Emancipation of the Jews page 2

The King expired with his arm resting upon the Queen's shoulder, and her hand supporting his breast - a position which she had maintained for upwards of an hour before he breathed his last. In the autumn of 1847 she went to Madeira, where she spent the winter. In April she returned to England, and resided during the remainder of her days at Bentley Priory, near Stanmore. She expended a large portion of her income - it is said upwards of £20,000 a year - in charity, being especially munificent towards institutions connected with the navy, to which the late king had belonged. She had left directions with respect to her funeral which showed the tone of her mind. " I die," she said, " in all humility, knowing well that we are all alike before the throne of God; and I request, therefore, that my mortal remains may be conveyed to the grave without any pomp or state. They are to be removed to St. George's Chapel, Windsor, where I request to have as quiet and private a funeral as possible. I particularly desire not to be laid out in state, and the funeral to take place by daylight; no procession - the coffin to be carried by sailors to the chapel. All those of my friends and relations, to a limited number, who wish to attend may do so; my nephew, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Lords Howe and Denbigh, the Honourable William Ashley, Mr. Wood, Sir Andrew Barnard, and Sir D. Davis, with my dressers, and those of my ladies who may wish to attend. I die in peace, and wish to be carried to the tomb in peace, and free from the vanities and pomp of this world. I request not to be dissected or embalmed, and desire to give as little trouble as possible." Signed, "Adelaide R. - November, 1849."

She was also careful to express in her will her religious faith, in the following words: - "I shall die in peace with all the world, full of gratitude for all the kindness that was ever shown me, and in full reliance on the mercy of our Saviour Jesus Christ, into whose hands I commit my soul."

Queen Adelaide was soon followed to the grave by her brother-in-law, the Duke of Cambridge, who died on the 8th of July, 1850, rather suddenly, and without suffering. He was the seventh and youngest son of George III., born on the 24th of February, 1774; he was, therefore, seventy-six years of age when he died. He had served in the army under the Duke of York, and as early as 1813 he received a Field-Marshal's baton. From 1815 till 1837 he filled the office of Viceroy of Hanover, which he governed in a just and moderate spirit. When the Duke of Cumberland succeeded to the throne of Hanover, the Duke of Cambridge returned to England, where his affability, good humour, and liberality as patron of the arts, made him very popular. He married in 1818, and left a son and two daughters - his son being the present Commander-in- Chief. He died at Cambridge House, and his remains were interred at Kew Church. He expressed a wish that the imposing parts of the ceremonial at royal interments should be dispensed with, and that his remains should rest among his fellow-parishioners, with whom he had so long dwelt in harmony and goodwill.

The most interesting of all the debates that occurred in the House of Commons during the session of 1850 was that which took place on the foreign policy of the country, particularly with reference to Greece. The House of Lords had passed a vote of censure upon the Government, by a majority of thirty-seven, on a motion brought forward by Lord Stanley, and the public were anxious to see how the House of Commons would deal with that fact. On the 20th of June, Lord John Russell read the resolution, and said, " We are not going in any respect to alter the course of conduct we have thought it right to pursue in respect of foreign powers, in consequence of that resolution." He concluded his speech with the following bold defiance, which elicited general and protracted cheering: - " So long as we continue the government of this country, I can answer for my noble friend (Lord Palmerston) that he will act not as a Minister of Austria, or of Russia, or of France, or of any other country, but as the Minister of England. The honour of England and the interests of England - such are the matters that are within our keeping; and it is to that honour and to those interests that our conduct will in future be, as it has hitherto been, directed."

Mr. Roebuck, the next day, moved a counter resolution in the following terms: - " That the principles which have hitherto regulated the foreign policy of Her Majesty's Government are such as were required to preserve untarnished the honour and dignity of this country, and, in times of unexampled difficulty, the best calculated to maintain peace between England and the various nations of the world. "He supported this position in an able and lengthened speech. The chief ground of dispute was the demand of Lord Palmerston for compensation to a person named Pacifico, a Jew, and by birth a British subject, who resided at Athens, and whose house had been attacked on a Sunday, his property destroyed, and his family beaten by a mob headed by young noblemen. The Greek Government refused him reparation, and he sought protection from England. There was also the case of Mr. Finlay, whose land was seized in order that it might be converted into a garden for the King of Greece, the owner being refused payment, and Lord Aberdeen, when Foreign Secretary, having applied in vain for redress. Lord Palmerston defended his policy, with his wonted spirit and ability, and with triumphant success. Sir J. Walsh, though differing from him, described his speech as an unrivalled effort of parliamentary eloquence. Mr. Sidney Herbert accused the noble lord of lowering the public character of the nation, and exciting detestation against the British name by his foreign policy. Mr. Gladstone arraigned the conduct of the first Minister in sitting down contentedly under the censure of the House of Lords, by sheltering himself under precedent« which were in fact no precedents at all. He charged Lord Palmerston with violating international law, by making reprisals upon Greek property to the extent of £80,000, to satisfy the exorbitant demands of Dou Pacifico; the fruit of this policy being humiliation in regard to France, and a lesson received without reply from the autocrat of all the Russias. Mr. Cobden also assailed the policy of Lord Palmerston, and asked if there was no other way of settling such trifling matters than by sending fifteen ships of war into the Greek waters. Lord John Russell defended the policy of the Government, and concluded by declaring that by the verdict of that House and the people of England he was prepared to abide, fully convinced that the Government had preserved at the same time the honour of this country and the blessings of peace. Mr. Disraeli, on the other hand, maintained that the House of Lords had exercised a solemn duty in pronouncing a censure upon the policy which had led to such terrible results. This debate will be rendered for ever memorable in our annals by the speech of Sir Robert Peel. It was one of the best speeches he ever delivered in that House, and it was his last. He argued strongly against intermeddling with the affairs of foreign nations in order to procure for them free institutions, and concluded with the expression of his belief that the cause of constitutional liberty would only be encumbered by our help; whilst by obtruding it we should involve this country in incalculable difficulties. When the hour for the division came the House was very full - Ayes, 310; Noes, 264; giving the Government a majority of 46.

On the day after this division a deputation of nearly ninety members of the House of Commons, headed by Lord James Stuart, waited upon Lady Palmerston, and presented her with a full-length portrait of her husband, representing him in an erect posture, in evening dress, and wearing the ribbon of the Order of the Bath. They requested her ladyship to accept of this testimony of their high sense of Viscount Palmerston's public and private character, and of the independent policy by which he maintained the honour and interests of this country. What made this presentation singularly opportune was the fact that, on the same day, a telegraphic despatch had been received from Paris, announcing the settlement of the Greek question.

Only a week after Sir Robert Peel delivered his memorable speech on the foreign policy of the country, his career was suddenly terminated. He met death under circumstances calculated to give an appalling sense of the insecurity of human life. So far as unbounded wealth, employed by the soundest practical wisdom, could guard against ordinary dangers, one might suppose that the life of the great statesman was safe. If there was in the United Kingdom a horse that could be trusted for soundness of limb and perfection of training, we might have supposed that such a horse would be in his possession. Yet he was killed by a fall from his horse - not hunting over a difficult country, but riding leisurely in the park. On the 22nd of June, Her Majesty's third son, Arthur William Patrick Albert, had been baptised, with the usual ceremonial pomp, at Buckingham Palace, and on the 29th Sir Robert Peel had called there, and entered his name in Her Majesty's visiting book. Proceeding thence up Constitution Hill, he had arrived nearly opposite the wicket gate leading into the Green Park, when he met Miss Ellis, one of Lady Dover's daughters, on horseback, attended by a groom. Sir Robert had scarcely exchanged salutes with this young lady when his horse became restive, swerved towards the railing of the Green Park, and threw him sideways on his left shoulder. Two gentlemen who saw the accident immediately ran forward and raised him, holding him in a sitting posture. Dr. Foucart, who also saw the accident, ran up to assist the right honourable baronet, who, in reply to his question, whether he was much hurt, said, "Yes, very much." He then became unconscious, and remained so till he was placed in a carriage, when he revived and said, " I feel better." On being lifted out of the carriage at Whitehall Gardens, he walked with assistance into the house. The effect of meeting his family, however, caused a reaction. He swooned in the arms of Dr. Foucart, and was placed upon a sofa in the nearest apartment, the dining-room, from which he was never removed till his death. Sir Benjamin Brodie, Mr. Csesar Hawkins, Dr. Seymour, and Mr- Hodgson, held a consultation, and attempted to reduce the visible injury; but this caused such agony, that, at the patient's earnest request, the attempt was abandoned. He passed a restless night on Saturday, and continued in a very precarious state on Sunday and Monday. On Monday night he became delirious, calling upon the names of some of his oldest and dearest friends, among which Hardinge and Graham were most frequently on his lips. On Tuesday morning ho fell into a sound sleep, after which he felt easier, his mind being quite composed. But at two o'clock on that day symptoms appeared which caused the physicians to abandon all hope. The last rites of the Church were administered by the Bishop of Gibraltar, Dr. Tomlinson, a very old friend. Lady Peel and the members bf the family joined in this melancholy communion, Sir Robert being scarcely able to recognise them. Lord Hardinge and Sir James Graham also joined the group of mourners; but the painfully excited feelings of Lady Peel rendered it absolutely necessary to remove her from the apartment. He ceased to breathe about midnight, his great spirit departing peacefully from the earthly tabernacle that had been so suddenly crushed. A post-mortem examination showed that the cause of death was a broken rib on the left side pressing upon the lung. The remains of the illustrious statesman were, according to his own express directions, in a will written while in the plenitude of his power, interred without funeral pomp, at the quiet village of Drayton Bassett, amid the respectful grief of attending thousands, and the universal sorrow of the nation.

The death of no English statesman had ever produced a deeper feeling of grief throughout the nation, or more general expressions of lamentation at the irreparable loss which the country had sustained. Mr. Hume had a motion on the paper for the day following his death; but instead of proceeding with it, he moved the adjournment of the House, as a mark of respect to the memory of the illustrious statesman, whose opponent he had been on that floor for so many years. "It is impossible for me," he said, "to express what I feel so strongly at the great public loss which the right honourable gentleman's death has occasioned. When I contemplate the many sacrifices he has made, the strong feelings and deep interest which have been manifested in this metropolis - and which I am sure will extend throughout the whole country - at this great calamity, I hope I may be excused - even if there should be no precedent, on such an occasion, one so seldom, if ever likely to occur again, at least in my time - for proposing that the House do adjourn without proceeding to any other business." Mr. Gladstone paid an eloquent and touching tribute to his memory, concluding with the lines - "Now is the stately column broke, The beacon light is quenched in smoke, The trumpet's silvery sound i3 still, The warder silent on the hill."

Mr. Napier, Sir Robert Inglis, and Sir William Somerville expressed similar feelings of profound respect for the memory of the departed statesman; and the motion for the adjournment of the House passed unanimously. The House of Lords did not sit on that day; but on the following day the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord Stanley, Lord Brougham, and the Duke of Wellington gave earnest expression to the feelings of their lordships upon the subject of this national bereavement. The Duke of Wellington, in particular, as might be expected, was deeply moved, while expressing his great gratification at what had just been said as to the character of Sir Robert Peel. He added his testimony as to what he believed to be its strongest feature - his truthfulness. " In all the course of my acquaintance with Sir Robert Peel," said the Duke, "I never knew a man in whose truth and justice I had a more lively confidence; or in whom I saw a more invariable desire to promote the public service. In the whole course of my communication with him, I never knew an instance in which he did not show the strongest attachment to truth; and I never saw in the whole course of my life the smallest reason for suspecting that he stated anything which he did not firmly believe to be the fact." Lord John Russell, who had been absent on the previous day, spoke in the warmest terms of admiration of the late statesman, and avowed his conviction that the harmony which had prevailed for the last two years, and the safety which this country had enjoyed during a period when other nations were visited by the calamity of revolution, had been greatly owing to the course which Sir Robert Peel had thought it his duty to adopt. He concluded by offering, in the name of the Crown, funeral honours similar to those accorded on the death of Pitt or Grattan. But Mr. Goulburne - while expressing in the name of the family of Sir Robert Peel their deep gratitude for the proposition made by the noble lord, the highest tribute which the House of Commons could pay - stated that simplicity and a disdain of ostentation were a distinguishing trait in the character of the deceased; and in a testamentary memorandum, written on the 8th of May, 1844, when he was at the head of a large party, Sir Robert had recorded his desire, which he had since verbally repeated to Lady Peel, to be interred in a vault in the parish church of Drayton Bassett, without funeral pomp. On the 12th of July, pursuant to a motion made by the Prime Minister, the House of Commons went into committee for the purpose of adopting an address to the Queen, praying Her Majesty to order the erection of a monument in Westminster Abbey to the memory of Sir Robert Peel. He stated that the Queen, anxious to show the sense which she entertained of the services rendered to the Crown, had directed him to inform Lady Peel that she desired to bestow upon her the same rank that was bestowed upon the widow of Mr. Canning. Lady Peel answered that her wish was to bear no other name than that by which her husband was known to the world, and that a special direction was left by Sir Robert Peel, that none of his family should, after his death, accept any title as a public reward on account of any services he might be supposed to have rendered to the public. Nothing then remained but a public monument; and it was unanimously resolved " that an humble address be presented to Her Majesty, praying her to give directions that a monument be erected in the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, Westminster, to the memory of the Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel, with an inscription expressive of the public sense of so great and irreparable a loss, and assuring Her Majesty that this House will make good the expenses attending the same."