types of an English gentleman and statesman." One more extract will suffice. Lord Palmerston had done much for Belgium; nor was his death unnoticed there. The Independance Belge, in an article after his decease, said " His loss will be considered as a public calamity. The promptitude, the pliability, and the infinite resources of his mind-his courage in meeting face to face, sometimes with jaunty raillery, more apparent than real, difficulties and dangers before which other statesmen recoiled-a valuable aptitude in presaging the fluctuations of public opinion, and in following them when the interests of England or those of his own ambition advised;-these were the qualities which, during a most active political career (he was in parliament at the age of twenty-three), had made Lord Palmerston the most popular man in his country, and, finally, the keystone of the arch which maintained the balance of parties in that period of transformation through which England, and Europe with her, are at present passing."

Thus did the newspapers write when it was announced that Lord Palmerston was dead-an event which, in the language of the Journal de St. Petersbourg, did "leave an immense void in the counsels of the queen, and did produce, in the three kingdoms, one of those profound sensations which leave a mark of emotion in the history of nations."

CHAPTER XLI.

CONCLUSION.

OUR laborious task is at length completed. We have followed Lord Palmerston from the cradle to the grave. "Few and evil have been the days of my life," said the patriarch. The triumphant statesman would have made no such reply.