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LIFE AND LETTERS

JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

P.O., Q.0, M.P.

t^1«5$g5^98lBai*«HW».T<s5^

>,-T'«.-

-•i»'.V"^:.-.;;:4-.«'

•,ii*('5t(.m'S

LIFE AND LETTERS

JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK

P.O., Q.C., M.P.

WITH CHAPTERS OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

EDITED BT

ROBERT EADON LEADER.

EDWARD ARNOLD,
LONDON: NEW YORK:

37, Bedford Stbbbt. 70, ^^^ ^^^^^

1897.

T
P

PREFACE.

It is nearly twenty years since Mr. Roebuck died, and
sui'prise has often been expressed that so long a time has
elapsed without any record being given t^ the world of
the career of a man of unique personality, who played a
prominent part in his country's affairs T^r half a ceu-ury.
Into the reasons for the delay it is uaneces'^ar^y to enter.
Circunstances have at length made possible t ae realization
of the determination, ever tenaciously held by those most
intimately connected with Mr. Roebuck, to place the story
of his life before the public. Although the ranks of tiiose
who knew him are sadly thinned, and a generation has
arisen to whom he is little more than a name, the lapse
of time brings with it this compensation — that the events
which engrossed Mr. Roebuck's activities can be seen in
larger perspective, and the persons with whom he came
in contact can be referred to with less of the reticence that
would have been necessary during their lifetime.

My work has been that rather of an editor than of an
author, because my chief aim has been to let Mr. Roebuck
tell his own story, as far as possible, in his own words.
There has, compulsorily, been some departure from this
plan in dealing with his later years, but, as a rule, the
connecting narrative and elucidatory explanations have
been restricted v.'ithin the briefest compass. I have had

PREFACE,

the invaluftble co-operation of Miss Roebuck, who, besides
undertaking much of the labour of transcribing, was good
enough to entrust to me a large mass of letters and printed
papers, including the fragment of autobiography which
forms the opening chapters of the book. These, with
Hansard's Debates and newspaper reports of speeches deli-
vered out of Parliament, have formed the basis of the work.
Mr. Roebuck wrote regularly to Mrs. Roebuck, but beyond
that he was not a voluminous correspondent ; and the reason
why an appeal for his letters has not met with larger
response, is probably because there are not many in
existence.

My special thanks are due to Mr. Graham Wallas, and,
through him, to the representatives of the late Mr. Francis
Place, for giving me access to the systematically preserved
papers of that " Radical tailor of Charing Cross," who, for
many years, was the power behind the activities of the
advanced Liberals. I am indebted to Messrs. A. and C.
Black for placing at my disposal letters written by Mr.
Roebuck to the late Mr. William Tait, of Edinburgh ; to
the executors of the late Alderman William Fisher, of
Sheffield ; to Mr. John Temple Leader, of Florence ; and to
other friendly helpers.

R. E. LEADER.

May, 1897.

C^ONTEKTS.

0H«„, ^UTOBIOGBAPHY.

'• Early Lifk iv Pv^.

Ill r '^'''* ^^«^«-^824)

'^ "^ ^^«^AND (1824-1832)
JV. John Stpabt Milt t ^ '"

V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.

IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.

WFE AND LETTEBS.

1
II

»6

«TioN TOR Bath (1832)

RP „ PARLIAMENT (1833-1834)

Bk-klkctk. .OB Bath (183o) ^ -

B^WCAL Becriminations

R^^noK AS A Democrat (*;837) '" " '

Defeated at Bath (1837)

Canada-The Repbbsentation nJ*« ■■'

^. B.«_,,^ ^- '-" c^ ;;■«.« - - '"

^M Fall OF Pkel (1846-1847) •" *««

*'WAi, BmoTioN AT Bath (1847) '*' *" - ^^

17fi

42
51
64
74
92
»8
108

v"> CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VAOR

XVII. The Dtino Data op Toeixing ... ... ... 189

XVIII. The West Riding (1848) 200

XIX. HiSTOBT OF THE WHIG MINISTRY — MeHBEB FOB SHEFFIELD

(1849) ... ... ... ... 212

XX. Pabliamentabt Activities (1849-18!»0) ... ... 223

XXI. BB-EI.E0nON FOB SHEFFIELD (1850-1853) ... ... 24G

XXII. The Crimean and China Wars (1854-1857) ... 258

XXIII. "Teab 'em': (1857-1859) 209

XXIV. Austrian Leanings — Diffbbenors with Constituents

(1860-1861) 283

XXV. Fighting with Wild Beasts (1862-1865) ... ... 294

XXVI. Rejected by Sheffield (1865-1868) ... ... 309

XXVII. Out of Fabliament, and in again (1868-1874) ... 327

XXVIII. Mb. Roebuck's Last Pabliament (1874-1878) ... 345

XXIX. The Last Year— Death in Habnkss (1878-1879) ... 356

XXX. Estimates of Mb. Roebuck's Cabeeb and Obatobt 367

ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. J. A. Roebuck in 1838 (fbom the Painting by O. F. Watts,
R.A.) ... ... ... ... Frontiepieee

?. The Right Homoubable J. A. Roebuck, Q.C, M.P., in 1868

(fBOM ▲ PhOTOOBAFH BY THE LONDOV StEBEOSCOPIC Co.)

To face 310

AUTOBIOGRAPHY,

CHAPTER I.

EARLY LIFE IN ENGLAND. 1802-1815.

I FANG'S that I have not long to live ; therefore, if I can
leave anything behind me in the shape of a life history, it
must be written in haste, and certainly without any great
regard to accuracy as to dates. The space of time to be
gone over is large (nearly seventy years), the scenes, many
of them, important, and the individuals to be spoken of
occupying a great position, and influencing greatly the
welfare of this country.

My purpose is to give a faithful, and perhaps an
interesting, picture of a single life — of the life of a man
bom in the middle rank of society in England in the
early days of the nineteenth century, and living to the
latter end of that century ; taking part in the most im-
portant transactions as regarded his country, yet perhaps
having little influence upon them, in spite of his great
zeal and (I believe I may say it) his perfect honesty of
purpose.

Without further preface, I will I 'n the history of my
life. A happy life ! I have, indeed, thank Providence
for the many benefits with which I have been gifted. I
have been happy as a son, as a husband, as a father; I

'■'«•»*

2 LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

have been happy in my public career : have I not, then,
much for which to be thankful ?

I was born at Madras in the year 1802, December 28,
My father was Ebenezer Eoebuck, a younger son of Dr.
John Koebuck, the founder of the Carron Iron Works, in
Scotland, and well known in the scientific world.* My
mother was Zipporah Tickell, the daughter of Kichard
Tickell,t also well known in the political and literary
world of Fox and Sheridan.

My father's brother Benjamin was paymaster-general
of the forces of the East India Company at Madras % at the
time of my parents' marriage, and my father took his
young wife to India. She was then about twenty-one,
having been married at sixteen. She left three children
in England, all boys, in the care of her mother; bore
three children in India, all boys ; came home in 1807,
leaving her husband in India. He then had the almost
certain prospect of making a great fortune ; but on the
very day that his wife and children landed in England
he died suddenly. Having unwarily made a journey
through some deadly forests,§ travelling at night, he was
found in the morning dead in his palanquin. My uncle
Benjamin died shortly after. Thus my mother was left

* Dr. John Koebuck, the second of the live sons of John Eoebuck, manu-
facturer, of Sheffield, was born in that town in 1718. For an interesting
account of the manner in which, laying the foundations of great enter-
prises, he made the fortunes of other men, but lost his own, see Smiles's
■'Industrial Biography," p. 133. One of Dr. Roebuck's brothers was the
first banker in Sheffield ; two others were, among Sheffield merchants, the
earliest to open correspondence with mercantile houses of tlie Continent.
One of them built Meersbrook House, adapted in recent years to the
purposes of the Ruskin Museum.

t A descendant of Addison's friend and under secretary, Thomas Tickell,
poet and translator of the Iliad, 1G86-174().

% Chemistry was Benjamin Roebuck's hobby. The natives were inclined
to look upon him as something of a wizard, through seeing him perform the
simple experiment of making ice in front of a fire.

§ While engaged, for the East India Company, in endeavours to improve
the navigation of the river Godavery.

EARLY LIFE IN ENGLAND.

cell,

nud
the

ove

with six children, and with veiy uncertain means. She
had to educate them, put them forward in the world,
without assistance from her late husband's family or her
own. A truly difficult task, and a trying and dangerous
position.

She was very beautiful, very clever, fascinating, and
young. It is not wonderful that she was sought for by
many, that she married soon. The husband she chose
(Mr. Simpson) was, like herself, young and handsome, but
of no position. In choosing his wife he was guided
more by passion than by prudence. Whatever may have
been his defects, I have every reason to respect him, and
to be grateful to him for his uniform kindness to us,
his stepsons, and to our mother, whom he ever treated
with the utmost gentleness and loving coux'tesy. They
were indeed a happy couple, as far as themselves were
concerned. Fortune, however, did not befriend him.
He was a merchant, and not successful ; and after many
schemes had been tried and failed, it was resolved that
we should emigrate to Canada, which we did in the
year 1815.

The first years of my life, and the time I passed in
America, so deeply affected my whole character, and went
so far in forming the man, that I am induced to dwell
somewhat longer on those years, and to describe more
minutely the incidents of that time than I otherwise
should do.

My early life in England was, in its first years, the
life of a child of polished society. My mother, in spite
of her unwise marriage, retained her connection with her
old friends, and much of my time was passed in the house
of Mrs. Anne Boscawen, with whom my Aunt Eliza Tickell
lived. Mrs. Boscawen's story was a romance. She, early
in life, was engaged to my grandfather Tickell, and was by
him jilted. But her love for him survived every disap-
pointment ; and when he died she took the children that

4 LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

others bore him, and loved them as her own. My mother
was the first. She soon married. My Aunt Eliza suc-
ceeded, and remained with Mrs. Boscawen until that lady's
death. Mrs. Boscawen had been maid of honour to Queen
Charlotte, but left that office on her expected marriage
with my grandfather. When this was broken off she
became, I think, laundress to the Queen, an office not
thought unfit for a peer's daughter.

I became a great favourite with my aunt, and saw,
young as I was, much of the society that frequented Mrs.
Boscawen's rooms in St. James's Palace. My memory
chiefly dwells on the rejoicings of 1814, and the visit of
the kings and emperor — all of whom I saw — and their
suites. But of the men who visited at Mrs. Boscawen's,
the only two I really recollect are Kean, and Charles
Young, the actor. My aunt, Eliza Tickell, was a proprietor
of Drury Lane, and was the first who brought Kean to the
notice of the persons who then governed the theatre. She
was on a visit in the south of Devon, and saw Kean act
in a barn in the village. Her letter to the directors, or
whatever they were called, induced them to send down
a Doctor Somebody — I forget his name — to see and decide
upon Kean. He saw Kean, and was so much struck with
him that he recommended that he should be instantly
brought to London. Kean came, and the town went mad.
I only saw him once in private ; I often saw him act. The
occasion of my seeing him in private was upon my aunt
asking me if I should like to see him ; and upon my
answering joyously, " Oh yes," she gave me a letter, which
I took. I, to this day, recollect the impression made upon
me by his eye. He was reading when I was ushered into
the room. He spoke kindly to me. What he said I know
not, but I was pleased, and the memory of him, as I then
saw him, remains with me.

The other person whose name I have mentioned, Charles
Young, the actor, I saw only once, when he came on a

EARLY LIFE IN ENGLAND.

my
lich

low
Ihen

tries

morning visit to my aunt. I was a shrewd, precocious
child, very much of the enfant terrible sfyle, and I saw,
or fancied I saw, a sort of flirtation going on. The result
of this notion of mine will be seen further on. The opinions
of a child are worth nothing, but his feelings may be
worth knowing. At this time, and during all the after
years of my sojourn in England, I was wild about the
theatre. Before I was ten years of age I knew Shakespeare
by heart. I had seen John Kemble as " Coriolanus," "Brutus,"
" Hamlet." Young I saw as "Cassius" to Kemblc's "Brutus,"
Charles Kemble playing " Antony." Young also I saw as
" Pierre " in Venice Preserved. Then, to my extreme delight,
I sawKeanas "Richard III." "Hamlet," "Othello," "lago."
To my child's judgment, by far the best actor was Kean ;
his violence and rant seemed to me nature. The studied
manner of Kemble did not please me, though, led by
what I heard, I fancied that I admired him. Young's
agreeable and regulated style went straight home to my
heart, but Kean made me wild. We boys used to shout
the verses, fight the battles we had seen and heard the
night before.

Most unfortunately for me, the year after we returned
to England I sprained my right knee by slipping on an
oilcloth. This sprain I aggravated by skating ; and in the
severe winter of 1812 I was a well-known performer on
the Serpentine. Being very small, and dressed in a scarlet
jacket, I attracted attention. I was able to perform many
feats. I was great in the spread eagle, and could make
two figures of three on one leg; and the consequence
was that a ring used to be made in which good skaters
performed, one of whom I was. One day, alas ! I was
attracted by something at a distance. Going straight to
my mark, I found in my way a heap of snow, and jumped
over it; but the point of my right skate caught in the
bottom of the trouser of the left leg, and I came down on
my right knee, which immediately swelled. This lamed

»w«lP»W»-,J^I t " '^l^tf

6 L/F7-: OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

me for life, and my weak knee has influenced my fate in
many ways. That winter (1812) the Thames was frozen
over, and I skated from Westminster Bridge to Putney
Bridge.

I have also skated on the St. Lawrence from Augusta,
on the Canadian side of the river, to Ogdensburgh, on the
American shore, the distance being five miles, and the river
there a mile broad. This fact is remarkable, as ordinarily,
though the river is always frozen over in the winter, that
usually happens by successive frosts during which snow
generally falls, and there is no possibility of skating ; but
on the occasion mentioned the frost was so severe as to
make an ice bridge over the river in one night. The snow
held off, and the river became passable, and skating
possible. The wind was down the river, south-west, and
I held my great-coat open. This served as a sail,
and took me down rapidly; but I was unable to skate
against the wind, and had to walk home by the road on
the Canada side. As I went gliding over the ice I saw the
weeds at the bottom of the river, and the fish swimming
among them. This is, however, an anticipation of my
American life.

My feeble health, for the most part, kept me at home.
Excepting twice, I was never sent to a boarding school, and
upon each occasion the success of the experiment was so
small that there was no attempt made to renew it. My
education, therefore, was confined to English reading. I
read with my mother and grandmother, and thus acquired
that love of reading which has been my solace through life.
I do not recollect the time when I could not read, neither
do I know how or when I acquired that power. My aunt
first taught me to read with propriety and effect — the
manner being far more considered than the matter. I
remember my aunt taking me one morning to my mother,
to show how prettily I could read Little's poems — a strange
book for a child being taught by a young girl. I have

EARLY LIFE JN ENGLAND.

ler,
ige
kve

never read a line of Little since, but from what I have learnt
concerninfj him, I am sure that I understood him not at all ;
and such, I expect, was the case with my teacher.* My
grandmother taught me to read Shakespeare, but this
was some years after. She drilled me thoroughly, and was,
I believe, the cause of my great admiration for that mar-
vellous poet. Under my mother I learned to feel what I
was reading. We read chiefly poetry, not dramatic ; but
with her I went through most of the great English
poets.

Under my mother's care I began also to write — that is,
to compose. For many years it was my habit to go into
her room before she was up, and to lay upon her dressing-
table a letter written upon any subject that suggested itself

* Years afterwards, however, Sir. Eoebuck, without knowing it, met the
writer of "Little's" poems. This was Thomas Moore, who, iu 1801, had
issued a volume of original verse under the assumed name of Thomas Little —
an allusion to his diminutive stature. " In these pieces," says " Chambers's
Encyclopsedia of English Literature," " the warmth of tlie young poet's
feelings and imagination led him to trespass on delicacy and decorum. He
had the good sense to be ashamed of these amatory juvenilia, and genius
enough to redeem the fault." Thomas Hood plays on Moore's pseudonym in
•• The Wee Man : "

'' Loud laugh'd tho gogmagog, a laugh

As loud as giant's roar —
' When first I ciime, my proper name
Was Little — now I'm Moore.' "

Moore, in his diary (" Journals and Correspondence," vol. vii. p. 253), writes
under date February 24, 1839: "Bessy and I started for (Sir William)
Napier's on our long-promised visit. Found Eoebuck with him, whom I was
very glad to meet, and even more surprised than glad, as nothing could be
less like a firebrand than he is, his manner and look being particularly
gentle. Boebuck stayed but a short time, having to return to Bath by the
boat, which I was sorry for.

" February 27. — Young Falconer, brother-in-law of Roebuck, came, and
soon after Roebuck himself joined us. Conversation on various subjects —
America, mesmerism, etc., all very agreeable. Some allusion having been
made to my squibs, Roebuck said I had described him (which I had myself
forgot) dancing a fandango with Recorder Shaw [? Law]. On the subject of
mesmerism I found Roebuck to be much of the same opinion as myself —
that the next folly of swallowing all its marvels, is tlmt of rejecting them
all. Was sorry when Roebuck and his brother-in-law left us."

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

to my fancy. When she first proposed this to me, I
objected, saying I had nothing to say. Her answer was,
" Never mind that ; write anything, no matter what. Tell
mo what you have done during the day, what you have
seen, what you have read. You may always find something
— never mind how trivial. You will find, as time goes on,
the task more easy, and by-and-by it will become a
pleasure." So it did. During one part of these early
days I thought of becoming a poet, and among my letters
to her were many specimens of my poetical attempts.
But I was taught no Latin, no Greek, and, strange to
say, no French, though my mother spoke French fluently
and well.

One strange scheme of Mr. Simpson's was to turn
farmer, which he did in 1813, and went to Leicestershire,
taking all of us and my mother with him. This plan
naturally failed, but the time spent in the country showed
me a new phase of life, though I was too young to
understand all that I saw. I nevertheless perceived
that we had come among what was to me a strange class
of people, whom indeed I liked, for they were very
kind to us children, and the fields were pleasanter than
London.

Whilst in Gumley, Leicestershire, we had a visitor —
a friend of my mother's — who, in after years, was the
cause of a mighty effect upon my whole life. This was
Thomas Love Peacock,* who excited my curiosity by his
conversation. He was at the time studying Greek, was
reading some Greek dramatist and a commentator, and
excited the wonder of the farmers who came into the
house by reading, as they said, two books at once. He
used to sit on a chair on one side of the fire, at a sort of
shelf, which drew out of the wall, which shelf held his

* Author of " Headlong Hall," " Crotchet Castle," etc. In succession
to James Mill, he was Chief Examiner at the India Office, 1836-56.
Died 1866.

EARLY LIFE IN ENGLAND.

books, and in the evening his light. Every day after
breakfast he folded about a dozen paper boats, which he
told me he was accustomed to sail or set afloat in any
piece of water which he found in his walk — which walk
he began as soon as his boats were made, and continued
till our dinner, which was about five o'clock p.m. These
long solitary walks, his paper boats, his books, and the fact
that he was a poet, made him a sort of mj'sterious being
to the country people, who certainly were somewhat afraid
of him.

While I was at Gumley, I went to my second school —
I forget where ; but the master was a clergyman, and a
coward. My brother Benjamin went with me. After we
had been about a week at school, we were surprised by
seeing Mr. Simpson enter the room in which we were.
He told us he had come to take Benjamin home, as the
master of the school had written to say that he could not
undertake his tuition. To me he had no objection, so I
was to be left where I was. Such a proceeding was
necessarily calculated to have a most mischievous effect
on Benjamin, who was taught thereby that he need obey
no one, and that he might do as he liked.

The boys at the school were accustomed to athletic
exercises, leaping being a very favourite game. I must
take my part, and by so doing soon sprained my weak
knee, and was sent to bed until the swelling subsided,
which generally took a week. I asked for books, and
chose among those offered to me. Glover's "Leonidas."*
When I had finished this, I asked again, and the master

lis

* The author of the article on Kichard Glover in the "Dictionary of
National Biography" did not reckon on the literary craving of young
Roebuck on his sick-bed when he wrote : " Glover's ponderous ' Athenaid '
... is much longer, and so far worse than ' Leonidas ; ' but no one has been
able to read either for a century." For Roebuck, an eiiic poem in blank
verse, in nine books (afterwards enlarged to twelve), had no terrors. Glover
sat in Parliament for "Weymouth, 1761-68. The "Athenaid" was a sequel
to " Leonidas," which had been published in 1737.

i ra i rt ii wi pi

lo LIFE or JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

books, of which I

brought

some grave religious books, ot which 1 could
not read a page. I was sorely grieved and greatly
disgusted ; and therefore wrote home, pressing to be taken
away, as I learned nothing, and was very miserable. The
letter had the effect I wished ; and thus ended the second
attempt to teach me scholastically.

CHAPTER II.

LIFE IN CANADA. 1815-1824.

The next change in my life resulted from the determin-
ation to emigrate. Shipboard and the sea gave me much
knowledge of life.

My mother's brother had been secretary to General
Simc^e when he was Governor-General of Canada, and
my • icle lost his life in an expedition to the great
lakes. As he was crossing the Niagara River in a small
boat, a short and severe flurry of snow came on. When
this cleared away, the boat and its occupants had dis-
appeared for ever. The English Government gave my
mother five hundred acres of land in Upper Canada, near
York (now Toronto), in requital of my uncle's services.
This land led, I have no doubt, to the scheme of
emigration.

The year we left England was 1815. The passage
was in a barque named the Dorothy, one of three
vessels ordered to the Clyde to ship emigrants to
Canada. As the war was now renewed, I suppose this
plan was adopted in 1814, upon the defeat of Napoleon
and his imprisonment in Elba. When the war ceased in
that year, doubtless means were taken to relieve the
overburdened Empire. The population was too large for
peaceable times. But the war was suddenly renewed,
and no one could say when it would end. I imagine the
plans of 1814 were not put aside, but carried on as if

12 LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK'.

peace still continued. The news of the battle of Waterloo
arrived while we were lying in the Clyde. The ships
were dressed in flags, and there were great rejoicings.
While still lying before Greenock, the whole of us made
an excursion to a house, lately built by the Duke of
Argyle, at Roseneath — a charming spot, which in the warm
summer days seemed like fairyland.

We went on board in the Clyde, the vessel being the
Baltic Merchant, which, proving uncomfortable, we left
her, and went on board the more roomy and convenient
Dorothy. I am surprised that I remember the names of
these ships and the incidents of those times, things of
far greater importance which have happened later having
passed away from my memory. The captain of the
Dorothij was a bluff, good-humoured sailor, of no education,
and of low breeding. The calibre of the first mate may
be judged by the information he gave us inquisitive boys.
He told us the voyage to America would necessarily be
a slow one because, from the shape of the earth, we were
what he called " dimming " uphill ; whereas, returning
from America, vessels ran downhill, and came faster home.

I was then, and have been all my life, a poor sailor.
Sea-sickness never leaves me while I am aboard. After
a voyage of eight weeks I have been as ill the last day
as the first. I nevertheless employed myself during the
voyage in reading and drawing, which have always been
with me great means of solace and pleasure.

Our passengers, the emigrants, were chiefly Highlanders.
One of the chiefs — his name was MacNab — came on board,
and had a lachrymose leavetaking with his clanspeople.
•' They are all as good as mysel'," he said to us in tearful
accents, and as an excuse for his tears, which were plentiful,
and seemed sincere. The people, however, were a wild set,
particularly the women. But many of their habits were to
us most interesting. For hours I have seen four men
seated on the deck, each one holding the corner of a

LIFE IN CANADA.

shepherd's plaid, and swinging it to and fro, singing, in
a low chanting tone, an interminable song in Gaelic, often
during the time shedding tears. All the music seemed to
me to be in a minor key ; but of this I am not sure, as
I know little — I may say nothing — of music. They often
danced, the women as well as the men, all dancing well.
They grew by the exercise very excited, when there often
appeared a feeling of anger and hate against the English.
Once, there being some trilling dispute with the captain,
upon a complaint made by the passengers, an oldish woman,
somewhat tipsy, called upon the men to right themselves
by their skencs, which we were told signified knives. Upon
another occasion, a wild-looking Highlander rushed upon
deck. Running to the capstan, he dashed his hand upon
the top of it, and threw down a cockroach, saying in broken
English, " Are these the things ye have on board, and do
ye treat us in this way ?" The captain, as may be supposed,
laughed loudly upon this, and dismissed him and his insect
with some rude sailor's answer.

We boys soon took an interest in the working of the
ship, and che mizzen-mast was given up to us. We merely
worked the yards — that is, on deck — never being allowed to
go aloft. I think I made a mistake in calling the vessel a
barque, as she had a mizzen top-sail, which a barque has not.

I may mention here a matter which may be a warning
to any future emigrant family. A woman-servant, who
had li\'ed with us in England many years, and who pro-
fessed to be warmly attached to my mother, joined us in
011V plan of emigration, and v.ent with us in the ship to
Canada, being treated rather as one of the family than as
a servant. When arrived at Quebec, she told my mother
that she had promised to marry the captain of the ship,
und was to return with him. She left us after eight or
nine years of service, and we never heard of her afterwards.
This led to engaging the two daughters of an emigrant
named Fergusson, Maigaret and Katharine.

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

The passage up the river St. Lawrence was trying to
our patience, but agreeable, as the weather was fine, and
the wind, though generally unfavourable, yet being south
and west, the climate was pleasant. When we arrived at
Quebec, the vessels were ordered up to Montreal, upon
which we proceeded onwards, and the first day ran aground.
The laden vessel could not be got off. Then a fine large
steamer came and took us from the ship, baggage and all.
When we got on board the steamer we found, among the
passengers. Sir Sydney Beckwith. We boys were all
clad in barragon,* dressed as we supposed was fitting
for a wild country. My mother and Mr. Simpson were
dressed as gentlefolks ought to be. Sir Sydney was
attracted by my mother, and the large family of boys, and
soon entered into conversation. Learning that our name
was Roebuck, he made some inquiry which led to his being
informed as to who we were. " Good God ! " he exclaimed.
" What, nephews of Benjamin Roebuck of Madras ? " He
then put his hand before his eyes and bent towards the
table. When he raised his head, which he did directly, there
was a glitter in his eyes very like tears. " When I knew
their uncle," he said, " he was living in a state of princely
magnificence." The contrast evidently shocked him, but
he said nothing more. However, the result was, that we
were kindly treated by the Government, and every facility
aflbrded us to get up the country.

Mr. Simpson, before leaving Montreal, bought an estate
at Augusta, midway on the banks of the St. Lawrence,
between Prescott and Brockville, about sixty miles below
Kingston, and below the Thousand Islands, the river being,
as I believe, nearly a mile broad. The estate had upon it
a good stone house, about eighty yards from the river,
with convenient outhouses, barns, and a capital orchard

* A name in use in Hampshire and Cornwall for fustian. The Lancashire
form is " barragan ; "' in commerce it is " barracan," a strong, thick kind of
camlet.—" English Dialect Dictionary."

LIFE IN CANADA.

and garden. I was too young to know anything about the
purchase, but I now can see it was a rash act to buy it,
and to launch into the expenses which followed. But
Mr. Simpson was a daring, sanguine man, and indulged in
schemes that would have terrified a sober-minded one.
These schemes, and their ultimate failure, I need not
describe ; the only visible effect of them being, as far as
I was concerned, my return to England, and the change
that followed in my whole plan of life.

We started on our journey to Upper Canada from the
village of Lachine, which is situated on the end of the
island of Montreal highest up the river. The Government
supplied us with two Canadian bateaux, with five men in
each, four oarsmen and a pilot, or steersman. Our baggage
and ourselves filled these boats. This, at that time, was
the chief mode of conveyance of merchandise and passengers.
The Americans navigated the river in a different manner.
The American Durham boat was much larjjer than the
Canadian bateau, and had one large fore and aft sail, and
was propelled by poles, the men putting the pole to the
shoulder and stooping and crawling along a narrow
passage on the gunwale, with transverse pieces of wood
across it, against which they placed their feet and hands.

In this manner they forced the vessel up the rapids, and
against a head wind. The Canadian bateau had a temporary
mast and a square sail, which was used when the wind
was fair ; when it was foul, oars were used where the river
was without rapids. At the rapids the boat was forced by
poles used in a different manner from that of the American.
Sometimes the boat was tracked by a rope, two men
remaining on board, one astern, one in the bow, both using
poles.

This mode of journeying was necessarily very slow, and
we were therefore many days getting to our journey's end.
At night we generally had to put up at some house on the
bank of the river, being usually very hospitably received,

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

paying, however, for our accommodation. One night — fine,
luckily — we were on Lake St. FranQois, and, finding no
house, had to rest for the night under an awning in the
boat. All this, which was our first experience of our new
life, was to us boys a scene of perfect enchantment. The
weather was fine ; the great river on which we floated, and
what to us appeared its wild shores, gave us never-ending
delight. Everything was new, and, as far as we could see,
all was beautiful. Young as we were, the future did not
much trouble us ; nor were we yet touched with longing
for home, which inevitably wrings the heart of every
emigrant. But with minds prepared for adventure, we
seemed to ourselves enacting the life of Robinson Crusoe,
and nothing prosaic in any way dimmed the brilliant scene
before us.

We found the house upon our farm comfortable and
roomy, built of stone, and capable of being rendered an
agreeable and pleasant residence. That season called the
" Indian summer " quickly followed our arrival, and this is
perhaps the most beautiful and pleasant part of the whole
Canadian year ; and we were at first very favourably
impressed by the climate.

I remained for the next four years at Augusta, taking
my share in all the farm labours. But what I have now
to do is to explain the effect that this new life had upon
my mind and character.

I may here describe my family, and relate shortly the
history of all of them.

The eldest of the emigrant family was my mother's
mother. She died at Augusta, and is buried in the grave-
yard attached to the Church of Engla,nd church that is
situate about two miles down the river from our house on
the road to Prescott. It stands on a pine-barren of about
a mile broad, the land being left untilled and the pine trees
left standing. It is a wild spot which I have often passed.
The perfume of the pines in that wood still lives freshly in

LIFE IN CANADA.

my memory. This old lady was to the day of her death of
wondrous beauty. I looked on her face a few hours after
her death, and then saw the truth of those lines of Byron —

He who hath bent him o'er the dead,
Ere the first day of death is fled.

To my startled gaze a flush was upon her cheek ; age,
and all trace of age, seemed to have vanished, the beauty
of youth to have returned, and she whom I had always
known as an ancient woman, appeared almost a girl. I
did not look again. It would have been a bitter pain to
have that fair vision succeeded by the look of age and
death — for I loved her dearly.

Of my mother I have already spoken. She died at
Coteau-du-Lac, February 9, 1842.

The next is Mr. Simpson, who long survived my mother,
and married an American lady. He died at Brookville.

My eldest brother was Richard, who had been sent to
sea in his Majesty's service under Sir George Cockburn,
who was an old East Indian friend of my mother's.
Richard left the navy at the peace of 1814. He was ten
and a half years old when he left home ; he was, con-
sequently, very illiterate. The care that is now taken of
the youngsters in our service was then unknown. When
he returned, however, he soon felt his own deficiencies, and
became an indefatigable reader, thereby acquiring a good
deal of knowledge; but he could never regain the lost
time.

William, the second brother, went to Woolwich to
study, so as to become either an engineer or of the artillery.
He left the Academy in 1818, and joined the emigrant
party. He married an American lady, and died, leaving
a family, one of whom, the second daughter, I have seen.
She is married, and happily settled.

George, the third brother, had not left school when the
time for our departure came. He joined us, and, upon the

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

break-up at Augusta, vvent to the West Indies, to Antigua,
where he shortly afterwards died.

Benjamin came next — a bold, daring, harum-scarum
boy, who could learn anything he chose, if only he applied
his mind to the subject. He also left Canada at the same
break-up; through the interest of our family obtained a
commission in the East India Company's cavalry, returned
to his birthplace, Madras, and died soon after at Seringa-
patam.

I was the next.

Then came Henry, who remained in Canada, and
married. He died, leaving a widow, two sons, and a
daughter.

What I desire to do as regards the history of my life
in Canada, is to explain the influence upon my character
and fortunes of that period of my career. That the state
of things in that country had an extraordinary efl'ect upon
me, I well know; but I feel it difficult to explain this.
A knowledge of the country, of its state and condition, is
requisite to the understanding of the sort of influence
exercised upon a boy of my antecedents and nature, and
even that will hardly give a clue to the effect upon my
mind of the circumstances by which I was surrounded.
When I went to Canada I was .very young, and very
ignorant, necessarily, of the world and its ways. I was,
besides, in my hidden nature, very romantic, and living
most of my time in dreamland.

Never was anything so opposed to this way of thought
and feeling as the society made up of my family. The
strong, healthy young men and lads, who held in scorn
every manifestation of sentiment, who laughed at emotion,
constituted but a chilling and depressing atmosphere to
anything approaching high feeling and exalted thought.
They were, though boys, a set of cynical philosophers.
The tone of the conversation was more that of disabused
men of the world than a set of boys fresh from school.

LIFE IN CANADA. 19

From what I then saw, from that example, I am led to
believe that English schoolboy life has this tendency— that
the general tone of thought and feeling created by an
English boy's school damps imagination, chills all ardent
aspirations, makes of children cold-blooded beings, who
ridicule and contemn all expressions of great and generous
maxims. And yet I believe that this mode of conversation
was not an expression of the actual state of mind of those
employing it, but that a dread of ridicule was the cause of
all this cynical bearing.

I was in the habit of constantly writing verse and
prose, and I recollect well the dread that I felt lest my
brothers should find these effusions, and bring them
forward to be laughed at, and myself held up to ridicule.
Yet, in spite of the felt and acknowledged difference
between myself and my brothers, as years went on, my
influence over them and the affairs of the family daily
grew, and I was allowed, without much interference, to
pursue my own course as it pleased me. My devotion to
study met with a tacit approval, the more especially as
it never took me away from daily work, which I per-
formed as faithfully as any one of the others, and of which
I took my share without shrinking. All my brothers
grew to powerful men. I, on the contrary, was from the
beginning small, frail, and, before I went to Canada, an
invalid. My health there grew assured, but I never
became strong. My knee always interfered with any
great exertion, and, though I was agile and strong for my
size, I could not have held my own with these sons of
Anak had not my intellect helped. That came effectually
to my aid, and before I left Canada I ruled the family.

[Writing, in 1870, to a friend who had lost a brother,
Mr. Roebuck said —

I, too, have lost, or am about to lose, my only remaining
brother— the loved companion of my infancy and youth, and

■ llHi l ■! .J .

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

whose death takes away from me the !,i?t member of that once
glad party which was made up of six brothers. I, the sickly
one, the one never expected to reach manhood, am now left alone,
the last and miserable survivor of this once happy band.

Exhorting the working-men of Sheffield to self-culture,
in an address given to the Mechanics' Institute of that
town (February 1, 1860), Mr. Roebuck sketched, under a
transparent veil of anonymity, the mode of life in his
Canadian home.

I recollect in my early life meeting a man who had become
an emigrant. He was one of a family born to wealth, reared \\\
luxury, and in this country accustomed to all the appliances
which luxury can give. He emigi-ated with his family to America.
He was compelled to apply himself to the mere ordinary occu-
pations of gaining a livelihood as a farmer. Now, what did that
family do ? They were composed of ladies and gentlemen of
England. The mother of that family was a woman of great
acquirements and ability. I recollect her perfectly well. I had
every reason to know her well. She instituted a code in that
family that I would recommend to every working man of my
country. It was that there should be as much courtesy, good
breeding, and every means that could promote the happiness of
that family, though now reduced to the position of mere working
men, as existed in it when they were of the gentry of England.
I recollect that young man telling me that his mother never
came into the room but every one of the children rose to salute
her. They took out their library from England to America.
They passed their time in the day in the ordinary occupation of
working-men ; the evening they dedicated to intellectual enjoy-
ment. Now, I want to know why the working-men of England
cannot do that ?]

I now desire to give a description of the country and
its society, so far as that state of things influenced my
mind and our fortunes. This description will be the
result of my subsequent experience, reflecting my state of
mind when I finally quitted Canada.

The wild country, its great rivers, the vast scale upon

LIFE IN CANADA,

le
)f

l>n

which everything was framed, made on me a profound
impression. The freedom in which we lived, the thorough
liberty of going where we liked, the new scenes, brought
with them a sort of enchantment. All efforts would fail
were I to endeavour to describe them.

The great river St. Lawrence lay before us, and was a
never-failing source of adventure and delight. We built
boats, rigged and sailed them unchecked, save by the
nature of things. The primeval forest lay behind us, and
in this we hunted and shot, undisturbed by game laws, or
even by the will of neighbouring proprietors.

William and myself were given to drawing. William,
having a genius for that art, became a very pretty artist.
Thus our time was spent in downright hard labour on the
farm, and at the same time we retained many of the habits
and manners of civilized life.

We had a large and well-selected library of the English
classics, which I read completely through, and what I read
at that time left an indelible impression upon my memory,
and gave whatever of mental power I have possefjsed
in life.

Society, we had little or none. The neigiibours were
chiefly farmers with some second calling, such t«s store-
keepers of different kinds. What we ought to have done
was to have made friends with all these good people, and
to have lived on neighbourly terms with them, asserting
no airs of superiority, and if we possessed any knowledge
or power which might have been useful, to have freely
imparted it, and received from them much good advice in
return, which their experience enabled them to give. We
did none of these things.

The population of the district mostly consisted of the
descendants of those Americans who adhered to the side
of the mother-country in the War of Independence. These
people emigrated to Canada as being still an English
possession, and were known as U.E.'s (United Englishmen).

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK'.

Tliey were in their habits and manners American, it being
impossible to find any differeneo between them and the
Americans on the other side of the river. On the Canadian
side, however, there came constantly eraigi'ants, chiefly
from Ireland, who, though nominally British subjects,
hated England and everything English. The natives were
not very favourable to the English dominion, and the
consequence was, there were constant feuds springing up
between us and the people about us. We were extremely
English, and not at all backward in giving expression to
our opinions.

The life in that wild country had a marked effect upon
my character. I never forgot England, and from the first,
as a mere child, determined to return home and try my
fortunes in the land of my fathers. The effect of the new
life, the wild forests, the broad river., the roaming and
almost wandering habits that were then contracted, — all
worked upon my imagination, and made me bold and
daring.

No one without experience can appreciate the effect of
a life in the forests and wild country of America upon the
mind, the character, and the emotions. I,, now old (seventy-
five years), still feel emotions that result from the days of
my boyhood passed in the rapturous freedom of the
primeval forest, and on the bosom of the broad rivers
of America. Even now when spring comes I sigh in-
voluntarily for the enchanting pleasures enjoyed when
winter broke, and joyous spring came with a bound, and
loosened all the chains with which frost had bound us.
The rivers were again open, and I rushed with wild
delight in my canoe over the broad waters of the St.
Lawrence. Day and night we fished and followed the
wild fowl in the bays of the river, and the many streams
that flowed into that magnificent world of waters. The
sudden change from the dreary cold days of the winter
to the genial warmth of summer was almost miraculous.

LIFE IN CANADA.

At once, and ?ompletely, the whole face of nature was
changed; the flowers started up in the forest, the birds
suddenly appeared, and all nature was alive. The trees
in a few days were covered with leaves. The most
startling incident, however, was the wonderful change in
the great river. To-day and to-night tae broad surface
was one white sheet, over which horses and sleighs passed
as upon the ground. Suddenly the wind came from the
south ; a deluge of warm rain poured down ; a sound as if
great guns were being let off was heard ; and through the
night, commotion, turmoil, and a fierce storm of wind and
rain. The morning broke in bright sunshine, and there,
where was a desolate white plain, was now sparkling
water; the ice was gone, and navigation was free. The
summer was come ; all the work of agriculture was suddenly
resumed. The change was like a stage transformation.

One of my great pleasures was to seat myself under a
fence with a book, and dream away hour after hour ; and
now here in England, fifty years and more having passed
over my head, and busy and active life passed away, when
the cold spring returns my heart craves for the pleasure
of those young days and gay hopes, bright sunshine, and
dreamy musing.

These were years of continuous steady study. I read
and pored over the English classics day and night. I
taught myself French, also a good deal of Latin.*

[Addressing the boys of the SheflQeld Collegiate School
on June 22, 1861, Mr. Roebuck said —

If I had followed steadily and carefully the business of my
own education, instead of pursuing it with the sort of enthusiasm
— the madness with which I did, I should not now be what I
am, an old man and yet a young one. I recollect perfectly well
that I had a window looking upon the expanse of the St Lawrence,
and when night came — my studies were usually pursued in winter
* Italian was added some years after.

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

— from my window I could sec the gront stars of heaven ; and I
recollect to this lionr the pleasure I enjoyed in believing and
knowing that every other soul was in bed. Tliore is a pleasure
to the studious man in the small hours of the morning. He wants
to do all that he possibly can to obtain the quiet that is then about
him. My good mother used to come up into my room and say,
" No, sir, yon must go to bed ; this will never do." If your
mothers will do so to you, they will do you a benefit.]

Ono thing never left my mind. In thought I constantly
reverted to the memory of my ancestors. They had been
distinguished in science and literature, and it always
seemed to me possible that I might distinguish myself in
England. I therefore formed the resolution of returning
Itome, and determined to try my fortune at the Bar. How
to do this was always in my thoughts, and at last, when I
was about twenty or twenty-one, I started for London
with £50 in my pocket. That I was allowed to do this
seems to me now a wonder, and something worse. That
I was not shipwrecked, and cast upon the world without
hope, is now to me a marvel. I was indeed supported for
some short time by uncertain remittances from Canada,
but they failed utterly, and I was thrown upon my own
unaided resources.

( 25 )

CHAPTER III.

RETURN TO ENGLAND. 1824-1832.

In the year 1824 I cturne.1 to England from Canada.
Among the friends of my mother's was the well-known
scholar Thomas L. Peacock,* to whom I took a letter of
introduction, and whom I found at the India House acting
as what I believe is called a Political Examiner. After
a short conversation, he said, " I think I can introduce
you to a young friend of mine in this house who belongs
to a (hsqiUsition set of young men"— I remember the word
was new to me-«and you may find his acquaintance
agreeable and useful." I at once expressed my willingness
and he then took me to the room of John Mill, and after
a few words of introduction left us together. Mill and I
immediately entered into conversation, in which I laid
myself entirely open, having, as I thought, nothing to
conceal. Mill, I afterwards found, was cautious, and
approached his own peculiar views with great precaution.
Among other things, he told me that he was oi^e of a
society called the Utilitarian Society, which met about
once a week, at the house of Mr. Bentham, for the purpose
of discussion. He told me that each member in turn read
a paper, upon which a debate followed.

Of the name of Bentham I was utterly ignorant. Of
his tenets and philosophy I knew nothing. In fact I was
perfectly ignorant of the political, social, and philosophic

* See ante, p. 8.

•-*»»--»

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

condition of Englanil and the world. I had read much,
but without a guide, without a purpose; except the general
on 3 of instructing myself, and I came into this, to me, new
world, without knowing at all what I did by joining this
body of young men.

Mill put into my hands a small octavo manuscript, which
was a description of the principles of the Utilitarian Societ}',
and its rules. He offered to introduce me, and if, upon
consideration, I acquiesced, he would propos.o me as a
member.*

I little knew what an important influence that con-
versation would have upon my future life. My reading,
as I have alread}- said, was, for my age, extensive. Besides
the advantage of my access to the well-selected library
of my mother's husband, I was also free of the public
library of Quebec, which had been founded under the
advice of Priestley. The conscciuencc was that I was
familiar with the greater part of English literature, had
read all our poets, and many of our philosophers.

I remember well brinirino- home to Beaufort, where we
then lived, from Quebec a volume of th-c i^uarto edition
of Locke, and sitting up late into the night reading it,
when I was disturbed by my mother, and desired to go
to bed. She looked to see what I was reading, and found
it to be the " Essay on the Human Understanding." She
turned over the leaves, and asked what possible good there
was in that sort of matter. I had then, as I should have
now, much difficulty in finding an answev.f

To return to my interview with Mill. After some

* For J. S. Mill's ftccount of the Utilitariiin Society bco his " Auto-
biograpliy,"' p, 79.

t Note by J. A. R. — I put pretty nearly the same question to Grote the last
time I ever conversed with him. We were dining with the Chancellor of the
Exchequer (Disraeli) on the Qucen'a birthday. Wo were speaking of the
work that Grote was tl\en about, viz. Aristotle, when I asked him if ho
thought any real good roaulted from tliat sort of inquiry, and Jo, os I, was
much puzzled for an answer.

RETURN TO ENGLAND.

further talk, iic asked mo if I should like to sec the
museum, and took me there. In going throUj^h it, I was
struck with his knowledge— its variety, and, as far as I
could judge, its extent. At that time I had not seen his
father's "History of India," and thr"gh born in India, and
connected with it through members of my family, I knew
ver}^ little about its condition and history. Mill appeared
familiar Avith every subject that the contents of the
museum suggested, and explained everything that we
came across. I left greatly struck with the remarkable
person I had met.

My first visit to the Utilitarian Society I shall never
forget. It met in a low, half-furnished, desolate sort of
room— I believe the dining-room of the house, not Mr.
Bentham's dining-room. The place was lighted by a few
tallow candles. A desk was drawn across the end of the room,
at which desk sat the chairman, and some half-dozen young
men sat in chairs round the room, and formed the society!
The essay was a critique for some review of an edition of
a Greek author. It was written and read by a young
man named Harfield, and appeared to give general satis"^
faction. Mill told me it was a sort of trial piece, and was
intended to test the capacity of Harfield to be the editor
of some review.

On that evening I met for the first time the friend of
my life, George J. Graham. Ho walked with me towards
my then homo, vdiich was in Islington. He lived in
Gray's Tpu V7 ^ yere accompanied part of the way by
a young luan. named Place.* We stopped at the door of

* Fmncis Plr-e, the onec well-known Ratli,->1 - 'iticiau of Charing
Cross. He w s i sort of right-hand man to Bent;...... a.id to James Milf,

and the mcvirg power behind tlvo "Philosophical Radicals." Place, having
becu bom in 1771, was Roebuck's senior by thirty-one years. For au
account of him see the article in tlio " Dictionary of National Biography,"
by Mr. Graham Wdlas, who is also now writing his life. There are some
interosting references to Place in Ilolyoake's •• .^Jxty Years of an Agitator's
Life," vol, i. p. 215.

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

a house in Charing Cross, and I well remember the shock
which my pride received when, looking up, I saw the name,
"Place, Tailor," over the door! This was my first ex-
perience in democracy.

I eventually became a member of the society, and
being greatly struck with the works of Bentham* and
James Mill, I, in fact, became also a pupil of John Mill,
who, although younger than myself, was far in advance of
me in philosophy and politics.

From this time our intimacy increased day by day, and
was strengthened by the fact that Graham and myself
became sworn friends — brothers, in fact — and with John
Mill formed a triumvirate which we laughingly called the
" Trijackia," all of us being named John.

I found that Mill, although possessed of much learn-
ing, and thoroughly acquainted with the state of th '
political world, was, as might have been expected, the
mere exponent of other men's ideas, those men being his
father and Bentham ; and that he was utterly ignorant of
what is called society; that of the world, as it worked
around him, he knew nothing ; and, above all, of woman,
he was as a child. He had never played with boys; in
his life he had never known any, and we, in fact, who were
now his associates, were the first companions he had ever
mixed with. His father took occasion to remark to myself
especially, that he had no great liking for his son's new

* It is to be regretted that Mr. Roebuck does r.ot tell us more of bis
associatiou with Bentham. He became something of a favourite with the old
philosopher, who foresaw the mark his young friend would one day make in
the world. The short notes from Roebuck to Bentham, preserved among tho
Bentham manuscripts at tho British Museum, relate only to such matters as
invitations to dinner ; but they always contain assurances of the " very great
respect " with which the young disciple signs his acceptances to dinner " at
the usual hour." There is a playfully aftectionate reference to Roebuck in
Browning's " Life of Bentham," vol. xi. p. 81 : "I have been catching fish,"
Bentham said one day. " I have caught a carp. I shall hang him up, feed him
with bread and milk. He shall be my tame puss, and shall play about on
tlie floor. But I have a new tamo puss. I will make Roebuck my puss for
his article on Canada, and many a mouse t' all he catch."

RETURN TO ENGLAND.

friends. I, on the other hand, let him know that I had no
fear of him who was looked upon as a sort of Jupiter
Tonans. James Mill looked down on us because we were
poor, and not greatly allied, for while in words he was a
severe democrat, in fact and in conduct he bowed down to
wealth and position. To the young men of wealth and
position who came to sec him he was gracious and
instructive, while to us he was rude and curt, gave us no
advice, but seemed pleased to hurt and offend us. This
led to remonstrance and complaint on the part of John
Mill, but the result was that we soon ceased to see John
Mill at his home. Our chief point of rewnion was the
house of George Grote, Mrs. Grote being the means of
bringing us together. She was kind and courteous, and was
always ready by kind words and winning, pleasant manner,
to render her house an agreeable and really instructive
centre of meeting.*

[At times interruption to work came in the shape of
severe attacks of illness, brought on by a chill in 1825, the
effects of which did not pass away for many years, as
neuralgia settled in the knee already weakened by injury
in childhood, and though Roebuck was active and a swift
walker, the long expeditions into the country, taken at this
period with J. S. Mill f and others, did not tend to mend
matters. One day's walk, especially, of forty miles caused
weoks, if not months, of suffering.

On the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1830, after
the news of the " three days of July," Roebuck, Mill, G. J.
Graham, and others hastened to Paris, filled with enthusiasm
and hope for France. Mr. Roebuck, years afterwards,

* Mill's account is that the gatherings at Grote's were not meetings of the
Utilitarian Society, tliough consisting largely of the same gi'oup (see his
" Autobiography," p. 1 ID).

t On these country excursions J. S. Mill would fill his pockets with sweet
violet seed, and scatter it iu the hedges as he went along.

iHWWrT

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

described how this company of young Englishmen, thinking
only of great and wide measures of constitutional govern-
ment, were taken aback, and not a little disappointed at
the state of mind of the French Liberal leaders. One man
they found completely occupied with the arrangement of
the uniform of the National Guard, especially of what
shape the new cockade should be ; others changing the
names of the streets, and most of them intriguing for
place.

On the occasion of Louis Philippe's first visit to the
opera, these young Englishmen happened to be present,
and they presently began to shout for " La Marseillaise,"
in which th<^ house joined ; and then they shouted " Debout,
debout ! " 1 til the whole audience, including the king
himself, aco ,tood up during the playing of the

revolutionary tu-r T

Thus time went on, great events in the world occurred,
and our reform opinions seemed about to be tested in
earnest. The French Kevolution of July occurred. The
English Reform Bill followed, and we all three* rushed
into the torrent, and were as mad and ardent as youth,
energy, and sincere belief in our opinions could make us.

The Reform Bill having become law, and I, having
been very active in the many proceedings which attended
the passing of that measure, became known to many public
men, and, among others, to Joseph Hume, who at that
time was a man of great mark and power. Many of the
new constituencies created by the Reform Bill had great
confidence in him ; among others, the City of Bath showed
that confidence by asking him to select for them a man
whom they might send as their representative to Parlia-
ment. He sent them down three names, of which mine
was one, and, I know not for what reason, the choice
of the Liberal majority fell upon me. Before this,
* Iloebuek, Mill, and Graham.

RETURN TO ENGLAND.

Hume went down to Bath and introduced me to the
constituency.

I had for many years been training myself for a
politician, and especially did I study public speaking.
I acquired great facility, and striking and incisive powers
of speech. I also formed for myself a political scheme,
so that I came before the public armed at all points, a
trained politician. This procured for me success; and
eight years after I had set foot in England, unknown in
life's difficult journey, I became, by my own efforts, a
Member of the British Parliament.

fit will be observed that Mr. Koebuck says he does not
know for what reason the choice of the Liberals of Bath
fell upon him. Miss Roebuck shows how it came to pass
that he enlisted the sympathies of at least one partisan.
She writes —

My mother used to te 1 how one morning, on entering the
breakfast-room, her brother, Thomas Falconer, called out, " Here,
Henrietta, look at these letters ; they are from candidates for
Bath." She took up the letters, looked at each, then, holding out
one, said, " This is the one to choose ; the letter is well written,
and in the hand of a gentleman." It was signed, " J. A. Roebuck."
The day after my father and Mr. Hume arrived in Bath. They
were brought in procession, with band playing and flags flying, to
my grandfather's [the Rev.Thomas Falconer's] house in the Circus.*

On the way up the hill at the back of the Circus, my father
saw a young lady standing with other persons, looking over the
garden wall at the crowd. Some one at my father's elbow said,
" That is Miss Falconer."

By the time the procession reached No. 29, the lady was in
the drawing-room, and there my father and mother first met.

* " We arrived," Mr. Roebuck wrote, " on August 20, and went to the
White Hart, where a crowd quickly collected under the windows, shouting.
Hume, who was having a cup of tea, said, • I don't know what to say to these
people, Roebuck; just put your head out of window and say something
to them,' which I did ; and tliis was my first appearance before tlie people
of Bath."

LIFE OF yOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Thus Mr. Koebuck found at Bath not only a seat in
Parliament, but also a wife, who was his loving helper and
loyal champion through all the strain and stress of his long
and combative life.*

Mr. Mill t gives us a glimpse of the sedulous manner in
which Mr. Roebuck cultivated striking and incisive powers
of speech. He says —

There was for some time in existence a society of Owenites,
called the Co-operative Society, which met for weekly public
discussions in Chancery Lane. In the early part of 1825,
accident brought Roebuck in contact with several of its members,
and led to his attending one or two of the meetings, and taking
part in the debate in opposition to Owenism. Some one of us
started the notion of going there in a body, and having a general
battle ; and Charles Austin and some of his friends, who did not
usually take part in our joint exorcises, entered into the project.

It wa" ''.irried out, and many animated discussions
with the Owenites followed. This led to Mill and his
friends forming a debating society, which held its meetings
at Freema ii's i-'av^ern. Roebuck was one of the most
steadfast members.

Mr. Roebuck was in the habit, at a later period, of
referring to the care with which he trained himself for
his parliamentary career. At Sheffield, in acknowledging
the presentation of 1100 guineas, made to him on Sep-
tember 3, 1856, "in recognition of his great national
services, and in memorial of his work as a Liberal,
patriotic, and distinguished statesman," he said —

I ask myself what it is that has given me the present occasion
of returning you my thanks. It is not talent, it is not name,
it is not rank, it is not wealth. What is it, then ? It is stead-
fastness in that course which I marked out for myself in the
beginning. I am proud to say that in the year 1832 I published

* He was married to Miss Falconer on January 14, 1834, at Walcot
Church, Bath.

t "Autobiography," p. 123.

liETURN TO ENGLAND.

a programme of the opinions I then held. I had prepared myself
for a public life. I had then formed my opinions. I consigned
them to paper. I printed them, and to them I now adhere.
That which I said in 1832 I say now; and it is my thorough
and steadfast adherence to the opinions which I then expressed
that has won for me the approbation of my countrymen. . . .
Oomg into Parliament, unknown, unsupported, only recom-
mended by that tried friend of the people, Joseph Hume, I
determined not to ally myself with either of the -roat parties that
then divided the House of Commons and the kingdom. I was
neither Whig nor Tory, and I went into the House of Commons
determined to advocate that which I believed to be for the
interests of the people, without regard to party considerations.
To that rule I have adhered through life.

The following letter is quoted to illustrate Mr. Roebuck's
habit of seizing everj opportunity of studying political
questions, not only in their theoretical, but in their
practical bearing. It also throws an interesting light on
what would now be called the "Gerrymandering" per-
petrated under the Reform Act, as well as the sordid
views taken in small southern constituencies of the en-
largement of the franchise.

'/. A. Rocluclc fo Fj-aack Place.

Mudefonl, near ChnHMmrch, HaaU, Matf 2 183-> — My
DEAR Father Place, Here I am, poor devil l' in the* most
doleful banishment. I might almost as well be in New South
Wales-at the New Colony that is to be-as here, as to every-
thing respecting politics. I see no papers but the Examiner,
and my people, poor wretches ! know nothing. However for
my health's sake this am I condemned to, which said health
IS but a very little, if any, better. The weather has been
wretcliedly cold, and my pains as great as ever. So I deem
myself in Castle Dolorous.

I am living within a stone's throw of Sir George Rose's
noimnation borough of Christchurch, and if the Bill works no
better elsewhere than here, we are making a mighty pother
about nothing. The sapient Sir John RomiUy was here as

WS^inijiiijmii

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Commissioner (I understand) with Colonel Anncrsley, a high Tory,
and from all that I can learn, the Whig Commissioner could not
understand the interests of the various parties here. As might
be expected, the inhabitants do not wish to be disfranchised, or
even to lose one member, and, consequently. Liberals even strove
hard to raise the numbers of the inhabitants. The Tory Com-
missioner took advantage of this, and made the mayor amend
his report of the numbers of the £10 householders, which he did
to the satisfaction of the Tory ; that is, he preserved one of the
members by increasing the number of inhabitants a hundred
beyond his first report. This was done by much squeezing,
including places that ought not to have been included. I vehe-
mently suspect that if the householders of Christchurch alone
were numbered, it would prove a very pitiful show. It was
Romilly's duty to have made this out, as everything ought to
have been done to prove the real disproportion existing between
the town and country representation. It is not that I object to
including these out places liermfkr, and increasing to the utmost
the constituency ; but I do object to including them now, because
every means ought to be taken to lessen the number of boroughs,
and the only way to do this was to prove as many as possible
utterly insignificant and contemptible as to numbers of in-
habitants. Well, now, suppose the borough reformed : the in-
habitants are all stout reformers. Why ? Because they hate
Sir George Rose. He has tyrannized over them, and they would
be freed from his yoke. But they by no means desire to be
represented in the hopes of being well governed. What they
desire is to be well paid by the candidates, and for this reason
they dislike the ballot. Their short-sightedness is wonderful ;
they hope to pass from the hands of Sir George Rose into those
of Sir George Tapps, who is the greatest landholder here. And
so they will. They have so managed the matter that the
borough is noAV made to include his lands and his tenants. Sir
George Tapps is a reformer too, after this fashion. He speaks to
them fair, promises to lay out money on the harbour, to protect
the inhabitants, to get laws passed for them, etc., and the fools
believe him. They say he is a good man, not a harsh man like
Sir George Rose. And then he will not have the power. No ;
nor had Sir George Rose the power when first he came here.
(If you see John Mill, ask him to show you my letter to him.

RETURN TO ENGLAND.

I have there explained how Sir George Rose's power was acquired.)
Now, for the chance of a bribe these foolish people are en-
deavouring to play a game of balance. In doing so, they will
trust Whig professions, and again be cheated. One thing I see
works strongly with the bourf/m.sic here. They hate and fear
the poor. They have hitherto played the tyrant over the poor
iu their damned select vestry. They have dinners, etc., all after
the old fashion of the select, and are just as great rascals in their
way as the aristocracy in theirs. Looking at reform, then, hero
in the niost favourable point of view, it appears a victory of the
bourgeoisie over the aristocrats. In my opinion it will be, even
to them, a temporary benefit— to the people none at all. I have
not yet been able to move about, so that I am in ignorance of the
condition of the poor here. The moment I get better I shall
hunt them out.]

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

CHAPTER IV.

JOHN STUAKT MILL.

I HAVE often bethought me whether it was possible to
draw the character of Mill intellectually and morally.
The difficulties of the task I fully appreciate, but my
intimate knowledge and converse with him was just at
the most important epoch of his life; and an account of
my connection with him may possibly contribute to a true
appreciation of the man.

John Mill was the result of a most strict and extra-
ordinary training. He was armed at all points. At that
time the mere creation of his father's teaching, with
nothing original, yet being endowed with great intel-
lectual power, he was a wonderful product of factitious
training. From his childhood to his manhood he received
the ideas of other men, and gave them expression in
language that was but an echo of those who taught him.
Under this guidance, severe and harsh, he acquired a vast
quantity of knowledge. He became early acquainted with
classic literature, all which he received rather as a know-
ledge-acquiring machine than as a human being in whom
there were emotions. In his childhood and youth he had
no playfellows. He walked and talked with his father as
if he had been a man receiving all by his head, his heart
not being concerned in the matter. When at length nature
asserted her rights, he found himself upon a wild, wide
turbulent ocean, without a chart, almost without a compass.

JOHN STUART MILL.

But during all this time ho never doubted as to his own
infallibility. Whatever he thought at the time was right ;
but whatever might be the change in him, he was never
wrong. A very comfortable condition of things, but not
as satisfactory to others as himself. Practical life was to
him wholly unknown. He could talk wisely about Man
in the abstract ; but of Man, including therein Woman, he
knew absolutely nothing.

When Mill began to think for himself, he was anxious
to show that his mind was no longer under the dominion
of his father, or of Bentham. He therefore placed himself
before the world as an independent critic, and took every
occasion that offered to enter into disquisition upon the
views of Bentham, and consequently of his father, who
always agreed with Bentham, and was deemed his chief
disciple and exponent.

But John Mill took especial care to confine his criticism
to Bentham, and always avoided calling in question the
views of his father. This led him, in my mind, to much
wavering and uncertainty ; and he wanted one main quality
for an original thinker, and that was courage.

Among other things, in order to show his severance
from his old ideas and mode of thought, he now professed
to be greatly swayed by the influence of Poetry.

It is one of the common mistakes respecting the doctrine
of Utility, and the ideas and feelings of so-called Utili-
tarians, that they despise and neglect all that softens
manners and charms the imagination, and thus they are
supposed to contemn Poetry, to take no pleasure in the arts,
and, in fact, to be the future of the Puritans of old.

Now, to all this misconception I can give a complete
answer in my own case. From childhood upwards I have
been passionately fond of and influenced by Poe : \ I read
the greater portion of our poets to my mother when a boy,
and during my life have passed many hours in drawing
from nature, and was, I may say, no mean amateur artist.

LIFE OF yO/fN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Mill knew this common misconception, and he took to
reading and criticising poetry. But in reality he never
had poetic emotions, and the lessons of his early childhood
and youth had chilled his heart and deadened his spirit
to all the magnificent influences of poetry. In his late
biography he has endeavoured to make it appear that our
difi'erence arose from our different appreciation of the com-
parative merits of Byron and Wordsworth. But this was
an idle statement ; something far more potent was requi;
to break up so old and warm a friendship.

For, indeed, another new influence came suddenly upon
Mill, viz. that of 'Wo'nian. Hitherto he had known only
his mother and sisters, and had but a poor and contemptuous
opinion of the sex.

As we — that is. Mill, Graham, and I — were always
together, and formed a united body, we were generally
together in society.

It happened that we all three were invited to dine in
the City at the house of a gentleman named Taylor, who
was what is called a drysalter, a very respectable and well-
to-do man. I do not recollect what passed that evening
but it turned out that ]Mrs. Taylor was much taken wi
Mill. From that time I saw little of the Taylor family,
but I learned that an intimate acquaintance had arisen
between Mill and Mrs. Taylor.

This intimacy went on, I seeing and knowing nothing
of it, till on the occasion of an evening party at Mrs.
Charles Buller's, I saw Mill enter the room with Mrs. Taylor
hanging upon his arm.

The manner of the lady, the evident devotion of the
gentleman, soon attracted universal attention, and a
suppressed titter went round the room. My affection for
Mill was so warm and so sincere that I was hurt by
anything which brought ridicule upon him. I saw, or
thought I saw, how mischievous might be this affair,
and as we had become in all things like brothers, I

yoHx sru.iKT mil/..

iletoniunc<l, ino^t unwisely, to apeak to liim on the
.subject.

Witli this resohition I went to the India House next
<lay, ami then frankly told him what I thought might
result from his connection with Mrs. Taylor. IIo received
my warnings coldly, and after some time I took my leave,
little thinking what effect my renumstrances had produced.

The next day I again called at the India House, not
with any intention of renewing the subject, but in accord-
ance with a long-formed habit of constantly seeing and
conversing with Mill. The moment I entered the room I
saw that, as far as he was concerned, our friendship was at
an end. His manner was not merely cold, but repulsive ;
and I, seeing how matters were, left him. His part of our
friendship was rooted out, nay, destroyed, but mine was
left untouched. My affection for him continued unbroken
to the day of his death. For years I saw him not, and had
no correspondence with him. For this I was very grieved.
My afi'ection for him, as I have said, was very sincere, and
I was always grateful for his instruction and kindness. I
was also vexed with myself. I thought myself knowing in
the ways of men, and I knew, and ought to have acted on that
knowledge, that where a woman was concerned, the wisest
of men are but fools ; and that more especially one so little
conversant with women or the world would be a slave to
the first woman who told him she liked him. Mill's
intellect bowed down to the feet of Mrs. Taylor. He
believed her an inspired philosopher in petticoats ; and as
she had the art of returning his own thoughts to himself,
clothed in her own words, he thought them hers, and
wondered at her powers of mind, and the accuracy of
her conclusions. He, upon the death of Mr. Taylor,
married the widow, and when, some years afterwards, she
died, he gave expression to his estimate of her in, I
believe, a dedication to her memory in some sentences
prefixed to one of his works. He fondly loved her, was

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEIiUCK,

inconsolable for her loss, and survived her a few years,
living a sorrowful life.

When he was returned for Westminster, I approached
him in the House, and offered any assistance that my long
experience could afford. He received me coldly, though
I had taken part in his election and very materially con-
tributed to his return. I asked him to dine with me and
Graham, for the sake of *' Auld lang Syne ; " he excused
himself, saying that he was so much engaged he had not
time. I felt the meaning of this, and made no further
advances. Some short time before his death he sent me
an old school Virgil of mine which somehow had come into
his possession. On the receipt of the book, I wrote to him,
and the wording of that letter took him by surprise, and
he said he had been unaware of my feeling of affection
towards him. All looked as if our old friendship would be
renewed, when, unhappily, this hope was brolcen off by his
untimely death.

The autobiography ends here. Mill's version of the
breach not only differs from Roebuck's as to the cause, but
places it at an earlier date, for according to Roebuck it
occurred after he had entered Parliament. Mill says * the
severance arose from a difference of opinion as to the
respective merits of Wordsworth, whom he championed,
and Byron, whose writings Roebuck regarded as the poetry
of human life, while Wordsworth's was that of flowers and
butterflies. They fought out the question at the Debating
Society, this being the first time when he and Roebuck
took opposite sides.

The schism between us widened from this time more and
more, though we coutiuued for some years longer to be com-
panions. In tht beginning our chief divergence related to the
cultivation of the feelings. Roebuck was in many respects very

ii< «

Autobiograpliy," p. 14P.

70//N STl/ART MILL. 4,

different from the vulgar notion of a Benthamite or Utilitarian.
He was a lover of poetry and of most of the line arts. He took
great pleasure m nnisic;, in dramatic performances, especially in
paiutmg, and himself drew and designed landscapes with great
facdity and beauty. But he never could be made to see that
tnese things ..ve any value as aids in the formation of character.
Personally mstead of being, as Benthamites are supposed to be,
void of feelmg, he had very ,iuick and strong sensibilities. But,
like most Lnghshmeu who have feelings, he found his feelings
stand very much in his way. Jle was much more susceptible
to the painful sympathies than to the pleasurable, and lookin-
tor his happiness elsewhere, he wished that his feelings should

be deadened rather than quickened He saw little good in

any cultivation of the feelings, and none at all in cultivating
them through the imagination, which he thought was only
cultivating illusions. ^

^ .„ U^ .i

L/F£ OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

CHAPTER V.

FIRST ELECTION FOR BATH, 1S32.

1
I

Bath — fashionable, exclusive, sedate Bath — was flung into
ii turmoil of affronted indignation when, ea ' in August,
1832, rumours reached its aristocratic ears the , its placidity
was to be invaded, and its domestic electoral affairs
disturbed, by the descent upon it of Radical firebrands.
Constituencies are usually jealous of outside interference,
and that Bath, of all places in the kingdom, should be
selected as the chosen striking-point of Radical attack, was
regarded as an unpardonable outrage by all self-respecting
lovers of composure. The indignation aroused was changed
to absolute fury when these whispers took definite shape,
and it became known that ]\Ir. Joseph Hume cherished the
" inconceivable audacity," as it was called, of attempting to
make Bath his own faggot constituency by forcing upon
it Mr. John Arthur Roebuck.* Distance lent horror

* Although Mr. Hume waB held resiionsible for forcing Mr. Roebuck upon
Bath, the real motive-power behind this, as behind all the then activities of
the Radicals, was Mr. Francis Place. It is impossible to read his voluminous
correspondence without seeing how largely he inspired and stimulated the
aggressive policy of the militant group. His was the liand which pulled
unrelentingly the strings in this Bath contest, as in other details of the move-
ment. For this memorandum is preserved among his papers : —

" October 10, 1832. — In consequence of the electors of Bath not thinking
Mr. Hobhouse enough of a reformer, they made application to mo and to .
Jlr. Hume for another candidate, and. Mr. Roebuck having been recommended,
be went to Bath and opposed Mr. Hobhouse. This led to a most furious
attack ujion Mr. Hume, and induced mo to write a papor, which was printed
in the Bath and Cheltenham Chronicle, and a letter also to Simon Barron,

•V

F/RSr ELECTION FOR BATH. 43

to Mr. Roebuck's personality. Vaguely regarded as a
dangerous revolutionary, he was credited with the cham-
pionship of every hateful principle. Associated, as he was
supposed to be, with all evil doers, bent on dragging the
constitution into the mire, the notion of his candidature
was abhorred hardly less heartily by those who had rendered
hfe-service to a timid Liberalism than by the Tories them-
selves.

Thus it came to pass that, active as was the ferment
caused by the General Election under the new suffrage,
nowhere was there greater excitement and fiercer animosity
than in Bath. It had been thought that the re-election of
General Palmer, who, as a moderate reformer, had repre-
sented the city since 1808, was a matter of course. With
him was to be associated, as a colleague, Mr. H. W. Hobhouse,
who, besides having local connections, was an estimable
member of an influential Whig family. They were excellent
candidates, from the "rest and be thankful " point of view,
for General Palmer was supposed to have reaped, in the
Reform Act, the harvest of his Radical wild oats, and
Mr. Hobhouse was a Whig of the most orthodox type.

This comfortable arrangement was shattered by the
action of the Radicals, and the fame of the contest that
ensued still remains a living memory in Bath. From the
time when Mr. Roebuck's candidature began, to the
announcement of tlie result of the poll, the city was in
a state of constant turmoil. The new-comer had, among
other objections, to encounter the idle criticism of being
too young, for his slight figure and extremely fair com-
plexion suggested an age nearer to twenty than to thirty.
But his opponents quickly found that, youthful as he
looked, they were face to face with a man of power. From
the first he gave forth no uncertain sound. He quickly
showed unusual capacity for stirring up quiet waters, and

chairman of Mr. Hobhoiiee's committee, with a narrutiou of wliat passed at
an interview with Mr. Hobhouso." ^ *^

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

for making dead bones live. In his various addresses and
speeches he declared himself an earnest supporter of the
most advanced creeds. He advocated triennial Parliaments,
vote by ballot, corporation reform, an elective magistracy^
free trade, the abolition of the legal monopoly enjoyed by
the Inns of Court, a national system of secular education,
disestablishment of the Church and devotion of its property
to secular uses, repeal of the taxes on knowledge, cheaper
and more efficient administration of justice, equitable
adjustment of taxation — making it direct, and so graduated
as to proportion the burden to tlio .strength of the shoulders
bearing it — the removal of all civil and religious disabilities,
and the abolition of slavery.

All the intluences of purse and position were against
him. His great power lay in the enthusiasm his cause
evoked among the poor. It is necessary to realize the
bitter hatred against Whig and Tory government which
rankled among the working classes, before we can under-
stand the enthusiasm with which they received the " man
of the people," or the furious violence of capitalists at his
intrusion. Although steadfastly declining to make any
personal canvass, Mr. Roebuck spent, during the earlier
period of the contest, much of his time in the city, and was
indefatigable in the business of the election. His speeches
are still remembered as among the best examples of his
pungent eloquence that Bath ever heard. His genius for
unanswerable invective, provoked by shameful abuse, was
copiously illustrated. For as there were no limits to the
unscrupulous misrcpieseutations — including the invention
of a fictitious mad grandfather — of his opponents, so there
was no decency observed in the fashion in which they
imputed to him opinions he had never held. He was
charged with being a Republican and an Atheist. He
was subjected to interrogations on his religious belief
which were indecent and almost blasphemous. The news-
papers teemed with lampoons, and the meetings at which

;.,fc. n.r, ■■n>wU--"i->--ii^"

' ^ ^ *>|>| mw < "^ r*-

/7A'.9r ELECTION FOR BATH.

Mr. Roebuck stood at bay aj^ainst his hecklers, smiting
them hip and thigh, were like bear-gardens. All these
things are written at length in the history of Bath, and
in their details do not concern us here. When Mr. Roebuck
was not in the city, the strife hurtled around the heads of
his supporters ; and of the social and domestic discomforts
endured by them wo get a glimpse in the following letter
addressed to Mr. Alexander Falconer, but evidently intended
for his sister's eye.

J. A. Rochvrh to Alcxdiider P. Falconer.

15, Gnnffi Inn Square, November 8, 1H;52. — By the regular and
interesting despatches we receive through the kind exertions of
yourself and Miss Falconer, I am put au fait of all that is pro-
ceeding with you, and, being at a distance, am enabled to judge
more coolly, and therefore more accurately, than those who are
in the thick of the fight, of the complexion which matters have.
One thing in all I hear gives me infinite pain, and that is, that
your wann and unflinching support of me subjects you to a
species of martyrdom. I well know what this is. The rage and
bitter disappointment now raging time will diminish, and in the
meanwhile lie snug ; let the wind blow and the rain fall till they
are tired. The very strength of the tempest ensures a quick end
to it. In a very few weeks all will be calm and sunshine. This
to me appears tlie wisest course. You are committed now ; no
one can doubt your leanings and wishes, and they will rave and
rend at you so long as they are angry. That this will pain you
I know ; that you will be subject to much annoyance is but too
certain. That this should be on my account, while it makes me
grateful, at the same time is exquisitely painful. That your
quiet family should be disturbed by political strife ; your calm
seclusion invaded and destroyed by raging partisans, is an evil
not to be compensated, I fear, by any benefit tliat I can render
to the good and great cause. In my own case, this strife is
almost a part of my daily toil ; I am alone, and do not mind it.
I have prepared myself for it — have become a species of political
athlete, and deem it my business. The abuse, the anger of my
opponents, are to me utterly insignificant ; but they cannot be
BO to you, surrounded as you are. It is this consideration that

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

I !

makes me unliappy ; and I bat vainly seek a refuge from the evil.
Do we not pay a high price for the beuetits we obtain ? If we
lie still in dread of all this violence and passion and ill-will, then
are we trampled into the earth, bruised and crushed. If we seek
to relieve ourselves from this condition, the pleasures of private
life are destroyed, and, like troops of fierce horses, we worry our-
selves to death. Which is the greater evil ? Mankind have
generally accepted the first half of the alternative, and not till
they have found that utterly untenable, have they dared to face
the second. You are now facing the second, and seem to have
a bitter dose. I pray yon, my good fellow, to take my advice,
and keep out of the way of those who differ from you, and do
not let them disturb your peace.

A few weeks now, and the matter will be ended. On the 3rd
of December the Parliament will be dissolved, and in a very few
days after, the election will take place. The moment the disso-
lution is declared, I shall be among you. In the mean time state
that I am ready to go to you whenever the committee shall
desire me to do so.

I feel throughout my writing, as if my letter ought to have
been addressed to your indefatigable sister ; 'tis from her letters *
that the Bath history comes to me, and, like many other narra-
tives of political deeds, the merits of the style are far beyond the
subject matter on which it is employed. Would that she had a
pleasanter or more worthy theme. I have a theory on this
matter, that I suspect, from a passage in one of her letters,
coincides with her views of the question. She says in substance
that she believes that women are not fit for politics ; that men
alone should take part in them. I do not agree with her here —
that is, with the whole of this thus broadly stated. The best
and most gentle of women have mingled in politics. Witness
many in our own country during the wars against Charles I.,
and, above all, witness the incomparable IMadame Iloland. But
what may have been in her mind when she said this, and what
I suspect from the attending sentence to have been there, I do
thoroughly agree in ; it is, that it would be well, if possible, to
keep from the sight of women all the bad passions, the many
degrading spectacles that political life but too often evinces, and
for this reason : men in their commerce with the world become
* Written to her brother, Thomas Falconer, in London.

F^^ST ELECTION FOR BATH.

necoasary tendency, it would be >v.M ■,"!', '' '" ™""te~t tWs
not thus hardoned-u soe°e v wiH '"^ """'' "'"'' ■■> »°«i'=ty

freshness and strength 1" f ! ' '^T"""^ '" ""='' P"''''''"
perfect education, keep women ^f'nl ""I ' "' " '^™»'»'«'" '""i
»Wfo. This is tl^e o^r 1 " °, r ',''f ' '""' »"'"'" P"""'"'"
a "-sh, against givin^ o ltZT\ ,"'■' ^ ™"''' "■'■■• ""'I "orth
'iem into aeti™ e°ereL™?X •"!'"" ""'"»• ""'' '" «»«'■%'
rooml essay, and not a lette, """"■"■■ ' ""■ ™""S a

'V"'mg has often p°„,ded „,'e X n ''"-■' "' ™'"™ '" '""or-
i' man worth reading _ Byront trt,^ "™'™'' """^ """'•'" ^1
letters of many womeS I haw?,, ','" ™''<^Ptol - while the
of good taste aad/t^le I ™ T f "'° ''°"" P»*^' 'P^^eai
"connoisseur on this matter M,„ ?^ "'^■*"' »™ewhat of
about my education :eChlrr'r ^'"^ °"° •="™™ """S
bj women. However, I tv L.bM r,"'""'"' ' ™ '""St'
ftay give my best and kind™ t re^Jl t^l" ',,°''' "' "^ •=""«•
beheve me most sincerely youre, '^ "" ^°"'' f'"nily, '"id

There used to be an r.\,\ ■ ^' ^' ^•

people found that thoy Za 1 „Tl ''"^ f""'""'' """ ■»««'
Roebuek was no except ion Z , .r"' *' ^^'■^' »"<1 «■-.
the widow of hi uSrBi" ;''.'■''»"■»» M.«. Roebuck,
-as in her house Zt^T^^i^ """" "'^"'- I'
born, and .he became verTimte at „"'"> "'"''"'"^ ""^
upon her nephew in whni ° "'"'"« showered

great interest ""^ '"■"S''^''*' »'>« "'""■■aUy took

thou" u a";;; *f:ty*"t:" " '"'"r '" -^ ^"pp-'» -"o

by persons who '^^I^ TZ\fT'\''^''^ ^' '^'^'^-^
in the eccentric Mr Henrv Dkl p"' /"'' ^'- ^''^'^^
Castle, who was not o^yTofet^ k"'™''' °*' *"'"'"'''
all, the name having tlZ^lT' '"' "° '''"-'''"='^ "'

Eoebuck, the founder of the ^7,^1, .f r"*"" "' '"■■ '"'"'

"OILS at Carron, m .Scotland.

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

His eldest son was John,* a man well known in the scientific
world. Benjamin, his second son, was Paymaster-General of
the forces of Madras. The widow of this son is now living in
Bath, and his third son, my father, Ebenezcr, died in India in
1H07, while carrying on contracts with the East India Company.
His docks were well known to every person acquainted with
British India ; and the name and family of Roebuck must be
familiar to every one connected with India between the years
1799 and 1810.

The result of the polling was the return of Major-
General Palmer, with Mr. Roebuck as his colleague, Mr.
Hobhouse being ninety-eight votes behind.

In the address of thanks and gratulation which he
issued to the electors of Bath, Mr. Roebuck explained the
spirit in which he interpreted his duties and responsibilities,
and he expressed the hope that all animosities would now
cease. His opponents lost no time in showing their repudia-
tion of any such desire. A few days after the election the
new member had the first of the many physical encounters
which marked his public career. This was with Mr. R.
Blake Foster, who, after offering himself as a Conservative
candidate prepared " not to act the part either of a Bully
or a Revolutionist," had retired from the contest. Meeting
Mr. Roebuck in the coffee-room of the Sydney Hotel, Mr.
Foster was offensive and insulting. Mr. Roebuck demanded
his card, and Mr. Foster demurring, the new member
promised, failing its production, to knock him down. Mr.
Roebuck tendered his own card, and when Mr. Foster
contemptuously tore it up, the plucky little man struck

* The eldest son of the aboTe-mentioned John was Captain Thomas Roe-
buck, I'ublic Examiner at the Madras College, and a member of the Asiatic
Society. He compiled and translated a collection of Persian and Hindoo
proverbs, also one of Hindoo nautical terms; he translated the Persian
dictionary, the " Burhan-kati," and several other works. He was associated
with Dr. Gilchrist in the preparation of the " British Indian Monitor," and
tiie " English and Hindostani Dictionary." He was born in Linlithgowshire
in 1781, and died at Madras in 1819.

FIRST ELECTION FOR BATH.

him in the face. There was no duel, and valorous threats
of legal proceedings ended in empty talk.

More serious was the attempt made to unseat Mr,
Roebuck on petition. This was based on the allegation
that he did not possess the property qualification then
required of members of Parliament. On the hustings, at
the nomination, the Mayor of Bath had, on the requisition
of two electors, administered to the candidates the nomina-
tion oath presented by the Act (9th Anne). Mr. Roebuck,
in taking the oath, stated that his property was in ihe
parish of Camberwell, Surrey. The petition, which was
promoted by the united Whig and Tory parties in Bath,
alleged that there is no parish of Camberwell, and the
petitioners, one of whom was Mr. Hobhouse's chairman,
said that they had been unable to discover that Mr. Roe-
buck was seized either by law or equity of any property
whatever in the village of Camberwell. The fact seems to
be that, prior to the election, Mr. Roebuck had made
arrangements for the purchase of a qualification, but the
legal formalities were somewhat delayed, so that they were
only completed an hour or two before he took the oath.
Mr. Roebuck subsequently declared that he himself paid
into the hands of Mr. Selby, the vendor, five thousand and
odd pounds. The matter was investigated by a committee
of the House of Commons, but although Mr. Roebuck was
able to prove the truth of his statement made on the
hustings, the petition was dismissed only on the casting
vote of the chairman, and the committee decided that its
presentation was not frivolous or vexatious.

It was at that time a very common practice for friendly
arrangements to be made for conferring on candidates
artificial qualifications. Mr. Roebuck himself alleged that
not one man in ten possessed before his candidature the
sort of estate qualifying him to sit. The experience of
1832, with the narrow escape from losing his seat, was
not lost on Mr. Roebuck, for when, at a later period, Mr.

so LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

John Temple Leader * conveyed to him a landed qualifi-
cation, he was exceedingly punctilious in observing all the
forms of purchase.

John TfurpJe Lmhr to the Editor.
FfomirP, mnuni, 1!>, iHOfi.-As Koebuck had no landed
.inalifica ion, I gave l.im one charged on my estate of Burston, in
J uckmghanislure. He was so particular in affairs of that kind,
that he insisted on having all the legal forms observed, and he
actually brought me bank-notes of the requisite value, which
liad been lent to him by onr friend George Grotc, and whicli 1,
ot course, immediately roturued to Grote.

^ Elected tncinber for Briclgowater in 18:i5, and resigned his seat in 1837
in order to eng.tge in the great Westminster fightagainst Sir Francis Burdett
in May of thu year. Though unsuccessful then, ho was returned for West-
minster atthe general election in the following August, and again in 1841.
He retired from Parliament in 1847, and has for many years resided in
1' lorcnce. Hee yoit, chapter x.

( SI )

CHAPTER VI.

THE KEFOnMED PAKUAMENT. 1833-1834.

TnE old order of things had gone. With a widened suffia^e
there had come now men. new methods, new asniratbns
and a marked disruption of the form^ lineTof tr"y

typified than in the presence, in the House of Commons of
the member for Bath. He concretely personified J ke

hopes entertained by enthusiastic reformers othptt
.b,ht;es of the new er^ On him wa. concentrated lu
he mistrust of those, whether Tories or Whigs who clave

to the past, and who hated change and innovktion Mr

^d "„ itf " *r " J"*'''^"^ the fears of his fo^s
and in gratifying the expectations of his admirers He

h^c me?; /'"' "'" ""^ '='""=-'1 conditions th"
had come a vivifying power into the debates of the House
of Commons. On the fl«t night of the debate on the
address, there presented itself to the House a thin sli!ht
figure, with clean-cut, thoughtful face, uttering cur crl n
sentences which from the first rang out incisively n Z
telluig tones all the more impressive through the absent
of gesticulation, and an avoidance of the factitious alof
emotional oratoiy. In picturing the scene when Roetuck
firs arrested an attention that never failed whenever from

he roTr \*^' '"^ °f '■'^ '°"« Parliamentary career
he rose to speak, we must avoid setting it in the chamber

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

so familiar to us all, in which our legislators now meet.
For the Reformed Parliament assembled not in the buildinL^
of to-day, but in that humble historic house where the
great drama of constitutional growth had been enacted,
and where the mighty giants of Parliamentary debate had
struggled for centuries. The Reformed Parliament was as
new wine put into old bottles, for not until the following
year were the ancient buildings destroyed by an act of
reckless folly; not until 1847 were the Lords, not until
1852 were the Commons, able to take up their abode in
Sir Charles Barry's new palace.* In the intervening years
temporary accommodation was provided for the people's
representatives in the old House of Lords, while the peers
were provisionally housed in what is known to history as
the Painted Chamber.

The House of Commons of that time, both as to the
building itself and the manners of its members, seems to
have impressed Mr. Roebuck very unfavourably. In his
" Extracts from the Diary of an M.P,," in TaiVfi Edinburgh
Magazine (July, 1833), he describes it thus : —

A small, ill-conditioned room, with a hijjjli-backed chair and
green table on the floor, with benches rising on each side, is the
House of Commons. The Speaker, witli his fnll-l)lown wig and
flowing gown, occupies the chair ; three clerks in wiiiS sit at his
feet, and around and about, overhead in the galleries, on the
floor, lying at fnll length on the benches, talking, laughing, hoot-
ing, coughing, sleeping, are to be seen the members — the iHfc of
the great nation in the cliaracter of legislators ; and one unfor-
tunate wight is, amidst this strange and uncouth assembly,
endeavouring, in the slang phrase, to obtain the attention of the
Honse — in other words, is making a speech. ... I often ask old
members whether the Reformed ParUament is worse or better in
point of behaviour than its predecessors. From all I c " iier
it is evidently worse ; and the reason assigned is sati _ . It

* Mr. Roebuck was accustomed jokingly to say that tli <^w houses
were a standing argument against triennial Parliaments, ns ii look qtiite
three years to learn their topography.

THE REFORMED PARLIAMEXT,

■8

is not, as the Conservatives would assert, that the more cnlarj^od
constituency has niiidu the representatives more vuljjfar ; for, on
my knowled^'c, I can assert that the most nule and boisterous
portion of the House arc the youui,' fry of Tory nominees. But
in former times there were two distinct and ori^'anlzcd parties ;
these parties had well-known leaders, ujjou whom devolved the
liusiness of advocating and opposing the measures before the
llouse. Everybody knew this ; and no one interfered with the
l)art assigned to a given individual. The debate then went on
(juietly, and the House generally listened with something like
attention and patience, But now there is no organization. Every-
l)ody is at sea ; no guides, no rulers, no leaders arc acknowledged.
Every one sets up for himself, speaks for himself, thinks and
acts for himself. The consequence is, that fifty speakers will rise
at once, all imi)atient to be heard ; while two or three hundred
are around them, impatient to be away — to parties, to the opera,
etc. So confusion, riot, calls of " Question, question ! " " Bar,
bar ! " — which is uniformly pronounced " ba, ba," with emphasis —
groans and braying are the order of the day. One member
possesses the faculty of hooting like an owl, to the great disturb-
ance of the gravity of the assembly and evident annoyance of the
Speaker. This rude and boisterous conduct precludes the possi-
bility of deliberation. Nothing is permitted to be discussed. One
or two broad assertions of opposition will be permitted ; but the
moment any argument is attempted— any endeavour made to
illustrate or prove — then come yells, and all the many means of
silencing an opponent practised in Honourable House.

[After instancing many men who have been actually scared into
silence by this behaviour, and citing the attention paid to Mr.
Grote's speech on the ballot as a solitary contrary case, Mr. Roe-
buck goes on] : With that exception, I have never heard in that
assembly one generous sentiment, or one logical and really effective
argument. All has been passion, ignorance, prejudice. Bold-
facedness, however, usually gets a hearing. ... In sober sadness
I must say that the House is very little solicitous respecting
the popular feelings ; that the members, as a body, have no
sympathy with the people, and were it not that they believe that
the people have a somewhat greater control than formerly over
the electors, we should have them following a course exactly
similar to that of the borough-mongers of heretofore.

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

It was, then, in the old arena, and amid these dis-
couraging surroundings, that the young representative of
Bath first obeyed the call of Mr. Speaker Sutton. The
description just quoted of the difficulties against which
members addressing the House had to contend, explains
the justifiable pride with which Mr. Roebuck will be found
hereafter referring to the manner in which he had succeeded
in compelling the House to hear him — a pride that might
seem exaggerated if we measured the assembly by present
standards, and forgot the unruly impatience which marked
the earlier years of the Reformed Parliament.

When now, sixty-four years later, Ireland still holds
dominant place in our National Councils, it is significant
to remember that even then the most prominent subject
which demanded the attention of the Reformed Parliament
was the condition of that distressful country. The harsh-
ness of Mr. Secretary Stanley's administration was keenly
resented. It was disliked by many, even, of his own
colleagues. It was the references to Ireland in the King's
Speech that elicited from O'Connell the celebrated denuncia-
tion of English rule as "bloody, brutal, and unconstitutional."
The fray waged by those giants of vituperation, Mr.
O'Connell and the Irish Secretary, Mr. Stanley (the future
Lord Derby), was an encounter after Mr. Roebuck's own
heart, and he plunged vigorously into the storm. Proclaim-
ing that freedom from party trammels which remained his
boast through life, he forthwith fell with great spirit upon
Stanley and his policy of force and coercion. In 'vords
which might have been appropriately used fifty years
later, he said —

The Irish Secretary would take away trial by jury and suspend
the habeas corpus. He (Mr. Roebuck) would recommend a thinj;
hitherto untried — Vonest government. England had never
estabUshed good government in Ireland. There had been strong
governments indeed ; but he did not at present mean sucli an
one, which might be wielded by the lion, secretary at pleasure,

THE REFORMED PARLIAMENT.

which would obey his dictation, and fill the prisons of Ireland.
Fears were not the arguracnts of statesmen, and the only remedy
for grievances was to redress them .... Government, it was said,
must be feared before it was beloved. The proper eonrse for
creating affection had nob yet been tried. Let the plain and
obvious mode of real conciliation be adopted.

So Mr. Roebuck struggled hard against the Irish
Coercion Bill, which was subsequently forced through the
House. When presenting petitions praying for the re-
jection of the measure on the day after the third reading
had been carried by a majority of 345 to 80, he said —

The members for Ireland had fought their battle in that
House manfully, patiently, and with great calmness and discretion ;
but that battle, from the votes of last night, was clearly shown
to be lost. He felt called upon to say to those honourable gentle-
men, if they would take his advice, they would leave that House
at once and for ever, as it was plain Ireland could not look
for justice from au English House of Commons. If the opinion
of the House of Commons were to be judged of by the opinions
and votes of its members last night, justice never could be done
to Ireland, and the sooner she was separated from England the
better. The i>cople of America, having nuich less grounds than
Ireland to complain, bad fought nobly for their independence,
and had put down the, till then, indomitable pride of England.
Unfortunately, Ireland bad not followed so glorious an example,
and the consequence was that she had sulfered oppressions un-
equalled by any other country in Europe, with the exception of
Poland. . . . Irishmen bad become the slaves of the despotism of
England, and if they wished to continue so, instead of lighting
manfully and boldly by every means in their power for their
independence, they would passively give way to the provisions of
the most iniquitous measure that had ever been brought forward,
and they would deserve the execration of every honourable man.*

When charged '.v^ith preaching open rebellion, ]\Ir. Roe-
buck referred his assailants to the speeches ..f Mr. Fox, who
had used terms ecpially strong.

* Miireh 30. Iltin.'saril. vol. xvi. ]>. STti.

L/FJ:: OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

The session witnessed other great debates, in which Mr.
Roebuck took a prominent part. He assailed the Govern-
ment, and especially Sir James Graham, in a speech on Mr.
Hume's motion for the abolition of sinecure offices and
pensions. He flung himself into the indignation caused
by the official breaking up of a peaceful political meeting
in Coldbath Fields, and into the controversy over the
loss of a policeman's life during the disturbance. He
attacked ministerial and official interference in Parlia-
mentary elections, and protested against the house and
window taxes. Early in the session he had given notice
of a motion for a Select Committee to devise a means for
the universal and national education of the whole people.
This fell through, but in the following July he moved a
resolution, pledging the House, early in the next session,
to seek a solution of the problem. The motion, being
opposed by the Government, was withdrawn, but the
speech in which it was commended to the House was
praised by Mr. Grote as " able and luminous." In it Mr.
Roebuck sketched the methods by which he held that a
thoroughly comprehensive scheme of education should be
can-ied out. On this subject, and also on his attitude
towards the Established Church, he had left his constituents
in no doubt, for he had told them —

I nra a member of the Chiu'ch of Euj^land, but I want none
but Chnrch of Eu<?hmd men to support my Church. "With
regard to an I-lstablished Chnrch, so long as a majority of the
jieople of England wish for an Established Church, let there be
one, but for myself I see no necessity for it. I think the property
now possessed by the Chnrch is public property, and may be
applied as the legislature think fit. If returned I shall advocate
its appropriation to national purposes. I would have clergymen
jiroperly paid, and apply the surplus to the purposes of education.
Private charities I would apply as nearly as possible to the
purposes for which they were bequeathed. I consider that all
religious disabilities ought to be removed, and that every one
who has committed no criminal act should be admitted to all

THE REFORMED PARLIAMENT.

thu privile,iros of tlic State. In no case whatever ou^t religion
tgigrm part of a national education.

As an object-lesson, exemplifying Mr. Roebuck's views on
popular education, a model school was subsequently started
in Bath, founded on the principles the honourable member
recommended;* but it had to be closed after a career of
six months, owing to disputes between the committee and
the teacher and superintendent.

An agitation against the Sale of Beer Act elicited the
first of a long series of utterances destined to keep Mr,
Roebuck in constant conflict with the temperance party.
He defended the beer-shops as having greatly benefited
the working classes; and he attributed special weight to
a i)etition presented by him from Merthyr Tydvil in their
favour, on the ground that it must be the petition of the
poor men because almost every person who had signed
it was unable to write. He took up the cause of a boy
named Barber, who had ueen imprisoned for selling un-
stamped newspapers, and, over ready to champion the
persecuted, and to fly at the prejudices of conventionalism,
he presented a petition from Richard Carlile, praying to
be released from an imprisonment to which he had been
sentenced for writing letters deemed to be incitements to
incendiarism. In doing this he made a fierce attack on the
Recorder of London, who had tried Carlile. He had never,
he declared, heard of a more captious, less careful, calm, and
considerate judge, nor one more wholly unworthy and in-
capable of performing the duties of his ofticef

This session marked the commencement of persistent
attempts by Sir A. Agnew to enforce the observance of the
Sabbath by legislative enactments. From the first these
were met by Mr. Roebuck with irreconcilable opposition.

* See Tail's Edinburgh Magazine for 1835, p. 202, for an account of the
Bath Kducatiou Society, of which Kochiick was the priBiilent, ami itH Hchool.

t Seo ante, p. 7 (chap. i.). Tiie Kecorder of Louilon in 1833 was the
Hun. C. E. Law, not Shaw, ua given in Mooiu's Diary.

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

He never ceased to pour upon them bitter contempt
and scornful obloquy. By way of reductio ad ahsiirdum,
Mr. Roebuck was accustomed to threaten to make liable
to fine any gentleman whose carriage, or servant, should
be seen in the streets on a Sunday. He suggested a penalty
of ilO on any one attending a club on Sunday, or sending
his servant with messages. He threatened to impose a
penalty of £100 on any clergyman driving to church, to
be increased in the case of a bishop to £200. He would
also endeavour to shut up Hyde Park and the Zoological
Gardens, "so that the whole metropolis should be con-
verted into one solemn scene of unmitigated gloom and
fanaticism." But a more excellent way, urgently advocated
by him, was the opening on Sundays of the British IMuseum
and other places of instructive recreation. Not until 1896
was this done, sixty-three years after Mr. Roebuck pressed
it upon the House of Commons.

June 21, 1838. — The murder is out, and the ministers arc for
ever ruined in the public estimation. It is now proved that as
men and gentlemen they arc uuwortliy of trust. It was confidently
stated that they had .letermined to give up the integrity of the
[Irish Church] Bill, and erase tlie clause respecting the appropria-
tion of Church property. Matters go quietly until the reading of
the 147th clause, when Stanley gets up, and with much calmness
and complacency, proposes to leave out the whole clause. The
House appeared seriously hurt, lie could not get a single cheer.
His usual commonplaces were no longer successful, and at length
he felt that this hitherto obsequious House was no longer at his
command. . . . The usually bold Mr. Stanley shrinks under the
fierce cheers of his opponents. The cries of the Opposition were
continuous and triumphant. Their scornful laughs made him
tremble with rage and shame. . . . He cowers under their wcU-
deserved contumely, and is more than usually pale and ghastly.
His proposal was met with undisguised scorn, and siiouts of bitter
and contemptuous laughter ; and I shall never forget the burst
which followed O'Connell's opening remark, which came from
him with all that air of truth and burning indignation which be

THE REFORMED PARLIAMENT.

so well knows how to throw into Lis statements. *' Xo, sir," he
said, " I am not disappointed. I am not surprised by the
declaration of the riajht honourable gentleman. I expected that
they would break their promise, and they have done so." . . . The
House of Commons seemed transformed, as if by magic, from a
servile, acquiescent herd ; they appeared at once to have become
independent, patriotic, honest. The miivisterial influence was
annihilated ; and sure am I, whatever may be the majorities
obtained by them after this memorable debate, their power, their
real influence over men's minds, the strange but hitherto powerful
prestige which attended them, is gone for ever.

I wish people would leave off talking nonsense about the
return of the Tories to power. They speak as if there were no
alternative for the people but Whig or Tory. There is yet one
more, viz. an independent, or let us use the strong word, a Radical
party. These last are far more in accordance with the popular
opinion than either Whig or Tory ; and let their enemies say
what they will, the Radicals must be in power before three years
are passed, unless indeed the Duke of Wellington should really
come into office a pas do rUoiijo^ and bayonet the people into
silence. What ! the hoiTid, the vulgar, the destructive Radicals
in office, in this civilized, enlightened, polished, aristocratic
country ? Even so, good people. What think you, for example,
of the wild, headstrong, destructive propensities of that furious
demagogue, Mr. Grote, as Chancellor of the Exchequer ?*

Mr. Roebuck's activities were by no means restricted
at this time to his Parliamentary work. Besides the " M.P.'s
Diary," he contributed occasional articles to Tait'n Edinhargh
Magazine, on Parliamentary and political subjects chiefly,
but not wholly, for on one occasion ho advises Mr. Tait of
the despatch of an article on children's books, with the
remark, " That is my hobby." t

Early in the year 1833 he, with Hume, Grote, Warburton,

* " Diiiry of an M.V.," Tait'$ Kdinhurgh Maffazinv, August, 1833, p. Gt 1.

t Tho articio appears in Tair» Mnijnzini' for Doccnibor, 1833. Other
p-rticles were, " National Educiition " (March, 1S3:?) ; " Tho Prospects of tho
People during tho CoiuiuK Session " (December, 181!:?, and February, 1834);
" Trade Unions " (January, 1831) ; " Political Mortality of tho Tory Ministry "
(1835).

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

and Francis Place, formed a project for establishing a Society
for the Diffusion of Political and Moral Knowledge. Place,
with his accustomed thoroughness, elaborated the scheme,
and Roebuck drew up "a very able" prospectus. The
plan which, besides the publication of new and the reissue
of standard works of solid instruction, included the
establishment of a weekly periodical, was abandoned
almost immediately — but not before it had desperately
alarmed the Times and the Chronicle for their advertising
revenue — because there seemed some prospect that Lord
Althorp was about to fulfil his often expressed desire to
abolish the stamp duties on newspapers. When, after
some years of impatient waiting, the repeal of the
Newspaper Stamp Act seemed more remote than ever,
the society, reconstructed, determined to commence, under
the editorship of Mr. Roebuck, the publication of a series
of Pamphlets for the People. In order to avoid coming
under the cognizance of the law affecting periodical
publications, these bore no..!(]ate or number, each forming
a separate work. But the idea was to issne ofte every
week, or oftener if needed. "By whomsoever written,"
said Mr. Roebuck, " my name will appear on the title page
as editor, and by this mode they will be known to emanate
from the society. . . . By this means the leading matters
of present political interest will be brought before the
people without any infringement of the existing atrocious
law."

The first of these, " On the Means of Conveying Informa-
tion to the People," was published on June 11, 1835.
The first four numbers were wholly from Mr. Roebuck's
pen, and out of the entire series of six and thirty, there
were few to which he did not contribute some specimens
of his pungent thoughts, set forth in an admirably direct
and lucid language. Even to-day they cannot be read
without delight. The impression they made at the time
may be judged by the violent attacks on their author with

THE REFORMED PARLIAMENT.

which the newspapers of the day teem — attacks, it must
be admitted, invited by the unsparing plainness of speech
in which individuals and institutions were assailed, and
unpalatable doctrines proclaimed. But in proportion as /
they offended the classes, they pleased the masses. '

ir. IfawlccH Smitk lo J. A. llocbu.ch-.

Birmin(jhmn, Ocfober 1:), IS;;:..— lamreadinj? your pamphlets,
which I think of and constantly speak of, as ranking,' amon,i,' the
most important signs of the times— strong and decided, but without
vulgar acrimony. Close, practical, and intelligible to all, they
give to the people precisely the informatiou they want, on the
various divisions of politics as a science, and on the various
indications of the state of that science at the present day, which
might otherwise escape notice and detection. I prefer them
infinitely to Cobbett's Jirt/i.sfcr, even in its best days, because I
think they have more of the above qualifications than that
extraordinary work possessed — have more to do with the people
than the Regisfer had.

Next to Roebuck, H. S. Chapman* did most of the
writing; the contributions of Francis Place and Thomas
Falconer (Roebuck's brother-in-law) being less frequent.
Grote's name is given in some of the correspondence as
having, with Hume, Molesworth, and Warburton, con-
tributed X'50 as capital for the undertaking, but this is
irreconcilable with the fact that when only two Pamphlets
had appeared, Grote wrote to the Times to contradict a
reference in a leading article to him as connected with
them. " This," he said, " is not the fact. You have probably
been misled by finding it stated, and correctly stated, by
Mr. Roebuck, that I was one of a society projected in the
year 1833, for the purpose of disseminating cheap and
useful periodicals among the people."

In 1834 we find Mr. Roebuck speaking on education at
a meeting of the National Union of the Working Classes.

* Chapman, who had previously been rcsirh-nt in Canada, went to tho
Bur in 1840, and was aftorwarda a judge in New Zealand and several of
the Australian Colonies, lie died at Dunodin in 1881.

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

This speech brought liim into sharp antagonism with
that able, but curiously erratic politician, William Cobbett,
one of whose pet aversions was the spi-ead of knowledge.
In a long letter in his Bcgister he denounced Mr. Roebuck's
views — which is not surprising, as Cobbett declared
roundly that in exact proportion as the work of education
and the sale of newspapers had increased had the liberties
of the nation been undermined and diminished, while crime
had augmented nearly tenfold.

Later in the year Cobbett expressed similar views in
Parliament, when Mr. Roebuck, returning to the subject
he had introduced in 1833, moved for a select committee
to inc^uire into the means of establishing a system of
national education. His motion, after an alteration in
its terms, made at the instance of Lord Althorp, was
agreed to.

His interpositions in debate, up to July, 1834, when
Whig dissensions were temporarily patched up by Lord
Melbourne's government succeeding that of Lord Grey,
were frequent, and the subjects with which he dealt most
varied. After that, until the prorogation, Mr. Roebuck was
absent.

The affairs of Canada had been in a disturbed condition
since 1828, and now, in 1834, they had reached a point
that determined the member for Bath to bring them under
the notice of Parliament. When moving for a committee
of inquiry, he drew a comprehensive and most vivid
picture of the evils complained of.* The colonists alleged
that these grievances were brought on chiefly by the
raisgovernment of the home executive, the result being
a state of things, even then, amounting to almost open
rebellion. Mr. Stanley, on behalf of the Government,
having agreed to more limited inquiry into the grievances

* For a clear account of the Canadian troubles and their ultimate settle,
incnt, see Spencer Walpole's " History of England " (new edition, 1 81)0),
vol. iv. chap. xv.

THE REFORMED PARLIAME

of Lower Canada, excluding the Upper Province, the
committee was granted by the House without a division.
The committee met, but its report was not made public.

In his earlier elections, Mr. Roebuck made it a point
of honour never to canvass personally. He laid down other
rules with regard to the relative position of representatives
and represented that might usefully be imitated and re-
membered. Thus he was attacked at Bath for having
refused to subscribe to the Bath and West of England
Agricultural Society. His reply was given in a speech
made in that city, January 7, 1834, at a meeting on
Corporation Reform. He said —

A representative of the people should f,'o to Pivrlinment free
ivnd uudetiled. If he puts his bauds into his pockets to purchase
their suffrages, be assured that he will make them jiay for it in
return. I say, tlierefore, that, whatever societies I may think
proper to subscribe to in my individual capacity, you have no
right to expect ine to do so as your representative.

Part of the autumn of 1834! was passed in France,
where, almost immediately on landing, Mr. Roebuck was
seized with a dangerous illness. Two physicians, one
French, one English, despaired of their patient, although
the French doctor saw some hope if his prescription could
be given, but neither he nor the English colleague could
inuster up courage to give it. When Mrs. Roebuck heard
their decision, she said, " I will take that responsibility ! "
and at once administered the medicine, with the happiest
results. The convalescence was long, and tiie time was
<;hiefly spent in drawing, for which a vigorous and graceful
talent had already caused Mr. Roebuck's friends to say that
he was an artist lost to the world. The scenes of his first
water-colours were taken from the surroundings of the
quaint little town of Abbeville, where he was then staying.
This pursuit he continued in his leisure moments for years,
until eyesight suddenly failed i 1852.

/.».

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

CHAPTER VII.

Rp>i:LE(Ti:n roii hath. 183").

"The queen has done it all," was the spiteful comment,
inspired by Brougham, on the announcement, which
startled the country on November 15, 1.S.34, that King
William IV. had summarily dismissed Lord Melbourne.
" Regularly kicked out," Mr. Greville called it ; and as-
suredly no lackey was ever discharged with less ceremony
than the king showed in this last dying Hicker of pre-
rogative. His Majesty took the worst possible way of
ending a crisis which had long been approaching. Every-
thing had gone wrong with the ministry during the
preceding session. Ireland — the Irish Church, Irish tithes,
Irish coercion — had, as usual, played the part of wrecker.
Ministerial divisions had resulted in what Lord John
Russell called " the wretched, blundering, wavering course
of policy." "Johnny," in historic phrase, had himself
" upset the coach," by publicly dissociating himself from
Stanley's views on the appropriation of the revenues
of the Church, and thus driving from the Cabinet four
of his most influential colleagues. Then " the pig was
killed," in Althorp's bucolic simile. In the complications
arising out of the mistaken confidence of the Irish Secre-
tary (Littleton) of being able to manage O'Connell o^•er
the Coercion Bill, Lord Grey threw up the premiership,
and left Melbourne to struggle on until the removal of
Lord Althorp to the House of Lords, through the death

RE- ELECTED EOR BATH.

of Lord Spencer, tempted tlio kinjif to the last and feeblest
coni^ <r>'(<it ever attempted by a British sovereign. Tlion
Peel, hastily summoned from Rome, began his short and
inglorious ministry.

Ffhf\iit'(i 1!», is;*,,'). — The new [teinporarj-] ITonso of Commons
opened for the first time for the reception of members. As
coinjiiired with the old uirly place, it is \\ l)eiuitifiil luid com-
modious room. Many mistakes, however, have been made which
it is to he h(»ped will be a warning to the architect of the per-
manent house. Amontr the most serious of these was the leaving
a large space behind the Speaker's chair for a gossip shop. In
fact, all the bud points in the new house arise from a servile
imitation of the old one. . . . The table is exactly the size of the
old one, as is ])roved by the appearance of the old oil-cloth
covering used in the former house, and saved providentially,
as the Speaker would have said, from "the dcvastntioiis com-
mitted by the flames." . . . The Lords are am.'izinirly shorn of
their beams. Their now insignificant house is a tyiw of their
political condition. Bri<rht colours and much show in an
awkward, small, uncomfortable room — in my opinion, however,
(piite good enough. The whole body being useless, or something
worse, it matters little into what place you cram them.

Fcliniarif 20. — Tlie division [on an amendment to the address]
created little sensation. Whether we were beaten or not was a
matter of little consecpience, as Sir Tl. Peel had plainly stated
that he would not resiijn, even if placed in a minority,* and ho
was right for so saying. We knew the result (ayes, 802 ; noes,
300. IMiijority for the amendment, 7) before we returned out
of the loliby ; and, although a cheer was raised on the declaration
of the numbers, very little exultation was felt by the more
Liberal portion of the majority. Peel looked painfully down-
cast. He was as pale as the paper on which I am writing.
There was a convulsive motion of his mouth that gave one
pain to look at. He seemed to sink under the blow, and walked
out of the house as would a man stunned by a fall. He must
feel that he is in a false position ; and, doubtless, would give
half his fortune to he on the Liberal side of the House. Had

* On the ground tlmt the nmondmcnt did not clearly indicate want of
coufideucc in the miuitstry.

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEIUXK.

he not bound liiiiisclf to tho Tory party too lirinly for ntnut,
wu Hhould hiivi! li;i(l liiiii as an advocate of i\\v nini'iiiKiil — a
shullliiij,' advocate, without douitt, l)ut still a jiowirful one.*

This was but the prccursoi- of a C(tnstant succession
of defeats, jigiiiiist which I'eel fou;^dit in vain. At h-nj^'th,
on April 7, his hark, too, struck on the rock of the Irish
Church, and he appealed to the country. At the geni lai
election which followed, tlu; Toiies of JJath adopted as
their Candidate Colonel J)aul)eney, a tric«l soldier and
one of the most intluential of local Conservatives. The
Whi^s had already sunnnoned Mr. lioMiousu to return
to the battle. He had come protesting; solicitude for
harmonious action in the Liberal camp. The lladicals
put their olil members in the (iuld. JJefore the nomi-
nation, Mr. llobhouse retired in order to contest Finsbury.
General Talmer, for reasons connected with his private
concerns, was absent durin<^ the contest; and thus the
whole burden of the lii;ht rested upon Mr. Roebuck.
Tho strungle ended in the re-election of himself and his
collea_L;'ue.

In tho new Parliament Mr. Roebuck lost no time in
returning to the educational |)roblem. He succeeded in
obtaining a connnittee to in(pure into the present state
of the education of the people, and into the application
and effects of tho grant made in the last session for
erection of school-houses, and to consider the expediency
of further grants in aid of education.

The House of Assembly of Lower Canada had appointed
Mr. lloebuck as their agent in England, and this session
(1835) he continued to give constant attention to the
affairs of that colony. Ho presented a petition from
certain members of the Legislative Council and of the
House of Assembly of Lower Canada, complaining of
their grievances — a document which he described as
being as important as any laid before the House of

* "Diary of uu BI.P.," TaiCs Edinburgh Miiyuzine, April, 1835, p. 211.

re-i:li:ctei) ivr hath.

111

ill

1011
the
>in
le
of
as
of

CnmmoTiM sinco the disastrous period of IT?^. TFIs speech
on tliis occasion, in which the priviloi^o of self-j^ovormnent
was deiiiand(Ml, is a clear and interestinij statement of
the state of the colony and its i^riovances. This petitiini
oliciteil rebiittiii;^ petitions, presented hy Mr. I'atiicic
Stewart (Lancaster), and Mr. (J. V. Voun<]j ('rynemnuth).
Durini; these cniitroversies Sir llohert I'eel made an
unfounded chaii^e ai^ainst Uoebuck of having' divuli,'ed
contidential communications. Mr. Uoeltuck, however, liad
no ditliculty in showiiii^ that, so far from havini^ violated
confidenco, ho had earnestly protested ai^ainst the use, hy
Canadian delej^ates, of a conversation with Peel.

Mr. Jloehuck's accc[)tanco of the position of aj^ont for
the (Canadians exposed him to many snecrini^ attacks from
opponents Avho conveniently forgot that Hthnund Burke
had acted in a similar capacity for the colony of New
York at the time of the American Revolution, receiving'
£.')00 a year for his services. The vivid imaj^ination of
Mr, Roebuck's assailants enabled them to represent hiiu as
in receipt of £1 100 a year, whereas the Canadians not only
failed to pay his salary at the time, but left him to defray
tho expenses of the defence of Canada in Parliament out of
his own pocket, and subsequently repudiated his claim for
arrears. Sir John llanmcr, in 183(5, asked the House of
Commona to atKrin that it was contrary to its indepen-
dence, a breach of ii-s privile«^os, and deroj^atory to its
character, for any of it.-j members to become tho paid
advocate of any portion of his Majesty's subjects. Tho
motion was rejected by 178 votes to G7. Mr. Roebuck
acted as agent for only a year and a half. When the
Canadians became what was termed rebels, ho ceased to
act for them. Not until many years afterwards was he
paid his first claims.

The poor and the oppressed — whether illiterate Irish
petitioners, or ill-used paupers, or tho London cab-
drivers, or the cruelly transported Dorchester labourers, or

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

publishers who had been imprisoned, ar 1 printers whoso
presses had been seized by the Stamp OfHce — found in Mr.
Roebuck a courageous champion. His attacks upon the
newspaper stamp were accompanied by his customary
fuhninations against the newspapers themselves. He
said —

There never was a press so dccrradcd, so thoroughly itnmoral,
as the press (»f this country. . . . From tlie hii,'liest to the lowest,
the most paltry corruption, the basest cowardice, and the blackest
immorality, were the governing principles of the newspaper press
of this couutiy.

He spoke in favour of the relief of Dissenters from the
disabilities placed upon them by the marriage laws;
against a budget which, while continuing corn laws and
other taxes for the benefit of the landed interest, did not
even name the taxes on knowledge. He pressed for the
ballot. Furtiier attempts at enforcing Sunday observance
by legislation drew forth his bitterest sarcasms. Not only
was there a Bill against Sunday trading, but attempt was
made to introduce into the Great Weatern Railway Bill a
clause prohibiting the running of trains on Sunday. The
promoters of the Bill had been sufficiently alarmed to
express themselves willing to be bound not to run trains
between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sundays; but th ur oppo-
nents, with a confidence cruelly disillusioned when they
found themselves in an impotent minority in the division
lobby, loftily declared that the question was one admitting
of no compromise. Mr. Roebuck met what he regarded
as an attack upon the rights and liberties of the poor by
a description of what he had seen of the privileges and
proceedings of the rich. Ho said —

I shall oppose this clause, because it is intended by it to
interfere with the enjoyment of the working and poorer classes,
wliile it leaves untouched the recreations of the higher classes.
I went a short distance out of town a Sunday or two ago, and

RE-ELECTED EOR BATH.

I will imn':ito to the Honso what \ suw. On that moniiii:,' I
wont, first into IMocadilly. At twoivo o'clock, the tirst jK-rson
I nut was the Dnkc of \Vcllini,'ton tm iiorsohack. I went into
IFydc Park, and tiicrc were sonic men waterini; the drive for
the comfort of the relined classes that afternoon. A little
fnrther on, at Kni^'htsbridire, [ foinid the soldiers exircisinir, iind
their ollicrrs in arms. I pnrsued my jonrney over Haii'iner-
sinith IJridire, and there met with the liord Chief .Instice on
horseback, takini,' a ride into the country. At three o'clock [
arrived at Hampton Court, and there foimd the riuht houonr-
able baronet, the mend)or for Tamworth [Sir iiolu'rt Peel]. Do
I blame any of these illustri»»ii- lersonaLCes for what they were
doinu; ? I was doiiiLT the same ihinii: as themselves. They had
as natch riuiit to travel on Sundays for their health and ainnse-
mcuL as I have, and so have tin; [)oor. The ])lain fact is, we
meddle too much with one another. If each individual would
ttvke care of his own i^oodness, instead of beinj^ so anxious about,
the irooduess of his neiLjhlionr, W(! should have more virtue in the
world, though we miulit have a little less ontwanl show.

led

|sos,
^cs.

The IMimiclpjvl (.VtrporatiouUoforni IVill, cai-rioil throiii^h
the Coniinons witlioiit material distigurenient by tho
exercise of Sir llobort Peel's rostrainini; intlucnce on his
more extreme followers, was sent up to the House of Lonls
on July -I. Tho Tory lonls at once proceeded to work
their wicked will upon it. They turned it inside out, and
sent back to tlio Commons a wholly ditferent and re-
actionary M\capun3. Mr. Roebuck, both in Parliament and
inhisPamphi jtsforthe People, declaimed aujalnst the Lords.
"UnmiivC'l, then," he wrote, "is the evil which the House
of Lorui inflicts upon the nation, whether we view them
as lcf]fislators, or judges, or simply as an aristocracy. Such
is my answer to the (juestion, 'Of what use is the House
of Lords?'" In "Tho Crisis: What ourjht Ministers to
do ? " he contended that not only oujjht every chan<»o
made to be rejected, and the IVdl restored to its ori'jjinal
shape, but that the bri^ader strujjfgle of dei)rivin<]f tho Lords
of power to work such mischiefs should bo entered upon.

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

And he spoke to the same effect in the House. When
Lord John Russell preached concession, Mr. Roebuck urged
defiance. " Let us," ho said, " re-enact every one of our
original measures, saying that sucli was the pleasure of the
people. Let those who dare resist it."

The following letter to Mrs. Roebuck was written on
August 81, during the debate in which Lord John Russell,
fresh from a conference with his party in Downing Street,
explained which of the Lords' Amendments the Government
advised the Commons to reject and wliich to accept. In
this debate, Peel, to the consternation of his followers,
threw the Lords overboard on most of the i)oiuts insisted
on by Lord John Russell.

Ti> Mrs. Rorhuch.

Lomfoti, Aiif/iis/ i\\. — I am writinij in the House in a hurry
iuid aifninst time. I was yesterday at tlio Grotes', at Duhvicli.
I fonml tliem iu liiuii excitement and wisliinj; for mc. We had
a grrat talk ; and to-day I went to Lord Jolin Russell to have
another talk. We shall not aecei)t the Lords' Ameiidincnts as a
whole, but only some of them — too many to pkase nie. Still, if
the Lords accept the Bill as we return it, it will still be a good
one. Lt>rd John [Russell] is on his legs, talking empty nothings
in a very pompous tone. Whether the Lords will accept what he
proposes is more than I know.

]\Iolesworth I found at Duhvicli,* iu great glee because he
hopes for a row. (Jrote is in a great rage, and is aji^ainst all
concession. We had Parkesf at dinner, ])rL'acliing peace, but
that was not po])ular. Strutt and (laskell were there. ]\Iany
praises were bestowed on mv doiniis al)out the Lords, and also on
my Canada article.^ ^ly health is so so.

* Grotii's houso.

t JoHi'iih Piu'kt'8, of tbo Iliriuiughnm Political Union, Socrotnry to the
Municipnl CorpDratioiis CoiuniisBion, iiud in after years in largo practice at
Westminster as a I'arliauientary solicitor. He was one of IJoutham's " young
men."

X " On the Affairs of Canada," in tlie Lomlon and Westminster lieview
for f^optember, 1833

RE-ELECTED FOR BATH.

; lio
all

JUt

new

Loiuhni, Scplrmhcr, IS;',,"). — Tivm this moment from pf toDulwlcli
with IMoloswortli. 1 iro bociiuso I wisli for fresh air. The business
here will not he over tliis week, oinic! !My motion has excited atten-
tion. The next " Pams " I mean to fill with tlie history of the week.

Mr. Roebuck did, accord infjly, devote the next Pamphlet
for the People, entitled, " The Conduct of Ministers respect-
ini,' the Amendments of the House of Lords," to a full
description of the proceedings at the Downing Street
meeting, and of the debate in the House of Commons. If
the Tories were dissatisfied with Peel's conduct in throwing
overboard the Lords, Roebuck was furious at what he
considered " the unwise, not to say degrading, submission
of the Commons of England to a few ignorant, irresponsible,
and interested peers." He poured scorn upon Lord John
Russell, and he Avrithed under what he called Peel's " selfish
cunning " in taking a line wdiich showed that, while he was
the despot over his own party, the ministry was dependent
upon him for such portions of the Bill as were saved. Dis-
satisfied with the newspaper accounts, Roebuck gave in the
Pamphlet a full report of his own speech. In this he
denounced all compromise, as Grote had also done, both in
the House and at the party meeting, and insisted that this
latest insulting demonstration of the incompatibility of the
existence of the House of Lords with the welfare of England,
necessitated curing the evil at its source.

The motion referred to in the foregoing letter as exciting
attention was a notice put upon the books for the next
session to ask for leave to bring in a Bill proposing that
the Lords* veto should be taken away, substituting for it
a suspensive power to be exercised only once on any
measure in the same session. Mr. Grove Price (Sandwich)
intimated that he should meet this with a moiion to erase
Mr. Roebuck's motion from the paper "as subversive of
the principles ot our balanced constitution, as derogatory
to the character, and an abuse of the privileges of the
House." Nothing ever came of either.

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Tho Parliamentary session of 1835 having closed, the
Radicals of Bath invited their members and various
l)oliticians of the same school to a grand dinner, and
welcomed them by a great demonstration of strength. The
dinner took place on November 11, 1835.

To JlfK. Rochmli.

Ihith, Xorcmhcr 11, 1H:5.j. — Lord Jolm [Russell] does;?**/ come.
A Privy Council to-day at eleven is the excuse. The dinner
is to be a very splendid alYair, I understand. The cuthusiasni is
extraordinary. Hume preaches mildness, and seems half afraid
of my hitting somebody or other very hard. The day yesterday
was bitterly cold, but I did notsull'er so much as I expected. The
country was beautiful beyond descri[)tlon, and I made drawings
in my head all the way. I should much like to make some
sketches of Salisbury. Wc have letters from Canada. The
Conunissioners have already no power, and Lord Codford tells
Papiueau as much. They have been doing all sorts of foolish things ;
among otLors, they had invited Pajiineau and Vigier to meet ultra
opponents. They all got together by the cars at the governor's
table, he being ohliged to propose a bumper all round to drown
the row.

I have just seen Mrs. lienjamin Roebuck, who says that your
mother sin^s my praises. Mrs. R. was deliyhted to hear so much
good of her " little Johnny" — my old cognomen.

The Bath dinner attracted much attention throughout
the country. Its unmixed Radicalism was accepted as an
index even of national feeling. Mr. William Hunt was
president, Colonel (afterwards General Sir William) Napier *

* Before Mr. llnclmck was seloctcd as candidate for Bath in 1.S32, Coloiud
William Napier, who had j,'(iiie to roHide at Fn shford, mar tiiat city, had
beoii invited to stand, bnt liad refused. Auintiniato Iriendship hej^un when,
in 1835, ho enlisted tho Parlianioutury aid of lloebuck in a light he was
waging with characteristic heat, against tho inl uumiiily witii which the new
Poor Law was ad'niuistcrod in Freshford. F :r ninny yours Napier was a
prominent and striking figure on Bath platforms, and on one occasion he
incontinently knocked down a man who persisted -n accusing him of false-
hood. His vigorous Iladicaiism brought him many oifirs of Parliamentary
seats. Seven great couBlituoucies, including Notiinghum, Glasgow, Uldham,

RE-ELECTED FOR BATH. 73

boldly inrlicLud tho House of Lords. Mr. Roebuck arraigned
their Lordships in equally forcible terms, and Mr. Hume
though less extreme, joined heartily in the censures con-
veyed. The general feeling of enthusiasm toward Air.
Koebuck was remarkable. General Palmer offered the
sincerest homage to his integrity and power, and tho
ve eran Aapier wound up with these words: "General
Palmer IS an old friend, but this (laying his hand on Air.
Roebuck s shoulder)--this is the child of refonu ; and I hope
that you may hve to witness its best results, and until both
you and lie have Iiairs as grey as my own."

S' n't?' r"r ^""^'T''''^ -'»l-to.l for tl.e l.o„„„r uf bavin. Inn. ns
i ,,.,,..„ o hnntcl „.oanH. Many letters writtr, by lu.a t. Uoe „H

.IrLl ; "tl. ^7'\irV "'-'"?' '" ^^'^" '^" «^^«» •'^"'•-"■'^•'. wuB strongly

.am

Z//-£ OF 7C>//A^ ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

CHAPTER VIII.

RADICAL RECRIMINATIONS.

i ■

All!. RoEiiUriv had heralded the session of 1836 by
broaching a plan for the government of England by the
Radicals. Considering that the staunch and reliable
Radicals who were niembei"S of the House of Commons
nunibeied not more than twenty, this was a bold pro-
position. His measures for achieving this object were,
howt'vei", very carefully taken. The great parties were
so nearly balanced in the House of Commons, that a dozen
votes would turn the scale ; and upon this fact Mr. Roebuck
leased his scheme of aggression. In the Pamphlet published
early in 1S8G, entitled, "Radical Support to a Whig
^[inistry," he exposed the selfish indifference with which
the Radical pretensions had been treated by the Whigs,
and advised that when the (piestion of the Irish Church
came on, the Radicals • hould show their sense of in-
dilierence to their demar is by their absence.

On the very eve of he session, and in the penultimate
Pami)hlet, " The Radicals and the Ministers," Roebuck
further elaborated this plan of action. Supi)ort of the
Whigs should, he urged, be continued on i)romise to repeal
the Stamp Duties and to leave the Ballot an open question.
If this was refused, the Radicals should abstain from voting
on any no-confidence motion proposed by the Tories.

Nothing practical camo of the scheme. Radicals like
Sir William Molesworth joined with Roebuck in insisting

RADICAL RECRIMIXA TIONS.

on a more detcnnined and straiglitforward action on the
part of tho ministers as the only way to obtain hearty
Radical support. Yet the session ran its course with tho
usual accompaniments of bitter words, but no deeds.

The attempt to <:falvanize the Radicals into combined
revolt was tho tlyiny effort of the Pamphlets. Their early
promise had not been fulfilled. Refused the support he
was entitled to expect, tho strain upon Roebuck was too
great. Publication was discontiimcd early in 1(S3G. The
conclusion of the story is told in the letters whicli follow : —

if. S. C/i(f/ii)i(iii Id Fittiiris J'ldcc,

Jdiniririf II), 18;5<;. — Yon aro aware tliat the Pamphlet did not
pay its ordhiary, still less its extraordinary, expenses, till towards
the close of the session. Alter the elose of the session it ceased
to pay, and the resnlt is that we are lull iil.'tO on the
wrojif,' side. I, on my own responsibility, have carried it on
in the face of loss, because I saw it was etVectiui;' an enormous
amount of good in a public ])oint of view. I saw, too,
that it was increasing Roebuck's power and adding to his
usefulness ; and if you re(piire a more selHsh motive, I also saw
tiiat it was making me advantageously known to the public.
Thus T had every possible motive to make great sacriHces to
maintiiiii it. To such sacrifice, however, there is a limit. I can
allord to expend iiioo — Roebuck can i)erhaps afford to expend
as much — but to go beyond this would not be possible. So
much for pecuniary conditions. Now, then, for others not
less pressing.

Roebuck is ill. ( h.'casiou'dly he is in a state of nervous
excitement which renders writing painful. Such was his state
yesterday and to-day. On such occasions it is that he and I feel
the manner in which the men who can and ought to have assisted
us ill this undertaking have left us to our own resources in a
matter which should not have been considered merely personal.
You, Place, are the only man on whose sympathy ami assistance
we could rely ; and you know enough of the world to pardon
me for now laying a burthen on willini;' shoulders.

This morning Roebuck was fur stop[)ing at once. He urged

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

! ; '

11 i!

tliat the session was cominij on, and that he was unequal to the
hvbonr that he would he called on to underu:o. Few, he said,
would assist us, and John Jlill couUl find time to labour for
Fox's Maj,'azine, but not to write a line for the Pamphlets.
If four or five good men had been invited at the early part of
the session to contribute articles to the Pamphlets, the labour
would iiavc been li<,'lit, and the Pamphlets would have become the
or<,'an of tlie Radical party. It was hard, lie concluded, to leave
the wliole labour and responsibility on our shoulders.

Sucli, as nearly as I can remember, were his words. Now,
what is to be done ? Two things are wanted. First, some
money; second, tlie assistance of some writers. At Hume's, on
Friday, Perronct Thompson spoke in high terms of the Pamiihlets.
He said he had purchased the whole volume, and it delighted
him, and that he should lii<e to write in it. Now, Perronct
Thompson can bdth write and spare money.

Jjast week at lUiUer's, Roebuck met Leader, the member
for Rridgewater. Leader stated that he was anxious to render
himself useful to the Lib(.'ral cause, both in and out of Parliament.
Roebuck said, " You go to too nuiny parties to become a hard-
working man." Leader seemed hurt — defended himself from
the party-going accusation, and again expressed a desire to be
useful. Leader also can spare money.

Tho writer goes on to suggest that applications be
made to Sir William Molcsworth, Perronet Thompson,
John Mill, Hume, and Leader, and — somewhat surprising
after the letter to the Timc^, quoted on page GI — to Grote.

li'';

Josrph Hiimo, M.P., lo Frftiir/s Place.

Br//ansfo)i Sqiuiir, Janiinr}/ 30, l.s;3n. — I hasten to answer
your letter of tin's date, and to return ]\Ir. Chapman's letter to
you respecting Roebuck's Pamphlet. It is not my fault that he
is in that situation, as I advised him to be (]uite sure of the
means he had of carrying it on before ho began. He was quite
certain of John Mill and others he mentioned as contributors to
the Pamphlet, and he was also quite certain it would more than
pay after the first two or three months. When you spoke to me
in respect to funds, I spoke to thirty or forty of those members

i^^

RA Die A L RECRIMINA TIOXS.

whom I thoiii^'ht I'koly from their acquaiiitanco with Roebuck,
aud tlioir support of the ciiusu, to suppcirt by subscription the
Pamplilut. ... I only collected about JC70. ... I mot with so
many rebnfTs from those I had expected to find (piite ready
on principle, that I cannot do more in tlie uioney way, thou<?h
I am most anxious to see it go on. I have recommended
it everywhere by special notes, and done all in my power to
promote its success, and I consider that the allowing,' it to drop
will hi the severest blow to Roebuck that he Iuh had. It will
be an admission of failure ; of inability to keep up his work, etc.

I can have no hesitation in saying that when Mr. Roebuck
expects the co-operation of others in a general and common cause,
he must not be so self-important as to think that every person
must give way to him and implicitly obey his mandates. He
in reality does so, and yet comphiius that others will not support
him.

I ani as ready as any man to speak and to act as I think right ;
but when 1 want the co-operation and assistance of others to
carry a point, I am necessarily obliged to yield part of my
opinions to those who are to assist mc. But Mr. Roebuck has
not done so, as you may learn by speaking to Mr. Grote, liis
longest and most intimate friend, who took the trouble to
contradict in the Timoa a statement that ]\Ir. Roebuck had made,
and refused, when I asked him to subscribe to support the
Pamphlet, on the ground that he could not identify himself with
Mr. Roebuck's ultra and startling reforms.

I would also add that if some of my opinions and suggestions
had been attended to by Mr. Roebuck, he would have had more
friends, and have been in a better condition to support and carry
the objects he has in view, than he will be if deserted by those
with whom he should act, and on whom he should rely for support
on the pinch.

... I should think, if you will interfere, the work will go
on nsefully to the public and with credit to Mr. Roebuck. If
it falls now, it will damage him much. . . .

P.S. — "Xou may still command my best assistance, and as 1 nm
unwilling to liirt Mr. Roebuck's feelings in any way, you will
act accordingly.

The inevitable result followed. The last Pamphlet of

-r

LIFE OF JOHX ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

tho scries, published on February 11, IS.'JO, contained an
announceiniiiL by Mr. lloebuelc of discontinuance, on ac-
count of increase of labour consequent on the reassembling;
of Parliament.

Roebuck an'ain took prominent part in the debates of
the session. The peers havinij introduced such amond-
ments into the Frish Municipal Corporations IJill afV com-
pelled tho Government to drop that measure, ho r«A<'v,ed
his attacks upon the House of Lords. IIowever,liPsai(l,
their Lordships had only acted after their kind. The fault
was not theirs, but that of their institution. If the people
of England wished to continue a Ueforminjj; Parliament,
they must aid to put down that irrcsponsil)le body.

On the motion of Lord Dudley Stuart, " As to the etlect
on British interests of the policy pursued by Russia," Mr.
Roebuck spoke at some len<;th. He deprecated threatenini;
Russia with denunciations of war, but he e([ually repu-
diated the notion that the Government shouUl cower down
before her. The true policy of England was openly to
avow that she would always be ready to vindicate her
interests in any part of the globe whenever and wherever
they were threatened or encroached upon. Proudly relying
upon her own strength and national sense of justice to
safeguard her interests, she should endeavour, as far as
was compatible with this, to preserve peace, since the
consequences of a war between England and Russia must
be a general conflagration among the difierent states of
Europe.

It was in this session that Mr. Roebuck, in a speech
against the stamp duties, drew a contrast between the
stamped and tho unstamped press, very much to the
advantage of the latter. Then up jumped Mr. Kearsley,
member for Wigan, in a towering rage. He described this
as " the most disgusting speech he had ever heard." The
chairman of committee (Mr. Bernal) ordered him to with-
draw these words. Ho refused, and, when Mr. Paul

A*. / niCA L RFXRIMLMA TIOXS.

Methucn ciuuo to the aid of the clminimn, cjaculatotl,
"Paul, Paul, why persocutost thou mo i* " and attempted
to leavo the Housi'. This was not permitted, howovor
until, with j^ivat ditliculty, hu had been made U) apolo;;i/,o.
Sir William iMolosworth wait)d upon him in an anto-room
on Mr. Koobuck's bohalf, and was treated with such rude-
ness that he retired perforce with his mission unaccom-
plished. Mr. Uoebuck then related the circumstances t<»
the House, and concluded by sayin<:f that he must " for<j[et
the drunkeji antics of this member tor \Vi<^an."

Towards the close of the session Mr. Uoebuck's name
be<,'an lVe(|uently to be found in the lists of pairs, and
eventually ho had to leavo London on account of ill-health.
He returned, though seriously ill, to vote in the last
division on the Irish Tithe Bill, and then left for Hamp-
shire, to take that necessary rest which his multifarious
duties had prevented ever since ho had been a member
of the House, and the need of which had prostrated his
system. Rest did not accomplish his cure, but he for-
tunately gained permanent relief in a remarkable maiuier
by a five days' course of treatment under Dr. EUiotson;
and wlicn ho next went to Bath, in January, lSli7, he was
able to declare himself in better health than he had been
for years.

The neuralgia in the knee returnoil again and again, and
finally yielded to careful and gentle treatment only in 1S44.

Another session had increased the disappointment
caused by the non-fulfilment of the expectations of great
political advances looked for at the hands of a Koformetl
Parliament. This found angry expression in the autumn,
and led to not a little mutual recrimination in the ranks
of the Radicals themselves.* Hero, as in most of the

* Tuit, in liis Edlnhunjh Magazine, hiul loui; before rcuiDnstriileil with
the lliuUciils on their wiiut of colic'sioii and co-o[K'rntion. Ilf liml toKl tiieni
phiinly that they were injpotent bocnnso of fatiil isohition, i:vt'ry one of them
giving himself the airs of a leader, and elaiming to take his own line.

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LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

I w

advanced movements of the period, Mr. Francis Place was
the mainspring. In his incessant endeavours to stimulate
the reformers to ceaseless effort, he spared no one ; and the
manner in which whip and spur were used gives insight
into a hitherto unwritten chapter of the hidden influences
which mould history.

Mr. John Stuart Mill * speaks of the manner in which
the hopes, founded on the presence of the philosophical
Radicals in Parliament, had been disappointed. This, as
an expression of the outward and general flow of affairs
at this time, may appropriately introduce letters which
show the under currents.

The men were honest and faithful to their opinions as far as
votes were concerned, often in spite of much discourap:ement.
AVhen measures were proposed, flagrantly at variance with their
principles, such as the Irish Coercion Bill, or the Canada Coercion
in 18;J7, they came forward manfully, and braved any amount of
hostility and prejudice rather than desert the right, but on the
whole they did so little to promote any opinions ; they had little
enterprise, little activity ; they left the lead of the Radical portion
of the House to the old hands, to Hume and O'Connell. A partial "•
exception must be made in favour of one or two of the younger
men ; and in the case of Roebuck it is his title to permanent
remembrance, that in the first year during which he sat in
Parliament he originated (or reoriginated after the unsuccessful
attempt of Mr. Brougham) the Parliamentary movement for
National Education, and that he was the first to commence, ,
and for years carried on almost alone, the contest for the self- \J
government of the colonies. Nothing, on the whole, equal to
these two things was done by any other individual, even of those
from whom most was expected. And now, on calm retrospection, "^
I can perceive that the men were less in fault than we supposed,
that we had expected too much from ^hem. They were in un-
favourable circumstances. Their lot was cast in the ten years
of inevitable reaction. ... It would have required a great political
leader, which no one is to be blamed for not being, to have

" Autobiography," pp. 194-196.

RADICAL RECRIMINATIONS.

effected really <,neat thing.^ by Parliamentary discussion, when the
nation was in this mood.

J. A. Roehick to Francis Place.

Christchnrch, Hants, Scpfemler^^, 183G. — [Respecting a project
for bringing forward Sir William Molesworth for Westminster.]
His [Molesworth's] absence from the House of Commons would
be a great loss — a loss in this way : There are some three or
four (not more) men who have courage to say and do what is
right in that House. Now, it is of great importance in this
wealth-loving aristocratic country to have among those men a
rich man, of good standing and rank. Molesworth filled up this
gap for us. Moreover, he did so with great effect, as he is a
person of no mean ability and very great industry. He is ever
anxious to learn, is studious, and in the right way. Being young,
he would soon acquire the art of speaking, which older men
cannot.

To the same.

October 2, 1836. — [From Christchurch.] And now. Father
Place, a word with you. You are a good hand at a general
blow up ; but I should particularly like to know in what I deserve
blame for my Parliamentary conduct last year. Before the
House met I proposed to test the Whigs, and to separate from
them if they would not come up to our mark. What was the
consequence ? Why, all you prudent politicians went half mad.
There was running to and fro, aud threats and prayers and
remonstrances without end. Even Hume grew frightened.
Well, the session came, and did I in one single instance lose an
opportunity of giving the ministers a dressing ? Oh, but you
will say, you did nothing about the Stamp x\ct. How could I ?
I was here sick, almost at my last gasp ; and then you say one and
all deserve a cart-whip. This universal blame is very easy, but
exceedingly unjust. No man did what I did last session, and yet
you make no exceptions. All are bad because all were not good
— this is your logic. You know the House of Commons, and
ought to know what one man has to face in that House. When
you have a party it is all very fine and easy ; but stand alone,
and try. I wish some of you that talk so much would make the

»wr

i^i

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

attempt. You all seem to forget that if a man be poor, unallieil
to great people, and young, he has a very hard fight to fight. It
is something, as any of you would find if you were to try, even
to get a hearing. 'Tis something more to have thoroughly
cowed the House into respect. All this I have done ; but Rome
was not built in a day ; and if I cannot do everything, in the
name of justice do not confound me with the fools and cowards
who do nothing. But this is the way of the wo. Id ; and you, I
find, are not above the world in this.

Your distribution of blame is on the same principle as that of
the imstamped. Agree with them in all things, one only excepted,
and you are rogue, thief, and liar. Do all that you can, but fail
to effect all you desire, and you instantly call one an ass, a fool,
a coward, a rogue. Do you believe that this will conduce to tlie
public good ? Public men have feelings, and justice should be
done even to these men. I am heartily sick of my friends. My
opponents I expected would abuse me, but I have ever found that
the most bitter of all my violent abusers were my intimate friends.
This is very agreeable. You want to know something about
Stevens. Ask Black to show you the letters he wrote to me in
the papers, challenging me to fight.

FranciH Place io J. A. Roclmrk.

October 3, 1836. — No, Roebuck, if I am not quite right, I am
all but so. I send you a paper I wrote some time ago for
Hetherington's Despalch. You will there see that in respect to
the newspaper tax I excluded you from all censure, on, I am sorry
to say, the true cause, your sad indisposition. I hope you are
now much better, and that you will tell me so. I know your
spirit, your talents, your courage — and I know also your vexatious
disposition, which has led you to talk too acutely in the latter part
of your letter. I do not look to immediate success in the House.
I blame no one because he is not successful. I know all the
difficulties a man has to contend with in the House, but he who
cannot overcome them is not a man fitted for the present time.
You have overcome them, forced attention and compelled respect
— which in all such cases must be more the effect of fear than
love. I have fought for you all along against all sorts of people,
and have maintained that you, and you alone, were the man to be

RADICAL RECRIMINA TIONS.

pe.
le
10
le.
let
[111

relied on. But you — yes, you, John Roebuck — are not as yet quite
up to the mark. I see the greatest pccsible changes in prospective,
and I know how much of good or evil in those changes must be
expected from the conduct of the present House of Commons. I
should be satisfied if I saw but six men who would despise the
opinion of the House when circumstances made it necessary, and
stood up for principle, Le. for the people. It was a duty which
on no account should have remained unperformed when the
English Municipal Bill came back from the Lords. A stand
should have been made. Some man should have moved that the
Bill be rejected, on the preamble. Had such a motion been made
all the backsliders would have been tested, and a considerable
impression made upon the public. Hume said he would do it.
He wrote so on the morning of the meeting in Downing Street.
He went there, and succumbed. To what ? To Lord John
Russell. And why ? Because the Whigs threatened to resign.
Men who think the resignation of the Whigs a reason for
deserting the people, are of no use to the people ; fit only to
keep a truckling set of Tories, under the name of Whigs, in
office, and thus to drivel down, as low as it can be drivelled
down, the whole nation into a state of contemptible imbecility.
When the mischief was done, several members condemned their
own conduct, but not one of them changed it. They, indeed,
changed their tone, complained of the Lords, talked largely of
" belling the cat," but no one of the timid mice had the courage
to cut the ministers on any occasion. No, they must not even
be perplexed, they must be kept in office. Bah ! When the
time came that the Irish Municipal Bill must go to the Lords,
Hume wrote to me. He said, " So surely as the Bill goes to the
Lords, so surely will they throw it out ; and then what shall we
do ? " I said, " I will exclude you and three others " — meaning,
as he understood. Roebuck, Thompson, Molesworth — " and then
I will tell you what the House of Commons will do. They will
put up with the flogging the Lords will give them, put their
tails between their legs, and crawl away to their kennels like
curs, as they are, and the Lords would deserve to be damned
outright if they did not flog them." Well, what did the Lords
do ? They altered the Bill. They rejected the preamble ; put
another in its place, and made a new Bill of it. They did all
it was possible for them to do in their own House to insuui.

mmi^

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

the Commons, and yet not one man was found to move that the
Bill be rejected — no, not one. They let the Lords act like lords
and masters, and they conducted themselves humbly like their
liveried servants. ... No such man was found. The House
submitted. It was dragged through the mire by ministers, and
the Lords, seeing tht plight they were in, treated them with
the contempt they deserved. The Lords triumphed simply
because no such man showed himself to the people. ... At the
Liberal meetings, as they are called, dinners to shilly-shally
members, nothing but misleading treacherous Whiggery is talked ;
no symptom of right feeling is shown anywhere — none will be
shown while the people are satisfied there are no public men in
whom they can place confidence. . . . \'/hen I look at the last
two sessions, and then think, as the proceedings have often made
me do, of the House of Commons' men from the accession of
James I. to the shortening of Charles I., and compare them with
our House of Common?' men, I feel all but infinitely ashamed,
and shuffle off the uneasy feeling as well as I can. Will you say
that the course I have pointed out, as I pointed out at the times
alluded to, and in good time to allow for action, could not be
taken — was impossible ? Then I shall say the House of Commons
is no place for you, nor can it be for any honest man. It can
be useful only to those who are seeking present personal
advantage. . . . Had the House acted properly, had the Reformers
acted sensibly and boldly, no one can now tell what beneficial
changes might have been effected, what in progress. Sure I am
that there could have been no chance for the continuance of a
Tory administration. And why have not these things been
done ? Why but because ministers must be kept in their places.
The live lumber. Lord John and Lord Melbourne, and Spring
Eice and John Hobhouse, and Glenelg, etc., must not be removed,
no, nor made useful in any way. This, Ecebuck, " is toe bad."
Well, well, there goes all my malice. I will have nothing to do
with political men, or political matters in connection with
members of Parliament, until I see a great change in the right
way approaching, and this I at present have no expectation of
seeing.

Vanity apart, or vanity indulged — I care not which — but
I do believe that were I in the house, you and I could — aye,
and would— do much of what ought to be done. Though we

RADICAL RECRIMINATIONS. 8$

Should be botli bitterly hated, despised we would not be. But
the hatred even would not last beyond a session or two. There
It 1 have expected more from you than from any other man.
surely that ought to satisfy you.

The strain on the homogeneity of the Radicals was
largely increased by the circumstances under which pro-
posals were launched for a great dinner in honour of the
members for Middlesex, Mr. Joseph Hume, and Mr. George
Byng. It was intended ostensibly as a demonstration of
harmony between the Whigs and the Radicals, and to
cement their alliance. Place saw in this a deep design
for making the Radicals instruments in strengthening
the Whigs, and he spared no effort to prevent his friends
from allowing themselves to be used as ministerial tools.

Francis Place to Josejph Haim^ M.P.

December 30, 1836.— It would be a guinea ill-bestowed in
hearmg fulsome praises of the Administration and resolutions
ambiguously worded in the true Whig style, to secure the assent
of those who may be committed by being present, in supportino-
mmisters in breaking down, as far as they can, the energies of the
people, 111 causing them to have no confidence in public men. .
All the speeches, resolutions, and shoutings, will promote' this
unless you and Colonel Thompson take a line of conduct precisely
the opposite of that which the Whig managers of the meetino-
-viU take. It seems to me that you should, on this occasion'!
place yourselves in a situation which, as matters become
developed, will induce the public to look towards, and rely
upon, you two, Roebuck and Molesworth, as men on whom
they may safely rely, in whom they may place their full con-
fidence. ... I know no one besides you four in whom confidence
can, or ought to be placed ; but you are enough if, disregarding
present imputations and vexations, you go on upon a broad plan,

and trust to time for your justification This meeting will

be a crisis of great importance to the nation, and much may

depend on what you and Thompson may say So general

may be the evil, so general and so lasting the good, that I am

L/F/C OF JO/fN ARTHUR ROE BUCK,

aiiro T do not ovorsfcop tlio duty of ii frioiid in calliiij^ upon yoii
to i^ivo tlio m;ittor your moat sorioiis iitttMitioii.

,/oxi'l)li, Hiimr, M.P., lo Frtniris P/arr,

Jiiin/iir// 1, 18;?7. — You need not bo iifnxid of mo iis to wlmt
I sliiill sivy. ... If yon will put down on paper wliiit you would
siiy iuid do vvoro you in my \)\mg, I shall bo able to see how far
we difft'r, and in what, and to recjonsider all snu;j^estions. Yon
may dopiMid upon it that no nrran,u:ement will i^ive other than a
Kftdical characlcr, if the Radicals will attend.

./. A . llorhvi'k lo Fninrix Placp.

Ihilli, Janiiiirif I, 1S;57. — I have read your letter to irumo
with very ,u;ivat pleasure. [ wrote him one on tlie same day, on
tlic same subject, and our views coincide exactly. The dinner
appeared to me just in the li<?ht it did to you, and I took the
liberty of tellinj? Jlnme so; in consequence of which he sends
me word, as usutd, that I am impudent — "union neccssaiy amouf;
reformers," and other stutV of the same kind. Now, this is too
bad. I had hoped that by this time Riidi(;als would not be as
bliud as new-boru puppies. What will open their eyes if the
experience of the last two years have failed to efTect that desired
object ? I am to see IMolesworth and Leader to-night, and shall
stronu;ly insist on the courec you recommend. Last Monday I
met the people here, ami pretty plainly stated my mind as to the
WhiiLjs, and it took admirably. We had a devil of a row after-
wards about the poor laws, in whicli I did that for the Whigs
they would never have dared to do for themselves — to say nothing
of their doing the same by us — viz. shared at once, and without
circumlocution, the responsibility of the poor law. The fight
ended well, and I dealt pretty hard blows on all who yelped a
foolish disapprobation.

I am puzzled beyond measure when I endeavour to learn what
is meant by Hume and the Prudents. They say, " Do not let
VH destroy the Whigs, but let them fall to pieces." Now, try this
statement by a homely illustration. A broken pitcher, kept
together by a string, is no bad representation of the present
ministry and the Rads. The ministers are the broken pitcher,
and the Rads the string. Now, suppose some one to say,

RADICAL RECIilMlNA TIOXS.

mu-

" Let lis not Itrciik lliis pitclicr to pieces ; no, only let uh ]hi1I Uk;
striiif,' oir," wliiit slioiild you Kay to siicli ii speech ? Wliy, tlmt
tiikirif^f tli(! strin.i^' off necessarily implies l)reakin^' tlie pitclier to
pieces — Icttintf it fall and niakiii;; it fall to ])ieces Iteiuj; tlie same
tiling'. Thus say I to Ilmno & Co. : Prudent men, you ahuHc
the Wlii;,'s. You say you are ready and detei'mined to HiK;ak all
you thiid\, and divide niton every iinjiortant question without
ref(!i'en(:(! to the Whij^s, and yet yon talk of keepiii!^^ them in
jtower. Now, tliis is not honest, or it is very silly. If you do
as you say, the Whi;;s cannot remain in olliee. Why, then,
disguise this act of yours by sliam names ? This which you
say you will do /s' bfatkhitj llu; niinis/r// lo /nWes, turniuf^ them
out and lettiiifj^ 1 1 the Tories. The Whi^'S know and say this ;
why should we fclxcltf deny it, and by lyings glo/j'ny words, try
to cheat them and the world? Ifowever, F need nob preach
to you.

Fivitris f'/arc lo J. A. Hochnrk.

Jdiiudrjf o, 1H;57. — I have had a long but anuca])le dispute with
Madam Grote. She is by far the best of the party, but she is so
surrounded by tlie dawdlers that her own strong understanding
gives way, and she is blinded to the fact that to compromise, as
she (ialls it, is to submit. . . . She and they are for showing at
the dinner on the 2;}rd that tlie Reformers and the Whigs will
continue to pull together against the Tories, i.i\ the lleformers
will consent to be stultified, that the Tories, divided into two
sections niider the names of Whigs and Coiiservatives, may
balance cacli other and prevent anything useful being done.
This would at any time be a bad game to play, and now especially
it would be a miserably bad game. Madam Grote is wonderfully
pleased with IMolesworth's excellent article in the llvclvw. She
says that Grote is tilled witli admiration of its excellent points,
and she talks again of compromising as a proper measure. She
read to me some (ixtracts from a letter from Molesworth ; among
others, this : If Grote speaks out on the ballot he will be silent.
This would be compromising with a vengeance ! lie had better
resolve not to compromise at all, nor do anything that has a
tendency to let down the fame the article in the R"vkw and his
recent conduct will procure for him. Hold his tongue he cannot.
At the dinner he must be. The people will have a speech from

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

him, aud it must be an uncompromising one. Fie is a mude man
if, on this occasion, he talks principles as well as he writes them.

While this correspondence was going on, Mr. Roebuck
and his colleague in the representation of Bath, General
Palmer, were again entertained by the Reformers of that
city at a banquet. At this Sir William Molesworth, M.P.,
Mr. John Temple Leader, M.P., Colonel William Napier,
and Colonel Charles Napier, were present. There General
Palmer's speech in defence of Lord Grey and Lord Mel-
bourne was interpreted by Mr. Roebuck into an attack upon
his hostility to the Whigs. He retaliated with his accus-
tomed pungency. The speeches of Molesworth, Leader,
and the Napiers were all strongly Radical and anti-
ministerial. After the loyal toasts, and preceding the
army and navy, came the favourite toast of the Bath
Radicals, " The People, the only source of political power."

J. A. Roehuclc to Mrs. Roebuck.

Bath, Januarij C, 18.37. — Our dinner went off admirably. The
report of the doings will be a failm-e, I imagine. Leader and
Molesworth's speeches were ready written ; mine was off-hand ;
Napier's elaborately prepared, but he seems not to have actually
written it. . . . Of Molesworth and Leader I cannot speak too
highly. In the former there is by far the more thought, but
Leader will be a useful, and by no means a commonplace man.
Yesterday Charles Napier was evidently surprised at our fashion
of doing things. This " strategy " is new to him, in which mind
and not the body fights. You are right as to Mrs. Grote ; she is,
and will be for ever, jealous of everybody who puts Grote into the
shade. She ought, in truth, to be jealous of Grote, for he himself
causes his own eclipse. If he would do anything, his reward in
praise and esteem would be boundless.

Josqjfi Hume, M.P., to Francis Place.

Worthin fj, January h, 18,37. — You may depend upon it that the
proceedings which you so much complain of in the last session
were almost unavoidable. But nothing of the same kind will take
place in the ensuing session, as you will see. I think if you had

RADICAL RECRIMINATIOXS.

been in the House yourself, you could not liuvo done otherwise
than we jjonerally did.

T. Permiet Thompson, M.P., fo Francis rime.

Jammtij 7, 1837. — Havinj? occasion to write to Hume to-day, I
have directed his attention to the (oast as <jjivcn at Bath, " His
Majesty's Ministers, and may they continue in power as lonj? as
they advance the cause of the people," and asked him whether it
might not prevent dantjer of dispute if the toast was to stand so at
the Middlesex dinner. As it has been given once at a dinner of
Whigs and Radicals, that makes a precedent.

In reply, Mr. Place objected at length for five reasons.
"If," he wrote, "the toast be given, I shall turn up my
glass and remain seated ; as many more as may choose will
do the same."

Francis Place to Joseph Hume, M.P.

Jamiary 16, 1837. — You now see who are to be stewards at the
Whig dinner, and among them are the names of leading men who
have played you false — men whom you well know would not
become stewards excepting on one well-understood condition,
namely, that Mr. Hume should not be made the prominent feature
of the meeting. The original pretence was " the generally ex-
pressed desire of the reformers of Middlesex to give some testimony
of approbation to the conduct of their two members." Yet men
were at once solicited to become stewards which showed at once
that this was a false pretence. Roebuck and Molcswortli were
especially excluded from any invitation, and a character not to be
mistaken given to the meeting. Hume was to be a mere incident,
since it was understood that neither Roebuck nor Molesworth
was invited, and that they had determined not to go to the feast.
All those with whom I have had intercourse resolved not to go,
and so did I.

Not long before, Hume had in conversation said that
Mr. Byng (his colleague) was then, and had ever since been,
his concealed er.emy, and had done all he dared to do
underhand to oust him.

'Ml

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Notwithstanding this, at tlio Middlesex dinner, Humo
desperately affronted his allies by thus speaking : —

Tliat man must have a flinty lioarb who could sit unmoved
under the speeeh of my honourable friend [Mr. Byni^]. ... In
him our young friends may see the gratifyin<j and honoured con-
sequences of pursuing a straightforward course without tnrning
to the right hand or to the left, by any hereditary prejudices,
personal partialities, or selfish interests, but rigidly adhering to the
advocacy of those important questions which involve the rights
and interests of the people.

Fmnck Place to Joso^jh Parlces.

Jnaiinry 27, 1837. — Well, the Bartlemy Fair Show passed off
as became it. Take away the manly, honest speech of Grote, and
what will remain ? Nothing but glitter and gabble. It was a
poorer thing in respect to speech-making — f J rote again excepted —
than any public poHtical dinner meeting I ever knew in West-
minster. To IJyng no honour Avas done ; none could be done.
To Hume none was intended, and he did himself none. The
Whigs ! Bah ! All the great big bugs staid away. Honour to
ministers, none. It showed the public that the so-called friends
of ministers were, like themselves, poor things, fit only to be
sneered at by the Tories. ... It has done nothing for ministers.
y^ou must know that the Tories expect to carry an amendment
on the address in the Lords with a large majority, and to lose
it in the Commons with a very large majority. May not the
king, who refuses to open the Parliament in person, be induced
by these circumstances to turn out the imbeciles ? Should he
do this, there will be howling enough in the Whig faction,
and the people will, I hope, stand aloof, and see the Tory sections
worry one another.

Mrs. Grote admitted the extreme mortification the
proceedings had caused to her and her husband. She
never saw him " so ashamed and contrite," and they spent
the next day " covered, as it we. , in sackcloth and ashes,"
mourning a great opportunity lost. Place improved the
occasion by urging that Grote should —

KADIC. \ L NECKIMIN. I TIONS.

9»

Stiuid upon the kuowkdyc lie possossoH ; take it as liis rule, and act
upon it, utterly vegardlesn of what any one may think or say.
He niiiy then push the world before him. He would he a host
in himself, and would soon he surrounded by u host of the best
men in the world, not to advise him, hut to carry out his pur-
poses. ... If he would not fear to make occasional mistakes,
as all men nmst, but relyinj,' on his own sound and comprehensive
understandinff, put himself at once into his high and proper
position, he would indeed become lliv people's man, and the cause
of there being many other people's men. lie and every such
man should be, thus far, ambitious.

LfF£ OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

CHAPTER IX.

ROEBUCK AS A DEMOCRAT. 1837.

Under the influence of these events, Mr. Roebuck seized
the opportunity afforded by the reassembling of Parlia-
ment (1837), to deliver, in the debate on the Address in
reply to the King's Speech, an attack upon the Govern-
ment, directed from the extreme democratic standpoint.
This, while it incurred the wrath of Whigs, brought from
working men's associations, in all parts of the countiy,
many congratulatory addresses. The speech was reprinted
in cheap form, and scattered broadcast. It excited the
more attention because of standing out in marked contrast
with the attitude of other Reformers, whether they ab-
stained from the debate or took part in it. The press
rang with defences and denunciations of Mr. Roebuck's
conduct. The Spectator drew the following picture of the
House and its attitude : —

Mr. Roebuck startled the House by a speech perhaps the
most remarkable that had been delivered in Parliament since the
times when Lords were voted useless. Mr. Roebuck's manner
was well suited to the matter of his speech. It was vehement
without being noisy ; impressive, but not solemn ; plain, but not
vulgar ; contemptuous, but not insolent. For the most part he
was heard in silence, and when he sat down there was no audible
encouragement. The feeling of the House was made up of
surprise, displeasure, and apprehension, such as is usually caused
in polite assemblies by the home-thrust of disagreeable truths.
In this way the absence of cheering is accounted for. But the
House paid Mr. Roebuck a higher compliment than can be

ROEBUCK AS A DEMOCRAT.

conveyed by shouting ; the representatives of the people listened
to him for an hour together, without impatience or fatigue.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of this able speech (wrote
one who viewed it from the gallery) was that where Mr. Koe-
buck loudly proclaimed himself a Democrat. The honourable
member over and over again referred to the struggle con-
stantly going on in this country between the democratic and
aristocratic parties. He seemed to feel keen pleasure in throw-
ing the word " democracy " in the very teeth of the House of
Commons, and told them plainly that, since 1(588, the Govern-
ment of England was not monarchic, as was so often asserted,
but an aristocratic republic. I watched narrowly the effect
of this speech on the House, and I must say that I never
saw men of all parties look more uncomfortable. The truths
were cutting and severe, and the language bold and manly to an
extent that the walls of St. Stephen's must have been astonished
to hear tolerated. Mr. Roebuck's speech, as might be expected,
was most disagreeable to the Whigs, and therefore they naturally
received it coldly. The Tories were still worse treated, and they
gave it no kind look of reception or recognition. Even the
Radical party, with very few exceptions, turned their backs on
the speaker, and knew him not. But if they reject him, there
are others who will joyously hold out the hand of fellowship and
support, and take pride in supporting Mr. Roebuck and men
resembling him in moral courage and talent. The people want
such advocates, and those depending with confidence on the
people's support have always been sure of finding it. To account
still more fully for the coldness with which Mr. Roebuck's speech
was received, it may be well to remind my readers that the last
session terminated with a most violent speech from Mr. Hume
against ministers. He was still thundering forth when the
Commons were summoned to hear the king read his speech.
Ministers evidently dreaded the secession from their side of a
man so powerful as Hume. They would naturally try to come
to terms with him ; and it is supposed, with a great appearance
of probability, that during the recess a new compact has been
entered into between them and a section of the Radical party. . .
Roebuck and some other ultra-Radicals are not, it is said, a
party to this agreement, and accordingly wc find him fiercely

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

denouncing the conduct of ministers as soon as the Address is
moved. Hume got up to speak, not to take part with the
member for Bath, not to reiterate the violent speech of the last
day of the past session, but to declare that the present moment
was not the best for insisting on extreme pi'occcdings on the part
of ministers.

The tone Hume took, naturally enough, strained still
further the loyalty of his friends. "His doctrine," they
said, " was admi.^ably calculated to encourage the Whigs in
every species of misdeed. His worst enemy could hardly
have wished him to have made a worse speech."

Francis Place 1o J. A. Roebtick.

Fehniary 1, 1837. — Words cannot express my admiration of
the report of your speech last night in the House of Commons,
which I have just now read in the ConsfifufMnal, in preference
to the Chfonic/p. God bless you, my dear boy ! The grovelling
hound in the Chronirlp says you represent yourself. Good, very
good ! The stultified beast does not see that unintentionally he
bestows the highest possible praise on you. Yes, yes. Be single-
minded, single-hearted ; never mind to-day, nor to-morrow ;
work on for the time that is coming, and you will not be deserted
in the end. Has Hume lost his acuteness that he dawdles and
see-saws as he does ? If he can do no better than he did at the
Whig Bartlemy Fair dinner, and last night in the House, it is
time his night-cap were drawn over his eyes, and he were put
away to hibernate the rest of his days.

J. S. Mill to Francis Place.

Post Mc(rk, Februanj 10, 1837. — As for Roebuck's speech,
it has greatly raised his character, and will do good ; but in so
far as it goes beyond Molesworth, I do not agree with it.

A fortnight afterwards, at a dinner given to Mr. Thomas
Wakley by the Finsbury electors, Mr. J. Temple Leader
in the chair, Mr. Roebuck, in the presence of Mr. Hume,
Mr. Daniel O'Connell, and Mr. D. W. Harvey, M.P. for
Southwark, bitterly reproached his Radical allies for leaving

ROEBUCK AS A DEMOCRAT.

him to stand alone in propounding really democratic prin-
ciples. No Liberal member of a Metropolitan constituency,
he complained, backed him up. He advocated universal
suffrage, and dared to do it in the House of Commons, in
the face of six hundred men who would like to turn him
out of doors. He especially taunted Mr. Harvey, who
preceded him at the banquet, with speaking boldly in
Finsbury truths as to which he kept discreet silence in
the House of Commons. Mr. Harvey, of course, claimed
the right to defend himself, and there ensued a scene of
violence altogether out of place at a convivial meeting.
It is significant of the spirit of the times that the first
toast proposed from the chair was, " The king — his rights,
and no more." The second was, " The people — their rights,
and no less." The third was, " The health of the Princess
Victoria."

Mr. Roebuck not only took prominent part in the most
important debates of the session, but he contributed to a
newspaper " Notes," affecting to be taken by " A Spectator "
from the gallery, descriptive of the proceedings in the
House. He was accustomed in these to discuss liis fellow-
members with great frankness. Describing the proceed-
ings on the Municipal Corporations of Ireland Bill, in
which he had spoken incisively, he thus wrote of Lord
Stanley, whose policy he had vigorously assailed from the
moment when he entered the House in ] 833, and whom
he had * called " a mere House of Commons debater — a sort
of official prize-fighter " —

To Lord Morpeth followed the renegade Lord Stanley.
Flippant, petulant, and fierce, he showed himself on this occasion
to be passion's slave. He had no argument at hand, but he was
full of threats. " I will," and " I won't," " you shall," and " you
shall not," seemed the sole figures of his rhetoric, his whole butting
of reason. How are the mii^hty fallen I I remember the time
when men hoped much fron is vixen-like stripling — when they
* TaiCi Edinburgh Ma<j,^.ine, December, 1833, p. 325.

■F.fi. '.-j'-wjf^Tf.nf^

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

believed his virulence to be satire, and his passion eloquence.
He is now esteemed as he ought to be — a weak and petulant boy,
too long considered to be a man. *

But Mr. Roebuck, in these sketches, did not exempt
himself from his own criticism. Thus, referring to his
denunciation of illegal practices in connection with a
motion to suspend the issue of a new writ for StaflFord,
on which there was hot controversy, he described himself
as " being laughed at for his pains."

It was on the 8th of February that he had spoken
vehemently in favour of the Irish Municipal Corporations
Bill, begging and entreating the Government not to abate
one jot or iota of a Bill which placed the two parties in the
State at issue on matters involving the real democracy of
England. They were fighting for the real, right, clear, and
definite rule that the people of Great Britain and Ireland
were worthy to be their own governors. The Opposition
said they were not. That was the true principle before
them. To the people of England he would leave the issue
of this grand and high debate, certain that the victory
would be with the right.

A day or two afterwards Mr. Roebuck was telling the
House that its continued disfranchisement of Stafibrd for
bribery was mere hypocrisy. Members did not dislike
bribery; they practised it. Their protestations of hatred
were a pretence, otherwise they would stop it in the only
effectual way — by an extension of the suffrage and by
adopting the ballot. On Lord John Russell's Canada reso-
lutions he bluntly informed the House that it was utterly
ignorant of everything relating to the question on which
it was going to decide ; and he renewed the attack he had

* Lord Melbourne and Lord John Russell had both looked upon Stanley
as the coming successor to Lord Althorp as leader of the Liberal party in
the Commons (Russell's "Recollections and Suggestions," p. 115; Torrens'
'« Life of Melbourne," i. 420). Stanley had taken the courtesy title of Lord
on the death of his grandfather, the twelfth Earl of Derby, in October, 1834.
He was created a peer in September, 1844.

ROEBUCK AS A DEMOCRAT.

made in previous sessions on Sir A. Agnew's " Bill to
extend to all classes the privilege of protection in the due
observance of the Lord's Day."

On the 9th of June he wound up the attacks upon the
Government which he had continued throughout the
session by a final assault on their policy, based upon a
motion for a committee of the whole House to iiquire into
the state of the nation.

Even in those days the slowness of Parliamentary pro-
cedure instated the more ardent spirits. Mr. Roebuck,
remarking that as, in debate, " the great guns will not go
off until after ten o'clock, the hours from five to ten are
thrown away," suggested an adjournment from five to ten.
" Another plan," he said, " has indeed been proposed, which
would be equally efficacious, but this has been rejected —
I mean that of regularly adjourning the House every night
at twelve punctually. If this were done, the great guns
would go off" before ten " — a prophecy which, helped by
Mr. Gladstone's example of speaking before the dinner-
hour, has since been largely realized.

Seldom was due recognition made of Mr. Roebuck's
courage and conduct even by his friends. Testimony like
the following, coming as it does from the pen of an adver-
sary, is, therefore, all the more valuable : —

His very first speech stamped him as a man of superior talent
as a debater, aud secured for him a hearing at all times ; of which
he availed himself to advocate the cause of the people in their
many sufferings. He gave full fling to the democratic tendency
of his mind, while at the same time he infused a species of
philanthropy into his exertions. Nothing was too arduous for
him. On one occasion he stood up and presented a petition from
an individual unfortunately too notorious. Other members had
refused to present it ; but Mr. Roebuck believed that the party
in question had been unjustly treated, aud that was enough to
induce him to take up the case. ... It is to his honour that he
does not, as some of his compatriots do, wait till a subject is
popular before he takes it up. A natural restiveness of temper,

p5BT>l«!5WWWW

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

"f the "TT''^'', '""' '\ ^■"^"^^' ^^'^'■^'^ '^« ™'d «^curo, even
at the peril of social convulsion, urge him with an irresistible

of the case w th which he will not allow expediency to interfere
Of course, this spirit sometimes carries him to extremes and
betrays him into wild defiance of constituted author^y Tut Ce
who would be the most likely to shrink from these exLva^ancies

surin7Mr%""b' T" ^ • "'^" ^^ '''^''' '^^ Tp^SSs" vS
Z"'I.tf against unconquerable prepossessions in the

member of Parliament. ^ chaiacter-an independent

iJ V

( 99 )

CHAPTER X.

DEFEATED AT BATH. 1837.

On the death of King William IV., Mr. Roebuck and his
colleague. General Palmer, offered themselves for re-election
as representatives for Bath in the first Parliament of Queen
Victoria. Although Mr. Roebuck had, in his five years of
Parliamentary life, abundantly realized the hopes of his
local Radical supporters, and had strengthened his hold
upon them, his uncompromising attacks upon the AVhio-
povernment seemed to the official Liberals to have fully
justified their original objections to his selection. He had,
besides, by his outspoken candour, and especially by the
unsparing scorn he had poured on the attempted Sabba-
tarian legislation, offended large sections of the constituency.
There had been long previous preparations for the fio-ht
Lord Powerscourt, a young Irish Orangeman, and Mr.V
H. Ludlow Bruges, a Wiltshire squire, were brought out by
the Conservatives. The Whigs put into the field Captain
Scobell, a local landowner, and one of the most useful
members of the Bath and West of England Agricultural
Society. Ho had shown a generous interest in various
movements for the improvement of the lot of the agricultural
labourer, and his speeches during the contest contrasted
very favourably with the laboured commonplaces of the
Tory candidates, who shirked the ordeal of facing public
meetings, preferring rather to give unlimited supp^ers, and
to organize disturbances to break up their opponents'
gatherings.

"S'f

'I'A

«•«■«

lOO

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

The contest which ensued is known in local annals as
" The Drunken Election." Treating was rampant, and
passions ran high. Mr. Koebuck stood at bay against his
assailants, refusing to give or to take quarter. Captain
Scobell retired from the contest on the eve of the election,
declaring afterwards that the wholesale tyranny he had
witnessed left him no alternative but henceforth to support
the ballot. On the hustings, at the nomination, Mr. Roebuck,
by reason of the violence of roughs alleged to have been
hired for the purpose, could get no hearing, and his
supporters retaliated by preventing Lord Powerscourt from
speaking.

The poll from the first hour went strongly against
Mr. Roebuck and General Palmer, and by one o'clock the
contest was virtually over. Mr. Roebuck did not retire
without firing a Parthian shot at his antagonists.
Repairing to the hustings as soon as the voting was ended,
he said —

Recollect, the minority iu which we are placed is caused by
Tory gold, Tory intimidation, and "Whig- duplicity. The Tory
has been open in his endeavours — the Whig has been hidden and
insidious. You will have cause to remember the event of this
day. I am no longer the member for Bath, and the poor man
must now, when he has to complain of the bad administration
of the Poor Law, or the overbearing conduct of the magistracy
apply to the Tory members for Bath. ... It is the poor man
that will suffer. Eight and forty hours will not elapse before you
will find the difference. . . . The Dissenters will be the first to
suffer. The Tory votes of their representatives will rivet the
shackles with which they are bound the more tightly around
them. And I cannot but rejoice that my connection with them
is so far severed that I shall not have farther to subject myself
to reproach in their service. Let them servilely worship their
rising sun. Let them crawl before his lordship and sycophantly
adore him. I have done with them. I bid you farewell. I
have done my duty faithfully by you ; you have not done yours
by me so faithfully as you ought.

DEFEATED AT BATH.

lOI

Mrs. Roebuck has written against a report of her
husband's first speech opposing Sir A. Agnew's Lord's Day
Bill: "This speech lost Mr. Roebuck his election in 1837
for Bath." The Spectato7\ however, made this explanation,
evidently derived from an authoritative source —

There were three important subjects affectinsf the defeat of
Mr. Roebuck. The opinions that ho cited of Archbishop Cranmer
and of Archbishop Whateley upon the institution of Sunday
were placarded and made use of to his prejudice, and many
condemned his refusal to permit the " Lord's Day " to be con-
verted into the " Reformer's Day." Secondly, it had been
imagined that there really was a union among Reformers, and
for the last two years the Radicals in consequence entirely
neglected the registration of voters. . . . And thirdly, many
of the Radical members of the Town Council, who had afforded
active assistance to Mr. Roebuck upon former occasions, had
differed among themselves upon municipal affairs, and would
not take an active part together in the business of the election
committee. . . . The number of electors who polled for him was
about 140 less than at the former election ; and yet the Tories
had employed the most extensive machinery to alienate his
supporters from him. Suppers were given, presided over by
reputed baronets and reputed gentlemen ; treating was frequent ;
and the constant scenes of many nights of drunkenness and riot
in a city distinguished, even during its elections, for its peaceful-
ness, afforded complete evidence of the source of that defeat
which ministerial journals ascribe to "going too far" and "im-
practicable theories." The Liberals gave no suppers; they
attempted to deliauch no elector ; they most honourably re-
fused, upon the last as upon two former occasions, to permit
Mr. Roebuck personally to canvass a single elector, and yet the
Whigs have no sympathy with a party so honourably distinguished
by its conduct.

Irs

Mr. Roebuck did not fall alone. Not a few of the
prominent men with whom he had been most closely
associated also lost their seats ; indeed, the elections resulted
in something approaching to a Radical rout.

■w'wi^vamPiw

102

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Mrs, Gi'oto In Fivnn's PUirc.

Ikrno, Aiif/u^flC), 18.S7. — Hume's dcfcut [Middlesex] cut us up
siidly, though he always told us (and told Lord Joliu Russell also)
if the raa<;istracy was not pur.ijed such would l)e the consequeucu
at the ensuinjf election. I see he is iu for Kilkenny. Rut where
are Roebuck, Ewart [Liverpool], Thompson [Maidstone], and
Hutt [Hull], alas I and Daniel Gaskell [Wakefield], and
Trelawny [Cornwall] ? What havoc surely ! And Grote no
secure either ! * Those Whigs have most of it to answer for —
that's my belief.

Francis Pliia; to Mrn. Grote.

AvfjUHt 23, 1837. — Hume's defeat had no such effect upon me
as it seems to have had upon you. I cared but little for his being-
rejected, and wish he had not ))een returned for Kilkenny.
Hume's conduct has not been good during the last two sessions
— no, nor that indeed of any of the Reformers in the House of
Commons, Roebuck's alone excepted, and his only in the last
session. In no one instance did they pull together as they ought
to have done. On every occasion they submitted to Lord John.
... In this they showed want of foresight and of every statesman-
like (luality. . . . Sure I am that if every one of the Reformers
had been rejected it would have been more to the advantage of
the nation than some or all of them being returned could be. A
session without them would be of great use. It would be seen
that the Russells, the Melbounies, the Rices, and the Hobhouses,
etc., could not have made headway against the Tories. Thus the
value of the Reformers would be seen by themselves and by the
public, bringing public acknowledgment of them — although this
would be but a negative position, and consequently less imposing-
than it would be if it had been taken by themselves in a direct
and combined opposition in the House of Commons. Had the
Reformers done their duty, there would have been a coalition of
the Whigs and Tories ; the people would have been roused, and
the very name of Whig abolished. There would then be only
Reformers and Tories. The battle must thus have been fought
on open ground : there could then have been no lagging, no

* A petition was tlireatened against Grote'a return for the City of Loudon,
where he liold hia seat by only six votes.

DEFEATED AT BATH.

103

shufflinfir, no sknlkinj? ; and tlio Ruforraors, hacked by the people, 1 1
woiikl have con(|uered. But never mind. The event has oidy
been delayed ; it cannot be prevented coming', and you and I
shall live to see it.

Franrh Flare to J. A. Roobvck.

Scplonlwi- 10, 1837. — I read your address to the Reformers
of Bath with <rreat interest, and I need hardly say that I con-
curred in every sentiment it contained. You are now the only
man having the wisdom to see who has the courage to speak the
truth. ... I did not interf'ji- -n any of the elections, not even
by advice to any one. I was iu hopes that all the Reformers who
were members of the last Parliament would have been rejected by
the people or beaten by the Tories, Leader alone excepted, and I
wished him to succeed merely that the Westminster people might
take their own aflfairs into their own hands again. The Re-
formers, to a man — you alone excepted — in that House enabled
the Whigs to beat the Tories, and I wished to see the two factions
fairly pitted against each other, that the country might see the
value of a body of Reformers — be taught the value of themselves ;
and then, when at the next election there must be a Tory House
of Commons, there would really be a popukir opposition, and the
people might be benefited. But now these " Courtiers " * are all
crawling to Lord Melbourne and the queen. . . . Look at Hume,
even. . . . being betrayed, as he deserved to be, for meanly be-
coming subservient to the man (Byng) who had done all he dared
to do on previous occasions to prevent him being returned for
the county, and then becoming a joint in O'Connell's tail. This
conduct I will not forgive in any man. With Hume, however, I
will not quarrel. He has done more than any man of his time for
the people, and he will yet do more. I will therefore A'ork with
him, or for him, in anything I may think worth the trouble
it may occasion. I will never give him up unless he joins the
Tories. . . .

A pamphlet has been printed by the Ridgeways called
*' Domestic Prospects of the Country under the New Parlia-
ment." This pamphlet has given Brougham great offence, and
he says you are the man to write an answer to it, and in this I

* A name given to them by Lord Brougham.

104

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

concur with him. I, however, objected to your doing it, on the
jjround thut pamphlets seldom pay their expenses, and you ought
Dot to be called upon to incur loss in the matter. . . . Tho
MornuKj Chronicle says the pamphlet is domi-ofHcial. I think
that Ilobhouso wrote it. . . . The pamphlet is cleverly worded,
and will take with nine out of ten of those who think themselves

Liberals.

It contains much that is true and good, but it

very dexterously keeps everything out of sight which could in
any way tell against niinisters, and puts everything In a strong
light which can be made to answer the writer's purpose.

J, A. Roebuck to Francin Place.

Bechion, Christ Church, Scptnnher 18, 1837. — I have a great
desire to answer the ministerial manifesto, but I do not wish to
have the expense of publishing it. ... I intend this year to set
to money-making by law, and shall hang out my sign for election
business. Knowing, as I do, so many men of the House, and well
understanding their ways, I think success in this line not out of
my reach. As for competition, though great in quantity, tho
quality is of the meanest. Take away Charles Austin, and there
is not a man of a grain of common sense among those employed,
to say nothing of talent, tact, and power of speaking to a very
peculiar and prejudiced judicature. I have hitherto thought
little of myself. Now, thanks to the new lights I have received,
I shiall take care of my personal interests, and shall find, strange
to say, that the people will think more of me than if I had looked
after theirs. I found when last in Bath that if I had joined the
Ministry, and sold the people, my seat would have been safe for
life, the people themselves being foremost to honour their betrayer.
This is natural among the uneducated. Take the masses sepa-
rately and talk to them, what do you find ? Why, profound
ignorance and, necessarily, inveterate prejudice. How, then,
can the compound mass differ from the component ingredients ?
There is no chemical fusion to make a hundred ignorant
individuals one instructed body. I heard from Brougham and
Hume some time since. Brougham's was a strange composition.
Hume is strangely in the dark.

DEFEATED AT BATH.

105

Ft'diicis Place fo John Titnrrs.

Xomnbvr 22, 1h:')7. — Tlio Iloformers in tlu; House of
Commons arc not less dcservinj,' of consuro tliiin tlio Whig
ministers whom they have served. There luive been aeveral
occasions wlieu it was their duty to their country to have cut
ministers and taken a stand upon their own merits. Had they
done so, the people would have aeee^jtcd them, and they would
have been eminently popular. I saw these opportunities, and
took ndvautajje of them. I conversed with those members who
were best known to me, laid the wholo case before them, and
submitted to them that it was their duty to act in a paiticular
way. They acknowled<,'ed it, promised, and, to a man, broke their
promises. ^lore than one of them wrote to me, thanked me, and
on the very mornin<;' a^ain promised to do that which in the
evening they wanted courage to perform, yet had just as much
courage as enabled them to do just the contrary, and then to bo
ashamed of their own conduct. At length, and for want of a
man of more weight, Roebuck came forward, and then again, to
a man, they deserted him. Had they supported him as they
ought to have done, he would have found his proper place among
them, and the Radicals, as they would then have di'served to have
been called, would have gained an importance at the last election
which would have saved both themselves and the nation. They
were not up to the mark. They had no accurate perception of
the solemn duties of men chosen by the people. They threw
away the chance of being eminently useful to their country, not
wantonly, but cowardly, and became of no importance in the eyes
of the people, xlnd now, mark well the consequences. They
were treated like slaves by ministers, like dogs by the lords ; and
now Lord John and his clique, too narrow-minded to foresee the
result, has kicked them from his presence as they richly deserved
to be. He has, however, by his great efl'ort to kick them,
effectually slipped down himself, and dragged his clique along
with himself into the mire.

Francis Place to Mrs. Grotc.

November 25, 1837. — I have read the speeches at White
Conduit House. Roebuck's must have told well, but he should
have refrained from saying anything about shopocracy. Wakley's

•AfiHffFPWx'wMWtJWWtwHBwpWilSST.'

io6

LSFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

was sliufHe — a mean shuffle throu,i,'liout. Dan's [O'Connell] was
Blatlicr-era-skite roguery at the bottom. People see through liis
treachery, and cut him, and then come to him again, and this,
too, time after time. I know him thoroughly, and as thoroughly
dislike him.

From the following we get a glimpse of the society in
which Mr. Roebuck at this time moved : —

John Temple Lender to the Editor.

Florence, Fehruanj 19, 180G. — Roebuck and Sir William
Molesworth and Charles Pelham Villiers were, for many years, my
colleagues in the House of Commons, of about the same political
opinions, and my friends. In 18;>8, and for some years afterwards,
I generally inhabited my villa on Putney Hill, where Edward
John Trelawny (" the younger sou ") lived with me, and where I
received my friends who came on Saturday afternoon and left
on Monday morning. My more intimate friends came and went
as they pleased. After an interval of more than half a century,
I remember among them J. A. Roebuck, who was a frequent
and welcome visitor ; and his brother-in-law, the Rev. Wilham
Falconer, called by us " The Rector ; " and Thomas Falconer,
who was afterwards a county court judge, called by us " The
Lawyer ; " and Richard Monckton Milnes (afterwards Lord
Houghton), called by us " The Poet ; " also Rintoul, of the
/Spectator, and the iirst Lord Brougham, and Alfred Montgomery,
and the second Duke of Wellington (though an ardent Tory), and
Bickham Escott (also a Tory), and Charles Austin (the successful
lawyer and admirable talker), and his brother, Alfred Austin (who
was one of my electioneering agents) ; the Americans, Charles
Sumner, and General Hamilton, of the South, and James Robert
Black, of Kentucky, for some time my agent, and called by us
" Kentucky ; " the Frenchman, Clement Thomas (who was shot
by the insurgents in Paris), and Godefroy Cavaignac and Armand
Marrast (afterwards President of the French Chamber in 18-t8).
Some years before, Armand Carrell (who was afterwards killed
in a duel by Girardin) came with me to England, and stayed with
me for a few days at Putney Hill — which, ho said, made him
underetand the descriptions in Scott's novels. There was also
Prandi and other Italians. . . . My especial connection with

DEFEATED AT BATH. 107

Roebuck was on Canudlan affairs-then well known, now probably
forgotten Wo had the honour to bo burnt in effigy by the'
lories of Canada. I remember one evening, when driving into
town trom the country, my carriage was stopped by a crowd all
going one way. I asked what it meant, and had for answer,
iliey are gomg to see Leader taken to the Tower." I thanked
mymtormant,anddrovoon. It was a mere idle report. Roebuck
was you know, very irritable, and did not mince his words wh^n
speakmg of or to an opponent. This made liim many enemies.
ne tiiought and spoke for liimself, and was very little amenable
to party discipline.

1 i'«

; ; i|

{

•p^^

■J

io8

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

CHAPTER XI.

CANADA — THE REPRESENTATION OF GLASGOW. 1838.

Although out of Parliament, public events still claimed
Mr. Roebuck's attention. He was most especially con-
cerned with the affairs of Lower Canada. The condition
of that colony had become most serious. At the moment
when the new Parliament was adjourning for the Christmas
recess, came news of the rebellion — a disaster long foreseen
and predicted, but to eyes that were blind and ears that
were deaf, by the agent of the House of Assembly.

Molesworth and the Radicals in the House, prior to
the adjournment, criticized severely the policy which had
driven the Canadians to despair of the redress of their
grievances by constitutional agitation, and during the
recess, notwithstanding the following caution from Leeds,
there was much plain speaking by Leader, Roebuck, and
others, at a great Westminster meeting, held at the Crown
and Anchor.

Edwd. Baincfi, jwir. (Leeds), fo Francis Place.

Leeds Mercvry Office, January 2, 1838. — I wish the meeting at
Westminster on Thursday may do good, but that it may do so it
is exceedingly desirable tliat ]\Ir. Leader, Sir Wm. Molesworth, and
the other speakers should be less violent and less bitter against
the Government than they were during the late debate in the
House of Commons ; for I assure you that their tone has con-
siderably prejudiced the cause they so ably and so justly espouse,
in the minds of very many people in the country, as well as in
London.

CANADA — THE REPRESENTATION OF GLASGOW. 109

Mr. Place, in reply (Jan. 4, 1838), wholly dissents from
this view, and writes —

I, as yon know, have seen and conducted many public
meetings, yet few that I have seen have equalled that of to-day in
numbei-s, enthusiasm, and perseverance. Never before did I hear,
and never did I expect to hear, such a speech as was made by my
old friend Roebuck, and never did I see such effects produced by
any speech.

Francis Place to ^^ Fellow Citizen'''' Samuel Harrison.

January 14, 1838. — Roebuck has done all that any man could
do, and more than any other man Avould do, privately with
ministers to prevent civil war, and showed how, even now,
arrangements might be made which must be highly beneficial to
both countries, and beyond this, he has offered to devote himself
to the service ; but he has not been, and will not be, attended to.

On the reassembling of Parliament in 1838, Lord John
Russell brought into the Commons a Bill for the sus-
pension of the existing constitution of Canada. Mr. Grote,
while opposing the Bill, regretted that there was no one
in the House so intimate with all the facts as to be able
to reply to the statements of Lord John Russell — one who
knew those facts, and who lately represented Bath, being
no longer a member.

That evening Mr. Grote presented a petition from Mr.
Roebuck, praying to be heard at the Bar on behalf of
the House of Assembly of Lower Canada. The request
was granted.

Through the columns of the WeeMy Chronicle, Roebuck
(January 17) addressed " The People of England." Refer-
ring to the debate which had taken place the previous night,
he said —

Some men were in that House who knew the facts of the case,
and yet they were silent when Lord John Russell, putting the
issue of the debate upon the justice or injustice of the English
Government, assailed the House of Assembly of Lower Canada

jaai

Ml.

1 1' i

: \

IIO

LIFE OF 'JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

with all the vituperation which malice, unaided by intellect, could
supply. Mr. Grote lamented the absence of Mr. Roebuck, but
surely the presence of ^Ir. Roebuck was not needed to refute the
calumnies so lavishly employed by Lord John Russell. Mr. Grote
knows the whole case, is familiar with the minutest portions of it;
had, with his accustomed industry, mastered every detail of this
most perplexed and intricate (juarrel. Why, then, had he not his
knowledge at command ? His indignation should have stirred
up within him the latent energies of his character, and impelled
him to have grappled closely with the many monstrous misstate-
ments of the noble lord, and to have scattered to the four winds
of heaven his shallow and miserable sophistries.

Joseph Parlces to Francis Place.

Westminnfer, January 18, 1838. — Roebuckhas a splendid oppor-
tunity on Monday. He has the power, instruction, and taste to
take advantage of it if ho chooses, and I trust he will. I have
been deeply sorry for him, and the sort of proscription under
which it has been vainly sought to crush him. But Monday will
compensate him for being out of Parliament, and if his advocacy
of the question is well done, will place him on a high pedestal.
He has begun life at the wrong end, pecuniary independence
being essential to an honed and successful public man ; but there,
he is in this present station, and Monday may elevate him highly,
both in his private and public interests.

Francis Place to Joseph Parties.

Jamiart/lS, 1838. — Roebuck is singularly impatient of advice,
but still he takes it well from me, and I, as you seem to be, being
somewhat apprehensive lest he might not do the best possible, sent
him my opinion on several points, and some advice respecting
demeanour and management, whicli I think will be of use to him.

Roebuck accordingly appeared at the Bar of the
Commons, and there described the long struggle of Canada
for the right to administer her own internal concerns
without interference from the Home Executive. It was
in vain. The Bill passed, and was sent up to the Lords,
where, on February 1, it was read a second time, in spite
of Brougham's vehement opposition.

CANADA — THE REPRESENTATION OF GLASGOW, iii

FranciH Phtco lo J. A. Rophurlc.

January 24, 1838. — I have heard road to mc your speech at ■
the Bar of the House of Injustice, before men nearly the whole of
whom have no correct notion either of their own situation or that
of the public — before men with pride, contempt, and hatred of
all who rank below them, who never perhaps, in the whole course
of their lives, felt one serious desire to do justice to the people.
On these men your words were thrown away, but they will be
recorded, and you will be honoured. Would they could have
immediate effect ; but the power of close, deep, ronfimtous reason-
ing is the lot of few, and those few have never yet directly
jjoverned mankind. All day yesterday every one whom I saw said
you had made a good speech, but some said you had fallen off
towards the close of it ; and why ? Why, because you had not
abused — for that, indeed, was what they meant — you had not
abused ministers. The stand you took was unheeded by them,
yet it was the only stand which a sound intellect could take. I, at
least, honour you.

I also heard much of your letter in the WeohJij Chronicle.
Every one whom I saw condemned you for havijig sacrificed your
friends, and thus put out of their consideration the other parts of
your letter. I wish you had not particularized Grote, because he
lias done more already in this session than you or I, knowing him
as we do, ought to have expected from him, and because you call
upon him to say why he did not do that which his peculiar notions
did not permit him to do — what, indeed, you as well as I know it
was utterly impossible for him to do. I wish you had omitted
his name, and put the matter more generally. I always feel un-
comfortable when those of our friends who do something or much
are jmhlichj blamed, while those who do nothing are suffered to
go without censure. Now, do not misunderstand me. I concur
in everything you have said in your letter, and am pleased with
the admirable manner in which it is said, and dissent only from
your naming Grote.

I lament as deeply as you do that the so-called Liberals in the
House of Commons should be such men as they are — far below
the times in which they live. I lament this the more because
these are not times when men thus placed by the people should be
nullities, since their being so will inevitably lead to great and

5i, 'I

112

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

long-continued evils. This, you know, is neitlier a new nor a
hastily formed opinion, but the result of serious thinking. It is
not now suddenly expressed as a momentary thought, but has been
said and written time after time, more with pain and shame than
with indignation, great as has been my indignation.

J. A. Roehucic to Francis Placp.

Monday, Jammry 29, 1838. — I am much obliged by your
kind letter. The fact of your having written it shows me that
you very correctly understand my position, and that you have
divined my state of mind. The peculiarly painful consequence
of all my conduct as a public man has been the conduct of my
friends to me on every emergency when their countenance would
have been useful to me. When all the rest of the world have
discovered that I am right, they have courage to think so also ;
but until the public has come round, they shrug their shoulders,
turn up their eyes, and cry out, " Alas ! he is so imprudent."

In the present case I am not a voluntary agent. ]\Iy duty to
my Canadian clients bids mc brave everything rather than desert
them. Now is not the time to turn round. If they are wrong
now, they have been wrong all along. The present state of
things is but the necessary consequence of battling for good
government against a powerful and unjust nation. I saw long
ago the necessary result, and when it was far oif, braved it. I
am not going to turn tail now that it has arrived. I have acted
with my eyes open, and knew perfectly well what was coming.
Posterity will determine whether I am right, and to that tribunal
I am willing to leave the decision. In the meantime, the pain
and disgust which beset me are not trifling — pain when I think
with what calumny the right is to be always obtained ; disgust
when I see the pusillanimous leaders, who call themselves the
friends of the people. I came to town this winter fully determined
to take no active part which was not entailed on me by the past,
in politics. Unluckily, this Canada business is a part of this
heritage, and I am dragged most unwillingly into public life
again. This cannot last, however, very long, and I then will follow
out my former determination of leaving the field of politics
entirely for the present. The people must go through another
probation before men of very decided opinions can be of use.
The sacrifice of quiet is not compensated by any good we can do.

CANADA — THE REPRESENTATION OF GLASGOW. 113

The year 1832 opened a great scene to the Radical party. They
have proved themselves unequal to the occasion, and we must
wait for another chance. I know not, and for myself care not,
how long we may wait.

The letter of which you speak, and the talk about Grote
that I hear of, has served more than most things to disgust me.
I chose to say that a great opportunity had been thrown away,
that no sufficient grounds had been laid to justify those who arc
supporting the Canadians, and with some praise I mentioned
Grote's name, and wondered that he, knowing the whole case, had
made so feeble a defence. In doing this I have been accused
of base ingmtitiule, and language has been used towards me that
would only have been justified by my having deserted Canada
and my friends here, and sold myself to the Whigs, Mrs. Grote
has utterly severed our friendship for ever. If what she said
were true, I am not fit to be her friend ; if it be false, she is not
fit to be mine. She is so surrounded by persons who flatter her
to her face (while they abuse her beliind her back) that the truth
Jiever reaches her. Abuse in political papers she rightly sets
down as party abuse, and any other blame she never hears, though
it is matter of daily occurrence around her. When I spoke out,
she thought it criminal. This conduct on my part is very
different in all respects from that of her pseudo-friends. It is
plain and above-board — very unlike that ribald abuse which
I have often rebuked ; but still, this is alone to be condemned.
I wish her joy of her discrimination. Had I thought that there
was any chance of a misinterpretation such as you mention, I
certainly should have avoided mentioning Grote's name, but that
there was injustice in my sentiment I cannot fsee.

I could tell you some strange things, were I to see you, of the
thorough-paced cowardice of my friends, but to write them would
hardly be worth the trouble.

Leave was also granted to Mr. Roebuck to be heard at
the Bar of the House of Lords, and, on the 5th of February,
he there recapitulated the Canadian grievances.

Mrs. RoehucJc to her Father.

February 5, 1838. — . . . i "3buck is in high spirits. He has
written out his speech to the Lords — eighty-six pages. The

114

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

\\ 'I
I'- i

speech to the Commons was not written out : all we have of it is
the shorthand report by Mr. Gurney ; and whether he sent it to
any newspaper, I do not know. Lord Brougham was written to
this morning, to ask what time he — Roebuck — was to appear,
and also to get me a seat. You must see his answer ; hero
it is : —

•' My dear R., — You come to our longing arms at a quarter to
five, and at five or thereabout, you will begin by saying 'My
Lords.' This is the only part of your speech I can anticipate. As
for ladies, I have these two days lijid the most inexorable refusal
from the only person that can admit them. Those refused were
peeresses."

Febrvarif G. — Never theloss, I received a summons to go down
hastily to the House of Lords, which summons I obeyed imme-
diately, and found it was not so " impossible." Roebuck went
down first, and on his arrival had arranged with Sir Augustus
Clifford for my admission. A large chair was pushed before me
just to the Bar of the House, where I was requested to sit, and by
my side I found two ladies, one rather plain, the other reinark-
ably handsome. The first was the (last) Duchess of Gordon, the
other the Duchess of Sutherland. We were the three only ladies
admitted on this night only. Roebuck had begun when I came
in, and he gave the noble lord at the Colonial Office and Mr.
Spring Rice a plain statement. I send you the speech — Thomas
[her brother] says the best Roebuck ever made. I remarked,
the Lords listened with great attention. The Duke of Wellington
and Lord Lyndhurst came down to the Bar, and down below the
table there were about a hundred and fifty peers, at least, and
their attention was very great. A large number of the House of
Commons attended. Lord Brougham sat twitching his nose in
great style. The Chancellor [Cottenham] sat with Lord Glenelg,
who was red and angry. After the speech was over, I was
standing with a crowd of friends round me — in the way, I suppose —
and did not see the Chancellor coming. He made a detour round
me, to my friends' amusement— the Duke of Wellington, amused
as the rest, sitting near. The Bill passed its second reading in
a very short time — five minutes — without discussion. By the
end of the week there will be no constitution in Canada, no
Legislative Council, no Assembly, no Agent ; all will be powerless.

\il

CANADA — THE REPRESENTA TION OF GLASGO IV. 11$

This will not please ilio authors of the row. Instead of getting
more, they lose the little they had.

It was not until 1840 that the Canadian troubles were
at last ended by uniting the two provinces, and conferring
on them legislative independence. By 1843 the province
had become quiet and peaceable. Many of those who had
been concerned in the rebellion were now loyal subjects,
taking honourable part in administrative affairs. But
there were still, in penal servitude in Van Diemen's
Land, several French Canadian peasants who had been
transported during the troublous times. Mr. Roebuck
brought their case under the notice of the Government
and House of Commons, by a motion " That, as a matter
of wisdom, justice, and policy, her Majesty might be
humbly addressed to extend that mercy which was the
brightest ornament of her prerogative, to these few poor
men, and to restore them to their friends and families in
their own country." To this Lord Stanley, then Secretary
for the Colonies, made objections, chiefly technical, as also
did Mr. Charles Buller. The motion was not pressed, its
object being partially gained by the promise of Lord
Stanley to pay attention to the circumstances of each case.
The surviving prisoners were, huwo/er, not liberated for
nearly two years after. The satisfaction expressed in the
colony at their return to America, and their subsequent law-
abiding conduct, fully justified the unceasing efforts that
at last procured their release. This feeling partially found
expression in the following lines : —

D'autres viendront tantot saluer leurs chaumieres,
Nous, graces aux bienfaits d'un enfant d'Albion,
D'un homme protecteur de notre nation,
Nous foulons aujourd'hui la terre d'esperance ;
Beni sois-tu, Roebuck, pour tant de bienveillance!

This, however, is anticipating subsequent events. Re-
verting to the year 1838, Mr. Roebuck is found, in June,
paying a visit to Glasgow, whence had come an invitation

ii6

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

from the Liberals asking him to be their candidate at the
next election.

J. A. Roebuck to Mrs. Roohurk.

Liverpool, June 17, 1838. — ... I arrived here safe at about
ten last night. The journey had little that was pleasant, and to
me, though the steam made us go fast, it was not agreeable. A
villainous smell enveloped us the whole way, spoiled the country
air, and overpowered the may that was all around us. At Denbigh
Hall the whole posse of us had to leave the train and get into a
variety of vehicles, coaches, and 'buses, etc.

Gl(mjOH\ June 19, 1888. — I arrived here at two yesterday. I
shall meet the people on Thursday, and leave behind a legacy to
the Whigs, not in hard words, but in plans and principles. . . .
Rain, rain, rain — notliing but rain. This is called the wettest
place in Scotland, Greenock excepted, and sure enough it has done
nothing but rain since I have been here. The journey from
Liverpool was not painful, and some parts of the road were
interesting. I should like to pass a few days in the Cheviots.
Copley Fielding has been there, I am sure. The day was cloudy,
the clouds drifting with gleaming lights. This brought out the
round hills capitally, and some of the scenes were strikingly
picturesque. The midland part of England surpasses any place I
have yet seen in Great Britain for fertility. All around Dun-
church was exquisitely beautiful. Hants cannot compare with
Northampton and Warwickshire. For forty miles after you leave
London all is cold clay, dry sand, and barren in appearance ; but
the rich pastures of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire at once
change the scene, and give you a magnificent idea of the beauty
and richness of our land. The border country is finely cultivated,
but the trees are small, and the soil looks barren and wet.
Carlisle is a queer-looking place. I was there at four o'clock in
the morning, and found all the people stirring, with flags, etc., to
celebrate the opening of tbe railway to Newcastle. The moment
we came to the Cheviots, a new climate, a new country, appeared.

Glasgow, June 21, 18o8. — ... As I anticipated, we have
certainly beat the Whigs with their own weapons. They are
beginning to come in, and to talk of a desire to put aside all
diiferences, and to unite for the purpose of carrying me. Friday
Mr. Alex. Deuuistoun, whom I knew very well in the House of

lay
of

CANADA — THE REPRESENTATION OF GLASGOW. 117

Commons, is to iutroduco me to all the leading Whigs licrc. Ho
himsell is a stout Reformer, and, I find, a great admirer of my
doings in Hoii'bk Ifuusc. He says people have very erroneous
notions respeeting me, and he is exceedingly desirous of letting
them see or hear me.

Yesterday I was called upon by a person from Kilmarnock,
with an invitation to visit their town. Dcnnistouu wishes me to
go, saying that there is another chance there. But I am dubious.
You must not flirt with too many places at once, but you love all.

Amongst other things, I saw a cotton-mill — a sight that froze
my blood. The place was full of women, young, all of them, some
large with child, and obliged to stand twelve hours each day.
Their hours arc from five in the morning to seven in the evening,
two hours of that being for rest, so that they stand twelve clear
hours. The heat was excessive in some of the rooms, the stink
pestiferous, 'and in all an atmosphere of cotton flue. I nearly
fainted. The young women were all pale, sallow, thin, yet
generally fairly grown, all with bare feet — a strange sight to Eng-
lish eyes. By-the-by, it rained all day nearly, and in every
gutter you might see rows of children standing to wash their feet
They looked like so many strings of young ducks. I saw no
carriages, no well-dressed women in the streets, but all seem here
of the working-class, all dirty, though the town itself, spite of the
smoke, is clean. I cannot discover that infernal aristocratic spirit
that prevails so fiercely at Bath, for example. A man here has just
told me that few people in this place can " count a grandfather."
All are newly raised, and by their own exertions ; in fact, the only
distinction seems to be the degree of wealth. Bad enough this
distinction ; but I do not see that mortal terror lest you should
come in contact with some one not of your own caste, which
besets English people. The same feeling may exist, but as yet I
cannot find it. I suspect that trade shakes them all together, and
creates a system of hail-fellow-well-met — ridiculous airs of supe-
riority are not openly put on. Mind, I speak from a very small
experience, and rather express my wonder at not finding the feeling
than a belief that it does not exist.

I am somewhat sanguine now. The Whig party find it
impossible to get me an opponent Liberal enough to have a chance,
and hating their Tory foes here heartily, they only want an excuse
for coming over to me. The real difficulty, I suspect, will be to

)

Ii8

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

perfiiiatle the Ministry to make au oiieniny-. It is circulated hero
that Lord ^Iclboiirno expreast'd a nun'tul terror when he heard of
my standinj;. This was sent down in a confidential letter, which,
like all confidential communications, was immediately spread
abroad. I did hear the name of the writer, but have foru;ottcn it.
There may bo a spice of truth in this. Tliat the Ministry wish to
keep mc out of the House I know. They must be sure that they
cannot do so for any time, and that opposition will only exasperate
me. I have just seen a carriajre pass the window — a poor shaky
affair. I underatand that there are hardly half a dozen equipa<;e8
in a population of 300,000, the second city in the Empire ! The
sun shines this raorninjr, but the clouds still look suspicious. I do
not by any means seem likely to lose my dislike of the bleak north.
There must be somethinj; innate, and a love of the tropics in my
inward feelings. My health has been capital ; not one bad nij^ht
have I had. I cat and sleep, no pain, and am ,<;ettin,!? strou:^. So
far this escapade has done well. Ask Alexander [Falconer] if he
ever felt a warm day in Scotland. I have a fire at nij^ht.

Glasgow, June 24, 1838. — I hope to leave Glasg'ow for York
on Wednesday next, but of this I am not sure — the people pullinj?
at me in all ways, and cntreatini,' me to remain. I have this
moment received a requisition from Kilmarnock with I know not
how many hundred names entreatinj^ me to go there. I cannot,
and yet I fear offence will be taken ; but runniufi: about to have
gapinfj: crowds look at me is not to my taste. Yesterday I was
from ten in the morninj^ till past three walkinj?, talkin*,', seeinji; all
the 8ij,'hts, and all the persons that needed to be seen. At three I
left Glasgow with Mr. Reddie (Reddle's father) for his country
house down the Clyde. The scene from his house is magnificent.
The scene, however, is horribly spoiled by one continual cloud of
black smoke vomited forth by steamers passing up and down.
Dumbarton was in sight, seated on a solitary hill, the river wind-
ing at its base, and the steep sides of the valley closing in the
picture thus. [Ht i-e followed a sketch.] This with a fine atmo-
sphere would have buc v beautiful. I was tired by my day's work,
and came home, ntsd now I am in the quiet produced by some
dozens of preaciieis thumping away in the various kirks and
chapels of this smoky town. Surely I was not made for a leader
of the people. I cannot hail people in the market-place and make
myself at home among all classes. I hate the idea of canvassing

CANADA — T/fE RF.PRES/uYTA TfOX OF GLASGOW. 119

ft miin's {rood wislics. If tlioy desire to lie well <,'ovenied, let
tliom, but I iiin not '/oinf? to cuwl to tliem in order to persuude
thcin to their own ^'ood. It is impossible to divest men of tlie
notion tliiit it is the ciindidiite's inte est tliiit is iniiiidy tliouj^ht
of. They will learn otherwise if they know me 11 little lonj,'cr. ^

liy-the-by, I hud ulniost fori,'otten to tell yon that we had u
fjrcftt meetinij: on Friday, and the whole ulVair went olT mnch to
the disgust of the stitV Whi^'s. My (ixphination of lladical
opinions 1ms thrown a damp npon all who were constantly railinj;
on the wildness of our views and seheines. Every hour proves
to mo how wise was the determination not to come here with the

, those wild fellows. My whole dlHiculty has been to undo

what they did, and to show that the thinking' Radicals were a
Very dilfcren* ra(!e from those blatant, ignorant brutes.

The Wlii.u;s at the meetinj]^ on Friday were compelled to own
that no such difference existed between my views and tiieirs, as
rendered it impossible for them to support me ; and T sec that
the Tories are as vexed as their old rivals, because it seems but
too probable that the Liberal party will be kept to,u;cther, spite
of all tlireateninsf appearances. All parties of the Liberal section
confess that my visit has done great good, inasmuch as it has led
to a great softening down of asperity among the discordant
materials which compose the laberal party. I shall see the
working people to-morrow, and preach in a chiurh to them.

Rain threatens again. What a country ! I was right about
going north. Every step this way was the wrong way. To the
south is my cry ; and would thfit the Fates would place me
within a few degrees of the Line. But I suppose I sliall live and
die in this bleak place of England — die, too, perhaps in consequence
of having swallowed too much mist upon some day which the
inhabitants called very fine weather.

I saw yesterday a cotton-mill in whici' a thousand people >w
were daily employed, the greater part women under twenty. The
rooms were lofty and not painfully warm. Barring the monotony
of the labour, there seemed no great hardship here ; but fancy
one's life passed in a whirr of wheels which prevents the possibility
of any hearing, looking at a white wall, tying broken threads,
and inhaling cotton fluff and oil stink. Think of this, and then
remember that in three weeks all these people might be enjoying
the sweet air, the warm climate, and the beautiful scenes of the

i**4

120

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

New World, froe from tlie teiTors of starving, and then say if
we be not the slaves of habit, and not the servants of our reason.
The quiet habitant on the banks of the Mississippi, laughing,
dancing away his life, is in my mind a fur happier, and a far
wiser man than the poor cotton-spinner who spends twelve hours
out of the twenty-four in a monotonous labour to get the bare
means of existence — aye, and happier, too, than the cotton-spinner's
master, whose life is a fear, raised by anxiety and a love of gain.
But I will not bore you with my sermon longer ; you will say
that I am in a melancholy humour.

York, July 4, 1838. — . . . The country round York is not
pretty, or rather, it is pretty, and pidty only. It is flat, rich in
its agriculture and foliage, no hills, not much water, only the little
river Ouse, the atmosphere from the rain too grey to be agreeable.
In the autumn the dark green will have disappeared, and then
perhaps pretty "bits" might easily be found. The lanes are
green, and leading I know not where — all mystery, and so far
delightful as walks and drives ; but my eye is still American,
and looks for space and aerial tints.

The scene on the Borders approaching Carlisle, as I saw it, is
the finest I have seen on this side the Atlantic. It was grand
in its extent and colour, and striking, too, by its historical
associations. It was strange to hear the guard of the coach (a
character, by-the-by) say, " There, do you see that pointed
mountain in the distance ? That is England ; it is Skiddaw."
There is still upon the border a feeling anti-English — the remains
of olden time when feuds and fighting were common. Some of
the commonplace of life is forgotten at times amid new scenes
connected with times past, as those of Scotland are. I was
standing on Glasgow Green, and the person with whom I was
walking, said, " That hill away to the south-east is Langside Hill,
on which Mary stood, to behold her army defeated by the Regent
Murray." The observation came upon me suddenly. I was
looking at, and thinking of, the many tall smoky chimneys of
the manufactories round me — of the present world and its woes,
the acute, but still commonplace, wretchedness of the poor cotton-
spinner, her few shillings a week, and twelve hours' daily labour.
The speech of my informant struck a chord that was still, and
not in unison with those already touched. The effect startled me.
The wretched Mary losing a kingdom, destined to be a prisoner

CANADA — THE REPRESENTA TION OF GLASGOW. I2i

in a foreign lajid, and at length a victim to a jealous rival's hate,
was strangely brought into juxtaposition with the toil-worn,
pallid, lowly girl of the cotton-factory, whose forefathers might
possibly have battled on that field, lii.le thinking that the result
of all the strife and turmoil in after times would be that his
children's children would linger away their lives in the dull and
dreadful monotony of a prison called a factory. Again and
again did I ask myself the question, Have we gained anything
by our mighty discoveries ? and are we at this moment happier
than were our forefathers in the wretched times of the battle of
Langside Hill ? I fear not. Poor Mary's sufferings, being the
sufferings of one in a high place, win sympathy and observation,
but the misery of the toiling millions crammed together by the
spirit of commerce is unseen. However, I must not punish you
by inflicting this tirade upon you at any greater length. Had
you seen the chimneys of the Glasgow cotton lords flouting the sky,
you would probably have felt as I did. But let us travel back to
York, and to our life's commonpla.ies. . . . Legal advance is slow
work to one unconnected with attorneys. I feel assured, however,
that time will bring success, and that, if once fairly launched,
the ship will not fail to roach her harbour. A competency is all
I desire ; so soon as that is gained, adieu to law, adieu to London,
coal-smoke, and yellow fog, and all my London life will be a
Parliamentary one. We shall see if this hope is to be realized.

I received Papineau's * letter yesterday, and the history of
Lord Durham's doings. From this last I augur good. He has
taken my advice about the Council, and dismissed them all. This
looks well. The calling for the affidavits against the prisonera is
also a good sign ; he will learn the frivolous pretences on which
many have been thrown into jail, and many driven into exile.

Papineau speaks of coming to Europe. I hope no act of Lord
Durh<>^'s will drive him here ; but still I desire much that he
Fhon'a Lc seen and understood. . . . That letter to Howe in
Nova Scotia gave me more trouble than anything which occurred
during the whole Canadian affair. I wish people would not
trouble themselves with my ccncems.

Do not believe a word sa^i aijainst me and my doings at

* Papineau wns a Canadian of French extraction, the leader of the
Colonial party in Lower Canada. He desired to sever the connection of
the colony with the mother-country (Walpole, vol. iv. 118 and 131).

I
f
i

m-tmrn

122

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

A y

Glasgow by the Glasgow press. The press is all Whig or Tory,
and I, as usual, gave them a Jilh'p. They are up in arms, all of
them, but tlie great body of the people have been mueh undeceived
and surprised by my conduct and language. They expected fire
and fury, but were agreeably disappointed.

Do you know any books that give a good account of Yorkshire ?
The forest of Sherwood was up in these parts. I wish to know
how far it stretched here away. Do you know York ? It seems
a dull, stupid, parson-ridden place.

Jul// 8, 1838. — I have to-day written a long letter to Brougham,
who is evidently all astray as to Lord Durham and Canada, misled
by a desire to find Durham in the wrong, and by a passion for
talking upon all matters, whether he underetands them or not.
I have told him the truth, and do not suppose that he will be
annoyed. He has no wish to quarrel with me, and will, I dare
say, shape his course to meet my views.*

I was to-day (junior) in York, and went to the Minster.
That was so full that I could not get into the choir. It was all
song and painted glass, with old broken-down fell ia rhiqieaiix
a trois conies — breeches and gaiters — who yesterday flayed the part
of javelin men to the judges. What a droll procession I Talk
of the lord mayor, and his nonsense, that is downright common
sense to the affair of yesterday. The trumpeters, the javelin men,
the mounted tenants of the sheriff, the followers of the mayor —
a playhouse show surpasses it ; and this is the way justice is
administered in the most civilized of nations.

The following letter, though of later date, completes
the story of the Glasgow candidature : —

J. A. Roehurk to Mr. A. Pifrdie, OInsf/oir.

London, June 11, 18:3!). — Some time since, having ascertained
that a vacancy would soon occur in the representation of Glasgo «', ,
I informed the Ministry, through the appropriate channel, that i
should contest the honour of being one of your representatives.
I received without any circumlocution or hesitation a direct inti-
mation that my return would be opposed by the Government.

* Brougham, nevertheless, in the House of Lords attacked Durham with
Buch eflfect that he immediately threw up his office, and came home wit!>out
waiting for recall.

CANADA — THE REPRESENTATION OF GLASGOW, i.

•A

This did not deter me ; it mtUcr confirmed me in my deter-
mination.

My success appeared very nearly assured, in spite of the
opposition of the "Whiu: party. It was, in fact, almost" impossible
to find any one to oppose me who could hope to succeed. The
Tory might be let in, but to return the Whic^ seemed impossible,
and as I was first in the field, the blame of dividing the Liberal
interest rested with the Liberals who opposed me.

From this difficulty the Whig Liberals were rescued by an
accident. There is one who has a claim prior to any that I could
put forward — one whose chiim I could not oppose — I mean Mr.
James Oswald, who some time since, with great honour to himself
and satisfaction to his fellow citizens, represented the City of
Glasgow. On my being informed that Mr. Oswald intended to
present himself, I at once felt that duty required of me imme-
diately to withdraw. . . .

Allow me, however, to add one word at parting. It is quite
clear that the business of your representative will be a very
different one from that which it has hitherto been. A reconstruc-
tion of political parties is about to take place. A Liberal
Government cannot now be said to exist ; in fact, we have no
Government at all ; but that party which is nominally said to
govern can lay no further claim to Liberality. The fuudHif of
Lord John Russell is tlie Toryism of Sir Robert Peel with a new-
fangled name, and to support him and his colleagues is to support
Toryism in reality, whatever the name may be. A thoroughly
Liberal representative will therefore now be obliged to hold himself
aloof, and to keep clear of all Ministerial pledges and connections.
Hitherto the Liberal majority have acted as blind partizans of the
Ministry. The country sanctioned this unwise proceeding, and
has at length gathered the fruit from the tree of its own plant-
ing. Lord Melbourne and Lord John Russell have declared in
favour of finality — and finality, be it remembered by the good
people of Glasgow, means continuance of all abuses ; and amongst
the other things it means perpetual cor a laws, it means extrava-
gant expenditure, war establishments during peace, and further,
it signifies all that ill-blood and uncharitableness which is the off-
spring of an exclusive and dominant Church establishment. Some
of us who call ourselves Liberals may be well pleased in the con-
templation of finality — when we anticipate only a restriction of

■■

"*-'o\

124

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

the suffrage — but there are few who now lay claim to the name of
Reformers wlio will much admire the doctrine of finality, when
viewed under this other aspect. It is to be hoped that the Liberals
of Glasgow will make up their minds upon the course which their
representative is to pursue. The chief object of their endeavours
should be to heal the differences now existing between the middle
and the working classes, and to unite them into one band of sturdy
Reformers, with common interests, feelings, and sympathies.
This is indeed a difficult task, surrounded as we are by sinister
interests of every possible description ; whose artful advocates see
that their chief hope of a continuation of power and profit lies in
creating and maintaining ill-blood between these two sections of
the community. He would be a great benefactor to his country
who could devise some means of thwarting and defeating the
machinations of these chief enemies of the people.

12?

of
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eir
irs
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28.

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ee
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7
le

CHAPTER XII.

THE CHARTER— ON CIRCUIT— LITERARY WORK. 1838-1840.

Mr. Roebuck, as appears from the following letter, was
invited to draw up the people's " Charter."

Francis Place fo Erskinc Perry.
October 4, 1838.— Tlie Charter, as the proposed Bill is some-
what absurdly called, originated thus : The committee of the
Workuig Men's Association . . . determined to proceed step by
step towards the objects they now had in view, and to abandon -ill
old projects (as to division of property, holding in common, and so
forth-matters which could have no immediate reference to
themse ves), and they came to the determination to associate with
themselves every otie who would go along with them, and, as a test,
to draw a Bill for carrying tlieir project into effect. . . . At length
application was made to Mr. Roebuck, who promised to draw the
BUI ; but extreme ill-health and Parliamentary duties prevented
hun. Apphcatiou was then made to me, and I undertook the
task upon condition that the points, and as much of the detail as
the Association could easily put together, should be prepared so
Uiat in drawing tiie Bill I might be well aware of their notions
Ihis was done ; and I drew the skeleton of a Bill under appropriate
heads and sent it to Mr. Lovett and Mr. Roebuck to complete as
he had again said he would ; but his sad state of liealth did iot
permit him to keep his promise, and I therefore made the Charter '
Lovett assisting me as he could.* The Working Men's Associa-
tion approved of it, and it was printed.

* Holyoakc (" Sixty Years of au Agitator's Life "), says William Lovctfs
was the hand which drew up the Charter, and that Roebuck revisTit

t'A

126

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Mr. Holyoake has recorded, on the authority of Mr.
James Watson, who was often imprisoned for publishing
prohibited books and newspapers, that, going on one
occasion to Roebuck's chambers to consult him on matters
connected with the struggle for a free press, Roebuck was
found lying on a rug before the fire, writhing under the
pain of neuralgia, from which, in those days, he . suffered
much. He listened as he lay, then rose, gave shrewd
counsel, and forthwith put into writing the steps he
advised, or sent letters to others likely to help.

The Charter was received by the Associations every-
where as an admirable epitome of their just political
demands. They became " Charterists," or Chartists, and
every idea gave way before the Charter. Soon they
possessed a press. The Northern Star, conducted by their
celebrated leader, Feargus O'Connor, and the Western
'^Vindicatory which Henry Vincent published at Monmouth
and in Bath, commanded in common with the rest of the
" unstamped " such a circulation as no papers had ever
^efcvo uoasted.

The first public meeting of the Working Men's
Association in Bath demonstrated how fit a soil existed
there for the propagation of any democratic ideas. Henry
Vincent was present, instinct with the fiery eloquence
which distinguished him. Roebuck had been invited, but
professional duties detaining him in London, he forwarded
to the secretary an outspoken letter of advice and
admonition. He wrote —

The working-men do wisely iu tlius associating together.
They have hitherto been excluded from all participation of
municipal rights, because disunion has rendered them Aveak and
induced their enemies to contemn their demands. I would say to
you, Be united, be firm, learn distinctly what rights you ought to
have, and steadily and earnestly demand them. While you do
this, however, I would entreat you not to mix up social with
political reforms. Social reforms can come only as the consequence

of
pe(

gOA

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THE CHARTER — ON CIRCUIT — LITERARY WORK. 127

of political ones ; and on tlic one set the great body of the
people are agreed, on the other they are at variance. A good
government, if attained, would conduce to all good social reforms,
and it is not for us to decide beforehand what these last should be.
I give you this warning, because I have been so long in the
habit of advising the people of Bath ; and also because I know
that the weakness and disunion of the working classes have arisen
mainly from their unwisely confounding these two essentially
different classes of reforms.

Mrs. Groh' to Fmncis Place.

October 27, 1838. — Joseph Hume appeare, for once, sensible of
our wretched degradation as a political paiiy. Roebuck, too,
allows that all is, for the present, gloom and darkness. But I for
one will never consent to uag a hand or foot to awaken the great
public up from its lethargy till these base Whigs are sent a-
packing. . . . Roebuck is the only sound Radical ''qualified to head
a vigorous movement, and I hope I shall see him there ere I die.

Early in 1839 Air. Roebuck was in Bath, when a service
of plate was presented to him by the electors. Accompany-
ing this was an address full of strong regret and sorrow
for his non-return at the election of 1837. The terms of
the address, though they seem a little exaggerated now,
reflected feelings of disappointment which none but those
who had taken part in the early enthusiasm of 1832 and
1833, and had witnessed the struggle, could fully understand.

J. A. Rofihnck to Mrs. Rochurlc.

Yorlc, March 5, 1840. — Last night I had a small body of the
leading Liberals of Leeds, and gave them a specimen, playing
pacificator-general. They have elected me one of their committee
to draw up — in fact, to make— such resolutions for them, as will
serve as an exposition of proper Radical doctrine. They plainly
said (being very moderate Rads, mind), " We want a new charter
without the name, which will unite the now conflicting opinions of
the Liberal party." I fancy they must have been a little surprised
at the sort of harangue I gave them — very unlike the ravings of
Messrs. O'Connor and Co.

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128

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Things have gone on very well so far as regards law. To-
day I feel better in body. My sleep has been much disturbed
by pain ; even yet the twinges resist the liydryodate. I hope
the fine weather makes our darling flourish. Every hour that
I am away from you seems a heavy one.

York, March 10, 1840. — . . . While in Leeds I was shown
a new manufacture which may work a revolution in the woollen
trade in this country. It was cloth made without spinning or
weaving — merely from felting. . . . The earliest clothing made
from wool alone, was made by matting the fleece together in
one homogeneous mass. I was shown the process. In forty-
eight hours after the wool is taken from the sheep's back it
is perfect cloth, and at half the price. I wanted some, but
the patentee said he could not now part with it, as there were
strong contending interests against him, and he wished to begin
upon a scale to meet them. He is evidently frightened at the
greatness of the discovery.

York, Mforh 11, 1840. — I spent Sunday with R . Early

in the morning he sent a pony for me, and it being a beautiful,
clear, frosty day, I rode out by nine o'clock. As the day advanced
it was quite wai-m and spring-like. The birds sang, the air was
soft and sweet, so we determined on a tramp. Setting rheumatism
at defiance, away we strode a good six miles, loitering along turfy
lanes, till we came to the river Onse at Poppleton. We then
sauntered back, indulging ourselves with all the beautiful things,
sweet sounds, soft airs above and around us. I never had a more
delightful walk, feeling very little fatigued. The pains in my leg
utterly vanished, and I felt myself ten years younger. From this
place I shall go to Sheffield sessions, from thence to Liverpool,
from thence sessions again at Pontefract.

York, March 18, 1840. — I still improve; last night wholly
without pain. Nothing annoys me but my loneliness. It is
impossible for me to express my distaste for the society ai'ound
me. Sarcastic, bitter, shallow, money-hunting, selfish, — such are
lawyers. They see so much of the evil part of mankind that they
learn to believe in nothing good. They fret me by their eternal
sneering at everything noble or exalted, and make me turn cynic
in my own defence par consequence. I find some of my bitter say-
ings in vogue against themselves. They cannot understand that
this arises from a very different feeling from that Avhich moves

THE CHARTER — ON CIRCUIT — LITERARY WORK. 129

themselves, so I ever let them believe that I am like them. God
help me if I were.

Mdrtli 29. — So the ministers have again been beaten, and that,
too, upon a serious point.* The very general feeling among the
Tories is that a dissolution is to happen. Their wish is father to
the thought. O'Coiinell doubtless will be in a fury, and threaten
to put Ireland in a flame. He is the sole cause of the Tories'
exclusion from place, therefore do they hate him with a deadly
hatred.

Liverpool^ April 2, 1840. — ... I stay over the Saturday in
order to see some of the leading Liberals. It will be well to do
so, as I find there is still a strong belief that I have a tail and
horns. One old fellow came to me with a sheet of paper in his
hand, and begged of me thereon to write something, as a lady
of his acquaintance was very desirous of having my autograph.
Rather a strong instance of the lion-hunting mania, seeing that
I was just introduced to the applicant. However, I did tiie
thing, as John Kemble said, " handsomely," so he may begin to
fancy that the tail and horns may not be wholly true.

Poiilcfract, April 8, 18-10. — ... It appears as if the old
experience, viz. "It always snows at Pomfret sessions," were
to be continued ; bets, I understand, have been laid upon the
chance this year. From the appearance of the sky, and fall of
the wind, snow does not seem unlikely.

Sir James Graham's motion f will be decided before I reach
liondon, and this is the last real attack upon the Ministry this
session. The desire to thump the Chinaman will bring many
persons to the side of the Ministry. I do not believe in a
dissolution. I find my lawyer brethren do not like the notion
of my being in Parliament. This appears by advice, etc., as to
tlie effect it will have upon my professional chances. Of this
I am as well able to judge as they. To the dull plodder the
game appears a strange and difficult one. Let me keep this
rheumatism off, and I fear nothing.

The following relates to an article which shortly after

* Lord Stanley's Irieli Registration Bill, carried against ministers by 250
to 234 votes.

t Condemning the Government policy towards China. Defeated by a
majority of only nine.

■.,' :

130

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

appeared in the Edinburgh Review on Napier's Peninsular
War:—

November 7, 1840. — I have read Harding's letter, and it
completely confirms Napier's narrative. I have found a passage
in Voltaire, which I moan to quote on the sensitiveness ot Napier's
various objectors.

"J'ai honte," says Voltaire, speaking of his "History of
Charles XII.," " surtout d'avoir parle de tant de combats, de tant
de maux fait aux hommes ; je n'en refers d'autant plus, que
quelques officiers ont dit. ne parlant de ces combats, que je n'avais
pas dit vrai, attendu que je ii'nvaia pas pnrle de leiirs regiments ;
ils supposaient que je devois suivre leur histoire."

Six volumes form a large subject, and I find it difficult to
select or to omit. Much must be omitted that is interesting ; and
my object has been to create a curiosity about the work, giving
it alone the praise so fully its due. I yesterday received a letter
from Macvey Napier, begging for the article to be sent. I hope
to learn next week what Macvey thinks of the same. Tlie
Edinbnrijh twists round so often, that I am fearful lest I should
mistake its present position.

/. A. Boplnir/r lo William Tail, Edinburfjli.

November 28, 1S40. — Have you still any hankering for our
so-called Liberal Ministry ? or do you think, with me, the sooner
we put them into Opposition the better ? If they remain much
longer where they are we shall have a Whig war, carried on by
united Tories and Whigs. What do they say in the North to
all this ? Does the intrusion question make you all careless even
of a general break-up of the peace of Europe ? Of this quarrel
of yours we in the South know little and care less ; but I fear
it will very fatally influence all elections for some time to come.
Is Edinburgh the passive pocket borough of the Government as
much as ever ? and will a vacancy, if created by Sir John
Campbell's advance to the Irish Bench, be filled without op-
position by the Tories or Radicals ? Opposition by the latter
would indeed appear impossible, but the Conservative party,
growing every day more formidable, will soon attack the Whigs
in their strongholds. Reformers are becoming faint, and unless
some powerful and sustained effort be made by the really steady

3SS

THE CHARTER — ON CIRCUIT — LITERARY WORK. 131

and yet untried friends of improvement, a lon^ Tory reign is
inevitable. It is this belief that makes me write to yon. I am
anxious to unite au;ain the elements of our scattered party ;
to persuade all again strenuously to put their hands to the
work, and labour as if nothing had yet been done. In the North
of England a movement is beginning which, if properly aided,
may lead to good results. In order to give this aid, all the
means in our power of expressing opinion should be used, and
that, too, firmly and earnestly. Now, if you think I can assist in
this good work by anything I could write for you, I should be
glad to do it. My health is much improved. I have leisure
enough for this purpose, and if I could employ it to so good an
end, I should be well pleased to do so. I sometimes communicate
with an admirer of your magazine — the editor of the Lceih Times,
who is doing good in the North. He gives me encouragement by
describing the spirit of the people as not dead, but sleeping ;
while he excites me and all Reformers to action, so that we may
sound a trump to awaken these dormant energies. I find so
much despondency that any instance of hope is pleasing — and
in this case the more so as I scarcely believe he is right — and
nothing is wanting but a hearty concuiTcnce on the part of all
well-intentioned men, in order to raise up again a strong desire
to advance. Does your experience of the North make you think
us right ? A budget of news would be acceptable ; for we can
only judge of the aggregate by comparing separate opinions, and
collating separate pieces of evidence.

To Wm. Tait, EiUiihurgh.

December 2, 1840. — Have you for your January number an
article on the war doings of the Ministry ? If not, I should like
to give my poor thoughts upon the question. My purpose would
be to expose Lord Palmerston, not by any supposed special know-
ledge or gossip, but by showing in what way his interests are
forwarded by putting the nation into hot water ; and how the
Tories, by a natural instinct, are ready in a moment to support
him. The true view as respects Fra ' in this matter, I have
not yet seen. My belief is that Lord Palmerston has throughout
been acting in concert with Louis Philippe. The struggle com-
menced in France between the king and M. Thiers, being, in fact,
a struggle for the premiership. Thiers forced himself into power

»"

'32

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEIiUCK.

iijjainst tho king's wish. Tliu kiiirj and ho were consequently
deadly enemies, and Thiers well knew that, on tho iirst opportunity,
the kinj,' would dismiss him. In order to prevent this, ho
endeavoured to gain popularity, AVith his old Republican friends
ho had no ties or correspondence, but ho hoped to win these back
and gain many others by pandering to tho French appetite for
military glory. The war party in Franco is a strong, active, and
ijitelligent party — men who hope to gain more liberal institutions
by means of a general "row" in Europe; and 'lis party

Thiers addressed himself. The king saw tho da ,,-., and has
done all in his power to excite the terrors of tho shopkeepers.
Lord Palmerston has aided him, but tho thing is about to bo
carried too far. Tho response of the war party to Thiers was far
more decided and vehement than he had expected. Tho spirit that
was roused has not been laid. Tho present rulers of France,
Soult, & Co., are aware of this, and are secretly but strenuously
preparing for war. Palmerston, by his successes in Syria, has crossed
the king. Any moment threatens us with an outbreak of tho
French war spirit ; and an attack on Alexandria, which I see that
Palmerston intends, will blow tho embers into a flame. If this
man bo permitted to remain in this ^linistry, or be enabled to join
the next, we shall have war to a certainty, the rcsuH, of which
will be very much like that which followed tho attar' n France
in 1793, and woo be unto the aristocracy of this < y. The

people are not now in tho state in which they wore then. Dis-
content and knowledge are far more widely diffused now than at
that period. A French war will lead to a propafjamlc. Italy will
rise. Spain will be a republic ; so will Portugal. Poland will be
on the alert. Many of the German states will be up against their
rulers. Ireland will not be quiet, and England will be fearfully
moved. Do you not think a picture after this fashion may do
good, and frighten away the utter apathy of the people on this
subject ? All are quiet because all fancy war not possible. But
it is not only possible, but imminent. By showing that it is so we
may excite attention, and perhaps ward off the evil.

To William Tail, Edinhimjh.

December 12, 1840. — I have determined to write, and have
commenced my task, " A History of the Ten Years of a "Whig
Administration " — a fruitful theme, and one which I hope to turn

ill

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THE CHARTER — 0^' CIRCUIT— LITERARY WORK. 133

t<> profit for the public nnd myself. T sliall, accordinf:^ to ray
prcHciit views, mako it extend to tiiroo octavo volumes ; hnt li;u«
not yet decided whether I shall publish it volume by voliiiue, or
all at on(;e. Contemporary history is always valuable, and as I
have seen thinj,'s rather near, and as I know many of the chief
actors in the scenes that have been exhibited, I «/////</ to have that
to say which should be interesting. If what I know, and ran
learn, be only tolerably well said, the book will live as a testimony ;
and if I tell the truth I think some of our Whig people will be
handsomely damned to posterity.

Franrh Place lo J. A. Roflnir/:.

Derrnihrr 23, 1H40. — T am sorry to find by your letter that you
are very ill. . . . You are rij?ht. There can be no such move-
ment in London as there is in Jiceds. It will, however, come to
nothins?, even there, because it is not in kecpin<? with other
circumstances. ... I concur with you again : " The time for
brawling and mere talking men at public meetings is over for the
present." The Chartists have done this. Buy the Chartist
Almanack, price 3(/. It contains the constitution of the new
Chartist Association. T' is as pretty a recommendation of trans-
]iortable offences as either the Whig or Conservative Tories could
desire should be made.

I wish you would send me a brief account of what passed when
Lovett brought you ray draft for the Charter. All I can learn is
that you said it was sufficient for the purpose intended.

In respect to your history and my assistance, I do not sec how
I can comply with your wish ; were I to do so I should be worse
off than one of the two tailors who had but one needle between
them, because the books — a whole cart-load — could not be readily
passed from hand to hand as the needle.

J. A. Roehwh lo Wm. Tail, Edlnhiiffjh.

January 25, 1841. — Our move at Leeds was so important
that I think you might find a short account of it not uninterest-
ing. If you think as I do, I will send you a short history of
what we fancy we have accomplished. It was the first step
towards a new movement — that first step being a very successful
attempt to unite the middle and working classes, and laying down
a principle to which both parties will adhere.

13+

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

The Ministry begin to fear that their end is near, and wish
for pressure from without. This is a very significant symptom.

To William Tail, Edinburgh.

Fehnutry 9, 1841. — My article will be on the state of parties —
at present a very curious theme. The last Tory triumphs have cut
down the small majority of the Whigs to something worse than
nothing, and now it remains to be seen whether the Whigs intend
to go out, looking to come in at some future time on the popular
side. If they do not, they are gone as a party ; if they do, they
must lay the ground now by proposing some measures of reform
that will please the people. Their Irish Registration Bill is of
this description. Some half-dozen proposals like that for England
and Scotland also, and they may look forward to an early return
to power. But I fear their leaders are too much of the aristo-
cratic faction for this.

Do you know anything of Perth ? Sir G. Sinclair has been
speaking to me thereanent, wishing me to make inquiries as to my
cliances there. For mine own part, I wish very much to represent
a Scots constituency. Once in for a place on proper principles,
and the representative is sure of his seat so long as he remains
true. This is not the case with us.

To Mrs. Roebuck.

York, March 18, 1841. — . . . The sitting all day in court
robs me of power to do anything after the day's work is over, and
I usually creep to bed, though not to sleep, as soon as I well can.
Yesterday my case came off, or rather on, and lasted from two to
eight, ending with the men charged with murder being found
guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to two months' imprison-
ment. The attorney, as usual, very profuse of thanks and
expressions of gratitude, so I suppose I shall never see him again.

The Chartists from Birmingham have been sending to me for
legal advice ! This is rather too much ; they abuse me, and want
to use me. But I shall ride rusty. Let i;hem seek aid and
counsel from those whom they praise and pay.

I ohall be in Sheffield late Saturday. York, however, is more
pleasant than the smoke of ten thousand furnaces, so I shall stay
here till I am obliged to be at Sheffield. Since I have been here.

"^, \--

•I !ll«

THE CHARTER — ON CIRCUIT — LITERARY WORK, 135

diu'ing the long hours of the night, I have amused myself with
reading, among other rubbish, " Cecil " — the work of which Lady
Blessiugton spoke to me. Having got to the last volume, I see
why she was interested in the book. The writer is evidently one
of that scribbling set to which she belongs, and goes out of his way
to abuse her, and sneers at her reminiscences of Byron. He also
all-.Jes to D'Orsay as a broken-down foreigner. You sec, these
people who write about others are wonderfully thin-skinned. She
evidently smarted under this, and could not hold her tongue.
Spite of great quotations it is not impossible that it (viz. the
authorship) will turn out to belong to a woman at last.* The
thing has been altogether over-praised.

Mai-ch 21. — A curious thing occurred the other day in Court.
A Canadian, an inhabitant of Lower Canada, of English parents,
was tried for coining in this country Mexican dollars. He said
the dollare were medals intended to be attached to a chain, and to
be worn round the neck, and to be given to the Indians, labourers
of a fur company, of which he was an agent. This fur company
traded on the west of the Rocky Mountains, and went as far
north as the Columbia River ; and the question arose, " Where is
the Columbia River ? " Nobody knew. The judge, Rolfe, W.,
the prosecuting counsel, B., the defending counsel, the attorneys,
the jury, — all were equally ignorant. W. leaned across the table
and said, " Roebuck, does not the Columbia fall into the Gulf of
Mexico ? " I answered, " No, into the Pacific Ocean, and forms
part of the boundary between the United States and British
America." f • • • Yet I have no doubt every one of these persons
had formed some opinion, to which he would strongly adhere,
respecting the justice of our claims to the American territory. . . •
After all, though I am glad of the man's acquittal, I am far from
sure of the intentions with which these dollars were made. The
whole affair was very suspicious.

Liverpool, March 28, 1841. — ... I have at length a quiet
hour to write in. Coming on this pilgrimage of law, I steadily
go through its duties, and sit during the day in the hot, stifling
atmosphere of an abominable and crowded court. The journey
here from Sheffield was one of the most interesting I ever per-
formed in this country. W3 started for Manchester at half-past

* " Cecil " was written by Mrs. Gore.

t Settled Boon afterwards by the Ashburton Treaty.

f ^1

!■: j i 1

N«

I
.1!

: I ji
I

-I

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136

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

HI!

ten, on the top of the coach ; a beautiful day, clear and warm.
The hills and moors which lie between Sheffield and Glossop are
by far the finest I have seen, beating even Blackstone Edge ;
and I hope some fine summer to spend a few days with pencil
in hand among the striking scenes which lie there. The moors
are preserved by a society of sportsmen, who rent the tract
from the Duke of Norfolk. Through these moors runs the
Derwent, which is also preserved by a set of sportsmen, brothers
of the angle. This little stream adds much to the beanty of the
scenery, and as we passed I saw many a spot where a painter
might linger for hours. Glossop is a new tcwn, and bids fair in
time to begrime the beautiful country around it for miles with its
infernal chimneys and smoke. Suddenly we came to an immense
cutting in the hill — a piece of work like those of the railroads ; it
went clean through tlie hill (not a tu .). I beheld a sight I
shall not quickly forget. Ashton, Stookport, and half a dozen
munufacturing towns were in sight, if sight it could be called.
On every side tall chimneys were thrusting themselves into thr
sky, puffing out huge volumes of black smoke, and for miles the
same horrible view met you — smoke, smoke, smoke ; trees, roads,
the very ground, horses, beasts, and men were black and miserable
to behold. Every step towards Manchester intensified all these
horrore. The suddenness of the transition doubtless added to the
sensation of oppression and misery.

Pomfret, April 9, 1841. — ... I have done very well here.
Every day increases my sessions business. I have had, next to
Lewin, the greatest number of defences. I passed Sunday at
Frystone.* There go the bells — ring, ring, almost as bad as
Abbeville of rowdow memory. We had fine fun with Carlyle, who
talked broad Scotch, and utter nonsense without end. His
nostrums respecting law reform did not go unscathed. His pre-
sumption, his dictatorial and positive manner, combined with his
utter weakness, excited in my mind contempt. Yet this is a
great star in these times of darkness.

I shall be in liondon on Thursday early ; no poor devil ever
longed for home as I do. My pains have come upon me, and I
am fighting them with creosote and potass.

* The seat of Mr. Monckton Mi1iic8, afterwards Lord Houghtoa.

( 137 )

CHAPTER XIII.

BACK IN PARLIAMENT. 1841-1844.

n '

At the General Election of June, 1841, brought about by
Lord John Russell's appeal to the country when defeated
on the sugar duties and a fixed duty on com, Mr. Roebuck
regained his seat for Bath. Past misfortunes had taught
the two wings of the Liberal party there the necessity for
co-operation, and although the alliance between the Whigs
and the Radicals, to accomplish which strong influence
from head-quarters had to be invoked, was by no means
firm, or really liked by either section, yet it served its
immediate end. The choice of the Whigs was the son of
the Earl of Camperdown, Lord Duncan, who, although
sitting for Southampton, had wooed the constituency for
several years. W^ith him Mr. Roebuck fought. Their
opponents were the old members. Lord Powerscourt and
Mr. Bruges.

Riot attended the nomination proceedings from their
beginning to their close. The occupants of the hustings
were assailed unmercifully by missiles of all descriptions.
But in the end Toryism suffered the most crushing defeat
that ever it underwent in Bath, for the result of the polling
was — Lord Duncan, 1223; J. A. Roebuck, 1151; Bruges*
030 ; Lord Powerscourt, 920.

Soon afterwards Mr. Roebuck went north on circuit.
The succeeding letter records a visit to his aunt, Mrs.
Stewart, the last surviving member of the numerous family

i i,

138

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

of his grandfather, Dr. John Roebuck, the founder of iron-
smelting in Scotland.

/. A. Roehuck to Mrs. Roebuck.

Birmhifiham, Julij, 1841. — I have just returned from Mrs.
Stewart. She is not well, though her intellect is as strong as ever.
She is weaker than when you saw her, but at eighty-six what is to
be expected ? She told me she had written to you her thoughts
on various matters, and was anxious to hear from you again.*

In the Times of Saturday, July a, there is a long article on
myself — a clever attempt to sot the leading Whigs against me.
The article is in tiie shnpc of a comment on my speech delivered
lit the declaration [of the poll at Bath], which speech, together with
Sir R. Peel's at Tamworth, the Times declares to be incomparably
the most important of any delivered during the election. They
cunningly put Peel and myself forward as the two leaders— Peel
of the Conservatives, myself of the Movement party. This is done
to exasperate Lord John [Russell] ; to wound the vanity of the
Whigs, and thus to drive them away from me. Without this
fillip they would have been but prone to hate me ; now, that
hatred is inevitable — whether it will be openly shown remains to
be seen. As yet I feel no doubtings as to my being able to
take the position which I ought to take. If my health do but
keep as good as it is, I have no fear of the result.

J. A. Roebuck to Thomas North, Bath.

London, February lo, 1812. — Lord Duncan was so good as to
give me the petition from Bath against the Corn Laws, and in
favour of a full representation of the people. I presented tlie
petition yesterday, and stated its prayer to the House. The
principles which it advocates will receive a very full discussion,
and they will, I have little doubt, be virtually received as just
principles by the legislature of this country. We must not,
however, relax in our efforts. Our opponents are many, powerful,
unscrupulous, and active. With honesty, boldness, and industry,
we shall be able, nevertheless, I trust, to conquer them ; but if we
fail in any one of these qualities, our present rulera will continue

* This lady was the posbubsor of a guitar made for her when a girl by
James Watt.

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139

to govern us. 1 feel gratified by the approval which my conduct
respecting the presentation of petitions has received from all
those of my constituents who have expressed an opinion to me on
the matter. A more important point as respects the proceedings
of the House of Commons was never discussed by it.* All the
advances made in favour of civil and religious freedom have been
won by means of the continued discussions upon petitions presented
to the House of Commons. The effective battery once directed
by that means against abuses is now ahnost destroyed ; but we
must endeavour by strenuous and persevering efforts to reconstruct
this formidable instrument of offence and protection.

This session of 1842 is remarkable for Sir Robert Peel's
great budget, and for the masterly manner in which, by
imposing a sevenpenny income-tax and sweeping away the
protective duties on 1200 articles of import, he repaired the
ravages in the national finances made by long years of
deficits. The fierce and protracted debates on these pro-
posals, involving the corn laws, the sugar and timber
<luties, colonial differentiation, and innumerable controversial
topics, monopolized the attention both of Parliament and of
the country. Mr. Roebuck, while giving a general support
to Peel's policy, began an endeavour, which he kept up for
many years, to relieve professional m.en from one-half the
burden of the income-tax ; and he fought to equalize the
iluties on foreign and colonial timber and sugar.

Livrrpool, March 27, 1842. — . . . ily speech f was here
before me, and I receive congratulations from ]x;o]3le because lam
" really a Tory ! " So much are men guided by mere form aud
party predilections. Because I praise Peel I am a Tory. I praise
him because he has really produced a democratic tneamre. The

* Members were formerly permitted, on presenting petitions, to address
the House upon them — a privile<j;e still possessod by the Lords. It will havo
been observed that Mr. Roebuck frequently availed himself of these oppor-
tunities. In 1842, however, standing ord(;rs wtro passed restricting members
to a statement of the parties from whom a pt-tition came, of the number of
dignatures attached to it, of its material allog!ltion^<, uud to tlie reading of its
prayer.

t Debate on the Income Tax.

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LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

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h^'

"Whigs are, as you may suppose, not backward in aiding the mis-
constru(!tiou. Brougham has written to me again about the
pensions, lie wants me to attack them, I see.

It was not, however, the Whigs only who disliked Mr.
Roebuck's support of Peel's sevenpenny income tax. The
Bath Liberal Association sent formal protests, and many
warm adherents of the Liberal cause were so disturbed hy
his action on this and other matters, and by his absence
when his colleague. Lord Duncan, was fighting against the
window tax, that he found it necessary to go down to Bath,
where he addressed a crowded meeting at the Guildhall in
justification of his conduct. To complaints of absence from
the House of Commons, he pleaded professional duties. He
ended thus —

If any one thinks I have done wrong, lot hhn tell me why
he thinks so. ... I entreat you to exercise the same forbearance
towards me as I do towards you and others. Believe me, I wish
to set a good example to my constituents, and I have brought
them together thus to consult with them. But if to-day there
should be a difference between us, recollect, I am not come to
surrender my right as your representative. You have chosen
me for a term, and I shall not give up till that term is expired.
When that time comes it will be for you to express your appro-
bation or disapprobation by your vote. Till that time you will
judge of me by my acts. I shall be always open to, and ready to
bear with remonstrance, but let me exhort you not to be hasty in
investigating what I am doing ; but chasten the investigation
with a calm unbiassed and deliberate judgment, and by so
doing you will give me an incentive to the active discharge of
my duty, and generously reward me in doing it.

/. A. Roohvrlc to Mrs. Roplmck.

YorJr, March ?>, 1H42. — Not one day since I have been in
Yorkshire have the twenty-four hours passed without a regular
downpour of rain. ... It is so very quiet and determined, it
puts me in mind of a pertinacious woman of the demure kind,
who, appearing wonderfully subdued and soft in her manner,

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141

18, nevertheless, always in the rij^ht, and always decided upon
having her own way. The waters are be^'iuniiii; to be out. No
wheat sown. When I say no wheat, I mean only a small breadth
sown. If this continues a week or two lonj^er. Peel's Corn Law
will break down the first year.

Labouchere * and Grey have been tradinj; on my capital. I
explained to them, at their <lesire, my view of Gladstone's measure
for taxing the colonies,t and tuoy have fired off my constitutional
cannon. This shows how they depend upon others for their
ideas.

Old Chandler, who is the fiercest Tory here, was very civil ; he
spoke of you, saying he had often heard of, though he had never
seen, you. He asked me to his house. Wortley, when he heard
of it, held up his hands and eyes. " Old Chandler ? Why, he
is the most out-and-out Tory in the county ! " I myself joked
Chandler, reminding him of his black looks at mc when I first
joined the sessions. He laughed and said, " Aye ; we did not
know you then — those newspapers lie so." This was the parson
who told his congregation that if they would play cricket on
Sunday, he would bowl to them.

York, March 9, 1842 ; 9 P.M. — . . . We are now in the very
throng of the horrible business of trying murders and other
dreadful atrocities. My cases will be late. Two are murders.
I am for the defence in both, and shall save one WTetch, I think,
altogether, and prove the other offender guilty, not of murder,
but of manslaughter ; so there will be no condemning to death.

At night I have read novels, and, among others, I have again
read, after many years, " Corinnc " — a beautiful book, spite of
everything ; like nothing in nature, perhaps — that is, like nothing
we see, but bearing a strong resemblance to much that we feel
and think. It agrees with a theory of mine so far. My notion
is, that every human being is twin — made up of two sets of
feelings and thoughts — the esoteric, and the exoteric man. The
.last is what we see ; and the description to the many of what
is called natural, must be of that outward man. But " Corinue "
is a picture of our dreams, of our inward musings — the esoteric
existence, which few can discover to their best-loved, best-known
friends. As a set-off to " Corinne," I read " Evelina," and
<lid not like it. Old Johnson's applause shows what an old brute

* Afterwards Lord Taunton. t The Canada Com Bill.

J: Si- \\

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LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

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he was. Those parts which are really oflfensivc, and like nothinc^
that ever existed in this earth by way of manners, are those
which his coarse appetite delighted in. If the conversations really
represent the manners of speech common among men and women
of those days, we are altered much, and that, too, for the better ;
but I never can believe that the picture is accurate. " Cecilia " I
have tried to read, but failed. Strange reading, you will say,
for a lawyer on circuit.

April 6, 1842. — This India news is very terrible * — nothing
like it since the day on which a detachment of English troops
surrendered themselves prisoners to Montcalm, in Canada, when
the French Indians destroyed men, women, and children.

AfHl 8. — So the foolish papers, for the want of something
better to do, have been trying to take me in hand again. The
Whigs are plainly trying to turn the feeling of some of my friends
at Bath to their own service, hoping, evidently, to frighten me
into silence. This they will not do, however.

From the papers I learn that there is a vacancy at Montrose,
so I suppose Hume will soon be back in " Honorable House."
I hope so, for his sake, as I really believe him to be exceedingly
unhappy by his exclusion. I am delighted with the journal.

's exploits and little words are far more pleasing to me than

the story of much greater doings. I drive off to the last the
thing that is nearest my heart, for I dare hardly trust myself
to think or speak of it. Have you no letters from America
for me ?

The next mail from Canada brought the news of his
mother's death.

The approaches of the Houses of Parliament were, on
the 2nd of May, 1842, filled with crowds, attracted by-
announcements that the Chartists of the metropolis in-
tended to carry their " monster national petition " in
procession to Westminster. The demonstration began in
Lincoln's Inn Fields, and, as it traversed the principal
streets, was witnessed by large masses of citizens. The
petition, bearing 3,315,752 signatures, demanded the passing

* The retreat of the British army from Cabul after the treacherous
murder of Sir W. Macnaghten, on December 23, 1841.

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143

of "The People's Charter." The excitement attending
these proceedings penetrated even into the pi*ecincts of
the House as the great roll made its way to the doors ;
for it was so large that the truck upon which it was
carried by sixteen bearers broke down on the way to the
lobby, and a perfect avalanche of paper closed up the door
for some minutes, barring all ingress to the House. The
petition was subsequently carried up in separate packages
and placed on the floor in front of the table. Mr. Thomas
Duncombe moved that the petitioners should be heard by
their counsel or agents at the Bar. On the uebate that
followed, Mr. Roebuck spoke for the motion. But its sup-
porters were weighted by the disfavour aroused by the
extreme propositions of the document, from the extravagant
conditions of which they were compelled to dissociate
themselves. Mr. Roebuck denounced these and their
author, supposed to be Mr. Feargus O'Connor, in no
measured terms. The petition had, he said, been drawn
up by " a cowardly and malignant demagogue." His speech
was described at the time as unquestionably the speech of
the night, because of its masterly eloquence, the logical
precision of its language, the breadth and clearness of its
views, and the high moral courage which it displayed.
But by insisting that the Charter, rather than the hearing
of the petitioners, was the real issue, he helped the
opponents, among whom were included Sir Robert Peel,
Lord John Russell, and Mr. Macaulay, whose strongest
weapons were supplied by the language of the petition
itself. Only 49 members could be found to support the
motion, against 286 drawn from both sides of the House,
and including many of the most staunch Liberals.

Mr. Roebuck's most sensational achievement in this
session, however, related to the corrupt agencies which had
notoriously been at work in the constituencies during the
General Election of the previous year. These were more
rampant than at any time since the Reform Act. Numerous

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LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

petitions alleging bribery and corruption were presented,
only, however, to be withdrawn, under singularly suspicious
circumstances.

It was openly said that progress was stayed on the
undertaking of the sitting members, given personally or
through their agents, to vacate their seats within a given
time. Mr. Roebuck, ever alive to what might affect the
honour of the House of Commons, at once resolved to test
these allegations. The course taken was, as he described
it himself, an extraordinary one, and it caused a great
commotion in the House. On May the 6th he separately
challenged in .heir places six or seven members, and called
upon them categorically to say, then and there, whether
the arrangements alleged to have been made in their names
had their cognizance and approval. Several angrily
declined to recognize the right to put them in the con-
fessional, and refused to answer. Captain Plumridge,
however, a blunt sailor, at once acknowledged that such
an arrangement had been made by his lawyer without his
knowledge, and he declared he did not like it. Captain
Fitzroy, another of the challenged ones, said he would vote
for a committee. Lord Palmerston objected to the inquiry
altogether, on the ground that unless it was contemplated
to bring in a Bill on the subject, it was useless to investi-
gate. This begged the question, for if there was no
evidence, there could be no Bill.

The excitement caused by these proceedings, both in
Parliament and in the country, was immense. Mr. Roebuck
was, for the time, the best-abused man in the kingdom.
Mr. John Walter, as defeated candidate at Nottingham, was
involved in the accusations, and this especially aroused
the furious animosity of his journal, the Times, which
accused Mr. Roebuck of having pursued its proprietor
spitefully, from 1835 to September, 1841, when, unsuccess-
fully moving to condemn the Times for breach of privilege,
he openly advised any one attacked in that journal to horse-

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»45

whip its owner.* Sir John Cam Hobhoiisc had wrested
from Mr. Walter the NottinLjham seat ; and in this, aj^jain,
on the strength of Mr. Roebuck's earlier electoral tight
against his brother, Mr. H. W. Hobhouse, was found evidence
of personal enmity. Mr. Roebuck had, however, the con-
solation, amid storms of imputation and hi qiioques, of
receiving from all i)arts of the country expressions of
gratitude from the advocates of electoral purity; and
when, before his committee, the charges were fully proved,
there arose such a universal outer:,- against the shameless
corruption disclosed, as largely to silence the other side.
The committee reported the existence of corruption
at Nottingham, Reading, Harwich, and five other towns,
justifying a suspension of the writs for new elections,
and it recommended further inquiry with a view to the
punishment of guilty persons. But the matter ended with
the exposure, for Parliament
committee's report. Wlu^n
stormy debate terminated in
resolutions founded by Mr.
asked the House, firstly, to condemn the corrupt prac-
tices now laid bare ; secondly, to declare these practices
to be a breach of privilege ; thirdly, to suspend the writs
for the constituencies concerned. A caricature of " H. B."
at this time represents a confessional, with the member for
Bath sitting in it, listening horror-struck to the avowals
of the member for Nottingham (Hobhouse) who kneels
outside.

Mr. Roebuck took an active part with his colleague,
Lord Duncan, in a great Anti-Corn-Law demonstration
held at the Guildhall, Bath, on January 27, 1843, Mr.
Cobden and Colonel Thompson being both present. The
Chartists had now adopted the policy of opposing every

* Mr. Walter had, indeed, to be called to the Bar of the House before ho
would give evidence, as he had refused to attend before a committee of which
the advocate of horse-whipping was the chairman.

declined to act upon the

that was brought up, a

the rejection of the three

Roebuck upon it. These

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/J/V-: OF yoj/\ ARTHUR ROEnuck:

agitation whicli could withdraw public attention from tlio
necessity for electoral reform, and this action greatly
detracted from the unanimity of the meeting. Though
supporting the Anti-Corn-Law Leaguers on this occasion,
^[r. Roebuck was largely out of sympathy with many of
their methods, and a few months afterwards he attacked
them in the House of Commons.

A fragment of Parliamentary journal, written by Mr.
RooHuck, rjiatcs to this period —

Thiirsddi/, Fidn-uiiitj '2, ISI;). — Parliiuucnt opened by Coin-
mission. The chief topics — foreign ulTairs, Cliinu, Afghuu, and
America, sorrow for deficit, etc.

The agitation by the Anti-Corn-Law fiCague iiad led people
not conversant with the i/i/onwl affairs of Parliament to believe
that there would be a grand display in the debate of this evening
by the gentlemen connected with the League ; but Mr. Cobden,
the corypheus of the party, was absent (his child, an infant of ten
months, having died on January 2:»), and Charles Villiers seemed
not altogether willing (or able ?) to supply his place. When 1
expressed to C. V. my opinion that Cobden had made a mistake
in staying away, his answer clearly proved that he (C. V.) did not
look with complacency upon the manner in which Cobden had
superseded him in the lead of the Corn question. " After his
sails have been so filled with favouring winds (said C. V.) he
(Cobden) ought surely to have come into port. The honours
showered on him by the Scotch lately were not given without
a purpose. He was expected to be here, and his friends out-of-
doors will be grievously disappointed." The truth is that tliore
is a great difference between talking to large public meetings
composed of favourable auditors, who cheer every word you utter
and speaking to the fastidious audience found in the House of
Commons, the greater part of whom are bitter opponents
and all critical listeners. Cobden's success out-of-doors will
excite attention for him in the House ; but he will !>' n'f|uirod
to reach a high standard to acquire the inflnenn Mtliin tiir wall:^
of Parliament whicli lie has attained am*^- enemies of the

Corn Laws.

The debate was dull and peculiarly interesting ; the only

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m\\

iiicitlent worth remurkinijf wfts the elTcctivo iiiiawcr j^iveii by Tiord
Stanley to Loril J. KiLsaell. Lord John's ciirimii;' received u
Buitiible rebull".

Sir U. Peel '^wwa notice of n motion of thiinks to FiOrd
Ellenboron<,'h ajid the Indian army, and I that I wonid move
for a committee to itiqnire into the justice and policy of the
Afghan war — l)oth motions for February 1(1. I gave notice also
respecting the [(Quebec] Heauharnois Canal.

During the debate, fiOrd Palmerston declared that he would
attack the Treaty with America on some future day. He showed
himaelf extremely willing to bo mischievous, but not very able.
His speech was an imjmdent piece of spite. " Ife showed blimt
teeth," said Lord B. [Brougham] to mo next morning. The
figure was apt. No amendment moved.

Fridaii, Fphniarij 3. — On bringing up the report of the address,
old Walter (the Timoft) made a set speech, in which he declared
in favour of a fixed duty on corn — a poor display, much pre-
tension, but poor performance. Villiers is to bring on the Corn
question some early day, and Lord Howick is to move for a com-
mittee of the whole House on distress on Monday week. I gave
notice of a motion for pardon to the Canadian convicts now in
Van Diemen's Land for Tuesday next. I this morning break-
fasted with B. [Brougham], and talked over and settled plans as
to my Afghan motion.

Mondaij, Fehruanj G. — Almost a ^//V-.s mn, the only matter
of interest being the statement of Sir \\. P. that ho intended
to confine his vote of thanks entirely to the military operations,
the policy of withdrawing the troops, and of the war originally,
being ti question completely reserved. It will, I think, never-
theless, be difficult to confine the debate to the mere military
operations. If Peel blames the preceding operations, the whole
question will be dragged into discussion. This I shall be sorry
for, as I want the war itself to be thoroughly canvassed, which
can only be properly done on such a motion as mine.

Sir R. P. recommended us to wait till we saw his papers, and
the terms of his motion.

Mr. Roebuck's speech on the first Afghan War, its causes
and its consequences, was long remembered by those who
heard it, as the best that he had made in Parliament It

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LIFE OF yOI/N ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

sketched in a short and clear manner the events which led
to the interference of England in the troubled affairs of
Afghanistan, and condemned the mode of that interference
as most unjust and impolitic.

Lord Browjhnm lo J. A. Rorhuflc.

Homo of Lords, Fridaij. — Dear 11., The impression has been
very jxreat. I hear but one exception, viz. the strensth of some
expressions as to Aackland supposed to have weakened effect.
Yours ever, II. Brougham.

In the hot controversies aroused by Sir James Graham's
Factory and Educational Bill of 1843, Mr. Roebuck
anxiously advocated the imposition of obstacles to employ-
ing children of tender years. He unsuccessfully asked
Parliament to affirm that in no place of education, main-
tained or enforced by the State, should any attempt be
made to inculcate peculiar religious opinions. But his
refusal to join in general condemnation of Sir James
Graham's Bill brought him into strong conflict with an
influential section of his constituency. Attending a meet-
ing at Bath, called to oppose what were held to be the
objectionable clauses in this Bill, Mr. Roebuck had
to fight against some clamour raised by men who re-
sented quotationi:' from the report of the Commission on
Education, illustrating the dire ignorance on matters both
religious and secular, j)revailing in the manufacturing
districts. But more formidable was the elaborate and
powerful challenge offered to his views by the Rev. Dr.
Waddy, who became one of Mr. Roebuck's strongest
opponents in Bath, and afterwards in Sheffield. Mr. Roe-
buck, while admitting that Graham's Bill was bad, and
full of objectionable clauses, vehemently declined to incur
the terrible responsibility of rejecting anything ofliering
the least amelioration of the horrible condition of the
children of the country. He advocated, therefore, the
policy of endeavouring to make a bad Bill good by

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14)

amending it clause by clause ; and ho propounded his old
views in favour of entirely separating education from
religious teaching. Dr. Waddy, on the other hand,
lengthily analyzed the Bill, to show that it was irretrieval>ly
bad ; and he elaborately criticized ^Iv. Roebuck's views on
education. The controversy was carried far into the night,
and its echoes went rolling on until they had an appreciable
effect in severing Mr. Roebuck's connection with Bath.

Speaking, in Parliament, on the Irish Arms (Coercion)
Bill, Mr. Roebuck said —

The chief evil in that country was the rampant Church of
Ireland. ... If he had the power, he would disiiucumbcr that
Church iit once of auythini,' like maintenance of power in Ireland.
He would propose at once to take the revenues of the Church, and
give them, if to any Church at all, to the Church of the majority
. . . but he should prefer to apply them to temporal purposes.
The Irish Church was the great mischief, grievance, and sore of
that country. ... If they wished to remove all ground for the
cry of repeal, he entreated them to govern Ireland as they
governed England.

The appeal was useless. There were : for the second
reading, 270 ; against, 165.

The following letter touches on this ever-recurring Irish
question : —

J. A. Roebuck to Mrs. Roebuck.

York, July 10, 18-43. — As to O'Connell's plans, I cannot
believe him to be so unwise as to convene any body of delegates
in Dublin. The ruin of his party would certainly follow ; they,
not having any real power, would quarrel amongst themselves.
They would not only commit themselves, but U'Counell also, a'ul
the Government would ix)unce upon him, and make him at length
pay for all the annoyance he has given them. If he be quite
quiet, he »•, ill succeed ; if he steps ever so much beyond the law
us to give the (Jovernmeut a fair o-j;)ortunity, they will test his
courage by bringing him to trial. If Peel had an ounce of

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LIFE OF 'JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

courage, be must, by watcliin'j: his o]>portuiiity. Risks must be
run, and, were I in bis place, 1 would run that risk, if O'C^onncll
jrave me a chance. The Church must j?o, or rents will ; and then
what will Irish landlords do 'i

The Government did " pounce." When Parliament met,
in 1844, public attention was largely centred on the trial,
then proceeding in Dublin, of Daniel O'Connell and his
fellow Repealers.* The chronic discontents of Ireland were
acuter than ever, and the subject was prominently referred
to in the Queen's Speech. Early in the session, Lord John
Russell moved for a committee of the whole House to
inquire into the condition of Ireland. Mr. Roebuck's chief
panacea was disestablishment of the Irish Church. He
asked —

Would repeal of the Union relieve the present evils, bring
peace, and remove discontent ?

As far as he could judjre, it would only ajjirravatc the mis-
chief, lie could not conceive any one mischief greater to Ireland
than repeal, excepting the continuation of a military <Jovernment.
. . . Peace could never be produced while the Irisli Church
remained as it was. ... lie was for ])ulling down the present
system, for taking the j)ro(!eeds into the hands of the Government,
and applying them to the great purpose of educating the people.
Why should a Church in Ireland be maintained, doing all that a
Church ought not to do, causing animosity and discord through-
out the laud ? Why should it not be put down, in order that
])eace might be at once restored ? He would tell them. They
feared that the principle, if applied to Ireland, would be hereafter
applied to England.

* Mr. Roobiifk went to Sir Thomnfl WiMo's (afterwards Lord f'hancellnr
'I'niro) to look over, with BIr. Slitil, papcra connected with tiie trial in Dublin.
While 80 engaged, Lord Brougham was announced. Ho oame, ho said, to
ask tho Attorney-Generol's opinion regarding the safety of Count D'Orsay's
dining with hitii on that day, and requested him (Sir Tiiomas Wilde) to send
him nn ojjinion before six o'clock on these points : Whether Count D'Orsay
could dine in safety with him, an ex-Chancellor, the two Ciiief .Tusticcs
(Denman ami Tindall), and tho ex-Attornoy-General. Sui)po8ing a detainer
pot in, would it be valid on a Sunday ?

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151

'/'« 11'///. Tally Ediidniiijh,

March 1, 1S41. — I should iiiuch like to put upon paper a,
description of the i,'rejit Irish dehute. AVould y(ju like such u
sketch ? As it would bo u series of jiersoual critieisins as well as
general reflections on the state of Ireland, I should not like to be
openly known as the author, though you need not fear any
libellous matter at my hands. And, indeed, it is not that 1 should
wish to write anything really disparaging of any that took part in
tiie debate that makes nie desire to be inroi/ni/o. But the taking
niton one's self opeidy the character of a critic on such an occasion,
and in my position, would be presuming.

The debate itself was a very remarkable one, by far the best I
ever heard. Throughout it was good, and the cliange of feeling
and opinion it showed in the leading men of all parties, and in the
parties themselves, was a good omen for the future. The person
who appeared in the least favourable position was Lord John
Kussell. His party completely left him behind.

In the first days of the session there was some compe-
tition between Mr. Roebuck and Lord Ashley for priority
in bringing before the House the controversies respecting
Lord Ellenborough's annexation of Scinde, and his treat-
ment of the Ameers. Lord Ashley, getting the first place,
warmly espoused the cause of the Ameers. Condemnation
of Lord Ellenborough involved condemnation of Sir Charles
Napier, the chief executor of his polic3',and raised questions
as between Napier and Major (afterwards Sir James)
Outram — for Nastier, in superseding Outram, had rejected
his methods and counsels. Roebuck, in moving an amend-
ment to Lord Ashley's motion, in a speech of, for him,
unusual length — heard, as the reports complain, with
ilifHculty in the press gallery — devoted a large part of it
to a championship of his old friend Napier. And, indeed,
although the fact was not openly manifest in the debate,
there was evidently behind the discussion very strong
personal feeling between the partisans of Napier and
Outram. As to Ellenborougli, while disliking his treatment

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152

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

■ \

of the Ameers, in itself, Mr. Koebuck defended it as in-
evitably necessitated by the impolitic conduct of his
predecessor. Lord Auckland. Lord Ashley's motion of
censure was negatived by a large majority.

The Duke of Wellington told Lord Brougham, " Your
friend Roebuck made a most excellent speech in the House
last night." Lord Brougham : " Does he not always make
excellent speeches ? " " Yes, yes, he does ; but he never
made so good a one as last night. I agree in every word
of it. I agree in all he said about Lord Auckland." Sir
James Graham said Mr. Roebuck's speech naved the
Government. The House was ready to listen that
evening, and the Whigs were quite ready to make an
onslaught on Lord Ellenborough, and with him General
C. Napier, which was put an end to by Roebuck's speech.

8h' W. Napier to Mr. Roehu/k.

Your speech, though cruelly mauled by tlie papers, has given
me as much pleasure as it has given pain to the Whigs, aud tliat
is not small.

A few days afterwards these controversies were again
raised, on a motion of thanks to Sir Charles Napier * and
his army, but in this debate, although Sir Robert Peel had
given him early private warning, by his own hand, of the
opposition to the motion, Mr. Roebuck did not speak.
Only nine members voted against it — " The nine muses,
graceless youths," Sir William Napier sarcastically dubbed
them.

In connection with the ten hours clause in the Factories
Bill of this session, Mr. Roebuck unsuccessfully divided
the House on a motion directed against interference with
the power of adult labourers (^including women) to make
contracts respecting the hours for which they shall be

♦ Sir Emerson Tcnuant told Roebuck tlint he was one of a deputation
to offer the kingdom of Greece to General Sir Charles Nupicr, who was iit
that time iu Cephaluuiu.

BACK' IN PARLIAMEXT.

153

th
ce
be

employed. His attitude at this time drew from Lord John
Russell some sarcasms on his tendency to arrogate to him-
self the possession of all the wisdom and purity of motive
of the House ; and the Times, losing no opportunity to dis-
parage its fierce foe, followed this up with au article heavy
with lumbering irony. Commenting on this, a Welsh
newspaper, claiming to speak neither as friend nor foe, but
as a perfectly impartial spectator, said Mr. Roebuck's power
and influence were undeniable, and wrote :

Mr. Roebuck's position in Parliament is one he has good
grounds to be proud of. He has power, and he owes uo patron
anything for it. Nor did he obtain it by rank, by luck of loins,
or any other luck. It is not the elfcct of auy adventitious
circumstances. Such as it is, it is his own. His mind made it.
He has a good strong mind, and that alone, unaided and un-
friended, has made its possessor what he is.

It was somewhat remarkable that Sir James Graham,
while admitting Mr. Roebuck's arguments to be un-
answerable, weakly excused himself from acting on them.
The Times called this a "confession that he felt with the
philosopher, though forced to act with fools."

/'. A. Taylor to J. A. Roebuck.

May 7, 1844. — Will you allow me to plead the interest I fool
in the Factory question, and the stops I have taken through our
mutual friend, Dr. Black, in regard to it, in excuse of my express-
ing the obligations that I consider the opponents of that measure
are under to you for your very admirable speech in the House on
Friday ? If any evidence wore necessary to show the effect it
must have produced, it is amply furnished by tin; vituperation it
and you have met with from the journals of the two factions, and
the soreness of the Whig leader. Lord John Russell. liut in and
out of the House your arguments remain unanswered and un-
touched, and their truth will, I fear, be ultimately proved by those
conse(|uences of which you have given warning, though uuavail-

Mr. Roebuck's share in the episode connected with Mr.

■I

'54

LIFE OF JOHX ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

Ferraiul's char;;os against Sir James Graham and Mr. Hogg,
which occurred in this session, will be told in a chapter
recording Mr. Roebuck's duelling experiences.*

The following record relates to the end of 1844 : —

For five days Mr. Roebuck has licen engaged in a cause before
tlie Privy Council relating to u dispute between the Lieut. -
Governor (Xapior) and the bailiff and jurats regarding the
interpretation of the laws of the Island of (iuernscy. On all
hands Mr. Roebuck has l)een complimented for the very able
manner of doing business. Baron Rolfe ])raised ; Lord-Chancellor
Lyndhurst was very attentive and kind. General "William Napier t
writes word to-day, " I hear from Dampier, from Brotherton,
from Cavendish lioyle, and from my brother Richard, who is
rather a fastidious critic, that your talents, your knowledge of
your subject, your sliarpncss of repartee, your self-possession and
temper (this last from l)anii)ier) were very remarkable."

* See pod^cliap. xvii. p. lOti.

t Then Governor of tlio Islnnd of Guernsej'.

ter

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CHAPTER XIV.

IN" BRUSSELS — THK CORN LAW CRISIS. 184.').

In 1845 Mr. Roebuck purchased Ashley Arncwood, a
j)Ieasant old manor-house with a delightful garden and
about two hundred acres of land attached to it, situated
six miles from Christchurch, on the edge of the New Forest.
His idea was to farm this propert}', and he did so for
some time ; but as his engagements increased in London,
it w&i found impossible to carry on both London and
country work at the same time. This necessitated the
constant presence of Mrs. Roebuck at Ashley, where she
undertc»ok the study of ])ractical farming, and eventually
made it a success.

"I remember well," writes Miss Roebuck, "her pride
in her beautiful herd of cows. My father used to come
home on Saturday', returning to town the next Monday,
but almost every day that he was absent he wrote to my
mother, and sometimes twice a day. In the end of 1854f,
after my father recovered from his illness, the farm was
given up, and we went to live at 10, Ashley Place."

In the spring of 184.5 I\Ir. Roebuck engaged with Lord
Duncan in a debate on the oft-battled question of the
Window Tax. He renewed his protest against subject-
ing incomes derived from professions and trades to the
same tax as incomes from property ; and he obtained the
fiupport of thirty-two members for a motion designed to
extend the incidence of the Income Tax to Ireland. In

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LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

connection with Mr. T. Duncombe's attack on Sir Janie»
Graham for post-office espionage, he denounced ministerial
tampering with letters in the post-office, and supported
Lord Howick's unsuccessful motion for a select committee
to inquire into the allegation that Mr. Duncombe's letters
had been detained and opened. It was in the debate on
the subject that Mr. Disraeli attacked Sir Robert Peel with
scathing vehemence, and originated the famous phrase,
" that, having caught the Whigs bathing, he had run off
with their clothes." On the (iue.s*ion of the settlement of
New Zealand, Mr. Roebuck strongly insisted on unity of
administration, and sketched a plan for making the island
self-governing and self-supporting. But hero he did not
refrain from indulging in an attack upon the missionaries.
By charging them with base and sordid motives, he gave
great offence, while his support of the Government proposal
to increase the Maynooth grant brought him into further
conflict with a section of his constituents.

/. A. Piovhiu'k to William Tail.

Aiiijust 2(», IH-li"). — I have determined to write a history of the
Whig Administration from lHi>0 to 1841, and shall go by arrange-
ment to Cannes* this winter, for the purpose of acquiring
information respecting certain parts tliereof. In what way
Bhould such a work be published ? Money is not my chief
purpose ; but while furthering my political views, I should not
object to making a penny. Pennies are not so plentiful with me
as to make me careless of them.

September 8, 1845. — Do not object to the somewhat exalted
tone of the paper. The tendency of things now is so prone to
u vulgar selfishness that we ought to do something to introduce
a more generous tone of morality. I smiled at the notion of
my fiving on the reputation of what I mijiht do. The world is
not very wilHng to give me credit even for that which I have
done.

Towards tho end of this year Mr. Roebuck undertook

* Where Lord Urou<;haui was rebidin''.

JX BRUSSKLS — THE COKX LAW CRISIS. 157

a private mission to Belgium in connection with tho
promotion of a railway enterprise. The following letters
<lescribe his experiences, and his impressions of the Court
of Brussels and the people and politicians of Belgium : —

To Jft's. Uofhuch.

Hotel lie Flandi-e, linissrlsy Noi'embd' 8, lS4r». — I arrived at
Brussels after a trying and most disagreeable journey, with six
hours of constant illness. On arriving at Ostend, owing to being
cramped in one position, I fell suddenly and conii)letely lame.
The king arrived from Paris to-day, and I have made arrange-
ments for an audience. This lameness stops work ; but as you
know how often it happens, I am never surprised at it. I am
near the church, and was awakened this morning at five o'clock
by the row of bells, which continued some hours, to the annoyance
and discomfort of such mundane people as wished to sleep.

November 9, 1845 ; Sumlaij, fen o\'lock. — I mark the day
and hour, for without it you would not enter into the next part
of my history. Just now is playing a very pretty march of
Mozart's on the carillons, as a preliminary to the grand Mass.
This to an EngUsh pietist must seem strange. I asked if there
was to be any music to-day at the Mass, remembering that in 1830
I had heard some pretty music— a regular orchestra — at church
on Sunday ; and I remember both mine and Graham's astonish-
ment when we heard the music of the opera in the great church
at Bruges. The answer to my inquiry was, " Xo, monsieur, there
is nothing but the organ and singing. The archbishop has
changed everything, and prohibited all profane music in the
church." "To make it more grave," said I. "Yes, sir.
Everything is changed since the time of the French," answered
the i;/rrfon. " Ah ! I have seen sixteen revolutions, and every
one has left us pamres r/ens worse off than before." I now
hear the drums in the distance ; the carillon is hushed, and a
loud organ is playing. I can hear everything nearly as well as
if I were in the church, in place of being in bed, where my lame
leg still chains me.

November 10. — I have just returned from witnessing the
opening of the Legislative Session, and was ama/.ed by the farcical
imitation of France and England. The form of the chamber

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•58

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK

is Rciuicircnliir, ua in Frunw, witii tribnnos liU round up tt) tlio
»;eiiin,i;, iiko a tiiciitrc. Tlio room is liiriiju, Init not ut till pretty
or imposinjr. Tlio tliin^j: tliut most struck — I may sivy shocked —
mc, was the applaus,; irivcn, hy the nieml»ers clappiiij,' their hands
and shoutinii " lia lieiiio ! " or " Le lioi ! " Fancy the House ol
Oommons, with the SiK;aker in the chair, clappini^ their hands
and shoutin-r like a mob at a theatre ! The kiui? is growinj; old
and intirm. His manners are sedate.

At one o'clock to-morrow, Van der lln<rcn writes me word,
that the kiui,' wishes to see me at Laken ; and then I receive an
invitation to dine with their ^lajesties here in IJrusscIs at six
o'clock. Royal invitations are commands ; so I jjo. I also hope
to soon take win<^. My residence here has heen anythini; hut
unuisinu'. T have i)assed days hound to my bed in jri'i-'at pain, and
shall Ih) glail to be free of my Ie.ir8 airain. The weather is
beautiful, and I am sittini; at this moment with my windows
open : and, thoufjli it is nearly eight o'clock, they are 8ino;inf»-
away in the Church as if it were niorniu'j;. This sim]>le Church
music — the broad style — is the (mly tliiuu: which pleases mc.
About an hour since, I hobbled into the church. The singinj;
was not what it is now. At the present moment it is simply
a part of the reirular Church Service, and is the old nuisic ; but
when I was in the church, they saufj what in style wotdd have
suited well with the FUmto Jt<t;/iro, or any other ])opular
opera. At one cud of the church were three priests, evidently
sufferin<( from bad colds, crossinji' themselves vehemently. At
tlie other end was the director of the band, the leader, stick
in hand, Icadini^ with all the antics and placid fury of a regular
maestro. Still, the singing was pretty, but nothing to the fine
masculine broad stud' that now compels jue to listen.

Friiftii/, Norvmhci- II. — Yesterday was raining, after the
fasliion of London, all day ; and through the slosh I went to
Laken to wait on tlie king. I fouiul him extremely civil, talking
as if he had known me all my life, imiuired after my lameness,
etc. He has a fashion of shutting one eye, and of putting his
head on one side, that gives him a resemblance to a jackdaw
looking into a bone.

Well, I returned ; and, as I was to dine, I sent for a crush-
hat. Full tilt comes the hatter. " ]!i[onsicur wants a hat to go
to the palace to-night ? Monsieur shall have one immediately —

IX nRUSSELS — TffE CORX /..III' CAVS/S.

I5'>

witli )i fcatlior, I snppo.se ? "

"What liiivo I to do with such iioiisc

A feather? Tho <\-\ !" f sai.l.

IlSl

I, inoiisK'ur

it is u rh'1/ifin/ i/i/il(ii>i"fii/nr.

/Ji/i/i>/)ii//iiii/f or not, [ want

a jilaiii, simple hat fit for a ;,'ontU,'inan, not a moiintel)ank : so »,'i't
1110 one." The man seuiueil (|uiti! out of spirits, hut did as \u'.
was bid. In due time I went to the palace, wliere f found
the company arran<;ed nloni; the walls of the room — the women
toijfether, thou the diplomatic hotly, then menilwrs of tin;
Chambers, and lastly, the miin'sters. When the kiui; and (|ueen
entered, he took the lead, and spoke to every person in sucoessiou.
Her ^fajesty spoke French- Ku'^'lish. " Is it of n lonir time, Mr.
Iloebuek, that you are here?" She eouuoled with me on my
Iftineness, and saiil that the kinu; had told hi-r that I was a
sufferer. After dinner, her ^lajesty sent Van de AVeyer t(» me.
She ho])ed I would sit, as she knew I was in pain, and was sorry
to see me Iciinin^j;. All this was very civil, and very considerate.
On goin*;' into the dininii-rooni, F to(»l< the lirst seat tiiat offered,
iind soon addressed my next neiLrhboMr, whom I found to lie
n member of the Chamber, a Liberal, and thorou<i:hly anti-
ratholic. We talked for some tiiiK-, and at last fell upon the
forms of the Chamber. I spoke of the clappint,' of hands as
to nic new, and not alto.uetlier belittini;, sayini;, '• I have a
sort of feelinp; of caste about it, l)ein,tf myself a member of
a representative body. "What body?" '"The House of
Coniiiions." " All ! then yon can tell me if a comjiatriotof yours
is at tiiis table, whom you can point out to me. It is Mr.
Roebuck who is here, for the kini? told me sd. Do you know
him?" "Yes, indeed, for I am he!" AVe struck up an
acquaintance ; and afterwards I ^^ot Van de Wcyer to formally
introduce me. I was also introduced to a ^I. van Praet, who
is in oHice here, and a man of some importance, but a reirular
co.Kcomb. He speaks English perfe(;tly.

Noremhor IH. — Lord Arran took me over the house beloufriui;'
to the Due d'Aremberi; — a line specimen of a nobleman's house.
There arc some j^ood Dutch pictures, and one tiiinu,- above price,
the head of the Laocoiin — the real (I reek head, lieside it they
liave a cast of IMicliael Aiijjelo's restoration, and the inferiority
of the j'Tcat Italian is very remarkable. The (J reek head
is of a hitiher character : tlie i)ain felt is more intensely marked ;
and anything- more wonderful than the mere handling' of the

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160

LIFE OF yOfIN ARTHUR ROF.BUCK.

marlilc 1 never saw. Yon wonld declrtre it was fli'sli. This
was the only thin},' that exeitod iind interested nie in tht; lionsc,
wliicli, nevertheless, wonld have been a sonrce of jrreat deli<j:ht
to yon, as it was fnll of all sorts of inconceivable china. Arran,
who is bitten, like yourself, was in raptures with the vases, etc.
I find all the houses built on a Spanish plan of a square, with
nn open centre and rooms on the sides of the fpiadranirle. They
have a fjrand air, but are not fit for the climate— dark and
dismal ; for a hot climate deliirhtful. What would be delicious
in Spain or Italy, appears wretched here. You want to court
light and heat in this cold nook of the world.

Yesterday I went to a distribution of musical prizes by the
^Minister of the Interior, in the presence of the kiui^ and (jueen.
It was a pretty show, and took place in a vacant Protestant
church fitted up for the occasion. The music very Rood, the
}>eoi»le excecdinirly well-dressed. The population, however, is
awfully u<rly. To-day I am poinf? to the debate on the Kind's
SlKiech, in the Chamber of Representatives, for which Van de Weyer
has just sent me a permanent ticket. They are all miu'hty civil.
I only wish they would settle my business and let me <ro.

yavimhir 'M. — I have not brou<rht affairs here to a close.
There is now a Ministerial crisis in this IJarataria, and Van der
Ha<,'en and his colleairues are now fi<;htin<j: for their lives in the
Chambers. Not being men of business, they can think of
jiothing but their debate, and consecjuently all business, important
or not, is postponed to this personal strife. Fancy a debate,
which bosrins at half-past twelve, and ends at four p.m., occupying
the whole mind of a ^linistry ! The members of the Chambers
take matters very coolly. When four o'clock comes, there is a
general cry of " Adjourn ; we must go to dinner ! "

The various tables iVhulc begin at half-past four, so delay
beyond the hour of four is a loss of a cheap dinner. So ends the
day's work. One need not wonder at English influence and success,
when such things occur. Sir Robert Peel and Sir .James
Craham would repose on roses had they only a debate of three
or four hours to think of ; and such a debate I The funniest
row you ever heard — interruptions of all sorts, cries, interpellations,
little speeches made sitting ; the President shouting, " Don't
interrupt ! " with his hammer like an auctioneer, and in despei-atc
cases ringing his bell like the postman ; five members on their

! »

IN BRUSSELS — THE CORN LAW CRL'^L^.

i6i

lejrs at once, frostieuliitiiic: like niiulmcn, iind the tribunes full of
people slioiitiiij;, luutrliiiii:, criticiziii;; — make up ii iH'dluin ratlier
than a tk'lilterutive nsseml)ly. Arran and I had three days of
it, and are sick of it. 'I'he ijrnorance, too, of wliat is Roinj,' oti
around thcni is wonderful. There were (constant appeals nuxdo
to Knirh'sh Parhaniontary usajrc, and as Van der Haf^'cn is the
head of the Opposition, we naturally talked over the debate. I
vave him hints from our history, and described some of nnr rules.
lie did not know wliat was meant by the Leader of the House
of Commons ! lie did not know that Peel was the present eliief
of the Tory party, knew nothinir of Karl Orey, and as for Lord
Altliorp, he neither knew nor conld pronounce liis name.
Notwithstandinu: all this, they all (pioted Ku'^'lish history and
example with the utmost contidencc, and one man went so far as
l)oldly to assert that Peel had dissolved Parliament since last
(!omin<r into oUice ; and turning' round with great self-complaccni!y
to an ojjponent at the same time, he requested him not to quote
En^'Iish history a^^Min without bein^ better informed ! So much
for tiiis nonsense. I am off for Ostend at three o'clock to-day.

While Mr. Roebuck was absent in Brussels, this country
was face to face with that national disaster — the failure
of the potato crop. This swept away the remaining
vestige of Peel's cleavings to the Corn Laws, leading up
to Ministerial dissensions and party revolt. When Mr.
Roebuck paid a flying visit to London, he found the
country eagerly watching the movements of ministers, and
drawing the most ominous conclusions from those meetings
of the Cabinet, at which Peel was fighting out his struggle
with some of the most influential of his colleagues. The
moment was seized by Lord John Russell to write his
famous Edinburgh letter, declaring himself against the
Corn Laws ; and the excitement was increased by the
announcement that Peel had decided on convening Parlia-
ment for the first days of January, to recommend a
consideration of this impost preparatory to its total repeal.
The day after this statement was made, Peel resigned,
with assurances of his readiness to support measures in

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163

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

accordance with the gf :ioral principle of Lord John
Russell's letter. By the time Mr. Roebuck had returned
to Brussels, Lord John Russell had confessed his inability
to form a Ministry, owing to Lord Grey's insistence
that Palmerston should not be Foreign Secretary. Sir
Robert Peel, with a reconstructed Cabinet, was, in
conseciuence, reinstalled in office. The following letter,
written on Mr. Roebuck's return to Belgium, gives a vivid
account of the turmoil accompanying these events, of
the mystery surrounding them, and also of the inability
of politicians to divine their true outcome : —

To Mrs. Roebwk.

Jirussfls, Dcmnbcr 2!), 1815. — ... On my arrival iu town
I found a letter from F. Mills, appoiutinj]: a incetiu<; at the
Reform Club. I had a cold run to Dover. We went on board
the steamer, some half-dozen pereons, all men, more like criminals
jjoinij; to execution, than mere voyagers crossinjij the Channel.
I remained on deck to see the plunge throuj'h the surf at the bar
of the harbour. The si,u;ht was fine, and the .gallant vessel seemed
indeed instinct with life. Through it we dashed — right through
all the seas, coming out on the other side in comparatively smooth
water. The wind, luckily, was fair, and we drove before it like
a mere flake of froth on the top of the waves. Our crossing was
done in five hours and a half. The rain, when we reached Ostend,
falling as if it was resolved to flood the countiy, which resolve —
if such it made — is now fulHUed. Such a slop I never saw ! ft
was pitiable to see the fi(ids of wheat lying in such a swash.
Nothing would tempt me to live in a country of this description.
Walking is out of the (piestion, and if you drive, you can only
go on a raised causeway with a deep ditch on each side, and
sweltering fields all around, as far as the eye can reach.

As for London, I never saw it in such a hubbub ; everybody
saying to his neighbour, " "Well, what arc i eel's plans ? "
Answer : " I don't know." And still the (piostion repeated.
The quidnuncs of the Reform Club were a study. Rumours and
stories of all sorts llyiug about, among them one I certainly
do not believe, though I really wish it was true, viz. that
Brougham is to be the President of the Council in Peel's Cabinet.

IN BRUSSELS — THE CORN LAIV CRISIS.

163

The sum of the news is, that nobody knoirn anythinj? respecting
Peel's plans, and everybody is <i;uessin<; at them. My own
opinion is, that he has none yet settled ; but I fear he will bo
driven from oIKce, no matter what plan he takes. The boldest
will be the safest ; bnt his character is not one to follow such
a course.

As is well known, Sir Ilobert Peel aid take the boldest
course, for in the onsuinf; session he brought in his famous
measure of Free Trade.

1^ ^
' III

To Mrs. RocbuHi.

tirussc/s, Jii.'i'ari/ 1, ISIU. — . . . News I have none. I
shall see the kim; in a fev; hours. The New Year's Day passes
in payinjj: visits. Everybody calls on everybody ; and the kin<^
and queen receive everybody. The poor kinj^ complained to
me of "the love these i)eople have for Iouil^ speeches." '* I hope
they do not retiuire of your IMajesty lonii^ si>eechos in return ?"
"f)li yes, they do. I make them all, and it is very fati^uinji^,
I assure you," he replied.

Jinni(tr>i 7. — Yesterday I dined with an advocate here, quite
mfamille — a very pretty dinner, (piiet, and well mana<red. They
are wlat we should call well-bred people ; nothiuj^ distin,<ruished,
not marked with the peculiar stamp oi'/riifh'Du/ii, but still, I should
say, of a better description than a conunon London lawyer's class.
The lady is not Heliiian, but Trench — clever, (|iiick, well-bred,
not iio!)/('. It is stranire — in spite of the Revolution — of what
importance this mark seems yet to be. They talk of vi/ali/i' ,- it
does not exist — that is, social equality — and I, for my jiart, believe
such a Lhinu; wholly impossible. The dill'erence may rest u])ou
a dilferent foundation than it now does, but dill'erence there
always must be — social dilVereiice, that is. The conversation was
chiefly respectini; Enuland and Hiit^lish habits, of which they
necessarily l.ave extremely imperfect and incolierent m)tious.
They seemed surprised at my abstinence, not at all in accordance
with their preconceived notions of Hn^lishmen. Moreover,
anionic advocates, I found myself alone dressed for dinner.
These classes have, api)areiitly, no medium between ollicial
costiunes— uniform, iu fact — and eveiy-day dress. The hi^dier
classes do as we do, and imitate our dress. The ludicrous part

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LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

oli the matter is tlie funny imitation of the varmint man — tlio
attempt ut a daHhinu: tilbury, doufs, horses, f,'uns, liuntinj,',
top-boots, and leathers, etc. The drollest i\n\\% I have seen
is the supposed \vi<? of the rorliir Aiuilaia. I have half a fancy to
buy one as a curiosity. The hif tele do moiiton is the only thiug
that equals it.

I went afterwards to the play. The theatre pretty, and the
prima dotuia said to be Kn<;lisli. She was pretty, but witliout
a fine voice. I was bored to death with the row-dow and the
smell of pis. ]\Ioreover, a AV///^ is not a Trenchman. The
mercurial CJaul is a nuich more amusinj^ animal than these
present supposed descendants of the ancient Bcl«j:i.

Yesterday morninu:, wantinu: to see the ^linister of Public
Works, I wrote him a note, simply askini? him lo see me some
time after twelve o'clock. I <;ot for answer, that, as ]\I. le
Ministre did not understand Kn<,disli, I nuist have the goodness
to wait until my note was translated. Shortly after, the pirgou
of the hotel conies running into my room with an open note
in his hand. " It is you, monsieur, who wrote this hillcl, is it
not ? " " My own note, by the Lord ! " said I to myself. " Yes.
"Well, what then ? " " Why, inonsieur, they can understand it all
at the MinistiTP except this word " — pointing to twelve. " T' ,;t is
deux, is it not ? " "Not two, but twelve miiUy "Ah, par cxl i/) : !"
said the gar^on, and ruslnMl out to explain to some one below
the meaning of the mystic tirrlro.

The minister at length sent me an answer. I saw him ; and
after we had talked over business, asked me very civilly to his

ball last evening. I went with the A 's. I speak by the

(!ard when I say that I did not see one jm'tty womau. The
Melgians are, to my fancy, universally hideous. They were well-
dressed, and the rooms were elegantly furnished — some jjccu-
liarities. indeed, to be seen : little places for birds, ^•ham grottoes
with S(|nirting fountains, iuid gold-tish in a pan. i left early.
The weather detestable : we have had snow, frost, rain, fog
— everything that weiitlur ciin bring.

The fools of Holland and i?elgium, who seem by Providence
I'hosen to rule over both countries, are trying to add their small
modicum of dispute and ipiarrel Lo the mass which is fernienting
throughout the world. To s]iite each other, these two countries
have begun a war of tarilTs, and cannot understand that they

IN BKC/SSELS — TJ/E CO AW LAW CRISIS. 165

•ly.

are each respectively cnttinj,' oil' their own noses. Ilollaml
imports eoal, iiavitiL; none, wliicli coal JJel^iinn provides cheap.
Holland, in a lit of spite, puts a duty mx coal ; but this will
fall of necessity only on the poor Dutelnnau, who will pay the
tax in the shape of iurreased price. lleren[)on, the hrari' /Ifli/i'
,1,'cts nia<i;nilicently antiry. and proposes to put a duty on (police,
snj^'ar, and wood, all of whi(;h absolute necessaries Holland
furnishes. So, because the Dulchinan cuts oir his own nose, tlio
Flaniaud, in a passion, and to satisfy his own injured honour,
does the same. Was ever tli(!re anytliiuif so absolutely mad ?

./(iiiiKirif 1,"). — Well, yesterday 1 went to the ball [at the
Palace]. The invitation eame, as ex|K;eted, but I learned the
wisdom of SaiKjho J'auza's rule, " Thoui^h your wife's advice
be bad, if you do not take it you are mad." I left my Court
tou"i:eryaL home, and last iiiulit wanted it: so I went out and
hired the lU'l^ian (V)..rt dress— a sort of half civil, half military
uniform. When the danciuii; had continued some time, the kiui;'
rose, and went into one of the salons for the puri^se of tidkini;.
I happened to be there, when the kitiii' came to me, and kejiL
me half an hour in conversation. Heinn- in Heli-ian costume, the
English could not make out who I was. The kini,^ was very
civil, and trial to pump me as to my views on the coming- storn\
in th(! House of Commons, I said to him what I sliouKl have
said to any one elst', and lie seemed well pleased.

Nobody (Enii'lish) seems to know anybody but tne nobles
here ; but they are a sad, vai)id, and etVetc set, while the bourj^^eois,
lawyers, etc., are men of ability. Tlu-re must have been six
hundred i)er8ons present last nii-ht. The only pretty English-
woman was a Lady IJedinu'liLid— very handsome, and, when
youuir, must have been trauseendent. J met Keppel [liord
Albemarle], who has nctw left. Heeiiin' me, he cried, '* Any
commands for Ashley ?" He is jione to try Lymin,<,'ton. This
business keeps me a close prisoner in Hrussels.

Jduuanj 17. — Mreakfasted this morninii,- with the American
minister here, Mr. Clemson. Had a loni;- confab with his wife,
rt thoroughly (southern) American lady. She is a daughter of
Calhoun. The conversation turned on the uses of Indian corn.
I shall sow some for an experiment, as proposed by Clemson.

This experiment was tried iu the garden at Ashley

;!
II ' ■

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liirii

I'll

I! I

I ii

I- f'

4 Is

i66

LIFE OF 'JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Arnewood. Well-manured mounds of earth being pre-
pared, the corn was planted in American fashion, viz. three
corn seeds and one pumpkin (squash) to a mound. The
summer being unusually favourable, the success was
comi)lete. The plants grew to six and seven feet high,
and the cobs ripened completely.

pre-

three

The

was

high,

( 167 )

CHAPTER XV.

THE FALL OF PEEL. 1846-1847.

It is unfortunate that there are but slight references in
Mr. Roebuck's papers to the great events of the first half
of 184G, when Peel, triumphant over the systematic obstruc-
tion with which Lord George Bentinck and Mr. Disraeli
fought the battle of the Protectionists, was driven from
office by hi.^ furious followers, who made the Irish Coercion
Bill the medium for wreaking their vengeance. Writing
to Mr. Tait, Edinburgh, on January 28, the day after Sir
Robert Peel had explained his proposals for the reduction
of import duties, both on manufactured articles and on food
and corn, Mr. Roebuck exclaimed, " Well, Sir Robert is the
best reformer, after all. We are really going ahead." The
following was written on the same date : —

To Mrs. Bochuck.

London, Jamiartf 28, 1840. — . . . Peel has certainly settled
the (luestion of coru protection, ns you will see by the piipcr ^
send. You know I have always said, if he had couratre to
pn)(luc(! a new and trood tariff, ho mi^lit succeed. He has nearly
done this. A new tariff, and, in certain matters, a u'ood tariff,
he has proposed to us, and it mnst be acce])ted. The landlords
and tlie Iiea<,'ue will .i,'rnml)l',> : but they must yield, Tlie Tica^ue
will Iw ans^ry because their game is up. The lecturers, the
printers, the patriots, will cease to have a pretext for their union,
their outcry, and cruo, for their pay, and thus an army of noisy
people will be suddenly disbanded. This of itself will give rise
to petty disturbances ; but they are done for. The landlords, poor

if 0*

Ml •

!■

i ,

i68

L/F/:: OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

fools, faucy themselves ruiiicil, but tliey will find themselves
happily deceived ; in a short time all will go right. Tlie
worst part of the tarilf is the putting oil" the tinal settlement
for three years, and the sugar duties. In fact, only one harvest
really will be ailected by the new ]>ill ; and for the benefit, if
any, of this proteetion, you have three years' uncertainty. The
great measure is put off till Monday week, but I shall not ))e able
to leave till Saturday. The Temple all'airs recjuire my presence.

June 23, 1H4G.— I wish to have Keene's lUiUi Journal. See
if there is a letter signed "Gossip." It contains what is a
correct version of the !Montpensier l)usiness. The source of the
information, the author, and the letter, you can easily guess.

Mr. Roebuck's Parliamentary attendance during the
earlier portion of the session was lax. Professional busi-
ness seems to have taken him away, but he flung himself,
on occasion, into the Corn Law fray. With JVIr. Disraeli
then in the full swing of his terrible invectives against
Peel, Mr. Roebuck rc[)eatedly crossed swords. They were
not mere fencing-bouts. Occasionally, indeed, Mr. Disraeli
somewhat contemptuously parried, but at other times he
retaliated with a vicious earnestness that left wounds.

To Mrs. Rochmk.

June. 2, 184G. — Last night, as we were leaving the House,
Mr. Shell* addressed me.

S. " Do you not intend to vote with us against this Bill ? "
(Peel's Coercion Bill).

R. " That depends."

*S'. exclaimed upon this, "Why, surely you who have voted
against all Coercion Bills will not support this ? You will not
agree to shut the people up all night ? "

A'. " But what answer will Lord John give me ? Will he
pledge himself and his friends not to bring in a Coercion Bill ? "

S. " They cannot do it ! "

R. " Aye, aye ; I hardly know what they can do. I must have
some positive declaration to that effect, and, what is more, the
country must have it, for it reiiuires it."

* The Right Hou. Lalor Shell, then M.P. for Dungarvon.

ted
lot

THE FALL OF PEEL.

169

S. " That is impossible ! "

A'. "No honest iium — uo man will tleiiy that erimo exists tt>
u fearful extent in Ireland. If thin!,'s remain as they are, the
law must be streii,i;theiied, and I tell yon what they outxht to do,
and ))rol)ably will do — susprnd the HalK'as ('urpus in certain
localities, not in larize towns, and not for |M(litical puriMi^es. This
beintf done, every roijue — for they are well known— can be taken
up at once. For example, I myself, with tiiaL .Mr. Cohen, whose
name has been so often mentioned, wt)nld in a few hours be aide
to take up every ro,<(ue in Tii>perary. At present the e.\i>tini;
law is utterly paralyzed, and somelhinj,' must be done to protect
the lives of the people."

Mr. Roebuck did, however, vote acijainst the l)ill, and
thus heli)ed to defeat tho minister who bud given Free
Trade to Enf^land. This did \\y)i prevent him Ironi
adopting his cu.stomary attitude of contemi)tuous hostility
to Lord John Russell and tho new Whig Ministry, more
especially on their policy as to Parliamentary reform and
education.

Ireland, with its I'aniinc and its outrages, had tho lii'st
place in the Queen's Speech opening the session of 1S47.
Having niisseil the golden opportunity presented by Lord
IStardey's Lill of l.St.'), intended to give ellect to the maiii
recommendations of the Devon Commission, Parliament
was destined to go on, talking and tiidcering year utter
year, confronted by evils to the root of wbieh, in face of
the oi)i)osition of tho land-holding peers, it had not the
courage to go.

The following refers to a speech made in the debate on
the Address. It counselled the extension of tho existing
Poor Law to Ireland, as well as the im[)ositiou of an
Income 'i'ax. It also described the real position of Irish
landlords with reiiard to their tenants.

\ I

To J/,s. Rueburh.

London, Jiiiii/ar/j I'l, \n,[',

I stirred up the landlonls

of Ireland after my fashion. The Irish are really furious

but I

ijro

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

spoke the opinions of nine-tenths of the people of England, and,
as usual, the House paid me the coiuplinient of profound atten-
tion. Tlie hit was successful, and as Dizzy followed, and failed
completely, the contrast was amusing. The Timea has a fair
report.

I breakfasted with Brougham. The Government are to bring
forward their plans with a proposal to remit the present duty on
corn, and to suspend the Navigation Laws. Molasses to be used
in breweries and distilleries, and the price of barley to fall, theij
my. I say no. Famine threatens everywhere. The ministers
are right glad to have me bear the brunt of the battle, as it
affords them a means of parrying the constant attacks of these
insjitiate mendicants. The people of England are with me, and
are delighted to have some one who will speak the truth amongst
all this hurly-l)urly of caut, hypocrisy, and selfishness. Tiie
weather is frightful.

On iiie third day of the session Lord John Russell's
proposal to suspend the Navigation Laws came on. Mr.
Roebuck wished them to be altogether abolished ; but this
was resented by Mr. Disraeli and Lord George Bentinck,
with the result that there was a " scrimmage."

To Mm. Roebuck.

Jaiiuatii 22. — We had a scrimmage last night. I received
from every quarter thanks and congratulations f(>r my speech, iind
this morning Keppel * met me with open arms, and declared in
most exaggerated terms that mine was one of the most clocjuent
speeches he had heard. Now, this is a phrase, and as a phrase
goes for nothing. I could see from Lord John's manner, and
that of all his uudorstnippers, that they desire my .assistance. I
shall not be able to be at homo to-morrow. On Monday the
grand Irish row begins, and I shall have to meet all the rabid
Irishmen who howl for sport.

Siihirddi/, January 2o. — My doings have certsiinly produced
an effect. The people of Bath are in ecstasies, and the protection
gentry are furious.

On January 25, Lord John Russell introduced the Govern-
* The lute Lord Albemarle.

THE FALL OF PEEL.

171

ment scheme for alleviating the present, and improving
the future, condition of Ireland.

To Mrs. Iioelntck.

Janimr// 27.— Next week will be ti busy one, as then the
Irish discussion will come ttn in earnest, and iiavinj? already taken
H prominent part in it, I must j^o on. Lord John's scheme is
ii foolish one. He spoke exceed inijly well, and his eoncludini^
advi(!e to Irishmen was really exeellent. The introdneticm of an
effective I'oor fiaw into Ireland will also do much i,'oo(l ; but the
attempt to buy waste lands, and lend money to landlords, will
never do. and I am (|uite certain will not be permitted by the
En,t,'lish. My conduct has been luiiversally api)roved, and I
receive letters from all quarters expressini; a hope that I may
continue to stand up for the Kntjlish. I cannot understand why
Lord John should have fathered su(!h a scheme. I have a fancy
that if I choose to meet the Ministry steadily this year, they will
endeavour to make friends. I shall not deal in a hostile spirit
with them, but shall certainly employ my power upon their
doinjrp, not ujmn them. It is strant,'e how completely I have
assumed my old position in the House. People fancied (and
the Palmerites especially) that because I did nothimr last year
my vocation was gone. There is an infernal orLjau grinding away,
and putting all my ideas into confusion.

JtiiiiKtr// :H), 1847. — We had a meeting with Lord John
yesterday. The deputation consisted of delegates from all the
Metropolitan parishes, and they all declared they would vote for
no one who did not support my motion to extend the Income and
Property Tax to Ireland.

/' idai/, February 11. — We had a grand scrimmage last night,
when I gave Lord George Bentinck an infliction such as he never
got before. The House in ecstasies of applause, Whigs and all.
As usual, the real scene is not, and could not be, given merely by
giving the speeches, and consefiucntly the newspapers are but a
poor transcript of the proceedings. The Treasury benches are
beginning to find that they need me, and are now civil. The
Peelites very nearly took me round the neck. The debate begins
to-night on the Irish Railway Bill,* but will not end.

* Lord Gcorgo Bentinck's flchomo for lending £10,000,000 to Irish rail-
way cuaipanieH. It was tLrown out on second reading by 214 majority.

iilijl

t ii

LIFE OF yO/LV ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Lord John culled hi.s friends toirethcr yesterday — I, for tin;
nonce, lH'iii<( one — and told thi.'in tlmt Ik; would rcsi^'n if the
lliiilwiiy Hill was carried. This upset thu Irish, wiio are, without
exception, the most consununate rascals tiiat ever bore the name
of j,'entlemen. At one timi; the Whiles fancied tiiat the union of
the I'iv)tecti(mist8 and the [rish would <,'ive Crcori^e Hentiufik a
majority ; now it is quite certain that the Ministry will have a j^'ood
division — I believe a f?ood majority. The feelin<^ out-of-doors
afjainst the Irish [miMubers] j,'r()ws apace, and I am overwhelmed
with letters applaudinij my conduct.

On Wednesday I dined with i\Iackin!ion and the literary men.
. . . Mr. Douj^Ias Jerrold is, I find, the cock of a little walk, tlic
small leader of a small set who admire and praise him.

Napier* hiis written to me, sendiui^ extracts from Irish letters,
conlirminj^ all I have said. I am absolutely besieged by deputa-
tions of all sorts, and I was pestered yesterday by a parson, who
wished me to present a petition to impeach Lord John Ilussell.
I gave him to understand that I thought he had better take some
cooling medicine, lie bonueed out in great dudgeon.

Fi'bnuiiif IH, 1S47. — The debate! began last night, and, as I
expected, was adjourned, and uiay last some days. The plot
thickens, and the whole burden of resistance is so completely
thrown on myself tliat I see no chance of getting away.

The Irish Poor Law, as proposed by the Government, is a
useless measure, and no one is prepared to make it efficient, and
if I go away. the money will be granted, and we shall have no
security for tlie future maintenance of the poor Irish by the rich
of that country. In this state of things I am compelled to
remain, and while the frost remains with us, no farming can
go on, so, in fact, no harm happens beyond the annoyance of
being here alone.

The " hubbub " mentioned in the following letter was
caused by a renewal of the proposal on which Mr. Roebuck
had long been harping : " That plans for the relief of the
Irish poor would be unjust and impolitic unless accom-
panied by a system of taxation of property such as was

* Sir William P. Xapier.

t On the secoud reading of licntinck's Irish Bailway Bill.

' '1

T//J-: RILL OF PEEL.

17.3

alrca<ly in fi)rco in En^^land." TIio motion was lejoctod l)y
121 to 20 votes.

To Mrs, Uoolnich,

Marrk \\ 1H47. — Wi'll, I ilid iimkc a liubl>nl>, ami kept
" Ilon'ble House" in a roar for ari hour and a half by actiii'^'
Koveral parts. The rc'p(»rts <,mvo no ad(M|nato idea of thu scene — fi»r
it was a scene. lint the speech as reported will tell.

I breakfasted with iJronj^hani. He was so full of bis doinu's
in the Lords that he for^'ot to deliver me a message from Lord
Normanby, which f^ady Malet, however, detailed at <,M'eat
lenj,'th, she and I beinj,' },'reat friends. She seemed pleased at
havini,' somethinj; jileasant to tell.

Lord John RiisseU's plan for tho education of the
people, introduced on April 10, offended against some of
Mr. Roebuck's strongest principles. Roman Catholics
were, at present, to be excluded from a share in the j^rant
of £100,000, and the Prime iMinister held that the i)ro-
posal to make education secular was opposed to tho opinion
of Parliament.

To Mrs. liophuclc.

London^ April 22, 1S47.— I spoke last ni<,dit on the Educa-
tion scheme, and aj^ainst the (Jovernment. I will explain why
to-morrow.

On cominf? here T found a letter of a Jvonth old from my
.\unt Tiekell, a lady who was very fond of me in days of old, l)nt,
treated one of my brothers ill, therefore we were unfriends. She
writes to ask me for my countenance to one of her nephews.
This is Nemesis atrain. I wrote her a note, yiuldint^ at once to
her wishes, and fjivinir my reason — my un\villini:ness to be unkind
to a younu; man befj^inning life with but a few friends.

Hovso of (,'oitimons, April 2:3, ls47. — The Government is

evidently going to the . (Jrey and Pahnerston are, on dd,

(inarrelling about Peel's doings respecting l''rance. 'J'he Factory
Pill has divided the whole set, and the; new Education scheme has
divided them all. Poor II. is in tits of funk; he is smarting
under E. Gibbon Wakelield's CVdonization scheme, and says tliat
1 am right about him. C. Puller and IL hardly as good frientla

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174

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

as before. Such a confused mass of disturbance and suspicion in
the political world as at this moment I never knew before. All
is topsy-turvy, and no one knows who is friend or foe.

Ap-il 24, 1847. — Last night* was a most triumphant night
for me. I will send you the Time,s, which will give you a faint
notion of what took place. The fact is, that the late negotiations
of the Ministry with the Wesleyans, conducted by Ashley as a go-
between, were, I sincerely believe, mainly intended as a means of
ousting me from Bath. Ashley laid the scheme, and Lord John
and Co. were nothing loath, and they fired the mine which has
blown up themselves. Having, then, no reason to be very well
pleased with the Ministry, I took the occasion of stripping oflf the
disguise which they have assumed. Every blow told.

May 19, 1847. — In the evening I went to the House, and
found Ferrandf in full roar against the Poor Law. Charles
Villiers was sitting beliind me, and carried a message from me to
George Grey, who was taking notes to answer Ferrand. My

message

was, that if he would leave him to me, I would

give

Ferrand a dressing. The answer came, " Only too happy ; pray
proceed," and so indeed I did. The reports give but a pale, faint
shadow of what was said and done.

No dak — ahout end of Maij, 1847. — . . . Last night I re-
peated my infliction on Ferrand, carrying the House triumphantly
with me, and obtained the warm cheers even of the Treasury
Bench, with Lord John leading the band. I never made so
successful a speech, giving them a slice of what I mean by
eloquence, not overlaid balderdash, but an attempt, at least, at a
masculine appeal to all that was generous and true in their spirit
at the moment. The sensation was great. A speaker, like an
actor, feels what his audience feel ; ho is a species of thermometer,
and my recording index marked blood-heat. I have seldom seen
them more excited. Charles Villiers felt himself personally
indebted to me, as I defended Lewis J against the atrocious
charges brought by Ferrand against him, that of murder being
one.

* Fourth night of debate on Government plan of education.

t Member for Knaresborough.

X Mr. (afterwards Sir) George Comcwall Lewis (November 2, 1846) filed
a criminal information against Mr. Ferrand for the publication of letters
charging him with conspiracy and falsehood in connection with the Kcighley
Union inquiry in 1842.

■

< 17. )

CHAPTER XVI.

FINAL REJECTION AT BATH. 1847.

Dissolution was already in the air, and Mr. Roebuck was
destined to find that the *' ecstasies " of the people of Bath
were by no means so favourable to him as he had supposed.
His antagonism to the Government Education Bill had
brought him into open conflict with the Ministry, and Lord
John Russell had, with considerable asperity, resented the
attacks of one who, without producing any measure of his
own, carped and cavilled at every proposal made by others.
In May, Lord Duncan and Mr. Roebuck attended, in Bath,
a preliminary meeting called to consider whether the sitting
members should be supported by the joint efforts of their
respective friends. Several of Mr. Roebuck's former sup-
porters declared their determination not to vote for him
again, and there was much plain speaking.

To Mrs. Roebuck.

Bath, May 28, 184:7. — On my arrival here I found affairs in
pretty much the state I expected. The Ministry are evidently at
the bottom of the row. Duncan and I arrived, and mot the
Liberal Association ; both of us declared we should stand jointly.
Hereupon Murch began a laboured discourse against myself. He
went over all the six years of the Parliament, and quoted from
his notes all my evil deeds. This I answered so completely that
I shook him. Wilson Bro^vn also began from notes, but he let the
cat out. I had been a censor of the Whig Administration, so he
could not support me. So said Norman, who said he was always
apposed to me ! Well, the upshot was that the meeting resolved,

^U'

:i; f: i

i fi

, « «« ' •* ••

176

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

witliout. a tlissentient voice, to support us both. Murch ia our
treasurer. I treated him with tlie most civil kindness, answered
liim without one bitter word, and with expressions of good will
and respect. This flattered and surprised him ; he sent me a
messa;4'e of thanks by Duncan, and expressing a wish to see me.
I went. This annihilates so much of the plot.

The following is a portion of the answer to the charges
mentioned in the above letter : —

It is a long indictment running over six years. . . . The first
instance of absence from the House of Commons adduced * was
in February, 1842, and just at that time the Northern Circuit
was in full play, and I Avas compelled to be present in it. Every
one of the instances objected to occurred at similar seasons. My
health, too, prevented my attendance on many occasions. Those
around me only knew what miserable sufferings I had to endure.f
A continuntion of terrible pains made me wish when the sun
rose that it was time it had gone down, and when it was down
that it Avas time to rise again. He says I have an ungovernable
temper. Now, that is not so. I can assure him I have my
temper under control ; but if he knew in what kind of atmo-
sphere one lives, he would then know the difficulty of making
an impression without speaking out firmly and fully. I will go
to the present session (1847) to give you an account of what has
been going on round about me, while I have been defending the
indefeasible right of the poor. While I was speaking upon the
question of a Poor Law for Ireland, gentlemen around me were
audible in their expressions, not only of taunts or of bitter hatred,
but one was even heard to go so far as to threaten me with
personal violence. In such a state of things it was necessary to
drive home, and because those gentlemen felt it, and created an
uproar in consequence, the reverend gentleman [Rev. J. Murch]
now says that I lost my temper. Not so ; those gentlemen were
noisy because I was not afraid of them. That is the secret. . . .

I am much pained in having to refer to that great man,
Mr. Daniel O'Counell, the news of whose death was brought by
the same train by which I came. I call him a great man, for,

* Mr. Cliarles Villiers' annual motion on the Com Laws,
t From neuralgia in tlie knee.

FINAL REJECTION AT BATH.

177

with all his faults, he was so, and it is with extreme ami sincere
rej?ret that I should have to say anything which might wound
the feelings of his already afflicted family ; and as ^Mr. O'ConncU
has left a great name which is public property, I think T may
refer to it now, although it will be with great compunction.*

I do, then, believe that Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Smith O'Brien,
and the other leaders of the Repeal Party, used language
calculated to mislead their ignorant and unhappy countrymen ;
that they were continually endeavouring to create and foster
differences, divisions, and animosities between Celts and Saxous,

* Several years earlier, Mr. Roebuck, in a speech to his constituents, had
made some interesting remarks ns to his association with the great Irish
demagogue. " I have stood by him with a few," he said, " when to be his
friend was considered a political disgrace. On the first night of my speaking
in the House of Commons, 1 raised my voice in behalf of Ireland, and after
the close of the debate, on the floor of the House, Mr. O'Connell came up to
me and said, ' Mr. Roebuck, I have not the honour of a personal acquaintance
with you ; but I would now address you as a friend of the Irish people.'
When the Coercion Bill was passed, the small body of Radicals, which was
then in the House, opposed it in all its stages. We fought against it by
tlie bide of Mr. O'Connell for three whole weeks. And yet he turns round
on us now and calls us Tory Radicals. But wo will tell Mr. O'Connell that
the English Radicals are not to be bullied into any mer.sure of which they do
not approve."

Speaking at Gal way (October, 1858), Mr. Roebuck said : " I began my
political life as the friend of your great friend, Mr. O'Connell. It was my
fate to enter Parliament as a very young man, an enthusiastic Englishman ;
and I found myself side by side with the great friend of Ireland. I was
o, Radical then, and I am so still, and I found O'Connell was the friend of
the Radicals, therefore we got side by side. But there was tiiat iu O'Connell
which we seldom find in any member of Parliament — and I must say not
in Irish members of Parliament — ho was able to command the attention of
the British House of Commons. He had that weight of eloquence which
commands respect, that brilliant imagination which wins everyljody's
applause, and when ho opened his lips, the listening Senuto hoard his
words with admiration, if not with approbation. I was at once attached to
O'Connell. I asked myself what was hia object — wliat ho desired to have
for Ireland ? I found it was this : that Englishmen and Irishmen should,
Ijeforc the law, be entirely equal, that there should be no preference for
a man on account of his country or creed. The first subject on which I
voted — the first matter that occupied the attention of the Reformed Parlia-
ment — was the Irish Coercion Bill, and on that subject I voted side by side,
as a humble militant, with O'Connell. I always voted against it, and so
did he, and English statesmen have since learnt that the small minority
which then opposed the measure was in the right." See also Roebuck's
" Whig Ministry ," vol. i. p. 78, et seq.

^iii

178

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Catholics und Protestants, Englishmen and Irishmen ; and there
was not anything- which they conid devise calculated to harass
and distress the Administration which was not adopted by them.

When Mr. Smith O'Brien came to the House of Commons,
making his professions of sincerity for Repeal,* I did express my
condemnation that he sliould so deceive and mislead his country-
men. I know they did not want Repeal of the Union, for now their
cry for it is gone ; and we are to be blamed because, foreseeing
what would be the issue of their conduct, and having a deep and
anxious desire for the permanent welfare of Ireland, we en-
deavoured to expose the fallacy we knew would lead to such dire
conclusions. What has Conciliation Hall, and all the violent
epithets and denunciations employed by its oratoi"s, done for the
poor peasants of Ireland ? Has any other effect been produced
than that of weakening their means of meeting a time of famine
by extracting from their pockets money for the support of brawling

agitators ? Seeing what was coming, was it

strange

that I

should be somewhat warm in maintaining not only the right of
our own countrymen, but the peace and comfort of the world —
for it must be remembered that to such a pitch of excitement had
the Irish people been worked up, that a spark from either of
those I referred to, when speaking in the House of Commons,
would have set Ireland in a flame, the probable results of which
it is impossible to estimate. Shall I, then, be condemned because
to some ears I used strong expressions towards those who were
living upon the earnings of the starving poor ? f

If you could see me in the House of Commons, I should
appear to you as cool and composed as I do now ; and yet, were
the phrase now uttered to come to you unaccompanied by the
connection in which it was used, you would probably say, " Here
is another of Mr. Roebuck's violent statements." Mr. Murch
has said the proceedings on the Irish Poor Law were like a
boxing match ; I think the simile would have been more correct
if he had said it was like one poor follow being worried by
twenty. Seeing the millions of English money about to be voted
for Ireland, I said, as I shall say again, that the conduct of the
Irish landlords had produced a great part of the mischief, to
remedy which that money was required. No sooner had I sat
down, than one Irisii landlord after another got up and abused
* June 14, 1845. t See post, p. 198, chap. xvii.

FINAL REJECTION AT PATH.

179

sat
kised

me as I was never before abused in my life. I then told them,
" You are angry because I have told you the truth." Am I, then,
to be blamed because those gentlemen did not like the truth, and
chose to make the House of Commons a bear-garden ? I called
on the Government to adopt such measures as should compel
those gentlemen to do their duty, and secure the permanent
welfare of the poor of Ireland. I stood almost alone in thus
reminding the Irish landlords of their duty. Bushels would not
hold the letters of thanks I have received from all parts of the
country for the course I took on the Irish question.

In the case of Mr. Cobden, I am also charged with having
held aloof from the Anti-Corn-Law League, from some private
pique towards that gentleman. The real cause of my not taking
an active part in the League was my unfitness for outdoor
agitation. I may also mention that in one of the last conversations
I held with Mr. Bright, Mr. Cobden's most particular friend, he
said to me, " Can I do anything for you at Bath ? " I said, " I
shall have a hard fight with Lord Ashley, probably ; " and he
replied in a quick way, which some might perhaps term violent,
for Mr. Bright, though a Friend, has a quick, startling manner,
" Will you ? will you ? If you find it so, let me know, and we
will do what we can for you, for we must have you in the House
of Commons."

With respect to the Indian War, I was decidedly opposed to
it ; and having read every paper of authority on the subject, I
came to the conclusion that Lord Auckland was wrong, and that
Lord Ellenborough was right.

To Mrs. RoehKcli-.

June 4, 1847. — Last night I saw Parkes, who spent a long
time in discoursing upon the wisdom of my accepting some
place, the present object being, as he fairly acknowledged, to make
me consent to leave Parliament. The Whigs, he says, are so
thoroughly afraid of me that they will not consent to give me
anything which would keep me in the House, and render me
either independent, or enable me to build up a further reputation.
Parkes recommended me to fix upon some lucrative post out of
Parliament, and to ask Lord John for it. He suggested an
Indian judgeship. He professed great friendship, but I could
not help believing that he was charged with a mission respecting

i8o

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK

myself. There is a growing feeling, and one very generally
expressed, that I have been scurvily treated.

June 5, 1847. — After writing to you yesterday, I saw Hawes,*
and learned what it is he wishes me to accept. It appears there
is need of " a man of firm mind and clear head " at Guiana, in
South America. A code has to be formed, a constitution and
law to be established. The governor of this place is a poor old
creature. They want me to take his place. Hawes spoke of the
salary as large, and this, he thought, in a few years, would lead
to independence. I positively declined. The climate is deadly,
at least on the coast, and nothing would induce me to take you
there. If I should be driven to accept, I should go alone, and
trust to my luck to exist for five years. . . . Graham f scouts
the idea.

London^ Friday^ June 11, 1847. — There never was such a life
of huiTy-scun*y as mine ; not one moment have I, night or day,
free from tormenting solicitations to take care of other people's
afifairs, the last request being from the citizens of Dublin to
take O'Connell's place in a committee in order to protect their
interests against jobbing and roguery. I was obliged to decline.
The Bathwick Church occupies me all day. Railway Bills during
the early hours of the evening, and public business the rest of the
night. The debate on Portugal begins this evening, and will
not finish, so that here I am kept.

Did I tell you that I had a formal offer of a judgeship in
India ? I refused it. Every one not immediately connected
with the Whig Government advises me strongly to keep where
I am. The design of getting me away is plain, and John Mills %
said to me this morning, " They cannot, for fear of the law, cut
your throat, which, as the shortest way of getting rid of you,
would please them best, so they offer you an office, first in a
deadly climate, and next try to bribe you by a show of making
you independent." Frank Mills is really going to Bath, to aid
in my election.

The Tories are almost as anxious for my services as my old
Radical friends. The two ends of the scale meet here. John
Revans is working away to keep me in Parliament ; Frank Mills

* Under-Secretary for the Colonies,
t His lifelong friend, G. J. Graham.
J Of Bisterne, brother of Frank Mills.

FINAL REJECTION AT BATH.

i8i

aid

and Lord Lonsdale are writing and aidinj? the same tbinjr.
" Suicide " is the word I most frequently hear when I speak of
retiring. Brougham raves and denonnces ; Napier warns me
against trusting to the Whigs if they offer mo anything abroad.

tiunday {about June 20), 1S47.— The debate o% Portugal still
goes on, and I have had an opportunity of ruining the present
Administration, but have preferred rendering them an important
service. Tufnel came to me, asking what I intended to do,
deprecating attack, and declaring his fears as to the result. The
object was to prevent a division on Hume's motion,* and I
undertook the office of endeavouring to perauade Hume not to
divide. Failing, however, in this, I concocted with Buncombe
an amendment, which he moved last night, and which I shall
support to-night, and which will preserve the Ministry from
defeat. Hume and a few others are angry at this ; but I am
confident the course I have taken is the really prudent one. Had
we rushed headlong into a division, we should, in fact, have given
a triumph to the Bentinck party, and have gone to the elections
ourselves divided and angry with one another. Such a state of
things would undoubtedly have been very gratifying to the
Tories, but to us it would have been fatal.

Lord Duncan had an interview with Lord John Russell
yesterday, and was assured by Lord John that everything had
been done — and should be done — to discourage Ashley. This
I believe to be true ; but I am still more convinced tlian ever
that Ashley was sent to Bath by the Whigs. Lord John said,
" I am disappointed by Ashley's speech," and gave his disappoint-
ment as a reason for stoutly opposing him.

London, June 22, 1847. — Lord John is very angry with me.
On Friday last I suggested that he might save public time by
withdrawing at once, and without further discussion, the Health
of Towns Bill and Strutt's Railway Bill. He was then very
angry, and attempted to revile me into silence. I consequently
smashed his Health of Towns Bill to atoms. Yesterday he
withdrew it, and Strutt makes a two hours' speech, occupies a
whole evening, and ends by withdrawing his Railway Bill.
Whereupon I remarked upon the peculiarly undignified mode of
proceeding, and urged the withdrawal of the Irish Railway Bill.
Hereupon Johnny talks of my asperity, blusters as to how he is
* Censuring ministers for needlessly interfering with affairs of Portugal.

1 82

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK'.

determined to proceed with that Bill. The report of the TimflH
speaks of my warmth. Now, the fact was that I was so hoarse
that I was unable to speak above a whisper, and one paper spoke
of my indisposition. I was not angry, but satisfied at the adop-
tion, however late, of my last week's advice, and spoke without
the least appearance of any emotion, except, periiaps, some
contempt.

Lord Lincoln and Graham (Sir James) came to me, and
expressed their entire concurrence with my opinion as to the
wretched and imbecile conduct of the Ministry. It brings not
only themselves, but their office and Parliament, which permits
them to retain office, into contempt.

London, Saturdaij, June 2G, 1847. — I have just time to say
that I have arrived here from Bath, where things are looking
very well, and our people are again in heart by my going there.

I wish to be in the House on Monday respecting Irish rail-
ways ; Wednesday I dine with Lord John (Russell), and on
Thursday go again to Bath. . . .

I met an old lady in Bath. She sent for me— Mrs. Colonel
Lisle. She knew my mother, and was a passenger in the ship
that brought my mother and her three children — myself among
the number — home from Madras.

The old lady— eighty-four — remembered their names, and
called Henry, Warrenue — as he was then called — and spoke of Ben
Riot, and Johnny Quiet — two names that, as far as the world
goes, have been somewhat reversed.

London, Jul 1/ 4, 18i7. — . . . The Lords have in their wisdom
thrown out the clause which we [the Commons] put into the
Poor Law respecting aged couples above sixty being allowed to
be together in the poor-house. This would enable me again to
shelter Lord John's Administration, but I suppose my hands are
tied. The devil tempts me, nevertheless ; and if George Bentinck
was worth a farthing, one might lend a hand to give the existing
men a lift.

There is a report (Marcus Hill was my informant) that
Ashley went to Lord John and asked if the Government really
supported me. The answer of Lord John was, " Certainly ; we
are all against you, Ashley. We have great respect for you, but
we must support with our whole strength Roebuck and Duncan."

: l|

FIXAL RKy/:CTION AT BATH.

183

J. A, Roihmk lo Ihe Ilcv. I). WambU {Bath).

While Hurl, Jul if 2, 1847. — I beg to ackuowlcdtro tlic receipt
of your letter addressed to Lord Duncan and myself, and proceed
at once to answer the (im'rics it contains as completely as I can
in the conlined space of this letter.

1. I have always resisted every attempt in the House of
(Commons to apju'opriate the public money in aid of aiiy peculiar
religious opinions, and have invariably endeavoured to render all
men equal before the law, without any regard to the religious
opinions they might entertain. It ought, however, to be recol-
lected that the system and genius — if I may use the word — of our
legislation has never been of this strict and undeviating descrip-
tion. In every quarter of the globe, English money and influence
have been employed to disseminate Christian, and generally
Church of England, doctrines ; and in India, at this moment, we
have taxation for the purpose, in some degree, of maintaining the
priesthood and temples of the Hindoo and Mohammedan people
under our sway.

In Ireland avc have Maynootli and the Regium Donum,
together with a regular Established Church. In England we have
an Established Church ; we have National and Foreign School
Societies ; we have money voted for the printing of the Scriptures :
— in short, in a thousand forms, both at home and in the colonies,
we have money voted for direct and indirect religious purposes ;
and I sincerely believe that a very large majority of the think-
ing men of our people would not consent to our ])ursuing
strictly the rule which, in my conscience, nevertheless, I believe
the most wise and beneficent. And I cannot help thinking that
the sudden heat, and the general doctrines that have been pro-
mulgated of late on the part of certain of our Dissenting brethren,
have their origin rather in a confined consideration of one par-
ticular event than in a careful and comprehensive view of all the
many consequences fairly deducible from the principles which
they have somewhat peremptorily enunciated. A purely secular
system of legislation would not, in my opinion, find favour with
the religious people of this country, and yet the complete non-
interference suggested by your questions, and advocated by the
Nonconformists, means a purely secular legislation.

2. On the subject of the State Church, my opinion has ever

.;i',^!

H' J

184

LIFE OF yO/i.V ARTHUR ROEnUCK.

been openly expressed. I do not consider such un cstiiblishment,
in the prosi-nt divided state of men's opinions, either jnst or
politic. But I am not prepared at once, and withont fnrther
ado, to propose the utter subversion of this (,'hurcli as by law
established. The majority of the people wish it to be maintained.
That majority must be led, they eamiot J)e coerced ; and I am
prepared, at all proper times and seasons, to support my principles
by sober and temperate argument, and to endeavour, by all legiti-
mate means, to win favour and suppoit for my opinions ; but I
cannot unite with those whom I hear denouncing their opponents
as infidels and enemies of religion because they happen to adopt
an opinion differing from my own. I allude to a manifesto
lately issued by the Nonconformist body, in which I was sorry to
perceive what I believe to be a good and true principle much
injured by what, in my humble judgment, appeared very like
intolerance.

The complete sweep which you propose as regards the Estab-
lished Church, you must perceive, is, in fact, nothing short of a
very violent revolution in our whole political system ; and I
confess that the tranciuillity of this great country, and with it
the tranquillity of the whole world, is, in my judgment, of such
paramount importance that I should tremble were I called upon
to put it in hazard by that immediate and violent change which
you contemplate. All that is really oppressive may, and I believe
will, be soon reformed. The Church rates cannot last much
longer ; ecclesiastical dominion, as exercised by ecclesiastical
courts, will soon, I hope, be put an end to ; political and civil
disabilities of every description, resulting from religious pro-
fessions, must cease ; and we shall then enjoy a real practical
equality. And I do believe that no right-minded man need
repine at the forms which may remain when all the substance
of irregularity has been removed and destroyed.

One word as to education, and then I have answered, I
believe, everything which your queries propound. I differ from
those who think that the State has no concern, and ought to take
no part, in the education of the people. On the contrary, I
think the first, the chief duty of the State is to prevent evil ; that
punishment is but a rude and inefficacious means of attaining
that end ; but that education is the k jst legitimate and the
most efficient of the means which human wisdom can employ to

FINAL REJECTION AT BATH.

1S5

promote virtue and liivppiiicss. So l)cliovinir, I shall certainly
support every plun for the ediuiation of the people by the State,
which does not interfere with the reiif,'ious feelin.f^s and opinions
of the ])ftrents and puardiiins of the children to be educated. If
the State can — and I believe it can — instruct the people without
oirendini? or injurint? them, it is, in my opinion, its boundeu
duty to do so. And every measure which legitimately attempts
to attain this most worthy end shall have my most strenuous and
hearty support.

To Mix. Rorhurk.

Early in Juh/, 1847. — I go to Bath to-morrow. The papei*s
arc full of my contest there. I travelled up with four women,
and one, a very prettj girl, would tread upon my toes. How
is it that these things happen when I am growing old, and, as
the French say, tren sarje ?

The contest at Bath was chaio'^^'^rizod by all the fierce-
ness and acrimony that had attended ' ! r. Roebuck's previous
electoral struggles. Feeling on both sides was at lever heat,
and all manner of accusations ^ere I'l eely ^ luiidied about.
Lord Ashley and his suppliers were ojienly charged with
exercising various forms of terroiisM, while the favourite
cry of the Tories against Mr. Roebuck imputed to him
infidelity, atheism, and contempt for religion. The bills
circulated bearing these charges were so scandaloiT'" that,
on the hustings at the nomination, jVlr. Roebuck openly
refused to shake hands with Lord Ashley. But more
serious than the scurrilities of opponents was the alienation
of many of Mr. Roebuck's former supporters. Departing
from the rule he had laid down in his earlier contests to
abjure personal canvassing, Mr. Roebuck made systematic
visits to the electors, and the unfavourable reception he
met with at the hands of the Rev. William Jay and other
prominent Dissenters quickly became public property. To
their dissatisfaction with much of his Parliamentary career
was added remembrance of references disrespectful to
Dr. Watts's " Second Catechism," made in the article on

■l:i|

;

i86

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Children's Books in Tait's Magazine, as far back as 1833.
The Rev. Jerome Murch, Unitarian Minister, whose oppo-
sition, as we have seen, Mr. Roebuck thought he had
effectually countered after the meeting in May, was so
actii 8 an opponent that he, like Mr. Jay, was singled out
for personal notice by Mr. Roebuck in the speech in which,
after the result of the poll was known, he castigated his
antagonists and shook the dust of Bath for ever from his
feet. For, notwithstanding the fact that throughout the
campaign, and on the hustings, Mr. Roebuck had been the
favourite of an enthusiastic populace, the poll had resulted
thus : Lord Ashley, 1278 ; Lord Duncan, 1228 ; Mr. Roebuck,
1093.

Contrary to the advice of his friends, Mr. Roebuck
insisted on addressing the excited crowds immediately
after the voting had closed. Accustomed at all times to
say exactly what he thought in the most pungent language
at his command, the emotions of this moment found
expression in a very hearty scolding of the authors of his
defeat. At the nomination, all his denunciations had been
poured upon Lord Ashley and the Tories. Now the vials
of his wrath were emptied on the heads of alienated friends.
Rejecting a suggestion from the crowd that he had been
defeated by bribery, he said. No, it was not bribery, it was
bigotry. The three persons who contributed to his defeat
were a Whig (Mr. Norman), a Dissenter (the Rev. Jerome
Murch), and a Waiter on Providence (Mr. Wilson Brown).
He also singled out the Rev. William Jay for individual
reference. He continued —

And now, then, gentlemen, I bid you adieu. Again I shall
not appear here. There are many constituencies that will ask,
demand, require, such a representative as I am ; and they who,
after fifteen years' service, have rejected me, in their hearts let
there be the shame and the scandal which will be redeemed by
others who will ask me to appear in the House of Commons.
But, gentlemen, I have no ambition to be there. I want not to

FINAL REJECTION AT BATH.

187

appear in tlie House of Commons. My only hope is quiet ; my
desire is literary ease ; my pleasure is my family ; my hope is
content and quiet. If I would li<flit your battle, it is the battle
of freedom that I would fight for you — for all of you to be secure
at home ; to be in your families that which you would desire —
fathers to guide, to direct, and to be the friends of that family
without pain or suffering abroad. That I am not permitted to
be. But I shall go a member of the Church of England — mind
you, Dissenters, a member of the Church of England — remem-
bering well that the Dissenters are not worthy of freedom. Now,
as I never wish, as I never will, no matter what may tempt me,
come down and beiiold that Abbey more, I care not what these
men may say. I am here a free man, thank God, once again.
No religious bigotry binds my tongue, no influence coerces my
heart. The people of England are those of whom I think — self
is annihilated in the balance. But when I behold religious
intolerance, bound up with the selfishness of personal considera-
tion, I will mark that with the finger of scorn ; and I tell you,
once for all, your liberties as a town are beaten underfoot. And
whom have we to thank ? The Dissenters of Bath. I have sup-
ported them on every occasion, and now, under the pretence of
religious feeling, they have sought a sharp-seeking " considera-
tion." * Well, then, it is for me — and you can well understand
the sensation of my heart when I look around me — to say that
word which is most painful to all, Farewell. As that sun shines
and dazzles my eyes at this moment, no earthly consideration
shall ever induce me again to solicit the votes of the people of
Bath. When I have won for you the suffrage, my non-elector
friends, then I will venture here. But the Dissentei'S of England,
as represented by the Dissenters of Bath, are such cowards at
heart that they are unworthy of an honest man as a representative
unless supported by the non-electors of this town ; and when I
have that body, I shall appeal to you, or any body of electors, and
be sure of a triumphant return. Such pitiful, shameful, wretched,
miserable humbug I never met with in my life. I have done
with them for my life henceforth. Never again will I venture
my boat upon the water to be blown about by the breath of
Dissenters. Henceforth I am for the people, the unrepresented
electors of England ; on them I will depend, and upon no section,
* This is the phrase in the newspaper report.

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i88

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

whatever that may be, will I, in any degree, base my fortune.
This is the careful consideration of everything I have undergone
for many years past. I hope for ease and peace in the bosom of
my most cherished family. I wish not for political contention or
party strife. I would rather see my wheat grow, even than see
your faces. I would rather garner up the proceeds of the God
of Nature, even than get your approval. The time may come
that they who have now repudiated me may wish me here. They
shall never have me, and I do say an eternal farewell.

In a written address, Mr. Roebuck took leave of his old
constituents in more temperate terms, and his friends in
Bath subsequently marked their appreciation of his fifteen
years' service by presenting a testimonial to him. This
consisted of £500, placed in an oak cabinet covered viritli
carved emblems and figures, each one of which was
executed by a separate workman. A pretty salver in
silver was given by the wives and daughters of the Liberal
electors of Lyncombe and Widcombe, and a work-box in
inlaid woods — also a production of Bath — from the Ward
of St. James, was given to his little daughter.

To Mrs. Roebuck.

Novemher 0, 1847. — My reception at Bath was the most
striking thing I ever witnessed, but this I must describe by word
of mouth.

Lord Ashley, afterwards Lord Shaftesbury, the suc-
cessful candidate in this election, years after, at Sheffield,
said how much he regretted that he had ever opposed
Mr. Roebuck at Bath.

( 189 )

; I

CHAPTER XVII.

THE DYING DAYS OF DUELLING.

The conflicts in which Mr. Roebuck's directness of att^'jk
and pungency of speech involved him were not b^ any
means confined to words. At the commencemcut of his
career duelling, though gradually dying out, was not yet
dead, and Mr. Roebuck had in large measure that courage
and readiness to appeal to muscular force which are not
infrequently characteristic of men physically slight and
even feeble. It has already been related how, after his
first election, he resented impertinence hy striking the
offender, and he was a little apt to counsel a resort to
blows, or to horse-whipping editors. Departing from the
chronological arrangement otherwise observed in this book,
it may be convenient to devote one chapter to an account
of Mr. Roebuck's duelling experiences. The following
narration is by Mr. John Temple Leader, who, describing
the gatherings at his house at Putney Hill, writes—

John Temple Leader to the Editor.

One evening, as we were sitting in the library, enjoying the
pleasant warmth of a cheerful wood fire, and talking of things in
general, some one mentioned a scene in which Daniel O'Connell
had used very strong language to a Tory ^I.P in the lobby
of the House of Conunons. Turning to Roebuck, he asked,
" What would you have done in f- '\ a case ? " " I would have
knocked him down," answered Roei c, fiercely, and clenching his
fist. This made us all laugh, considering the great physical

ii; ;l

'IB

a -ill

igo

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

difference between Roebuck, who was a small spare man, and
O'Connell, who Avas a stalwart Irish giant.

In the third Pamphlet for the People (1835), Mr.
Roebuck discussed '• The Stamped Press and its Morality "
with much directness of personal reference to the con-
ductors of the Times, the Morning Chronicle, the Examiner,
and the Public Ledger. This quickly resulted in visits
from friends of Mr. Albany Fonblanque of the Examiner,
and Mr. Sterling of the Times. They were commissioned
to demand immediate withdrawal. Sir William Moles-
worth acted for Mr. Roebuck in both cases. Hostile meet-
ings were averted by disavowals, retractions, and regrets,
which Sir Francis Knowles for Mr. Fonblanque, and Col.
Campbell for Mr. Sterling, accepted as satisfactory. The
other editors, Mr. Black and Mr. J. L. Stevens, contented
themselves with pen-and-ink rejoinders. With Mr. Black,
however, Mr. Roebuck was destined, a few months later,
to come into more warlike collision.

The Morning Chronicle had dragged into a controversy
with Mr. N. Goldsmid a taunt that he was a Conservative
Jew. Mr. Roebuck, in the Pamphlet for the People,
issued on November 11, 1835, stigmatized this as brutal.
To make the ignorant, the prejudiced, and the vulgar join
in the cry against Goldsmid was, he wrote, base and
utterly disgraceful, and, if Mr. Black had any shame left,
was a proceeding of which he must heartily repent.

In discussing the remedies within Mr. Goldsmid's reach,
Mr. Roebuck specified, among others, two. He could beat
his assailant and drub him soundly, or he could call him
out and endeavour to shoot him. These alternatives were
dismissed with the remark —

It is evident that Mr. Goldsmid has little chance of saving
anything by trying to beat the said John Black, he being a
strong, lusty, hard-headed, and hard-fisted north-countryman, and
Mr. Goldsmid being a slender and by no means strong pereon.
In the second place, the said John Black is a philosopher, and

111!

THE DYING DAYS OF DUELLING.

191

3at

ire

lug

Ind

I feel confident that to fi<?ht duels for the Chronicle is uot in his
bond ; and I suspect the proprietor has not hired u regular
fighting man for the concern.

Mr. Roebuck was undeceived as to Mr. Black's fighting
propensities, for he received a letter, dated 232, Strand.
November 13, 1835, in which, discovering an imputation
of cowardice in the Pamphlet, and objecting to the epithets
" base " and " utterly disgraceful," Mr. Black said —

I wish to know whether you are the author of the article
containing these offensive epithets ; and if you are, I then call
on you to retract them mthout qualification or reserve. My
friend who delivers this will convey to me your answer.

As Mr. Roebuck was then staying at the seaside, near
Christchurch, Mr. Simon McGillivray, one of the pro-
prietors of the Morning Chronicle, the friend entrusted
with this message, wrote, asking to be informed " when
and where you can afford me the opportunity of delivering
personally the communication with which I am intrusted."

J. A. Roebuck to Mr. McGillivray.

Christchurch, Hants, Novemher 15, 1835. — I am now staying
at Mudeford, near Christchurch, Hants. This letter will reach
you to-morrow morning. You will probably leave London on
Monday evening, and arrive here on Tuesday morning at twelve.
I will at that time be at the Humby's Hotel, Christchurch. I
make these arrangements, as I am desirous of so managing affairs
as not to let any one have an idea of the purport of your visit,
which I suppose, from your letter, to be a hostile one.

A narrative of the affair, subsequently published, says —

In compliance with the appointment, Mr. Black and Mr.
McGillivray proceeded to Christchurch, where they arrived on
Tuesday morning ; and at an interview at the King's Arms Hotel,
Mr. McGillivray delivered Mr. Black's letter to Mr. Roebuck, who
acknowledged himself to be the author of the article complained
of, and refused to retract any part of it. He proposed also to
write to London for a friend to act for him. Mr. McGillivray

\ \

192

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

objected to this delay, and said that as Mr. Roebuck had recog-
nized his letter to be a hostile one, he expected to have found
him more prepared. Mr. Roebuck replied that the delay was
Mr. McGillivray's own fault, in not having communicated more
clearly the object of his mission ; and he declined either coming to
London or appointing a friend on the spot, both of which plans
had been suggested by Mr. McGillivray. In short, Mr. Roebuck
refused any other alternative than to write to London for a friend,
and to meet again at the same place on Thursday at noon ; and
finally Mr, McGillivray acquiesced in this proposal. On Thursday,
the 19th, Mr. Black and Mr. McGillivray accordingly returned
to Christchurch, when Mr. Roebuck introduced Mr. S. Revans ''•■
to McGillivray as his friend, and after some discussion and
preliminary arrangements, a meeting took place.

The seconds afterwards each published his own version
of what had actually happened. They agreed that Mr.
Revans, on behalf of Mr. Roebuck, admitted an error of
detail in his Pamphlet, and disavowed any intention to
impute cowardice to Mr. Black, as he really considered
him a philosopher, and as such would, of course, not fight.
But he absolutely refused to retract the words " base and
utterly disgraceful." Upon that ground the gentlemen
went into the field, to which Mr. Roebuck showed the
way.

Mr. Roebuck received Mr. Black's fire, and fired, so
Mr. Revans declared, in the air. Mr. McGillivray, though
declining to confirm this, did not contradict it beyond
saying that both shots were fired simultaneously.

After the first fire Mr. Roebuck repeated that he had
no intention of imputing cowardice to Mr. Black, but he
persisted in refusing to withdraw the terms "base and
disgraceful," which he maintained the conduct objected to

* Mr. Revans was a barrister who, after emigrating with Mr. H. S.
Chapman to Montreal in 1833, returned to Loudon in 1837. He was secretary
to the Wakefield scheme for settlement in New Zealand. He afterwards
lived in New Zealand. Sec "Dietionary of National Biograpliy." John
Bevans, his brother (p. 180), was connected with the English and Irish Poor
Law Commissions.

ss^cr^

THE DYING DAYS OF DUELLING.

193

deserved. Mr. McGillivray accordingly said the affair must
go on. Shots were again exchanged without effect. An
apology was again demanded, and again refused. Mr.
Revans declared that they were there with their minds
made up, and that, if Mr. McGillivray desired, the affair
must continue. Then followed an altercation in which
Mr. McGillivray, showing disposition to take the quarrel
upon himself, was told that if he wanted to fight, he must
fight with Mr. Revans, who was quite ready ; and Mr.
Roebuck declared that he was not to be driven from the
right of stigmatizing the conduct of a public man as it
deserved by threats of assassination. Thereupon Mr.
McGillivray found it unnecessary to carry the matter any
further. Upon which Mr. Roebuck "expressed his high
respect for Mr. Black," though still asserting the right to
speak of his acts as he had done.

Mr. Roebuck's precautions for keeping the matter from
the knowledge of his family were not so successful as he
had wished. Mrs. Roebuck once wrote —

I i

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had
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and
to

H. S.

•ctary

wards

Jobn

Poor

I remember it but too well. We had been some weeks at
the seaside near Christchurch, Hants. I missed Roebuck, and
a short time after heard four shots. As persons were forbidden
to shoot near the house, I remarked that they were two and two,
and sounded differently and sharp, unlike a gun. The mystery
was explained when our friend rushed in, saying, " Roebuck is
safe." Explanation followed. Dr. Black had pointed his pistol
at Roebuck and fired twice. Twice had Roebuck fired in the air.

Mrs. Roebuck was accustomed to tell how, when Mr.
Black and Mr. McGillivray arrived at the inn at Christ-
church, they paraded their pistol-case open on the table
of the sitting-room. No magistrate lived at Christchurch,
so, said she, they were not likely to be taken up, however
much they wished it.

Mr. Roebuck's second duel was fought in 1839. His
antagonist was Lord Powerscourt, who thought himself

194

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

aggrieved by expressions used by Mr. Roebuck respecting
his conduct at the election of 1837. The Hon. Henry
Fitzroy, M.P., was the bearer of Lord Powerscourt's
challenge, which came at a very painful moment, the
Rev. Dr. Falconer having died somewhat suddenly in the
presence of his son-in-law only a few hours before.

After a necessary delay, and as Mr. Roebuck cate-
gorically reiterated his statements — which charged Lord
Powerscourt with the hypocrisy of sanctioning accusations
of irreligion against his opponent, while, at the same
time, he was sanctioning the corruption of the electorate
with drink — a meeting took place at Coombe Wood, near
London. Mr. Roebuck, who had been supported by Sir
William Napier's advice, had Mr. Edward Trelawny as his
second. The following official account was published by
him and Mr. Fitzroy : —

4, Fidiwi Hill, Feh-ucmj 28, 1830.— On the evcnin,"; of the
28th, Lord Powerscourt, M.P., and Mr. Roebuck met by appoint-
ment at Coombe Wood, seven miles from Town ; the former
accompanied by the Hon. H. Fitzroy, M.P., and the latter by
E. Trelawny, Esq. On the ground, efforts were renewed to
avert the necessity of proceeding to extremities. Lord Powers-
court's friend insisting on Mr. Roebuck retracting or apologizing
for the words complained of in the correspondence, and the
opposite party declining to do so, the ground was then measured
and the principals placed at twelve paces. On Mr. Roebuck
receiving his adversary's fire, he discharged his pistol into the
air, and, advancing to Lord Powerscourt, said, " Now, my lord,
I am ready to make any apology your lordship may suggest, for
certainly in my speech at Bath I did not mean to imply anything
personally offensive." All parties being entirely satisfied by this
frank procedure of Mr. Roebuck, returned to Town.

After this, two memorials from his Tory constituents
were sent to Lord Powerscourt, rebuking him for the part
he had taken. One was from the clergy of the city of
Bath. His lordship, who had undoubtedly been egged on

>'U

THE DYING DAYS OF DUELLING.

195

for

nts

art

by others against his own better judgment, pleaded his
deficiency in " that exalted moral courage which could
alone have enabled him to despise the scott's of the world
and the sneers of his associates " if he had not vindicated
himself.

It is but just to the memory of Lord Powerscourt to

record that he heartily regretted the part he had taken in

this affair; and years afterwards, when on his death-bed,

he sent Lord Jocelyn to ask for Mr. Roebuck's pardon and

forgiveness.

While ever quite prepared to vindicate his conduct,
Mr. Roebuck always showed himself watchfully jealous
against all attempts — then of frequent occurrence — to
supplement the rules of the House of Commons for ensuring
decency of debate, by calling upon members to justify
outside, at the mouth of a pistol, expressions used within.
Although things had largely changed since 1798, when
the Speaker, instead of intervening to prevent a duel
between Mr. Pitt and Mr. Tierney, went down to Putney
to see it fought, challenges from member to member were
rife. Mr. Roebuck was largely instrumental in arousing
the House to a sense of the gravity of this breach of
privilege. Even so great a Parliamentarian as Sir Robert
Peel had shown himself not superior to the pervading
disposition to reply to inside words by outside threats.
When he wrote to Mr. Hume, calling him to account
for language used in debate, as impugning his honour, it
was Mr. Roebuck who read the minister's letter in the
House, and proposed to move that it was a breach of
privilege for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to call out
the member for Middlesex.

In May, 1842, " The National Convention " sitting in
Bolt Court, Fleet Street, had sent a deputation to Mr.
Roebuck in the lobby, demanding to know whether in his
assertion that the National Petition " had been drawn up
by a cowardly and malignant demagogue " he referred to

i !

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it •:

196

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Mr. Feargus O'Connor ? Mr. Roebuck replied that he made
it a rule never to give any explanation of words used by
hira in the House of Commons. Nor did an attempt to
get an explanation in the House meet with more success.
It was recorded that Mr. O'Connor, resolved upon deeds
of blood, lay in wait for Mr. Roebuck, " with a view of
provoking that satisfaction which one gentleman expects
of another." But not meeting with him, the affair ended
in nothing worse than valorous vauntings.

There was an episode in Parliament, in 1844, with
almost whimsical developments as to Mr. Roebuck. The
well-known Mr. Ferrand (Knaresborough),* in his violent
opposition to Sir James Graham's Factory legislation, had,
at a meeting at Leeds, charged the Home Secretary with
having used his power as a minister to induce an assistant
poor-law commissioner to make a false report for the
purpose of crushing him (Mr. Ferrand). Sir James
Graham, treating the matter with just contempt, took no
steps, but Mr. Roebuck brought Mr. Ferrand's charge under
the notice of the House.f He peremptorily called upon
that honourable member to state distinctly to the House
to what minister and to what member he referred. This
was the introduction to a series of not very edifying
scenes, in which much time was taken up at several sittings
in mutual recriminations.

"The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out
water." For when, goaded by Mr. Roebuck, Mr. Ferrand
not only refused to retract the charges he had made out-
side, but deliberately repeated them in the House, Sir
James Graham could no longer hold aloof. And then

* Sec ante, chap. xv. p. 174.

t Interveutions of this kind, and in such matters as the corrupt with-
drawal of petitions in 1842 ; the Crimean War, 18.55 ; and Mr. Butt's case,
1858 ; gave rise to the feeling, expressed in Einglake's sneer (" Invasion of
tlie Crimea," vol. vi. p. 358), that Roebuck " appointed himself to the office
of public accuser." But they do not justify Kinglake's exaggeration that
he " clung so fondly to his chosen task as to be rarely engaged in any other."

THE DVLVG DAYS OF DUELLING.

197

another member, Mr. Hogg, of Beverley, was dragged in.
For, following up Mr. Roebuck, Mr. Hume and Mr. H. G.
Ward volunteered information that Mr. Ferrand had
further charged the Home Secretary with having cor-
ruptly influenced Mr. Hogg, who had sat as chairman of
the Nottingham election committee, to make a false report
for the purpose of unseating Mr. John Walter, through
resentment at his attitude towards the new Poor Law.

The House could not overlook this, and steps were
taken for bringing Mr. Ferrand to book. He found
defenders in Mr. Disraeli and Lord John Manners, both
of whom not obscurely urged that the dispute was a
private quarrel which ought to have been matter for
" gentlemanly arrangement " outside. By these and others
strong attacks were made upon Mr. Roebuck for what
was called his mischief-making in interfering in an aflair
which did not concern him. The member for Canterbury,
Mr. Smythe,* especially attacked Mr. Roebuck with great
bitterness. He declared —

From an intimate observation and study of the hon. and
learned <^entleinan's (Mr. Roebuck's) political career ... I am not
to be deceived by the mock severities of spurious patriotism ; that
assentation {hIc) which masks itself beneath the guise of cynicism,
assailing all men but sparing one man; aspersing all men, but
fawning upon one man ; continually inferring that were one
fiot the Diogenes of Bath, one would wish to be the Alexander of
Tamworth. . . . The honourable and learned member for Bath
presents a remarkable antithesis in his own person, being at once
the rebels' agent and the Queen's counsel — the champion of
M. Papineau, and the defender of a Secretary of State.

It is difficult to find in the rejoinder this provoked
anything very wounding to Mr. Smythe's honour. Mr.
Roebuck, professing himself ingenuously surprised at the
invectives hurled at him, and at the attempt to force him
into the position of an offender put upon his defence, said
* Afterwards Lord Strangford.

1 98

LIFE OF J OILY ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

the accusations made against him must come from a more
formidable quarter before he would answer them. And he
added —

When tlic honourable member for Canterbury speaks of being
rewarded by one's cneinies, may I ask, Has he forgot what it
is to be disappointed by one's friends ? Disappointment may
have poisoned the arrows shot against friends ; it cannot have
poisoned those shot against enemies.

The sting of this allusion lay in the fact that Mr.
Smythe had, in the previous year, found it necessary, in
explaining to his constituents some vote, to assert that,
never having asked any favour of Sir Robert Peel's
Government, he was acting on conviction, not through
disappointment, in voting against it. Mr. Smythe imme-
diately construed Mr. Roebuck's remark as a charge of
violating honour and integrity by voting, under disap-
pointment, contrary to his convictions. And, not content
with an emphatic denial of the imputation immediately
it was made, he acted on the counsel given by Mr. Disraeli
and Lord John Manners to Mr. Ferrand (for which
" direful and barbarous " advice they were severely taken
to task by Mr. Roebuck). The member for Bath accord-
ingly found himself waited on by one Captain Darrell,
bearing a defiant cartel. Mr. Roebuck forthwith pro-
ceeded to the House, and brought the challenge under its
notice. Mr. Smythe's letter was read by the clerk at the
table. The member for Canterbury, after some wriggling,
was compelled to make a full and unreserved apology to
the House, and to give assurance that the matter should
proceed no further.

When, in January, 1845, the friends of Mr. William
Smith O'Brien sought to stop freedom of speech in Parlia-
ment by means of the absurd custom of requiring a man
to stand up and be shot at for what he had said in
debate, Mr. Roebuck took the best means of discouraging

i
III

THE DYING DAYS OF DUELLING.

199

further similar proceedings by bringing before the House,
as a breach of privilege, a challenge he had received from
Mr. Somers, member for Sligo. The matter ended by
Mr. Somers unequivocally apologizing both to the House
and to Mr. Roebuck.

In 1849, after a violent scene with a group of Irish
members, Mr. Roebuck was the recipient of a hostile
message from Mr. Fox, member for Longford ; but by the
judicious intervention of Captain Berkeley, the resort to
pistols was averted.*

* Seo po«f, p. 228.

iii

II-,

. . i

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200

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE WEST RIDING. 1848.

Excluded from Parliament, Mr. Roebuck retired to his
farm and his books — to the literary quiet and the domestic
ease for which he had yearned. It appears that he had
contemplated writing a " History of the Reformation." The
work was, indeed, announced, and partly printed but never
published. He completed and brought out "The Colonies
of England," but his thoughts chiefly turned to the fulfil-
ment of his long-cherished desire of writing a " History of
the Whig Ministry of the Reform Era." Upon his historic
labours, however, vacant constituencies constantly intruded,
and it is evident that, notwithstanding his farewell words
to the electors of Bath, and though he tried to persuade
himself to the contrary, his heart was still in the House
of Commons, clamorous to be back in the turmoil of
politics. Mrs. Roebuck, at least, was under no delusion
on this point —

J/y.s'. Roehuclc to Dr. R. Black.

Ashley Arneivood, Kovemhei; 1847. — I hope Roebuck may
be in Parliameut when the deurly beloved Ministry become well
uware of the loss they have sustained in R. A more sensible set
of men would have petted him. Roebuck tries hard to per-
suade himself that he likes farming. I doubt ; he really likes
politics best. Success is of more value to his health than air.
He is really spiritual, and could I only see him in Parliament, and
in oflfico, I should die happy.

!r-

y//E WEST RIDING.

J. A. Roeliiirk to Dr. R. JjlacJc.

:oi

As/lie// Aniewuod, Novemhpr i4, 1S47. — ... I cannot, must
not, spend money. Debt fri<,'hte!is mc. I would starve, and be
all my life out of Parliament in preference to putting myself into
the slavery of constant debt. I am now really working hard
to put this place into paying order, which I shall accomplish.
]Jut Parliamentary expenses I cannot provide for just now ; and
if Finsbury cannot be won without my spending money, I will
not attempt to win it. The labom-er is worthy of his hire, and
I have laboured long enough for the public. They know
wiiat I am good for ; if they want me, they must elect mc for
nothing. . . .

At the beginning of 1848, Mr. Roebuck was back in
Brussels, engaged again, on behalf of Mr. Francis Mills
and others, in forwarding such projects as had taken him
there in 1845-46. In addition to these matters, there are
in his letters references to that scheme for cutting a canal
through the Isthmus of Panama, which M. de Lesseps
afterwards took up with disastrous results. This design
greatly attracted the fancy of King Leopold ; and Lord
Palmerston, when the matter was brought before him by
Mr. Roebuck, seems to have given it an encouragement
which he systematically refused to the Suez Canal
enterprise.

To Jlrs. Uochnck.

Jj/ussels, January 17, 1848. — A dream of politics, which has
long haunted me, may be made indeed a reality. . . . You can
easily guess to what the scheme relates, when I tell you it is the
one great scheme of Avhich I have often talked, by which to give
England the command of the two great seas of the earth —
Panaraa.

Jaaaarij 18. — I suspect you laughed at my mysterious epistle
of yesterday, and so do I to-day. The truth is, that the scheme
is really a great one, and I am sm-e might be, and one day
will be, executed ; but whether by England remains to be seen.
The scheme for Panama I shall show to Pahnerstou. The scheme

'•I

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m m iv n-am

202

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

: i

; I

Avas communicated to the King of the Belgians, who liked the
plan much, and said, "Ah, Mr. Roebuck, if I was a jjosifictt
monarch, the thing might be done."

Anything more frinfe than this town, you never knew. The
Court is in mourning for Madame Adelaide, and the Chamber has
been adjourned till to-day, so that even the ordinary gaiety and
interest are wanting. It has never ceased to freeze since I have
been here. The snow has covered the ground the whole time,
and a coiJ fog obscures everything ; yet the people here con-
stantly talk of our miserable climate, and evidently give me
no credence when I declare that England, as I know it, is a far
better climate than theirs. I am miserably tired of this idle
life, and long for to-morrow evening, when I leave this place.

London, Januarij 31, 1848. — I saw Palmerston yesterday, and
found him ready to do all T wished. My plans coincided with his
own. Whether Mills [Francis Mills] can now get monied men
to join the scheme remains to be seen. ]\Iy part is successfully
brought up to the point at which he must begin to act ; but
though the project is a great one, yet, in these times of panic,
everything is regarded with dread. Still, the inherent goodness
of the proposal may induce some far-seeing men to act ; and,
a beginning made, I have no fear of the result.

January 31, 1848. — . . . Fearon and company f'-e somewhat
of mere profossorti. I was told that they were about to be very
complimentary and grateful. Not one word, however, has yet
been sent, and I shall leave London without knowing anything
of their estimation of my proceedings. The completion of the
business they will find difficult. You recollect the Dender Valley
affair. They sent £40,000 to Belgium as caution-money, got
themselves into a scrape, and came to me. I so arranged their
affairs as to make it quite possible to carry out their scheme, but
being obliged to return to England, could not actually finish the
negotiation. When I came here they grumbled and tried to shirk
paying me, not because they had any reason to complain of what
I had done — they had expressed their warmest thanks — but they
grudged a few pounds. I told Murray that they would rue
their parsimony, and so they have. Not one step did they
make beyond the point to which I had brought them, and to this
hour their £40,000 lie in the hands of the Government. The
railway has not in any A\ay proceeded, and thus the whole scheme

iii.'.

THE WEST RIDIXG.

203

has been blown up, and tlieir money confiscated. So much for
this instance of niggardliness. I suspect the present will be like
that case. Everything now appears so smiling and smooth that
they will fancy my services no longer needed. I shall hear no
more, and the whole of the negotiations will linger, and be at
length a mass of confusion, and end in nothing. In the mean
time, I hope my oats will be sown, my barley in the ground, and
my mangel-wurzel in fine order. What a month I have passed !
I ought to be well paid.

To Dr. R. Blaclc.

Ashley Arnewooil, April 10, 1848. — . . . Just now I am
busy with my sowing — I have no time. ]\Iy days are passed
in the field, my nights, writing steadily my history ; * and sleep
[ have hardly any, but feel well, though somewhat fatigued.
Still, I shall go, and get, on. The Chartists have made a pretty
hash of it. F. O'Connor is a rogue, a liar, and a coward — a
precious compound ! Hume tells me that the M.P.'s are to meet.
You will see that the suffrage question is put back, and off. The
working men who have some discretion ought to work on,
however, and abstain from idle threats. I know, you know, they
know, and the Duke of Wellington knows, they cannot, dare not

fight.

It is all braggart talk.

To Dr. R. Jilarh:

Ashley Arneirooil, Milton, Hants. — I have received a printed
paper signed by Lovett and others about their plans, f If I can
do anything to assist, I shall be glad, and really believe the
present not merely a good opportunity for stirring, but one
which imposes on the true friends of good government the
duty of making some attempt to rescue the working classes from
the dangers to which they are now exposed. The late doings
of the Chartists have been seized by tiie Whigs with delight,
as they have afforded them a pretext for expense, and given them
a means of retaining office. They will now effect a junction with
a large section of the Tories, and we shall have a dead-set made
at the persons who endeavour to change the representation hi

• " The Whig Ministry of 1830;'

t This probably refers to a Chartist address on univorsal suffrage from
''Tho Radical Reformers of EIngland, Scotland, and Wales to the Irish
people."

V,\.

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204

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

this country. I liave .a strong feeling- in my mind about all this ;
so grave do I deem the present crisis, that I feel greatly tempted
to step forward and take the lead in a movement for the purpose
of effecting a real Parliamentary reform. My political econo-
mical notions run so thoroughly counter to the vain visions of
many of the working men, that they would look upon me with
distrust. I am sure that wages cannot be raised or kept down by
Act of Parliament, and that any scheme for giving to every man
a fixed sum, without regard to the value of his labour, without
regard to his skill, industry, or honesty, is the most mischievous
delusion ever practised on the people. Moreover, I am not at
all ready to allow the operatives to call themselves pnr excellence
the people, the working classes, and the real producers of wealth.
I consider myself just as much one of the people — one of the
working classes, one of the producers of wealth— as a weaver
of ribbons, as a spinner of yarn, or a digger of coal. I have
no schemes for employing the people — no lottery — no farm for
them to live on. I want none of their money, and won't flatter
them, so I suppose they will with difficulty be brought to listen.
Still, it might be done.*

To Thomas Folconer.

June 29, 1848. — I carried your note at once to Brougham,
and he is to see Morpeth about it. . . . The weather has changed
to hot and dry, and I am really beginning to be very anxious
about my turnips. Things here are in a pitiable condition.
The government is in truth below all feeling — even that of
contempt. There never was such a spectacle exhibited. I see
now war in the distance. Austria, as I always prophesied, will
beat the Italians, and France will interfere. A general war will
follow — no care can prevent this. If we keep out of the fray we
shall be fortunate, and certainly our people will profit by other
nations' disasters. My notion is that Russia will step in, take the
part of Austria, and order. France will have to seek for allies
in Germany and Englaml. What a pill for the French !

T'o Mrs. Roebuck.
Penrith, Tuesday, October 3, 1848.— Brougham has promised
to answer all my queries with regard to the history, and I steadily
* See ante, p. 118, ami iwst, pp. 354-5.

THE WEST RIDING.

205

occupy my time in prcparin^j; and arraufjinj,' all tlio matter. . . .
There are two little j^irls here, but I miss my own very much, ami
long to be back again with you both. Home is the only place
in which I do not feel weary.

Ocloher 1]. — In the midst of the turmoil yesterday I missed
^vriting. Miss Burdett-Coutts and Co. so occupied the house,
and created such confusion, that I escaped out-of-doors. Miss
B.-C. is tall and thin, unaffected in manner, on the whole rather
pleasing, a quiet retired sort of person ; but the two doctors and
one wife are too much for human endurance.

My drive to the hills was really beautiful, but the whole
bt^auty is so changeable, and the lights and shadows vary so
rapidly, and give so little outline, that sketch there is none to
be taken. Besides, it is too cold for sitting abroad. The general
character of the country can only be depicted by colour. The
flitting lights and shadows, the bright autumn tints, the rolling
mists, and the mass of hills, make the beauty of the scene. The
black lead pencil gives none of these, and I have no colours here.
Still, it is all in my memory, and I shall see what can be done
to put it on paper when at home.

London, November, 1S4H. — I saw, some time since, in the

library here (Reform Club), a very little man. , with him,

came to me and asked, "Would you like to be introduced to
M. Louis Blanc ? " " liy all means," I replied. On which
the said little man and I were introduced in due form. He is
very small, / can say that. He has a brown skin, sharp brown
eyes, with the whites of a brown hue, a retiring forehead, and an
eastern nose. He was very anxious to make himself out a friend
of order, a partisan of democracy, universal suffrage, and to make
me believe that he was ready to submit to the majority. This,
nowever, I do not believe. I am to meet him at dinner on
Monday.

Tuesday, November 14, 1848.— Well, I dined with M. Louis
Blanc. A more complete charlatan I never saw. A thorougldy
poor creature, dealing in phrases, and fancying himself a dis-
coverer, because he has revived doctrines that have been exploded
a quarter of a century since. Opposite to me sat a Doctor
Ashburnham, who brought himself to my recollection as an
opponent of mine twenty years ago, he supporting Robert Owen's
views of social economy, and I opposing them. I could not help

!^|[

^^^K

asm

206

L/F£ OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

l! •',

exclaiming to liiin while Louis Blauc was indulging in a regular
French iirdth, " Why, we have gone over the whole of this rubbish
twenty years since ! " He could not help assenting, and owning
that the mare's-nest had been found and taken in those days.

By Lord Morpeth succeeding to the Earldom of Carlisle,
a vacancy was caused in the representation of the West
Riding of Yorkshire. Mr. Roebuck's name was brought
prominently before the electors and the Liberal Election
Committee. The Hon. Charles Fitzwilliam, who had first
come forward, failed to obtain general support to his
candidature on the part of the Liberals. The county
electors of SheflBeld urged the adoption of Mr. Roebuck,
and instructed the delegates they sent to the central
conference at Normanton to promote his nomination.
They failed, however, to carry the point — Sir Culling E.
Eardley being chosen as the Liberal Candidate. Mr. Fitz-
william retired, and then ensued a memorable contest
between Sir Culling Eardley and Mr, Edmund Beckett
Denison. The split created in the Liberal Party by dis-
agreements as to the candidate, resulted in the seat being
captured by the Tories.

To Jlis. Roehw'Jc.

Loiulon, Xovemhcr 1(j, 1848. — The idea of my going to the
West Riding made a sensation here, as it has evidently frightened
the Whigs ; but the bigotry of the Dissenters would be a great
annoyance to me. I must bide my time.

November 17. — ^At last the West Riding people have sent to
me, and Fairbairn * is the ambassador. He has persuaded mo
to go to Leeds to-morrow afternoon, as on a visit to him, for I
am unwilling to appear in the matter publicly till I see my way.

London, November 19. — The telegraph has just brought au
earnest request to go to Leeds, so I start to-night at nine. I
go not in the slightest degree compromised to any course.
I shall listen to what the Liberal party will say, and, before I

* Mr., afterwards Sir Peter, Fairbairn, of Woodsloj-.

THE WEST RIDING.

207

10
I

\w.
I

consent to be a candidate, I shall require a strong requisition, and
a distinct written understanding for them to bear all the expenses.
The expenses of the polling places alone amount to nearly £800,
so the mere standing is a thuig I could not undertake, even if
sure of success. ... To fight this battle with a fair chance and
to be defeated will not tell against me. The case is not an
ordinary one, and to be asked to stand by a great party for the
"West Riding of Yorkshire is a feather in any man's cap.

Leech^ November 2'2, 181S. — . . . There is a meeting of
delegates at Normanton at midday, and at four o'clock I shall
learn their decision. On coming here I found Baines* was in
reality the only difficulty, and he took up the old quarrel of
the Dissenters — but they are in a fix. If, however, it should
appear that I am not cordially called upon, and not to be loyally
dealt with, I shall refuse the invitation. The great difficulty is,
in fact, the money, and in these times of commercial pressure
money is not very rife with the merchants, who are, in fact,
lighting this battle. Yesterday young Fitzwilliam began his
public proceedings by appearing in the Cloth Hall here. I did
not hear his speech, as he spoke only for a few minutes. Fair-
bairn and I walked into the crowd, and listened to what was
going on. Some persons found out that I was there, and, as
matters proceeded, the cry was raised that I was present, and
demands for me to appear upon the platform and address the
meeting. At length the meeting almost unanimously called
for me, and I was forced, J iter ally forced to appear. I refused,
liowever, to appear as a candidate, and abstained from any
exposition of my o^v^a opinions. Had I wished, the temper
of the meeting — a very large one — was so completely with me
that I could have taken it at the flood, and forced myself into
the position of a candidate. This, however, would not have been
wise. The responsibility of choosing or refusing would then have
been taken away from the delegates, and assumed by myself.
The shufflers would have taken advantage of this, and I shoidd
have found myself saddled with the expense and odium of a
contest. I leave the rest of the page for the statement of the
delegates' decision ; and when I think 0' the turmoil and strife
into which I am about possibly to plunge, I shall hardly be
disappointed if I find myself in the railroad carriage on my way
* Mr., afterwards Sir Edward, Baiues, of the Leeds Merctiry.

i , I

[J;

■^K

lii

ii;

m f

1' i'

208

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK

home. Every day makes me love the quiet of our present privacy
more and more.

London^ Thursday. — The decision of the delegates did not
reach me until late in the evening, and as I felt sure that it was
against me, I came back at once. Personally I do not regret the
decision. I sincerely believe, however, that it is a public evil,
because it shows how strong the bigotry of the people still is.
My opinions on education and want of sympathy with the Anti-
Catholic outcry, was the cause of the enmity and opposition of
Baines. I believe now the Tory candidate, Beckett Denison, will
succeed.

November 23. — The Times of to-day has an article sjieaking
in very handsome terms of myself, and blowing up the bigots.
Lord Melbourne is, if not actually dead, so near it that he
may be said to be extinct. Brougham's letter shows that he
knows nothing of what is going on here. The times he speaks
of are past, and cannot return, and he is really half crazed about
the mob. I do not like the mob one whit more than he does,
but it is useless to kick against the pricks. The people will have
a hand in the affairs which interest them, and all we can do is
to make them wise enough to be able to decide correctly.

To Thomas North (Bath).

Reform Ch(b, November 24, 1848. — You will see by the papers
what has been the decision of your Dissenting friends. / have
never proposed to stand without a requisition being previously
sent to me, as without such an invitation I should have been
saddled with the expense, and have, therefore, never allowed any
one to speak of me as a candidate. What the people of Yorkshire
have done has been their own voluntary proceeding. They
have preferred Sir Culling Eardley simply because he is a bigot
in religion. He opposed the Reform Bill, voted for General
Gascoigne's motion to turn out Lord Grey's Government, and
was a violent enemy of any enlargement of the suffrage ; but
he is a violent hater of papists, and that is enough to please
Mr. Baines of the Leeds Mercury. So you see, I am free from
the trouble of this election. I am, however, pretty well assured
that, if I had been selected, I should have had no contest — all
parties would have been pretty well content.

THE WEST RIDING.

209

In a letter to Mr. Peter Fairbairn, declaring his deter-
mination, in the interests of party unity, not to offer
himself as a candidate, Mr. Roebuck repeated his warning
lest an exchange of the old watchwords of civil and
religious liberty for a narrower feeling of religious anti-
pathy, should lead to the permanent disruption of the
Liberal party. He wrote —

any

:shire

|They

)igot

neral

and

but

lease

from

rod

-all

My great object, during the whole of my political life, has
been the steady advancement of rational freedom. From the
pursuit of that object, no temporary expediency, 110 pei-sonal
ambition, no party or sectarian passion, has made me swerve ;
and now I wish so to improve the present incident as to make it
subservient to this great end of all my endeavours, by healing
all differences between those who have long been friends, and
uniting them again into that bond of fellowship which has, in
past times, produced glorious results, and which will, if it be
maintained, lead to others not less worthy of admiration and
gratitude. To be among my friends during the present contest —
to state my political opinions before the great constituency of
the West Riding — would, indeed, be of itself a subject of gi'atu-
lation and honourable pride ; to have been able to place this great
contest on the broad ground of national interests ; in this hour
of the world's dismay and almost universal confnsior,, to have
made manifest to the world that my countrymen were still
self-possessed, and ardent as ever in the pursuit of freedom — that
they were neither frightened from their purpose by the follies
of other nations, nor excited to wild hopes by theories and
experiments not yet tested by experience ; to have given them
the opportunity of proving themselves what they really are,
cautious, yet ardent, tolerant to others, while vindicating their
own rights, and loving and seeking freedom and security,
political, social, religious, not for themselves alone, but for
mankind ; — to have been able to fairly do all this would have
been a reward for a long life of labour. But this I willingly
forego— any expectation of success I cheerfully relinquish — in
the hope that by so doing I contribute to reunite the friends
of civil and religious freedom; that I afford an opportunity
to old friends to forget present differences, and to join heart

1,1

3! *■'

•si '1

-r
;!

iff

i< H^

* 1'

310

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

and hand in the great work before them— a work not yet half
accomplished — viz. the giving to the people of this great country*
in fact, and not merely in name, the government of

THEMSELVES.

To Mrs. Roebuck.

November 29, 1848.— Charles Buller is dead — he died this
morning at six. Two days since I saw Fleming, and from his
manner concluded that Buller was in danger.

H. [Hawes] again attacked me, saying he had been speaking
of me to his chiefs, and again asked if I would take an Indian
judgeship. My answer was fiercely, " No." Out of England I do
not go but for the purpose of returning — for me — rich.

November 30. — The West Riding election mifiht have been
carried by a conp de main — and might be so now, but I am
very fearful of getting into debt, and finding myself hampered
through the rest of my life.

I asked Fairbairn for an introduction to Richardson, the artist
— the real successor to Copley Fie,' ding. His style is to me
a fascination. I dined with Lady Duff Gordon. She told me
her father was demented in favour of small farms, and something
very like Communism ; her mother ditto. What has come to
all these clever people ?

ill

To Thomas North (Bath).

Milton, Hamps,„.re, December 23, 1848. — I have received your
letters and the enclosures. I was quite certain that the rumour
about Manchester was an idle one ; besides, that place and its
people are not the right soit for me. As you might learn, even
from the letters you received, neither the one nor the other
of those persons would have supported me. The Manchester
bourgeoisie is in many things like that of Paris ; but, fortunately
for it, has a stout soldiery to protect it. It dreads the people —
that is, the working classes — and is Liberal only so far as it
believes Liberality, i.e. free trade, to be profitable. I write in
great haste, and great alarm and trouble. Mrs. Roebuck has
been very dangerously ill — is still in bed, and far from safe. I
sometimes fancy I am half mad from anxiety.

THE WEST RIDING.

211

I your
imour
id its
even
other
lester
ately
pie —
as it
te in
has

Tu MiH. Roebuck.

Decemhfit; 1848. has gone to LlskearJ [vacant by the

death of Charles Buller], but I have no great faith in him. T. S.
wished to put JMacaulay in my way there, but he (M.) at once
most handsomely refused.*

Leeds, December oO, 18-18. — Fairbairn went over to Bury, and
got from me a promise to come here, where I have been treated
with every possible kindness. In Bury they treated me hke
a prince ; and, indeed, the luxury and wealth everywhere ex-
hibited absolutely astounds me. The landed people can show
nothing like it. The only drawback is that all is neiv ; but so
magnificent and really good that no one can turn up his nose.
I have been so fefed that T am almost ill. My frugality of
eating surprises and, I fear, annoys my hosts. Had I forty
parson-power, I should be more popular.

* Macaulay records in his diary, November 29 and 30, 1848: "I was
shocked to learn the death of poor Charles Buller. I could almost cry
for him. . . . Tufnell [Treasury Whip] sent for me, and proposed Liskeard
to me. I hesitated ; and went home leaving tlie matter doubtful. Roebuck
called at near seven to ask about my intentions, as ho had also been thought
of. This at once decided me; and I said I would not stand, and wrote
to Tufnell, telling him so. Roebuck lias on more than one occasion behaved
to me with great kindness and generosity ; and I did not choose to stand
in his way (Trevelyau's " Life of Macaulay," ii. p. 245). Mr. R. Buddon
Crowder, afterwards a judge, was elected for Liskeard without opposition.
In former years Roebuck's estimate of Macaulay's power as a Parliamentary
orator, as expressed in his -' Diary of sn M.P.," in Tail's Magazine, had not
been a flattering one.

aia

LIFE OF jO/fX ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

"^^^%

CHAPTER XIX.

HISTORY OF THE WHIG MINISTRY — MEMUKU FOU
SHEFFIELD. 184!).

In the early days of January, 1849, Mr. Roebuck was
entertained by the Reformers of Bradford, Wiltshire, and
presented with a piece of " drake's-head green cloth," the
manufacture of the place, on which an inscription was
worked in silk recording that it was intended as a token
of respect for his manly conduct in the House of Commons.
Mr. Roebuck took the opportunity of discussing the con-
dition of the people and the state of the nation. The recent
defeat of Sir Culling Eardley, in the West Riding of York-
shire, enabled him to point the moral of what he considered
the " spiritual pride " of the Dissenters, and, as he regarded
it, their sacrifice of civil rights for theological dogmas and
religious intolerance.

./. A. Roebnrk to Franris Placo.

Milton, Lyminiiloii, Hanix, Jinmaiij 17, 184!). — I am hard at
work writing a history of our friends, the Whijjjs. Can you let
me see any collections or M8S. of yours relating to the Reform
Bill and subseciuent events ;' The state of the popular mind in
1830-33 is a point of gveut interest, about which you have,
I know, collected much evider^ce. ... I am writing and working
very assiduously, as I want tue work off my hands before return-
ing to Parliament, which I may or may not be asked to do,
though the probability is in favour of my being asked.

d at
a let
brm
d in
lave,
king
urn-
do,

HISTORY OF THE WHIG MfMSTRV.

113

To Thomiix Xoi'lh {lialh,)

Jli/loii, I/an/K, Janmiif/ 22, 1H4!).— As respects myself, all
thin^a seem to work very well ; whether uny result worth haviup
will follow, I cannot suy. If certain jMvrties can keep me out, they
will do so ; it remains to l)e seen what their power in. The
Times certainly is, for it, veiy complimentary. The only persons
besides mere Whigs who are opposed to me are the Wesleyans
and some other members of Dissenting bodies. The Leeds
Merriuy wu.^ furious against me for what I said at liradford,
but all my friends in Yorkshire entreated mc to give him no
reply, which indeed I never thought of doin<.

If?-

To Mrs. Ilorhuilc.

Januiinj, 1840. — j. dined with Wortley. Hallam I found
deeply wounded by Macaulay's great success, though perhaps to
careless observers no evidence of such a feeling exists. As for
news, all the world is expecting what Parliament will bring, and
nothing occurs. Tn I'aris they are eudcav ouring to get up a row,
and will not succeed. The Ministers have anticipated Cobden by
declaring that they intend to economize. We want men, or
rather a man, in India. Had Napier been in Gough's place this
check would never have happened.

Mr. Roebuck looked forward to the coming of a new
Conservative party.

A great Conservative party must soon be formed, one which
will govern England for some years. Not a feudal party, but a
compound of persons quite willing to advance, introducing all
sorts of administrative reforms willingly and proprio motu, yielding
in respect to political changes to the widely expressed and strongly
felt wish of the people regarding them. They will oUow the
public mind freely, fairly, cordially, but they will not in political
affairs lead it. On the one side, they will have a bigoted party,
and on the other, the fanatical political one, and should steer a
middle course between these extremes.

To Mrs. lloabuvk.

February, 1849. — . . . I find Frank Mills vehement against
my leaving England. One other person to whom T mentioned it
is furious.

■' W.

■551

■i-ii

• .'.

C:h

L/F£ OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

To Fraiiris Plovr.

MiUon, March 1, 1S4!>. — When I aiu somewhat further
advanced,* I should like you to look over my labours, if you can
^ive your time to it. I am afraid that I shall offend some of
my friends by sayius>' what I think. This, however, cannot be
helped. I am veiy much attached to these friends, but I nuist
not Siicrifice what I think the truth, because that truth is
disagreeable. This difficulty was a reason indeed for not WTiting
the book, but to that [ am now pledged. You will not be
offended, but you would tell me plainly what you thought in-
correct as statements of facts. As far as ojiitiions are concerned,
we should, I think, not differ much.

I was surprised to find in your MS. that you considered
the going by the king, on November J), liS;^0, to the Guildhall
was t/cnif/proi/s. f The AVhigs all sneered at the idea of danger to
the king. They said to the duke, " Stay you away and no harm
can happen." You don't seem to think this true. You say that
the blackguards would have made a row, whether the duke waa
away or not. The thing is not very important now, though at the
time it created a great noise.

To Fra/iris Pluce.

Milton, March 4, 184'.).— I send yon the first chapter of my
" History." You will see it is merely a general resume of affairs from
1815 to 1827, written with a view of bringing the Whigs on the
stage. I proceed step by step to make the history more particular
and the conduct of the Whigs more apparent. Remember my
" History " is that of the 117//// A(/miiiislrafioii. What illustrates
that is suitable for my purpose ; anything beyond I do not want.
As I go on my " History " will be that of the Empire at large, as
affected by the Whig Administration. At present I have not yet
expanded to that extent. I am now treating of the great Reform
question, and I am just bringing the Whigs on the stage as an
administration. While writing the truth, I wish to make my
relation a striking history.

Some of the statements made, even in this summary, are

* With the " History of the Whig Ministry of 1830."
t Wiilpole's " History," vol. iii. p. 185, et. seq. ami Roebuck's " Whig
Ministry," vol. i. p. 411.

my
atcs
nut.

fc, as
[»t yet
form
Its an
my

are
Khig

HISTORY OF THE WHIG MINISTRY. 215

curious. The one rcspectinj; tlio AVhii;s' refusal to take ofllee if
the Ministry should be dismissed on the (juoon's business,* Lord
Brougliani has insisted on my inserting: as true. If true, it is
highly honourable to the party of which he \v 13 then the most
important member.

I will send from time to time the SIS. I am writing- hard
and writin-,' really without regard to my health ; still, it must be
done. I have debts to pay, and, \l I die in the struggle, that
must be done. I believe that a great game is before me if my
health hold, but of that I am not sure. Still, I go on. So let me
know when you have gone through the lirst page of my " History "
and I will send you another.

To J/is. lioeburk.

Miorh 17, 184!).— :Mrs. Buller [mother of Charles Ruller,
M.P.] is dead. She went out ; died asleep almost. Now oue day
well, another ill, but every day sank more and more, till at last
she fell into a sleep which came to that last long oue called
the end. This thing called life — how poor it is after all ! Here
she dies a broken-hearted old woman, whose youth was happy, gay,
sparkling with pleasure — the brirlit Queen of the (Janges.
Glorying in her two boys, and fixing her happiness on the
one's success — she is left alone. Iler husband deail, her sou dies,
the other abroad — she dies in a stranger's house. This is but a
poor close after all. The sun seems to go down in clouds and
rain — we die in sorrow, wishing the day ended. The old story :
one pegs the other out — Lady Dulf Gordon had a son and
heir last night. She is very happy, and very well. I have seen a
sun picture of Lord Brougham that is inimitable. The day for
taking it must not be very sunny, but a clear sky with Hying
clouds. There is uo exaggeration of parts ; everything is in right
perspective and harmonious. I shall go myself, and bring with
me my own r ' 'crion, and you shall judge. If it is as like as
Lord -H. i, thru I shall see my own likeness, which I fancy I never
have '■ ■ )C'.

AlarJi :9. — Well, I have been to the sun, and I have had my
picture,, srch a (jucer thing. I shall t j .. get Brougham. I
should like to have ('. J. Napier. F. IMills has heard some
passages from my " History," and is greatly j)leased with it.
* " History of the V/liig Alinisxry," vol. i. p. 1».

^vX

^.V-

■ 1-

■n

2-:iM3l

216

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

To Fmncbi Plaec

March 2G, 1849. — Thaaks for your suggestions. . . . When
1 began my work I was quite aware of the very nice difficulty
I should have to avoid about B. [Brougham.] I hoped, never-
theless, to be able to tell the truth and fairly state my own
opinions without giving him offence ; but, as I proceed, I fear
more and more lest I shall inevitably wound him. To avoid
this will, I am afraid, be impossible. I shall not use any harsh
words. My very sincere and warm attachment to him personally
will prevent this, even were there any disposition on my part,
which there is not, to employ harsh epithets. But I cannot \ ake
his views of men. He now lives with the Tory party, and his
kind nature forces him not merely to like the people with whom
he is in daily intercourse, but also to approve of their conduct
and to adopt their political views.* This I cannot do, and my
opinions I must express. These he will find so completely opposed
to his own that he will, I fear, be hurt. Now, I cannot avoid
this. Do not decide, then, upon isolated passages, but jml by
the whole. You will find that my decision on his acts ' isv ufi' a
unfavourable that one or two expressions of kind feeling towarls
him will hardly be enough to make people think me his echo.
I confess that when I find him right I am not unwilling to say
so rather strongly, and when I find him ill-treated, to speak of
those who so treat him with some indignation.

Now for your criticism as to my having treated the years from
1817-22 with greater brevity, and having made them less
important than the years from 1822-27. My " History " properly

* In iin article in TaiVs Magazine, December, 1833, p. 325, Iloebuck,
speaking of Brougham, then on the woolsack, had said : " He has obtained a
vast renown upon a very slender foundation. His failures — and they have
been many — have proceeded from two causes. Ho has pretended to too much,
and he wants moral courage. By attempting everything, ho is unable to
deal with any subject effectually. He knows nothing to the bottom. His
incessant activity surprises the fool^, but has ruined his own mind. . . .
Present approbation is the very breath of his nostrils. To obtain this appro-
bation he will sacriiice anything and everything." And then, contrasting
Brougham's boldness on the platform of a public meeting with his demeanour
in the Lords, he says : " In the latter he bends to their influence, cringes to
their prejudice's. He has not the courage to face their, frowns or to despise
their scorn. He has no hardiness of spirit." See also Roebuck's " History,"
passim, and especially Appendix A., vol i.

ICk,

3d a
liave
ich,
to
iHis

pro-

lour

tise

HISTORY OF THE WHIG MINISTRY.

217

begins at 1830, but I was obliged to go back some years in order
to bring forward my dramatis persons and place them fairly on
the stage at the real rising of the curtain in 1830. All that goes
before is merely an introduction. The stream of history bcj^in-
ning at 1815 gradually expands, becomes larger and larger, till it
comes in full tide at 1830. And thus it happens that the years
nearer to 1830 are more minutely treated than the earlier ones.
But I must not convey wrong impressions while doing this ; and,
as I think with you the rarliamentarij proceedings from 1817-22
were of more importance than the J'arliamentart/ proceedings
from 1822-27, I must use some expressions to show my value of
these two periods. But it is only the Parliamentary proceedings
that I deem of this superior importance. The working of the
public mind, the political and economic literature of the latter
period, were of very great importance. The effect of that literature
on the popular mind during the latter period was much greater
than during the preceding years ; in fact, from 1 820-30 I believe
the most wonderful period in our history, if we look merely at
the importance of the people's opinions. The writings of Bentham
T)roduced a silent revolution in the mode of treating all political
and moral subjects. The habits of thought were entirely new,
and the whole body of political writers, without (for the most
part) knowing whence the inspiration came, were full of a new
spirit, and submitted all acts to a new test. Utility (I mean the
true meaning of that much-abused term), and not mere unmeaning
sentiment, was this test. In this sense, then, I think this ten
years deserving of great attention. To discuss the clianges that
occurred is very difficult. It is not a history of battles and
murders, or great party conflicts, but of wonderful mental changes
in a whole people. To give anything like a true conception of
this I find very difficult. Having lived through that time an
observant and very sanguine enthusiastic spectator, I wish to
make others who shall come after us feel as I feel about these
times, but to do so is almost impossible.

I am now finishing the general election in 1830, and have
described briefly the Middlesex and Yorkshire elections. These
were two remarkable events, the Kijmjitoms, not the causes, of
chanse.

The decrease of the Duke of Wellington's popularity from
the passing of the Emancipation Act to the commencement of the

t !

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218

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

General Election, is a very curious political phenomenon, for
which I have found it not easy to account. I can see a number
of separate circumstances, by themselves not very important
apparently, but which, taken altogether, produced that great
change. He really did nothing to make liimself unpopular, but
the world guessed that he was opposed to Parliamentary reform,
and they were right. The doings of the French Ministers were
evidently the most influential circumstances as causing a change
of the public feeling. They (the people) assumed that Wellington,
like Polignac, was ready to be the minister of despotism, and I
fancy they were not far wrong as to the Duke at that time. He
grew wiser in after years. ... I was in town disturbed by a
matter connected with Parliament. I shall be there, I fancy, soon.
In the mean time I go on working hard.

Francis Place to J. A. lioeliuck.

Mai '., 1S40. — [After explaming that ill-health prevents him
from loo ,. authorities as he would like]. Mind, I have no

quarrel with .»>' ugham, neither do I wish you to take my words
as for more than a caution on your own account solely. I never
will have a quarrel with him. AVith other men under similar
circumstances it would be otherwise. But the good he has done
so greatly over-balances the evil, that I have on several occasions
defended him from his enemies. Between ourselves, however,
I think it my duty to caution you to go with the utmost circum-
spection, lest you should commit yourself in a way which may
subject you to the imputation of having been misled by him to
the damage of your own reputation.* I fear there is ambiguity,
or rather an actual misleading in the note, page i), of your first
chapter, and in chapter ii. where you speak as if Brougham were
considered as having been duly appointed leader of the House of
Commons on the popular side, which he certainly was not. In
1817 his conduct respecting both the press and the people was
very bad. It was said at the time that the countenance he gave
to the proceedings of Lord Castlereagh encouraged him to con-
tinue those proceedings to the extent they were carried. There

* A slirewd forecast, for see article "Brougham" in "Dictionary of
Universal Biography," which warns readers that Roebuck's " History " was
" largely inspired by Brougham, and for that and other reasons must not be
implicitly trusted."

■was

HISTORY OF THE WHIG MINISTRY.

!I9

was certainly much unbecoming conduct on Brougham's part in
the House of Commons, in respect to his being returned for
Westminster, for which he was rebuked witli not undue severity.

In March, 1849, Mr. H. G. Ward, one of the members
for Sheffield, was appointed Lord High Commissioner of
the Ionian Islands. In looking for a successor the eyes
of the Liberals in the constituency at once turned, with
singular unanimity, towards Mr. Roebuck. The occasion
was regarded as favourable for healing the differences
which the recent contest for the West Ridinjc had caused.
The most influential member of the party was himself in
favour of bringing forward Mr. Macaulay, who had been
rejected by Edinburgh, but he yielded to the views of the
others. Mr. Roebuck at once accepted the invitation of
the Sheffield electors. He pointed to his past life as a
pledge of what his future career would be. He was re-
cognized as a thorough-going Radical, and while that did
not alienate from him the support of more moderate
Liberals — who thought that he went too far in the matter
of the franchise — it disarmed a threatened Chartist opposi-
tion, based on Mr. Roebuck's refusal to support a universal
suffrage that should not except rogues, thieves, and vaga-
bonds. The extension of the franchise sketched by Mr.
Roebuck as worthy of support was practically household
suffrage. A Mr. T. Clark did, indeed, offer himself as a
candidate in the Chartist interest, in opposition to Mr.
Roebuck, but after an interview between the two candi-
dates, Mr. Clark withdrew, finding that on the subject of
the suffrage there was no material difference. "Our great
bond of union as Chartists," he wrote, " is the sutfrage ;
and whatever Mr. Roebuck's opinions may be upon other
subjects, on that of franchise he approximates so closely
to us, that opposition to him would, I think, be both unwise
and unseemly."

The choice was very generally applauded throughout

' ,i

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220

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

the country, even Mr. Roebuck's old foeman, the Times,
remarking that Sheffield would do itself honour by re-
instating Mr. Roebuck in his natural and proper position.
" Mr. Roebuck out of Parliament, and Parliament without
Mr. Roebuck," were, it said, " equally imperfect. How many
times," it exclaimed, "since last November twelvemonth,
have the public missed the vigorous eloquence, the honest
indignation, the home truths, the mother-wit,* the sterling-
good sense — albeit clothed sometimes in a stoical if not a
cynical garb, for which the member for Bath stood un-
rivalled and alone."

To Mrs. Roebuck.

March 17, 1849. — I shall remain till Monday, and, if Ward
accepts, I shall start at once for Sheffield and hoist my standard
tlicrc. T have no fear of the result.

Mo ;/, March IH, 184!). — Ward has accepted, so Sheffield
will be vacant. I am makinj^ arranij^enients, but it will not be
declanifl till Eii<'^;^r.

To William Fisher, Sheffield.

April 13, 1849. — I hope to be of service by promoting; good
feelin<i;s between working-men and their employers. If I com-
menced with difference between the Chartists and myself, my
chance of peace-makint? would be very much diminished,
liesides, I own that I have strong feelings of sympathy with the
working-men. There are admirable traits in their character
which have always excited my regard — a sterling manliness which
I could wish all classes to share. A quarrel with the men them-
selves would really give me pain.

To Mrs. Roebuck.

Sheffield, May 1, 1849.-- . . . Well, it is really to be a walk-
over for the first time in my life. We had a large open-air
meeting last night. The weather was beautiful, and everything
passed off well. The extraordinary nonsense of the working-
men's ideas would startle you. I met everything with a perfectly
fearless answer, and therefore, in some cases, I was met by loud

MEMBER FOR SHEFFIELD.

221

groans. I quickly conquered the meeting, but carefully abstained
from all appearance of suiting my words so as to please them.

I found that "Ward had not deceived the people by his acts,
that his deeds and his words squared, but his manmr had
evidently misled the men, and they compluiued of his xofi
sawder^ a commodity which I bluntly told them they would not
receive from me. On the new Poor Law, abolishing the House
of Lords, Socialistic theories, I brought out ray refusals to
agree with them, with a steady peremptory roughness. The
mode told, and they grumbled assent to my election. On
Thursday the nomination or election will take place. Oeorge
Edwards [his late Chairman of Committee at Hath] is coming,
with others, to the nomination ; what right-hearted fellows !

Sheffifild, May 2, 1849. — All goes well, and I suppose by to-
moiTow I shall be M.P. for Sheflield. So soon as I am really
returned I will send you a line. ... A Mr. Fenton, a reverend
curate of Norton, came to claim cousinship with me ; his
father. Colonel Fenton, having married Miss lloebuck, the
daughter of Benjamin lloebuck, of Meersbrook. He told mo
that I had a family vault in the parish church here, if I was
at all particular as to my lying when the time comes, f
thanked him for his information, but said I was careless of the
whereabouts when that time did come. I am a sort of bulwark
here by which the masters hope to be defended : the men fear
while they are compelled to elect me. Altogether my position is
new and curious.

i I,

1.1 "

' !i

*■

On May 3 Mr. Roebuck was elected as member for
Sheffield without opposition.

Ik-
lir
iff

To Jfrs. Rorbuck.

Maij 4, 1849. — I have lying before me a note directed with
the old addition of M.P., and so I am, having walked over the
course. The events of the election have been peculiar only in
their quietness. I have been the moans of healing differences,
and uniting the Liberal party.

May G. — I have taken my seat ; the congratulations without
end, but, just as I was leaving the House, I found myself quite
lame, so that I was for the present Imrx lio romhnf.

May 9, 1849. — The Cobdcn party are horribly annoyed by my

1 1'

l-\ -1

222 L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

quiet statements at Sheffield. They feel themselves put down. I
could not help this. Common sense required my statement, which
I made without reference to their peculiar views and feelings, but
this was from the nature of things, not from my desire.

F. Mills is full of my doings, and is so kind that I am
absolutely overpowered. In truth, the world within a few days
has borne an aspect so different from that of former times, that I
am touched and melted. ]\Iy course has required courage, but it
is now clear it was a wise as well as an honest one. At present
I am watching events, in order fairly to take advantage of wind
and tide, which are now in my favour. Certainly such a position
ought not to be sacrificed after the long labours by which it has
been won.

My book [" The Colonies of England "] is now being printed.

4. 1

( 223 )

CHAPTER XX.

n 5 i

PARLIAMENTARY ACTIVITIES. 1849-1850.

To JJis. Roehticlc.

May, 9, 1849. — I have not yet seen Palmerston, but shall do so
in order to learn what his feelings are respecting my motion as to
the debts due by foreign governments to our Government and
British subjects. Cobden's anger at this notice was curious. He
is under the control of Bright, who, being a Quaker, chooses to
be really warlike in favour of peace. Cobden is overborne by the
pugnacious peace-talking Friend. His bugbear is war ; his one
idea, saving.

Last night was about as dull an affair as possible, and the
majority in the Lords giving 49 as majority to ministers, has
destroyed every hope of the Protectionist party.* To-night will
finish the business in the Commons. It is all cry and little wool.
I find everybody exceedingly kind, rather more than commonly so.

The ministers are on Monday to bring in a Constitution for
Australia. This rather anticipates the Colonial Society.

Mat/ 14. — They have appointed me on the committee to in-
quire about £7000 being paid to M.P.'s.f They have come to me
to take up the whole case of the Bankruptcy Laws, and the public
and private debts of foreign governments to us. This is enough
for one pair of hands.

May 15. — I did make a speech ; and the Irish, as usual, set

♦ The proposed repeal of the old Navigation Laws was made tlie rallying
ground of the Protectionists. Tlic Bill, practically giving free trade to
shipping, was fought stoutly in both Houses. The majority in the Lords on
the second reading was carried, not by 49, as stated above, but by 10, and that
only by the Government having more proxies than the Opposition.

t There was a hirge sum unaccounted for in connection with the Par-
liamentary promotion expenses of the Eastern Counties Railway.

I )l

: I

II
7 !l

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224

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

!i::r

\'l

up a howl. Lord John Russell was compelled to cuter into a
defence of his policy. He was very civil, but was at first desirous
of escapini? me by a jocose reply. This did not suit my purpose,
and I compelled him to deal <i:ravely with the subject. The mere
violent abuse and vulgar epithets of the Irish I turned from with
one fling of contempt, to which the House heartily responded.
Sir James (Jraham exclaimed to me, " Well, you have done good
service in putting your hand in that nest of hornets ! We
have all-along much wanted you." The universal observation
being, "You may judge how your blow told by their anger."
This band of hungry, noisy, unscrupulous Irishmen has abso-
lutely disgusted the House into silence. The (lovernment is
worried to death by their clamorous impertinences, and nobody
likes to encounter their abuse. They have hitherto ridden rough-
sliod over the House.*

There is a row in Montreal. Lord Elgin has been mobbed.
They have burned the Parliament House, and really become
rebels. These are the loyal English party .f

Maij 10. — The imbecility of the Government was curiously
manifested last night. The Canadian riot has ex'cited great atten-
tion here. The Government shuffle, and will say nothing, entreat-
ing us to wait till more information is obtained. Tliere is no
need of this ; we know everything that need be known, and have
the power of at once forming a right decision. They know this ;
but yet, for the purpose of gaining a delay of a few hours, they
shuffle and put off the day. They are all casting about for a means

* The subject was the Land Iinprovoment and Drainage of Ireland Bill.
Mr. Roebuck denounced tlie scranible of Irishmen for English money. Tliey
wished, ho said, to acquire without work, and tlie English taxpayers were
asked to provide for those — not the Irish poor, but tlio Irish proprietors — who
would not provide for themselves. The Government had destroyed self-help
by lavishing English money on tlie country. Tiie '* vulgar abuse " witii whieli
these remarks were resented may be judged by Mr. Joiin O'Connell's opening
sentences : " The thunderbolt lias fallen, and we are not crushed. Tlie storm
has come with all its fury upon us, and enforced witli the grimaces of the
mountebank and the spite of tlio viper." On July 9 Mr. Roebuck made
similar protest against the expenditure of the hard-earned money of tlie people
of this country on an advance for railways and distressed unions in Ireland

t The outbreak was caused by resentment at Lord Elgin, the Governor,
giving assent to a Bill granting indemnities to those whoso property suffered
in the insurrection of 18157-38, without excepting such as might themselves
have been rebels.

Slhi ' """'W 'he whole, time '! ?" ^^ """ -fel^t

Bm*'for^.?.'l''f'' °" ^^^y 21, a,ke<I leave t,„ i • •

measure, was described bv th °% "'"' P"''!'"' of the
«;« debate, as „„o showt*taTf r" "'"' '*-«'"

that a Bill „„ the same sub.vlf °''™™»»t on the pfea
<'W aa anaouacemo™ whih T *° "^ '"'^"duoed next
An^toy the remark thaJ^rL/M "■°™ *''• Chishot
".e-^^ure would never ha™ beeni, ^'"* * «°^^™»en
Koebuef. book and present 'i^"^" °^' ^-P' for Mr.

P "^ employed. Everj. applicant f,„?,P ™ "'"o*' com-

'-1 '

■!a I ^

•!i I

»f ;i

I''

;■ ifl

936

UFE OF JO/IN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

M.n

answered, even tlioiif^li tliu matter of his letter interests nohniuiui
being but himself. ... A pretty kettle of fish iu Canada ! They
arc bcginninj^ to find out that we were ric^iit when we warned
them ajjfainst the En<,'lish party. I liave to-day a letter from Sir
George Sinelair, in which he confesses that in 18o7 I was right.

Tn Mrs. Unehwlc.

May 20. — We are just now endeavouring by a committee to
discern the truth of certain charges respecting Hudson "■ and the
railways. It will come in this case to nothing, but the seen
H most remarkable one. The rascality now brought to light .^
astounding.

London,, Juno 4, IS-i!). — The last news just received is, that
there is another insurrection in Paris, regular fighting and
barricades, and, sooth to say, the men wiio revolt have right on
their side — that is, they are right in the matter of their com-
plaint against the Government ; but that does not justify revolt.
The French fancy they have shown that the Government is in
eiTor. They have no notion of yielding to a majority, but
immediately turn to fight. Everything now will be confusion
and misery.

The potato blight has appeared in Ireland, and I find the
same statement made here in England.

June 15, 1849. — I was in time for the motion about '
Jews,t and ^^^^ them a speech much applauded. " Dizzy " c
plimented me, saying the speech had greatly advanced the cause,
which was "the best praise a speech could receive." This he
said himself, coming over and shaking hands. The day was, on
the whole, a curious one. Graham (Sir James) walked across,
sat down by me, and said, " I owe you great amusement and
instruction. I took your book with me on my holidays, and read
it with the greatest interest. It is a most instructive as well as
a most amusing book." This is very civil, and from Graham I
like it. He is clever, and knows what he is abont. I have a
lieautiful lithograph of Charles Napier, sent by Lady ("William)
Napier.

* The charges were made by shareholders in the Eastern Counties Bail-
way against Hudson, the chairman of the company.

t The Tarliamentary Oaths Bill. Tiiiid reading carried by a majority
of m.

I '.

PARUAMEXTA R Y ACTIVITIES.

a:;

On a proposal in coinmittoo to vote a pfrant to delVay
the expense of militia and voluntocrs in Canada, aiuend-
inont was made, prayin<jj for the Royal Assent to bo with-
held from the Canada Indemnity Bill until assurance was
given that no person wlio cnfja;j;ed in or aided or abetted
" that unnatural rebellion " should participate. In socondini^
that, Mr. Baillie Cochrane trumped up the old charge
against Roebuck of having defended rebels at the bar of
the House. Indignation at this brought Mr. Roebuck
perilously near to launching a challenge. "Had that
assertion," ho said, " not been uttered in the House of
Commons ; had it been uttered by any man not clothed

with the protection of the House " The remainder of

the sentence was drowned in cries of " Oh, oh ! " As ho
proceeded with his argument against the amendment ho
calmed down, and, before resuming his seat, apologized
for the somewhat excited state in which he Ijegan. There-
upon Mr. Cochrane disavowed any intention of casting
imputations on Mr. Roebuck.

\ \

'1'

Bail-
lajorily

Jimp, 15. — AVe had a stormy night. lu the midst of tliu
Canada debate, Mr. Baillie Cochrane thoui^ht fib to mako a vuitijar
attack upon mo. I answered, and s^ave him a scarification. I
shall have another set-to with him this evening. Gladstonu
moved in the matter, and has got himself into a scrape. The
]\Iinistry last night asked me to speak. The Attorney-General
was the man sent to me.

Jum IG. — The result of the Canada debatu will tell well in
Canada. The majority was two to one, pretty nearly. Gladstone
and Sidney Herbert acted foolishly. Sir James Graham came to
me for information, and voted with me. Lord John [Russell]
also came to me, and they made me, in fact, their authority.
Dizzy's speech was very poor, bad in argument, expression, and
delivery. My answer to Baillie Cochrane has gained me great
applause. It is now past four p.m., and I have been up since
eight, having gone to bed at three. No night except Wednesday
have I been iu bed before two. At this moment, I am so sleepy

■•' -u' *

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228

L/F2^ OF yOJLY ARTHUR ROEBUCK'.

■ 'k'y

that I can hardly see, auJ for my sins I am gohig to diue with
II. I). H.

In consequence oi doubts expressed as to the power of
the Crown to exercise the prerogative of mercy in the case
of Smith O'Brien, Meagher, and others convicted of high
treason, a bill was introduced, placing the matter beyond
dispute. The Irish State prisoners, however, demanded
that, instead of being transported for life, they should
either be set at liberty or executed according to the original
sentence, and they petitioned to be heard by counsel
against the Transportation for Treason (Ireland) Bill. In
the debate on this question, the Irish members set off in
lull cry on Mr. Roebuck's track. He had declared that
he would hang the prisoners to-morrow rather than they
should escape by a quibble, contending that if this Bill
were defeated, the capital sentence ought to be carried out.
The scene that ensued was exti-aoi-dinarily heated. Mr.
11. M. Fox (Longford), Mr. Reynolds (Dublin), Mr. R. D.
Browne (Mayo), Mr. Lawless (Clonmel), and Mr. J.
O'Connell, all in succession assailed Mr. Roebuck, who
replied in kind, and the air was thick with recriminations
and with appeals to the Speaker. Mr. Roebuck was
accused of charging one member with falsehood, another
with being drunk, and a third with insolence. The Speaker
was conveniently deaf, and Captain Berkeley interposed
with the remark that the interruptions of the Irish
members were so contrary to the rules of the House, that
he did not wonder at the violence with which Mr. Roebuck
resented them. Mr. Roebuck's own account of the afl'air
is given in the following letters : —

June 19. — I have been all day busy with an Irish row. They
have made a run upon mo, in the hopes of running me down.
However, Captain Berkeley (Grantley's brother) has stood by me,
and now everytiiing is right, and not only right, but nothing could
be better, and I have in my tavonr the opinion of every gentle-
man I have been able to meet. A ^Mr. Fox, of Longford, Ireland,

■'^

llown.
me,

30Uld

Intlc-
llaud,

PARLIAMENTARY ACTIVITIES.

220

thon,^lit fifc to call mo the "birod mlvocato of rcliols." I iit once
said be had asserted ti fnhrhood. The Speaker I'or the first time
iu my life called lue to order, I retracted the word as reji'arded
the House, hut iwl Ihr member, Mr. Fox ! Therefore he sends me
a messat-e. I refer him to Berkeley, who tiiinks me quite ri^ht,
and makes tl": man retract his assertion, and there the matter
rests. I have the letters. The ministers i)ehaved like cowards,
as they are, but I shall i^'aiii with the people, my best friends, as
I find every minute.

Junfi 2<», l«t',). — I find everybody of one niiiul respectini:^
these Irish rnllians, and the conspiracy beinj^ so plain, everybody
thanks me for resistiut? tuem. I ^^et letters from every part of
the country sayiui,' this. I dined here yesterday with Lord
Malmesbury, an cxeeedin<;'ly a^'reeable j^'ood-natureil jK'rson. lie
offered me his grandfather's jv.ipers for my "History." This is
really valuable. Alfred Montgomery will let me see Lord Welleslcy's,
so I get materials. To-morrow I shall bring forward the subject
of Home. The introduction of the French ••■ is diabolical.

London, Jane -J-J. — To-day brought me letters from Shellield
full of thanks and praise for my opposition to the Irish. I am
just going to bring on the Roman business. . . . The French
conduct excites great disgust, and I am deternuned to give expres-
sion to the general feeling. To-day is so fine that I feel in a
state of misery at being a prisoner here. 1 dined yesterday with
IJiokham Escott,t and met Cross the philosopher, and made him
talk on his subject. He says if you put a sheet of lead on one
side a pail, and a sheet of copper on the other, and connect them
by a slip of copi)er or lead, and fill the pail with water, you may
put a piece of meat therein, and it will keep sweet for months,
but will lose its tastj in four days, lie says he is making cxjieri-
ments in this line of inrpiiry, and is expecting great results. The
conversation was amusing.

London, June 2;», 1(S4'.). — My Roman ((ucstion has made a
sensation. Reel, during the whole time of my si)eaking, was

* Tho expetlitionivry forco '.vliich nttiickfd liomc in Hiippurt of tho Topr.
Uoebuek uskeil whether EuglaiiJ hud oxprcssuil tliMnpprohatiou ? Lord
Pulmeraton would uot hiiv more than that tiio ISritiah (.iuvurmuuiit hud uoeii
the action of tho Knuch with j^irtiut regret.

t M.P. for 'Winchester 1S41-47. Ho unsuccessfully cnntcsted Wodt
Somerset, Westminster, Cheltuulimu, and I'lyuiouih. See p. 100.

• ■ i

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!30

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

ostentatiously noisy in his clicers. lie sat forward so as to bring
himself out from the row of persons on each side of him, and
vehemently cheered me from the bej^inning. If the papers omit
to mention this, they will jiass ovct one really marked incident of
the scene.

Loniloii, Jul II 12, 1840. — We had a dinner last night at Sir
Joshua Walmsley's, with the leading Radicals . . . Hume, Mihier
(Jibson, Charles Villiers (a lish out of water), Cobden, Bright, Rev.
AV. J. Fox, and a Colonel Salwey. The object was to see if any
combined system of action could be devised, and it soon became
plain that, amongst these men, a leader or a system was impossible.
Villiers came there to prevent any such result, ditto Milner
Gibson. Cobden is a poor creature, with one idea — the making
of county voters. He is daunted by the cor ' squires, and
hopes to conquer them by means of these votes, kittle Fox . . .
was about as much fit for a political chief as I am for a ballet
dancer. The only man of metal and i)luck was Bright, the
l)ugnacious Quaker. Walmsley himself is a well-intentioned,
hard-headed man uf acturer.

Lord Grey* has sent to me to talk with him on his colonial
legislation. I shall ask him if his father left any ptipers he could
let me see for my " History." . . .

July l;>, 1H4!). — . . . For the first time this year I went to
the Opera to see Grisi in the UtjonoUi, a most magnificent piece of
acting. This was, however, after a piece of acting, most successful,
too, of my own in " Hon. House." t

I saw Lord Grey yesterday, who made it a favour not to oppose
his Australian Bill. A word from me would have put an end to it.

I mil be home next week. Everybody is fleeing, and 1 shall
run away also.

Mr. Roebuck did not, however, " run away " so soon as
he had intended, for he was in his place up to within a
day or two of the prorogation, taking active part in the
debates. Thus, in cordially supporting a motion of Mr.
Drummond's on the taxation and large expenditure of the

* Secretary of State for the Colonies.

t On Jlr. Aiistey's motion on illegal ordinances, or acts of Council for
the taxatidn of tlu- people of Vhh Uienien's I^and, ami charges against tho
Governor (Sir \V. Denisou) of utLouipting to iutimidatu the judges.

PARLIA MENTAR Y A CTIVITIES.

331

country, and for inquiry into places, salaries, and establish-
ments, ho said he would gladly support a Government
that had vigour enough to carry out its own intentions ;
but he could not give his support to those paltry, hesi-
tating fears, that shrinking trouble, that self-deceit which,
like the wild ostrich in the bush, concealed its head, and
thought it concealed its body. If he could force out such
a Government and force in a strong one, lie would willingly
do so. He opposed a motion by Mr. Herries for a fixed
duty on corn, and in a debate on the Russian invasion of
Hungary, he vigorously attacked both Russia and France.
He expressed approval of Lord Palmerston's conduct at
the Foreign Office, but insisted that the moral power of
England should be used to settle the dispute. War, he
said, was a dreadful calamity, but there were calamities
more dreadful.

t J.

>n as
in a
the
Mr.
the

il for
St tho

To JLs. Roebuck.

Januart/ 27, 1850. — The Tories, had they beeu wise, would
have dropped Protection, taken the Colonies up, and have driven
out the AVhigs at a blow.*

Jdiuianj 31. — The affair t went off vciy well, though the
getting there was a disagreeable journey.

February 2. — . . . A fit of illness, brought on, Ellintson said,
by cold ; Arnott, who was in the Temple with me, by an over-
wrought mind. Perhaps both. It lasted all day.

February 4, — The colonial affair is put off in the Commons
till Friday. Tiie on dil, according to the Times, is mi adoption
of my plan.

February I). — The Government explanation X a,l)out the
colonies was made last night. Lord .1. linssell spoke of the

♦ A Protectionist amendment to the Adilrees was negatived in the Lords
by 152 to 103, and in the Commons by 311 to lli2.

t His first leisture at Salisbury.

X On proposals for the better government of the Australian Colonies, and
authorizing them to levy customs duties. Koebuck (Feb. 18) objected to
giving tliem power to make constitutions for themselves. Ho wanted the
Hi)U8(! not to devolve its authority, but to send out a maturotl plan which
would at once place liberal institutions there.

Ji^

< II ■:

m I

ill

232

ZZ/'i!? OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

consolation ho derived from the fact of mcmburs in that House
haviiiff paid attention to that sul»jeot, and then mentioned
Molesworth and myself. IMolesworth made an elaborate speech
with oranges and handkerchiefs. . . . Lonjif after, I followed
with a very short statement, that at once excited the House,
and made a debate. Sir James Graham paid me compliments
privately, Gladstone publicly, so did the speakers who followed me.

1, Siniwj Gtinlonx, FrbriKn-i/ 1;-), lHr)0. — ... I am going to
dine with Admiral Berkeley and Lady Charlotte to-night. I like
him ; he was very staunch and friendly to me last year during
the Irish row, and is really a good fellow. Peel's cheers to-day
on my statement ^'' were peculiar — marked, and even vociferous ;
and I feel that my last speech on tlio Ceylon affair has produced
an effect. The canters of the Bright set will not like it ; but
the common-sense of the country is with me. Edward EUico
met me yesterday while he was walking with his daughter-in-law,
and, after paying me all sorts of compliments, said, "Strange
that these people " (we were in Downing Street) " could not do
the thing, and should be indebted to you for doing what they
ought, as a Government, to have done." I shall be glad to get
into Chambers, as I shall be really able to work there, which I
am not in my present state.

Fehi-iKivij 14. — We had yesterday a brush in the House, and
I took the opportunity of doing what I thought justice to the
Colonial Office in the case of Ceylon.f Joseph Hume was at his
wits' end because I objected to the nonsense he and others talk
respecting our Government in the East. He accused me of
being tyrannical, and made a most amusing scene. The Govern-
ment had good reason to be greatly obliged to mo. This, how-
ever, was not my object. All I desired was to see justice done.

Fcbruaiff 28. — jMolcsworth has just started a crotchet — the
strangest possible, viz. that the Crown cannot form a Colonial
Government wiiuout representative constitutions — this in the
teeth of all the Colonial Charters which have just been re-
published.J

* In refutation of certain unfounded allogationa which sought to attribute
to Mr. Roebuclc'rt relatives a share in tiic CauadiiUi rebellion.

t The debate wua on February 11. Mr. Roebuck deprecated inquiry
and interference.

X Sir William jMoUsworths view is more i.ccurately stated in the Ilcv,

-tho
iiial
I the

re-
pute

jiiry
Kcv.

(

PA RLIA ME NT A RY A CTIVITIES.

233

March 4. — I have been all the early part of the day endea-
vouring to make Rothsehild come to the stru5^2:le in the House of
Commons to-moiTow. AVhat happens to-morrow depends chieHy
on Mr. Speaker.

When, in June, 1849, the Lords, according to their
wont, threw out the Jewish Disabilities Bill, Baron
Leopold de Rothschild resigned his seat, and appealed to
his constituents of the City of London. They sent him
back by an immense majority over Lord John Manners,
his opponent. Roebuck pressed Rothschild to present
himself at the table, and bring the question of tho oath to
an issue, but the baron delayed, believing that the Govern-
ment would take some action. It was not until July,
1850, that, ministers still procrastinating. Baron de Roths-
child went down and claimed to take his seat. At first
the officials declined to swear him on the Old Testament,
and a few days afterwards, having reconsidered this de-
cision, his refusal to take the oath " on the true faith of
a Christian" excluded him from the House. The long
struggle for removing this disability continued until July,
1858, when, eleven years after his first election. Baron de
Rothschild at length took his seat. The long antagonism
of the Lords had been overcome by a compromise. On tho
occasion of the third reading, Mr. Roebuck had a final fiing
at the Lords. " They had," he said, " written themselves
down asses; after stating that a Jew was morally unfit
to sit in Parliament, they had sent down a Bill by which
Jews might be admitted. The Lords were always doing
the same thing " (see their conduct on the Trent Corpo-
ration Act, Catholic Emancipation, English and Irish
Municipal Corporations, the Corn Laws, and so forth).
" They had done a good thing in a foolish manner, and had
cut a remarkable antic on this occasion. Ii; attempting

W. N. Molcsworth's " History of England," vol, ii. p. .".")!), Oa tliia night
Roebuck supportid Ilumo's motion in favour of IIousuliolJ Suft'rat,o and tiio
Ballot. It was defeated by 212 to DC.

i I

-54

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

•I

to maintain its own dignity, the House of Lords had
covered itself with dirt."

March 0, IS'iO. — I have been all the morning with Lord Grey»
at his invitation, talking over his Australian Bill. I was all last
evening fighting the Irish IJill,* and I am now most popular with
the Irish. They eanie to shake me by the hand with true Irish
fervour, because of my advocacy, and I certainly forced Lord
John to change his course in their favour during the night. He,
as usual, got angry, and wanted to bounce, bub he could not. . The
debate was a curious scene.

Lord (Jrey spoke of my going Circuit, and sfronr/li/ adviml
it. This was curious. Everybody seems of one mind on it, and
all appear to take an interest in my favour, llow different this
from the old times long gone by !

jl/urk 0. — I have ])een busy all day, and finished by making
a speech in the House,! for which I have been rapturously
ai)plaiulcd, David Dundas saying it was the best speech made
this year ; Compton of Lyndhurst, the l)e8t he ever heard in
the House ; and many otiiers to the same effect. Take all this
for what it is worth. It means that I have placed their wishes
and opinions before the world in a way exceedingly gratifying
to them. I hear men now wishing that I was of their party,
and intimating that if I was, I could lead. So I know I could ;
but that is not possible.

Yur/r, March 7. — I cannot help laughing when I think of the
effect my speech of yesterday produced. To see all the old
gravities of the House Hocking round me, to thank and praise
me, to hear Mr. Speaker profuse in compliments, was quite a
new thing, and amused me vastly.

Cobden, I understand, answered me ; but I had left the House,
having paired, and being obliged to prepare for my journey. He
never told me that he was to reply. I have no idea of what ho
said or how he met my arguments. The House was thin when
I spoke ; had the speech been made towards the end of the
debate, when the House was full, I sincerely believe it would

* Parliaraontary Voters (Ireland) Bill. Roebuck struggled, in committee,
to lower tlie fnmcliise.

t Against Marriages (Deceased Wife's Sister) Bill, which, " if passed,
would plant a thorn in the tide of almost every family."

Id;

use,
Hu
he
leu
the

.uld

ttee.

PARLIAMENTARY ACTIVITIES.

23$

liavc afTcctud the division.* As Trelawiiy was opposed to my

view, you will hear uU that is ajraiust me from , but you

may trust me, the effect was remarkable, and by uo means to my
iujury. I feel I am ri,i,'ht.

March l;>, ls:)0. — I shall take up my quarters at 2, Cloisters.
I shall also see Dundas, and discuss with him, who is really my
friend, my views and prospects. From loni^ consideration of my own
prospects I feel that I should prove an acquisition to the Ministry,
if they choose to accept me frankly. The only ditHeulty lies in
their aristocratic desire to destroy all who are not of them by
blood ; and if they took me into their ranks they would wish to
fonipel me to be an underling. This I will not submit to. Hut,
looking to the condition of politics now, I could accept office with
them, and make their Goverinnent the object of my support and
defence. Heaven only knows whether they look at me with these
eyes. The Hawes, Ward, aud Hayter tribe I cannot submit to
join ; but if they will take me as one of themselves, I will join —
and a powerful supporter in the House would be of use to them,
if tiiey knew their own interests.

Yoric, March 15, 1850. — I hear from Fi-.ink Mills that the
state of France is becoming alarming. The late Socialist returns
for Paris have frightened the timid aud moderate in England, as
we'I as in France.

WoodsJoij, Lecih, March 10, IH.'jO. — As Lord Ashley is renew-
ing his work as to the factories, I thought this a good oppor-
tunity for learning what the manufacturing world think of the
matter, and applied to some friends here for information. . . . Mr.
Heaton has a passion for farming (lie is partner in a large woollen
house), and took me to Mr. Eddison, who won the pig prizes last
year for the large Yorkshire breed. He, Eddison, is a solicitor,
and an admirer of mine. He gave me up the whole of yesterday,
and so soon as I joined him in the morning began talking of
my having resumed the circuit, stating how glad he was, and how
glad his brethren were, and begged of me not to be disappointed,
for that success was certain. (Well, we shall see.) We then went
to various mills, and finished by meeting a party of the leading
men at the Town Hall. Thence we took carriage, lunched at

* The Bill WU8 in tlio cliarge of Jlr. Jumea Stunrt Wortlcy. The aeoond
readinj? was carried by 182 to liJO. Tlio third rending wna aubscquently
carried by H4 to li]4.

, .1 J.

236

LIFE OF JOfLY ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Mr. Edtlisou's, wore joined by Jill's. Eddison, and drove out to
their newly acquired farui, and there I saw the pi^^s. Thty
are the larj^e breed. I measured thu boar with my stick ; ho
was exactly twice as lonj; as it, and is by name Eniixiror !
We then looked at a tri[)* of a week old, and beautiful they
are. Eddison says he will select the two best for me. From
Mr. Heatou I got a beautiful boar of tiie small breed, and will
keep it till the others are ready. Depend upou it, they are the
perfection of the pig tribe, and I do not mean to be talked out
of, my conceit. When they arrive, in about two months' time, we
must try to make S. take an interest and pride in them. When
they are a year and u half old, they will make the Hampshire lads
open their eyes.

Lreds, March 20, ls")(i. — I have to-day received another letter
from Walmsley, who has certainly stirred up his friends, and they,
being men of business, set to work in the right way, and in
earnest. I was never more struck with the diiTerence between the
habits of men of business and those of other men than now.
The business man brings the habits of his working life into bis
friendships, while our people, doing the same, think, wisli, ponder,
hesitate, prophesy, and discourage — do everything, in short, but
acl. But acting is just the very thing wanted.

Liverjjool, April ;5, l.s.'iO. — The results of last night as far as
regards myself were ludicrous enough. I was asked to speak
after Lord Seftoii and Cardwell,t and I went to dine with the
Sandbachs, Mrs. Sandbach being one patroness of the ball and
Lady Sefton the other. . . . The dinner was pleasant. We
laughed and talked, but the inexorable time had to be kept. We
took can'iage, and drove into town, four miles. On arriving at
the Town Hall, we found Lord and Lady f^eftou alone, nobody
having arrived. The speaking was to be between eight and ten,
and then the dancing was to begin. Cardwell, I found, was in an
aviM/uii/Cy professedly because of the strange medley of politics
in the town, and the consequent chances of giving offence. I
said, " Why not put an end to the difficulty by beginning the
ball at once ? Take liady Sefton, and let Lord Sefton, who
doubtless knows how to dance, lead out ]\Irs. Sandbach ; bring
the milit'.iry band upstairs and begin." This bold mode of

* A litter of pigs (ITanipBliire dialect).

t The lato Lord Cardwell, then M.P. for Liverpool.

r.l RLIAMEXTA R Y A CTIVITIES

237

proceodin.f^ fritrlitcncd liira ; but lie kept lookini; at his watch,
cxclainiiui,', " Well, the time is jroiiiij fast, and nobody is here."
Sure enough nobody came. The two patronesses were seated to
receive the young Liverpudlians, who came by ones, twos, and
threes, absolutely boys and girls, some very nicely dressed, and
some very queer figures. I whispered to Cardwell, " I think the
best thing for me to do is simply to bolt." He said, " I wish to
God you would," . . . and, having made my adieux, off I went ; and
to this hour I do not know what occurred after. ]\Irs. Sandbach
told me that they possessed two statues by Gibson, which she
wished me to see, and I am going to-tlay, for I have heard jf
these works, an " Aurora" and a " Hunter."

Temple, April 18, 1S,")0. — Yesterday I was so occupied all day
that I did not get home till after post time, ho you had no history
of that day. But the TimcH will show you what I was doing —
a long speech on the Education Bill,* of wliich speech I hear
this morning very loud praises. I hope they are deserved.

The affair of the Indian offices I take to have been a feeler.
They are not vacant, and even if one of them was promised on
the vacancy occurring, there would be no certainty, for the very
existence of the Ministry is not worth three months' purchase.
They evidently hope to silence rac, and place their gaudy flies
before me, in the hope that I may bite, and, living ia hope 1
shall live also in silence — or giving them support. This won't do.
April 1!), 1850. — AVe had a great light in the House last
night,t and at length I roused Peel from his lethargy, and we
beat the Government, who supported Sir John Pakington in his
attempt to give two justices of the peace the power in Petty
Sessions to sentence men of sixteen to be flogged. We conquered
at last, though the row was immense. To-night, very possibly,
the House will reject Lord Grey's scheme for the xiustralian
Colonies, that is, they may throw out the one chamber part of
it.J I shall speak against that part of the scheme, though

* Brought in by Mr. W. J. Fox, BI.P. for Oldham, to promote secular
education. On the previous evening Roebuck liad spoken in favour of
Mr. Milner Gibson's motion for tlie repeal of the paper duty.

t On the Larceny Jurisdiction Bill.

X Three phius were discussed — (1) a single chamber, one-third consisting
of nominees of the Crown ; or (2) two chambers, one elective ; or (3) two
chambers, both elective. I^Iolesworth and Roebuck were in favour of the
third.

\ 1

t^'i

J38

LIFE OF yonx ARTHUR ROEBUCK:

without uny jvsix;rity, and I shall cndcnvour to oppose the sort
of ruuniuff down of Lord Grev which seems the fashion. F
thiuk him mistaken as to the difficulties in his way, but ho
means well, and tliere is much to say in support of the scheme.

The combination of parties is strange. First, there is Moles-
worth and Co. ; Gladstone and his friends ; Adderley and that
cli(|ue ; Dizzy and the Protectionists — and myself. 1 fancy Sii-
James Graham also with us. Upon Peel much will depend. If
lie declares in favour of the second chamber, the Ministry will
be in a minority ; and as they have brought this scheme forward,
they stand pledged to it. A defeat will, I suppose, break up the
Administration. Still, tli'Tc is such a feeling of the impossibility
of making another goveruinent — why this feeling is entertained
I cannot tell — that many will support Government who do not
agree with them.

April 20, IHhO. — As I supposed. Peel saved the Government
last night, but he did it after a shabby fashion ; he paired oflF in
their favour. This was known to his followers, yet his son
voted with us. The report of the debate is a very poor one,
as always happens when a debate occurs in committee. I sincerely
believe the speech I made was the best I ever made in the House,
and certainly the most effective. It was well received on both
sides. Keogh said to me, " I intended to follow you, but I was
tldunted., for I did not dare rise after a speech which had produced
such an effect upon the House." Dizzy threw to me a com-
plimentary note as soon as I sat down. Molesworth even came
to me eagerly to state that I had made an admirable speech.

Of the fight of the night before, I have not met a man who
has not praised ; all say that my opposition caused the defeat of
the flogging scheme.

The long conversation 1 have had with Dizzy has evidently
worked on his mind. He feels his own false position, and he
sees that we feel it.

TiimUdj, April 24, 1850. — Yesterday slipped away before I
thought of the time. You will see more in the papers than I can
describe, though they give but a very imperfect conception of
what occurs. Last night the discussion on the Australian Bill
came on again, and very nearly all my suggestions were attended
to. Sir James Graham standing up manfully for one of thorn, i.e.
my i)lan of defined and narrow limits for each colony. One

PARUA MEXTAR 1 ' ACTIVITIES.

=39

itly
he

re I
lean
of
iBill
Wed
,, Lc
lOne

curious thinjj occuiTod. Evelyn Dcnisou iiskod mc to sj)oak on
tlio subject of waste lauds ; uiy plan alone referred to waste lands.
Well, Sir James Graham adopts, praises, and presses my view.
Thereupon E. Denison speaks of it as the plan and proposal of the
Riirht Hon. Baronet, leaviui,' mc out altoj^ether. This was the old
AVlii^ fashion, but now it will not do. Lord John was obli>jed to
be civil, and attend to me, because the House stands by nie. The
reijrn of insolence, as far as I am concerned, is over. Lord John
yielded to my sugt^estions, and said, as far as he could judge, that
my statement was fair and wise, and if 1 would consent, he would
see my suggestions embodied in words to be brought up in the
report.*

April 27, IS.'jO. — There seem to be many intrigues and
endeavours to soften and to silence me in the House, but they
have not yet taken the right way.

2, Clohkrs, Temple, M(tij :>, iSoO. — Last night we had a grand
scene of confusion in the House, the attorneys and barristers
being concerned.! I said my say, and I almost fear to go into
Westminster Hall, as my brethren ai'c very angry when they hear
the truth. The confusion was the result of the position of the
^Ministry. They arc too weak to manage the House.

Maij ?>. — Lord Hrougham says he will not leave Paris bef(jre
to-morrow, because he insists that there will be a revolution — why,
he does not say. I do not think that his expectations will be
realized. There is no cause for a disturbance, unless the small
clique of people who wish exclusively to govern France determine
to create a row in order to get rid of a popular chamber. Unfor-
tunately, there are not many persons in France who know what
is intended by, " Government."

* Throughout the proceedings in committee, Sir. Roebuck was ceaseloaa
in his endeavours to alter the details of the Bill ; and oven on tho motion for
the third reading, he seconded an amendment of Sir. Gladstone's in favour of
withholding further sanction until the colonics should have had opportunities
of considering the measure, because of the numerous provisions requirinjj
tho interference of the authorities at home, and the desirability of reducing
occasions for interference. IMr. Gladstone and Mr. Roebuck acted as tellorit,
and they were defeated by a majority of 98. When the Bill came back from
the Lords (August 1) with amendments, Mr. Roebuck entered his final
•' most solemn and earnest protest " against it.

t The County Courts Extenslou Bill. Blr. Roebuck, resisting strong
professional pressure, protested against abuses of the fee system.

^■'\

240

LIFE OF yOJIX ARTHUR ROEBUCK',

'^:.

^f(n| (J. — I Imve Vk'C'U till diiy at work on my jn'oposctl report
oil TiuLoii. It grows under my Imiid ; it may be iutorcsting, aud
show somctliins? of tlio actiml law of liengal.

Mil!/ -'M, is"»(). — Every tiling is in a most prosperous state.
The Navi;:ation Laws repealed, and such freights as never were
seen. Corn Laws repealed, and an overflowing e.\chc(|uer. Pro-
tection is done for.

Wt'diimff'i/, Juno r.), lHr»0. — We arc in ft regular row. On
arriving liere on ilonday, I learned from Frank Mills that the
Stanley pui'ty wore resolved to attack Palmerstou in the Lords,*
jiiid that they wure sure of a majority. The Government people
did not (jiiili' believe this, and, as the night wore on, the doubt
became every moment greater. "What would be the result no one
knew. I found Graham and the young Peelites in the gallery of
the Jiords, all excited. This proved that the Peelitc party were
no longer willing to support the Government. I went away, tired
of the debate, and found next morning .-jy majority against
Ministers.

. Up to four o'clock p.m. they [the ]\Iini8try] have not resolved
on their line of conduct. I gave notice this morning that I
should ask to-morrow what line of conduct they intend to pursue,
and I have offered them to move an approbation of Palmerston.
If they shirk from this, they must go out ; for it is quite impossible
for them to remain with this slap in the face. They are reduced
to nonentities in Europe by it ; so, if they are not willing to try
the House of Commons, I will compel them. I think they will
accept my offer. I am going to a public dinner at which young
Stanley presides. This is funny enough.

Thursildii, June '!(), 1.S.J0. — I am to ask Lord John my
question [What course the Ministry intend to pursue] this
evening, and he will answer it. ... I then give notice that
to-morrow I move an approbation of Palmerston's policy. This
will bring the matter before the House of Commons. If the
Administration have not a good majority, which is very doubtful,
out they must go.

Lord John Russell's answer was that the Ministry in-
tended to do nothing at all — virtuall}' to ignore the adv' so

* Motion by Lord Stanley, censuring the Government f(
ference in the affairs of Greece.

lutor-

J' A RLIA ME NT A R Y A CTIVITIES.

241

this

that

This

■ the

tful,

in-

lutor-

vote in the Lords. Thereupon Mr. lloebuck gave notice
of this motion : " That the principles which have hitherto
regulated the foreign policy of her Majesty's Government
are such tus were required to preserve untarnislied the
honour and dignity of this country, and in time of un-
exampled difficulty, the best qualified to maintain peace
between England and the various nations of the world."

June 21. — The jmpers will tell you what has happened, and
the plan adopted. Xext Monday I may possil)Iy have enacted
the part of the ministers' siiviour. lint there is a great division
of opinion among all parties. The jieace jjentry — Cohden and
Briijht — blame Palmerston's warlike proceeding's. The Pcclites
do not know what to bo at. Who would have supposed that I
ahonld ever stand in this relation to the Whigs I

To-morrow I shall not be able to write, according to the new
plan of post-office proceedings,* which are beginning to succeed
admirably ! The hnnibuirs have been regularly bitten.

Tuesdmf, June 25, 1H50.— I could tell you nothing yesterday,
for I spoke from five to half-past seven. The post was gone.
I received on all sides great compliments, and I enclose Delano's t
few words, which, as he is a violent partisan, speak volumes.
Many men said it was the best speech they had heard me make.
The attention of the House never flagged, and for two hours I
had them completely in band. The respect shown by all parties
is the marked and peculiar feature of their conduct towards me.
Thoroughly have I conquered insolence and prejudice in that
House. There are many errors in the report — many side hits,
and all the acting necessarily left out. The result is very doubtful.
I may have a majority, but to be of any use it must be a large
one. If they (the ministers) go out, a combination so-called
Liberal Ministry will come in ; and Graham, who made a most
powerful attack, \i\ evidently playing for the leadership, for which,
with all his ability, I fancy him unfit.

Wednesday, June, l^oO. — Last night Palmcrston made his
defence, speaking four hours and a half. The speech was by

* Stopping Sunday collections and deliveries of letters.

t The Editor of the Times. The speech referred to was that in which
Mr. Roebuck moved hia resolution approving of the foreign policy of the
Government.

'■ I

242

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

far tue finest effort of oratory I have ever heard iu that House.
He spoke without a note, (luotin^^ dates thronj^hout with perfect
accuracy, readinfif only one or two papers, preservins^ his temper,
using not one liard word, saying no one thing that any man
could compliiin of — keeping the attention of all unbroken fi-om
the first moment to the last, and at times risiiig to the very
height of a reasoning and impassioned oratory, in :ihort, it was
a great speech.

Thurfida//, June 27. — ... No news to-day. The eyes of
every one are directed to the House of Commons, and the only
quostion now heard is. What will the division be ? The House
and country only wish to hear Poul, Lord John, and Dizzy ; all
others arc only bores. The facts are all now known, and the
result is impatiently desired. ... I find myself taking a front
rank in the House, and acknowledged by all to deserve that
position.

Frklaij, June 2.S. — A stupid debate occupied the whole of
last night. I shall leave this to-morrow for homo ; I am tired,
and not well.

June 2s. — The queen was attacked and xtrurk yesterday.*
You will see the accounts. I am exceedingly grieved for this.
The hoiTible insecurity which might be created in hor mind by
these dastardly and cruel brutalities may do her harm. Simply
looking at her as a young mother, my blood boils when I. behold
such things. IJrougham is talking about going to America this
autumn
seeing.

The sight of him among the Yankees would be worth

The Pacificc debate ended in a majority for the Govern-
ment of 4G in a House of 574 on the morning of Juno 2!).
As the sun was rising, Mr. Roebuck and Sir David Dundas
walked away together towards the Temple. In front of
them was Sir Robert Peel, and Sir David, lookinc; at him,
said, " 1 consider that man to be the happiest in England
at this moment, for he has just voted with his party, and
yet also in accordance with his own feelings and opinions."
A few hours after. Sir Robert Peel was thrown fiom his

* By Robert Pate.lato lieutenant in the 10th Hussars. He was sentenced
to seven years' penal servitutio.

PA RLIA MEXTAR Y AC TIVITIES.

243

horse on Constitution Hill, receiving injuries from which
he died on July 2.

Mr. Roebuck, havinfj left town for Hampshire early that
same morning, did not learn what had happened until two
days later; and when the Times containing the news
arrived, he brought it to Mrs. Roebuck, who was in the
garden, saying to her, " I have some very bad news, which
you will be sorry to hear. Sir Robert Peel has met with
an accident which, I fear, will kill him." He then read
the account, and was much distressed at the tragic
occurrence.

In the garden at this moment a swarm of bees was
about to be hived, or, locally, " potted." This was still in
the days of straw skeps. A short time afterwards, Mrs.
Roebuck remarked to Turner — the man who hived the
bees — that the last swarm did not prosper, owing probably
to its being a very late one. The answer was, " No, ma'am ;
I never did think those bees would thrive, for just as I
was going to pot them, master came into the garden and
read some bad news about that gentleman, who died after-
wards of the accident."

lit

ine

Intcnced

To Mrs. Rocburk.

Wednesday, Julij 1(», 18."»(). — I find it very diflicult to preserve
what you call a rational course. Last night, or nitlier this morn-
ing, I did not get to bed till four o'clock, and was iiwake hy half-
past seven, hreakfasted with Frank 3Iills by nine, was with John
Abel Smith at ten in IJelnravc Square. At tiirco, I am to meet
Sir John Dodsou in consultation, in the mean time I have to
indite a letter to Palmerston. At six I dine with Mills, and at
nine I start for York. Now, what say you to rationality ?

I gave the House last ni<,'ht a jiieci' of my mind aneut the
post-otlice. The report is but a faint shadow of what was said,
and what occurred. The House cheered to the echo, aud, in fact,,
rescinded the former rcoolution [stoppinuc the Sunday delivery of
letters]. Lord John played false, aud rou'ularly i.oiu poor Locke.
... AH this disgusts his party ; aud so futui is the ellect of such

244

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

conduct, that, were this the beginning instead of the end of the
session, the Ministry would not last a month. Dizzy and Glad-
stone see office dancing before their eyes, and are like two kings
of Brentford. Dizzy wins, I bet.

The world here is out of joint. Peel's death has put all things
wrong ; and the ministers are hurrying to a close, in the dread of
such a defeat as will drive them to resign.

The rescinded resolution was one for the presenta-
tion of an Address to her Majesty, praying that the col-
lection and delivery of letters in all parts of the kingdom
might cease entirely on Sundays. This motion was
proposed and carried against the Government in the House
of Commons by 93 to 68 votes on May 30, 1850, by Lord
Ashley. On June 10 her Majesty assented to the request
of the Address, and the post-office directed that no inland
letters rior foreign correspondence should be carried on
Sundays ; but the inconvenience suffered by the public was
so great that in a month's time the matter was again
brought before the House of Commons, with the result that
the Sunday delivery was at once resumed.

To the Rev. J. Maclean.

Milton, Christchurch, Hants, April, 1850. — Your letter of the
15th ult. I have only read to-day, as, during my absence on circuit,
none of my London letters were sent to me. I hope you will be
so kind as to excuse what has been only an apparent and not a
real neglect of your letter. I am sorry to say that I cannot accede
to your request. I do not believe that communication by post
during Sunday is at all mischievous. None appreciates more
highly than I do the advantages to be derived from the rest of
the Christian Sunday, which, in my mind, bears no relation
whatever to the Jewish Sabbath. As a Christian, I treat the
Sunday as a feast day, in the true and proper appreciation of the
word ; and by judicious application of labour on that day, we
render it what it was intended to be— a day of quiet, rest, peace,
and happiness ; and I can imagine a thousand cases in which
much labour, care, anxiety, and misery would be saved — and in
fact, are saved — by letters being delivered on the Sunday. And

PA RLI AMENTA R Y A CTIVITIES.

245

[ of the
i Glad-
Qt kings

11 tilings
dread of

•esenta-
bhe col-
ingdom
)n was
3 House
by Lord
request
> inland
ried on
blic was
s again
ult that

2r of the

circuit,

will be

id not a

bt accede

[by post

38 more

rest of

I relation

reat the

h of the

lay, we

I, peace,

which

-and in

And

because I believe this, I cannot consent, witli my present lights
and opinions, to adopt your view of the subject.

To Mrs. Roebuck.

GilUnff Ctttitlp, Novpmhcr 1, IHOD. — I am somewhat better,
thou'jjh still not well. Wo wont yesterday to see Castle Howard,
and the cold of the empty house chilled me into absolute discom-
fort and illness. The pictures are poor — one celebrated, the
Marys by Carracci — a collection of red-eyed, red-nosed, ugly old
women. The Ciistle is a stupid, heavy-looking thing by Van-
burgh ; not a good room in it. The woods and tiie p:irk beautiful.
Nature when left alone has done great things.

I'emplc, Novembpr 13, 1850. — I really hope that my case will
come on to-morrow, but am far from sure. In the mean time I go
on steadily with my book,* and have the great assistance of a file
of the yV^w^.s- in our — the Temple — library, in which — the 'Times,
I mean — I find some curious things. From the Parliamentary
debates, I was led to suspect that there were intrigues with
Brougham while chancellor, during the very heat of the Reform
fight, and that the unti-Reform party hoped that he would desert
Lord Grey, and join *heir pra'ty ; and I find in the Times a broad
assertion that the king distinctly asked Brougham to remain
chancellor when Lord Grey resigned in iMay, 1832. I should like
to know if the king di<l make such a request ; I will ask B., but
unless I can get letters and papers written at the time, I cannot
trust his memory. I shall endeavour to obtain a sight of Peel's
papers, but Cardwell will, I fear, not aid me.

* " History of tho Whig Ministry."

■

r-sss"

mmm

246

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

(

CHAPTER XXI.

RE-ELECTION FOR SHEFFIELD. 1850-1853.

The "Papal Aggression" — the popular name given to
the Pope's action in establishing a Romish hierarchy in
England — set the country in a blaze in the closing months
of 1850. Lord John Russell's famous missive to the Bishop
of Durham drew from Mr. Roebuck an angry letter of
protest, directed against what he regarded an unwise and
unstatesmanlike favouring of " detestable intolerance," all
the more censurable as violating those principles of civil
and reli gious liberty for which Lord John and the party
he led had aforetime fought.

To Mrs. Roehuclc,

December G, 1850. — I find that I cannot get away to-morrow.
I have to-day one of my headaches, and I believe in this case it
is attributable to a horrible fog, as yellow as ochre, and as thick
as mud. My letter [to Lord John Russell] has created a sensation.
The papers are furious, and yet feeble. Fisher,* my proposer
at Sheffield, one of the most respected men in the town, sent me
a letter of eager, hearty thanks. Thinn met me to-day, saying.
We all think with you, though we have not yet the courage to say
so openly.

The session of 1851 was largely occupied by struggles
over the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, diversified by a Minii;-
terial crisis consequent on the resignation of the Russell

* Mr. William Fislirr, <bo father of Mr. Encbuclj's eubgequent election
chairman. Both father and sun were tried and true friends.

RE-ELECTIOX FOR SHEFFIELD.

247

iven to
rchy in
months
3 Bishop
etter of
vise and
,nce," all
I of civil
le party

-morrow,
is case it
as thick
ensation.
)roposer
sent me
saying,
ge to say

iruffti'les

Minio-

Russell

it election

Ministry on Mr. Locke King's County Franchise Bill,
following the narrow majority by which a Protectionist
motion of Mr. Disraeli's had been defeated. But, other
combinations failing, Lord John Russell and his colleagues
resumed office. Mr. Roebuck's * records of this year, as
Mrs. Roebuck was in or near London the greater part of
the summer, are exceedingly scanty. In the debates on
the Address, and on the various stages of the Ecclesiastical
Titles Bill, he reiterated his censures on Lord John Russell
for " lending the sanction of his great name to the puri-
tanical bigotry of England." He took no part in the
divisions on the first and second readings, but he sedulously
fought the Bill in its progress through committee.

To Mrs. Roebuck.

Temple, March [IS], \^h\. — After I wrote yesterday wo had a
little scrimmage, in which I rolled Dizzy over, quite to my own
satisfaction.t I am to see Edward EUice this afternoon about
Lord Grey's letters, and I understand that they want to know
if I would take a Master in Chancery's place. Asfain, they want
to get me out of the House, and, sooth to say, I am not quite sure
that I should say no, if the thing were offered, so changed am I,
so completely conquered. I cannot bear this horrible isolation.
Were 1 twenty years younger, I should feel differently, but I
cannot keep myself at work when away from you.J

Temple, March 22, LSol. — Lord Grey endeavours to intimidate
me by threatening an injunction to prohibit my book.§ He
claims a property in his father's letters, and as he is going him-
self to publish them,|| wishes to prevent my giving to the world
Lord Grey's opinion of Brougham. ... I said also that the
Whigs were the most consummate detractors that ever existed.

* Wliile at Bushey, in Hertfordshire, Mr. Roebuck had a short but sharp
attack of illness, from which he recovered slowly.

t On proposed censure on Lord Torrington's Ceylon Administration.

X At tliis time Mrs. Roebuck had to remain at Ashley Arncwood to watch
over nlVairs there.

§ "Tho Whig Ministry of 1830," which was published early in 1852.

II "Correspondence of Earl Grey with King "William IV." London
John Murray, 18G7.

( <

• I

,_^J^jjJI

248

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

That their ability in whispering away a character was wonderful,
and that now that I had an opportunity of exhibitinj? the utter
falsehood of many things said by them with respect to Brougham,
nothiug should deter me from making use of it. He repeated
his threat of an injunction, which I told him I was quite pre-
pared to meet, and would myself argue it before the Lord Chan-
cellor.

In a debate on our treatment of the Kaffirs, Mr. Roebuck
enunciated views on the annihilation of aborigines which,
often reiterated, exposed him to frequent animadversion.
The extirpation of the coloured man by the white was, he
held, the inevitable consequence of colonial expansion.
He defended Lord Torrington's policy in Ceylon against
Mr. Baillie's proposition that the punishment inHicted
during the disturbances was excessive and uncalled for.
His old attacks on electoral corruption were renewed in
connection with occurrences at St. Albans and Falkirk
burghs, and he supported Mr. Cobden's motion directed
towards arranging with France a policy of reduced arma-
ments. A Sunday Trading Prevention Bill was the signal
for a renewal of his accustomed assaults on Sabbatarians.
Throughout the session he lost no opportunity of girding
at Lord John Russell's Ministry for its impotence, and for
the fashion in which, without power, it clung to office.
In May, Mr. Hume had carried against the Government
a motion limiting the operation of the property tax to one
year, and, a few days after, a resolution by Lord Maas on
home-made spirits in bond was carried against them by
the casting vote of the Speaker. On this Mr. Roebuck
taunted Lord John Russell with having submitted to
defeat four times — Mr. Locke King's County Franchise
motion, and a question relating to the Management of
Woods and Forests, making, with those just mentioned, the
quartette. He wanted to know what the Government in-
tended to do, and how much longer Lord John Russell
meant to submit to such a state of things ? The Liberal

ignal

in-
ssell
Ural

RE-ELECTION FOR SHEFFIELD.

249

leader made a spirited reply — as, indeed, was his wont
when subjected to Mr. Roebuck's frequent plain speaking.
From the 8th of July to the end of the session (8th of
August) the Parliamentary chronicles give no trace of Mr.
Roebuck's attendance. Although he spoke on a minor
question on the former date, he took part neither in the
debate nor in the division on Mr. Berkeley's motion in
advocacy of the ballot. It would appear from the follow-
ing letter that Mr. Roebuck was partly at Ashley Arne-
wood and partly on circuit.

Thomas Dunn ( Sheffield) to J. A. llocbuch.

Richmond Hill (S/ieffield), Aur/usf 17, 1 «."»!. — I Lave not heard
from you since you left York, but hope siucercly you are pretty
well over the awkward accident you had with your doi^s. Few
persons are more fond of dogs than I am, but I confess I should
not like to be bitten even by one of my own dogs.* I think in
the last note I had from you, you rather hinted that you should
be at Liverpool at the Assize. That will be, 1 suppose, some
time this week. Now, you will, I dare say, have got an iuviUition
to the annual dinner of the Cutlers' Company on September 4,
which I hope you will be able to attend, and the more so as you
were not there last year, and 'tis possible, I suppose, if not probable,
that before the dinner comes round agaiu wo may have a general
election, and I am sure I need not tell you that corporate bodies
are very sensitive on these httle matters. So 1 hope very sincerely
you will be able to accept the invitation.

Mr. Roebuck did accordingly attend the Cutlers' feast.

To Mrs. Roebuck.

Tuesday, January 27, 1852. — 1 had an amusing journey up
with the Mackinnons. He was on his way to town to publish
his notes on America, lie is very full of tbe Yankees, and
swears that they will in ten years ride over us and everybody.
This is too short a term, I guess. Among other advantages

* It was not Lis own dog, but a Xew foundland belonging to Mr. G. J.
Graham, which, while pliiyiug ruuud Mr. Houbuuk, accidentally caught his
band and slightly bit it.

apw

93B^aiszaa

350

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

resulting from his journey to America, is the sharpening of the
wits of his boys. This effect he attributes chiefly to the clear-
ness and dryness of the atmosphere I

To Mrs. Eoehitck.

ThursiUn/. — I dined yesterday with the Rothschilds, and went
thence to Lady John Russell's — mighty civil all of them— and
to-day I find a card from Lady Granville for Wednesday next.
]\Iy book will, I hope, be ready on Monday.

Some days later, he encloses a review of the " Whig
Ministry " with the comment, " I am certain that whoever
wrote this article, never read the book."

Years after, this judgment was confirmed by Mr. Shirley
Brooks, the author of the article in question. He de-
scribed to Mr. Roebuck how, on coming home late from
some dinner, he found awaiting him the two volumes of
the " History," with an urgent note requesting an immediate
review. " I was tired and was very cross at having to
Avrite instead of going to sleep. I read the first chapter
and but little more. I cannot say that I really read the
book at all."

To Mrs. Rophuclc.

Fvhrvanj 10, 1852. — ... I have seen oil sorts of people.
Edward YAMcq asked me on Tuesday to dine and meet J. Romilly.
The others, Thiers and Duvergier de Ilauninne, Gronfell, M.P.,
and liyng, made the party agreeable, and we had some good
talk, especially with Keppel — Lord Albemarle, I mean — who in
his manner to me was quite affectionate ; there is no other word
to describe it. The next morning I breakfasted with Monckton
lililnes, where Thiers was, and Van de Weyer, Cardwell, and
others— pleasant people, very good convei-sation. Thiers' voice
the strangest ; it is a sort of wheeze, like the sighing of wind
through a keyhole. Van de Weyer was more aniusing. The two
appeared like the French and Belgian Thiers.

Last night I went to Lady Granville's, and saw — whom did I
not see 1 I met Sir James Graham, who came to me with, " Oh,

I It

RE-ELECTION FOR SHEEFIELD.

!5«

good
10 ill
word
ckton
and
voice
wind
le two

did I
" Oh,

the historian," and thcrcnpon txprcsst'd his fxreat admiration,
sayinfT, " You have in a very diffienlt matter steered with preat
judgment and firmness." Edward Ellice says that Hrougham
goes about saying the " History" is not correct, and not given with
his authority. Whereupon ElHce said to some one standing by,
when Brougham was gone, " Now, Hrongham really thinks ho is
telling the truth ; but Roebuek is right, and he has related what
Brougham has told him ! "

To-night I dine with , and go afterwards to Lady Truro's.

There will, however, l)e a sharp brush in the House about
Clarendon, whom I shall support.

On February 20 Lord Palmerston, who had retired
from the Foreign OHice in the previous December,
in consequenoo of the disapproval of his independent
methods by the (jueen and Prince Albert, gave Lord John
Russell his " tit for tat " by carrying an amendment against
the Government's Militia Bill ; and the Ministry at onco
resigned.

To JIfs. Rofiburk.

Sdiunia//, February 21,1 S02. — Well, they are out. Palmei-ston

has had an early revenge. As for myself, I was dhiing witli ,

and on my return, found the House up and the business dono, so
I pei'sonally had no hand in the killing. Nevertheless, I am glad
my prophecy has proved true. Lord Derby will now take the
Government ; we shall have realities to deal with, and great prin-
ciples really discussed. \\\ addition, an immediate ehjetion I
fancy inevitable ; and I find there is to be a contest for Shelheld,
in which I wish to take but a small part, and expense to any extent
I will not hear. If I find my chance small, I will not stand, but
accept the offer of the Tower Hamlets. I find Dunn * in alarm
for Parker. . .

I cannot very well quit town to-day, as Monday afternoon
will be important, and I want to-night to see all the world at
Lady I'almerston's.

Fcbrudri/ 'l'.\. — I write early in the day, not knowing wlrit the
imstle of the afternoon may be. To-night Lord .John formally

* Cluiirnmn of Mr. Roebuck -■ election committee. Mr. John Purlvor was
Rocbuck'd colleague in the represcntution of ShefBeld.

Ill

I ii imW

O-

Z/7^£' OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK'.

nnnoimccs his resii;nfttion, and yon will see by tho pftpcrs tliat
Lord Derby is in. IIu (Lord Derby) has long since had his
Cabinet ready, and he is to propose ii live-shillin<; duty on corn —
tho very thinj? which I desire of him, us this will make our oppo-
sition clear, and a matter easily to be umlersLood. Notliinj,' iiaii
bo done for a week or more. Tlie new writs must bo moved, and
the returns made, so that if nothinj,' especial happens I shall leave
town for home to-morruw. The crush at Lady Palmerston's was
enormous. I nearly fainted from the stilling heat and niy giddi-
ness, which has returned.

LphIs^ JIanh i). — I am now doing well, and gaining strength
rapidly. "What of late I have suffered most from is an extra-
ordinary nervous uucomfortableness iu my hands and feet. This
at times during the night has been almost beyond endurance ; how-
over, this is diminishing, and all day long I have been free from it.

We know nothing as yet about what is to bo done about a
Ministry. For my own part, I cannot see the difficulty, if Lord
John {/'(IS j)}(t on onr side ; but Lord John Russell's carriage stops
the way, and his tenacious hold of power makes all the difficulty.

London, March 14, \>>')'l. — You will see by the papers what
occurred yesterday. The meeting * was Whig, and the object of
it plainly to bring back the late Administration ; but, in spite of
the supposed unanimity, this scheme will not succeed. Nothing
will be done till Monday, when Lord John will begin his game of
opposition ; and I, for one, do not intend to follow him as a
leader, or aid in bringing back the late imbecile Administration.
The scene was a very curious one in Chesham Place, and to one
accustomed to Whig policy, very significant. I think, however,
a very Uttle more will checkmate Lord John.

March, 1852. — Last night I was asked to stand for Ghisgow,
with promises of certain success ; but this is impossible, and I do
not believe that any place will bo safer, or more comfortable, than
Siieffield. I suppose that I am doomed to bo opposed always.

A few (lays after this Mr. Roebuck spoke in support of
a motion of Mr. Hume's in favour of manhood suffrage and

* Of Liberals, at Lord John Russell's house in Cheshnm Place, where it
was resolved to compel the now Government to make a full declaration of ita
policy. Busaell he held to be "weak, narrow-minded, obstinate and
vindictive."

RE-ELECTION FOR SHEFFIELD.

!53

liau

of
lud

lita

the ballot, and in the following month, in one of the dis-
cussions on the Militia Bill, he caused some sensation by
bluntly calling it a measure of defence necessitated by the
jealousy of the French pcoi)le — ^jealousy of which a bad
man miglit take advantage, and a bad man (President
Napoleon) was in power.

In a debate relative to the Kaffir War he reiterated,
with sundry hits at "Exeter Hall," his belief in the law
that the black man must disappear before the white, and
he insisted that England must choose between a recognition
of this fact and the abandonment of her colonies.

To Wm. Fisher {Sheffield).

April 1, 1852. — I feel confident that when you have seen and
heard me, and are not dependent upon report, you will come to
the conclusion that hard words are not omployod by mo, and thut
the petulance and acerbity so freely attributed to mo are creatures
of the imagination of those who wish to find fault, with me.

The work of the coming election began a few days
after this. At a large open-air meeting in Sheffield, Mr.
Roebuck was shown to be the more popular of the two
niembera, the vote for Mr. Parker indicating that, although
Mr. George Hadfield had been brought into the field
ostensibly against Mr. Roebuck, it was Mr. Parker's seat
which was in the greater danger. The Conservatives
sought to take advantage of the Liberal split by running
Mr. William Overend, Q.C.

To Mrs. Roebw'k.

Fridaif, May 5. — I had resolvod to ^o to Sheflield next
Monday, Dunn sendinsr for us ; but I find that on that day we
are to have a grand battle with tho Govenunont, on the question
of what to do with the seats vacant by the disfranchisoment of St.
Albans and Sudbury. The Peelites oppose Dizzy's proposal,*
and there is to be a grand field day.

* To assign the four scats for Sudbury and St. Albans to the West Riding
of Yorkshire atid the Southern Division of Lnupashiri'. Tho propoaal was
negatived by 234 to 148, Mr. Gladstone leading tho attack.

!fl

it'

a54

LIFE or JOnX ARTHUR ROEIiCCK\

I Imvo socn tlio Aiimtuiir Wntor Colours. Miss lUivkc I think
quite e(|ual to any of the |>r()fi,'.ssioniils ; Mis. Uridunuin Siinpsoii
very cxcollt'iit, iiiid iilso Miss Koniiion. In fact, I was very nmcli
surprisud Ity tlio exallfiKT of tlu; i.'xlubition. I wont to the Itoyul
Aciiduuiy, uiid likod oiio or two tliini,'3 amonf,' u multitude of
dunlts. Winterhaltcr lias sent u picture painted for tiie queen,
whitih is Very l)eiiutiful, and some of Stanstield's are excellent ;
lioherts' interiors liner than any I ever saw ; ^laelisc simply
detestable.

Tiirsihn/, Mitij '.), ls:t2. — On Sunday I was at Unsliey, and
passed a pleasant, eliatty day with William [Falconer, his brother-
in-law].

The (rovernment were beaten last ni<,'ht, but the division was
called for so suddenly that no s|)eakinf( was possible, and I was
dining' with Fairbiiirn, intendini,' to run back and have my say.
I 8oui,'ht no pair. The dissolution now must occur immediately.

I went to see the Water (Joloui's. The exhibition is not a j];ood
one, and Ricihardson's jjjrcat drawini; (Fairbairn's) does not please
me so much as I thou<,'ht it would. The trick of cuttinj^ the
paper, and substitutini? one sort for another, and thus makinij a
mark rijjht across the picture, is mere (piackery, and docs not, in
my opinion, aid the eifect of the drawini^.

In May the fight at Sheffield was in full swing, all the
candidates addressing numerous meetings. Mr. Roebuck,
although feeble and in bad health, had a hard week,
delivering sometimes three speeches a day.

To Jfrs. Bopburk.

Sheffield, May 18, 1852. — My week's work is nearly at an end.
Onr meetings have gone off well, and I am told that the canvass
places me at the head of the poll. ... I dined yesterday with
one of my most staunch supportere, and found a pretty, neat
house, well appointed in every way, and a very excellent dinner,
over which good taste presided ; the hostess, a quiet, rather
pretty woman, at her ease. There being an absence of all
affectation or pretension, and a strong dose of sound common
sense manifest throughout, the affair was agreeable. The smoke
is the great enemy of comfort, but the house I was in yesterday is

RE'ELECriOX FOR SHEFFIELD.

255

end.

nvass

with

neut

nner,

kther

f all

imon

loko

lay is

nearly free from th:it evil ; and roally that ((Uiirtcr is pretty and
clean.

After this labour Mr. Roolmck returned to his homo in
Hampshire in a very exhaustcMl condition. Even then
rest was denied him, for two days after his arrival n
mossago came from London, askin^j fur his presence and
advice concerning liaron Lionel ll(»tlischild's election
address to the ('ity of London. He wont immediately to
town, to Mrs. Roebuck's distnjss, and returned the same
evening ill, a slight attack of paralysis having come on
during the journey home. Tho mischief was not great,
and might soon have been overcome, had not tho old-
fashioned prescription of leeches to tho head been applied
before Dr. R. W. Falconer could arrive to prevent it. Ho
was greatly annoyed at this barbarous proceeding. The
result was that the nerve powers were lowered still more,
and double vision ensued.

The dissolution of Parliament did not take place imtil
July. During the closing weeks of tho session Mr. Roe-
buck was unable to bo in his place. And although he
took no further part in the active work of his own tight,
he attended the final scene of the Shettiold election, when
he was returned at the head of the poll l)y a majority of
239. But he lost his old colleague, Mr. John Parker, who,
after holding the seat for twenty years, was defeated by
Mr. Hadfield by 9.73 votes.

The rest of the summer was passed at Ashley Arnewood,
where the pure aii and quiet did much towards restoration
of health; but the double vision continued, and put an
end for ever to the favourite pursuit of water-colour
drawings. This was a great privation, but however deeply
felt, no complaint was ever heard, for though anxious and
eager for improvement in health, it was a rule of life with
Mr. Roebuck never to indulge in useless repining over
what could not be altered or removed. To this rule he
owed much tranquillity of mind, never more needed than

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

at this period of his life, when illness came seriously to
hinder progress and success in his pu'^iic career.

The return of health being slow, he became wishful for
London advice. Unfortunately, there his case was utterly
mistaken. The wise and gentle treatment of over-taxed
powers was not so widely understood then as it is now,
jind lowering processes were applied, the result being that
he returned to Hampshire worse than he had left it. A
Sheffield friend now suggested that the water euro might
be tried with advantage. Mr. Roebuck proceeded to
Malvern, and there pursued that treatment under the
advice of Dr. Gully, who at once began a process of
" building up." This was afterwards continued at home
during the next summer and winter, with the happiest
results.

During this time his constituents at Sheffield generously
excused him from any attendance in Parliament "until
he felt perfectly well and able to return there." He had
been unequal to attendance at the autumn session of the
new Parliament (November 4 to December 31), which
was fatal to the Derby government ; and throughout the
whole of the session of 1853, when Lord Aberdeen had
come into power, he was absent. In the autumn of that
year he visited Sheffield. On the way down the Great
Northern express ran into a coal train at Hornsey. Several
passengers were injured, Mr. Roebuck receiving a severe
cut on the forehead. Unlike the Lord Mayor and others
who were with him, Mr. Roebuck continued his journey,
and resolutely appeared at the Cutlers' feast, although so
feeble as to be obliged to sit in the reception room and
compelled to plead that the few sentiments he utt°!red
in his short speech " had shaken him with emotion."
The theme of that speech was that England to be
respected, and to maintain peace, must be feared. He
described the naval review that he had lately wit-
nessed at Spithead, "as a great peace meeting," where

RE-ELECTION FOR SHEFFIELD.

557

he had seen majjiiificent vessels marching against wind
and tide, without the semblance of motion save their
progress onward. In the poet's phrase, each one seemed to
" walk the waters like a thing of life," to dare the elements
to stop them. That steam lleet was a great curator of the
peace of Europe, and more efficient for the purpose than
any meeting that could be collected of persons professing
to be the promoters of peace ; and he held it to be no wise
economy to attempt to cut down these our meaus of
defence.

While Mr. Roebuck was still seeking a restoration to
health in the repose of I.Iilton, he was subjected to some
annoyance by a newspaper proclamation that he intended,
as soon as Parliament met in 1854, to demand from
ministers a categorical explanation of rumours, freely cir-
culated, of undue interference by the Prince Consort in
ali'airs of State. Mr. Roebuck warmly resented the "un-
warrantable liberty" thus taken with the name of one
leading " so (juiet and retired a life." He had no intention
of taking any such step. He was, indeed, not only without
any evidence as to the princu's conduct, but was actually
unaware that any charge had been seriously made against
him.

lii

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ipWM

•WW

358

LIFE OF yOllX ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

I :

L
I <

CHAITKR XXII

TlIK riUMKAN AND CHINA WAKS, I.S.') t-l,S.")7.

In the siniiiuf of isr)4 Mr. lloclmck i(>tiirno(l to Pnilia-
montary work ; but ho only spoke oiict^ — on Mr. Layurtrs
motion concornin;j; Kussia and tho I'orto — when ho had
to ask tho indulijjenco of tho llouso on account of his
rocont ilhu'ss. It was a warlike spooch, advocatiujj; an
iunnodiato resort to the sword, and inchidiui^ a tribute
to the "loyalty and honesty of ]>urposo" oxhiI)i((Ml by that
lOniporor of France who, when President, he had denounced
>vs a bad man. This was on February 17. On March 27
war was declared asjjainst Russia. Althou_!.^h weakness pn -
vented him from takinjjj any large share in Parliamentary
debates, and compelling, indeed, |)r()tracted absences, Mr.
Roebuck watched the course of events with constant
anxiety. When the terrible liistories of cold, hunger, and
utter misery, sufl'eied by the English army in the (*rimea
eame to light, he was deeply moved; and, feeling that
such events cried aloud for investigation, ho <|uietly resolved,
although hardly n^covered from his long illness, to lind
means for an in(iuiry of some kind to be made.

One evening in January, 1S,55, ho returned homo early
from the House, and startled the mend>ors ol' his family
by sayhig, "I have just given r.v^tice that I shall move
for an inquiry into the state of tho army in tho Crimea !"
This was on the 22nd.

An eye-witness thus describes tho scene when Mr. Roe-
buck gave his notice —

Tlir. CRIMEAN AM) CHINA WARS.

=59

:.7.

) Pailia-
Liiyavtl's
ho had
t of his
^tiiijj; an
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^larcli '27

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inontaij

ncos, Mr.
constant
i!^or, ant I

10 Crimea
int; that
resolved,
to liiul

Inio early
Is family
Lll move

;rimea

Mr. Roe-

Tli(! lIoUHC' wiiH t(tl('rul»ly full iit thi'inoinciit tliiiL Mr. Kocituck
roHo to Kpciik. 'I'licn? was ii monifiitiiry liiisl), (li^cpciiiii;,' into
solemnity, durint,' wliidi no sound wiis linird hiivc; tlio Klmrp
rin^' of tlu! ni(;nil»(!r for SIn'Micld's vctiec. Il, wiiH ii (lush of
forked li^ditnin^' clciivini,' the diirknt-srt, ji elcur Ki<,'ni(i(;iint,
nttcrimce of ptirposc Tlicn- wiis ii i^M'iivily on tin; Trciisiiry
ncntiji iiniountinj^ to disniiiy. 'I'lierc was ii i^'iisp of surprist!
cvcrywimn'— tliiit kind of Hcnsitivt! slirirdxiiiL,' with wliicli men
iiiii^dit witness the nphftint^ of a weapon to lay a vietiin
prostrate.

On the 2.'h<l, \\\ conso(|nence of that notice, Lord John
Russell resij^'iied, and, on the 27th Mr. Roidmck moved,
"That a Select Committei; he appointed to intpiire into
the c(tndition of our army hefore Sehastojiol, and into tlu;
conduct of those departments of the (iovernnujnt whoso
duty it has been to minister to the wants of that army."
Twice (hu'in*^ his sptjech Mr. Ilofduick was unahio to
proceed throuifh physical weakness, and, notwithstandini^'
a <,'allant attempt to ;^o on, he was coMi|>ell(!d to stop, after
having scarcely opened his case, and without any (jlahora-
tion of his in<lictment.

The Ministry fouj^ht hanl a^'ainst the motion, hut mi
vain; and it was carried hy a majority of Vu , in a House
of 4r);{ memhe'rs.

The resii^nation of the Ahenleen Ministry followed
immediately, liord Palmerston formed a new (Jovernment,
with little change in its iwrHonnd.

The work of constituting^ th(; Sohastojiol rnvesti;,'ation
Connnittoe took some time, its composition heinj^' the
.souvce of nmch contention. TUit at last, un February 27,
it met for business. Mr. Roebuck was then elected its
chairman, after an attem])t on the i)art of Ltjrd Seymour
to propose himself for that post.

Sir John Pakint^'ton, with a view to collecting' evidence
with greater certainty and ease, propost.'d that the com-
mittee should be a secret one, and this proposal wa^

} '

^HfP^P

I 1

I I

260

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

reluctantly laid before the House by Mr. Roebuck. The
general sense being strongly against secrecy, the motion
was withdrawn.*

A vast mass of evidence as to the actual state of
things in the Crimea was soon gathered from eye-witnesses
from the Duke of Cambridge downwards ; but the causes
of the confusion and disorganization that had prevailed
were more difficult of elucidation. In several instances,
when witnesses were sent for, they did not appear, or
were not to be found. Mr. Roebuck often afterwards said,
" I felt corruption round about me, but I could not lay
my hand upon it." t

The report of the committee was published in June,
]8o5. The original draft of it, drawn up by the chair-
man, is intcrestinj]^, as showing what was the impression
made upon his mind by the collected evidence. On July
17 Mr. Roebuck moved the following resolution, founded
upon the report of the committee : — " That this House,
deeply lamenting the sufferings of our army during the
winter campaign in the Crimea, and coinciding with the
resolution of the committee that the conduct of the

* Mr. Kinglake's accoant of the proceeding's in connection with tho
Stbustopol Conimitteo is written in a tone wholly unfriendly to BIr. Roebuck.
His reference to the above iiroposal is unfair and inaccurate. Roebuck, in
making the motion, was not, as Kinglako implies (*' Invasion of tlio Crimea,"
vol. vi. p. 5162), carrying out his own project; ho was simply fullillinj^ tho
wishes of tho mnjority of the committee. Tho members wire, indeed,
unanimous in the opinion that socrccy was required ; tho only difference of
opinion was as to tho extent of secrecy. The majority were in favour of this
being complete. Lo-d Seymour, the report of who^o speech does not contain
tho word "foolish" attributed to him by Mr. Kinglako, simply urged that
tho exclusion of the public should not extend to members of Parliamtnt.

t Sir. Roebuck moved the Duke of Newcastle to indignant anger by
telling him, "that tho conviction upon tho minds of the committee was
daily gaining strength . . . ilmt tiie key to miiuy mysteries could only bo
found ut head-quarters, and that in i hiu'li quarter (Prince Albert) there had
been a determination that tho e:;j)edition should not succeed." Princo
Albert's memorandum recording '.he Duke of Newcastle's report of this
cunverisalion, with his own scornful connnents, is given in Martin's " Life of
the Prince Consurt," vol. iii. p. 219.

THE CRIMEAN AND CHINA IVARS.

261

Administration was the first and chief cause of the calamities
whjoh befell that army, do hereby visit with severe repre-
hension every member of that Cabinet which led to such
disastrous results." The debate occupied two nights, on
the second of which two petitions, one from Birmingham
and the other from Bradford, praying that the ministers
might be impeached, were pre^iented by the originator of
the debate. The previous question being moved and
carried by 298, as against 182, the motion was lost.

The town of Sheffield, by its mayor, W. Fisher, sent
thanks for services rendered to the country in the Crimean
Committee. Bath, also, did not forget her late member,
for a large meeting voted thanks to be sent through
Mr. G. Norman, an old supporter; and numerous letters
testified to the interest felt all over the country. The
public sense of Mr. Roebuck's services on this question
led to a subscription among his constituents for a testi-
monial. It was not presented till September in the
following year, when it amounted to eleven hundred
guineas, and a portrait by Mr. Richard Smith, which
hangs in the Sheffield Council Hall.

Mr. Roebuck helped to swell the storm of disapproval,
raised on imperfect knowledge of the facts, with which
Lord John Russell's conduct in connection with the Vienna
Protocols was met — a storm before which, as culminating
in Sir E. B. Lytton's threatened motion of censure. Lord
John was driven from office for no less than four years.

» ■, ..

The noble lord (said Mr. Roebuck) held, or ncqnicsced in,
liingna<jje at the Conferences of Vienna which was unworthy of
any English minister. I say that no Entrlisli minister, especially
the author of reform in Parliament, ouj^ht to have put his hand
to that protocol, the object of which was to take from an inde-
pendent people (Servia and the Principalities) the power of self-
government. English interests arc the interests of the world —
her interests are the interests of civilization and self-government ;
but in this case the noble lord sided with the despots of the

il««i

262

L/FE OF "yOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

World, who would (TusIi an iiidciKnidciit/ i)co|>lo, uiid deprive
llieiij of the right of lurtnajfiiij,' their own conceniH.

Tills was uttered in a speech delivered in the debate
on the continued prosecution of the war, when Mr. Roe-
Ituck emphasized the general suspicion of half-heartedness
in the Ministry, and of the presence in the Cabinet of
men more anxious to conclude peace than to carry on the
war with thorouj^hness.

Mr. Roebuck took his fidl share in public work throui,'h-
out the session of liSijd, speakinj; fretpiently on sul»iects
involving a wide range of foreign and domestic interests.
He opposed the appointment of a board of general otliecrs
to in(|uire into the allegations of the report of the M'Neill-
Tulloch (yonuuission to the Crimea ; but he declined to divide
the House with the characteristic remark that he was, as
ho usually found himself, in a i)alpablo minority. On
Lord John Russell's resolutions for enlarging the system
of National Education, and supplying deficiencies in school
acconuuodation from the rates, he repeated his often-
expressed views in favour of secular teaching, including
instruction in those universal moral truths which are above
sectarianism, and the basis of all religion, whether Jewisli
t)r Gentile, Roman Catholic or Protestant, Unitarian or
Trinitarian. He watched carefully, and endeavoured to
amend many projects of legal reform ; but ho was chiefly
occupied, towards the end of the session, in strenuously
opposing, through all its stages, a Bill for the retirement
of the Bishops of London and Durham. He denounced
this as a corrupt contract, an offence against the eccle-
siastical law, and a great scandal. These bishops, he
exclaimed, wore seeking to avail themselves of an Act
of Pailiament in order to pcr[)etrate a breach of the law.
Impotent from disease and age, they said to Parliament,
" If you will buy us oti', having enjoyed two of the richest
bishoprics in England for many years, we are willing to

tliiprivc

(lcl)ato
Ir. Roo-
rtedness
)inot of"
f on the

lirou,t,'h-
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In school
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an Act
)he law.
iament,
richest
lling to

THE CRIMEAN AND CfflNA WARS.

263

go." And, his opposition to the lUil as a whole being
unavailing, Mr. lioehuck fought it clause by clause in
committee, seeking especially to reduce the sums j)ayabl«(
as pensions to the prelates on retirement. Another eccle-
siastical matter which excited his indignation, was the
attempt, when New Zealand refused to pay a bishop con-
fcrre<l upon it l>y Lord John Russell, to impose the salary
on the British taxpayer.

In Fel»ruary, 1.S.57, the Hudson's Bay Company asked
for a renewal of their licence to trade over that north-west
territ<)ry adjoining the two Canadas, which e.xtends from
the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, including Vancouver's
Islan<l. The Colonial Secretary, Mr. Labouchero (after-
wards Lord Taunton), brought this recpiest before the
House of Comujons, and asked for a select committee to
consider the matter, as his desire was to see at least a
portion of this vast territory colonized. Mr. Roebuck
agreed heartily with this wish, pointing out that the
interests of a fur company dependent upon solitudes where
wild animals abounded, were antagonistic to colonization.
He had taken the same line in 184-0, when a former repre-
sentative of the Colonial Office (Mr. Hawes) had ridiculed
the idea of colonizing the " dreary territory " aiid " barren
tracts" of the Hudson's Bay Company.

The rivers running into Hudson's Bay, passed. Roebuck
said, through the most fertile territories belonging to the
Crown, and if England did her duty, she would make that
country the Germany of North America, and fonn a vast
confederation in Canada. A great nation might be created
there. The creation of such a nation was a duty which
England ought to perform, and the interests of a small
company should not be allowed to stand in the way of the
great interests of humanity.

The expulsion from Parliament of ^Ir. James Sadleir,
member for Tippcrary, in Fel)ruary, IS.")7, onaV)led Mr.
Roebuck to claim this as a further illustration of the fact

rr'iJAm

IK)

1 ■' '

1 !■'

! i

264

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

that what he thought today Parliament thought to-morrow.
For, true to his custom of watching over the dignity and
morals of the House, he had advocated this vindicatory step
in the previous July. " I am always too soon," ho remarked
at finding his rejected counsels followed six months later.
A year afterwards, the instincts of Parliamentary policeman
being still strong within him, Mr. Roebuck obtained a
committee to inquire into allegations that Mr. Isaac Butt
had corruptly received money from an Indian ameer, to
advocate in the House of Commons his claims for the
recovery of territories. That Mr. Butt had received money
from the ameer was proved ; but as these payments were
not in reference to proceedings in Parliament, he was
exonerated.

The English hostilities with China in this year did not
meet with the approbation of the House of Commons, and
after a sharp cxA protracted debate on a condemnatory
motion by Mr. Cobden, which Mr. Roebuck supported in
a speech delivered on the fourth night, a division took
place, in which the Government was defeated. The com-
bination of various sections arrayed against the adminis-
tration is indicated by the fact that Mr. Gladstone and
Mr. Disraeli, Lord John Russell and Mr. Roebuck, Mr. A. H.
Layard and Mr. H. A. Bruce, were found in the same lobby,
voting for Mr. Cobden's motion.* Lord Palmerstcn imme-
diately advised a dissolution of Parliament. His conduct
was so popular in the country, that in the elections his
opponents were utterly routed. Both Mr. Roebuck and his
colleague, Mr. Hadfield, had voted against him, and Mr.
William Overend, the defeated Tory candidate at Sheffield
in 1852, seized the opportunity to offer himself, claiming to
be a supporter of Lord Palmerston. There was another

* About 1857 to 18r)9 thoro sat together, on the front Opposition bench
below tho gangway, Lord John Russell, Mr. Eocbuck, and Lord Robert Cecil,
the present Lord Salisbury — a remarkable company mentioned by Punch in
11 paragraph which describes Mr. Roebuck as a dug fancier, and Lord Robert
Cecil as a vinegar merchant.

THE CRIMEAN AND CHINA WARS.

:65

difficulty on the side of the old members, duo to the split
of the Liberals, owing to the great indignation felt by the
moderate party on account of the means used in liS52 to
ilefeat Mr. John Parker. In 1857, therefore, the local
Liberals had to perform a double operation of extreme
deliciicy. They had to heal their split, and also to condone
the vote of Messrs. Roebuck and Hadfield against Lord
Palmerston, who was as popular in Sheffield as in any other
part of the country.

To A. Booth {ShoffiehT).

10, At^hJoy Place, S.W., March 7, 1857.— I thank you for
your letter, but I do not at all share in your saiif^uine view of my
prospects at Sheffield. I find the feelins? of disapprobation so
strong among my friends that I am very much inclined at once to
say that I shall not present myself to the constituency at the
coming elections. I am surprised — I will not add what my other
feelings are — at the opinions I hear expressed on the subject of
the atrocities of which we have been guilty in China.

Mr. Roebuck's belief that " the honour of England had
been desecrated by the proceedings at Canton," brought
hira into unwonted co-operation with Mr. Cobden, for ho
presided over a public meeting of protest at the Freemasons'
Hall, at which Mr. Cobden and Mr. Layard were the chief
speakers. He seemed conscious that this conjunction with
Mr. Cobden might occasion remark, for he was at pains,
while referring to "the glorious success Mr. Cobden had
achieved, and which would live and be remembered when
he and all around him were dead and forgotten " — to declare
that he was no follower of Mr. Cobden's, or indeed of any
man. He had opposed him when he thought him wrong,
and he followed him now because he thought him right.*

* Ho had supported motions by Mr. Cobdon ftdvocatitif; arbitration in
international disputes (Juno, 1849), and in favourofageneval reduction in tlio
armaments of the Great Powers.

266

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

« !

Win. Fisho; Jiinr. (^S/ic(/iel<i) to Mr. liocbuck.

[S7tf (field'] March 2(j, 18r>7.— I have observed from reports of
[flection] meetinj^s that you have several tirnos remarked upon
the absence of some familiar faces. I may flatter myself in
8upi)08inf? that you iicrliaps have misstd me, but I cauuot bear the
j)ain of feelinf^ that you may believe me to be away from indilfer-
euce or inconstancy. The fact is I have as grave objections to
]\Ir. lladtield as I had when he first came to Shcilield. It is not
merely that he disturbed tlie Liberal party, but that he never
jrives a vote or makes a speech on any subject connected with the
education of the people, or with the management of our forei«rn
affaii-s, which does not annoy or disappoint me, and I consider
him also very narrow on the Sunday question. For these reasons
I cannot divide my vote on this occasion, nor ask any of those
with whom I have influence to do so. Mr. Overend is as objec-
tionable to me as Mr. Hadfield — not more so. It does not seem to
ine fair for me to go to the joint-committee, unless I could vote
and work for both. I beg, however, that you will not believe
that I feel any diminution of gratitude to, or regard for you,
or that I am not working for you.

To Mr. William Fisher.

April 1, 1857. — No one is more ignorant than I of the
internal condition of things in Shelfield, so that I know-
nothing of the history of individuals or of parties in the town.
]\Iy mind is engrossed by the affairs of the nation, and I fancy
I do wisely by keeping myself as much aloof as possible from
all merely local politics.

The local difficulties, by a wise and self-sacrificing party
loyalty, were overcome. The elections elsewhere ran
strongly against Lord Palmerston's opponents, and espe-
cially against " the Manchester School," including Mr.
Cobden and Mr. Bright; but in Sheifield the result was
the triumph of the old members.

When the new Parliament met, Mr. Roebuck, in the
debate on the address, congratulated the House on a pledge
given by Lord Palmerston, to introduce a measure of

THE CRIMEAN AND CIUXA WARS.

;67

Mr.

was

Parliamentary reform during the session. The pledge was
not fulfilled.

On the motion (May 21, 1857) to grant to the Princess
Royal, on her marriage with Prince Frederick William of
Prussia, £40,000, and an annual sum of JtSOOO as an
annuity for life, Mr. Roebuck urged that, as combining
generosity to the sovereign with justice to the people, it
would bo better to grant a round sum as dowry, as was
done in the case of a former Princess Royal, the daughter
of George III. " Do not," he said, " hamper this country
or yourselves by an annuity paid every year. Let her Royal
Highness have everything that her necessities and her
liappiness require ; let it be done generously, but let it be
done once and for ever."

In July Mr. Roebuck brought foi-ward a motion
declaring the authority of the House of Connnons weakened
by the Government entering upon a war with Persia with-
out laying papers before Parliament, and expressing strong
reprobation of this proceeding. This was rejected after
two nights' discussion by a majority of 352 against 38.

There were two subjects that always ruffled the temper
of Lord Palmerston — the Suez Canal and the Empire of
Brazil. It was Mr. Roebuck's fate to approach both of
these at times while Palmerston was leader of the House
of Commons. In the case of the Suez Canal, the member
for Sheffield foresaw the immense advantage that would
accrue to this country if that project were carried out, and
he urged that it would be wise for England at least to look
favourably upon it.

Palmerston would have nothing to do with it, and on
June 1, 1858, Mr. Roebuck brought forward a motion
censuring opposition to the scheme. This was rejected by
290 to G2.

The abolition of the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland
had long been advocated by Mr. Roebuck. In 1850 he had
spoken in support of a Bill introduced by Lord John Russell

III

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WEBSTER, N.r. MS80

(716)S72-4503

a68

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

for that purpose. In July, 1857, he himself brought forward
a motion, and one of the main arguments against it being
founded on the fact that there was no proposal to substitute
anything for the abolished viceroyalty, in the following
year he repeated the proposition, including in it the creation
of an Irish Secretary of State. But the Irish members
themselves were the strongest protestors against the change.
Mr. H. Grattan (Meath) had opposed the Government Bill
in 1850, and Mr. McCuUagh Torrens carried the previous
question against Mr. Roebuck's motions by large majorities.

( ^69 )

CHAPTER XXIII.

"TEAR 'EM." 1857-1859.

After the General Election of 1857, Lord Palmerston seemed
to be secure of an indefinite lease of power. But the Orsini
conspiracy had the result of entirely upsetting this antici-
pation, and in February, 1858, the English Ministry was
swept away by the tide of indignation caused by what
Mr. Roebuck called "the degradation and humiliation"
of Lord Palmerston's proposal — in presence of irritatino-
braggadocio of the French colonels, and the threats and
dictations of the French emperor, who allowed the Moniteur
to call this country a den of assassins — to enact that a
conspiracy in England to commit murder abroad should be
punishable like a conspiracy to commit murder at home.*

* " Roebuck is himself again. Of course lie looks older than ho did before
his illness. His hair is thinned and grey, his features are sharper and his
shoulders are rounder; but all this may be traced to age, for he is fifty-seven.
The sickness under which the honourable member so long languished appears
to be entirely gone. He walks now without support ; his voice rings through
the House as it used to do when he was the pet Radical member for Bath,
and his action is just as dramatic as it was a dozen years ago. . . . Amongst
the circumlocutioniat trash, which is now the fashion of the House, it is
refreshing occasionally to listen to the direct, manly, vigorous denunciations
of the olden time. He hits hard — no doubt harder than is necesi<ary,— and
his asperity of language, intensified into an appearance of malignity by tho
tones of his voice, his scornful looks, and his emphatic action, we could some-
times wish to be a little softened down ; but he tells plain truths whicli need
to be told, and is the able organ in the House of feelings and opinions held
by a large portion of the community which ought to have utterance. Tho
conduct of Louis Najwleon . . . was a fine theme for Mr. Roebuck, and it
was capital fun to liear him in his unadorned, but biting eloquence, denounce

1 ' ■

• f

ii,

A ■

f I' I

fim't !f

till

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270

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

The Earl of Derby thereupon entered upon a brief tenure
of office.

The session was, indeed, one in which foreign affairs
were prominent. There was the excitement caused by
the capture of the Cagliari by Neapolitan cruisers, and
the imprisonment of the English engineers. Mr. Roebuck
"would have sent a three-decker to Naples witMn cannon-
shot of the royal palace." There was Mr. Gladstone's
motion in championship of the national claims of the people
of Wallachia and Moldavia, which Mr. Roebuck supported ;*
an 1 there were hot debates on the expediency of discon-
tinuing the practice of authorizing the British squadron for
suppressing the slave trade, to visit and search vessels
under foreign flags. The fall of Palmerston's government
had put an end to their Bill for transferring India from the
Company to the Crown, and a new measure, introduced by
Mr. Disraeli, met with so little favour that procedure by
resolutions was resorted to, and on these yet a third Bill
was framed. This ultimately became law. Mr. Roebuck
was throughout resolute in his resistance to the proposal to
set up and irresponsible council to aid an advise the Secre-
tary of State. Acknowledging on one occasion the certainty
that there would be an immense majority against him on
this point, he said —

But that to me is no new thing. I have brought forward many
propositions which were at first rejected, but afterwards became
the creed of the House. Some years ago I contended for a par-
ticular course being followed in our colonial policy, and I was
always out-voted, but the time came when that which had been

the quondam refugee, and to see the dismay on the faces of ministers."
(" The Inner Life of the House of Commons," by William White, vol. i.
pp. 38, 39.)

* Mr. Roebuck was constantly consulted durinp the negotiations for
forming the two Danubiun Principalities into the State of Roumania, the
intermediary being M. Demetrius Bratiano, brother of one of the new state's
first ministers. An early act by Roumania was to confer citizenship upon
Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Gladstone, in graceful recognition of their efforts for
her welfare. Lord Brougham also took great interest in the same subject.

'ir

''TEAR 'EAf."

271

so often rejected, almost with scorn, became the creed of the
Colonial Minister.

Mr. Gladstone himself made handsome acknowledgement
of Mr. Roebuck's services in this respect. In a speech on a
motion of Mr. Roebuck's against a renewal of the expiring
privileges of the Hudson's Bay Company, he referred to the
member for Sheffield as a veteran in these matters. " It is
a fact," he said, " upon which he has a right to reflect with
gratification, that upon this subject and other questions
relating to our policy in British North America, he has
frequently been the expositor of truths at an early date
which, although not at once acknowledged, have subse-
([uently obtained complete recognition."

The eloquence and lofty standard of national morality
proclaimed in the speech in which Mr. Roebuck ranged
himself on the side of the Government in defeating the
attack on Lord EUenborough for his censure of Lord
Canning's proclamation in connection with the confiscation
of Oude (May 17, 1858), elicited the warm admiration of
M. de Montalembert. In a spirited description of the
debate, the eminent Frenchman attributed the collapse of
the Opposition in a large measure to Mr. Roebuck, who, he
said, " lifted himself far above the vulgar preoccupations of
personal and national politics." Up to the time when Roe-
buck spoke, " no one had as yet entered upon the question
with so much frankness ; uo one had as yet marked so
clearly the importance of the question, the sacred character
of the principles involved, and the danger of subordinating
these to the interest of party." Mr. Roebuck had said —

It is for us now to decide whether this immense Empire shall
be governed according to the principles of honour and virtue, or
with the sole end of increasing the power of England. I am an
Englishman, but there are things which to me ai'c more sacred
and greater than the greatness of England, and among these things
are the progress of mankind in instruction and in the practice of
virtue and honour. . . . There is a way of making our Empire

III

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272

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

' rl

lawful, and there is only one — it is to labour for the happiness of
the people we j^ovem ; and the first condition of this happiness is ,
to be indulgent and merciful.

Mr. Roebuck ended the session by stoutly opposing, and
fighting sedulously in committee, the Corrupt Practices
Act Continuation Bill. A more mischievous Bill he had
never seen, for it struck a deadly blow at all purity of election
by making return to that House a mere matter of personal
ambition, and placing individual aggrandisement before
public duty. By permitting the conveyance of voters to the
poll at the candidate's expense, and by similar provisions,
it was made a Bill for the admission of the rich and the
exclusion of the poor.

In this year Mr. Roebuck obtained for himself the name
of " Tear 'em," which, tr,king greatly the public fancy, as
hitting the nail exactly on the head, and equally lending
itself to use whether in praise or in blame, stuck to him
through life. It was at the Sheffield Cutlers' feast in Sep-
tember that Mr, Roebuck applied to himself the designation
of the faithful watchdog in " Guy Mannering." He had been
visiting the fortifications at Cherbourg, and he came back
full of warnings about the national danger caused by the
" standing menace " in " the waters of a despot."

In the same autumn Mr. Roebuck visited Ireland in
connection with a scheme for developing Galway into a
great harbour as the head-quarters of a line of trans-
Atlantic packets. In a speech at a Galway banquet, Mr.
Roebuck, after some eulogistic references to Daniel
O'Connell, said his own object had ever been to comi lete
the union between the two peoples. The people of England
deserved well of, because they meant well to, the people of
Ireland. He continued —

I believe, from the bottom of my heart, that if there be any-
thintr disagreeable to Ireland, you have only to make your
statements of grievance to the English House of Commons, in
order to be attended to. Let the clergy employ their power for

TEAR 'EM:'

273

the union o£ the two countries, to msikc Irishmen men of the
United Kini,'dom. There can bo no hope for En<,'land or Ireland
without the perfect union of tlie two countries. If you wish for
justice, send us men as your representatives who can tell what you
desire. Send such men as we can listen to, and who can command
respect and attention, and I promise you that every word they
utter in your name will find a ready response in the En^^lish House
of Commons. From my knowledge of that House I can say with
truth that the people of Ireland have no better friends than the
members of the English House of Commons, who all wish you
well.

To Mrs. RoehiieJc,

Dublin, Wednesday, October, 1858. — I met last Sunday with
Whiteside,* who wanted me to stay some days with him here. I
consented, and shall stay till Monday. We had grand doings at
Galway, where my speech caused an excitement, and raised the
ire of an Irish Yankee. I dined on Sunday with Lord Naas.t
To-day I meet Walpole. Lord Eglinton invited me to dinner on
Tuesday, but as that was our great day at Galway, I was obliged
to decline. I have many things to tell you, but you know from
experience I am not a good gossip, and cannot write a letter of
news. Galway is but a mean place, but I intend that in our time
it shall rival Liverpool. One of the most interesting persons
I have met is "the ubiquitous Father Daly" — a priest very
unlike a priest, who made friends at once with me. Everybody
is exceedingly kind.

The Dean of Elphin to Mr. RoebucJc.

Dea:'>ery, Elphin, Ireland, October 1.5, 1858. — As a minister of
the gospel, as an Irishman, a British subject and a Christian, I
bog to thank you for your speech at Galway, and to express the
pleasure with which I read the report of it. Let Englishmen of
ability, of enlarged views, of philanthropic spirit, continue to
come among us and to preach " peace and good will " from their
country to ours. Let them stimulate us to industry, self-reliance,
and progress, and exhort us to charity, and you may rest assured
their labour of love will not be in vain. . . . Let us have a

* Eight Hon. James Whiteside, M.P. for Dublin University,
t Sixth Lord Mayo.

f s

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274

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

united Empire, abolish all institutions which are symbols of
separation ; let us have good government iu Ireland, free from
the oscillations caused by Castle intrigue or clique influence, and
we shall soon cease to " give to party what was meant for man."
Ireland will arise to a real freedom from the thraldom in which
centuries of misrule have bound her. A brighter day has dawned,
and statesmen of all parties seem to have opened their eyes to the
truth that no union can be secure or lasting which is not based
on community of interests, and a similarity of object and pursuit.
Pardon me, sir, for troubling you with the accompanying paper.
I wish, in trespassing on you with these observations, to prove to
you that I am no convert to the views I profess. It is true that
persons in my profession who have uniformly endeavoured to
carry these principles into effect have had, hitherto, little to
encourage them, except the consciousness of rectitude, and the
progress of their principles towards ultimate, and I trust not
distant, triumph. The favour of the State, whether Lord
Palmerston or Lord Derby rules, is reserved for the repenting
political sinner.— I am, etc., William Wauuurton, Dean of
Elphin.

The same to the same.

November 7, 1858. — . . . If the legislature will only continue
its encouragements to education, and increase them, the want of
progress will be stimulated. ... I believe that if members of
Parliament were deprived of all patronage, it would be better for
them as well as for the public, and they would retain a greater
number of friends and make fewer enemies than they do at
present. ... I believe that a great acceleration of progress has
been gained during the last session, and I am persuaded that
public opinion in England is irresistible, and that, rightly directed,
it will carry all parties forward in the direction of reform and
improvement, and that in a few years more good will have been
effected than the most sanguine reformers a few years since could
have hoped for in their days. — Yours very faithfully, William
Waebueton.

Mr. Koebuck's reception, when next he went down to
address his constituents, is described in the following
letter. As to Reform, he devoted himself to establishing

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TEA/: 'EM."

275

its ncccs dty and dcfininf,^ its limits, explaining the methods
of extension and redistribution which he thourrht wise and
practicable. But the reniarkablo part of his speech was
his warning that domestic policy was in danger of being
postponed by foreign complications, and a renewal of his
keen denunciation of the Emperor of the French. The
jealousy of despotic and tyrannical Europe was, he pro-
tested, a danger to isolated England. Her alliances ought
to be with freedom, not with despotism.

I have no faith in a man who is perjured to his lips. I
recollect, when at Chorbcurg, seeing the Emperor of the Frencli
visit the Queen of England ; . . . but when I saw his perjured
lips upon her hallowed cheek, my blood rushed back to my
heart to think of that holy and good creature being defiled by
the lips of a perjured despot. . . . Depend upon it, no alliance
with foulness can be made without foulness attaching to the ally ;
and I say at once that, rather than be the ally of a despot like
Louis Napoleon, I would at once break with him and be England
alone. For, so being, we can withstand all his anger and all his
power ; but you must support your Government in that great
move. If you do that we need not fear, though the world stand
in arms against us.

To Mrs. RoehucJc.

Sheffield, Janvary 14, 1859. — I write simply to say that I
am very well, and that to-morrow I go to Leeds. I have not
seen the Times, so I don't know whether you have learned the
history of our doings yesterday. The true story of those doings
w'ill, however, never be known. "VVe had a meeting at the Town
Hall, and, just as I began to speak, a cry was raised of " Adjourn
to the SuiTcy ]\Iusic Hall " ! — the fact being that Y[oudan] the
proprietor, having got into a great scrape, wished to get some
popularity by having us at his room. The adjournment was
opposed by an overwhelming majority of the meeting. Still, the
twenty or thirty persons who raised the cry, and whom I believe
to have been hired for the purpose, kept up such a riot as to
render it impossible to go on with the meeting, and I took up
my hat and departed. This step startled the meeting. The

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876

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

mayor, who presided, dissolved tlic mcetin,<,% and there seemed
an end of the whole affair. Our committee, however, met at
the Royal Hotel opposite, and it was resolved to go at once t(j
the Temperance Hall, thus defeating the object of the rioters.
So wc went, and found a crowded room and a very well-disposed
audience. Our meeting eventually went off very well, though
the row-dow drove out of my head many things which I wished
to say. Still, I think my say will do good.

Lecih^ J((nnarij 17, 1859. — I am amused by the various
criticisms upon my speech at Sheffield, Apparently the world
generally has been taken by surprise. I heard that the Hare-
wood family expressed themselves as entirely agreeing with me,
especially in what I said about Louis Napoleon. This acquiescence
seems general, but the newspaper people are all afraid of saying
aye to me on that score, though the I'imes docs so in reality.
It complains under its breath of my hard language, seeming to
forget that it has said things quite as strong. A Manchester
paper is particularly hurt by my allusion to the queen, " though
we all thought and felt as Mr. R. describes ; but, then," etc.
The thoughts I gave expression to were new, but to mc old, and
the argument was of such a sort that they cannot answer it ;
so they throw all attempt to answer overboard, and simply
criticize myself. But on this head they are rather complimentary
than otherwise.

The transactions in connection with Parliamentary
Reform, opening with the fancy Franchise Bill, introduced
by Mr. Disraeli on behalf of the Derby Ministry, on
February 28, 1859, led Mr. Roebuck into attitudes which
began a strain upon his relations with his chief sup-
porters in Sheffield, destined, ten years after, to reach the
breaking-point. Mr. Roebuck's opposition to the Govern-
ment proposals was, at first, uncompromising and emphatic.
In the following memorandum, he records the effect upon
himself of Mr. Disraeli's statement, and his communications
with Lord John Russell on the subject : —

" What do you intend to do ? " said Lord John Russell to me,
when Mr. Disraeli had finished his exposition of the reform
measure proposed by Lord Derby's cabinet. " Oppose the measure

TEAR 'EMr

277

at once," !• answered. " The move is not one in advance, it is
retroirrade, and the measure must at once be destroyed. I shall
denounce it directly." " Then I will do so," said the noble lord ;
and thereupon he rose, and in strouir, Koc^^ ^^'t phrase declared
airainst the measure. I did the same.'^ The second readinj,' was
appointed for that day three weeks. This was on Monday. On
the next "Wednesday I dined with Lord John. After dinner, I
said to I'arou Rothschild, who sat next me, " I wish you would
ask Lord John what he intends to do respecting the proposed
measure of reform." Rothschild, addressing- Lord John, said,
" Roebuck wants to know what you are going to do respecting
the proposed reform." I observed, " This was not the mode in
which I wished you would ask the question. Rut since you have
put it in my name, I will plainly state to Lord John what I think
upon the subject, and sulnuit to him a course of conduct for him to
pursue, which I believe will meet the approbation of the great
majority of the Liberal party. Lord John and the world know
my opinion of the proposed measure. Further, I believe that the
proper mode for us to pursue is at once to meet the measure by a
direct negative ; and therefore, if Lord John will move that it be
read a second time that day six months, I am sure lie will be followed
by the whole Liberal party, for we consider him not merely the
father, but the grandfather of reform." It was therefore agreed
that Lord John should make the motion, and that, on the coming
Monday week, the Tiiberal party should be called together by Lord
John, at the Thatched House Tavern, in order that they might
be told what he intended to do. Soon after this was all definitely
arranged, we separated. Days went past, but no circulars appeared
calling us together. Rumours were afloat that Lord John had
changed his mind, and the papers reported that he had consulted
the leading members of the Palmerston party as to the course he
should pursue, and that, by their advice, he had determined his
line of conduct. I spoke to IMr. Forster, member for Walsall,
asking him if he knew anything of the matter. His answer was,
" Oh yes ; the arrangement we made at Lord John's has been

* The Bill, said Mr. Roebuck, woultl not give one iota of power to the
working classes. It was a measure of disfranchibement, not of enfranchise-
ment. Its object was to enhance the iwwer of the landed interest in
Parliament. "Wc have g'von tlio Government a generous support," he
exclaimed ; " and this is the reward."

27s

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEIWCK,

entirely clmn<,'f(l. ITo lias coiisiiltcd Cliurhs Wood, iind (icorLTc
Croy, uiul Sir .Tiinios (Iriilniin, iiiid ho will .yivo iioticu of ii
rcHolution to Ito moved by him 011 i\w second reiidini^'." TiCiiniiiii;'
this, I determined to spi'idc to Lord .lolm, thinkini^' the whole
proceeding vciy nuieh ufter his old insolent style. J went into
the Ilonso, and so soon as ho seated himself, I said to him, " liord
John, is it trne, as stated l)y the papers, that you have taken counsel
with Charles AVood, Georj^e Grey, and Lahouohere, as to what
you are to do with rcajject to the Government reform measure ?
Before you answer nie, however, I would assure you that, if you
are to receive your inspirations from that bench " — pointinj^ to tho
Opposition bench — "you may fjfive up all hopes of leadint,' the men
below the <,'an{:fway. I can only speak of others, as believinj^
what they will do. I do not presume to speak in anybody's name,
but I can speak for myself ; and I be<^ frankly to state to you,
that I never intenil to allow those ^'entlcmen to act as my leaders
again." "Why, you would not," said he, " throw them all over-
board ?" "There is one, and only one, under whom I would act,
and that is George Lewis. As for all the rest, they arc false and
imbecile." Ilia only answer was a short laugh of surprise — " J-lh,
ch ! "

Mr. Roebuck's dissatisfaction with Lord John Russell's
conduct in putting on tho books a resolution which would,
he contended, be fatal to any chance of passing a Reform
Bill that year, instead of moving resolutions on which a
bill could be framed, was expressed in the House. While,
on the motion for second reading, renewing his declaration
that the Government measure would give no satisfaction
to the working classes, whom it failed to enfranchise, he
expressed the view that it was hopeless to look for reform
at the hands of Palmerston and Russell. More, he declared,
could be got from a weak Tory Government, in touch with
the House of Lords, than from the Liberals. But his
antajronism to the bill as brought in remained unabated.
The Government appealed to th^- country, and Mr. Roebuck
appeared before his constituents for re-election with the
remark : " We are here because we would not give our

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879

sanction t« n Hlmni." Hr antl his collt'a''u<', Mr. IfmUicld,
wore rctunio(l witlunit opposition. This was at the end of
April (l.S.')!)). In May lio attended a iiieetinjf at Miilord
Haven to advocate tliat Cahvay Packet Scheme ah-eady
mentioned, to which the Derhy (loveriunent, aiiniii*,' to
secure Irish snpjjort, had granted a subsidy. This was
openly called "Tlio Oalway Jm1»." It was then that Mr.
Roebuck iirst gave token of a new inlluencc. That Reform
Bill which had been "retrograde" in February and "a
sham " in April, was found in May to indicate a true
reforming s})irit on the part of its authors. In his speech
at Milford he said —

On June 7, the House of Coinnions would liave to chooso
whether the country kIiouM hiive bonl Derby or Lord I'ulinerstou
for Prime Minister. In what eiim[t . muUI he l)e ? In the ciunp
of the peoitle of En<,diind, and that t inp, he sincjcrely believed,
would be oi»posed to Lord PaliuersLou. It was a miserable con-
tingenoy — whiehever side was i\ipermo.st, ^li^cllIet' uuisL come,
but he believed that as the greater misehicf would accrue from
changing the adntinistratiun, Pari! lui- .'t would prevent sneh a
change. As an independent m' lubcr his eunsideration was for
England, and for England's sake he ''aid, don't elioose Lord
Pahnerston, who is false and hollow, iind the great enemy of the
Liberal party. Lord I'almerston's app<arauee as First Minister
would be throughout the continent as a toreh of war.

And in the same speech, Mr. Roebuck sowed the seeds
of future trouble by speaking of Italy's struggle for
liberty as likely, at best, to result in a change of masters,
and by putting himself in antagonism to the public en-
thusiasm aroused for Kossuth.

Again, in June, when a meeting was held at Willis's
Rooms to reunite the Liberal party in view of the Parlia-
mentary campaign, Mr. Roebuck startled his auditors by
asking " how, if the Government would promise a thorough
Reform Bill, the Liberals could oppose them ? " He could
not, he said, support Lord Palmerston, who had truckled

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LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

to France and dragged the country through the mire ; and
could only form a feeble and divided administration.
When Parliament met, Lord Hartington proposed a vote
Oi " no-confidence " on the Address ; and Mr. Roebuck
spoke and voted against that change of Government which
he had before described as the first duty of the new Parlia-
ment. He said the effect would be to let in a Government
in which he should have less confidence ; that to keep
Lord Derby's Ministry in office would make them Reformers
in spite of themselves, and would be the way to get a
Reform Bill. And in this confidence that the Tories would
be more sincere Reformers than the Liberals, Mr. Roebuck
gave his vote with the minority that vainly endeavoured
to keep them in office.

To William Fisher {Sheffield).

June 10, 1859. — If what I said at Milford were new, if the
expressions I then used wero used by me for the first time, I
could understand the surprise aud anger expressed ; but the
language I held ou that occasion I have often held before, and
my opinion of Lord Palmerstou has been openly and constantly
avowed. Xo man has rendered Lord Palmerstou greater service
than I, and this, too, in spite of having spoken very strongly
against him. I thought that my first judgment respecting him
was rendered incorrect by his subsequent conduct ; but further
experience only confirmed my first opinion, and now I believe
that his advent to power would be a great calamity to England.
Now, am I, holding this opinion, so far to forget my duty to my
country as not to act on this opinion, because certain hungry
peophi may l)e kept out of office iu consequence of my acts ? I
should indeed be base and unworthy did I yield, and run contrary
to my own judgment. Tlie hired press accuses me of corruption.
What have I gained through life ? What will this conduct bring
me ? Obloquy, the disapprobation of my dearest friends, and no
personal advantage whatever. I live retired. I keep aloof from
many associations that would give me great pleasure, in order that
I may maintain my own proud independence. And yet with all
this, having dwelt in the very midst of every temptation for a

TEAR 'EMr

:8i

quarter of ii ceutury ; having borne as niucli suffering as has
fallen to the lot of most men, and having never turned to the
right hand or to the left, I am now, when age and hard work
have told on me, when I have spout my best years and my
strength in the service of my country, I am foully accused of
corruption, and the Whig organs are hounded on to abuse and
vilify me. And it is required of me that I should hold my peace
and bow my head, as if I acknowledged the justice of tliis vitu-
peration ; but they little know me, who expect that this is the
course that I shall pursue. They shall find that they have hunted
a tiger when they believed they were chasing a hare ; and to my
country I appeal with confidence. A short time and my judgment
will be confirmed. This will not be the first time tliab to my
opinion the world has come, having at tlie outset deemed me so
wrong as to think me mad. If my constituents think me utterly
wrong, and unworthy to be their representative, let tliem say so ;
to their judgment I am prepared at once to bow ; the time will
be short which will suffice for them to learn how right were my
judgments, how wrong their own. ... I am now not acting
under the influence of strange personal prejudices. I have care-
fully watched Lord Palmerstou for thirty years, and I feel certain
that he is utterly unfit to be the leader of England.

To an American Com'sjwialciif.

Yannoufh, Isle of Wiijht, Scplcmher U, 1859. — ... I should
have liked nuich to talk over with you the relations that do, and
those that ought to, exist between the United States and England.
There is much retjuired to be done to make the reci[)rocal feelings
on both sides of the Atlantic such as they ought to be. But do
not suppose that there exists in England any prejudice against
the United States. There may be some fools and bigoted people
who still retain the feelings that many of our forefathers felt.
But all the enlightened men, and the educated classes generally,
have very kindly feelings towards those whom we always call our
brethren on the other side of the water. These kind feelings
I believe to 1)6 returned by the genuine Americans. You have,
however, a very active class, whom the injustice of England has
sent among you — I mean the Irish and their descendants — who
hate the very name of England. These men are in possession
very generally of the press in America ; they arc active and they

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282

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

are noisy, and they give a tone to your periodical press that
misleads English people. I hope, however, the growing inter-
conrse between the two peoples, and their growing intelligence,
are daily rubbing down asperities, and that we shall be, what we
ought to be as the only free people on the earth, united heart and
hand against despotism and bad government, wherever found.

iss that
^ inter-
ligence,
,vhat we
jart and
iind.

( 283 )

CHAPTER XXIV.

AUSTRIAN LEANINGS— DIFFERENCES WITH CONSTITT'^NTS.

18G0-1861.

At the close of 1859, and in the opening days of 1860, we
find Mr. Roebuck among his old constituents at Bath, and
addressing the Mechanics' Institutes of Middlesborough
and Sheffield on his favourite theme of the education of
the working classes. In Parliament, Mr. Roebuck's con-
tribution to the discussions on the commercial treaty with
France was a protest against truckling to Napoleon III.,
by agreeing to that treaty without having previously
expressed condemnation of the dishonourable conduct of
the Emperor in regard to the annexation of Savoy.

On a Bill regulating Bleaching and Dye Works, Mr.
Roebuck delivered a speech which made a profound impres-
sion. Admitting that the fears under which he formerly
opposed Lord Ashley's factory legislation, had been shown
by the working of the Acts to be unfounded, he pleaded
powerfully for the suppression of evils inflicted on women
and children, which, as recorded before a Parliamentary
committee, made his blood creep. '* Think," he said, after
quoting from the evidence —

Think of the poor child, ^-i compare her work with ours.
We complain of the labours wL wo undergo, but as compared

with our life here, it is the life ot ^ao damned I ask you, the

gentlemen of England, if you will boar this ? I hear groat 'talk

I;.!'!

s84

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

of humanity — lip humanity — about the American slave. No
man can view with more indignation than I do the horrible con-
dition of the black in America ; but I cannot help regarding with
at least equal indignation the condition of the white slave in
England. . . . Any one of our daughters might have been a
factory girl ; and is there any man present with any feeling for
his child who could think of her working, almost without cessa-
tion, for thirty-seven hours ? Think of her tender years ; think
of her delicate little hands. I have it in this book that children's
hands are often blistered, and the skin torn off their feet, and
yet they are thus obliged to work, the persons who overlook
them being sometimes forced to keep them awake by beating on
the table with large boards. For God's sake, then, I say, don't
let us listen to the honourable gentleman 1 I appeal to you as
men ; I appeal to you as fathers ; I appeal to you as brothers ; and
I ask you, for God's sake, not to be participants in this horrible
cruelty. The weak and the miserable appeal to you now for
compassion and for aid ; and I, their humble advocate, also appeal
to you in perfect confidence that you will listen to their prayer,
and will pass this measure for their relief.

It is recorded that the House was deeply moved by
what was described as one of the most marvellous triumphs
of rhetoric ever achieved within those walls.

If oratory is to be judged by the effect it produces in moving
men's hearts and minds, this speech must ever be remembered as
the most wonderful piece of oratory of modern times. Mr. Roe-
buck was under an inspiration ; and though there was still the
old mannerism which we know so well — still the same short and
vigorous sentences, and the same tones, yet on this occasion they
were inspired with a life of passion and feeling that ran through
the House from heart to heart and mind to mind like an electric
current, until all the members were moved as trees of the wood
are moved by the wind. There was little cheering of the rapturous
sort ; for when the House is deeply moved it does not break out
into vociferous cheers. Every man's eyes were riveted on the
speaker ; and when, in suppressed tones and with impressive
action, he described these poor people as living the life of " the
damned," there was a silence as of the grave, broken at the end

AUSTRIAN LEANINGS.

:85

No
con-

of the sentence by what the reporters call "cheers," but which
were more like deep sighs than cheers. Almost immediately after
Roebuck sat down the House divided ; and to the astonishment
of the poor bleachers and the dismay of the masters, there were,
for the second reading of the Bill, 230 ; against it, only 39.

The. Earl of Shafleshunj to J. A. Roehuch.

24, GroHvenor Square, March 22, 18G0. — It is impossible that
I should refrain from thanking you for your heart-stirring speech
of last night. The \vretched girls and women of the bleach
works will owe you, and will pay, a deep debt of gratitude. God
grant that the issue of this movement may be (and who can
doubt it ?) as happy and successful as that on behalf of the
factory population. Thousands of these females, who would
otherwise have been mere specimens of degradation and suffer-
ing, are now fulfilling the duties, the honours, and the joys of
exemplary daughters, wives, and mothers. And who have been
injured ? The trade has increased tenfold ; the profits of the
mill-owners approach to the fabulous ; wages are raised ; educa-
tion is extended ; the people are satisfied ; the mastere admit tlie
moral, physical, and financial improvement of all classes ; and
a good understanding (the object I ever had in view) prevails
between employers and employed. Once more let me say that
eloquence and feeling were never better applied than in your
speech yesterday.

Mr. Koebuck's letter in reply is published in Mr.
Header's " Life of the Earl of Shaftesbury," vol. ii. p. 20.5.
But Lord Shaftesbury's biographer is scarcely justified in
calling Mr. Roebuck's speech a " recantation." For, while
deprecating interference with adult labour, as long ago as
1843, he had earnestly advocated placing restrictions on
the employment of children of tender years.*

In the autumn of 1860, Mr. Roebuck visited Austria,
where changes in the direction of giving a constitutional
and representative Government to a hitherto despotic
Empire, were in progress. The spectacle, on the one hand,
of a courageous and liberal-minded Emperor advancing his

* Ante, p. 148, chap. xiii.

Lii

i if

■p I l ll t ll

mimm

286

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

people in freedom ; on the other, of the people rising to the
use of that freedom, through many difficulties, in a quiet
and practical manner, greatly interested the old political
Reformer.

He exerted himself in strenuous advocacy of an Anglo-
Austrian Alliance, which, in his view, would be irresistible
in Europe, while immensely promoting the mutual advan-
tage of the two countries. He urged this upon Count
Apponyi in the following elaborate paper : —

J. A. Rophuclc to Count Apponyi,

According to my promise, I put upon paper the substance of
what I stated to you during our conversation of last Monday.
The subjects upon which I spoke to you were —

1. The conduct which Austria should pursue, with respect to
the Zol-Vercin, and her foreign commerce generally ; and

2. On the navigation of the Elbe.

I stated that what I was going to say, was in the character of
a European statesman, and not as an Englishman merely. I
assumed, however, that the interests of Europe and England were
identical ; that what tended to the benefit of England, tended to
the benefit of the world ; and that what was for the advantage of
mankind was also beneficial to England. A large assumption, I
allowed, but I believed a correct one.

Before speaking of the conduct to be pursued by Austria, I
described what I conceived to be the position and policy of
Prussia. At the present moment Prussia, it appeared to me, had
two opposing purposes in view. The one was to constitute
herself the head of Germany, the head of the state — in fact,
wishing to be, in place of King of Prussia, Emperor of Germany ;
the other was to relax her present protective provisions respecting
Foreign Trade ; and for that purpose to enter into a commercial
treaty with France. In order to attain the first of these objects
she has allied herself with those states who have united to form
the Zol-Verein and adopted their protective policy. By this
means, she hoped to persuade these states that she was intensely
German — thus to acquire power over them, and induce them
eventually to grant her the headship of the German people. But
as to relax her trade provisions is to run counter to the feelings

AUSTRIAN LEANINGS.

:87

of these stales, she dares not enter into a commercial treaty with
France ; and when the time comes for renewing the compact
of the Zol-Verein in 18G5, she will adhere to that compact, and
will not enter into any commercial treaty hostile or opposed to
the wishes of the Zol-Verein. But the states of the Zol-Verein
wish for, and hope to obtain, the adhesion of Austria to their
compact. Prussia, indeed, does not wish this adhesion. The
power rival to herself in Germany is Austria, and she desires to
constitute herself the one German leader. Now, in these circum-
stances, would it be the wisest course for Austria to pursue, to
unite with the Zol-Verein, and thus combat directly with Prussia,
and struggle with her openly for the German headship ? My
answer to this question is decidedly in the negative, because I
believe a far more effective proceeding lies open before her ;
one which will not merely make her the leading power in Germany,
but raise her greatly in the opinion of the world at large, and
place her firmly amongst the first and most powerful nations of
Europe.

I assume that Austria has frankly and honestly entered upon
a constitutional career ; that the constitution granted by the
Emperor is a real constitution ; that the solemn promise he has
made, he will loyally and with all honour maintain. If the people
generally of the Austrian Empire can be induced to believe this,
Austria will be a united Empire, and, being united, will exercise a
most important influence in Europe, both politically and morally.
Now, in order to lead to this most desirable result, England and
England's opinion may be made a most efficient instrument.
Once make the people of England believe that Austria, instead of
being the leader of the despotic powers of Europe, was now really
a constitutional power, that her people were a free people,
governing themselves, and ruled by law, and not by one man's
will, — and then the friendship and warm sympathy of the people of
England would be enlisted on the side of Austria. It is felt here
that Austria has no interests hostile to England. "We have seen
her acting with us loyally in times of great danger and difficulty ;
and we hold her existence and prosperity to be requisite as a
counterpoise to the other powers which are not friendly, whatever
may be the smoothness of their professions. If once the undoubt-
ing good will and good opinion of England could be gained for
Austria, her internal difficulties would quickly cease. The

288

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK'.

discontent of the so-called Liberal party amonj:^ her people, now
fostered and maintained by the noisy press of England, would no
longer receive support, and would soon die out ; the sentimental
talk now so prevalent among us would be laughed at, and put
an end to by scorn and contempt, and Austria and England,
shoulder to shoulder, would govern the opinions and the policy of
Europe. And this brings me to the practical conclusion from this
long preamble. What can Austria do to convince the people of
England that she is earnest ? I know not whether you have
remarked that, though we exercise a mighty, and I will say a
beneficial influence upon all the affairs of Europe, there is a marked
hate of everything English in the minds of most of the rulers of
Europe. Nowhere is this more shown, in spite of all alliances,
than in Prussia. This dislike, this hate, is caused by two things —
our freedom, and our success. Our success is also twofold ; we
have been successful in war, but we have been and are successful
in commerce. Now, despotic governors hate our freedom ; and
the people of Europe under the influence of despotism and
ignorance hate our commercial success. In no country has this
feeling been more manifest than in Germany. The legislation of
the Zol-Verein has been more hostile, and directly hostile, to
England than has been that of France, and an Englishman is
treated with far more courtesy in France than he is in Germany.
The adhesion of Austria to the Zol-Verein would lead England to
believe that she participated in those feelings which distinguish
that body, and our belief that [they were] caused by our com-
mercial success and our freedom would be invincible. And this
being so, to hope that our people would forget the past history of
Austria, and believe that she had begun a new career of freedom,
would indeed be idle and illusory. But if Austria would free
herself from commercial, as she has done from political, despotism ;
if she would throw her ports and country open to English
commerce ; if she would benefit her own people by allowing our
manufacturers and merchants to have free access to them, she
would do much to conciliate our good will, and convince us that
she was really free, and really bent upon making her people
happy, and furthering good will and peace among mankind.
Here, then, comes my practical conclusion — one to which I would
invite the serious attention of the statesmen of your country. It
is not to the petty clerj:s, not to the narrow-minded men of

mammmm

summ

ijWifcj':

iTii; .;i-iB8ihritni<eBti mt'ca

AUSTRIAN LEANINGS.

289

office, that I address myself. These men liave too long swayed
the destinies of mankind, bnt now I hope a new era has begun.
I hope that men of true intelligence are henceforth to govern
among you ; that your leaders will raise their minds to the height
of their position ; and that we shall have large and benevolent
principles guiding their conduct, instead of wretched rules framed
by narrow ignorance. The practical conclusion to which I come
is : Instead of joining the Zol-Verein, let Austria enter into a
liberal commercial treaty with England. Let her make Trieste
the rival of Marseilles. Let her attract commerce up the Adriatic,
and let her vast resources find an outlet by means of English
enterprise and capital. Let it be sent to every quarter of the
globe, and let her take her true position among the nations of the
world ; and let her be, as she ought by her capabilities to be,
the great leading, guiding continental power.

It unluckily happened that Mr. Roebuck's visit to
Vienna was contemporaneous with efforts on the part of
the Lever group to obtain certain shipping, or banking,
or railway concessions from the Austrian Government. An
inquiry before a Parhamentary committee, and actions in
the law courts, had thrown much light on the devious
ways of the Galway Packet Company. So far as Mr.
Roebuck was concerned, the facts only redounded to his
honour. Attracted by the advantages accruing to Ireland
through establishing direct steam communication between
Galway and the United States, he had thrown himself
warmly into the scheme of Mr. John Orrell Lever and
Father Daly, and had allowed himself to be made a
provisional Director of the Galway Company. But speedily
finding that this brought him into association with men
whose ways were not his ways, and who were actuated
by motives far different from his own, he washed his hands
of the whole transaction. The promoters had reserved
£10,000 in paid-up shares for distribution among them-
selves. Mr. Roebuck not only refused to receive the pro-
portion offered to him, but he retired from the provisional
Board, and never became a Director of the Company as

290

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

finally constituted. He had, however, been so perilously
near the flame that, until his upright conduct was fully
and authoritatively vindicated, he for a time suffered some-
what in popular estimation l>y the association of his name
with a venture that speedily got into ill favour ; and his
companionship with Mr. Lever, at Galway, and Milford, and
Bolton, and Vienna, gave colour to suspicion, more or less
openly expressed, both in Parliament and outside. It was
further unfortunate that, through Lever's influence, Mr.
Roebuck became connected with various ill-starred bank-
ing enterprises which, throughout some years, brought
upon him much anxiety and annoyance.

His expressed admiration for Austria exposed him to
misapprehension of another kind. It was not his encourage-
ment of Austrian reachings towards constitutional govern-
ment that alarmed Liberals. What aroused their dis-
approbation was the fact that this sympathy led him into
a defence of Austria's retention of her Italian possessions.
For it has to be remembered that at this time the struggle
for Italian unity was exciting the intense sympathy of the
English people. With pained disfavour they had watched
the cession of Savoy and Nice to France, but this shock
had been largely forgotten in the enthusiasm caused by
Garibaldi's overthrow of the Neapolitan Government, and
the assumption by Victor Emmanuel of the title of King
of Italy. Austria's occupation of Venetia stood menacingly
opposed to " Italy for the Italians ; " and when Mr. Roe-
buck, in the House of Commons, boldly declared it to be
England's duty to prevent the expulsion of Austria, he ran
counter to national opinion, and scandalized many of his
most loyal admirers. It is easy to see now that, amid the
excitements of the moment, the sentences in which Mr.
Roebuck advocated the retention by Austria of her Italian
possessions, stood out in such relief as to rivet public
attention, and to blind men's eyes to the broad argument
of which they were the mere setting. That argument wa&

lously

fully
some-

namo
nd lus
'd, and
or less
It was
ie, Mr.

bank-
»rouglit

him to
ourage-
govern-
eir dis-
lim into
sessions,
itruggle
of the
atched
s shock
ised by
snt, and
if King
acingly
Y. Roe-
lit to be
,, he ran
of his
id the
ich Mr.
Italian
public
■ffument
ent was

DII'FKRKNCES IVIT/f COA'STITUENTS, 291

based upon the distrust, so long preached by ]\Ir. Roebuck,
of France and its Emperor. French troops were in occu-
pation of Rome, and thus, even if Austria were out of the
way, Mr. Roebuck maintained that Franco rendered Italian
unity impossible. The presence of Austria in Venctia
was, ho insisted, an essential counterpoise to France,
Austria presenting a valuable obstacle to the aggrandizing
designs of Napoleon — an obstacle all the more formidable
because of the growth of enlightenment and constitutional
government under Francis Joseph. By the public at large,
however, this contention that Austria was necessary as
a counterpoise to prevent the Italian people becoming the
vassals of France, was overlooked or derided. What fired
the popular indignation was the spectacle of Mr. Roebuck
warning the English Government of the danger of the
course they were pursuing in endeavouring to exclude
Austria from her dominion in Venetia. There was the
fact. They would not listen to reasons. " Considering
both the interests of England and Italy, I say it is our duty
to prevent the expulsion of Austria from Venetia at present."
On that sentence, friends and foes alike fastened in angry
protest.

Immediately there arose a general cry of remon-
strance, nowhere louder than in Mr. Roebuck's own
constituency. Although a demand that he should go down
to Sheffield to explain a speech which had caused " wide-
spread surprise and regret," proceeded only from a small
knot of self-constituted nobodies, calling themselves " the
friends of Italian liberty," Mr. Roebuck at once asked the
Mayor to convene a public meeting.

/. A. RoehicJc to R. J. Gainsfor/l (Sheffield).

March 28, 18G1. — I believe that the outcry raised against
me has, in the first place, originated in selfish interest, and
next, from ignorance ; and I hope that a plain tale, and what I
deem unanswerable arguments, will at once put an end to bare

392

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

impututionB und to foolish luiHtnkcs. Tho <|UCHtionH on which I
had to decide were grave, were momentous questioim. I brought
to their decision sucli abilities us God has given me, and perfect
disinterestedness. All this I shall be able plainly to show,
and I only ivsk for a patient hearing. I think all right-seeing
men will agree with me, und I am sure that all honest men
will acquit mo of dishonesty ; for with dishonesty I have been
charged after thirty years of completely gratuitous labour for
the public.

Tho first meeting, owing to the clamour of those
excluded, and to tho crowded discomfort of those admitted,
was broken up in confusion ; but on the following day, in
a larger hall, Mr. Roebuck won a respectful hearing. It
was a triumph of combined pluck and skill. The spectacle
of the dauntless veteran, shattered in health, and physically
fragile, unflinchingly facing his accusers, scornfully defying
detraction, and vindicating his integrity before an audience
watchmlly unsympathetic, was one that appealed strongly
to Yorkshire hearts. It may be safely said that the whole
assembly felt pride in the bearing of the old man at bay,
and an almost personal relief in the completeness with which
he brushed away every breath of suspicion on his integrity.
But in endeavouring to make palatable to Italian sympa-
thizers his defence of Austria's continued presence in Italy,
he had a task beyond even his great powers.

The meeting heard him patiently — and retained its
own opinion. It declared itself perfectly satisfied with
Mr. Roebuck's explanation in reply to the attacks on his
uprightness, asserting its complete confidence in his personal
worth and political integrity. As to Austria, however, a
resolution was passed which adroitly glossed over the points
of difference, and emphasized those on which both sides
were agreed. But there was a grimly significant hint in
its expression of " ardent sympathy with the ettbrts of the
Italians to free their country from internal tyrants and
external domination," and in its hope " that before long

which I
brought
1 perfect

show,

lit-socinj;'
eat men
ivc been
hour for

if those
dmitted,
; day, in
:ing. It
spectacle
lysically
• defying
audience
strongly
be whole
L at bay,
th which
ntegrity.

1 sympa-
in Italy,

Eiined its
ied with
cs on his
I personal
)wever, a
he points
oth sides
t hint in
rts of the
:ants and
fore long

niFIEREA'CES WITH CONSTITUENTS. 293

Venotia and Uonio may be peacefully united to the Italian
Kingdom.

Mr. Roebuck's visions, founded on the beginninn- of
Austrian constitutionalism, were subscciuentiy dimmed by
the establishment of the dual government of Austria-
Wungary Ho looked upon this as a source of future weak-
ness as he held that an empire to bo really strong should
not have its governing and executive powers divided His
objections to Irish Home Rule were largely based on the
same reasons.

To n. ./. (iainsford {Slifflhlil).
Ocfohor?,0 18|;i._l „ha„ rc,ul with much attention and
huve no doubt with instniction ulso, your urticlo on lll^j
I oar however the people of this country are so wilfully M d,'

I hat they will be taught their error, I am convineed. In the
mean time all I have to do is to bear abuse as best f may

j (

294

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

CHAPTER XXV.

FIGHTING WITH WILD BEASTS. 1862-1865.

Although Mr. Roebuck had triumphed over his detractors
as to the suspicions excited by the Galway contract, and
had beaten down the hostility raised by his tolerance of
Austrian dominion in Italy, it would be erroneous to
suppose that the old terms of cordiality between himself
and influential sections of his constituents had been re-
established. The resolution passed on his Austrian policy
was, read between the lines, practically a verdict of " Not
guilty — but don't do it again." The rift within the lute had
been temporarily stopped, not permanently healed, and Mr.
Roebuck, instead of taking pains to prevent it from widen-
ing, seemed rather to seek opportunities for discordantly
playing on the cherished convictions of his supporters.
Thus, in one of the many lectures on education, delivered
by him at mechanics' and other institutions in different
parts of the country, he contrived to introduce words which,
rightly or wrongly, were immediately interpreted as a dire
insult to the working classes of Sheffield. This was at
Salisbury, on January 16, 1862. He was contrasting the
modes of life and the home surroundings of different classes
of society — of the educated man, the mercantile clerk, the
agricultural labourer, and the artisan. And, speaking of
the large wages earned by iron- workers, he asked —

How is the life of the man in the north passed, who earns
wages of that high character ? He gets up in the morning and

>4<kUi'MHM«IMa

FIGHIING WITH WILD BEASTS.

295

j^oos to work. }fe comes homo, and the first thing ho usually
does is to swear at his wife. Perhaps he heats his cliildren, and
then he caresses his dog. His whole life is i)assed in mere
sensual enjoyment ; getting drnnk is his chief business in life ;
and when he has got drunk, his next business is to get sober.

A few sentences earlier Mr. Roebuck had said that he was
speaking of that which he had known, and was " thinking
of his constituents in the north," when he described the
working classes as herding together more like animals of
the brute creation than men and women. In the offence
given by thus speaking of the faults of the worst as if
typical of the whole class, the excellent incitements to
education which Mr. Roebuck's address supplied were for-
gotten, and hot indignation at the picture thus drawn for
the benefit of the Wiltshire people, of the workmen of
Sheffield, obliterated all other considerations. Again,
attempts at temperance legislation, such as the Permissive
Bill and Mr. Somes's Sunday Sale of Beer Bill, evoked Mr.
Roebuck's fiercest denunciation. It was when asking the
House to refuse leave to introduce the latter measure (May
(j, 1864) that Mr. Roebuck spoke of Sabbatarians and
teetotallers as " two muddy streams," which, after running
side by side for some time, " had at last united their waters,
and now they formed one foaming, muddy river, which it
was difficult to stem, and very disagreeable to see and to
smell." " If," he said, " the promoters of the Bill were any-
thing more than canting hypocrites, they would propose a
law for the rich as well as the poor." He " spat " at a Bill
which was " canting legislation " intended to turn the
nation into a sour, ascetic, hypocritical people.

Of still wider importance, because tending to embroil
England in the great struggle then being waged between
the Northern and Southern States of the Union, was Mr.
Roebuck's attitude towards America, and the language he
used of her. In August, 1JSG2, he took advantage of a
visit paid by Lord Palmerston to Sheffield to urge on his

f ii

■i

i %

as.

■

296

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

lordship immediate recognition of Southern independence.
He stigmatized the attempt to reunite the states of America
as an immoral proceeding, totally incapable of success.
They could, he declared, never be united. The conduct of
the people of the North to this country he described as
"insolent and overbearing." A divided America, he pro-
tested, would be a benefit to England. And an additional
sting was given to the following words by the fact of their
being uttered in Lord Palmerston's presence — indeed,
almost addressed to him personally : " The North will
never be our friends. Of the South you can make friends.
They are Englishmen. They are not the scum and refuse
of Europe." It was reported that Lord Palmerston said of
one of Mr. Roebuck's speeches on the recognition of the
Confederate States, that it was "a devilish good speech,"
and just his opinion, but he could not officially say so.

Mr. Roebuck lost no opportunity of using all his
influence on the side of the South. He advocated its cause
at meetings of his constituents ; in Parliament he moved
an address to the Crown praying her Majesty to enter into
negotiations with the great Powers of Europe to obtain
their co-operation in recognizing the Confederates. This
motion had been preceded by, and was indeed largely based
upon, a remarkable transaction. Mr. Lindsay, member for
Sunderland, who had the entree, of the Tuileries by reason
of having been consulted on navigation matters, accom-
panied by Mr. Roebuck, had proceeded to Paris, with
endeavour to stimulate Napoleon to take active steps
towards acknowledging the South. They were accorded
an audience. The inevitable result of amateur diplomacy
followed. None of the parties to the interview agreed as
to what actually took place. The Emperor disavowed, or
declined to be bound by the version Mr. Roebuck gave to
the House of Commons of the conversation. The amaze-
ment and amusement with which this mission to the
" perjured despot " of a few years ago was received by the

.« — ^._^Ji«"' '

. ■ia)y;s--. -iiite i f"'~ S=^ V »i .' , ; „ • ( ••< 'ti UMi i ^ tih fy i e ' ja m

FIGHTING WITH WILD BEASTS.

297

general public, was expressed in very pungent sarcasms by-
speakers like Lord Kobert Montagu and Mr. Bright. Lord
Palmerston pointed out the embarrassments inevitable upon
communicating to the House of Commons matters that had
passed between private members and the sovereign of a
foreign country; and on his strong representations, Mr.
Roebuck reluctantly abandoned his motion.

In 1863 there was a movement in Sheffield to bring into
the field a local candidate for the representation of the
Borough — Sir John Brown. He had twice filled the office
of mayor, and his large share in promoting the industries
of the town encouraged those anxious for a change in the
representation to put him forward " on commercial grounds
only, and not as a political movement." It was, however,
pretty well understood that the candidature was directed
against Mr. Roebuck. It was with reference to this
threatened opposition, and the manner in which it was met
by his supporters, that Mr. Roebuck wrote the following
letter —

J. A. Roebuck fo Robert Leaifer {Sheffield).

Sivanage, September 21, 18G3. — My dear Sir, — I have read
both your articles with great pleasure, and much admire the
frank and straightforward manner in which you speak of all
parties. The amount of knowledge of men and things which
is really required to furnish forth an effective and competent
politician is very little thought of, or known. In a country
like England, and in an assembly like the House of Commons,
every act of one who is a portion of the Sovereignty is attended
by a terrible responsibility, because it may be fraught with terrible
consequences. It may seem a strange thing for me to say ; but
truly I never speak in the House of Commons without dread and
without hesitation. It is not that I am not self-possessed — it is
not of myself I am thinking when fear comes upon me. But
when I know that every word uttered there resounds throughout
the world, and may bring suffering to thousands, then it is that
I tremble, and pray for wisdom and sagacity. Looking thus upon
the office of a representative of the people before I proposed to

298

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

assume it, I went tbroutrli a careful and severe traininf?. I spent
my youth in study, and went carefully over the vast fields of
political science. And I own that I view with wonder the
audacity and rashness of those men who come from other walks
of life, without training, without even thought, and take upon
themselves the performance of the most arduous duties that a
man can assume. After havinj? given hours and days, nay, years,
of patient thought and careful inquiry to the formation of an
opinion, I find men, upon the mere impulse of the moment, or
the suggestions of some passing interest, suddenly forming and
vehemently maintaining opinions hostile to mine, and at once
branding me as a fool and a knave, because I differ from them.
Heaven knows I do not pretend that I am always right — but I
do assume that there is a greater chance of my being right than
a man who, without pains or study, has formed a conclusion :
and I assume also that the conduct of my life ought to protect
me from imputations of baseness or folly — imputations which
flippant insolence so easily makes, and which inherent unworthi-
ness so readily suggests. But I fear you will deem me egotistical.
Bear with me, however. You hardly know what obloquy he
encounters who, as a politician, seeks to serve his country.

To Mrs. Roehmh.

Munich, Novemhor 21, 18G3. — You will be surprised at the

date, that is as regards the place. takes as much care of

me as if I were a woman, and determined to remain here to-day,
and start to-morrow. I have been again to the picture-galleries,
and have come to the conclusion that the pictures are nothing
wonderful. We, after the pictm'e-galleries, went to call on Lord
Augustus Loftus. We talked politics, and he was very curious
to know what I thought of the Emperor N. after my interview
with him, and then gave me his thoughts on the present state
of things, wanting me to try to influence Austrian politics with
respect to Prussia. He said that Austria was greatly in my debt,
and that she ought to listen to me. But my belief is that nothing
can be done in the sense he wished. From Lord A. L. we
went to the Sculpture-Gallery, and to the Dominican Church —
the marbles poor, the church tawdry. At Paris we alighted at
the Grand Hotel. The first person I met was Gudin, whom I
used to see at the house of Frank Mills. He, G., was then a

impipvnpnf^

iMim"iJ..ii

FIGHTING WITH WILD BEASTS.

299

jijrciit frienfl of tlie Orleans family. Now, be said, " I wisli you
could stay to see my f^rand picture of the Emperor Napoleon."
Thus runs the world away.

Although Mr. Roebuck declined (July, 1864) to vote for
Mr. Disraeli's motion attacking the Government for its
policy on the Schleswig-Holstein question, he impartially
indulged in severe criticism at the expense of the leaders
of both parties, and strongly assailed Prussia, describing it
as a compound of pedagogue, drill-sergeant, and highway-
man. His old distrust of Lord Palmerston was changed
almost into confidence by contrast with his inveterate dis-
belief in Earl Russell, for condemnation of whose foreign
policy he could find no words too strong. Lord Palmerston,
he said, would have done very differently if rid of his
Foreign Secretary. And in the next month, at Sheffield,
Mr. Roebuck made a very unusual confession. He acknow-
ledged Lord Palmerston's superior wisdom in not acting
as he would have had him act towards America and
Denmark.

n William miff {Shoffidcl).

April 2G, 1804. — I do not think that giving the suffrage to
all men of thirty years of age would be any real protection
against unworthy persons. If precaution be necessary, something
more effective than restriction as to age ought to be found. The
more I consider the matter, the more puzzled I become. In order
to make the interests of the representatives co-extensive with
those of the represented, something very near to universal suffrage
is necessary ; but we cannot shut our eyes to the danger resulting
from power being placed in the hands of the ignorant. That
danger can, I believe, be avoided only by careful and slow proceed-
ings. We ought, in my opinion, to take every safe opportunity
offered for enlarging the suffrage, and we ought in every way to
promote the education of the people. I have great faith in my
countrymen ; but the experience of America frightens me. I am
not ashamed to use the word friijhtened. During my whole life
I have looked to that country as about to solve the great problem
of self-government, and now, in my old age, the hopes of my

! I
\

300

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

youth and manhood are destroyed, and I am left to reconstruct
my political philosophy, and doubt and hesitation beset me on
every point. I don't know how you, as an old reformer, feci ;
but I must acknowledge that I am very uncomfortable.

At this period Mr. Roebuck further disappointed that
section of his constituents which had resented his pro-
Austrian sympathies by throwing the cold water of pru-
dence on the heroic measures they wished to see taken
in aid of the struggles of the Poles for freedom. As to
Ireland, he denied the existence of any troubles that were
not self-made and self-curable; and in connection with
disturbances in New Zealand, he reiterated with unmiti-
gated harshness his often-proclaimed views on the inevitable
law that the price of civilized colonization is the extermi-
nation of aborigines. The sooner, he said, the Maoris
were destroyed, the better.*

All these things united many sections of Mr. Roebuck's
constituents in strong disapprobation of their member. It
was not only that they differed from his views. They were,
indeed, fairly well accustomed to his habit of putting his
truths in exaggerated and paradoxical forms. " Roebuck,"
it was remarked, "is always saying something which is
lying at the bottom of other people's minds, but which
other people do not say. They keep it for examination
and modification before it is allowed to come into free
thought or open words. Roebuck digs it up, and puts it
before us, and makes us look it full in the face at once.
Sometimes we do not thank him for the office" — and
assuredly he was not thanked by those who had been
vivisected as a warning to the rest. These were wounded
by his aggressive ways, and by biting epigi'ams whose
rankling pain caused angry indifference to the substance of
the arguments they were intended to enforce. He had

* He had no sentimental illueions regarding the North American Bed
Indian, whom he has somewhere described as a " melancholy man," and as
such destined to fade before a more vigorous race.

J' iX

m .■iismm'

PPW^iWW^

ii*vn!!ni«iov9ni9P«M

inn ^iifMi»

FIGHTING WITH WILD BEASTS.

301

thus secured for himself an exceedingly hot reception when,
on the dissolution of Parliament in the summer of 1865, he
went down to Sheffield for re-election. Mr. Roebuck boldly-
defied his critics at a great open-air meeting. There, on an
extemporized rival platform, were gathered in fierce array
temperance men, bent on avenging the " muddy stream "
and " canting hypocrite " epithets, and the Bill that had
been " spat " upon. There were the sympathizers with the
North, angry at the " scum and refuse of Europe " speeches ;
and the friends of Italy and Poland, and the humanitarians
shocked at the doctrine of exterminating the black man.
To these were added others unreasonably, but all the more
furiously, discontented on a local water question. Mr.
Roebuck was unfairly charged with having espoused the
cause of the water company against the town, in matters
arising out of the calamity of the bursting of the Bradfield
reservoir, and the sins imputed to him on this matter out-
weighed even the opprobrious description he had given at
Salisbury of the working man. There had been various
attempts to modify, or explain away, the many offending
sarcasms. In the House of Commons, Roebuck himself,
replying to Mr. Bright, had said that " the scum of Europe "
was applied to the armies, not to the people of the North.
He sought to limit the description of drunken working men
who beat their wives and caress their dogs, as applied to
individual instances, not to a whole class; and as to the
" canting hypocrites," he wrote —

\ i

I 11

\ \

I !

J. A. Roehitck to Robert Leader.

The words " canting hypocrites " were not used at Sheffield,
but in the House of Commons. They must be taken in the
context, and I should then hope that Mr. Barber will not deem
them applicable to himself. The subject on which I was speaking
was not the Permissive, but the Sunday Closing Bill. I had
given notice that, if this latter .:''ll were carried, I would in
committee move a clause compelling the close of all the clubs
in London at the same time that the public-liouses were to be

I <

303

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

closed ; and I said that any one who voted for closing the public-
house of the poor man, and would not vote for closing the club
of the rich, was a canting hypocrite. I said this then, and I say
it now ; but I cannot believe that any honest man would take
offence at such a statement, and put the cap upon his own head.
This is my answer, and all that I can say.

But these offences were too rank to be glossed over by-
explanations. There was only one course open, and it was
entirely in consonance with Mr. Roebuck's temper and
inborn pugnacity to take it. This was bold and open
defiance. Speaking at the excited open-air meeting, he
said —

I leave my fate in your hands. I am not afraid of the result.
I believe that I have done my duty honestly. I know I have
done it fearlessly. I don't fear you. I don't fear anybody.
What I think right I say. What I think right I do ; and that
is the only promise I make you. . . . Now, gentlemen (turning
to the medley crowd of his opponents), what have you got
to say ?

The Times wrote —

When Roebuck made his parting salutation, several inglorious
carcases were di'agged away. Indeed, if there be a teetotaller
now left in Sheffield, he must be in a very mangled state.
Roebuck's fight with the wild beasts of Sheffield might have
entitled him to be member for Ephesus. ... It used to be a
favourite doctrine with the last generation of bull-baiters that
the bull liked the baiting quite as much as the dogs or the
spectators. Roebuck evidently took an intense joy in his baiting.
No one came within reach of his horn but he went high in air
and came down howUng. . . . The meeting voted him back to
his seat by a majority of ten to one. Mr. Roebuck was reminded
by his audience that he has been member for Sheffield for sixteen
years, and this is the style in which he has always treated them..
He is as safe with the men of Sheffield as the Lord of the Manor
of Boroughbridge used to be when he was returned by the votes
of his butler and his bailiff. It is very creditable both to the
representajiive and to the town. We do not often agree with Mr.

orious
lotaller
state,
have
be a
that
>r the
liting.
liii air
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J votes
|o the
Mr.

FIGHTIXG WITH WILD BEASTS.

303

Roebuck, and we arc sometimes ol)li<;ed to say hard things of
him, but it is liighly to the honour of a great constituency like
that of ShetReld that they can abide faithfully by a man who,
when it pleases him, votes agi.inst their public opinions and their
local interests, and abide by him from sheer admiration of his
pluck and honesty of purpose. It is refreshing to see a friend-
ship like this between a man with a strong will and a constituency
with a tolerant appreciation for a sturdy, though often mistaken,
love of truth. Of the electors of Sheffield who make IMr.
Roebuck's place in the House of Commons so secure, there is
probably not one who approves much more than half what he
says and does. Yet the vast majority accept him for what they
like, and tolerate in him what they dislike ; and they protect
him against the enemies he makes by the unmeasured scorn he
pours upon all that is mean, or sectional, or socially tyrannical ;
and they seem to like him the better the more he scolds them.
It is a piece of our electioneering system that deserves to be
noted and applauded.

Mr. Roebuck's seat was, however, by no means so safe
as the Times supposed. A very significant sign was that
Mr. Dunn, the last man to be moved by effusive ck^mour,
or to lose sight of substance in phrases, retired from the
chairmanship of his election committee. rJut Mr. Roebuck
received undesigned help from his opponents themselves.
At first a Mr. Probyn, a most respectable moderate Liberal,
had been brought out. It was soon manifest, however,
that his candidature would be a greater danger to Mr.
Hadfield than to Mr. Roebuck ; so he withdrew. Mr.
Campbell Foster, a barrister with loud declamatory powers,
was then selected, but the violence of his attack defeated
itself, for its virulence rallied many semi-alienated waverers
to Mr. Roebuck's side, and convinced reasonable men that
Mr. Foster, with all his professions, would be an ill exchange
for Mr. Roebuck, with all his faults.

One summer evening, at the commencement of the
election contest, there was a very striking scene in Paradise
Square, where Sheffield's great opeu-air meetings are held.

304

LIFE OF 'JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

Mr. Campbell Foster's briel' seemed to consist of the words,
" No case, abuse the other side." In a ferocious attack he
injudiciously taunted Mr. Roebuck with not having dared
to be present. The prompt rei)ly was the appearance,
amid intense excitement and enthusiasm, of Mr. Roebuck
and Mr. Hadfield in a carriage. They were accompanied
by a brewer's dray filled with their supporters. These
vehicles, forced through the crowd, were drawn up at the
foot of the steps whence Mr. Foster spoke, and throughout
the remainder of the speech Mr. Roebuck sat impassively
listening to a crudely lurid picture of himself, sketched by
his assailant. There was an animated wordy warfare
between the partisans of the two sides, but the confusion
was too great to enable Mr. Roebuck to make his voice
heard above the clamour. Both sides claimed the vote, so
that it was a drawn battle; but the dramatic episode is
still famous in local annals. With a beginning like this,
the electoral proceedings were characterized by no lack of
animation. But although there was a fourth candidate in
the field to abstract votes (the Hon. F. Wortley, who, dis-
sociating himself from the Tory politics of his family,
solicited election as a moderate — very moderate — Liberal),
the result was the return of the old members: Roebuck,
3410 ; Hadfield, 3348 ; Wortley, 2626 ; Foster, 1576.
The following letters relate to this period : —

To William Fisher {Sheffield).

May 12, 1865. — I said [in reply to an intimation that the
coming election would be very severe and expensive] that I was
not prepared for any great expense, and that if I was told that
great expense would be entailed on me, I should make my bow
and retire ; that if the people of Sheffield were not satisfied
with me as their representative they had only to say so, and that
I would at once relieve them of all difficulty, so far as I was
concerned, by withdrawing at once ; that if I, after three and
thirty years of service, was to be called upon to pay largely for
the honour of representing Sheffield, I was not prepared to

-^,

P' ■■ B^— M

FIGHTING WITH WILD BEASTS.

30$

vords,
ck he
dared
iranee,
)ebuck
panied
These
at the
uffhout
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shed by
lArarfare
infusion
is voice
vote, so
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ike this,
) lack oi
lidate in
?ho, dis-
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iberal),
loebuck,

that the
lat I was
bold that
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satisfied
and that
las I was
iree and
firgely for
spared to

aucopt the representation on tliosc terms, and that I was quite
prepared for the quiet and ohscurity of private life.

To William Fisher.

May m, 180'). — Do not fancy that I shall take a verdict from
any hut a puhlic meetinj,'. I intend to see my constituents face
to face ; to meet those who find fault with me before the great
body of the people. I never yet quailed before any opposition ;
and I am not yet so old as to have lost my head or my heart.
My cause, I know, is a good one, and I rather fancy I know how
to deal with my fellow-countrymen in puhlic meeting assembled.

To Mrs. Roebuck.

Sheffield, July 7, 1805. — AVell, we had our turn last night at
a large meeting in the Temperance Hall, at which the opposing
party did ail they could to prevent my being heard, but as our
friends were twenty to one, silence was at length compelled by
turning one noisy fellow out of the meeting more hastily than
ceremony or courtesy required. I then had my say, and warmed the
people completely, and we carried our motion triumphantly, show-
ing that at the poll, the result will be as already predicted. We
called on the Browns ; he is ill in bed, and poor Jlrs. Brown said
she had not slept for a week. Everybody is very kind ; and the
Fishers really seem as if they could not do enough to show their
friendship. The Southern (West-Riding) Division election seems
getting on well — and all our friends are busy and fully on the
alert. There is no doubt of the result.

Sheffield, July 10, 1865. — I have really no news; things are
going on, in their actual train, and everything, so far as I can
judge, promises an easy victory. The vulgar abuse of Sir. Foster
does no harm to anybody but himself, and if the feeling shown
at the public meetings be any guide, the matter is really decided.
Should the result be different from what I now expect, it would
indeed be a great surprise — I suppose it is my being older that
makes me feel the trouble more now than formerly — and, indeed,
the disgust that comes over me at times is so great, that I am
inclined to say, " Let it go to the devil. I will not stir in the
business more." This does not arise because I am doubtful, but
because of the shock to my dignity, and to the respect that
I feel is my due. If ever a man passed a life of purity and

I !

3o6

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

(lisintcrestcdness, I have done so, and yet that every venal, vul,t,'ar
blackguard may raise up his foul voice agaiust me, is to me
a cause of shame as well as of disgust. However, this way of
talk is idle ; I am in for it, and must abide the result. As
to Mill's election, I am in the dark, though my instinct tells \w
that it will be Mill and Smith. P.S.— I have just come from
a meeting of working men, and have nearly had my arm pulled
off shaking hands.

Mr. Roebuck had taken an active interest in the election
of his old friend, John Stuart Mill, for Westminster. In
April, when the Liberals were considering the rival claims
of Mr. Mill and Mr. Coningham, late M.P. for Brighton,
he had warmly championed Mr. Mill's cause. One speech,
in which he pronounced an eloquent eulogium on Mr. Mill's
fitness, contained some interesting reminiscences as to their
early association.

Ho and I were young men together, and he, in fact, though the
younger of the two, was the leader. Ho taught me pretty much
all I know upon politics and philosophy. He was my guide.
I followed him, and I owe him a greater debt of gratitude than
I owe to any man, living or dead. I cannot help thinking of
those days and those hours we spent together in the investigation
of great subjects —

" For we spent them not in toys, or lust, or wiuo,
But search of deep philosophy,
Wit, eloquence, and poetry —
ArtB which I loved ; for they, my friend, were thine."

The House of Commons ought to contain some man whoso
mind is of such an order that he should represent the thought,
the philosophy, the great powers of the thinking people of
England. Where is surh a man to be found ? I look to my
early friend, and there corrus over me a melancholy as well as
a pleasurable thought — melancholy to think I have not equalled
the anticipations thafc ht had formed of me ; pleasurable that
he has more than equalled every hope and aspiration that
I formed of him. That man does not come to the House of
Commons unprepared. His mind has been trained and he has.

FIGHTING WITH WILD li EASTS.

y-i

\\\ whoso

thought,

eoplo of

J to my

well as

equalled

ible that

on that

ouse of

he has.

Rtndiod Icjfislution as a science. He has ^'ivcn proof of \\\^ fitness
to every inau who can read a book.

Mr. Mill, as we all know, was elected, defoiiting Mr.
W. H. Smith. 13ut Mr. Roebtick afterwards •shared tho
general feeling that Mr. ^Mill, in the House of Comnions,
had not fulfilled the expectations formed when ho entered
it. This appears from tho following letter, found among liis
papers and endorsed, "A letter to John Mill that probably
will never bo sent, and indeed, probably will nover bo
finished " : —

J. A. Roehwh to John Stuart Mill.

April 13, 1HG8. — DkarMill, — After some deliberation I have
determined to write to you. The time of our youth comis
back to me, and I call to mind all that I mentally owe to you.
Our early friendship — tho break in that friendship — and the
long estrangement that followed, all pass before me, and I ask
myself what can I hope from this present, this late appeal to
the mind, maybe to the affection, of my old friend ? Tlie answer,
I know not what ; no harm can follow, some good may. After
many years of separation, wo have found ourselves members of
the same House of Commons. The time is a remarkable one.
The whole frame of the constitution of England is in a state of
change — and whether that change shall be for good or evil,
<lepends much upon the men who preside over and direct that
change. Now, I have lived my life in the House of Commons,
and while you have been giving lessons of wisdom to the world
through books, I have been fighting what I have believed the
good fight in the great legislative assembly of whicii I have for
so many years been a member. I did what I cou'd to assist in
bringing you into Parliament — what little influence I had, I
gave to that end, and I believe that my efforts were not wholly
without effect. I did this because I believed that your mind
and thought, imported into our debates, would really be a new
era in the history of the House of Commons ; that your clear
and masculine English style would induce men to listen to the
teachings of a wise philosophy, and that you would bring to bear
upon our debates, that whicli they much wanted, a large and

I !

3o8

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

liberal spirit of froneraliziition — a tone of thought and feelinfr
above that whicli appeared in party strife ; in short, I hoped
that you would be a philosoplier acting as a legislator — that you
would enlighten and guide us. I fancied that I had not lived
for nothing. I believed that I had learned something of human
dealings in my long Parliamentary career. I had studied, and
studied carefully the writings of your father, of Bentlmm, and
yourself, and I believed I saw mistakes that a very little know-
ledge of the actual business of life would liavo corrected ; but
I felt certain that the great intellectual power which enabled
them to write such works as those by ".hich they were im-
mortalized, would, had it been permitted, have enabled them,
with very slight experience, to eiTace and rub off those small
blemishes or mistakes which I fancied my large experience
enabled me to detect. Full of this idea, and strongly under the
influence of this feeling, I hailed with something like rapture
your election for Westminster. I watched, I cannot say with
anxiety, but with great interest your first steps as a member of
Parliament. The estrangement of which I have spoken, I found
rendered it impossible for me to olTer you any advice, or to
enable you to profit by the lessons which time had taught me,
so that I was a passive spectator of what was taking place, I
soon found that there are things which the most powerful minds
cannot learn in their closets, shut out from commerce with their
fellows. The temper of the House of Commons is peculiar, and
of that I quickly saw you were profoundly ignorant, and you had
so long accustomed yourself to look with something like contempt
upon the intellect of the House of Commons, that you were
unwilling or unable to assume a port and bearing, or to take steps
that would alone enable you to guide and instruct that very
remarkable asseuibly. It is, believe me, a very perspicacious
assembly. It takes the gauge of men instantly, and for the
most part correctly. It judges, it is true, from its own point
of view — but from that point of view, its judgment can usually
be dependi'L upon. . . .

Mr. ^lill, like Mr. Roebuck, was rejected at the General
Election a few months after this letter was written, and
the House of Commons knew him no more. How Mr.
Roebuck lost his seat remains to be told.

^ 309 )

CHAPTER XXVI.

REJECTED BY SHEFFIELD. ISGo-lSGS.

At the Cutlers' Foast of LSGo, ^Ir. Roebuck again showed
how changed was his estimate of the French Emperor's
policy. " We," ho said, " have luid our old enemy, now
our ally— the French— meeting us in friendly concourse
and friendly emulation on the waters of Portsmouth. It
is a fact significant of this, that, while England and Franco
hold together, tho world nuut be at peace. The Emperor
of France employs that power which he has, and so well
exercises, for the benefit of mankind."

Parliament met in February, LSGO, under an admiuis-
tration of which Earl Russell, consecpient upon the death
of Lord Palmcrston in the preceding October, was the head.
The promise of a Reforui Bill was Uie piece de resistance
=n the Queen's Speech, but that document contained also
an ominous reference to the disturbed state of Ireland,
where the Fenian conspiracy had developed itself. Tho
discussions on both these subjects were destined to lead
to a(itiuii J'- the part of Mr. Roebuck which finally broke
down the allegiance of tho Liberal party in his constituency.
W.J result was an entire revolution in his relations to tho
two groat political parties. Ev>vv : ^>p of alienation from
the Liberals drew him nearer into alliance with tho Con-
servati\es, and ulr.imately Hung him into their arms.

This transitioji was, of course, gradual. At first it
appeared as if Mr. Roebuck would be found supporting the

3IO

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Ministerial proposals. Speaking, in spite of illness, at
Shefiield, in April, he declared the measure, brought in by
]\[r. Gladstone, to be honest. " I cannot," he said, " under-
stand the meaning of what is said about dishonesty in this
Bill." It proposed not merely to enlarge the franchise, but
to do away with the ratepaying clauses, to get rid of
which, he had, he said, been fighting for thirty -three years.
" Fairly and candidly will I deal with this Bill. I will
steadily support it, and, by the grace of God, we shal' carry
it." Mr. Roebuck, who was seriously ill, was unable to
attend the exciting debates which led to the overthrow of
the Russell Government, by an adverse majority of eleven,
on Lord Dunkellin's amendment fixing a rating, not a
rental, qualification. The change of government put off'
the question of reform until the following year, Mr. P'sraeli
refusing, indeed, to give any pledge to deal will, xl even
then, and Lord Derby hinting that much would depend
on the possibility of arriving at an effectual agreement
between the two sides.

To William Fisher {Sheffield).

June 7, 18G6. — At tliis moment I caimot give any precise or
(lefiuite information about myself, as I am in the very process of
learning my exact condition, and of determining what steps I am
to take. I went yesterday to Sir James Paget, the eminent
surgeon, and his advice is that the best and safest course will be
at once to submit to an operation, which he declares to be without
pain or danger. On receiving his advice I wrote to Gully, asking
him to come up to see me, and to give me his advice, by which I
shall be guided. When I have consulted Gully, in order yet
fnrther to satisfy myself, I shall see Sir William Fergusson, who
takes a great interest in me, and whose mind runs in the same
groove as that of Paget. Gully is, of course, a different character.
. . . When Gully comes I shall make my decision. I am, as you
may suppose, anxious ; but believe me, I am not afraid. I am
ready for the worst, and, as far .is I am myself concerned, to die
will not be terrible, or indeed unwelcome. I have done pretty

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rt'ocess of
tops I am

eminent
se will be
le without
ly, asking
f which I
arder yet
3son, who

the same
character.
,m, as you
id. I am
Lcd, to die
)iie pretty

■it

'..'st"!!'

■'aii-ly and cau-^'-x^
. adi.iy support ii, and, b^

■ ' Mr. Kr'--bit'-i:. vr^''^ ^•

throw ot

;4un

1 •

■;ii

i'Ai

>.,-lll

y/.y// r/^r',, r'/. '/■■ '/'v/v/./'

^•*C1

REJECTED BY SHEFFIELD.

much all I 'can hope to do, and though my career has been less
distinguished than I had hoped, yet I have won for myself a good
name, and I think my countrymen respect me. There are those
who will be deeply grieved to lose me. But to part at some time
is inevitable, and the only touch of selfishness I find in myself is
that I had rather that the parting came by my taking precedence
than by following after. These are gloomy thoughts and sad
forebodings that may not now come to pass, but I write so that
you may not be taken unawares. My dear wife and daughter are
not aware of the desponding view I take of my case, and I do not
wish them to know. If my anticipations prove correct, they will
soon enough have cause for sorrow. If I be wrong — why, they
will have escaped the misery that I think threatens.

To William Fisher.

July 11, 18GG.— Sir William Fergusson has just left me,
saying that I am now well. This, no doubt, is true, surgically
speaking ; but I am yet very weak and very nervous, and totally
unfit for work.

To the. same.

Rector I/, Bushey, near Watford, Herts, July 20, 18(56. — I am
here at the quiet parsonage of my brother, Mr. Falconer, getting
strength daily from the fresh air and the calm and the sunshine.
I am very much stronger than I was a week since, and all goes
merrily with me as a marriage bell.

Some quiet and cheerful weeks passed at EndclifFe
Hall, Sheffield, with Sir John and Lacly Brown, whose un-
failing kindness did much to bring abouf- complete restora-
tion to health. In September, Mr. Roebuck's attitude
towards Reform legislation was far different from that he
had taken up in the spring. He had, he said, supported the
defunct Liberal Bill because he could not help supporting
it. But by separating extension of the suffrage from redis-
tribution of seats, the battle of the late administration was
fought on a wrong point. Mr. Gladstone had endeavoured
first of all to cajole the House of Commons, and, that
failing, to bully it. To cajole the House would be very

III

312

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

difficult, to bully it was impossible ; so that Government fell.
So far as he was concerned, the new administration should
have a fair trial. The result would, he believed, be that
the two great parties of the State would be united into one.

There is really no difference between the two, except some
small rags of bigotry and intolerance that stick unwillingly to
them. Let them get rid of these — let the Tories throw overboard
the talk about the Church rates, the talk about the Uuiveraities —
and they will do it — and even the Liberal, the moderate Liberal
party, will join them, and form such a strong Ministerial party in
England as will enable us to maintain the power of England
throughout the world ; as will make her feared by her enemies
and loved by her friends, and be the protecting power of the
people. I am sure that will take place. I am sure that Lord
Derby will disappear. I hope that Lord Russell will disappear,
and that other men will rise up in their places representing the
united feeling of the people of England ; and that then we shall
bo enabled to preserve the people of England from the control of
ignorance and vice with which we are now threatened ; and, in
spite of all the demagogues in the world, the people of England
will ride triumphant.

In the next session (18G7), Mr. Roebuck, reverting to
his often-proclaimed opinion, that a better Reform Bill
could be wrested from a weak Conservative Government
than any it was possible for Liberal ministers to carry,
gave his support to that Derby-Disraeli scheme which was
designed to "dish the Whigs." His speech in favour of
the second reading was barbed with sneers at Mr. Glad-
stone. When helping the Government to defeat that
statesman's crucial amendment, dispensing with the
personal payment of rates by the householder as a con-
dition of the franchise, he again applied the epithet
" pettifogging " to Mr. Gladstone's speech. By this time,
too, Mr. Roebuck had changed his thirty-three years* views
as to ratepaying. He now declared that he never heard
any one object to the condition of the ratepaying clauses

REJECTED BY SHEFFIELD.

313

except the Radicals. " Of these," he said, " I was one, but
I have seen the error of my ways."

To WUUum Fisher {Sheffield).

June 7, 18G7. — How completely my policy has succeeded !
We have now a more Liberal Bill thau has ever been proposed,
and that Bill will be carried. I always said the Whigs never could
or would carry any reform, and this statement which I made in
1859 has proved true to the letter.

After the Bill, turned inside out by Liberal effort, and
presenting as an Act scarcely any possible resemblance to
its original shape, had established household suffrage,
Mr. Roebuck, at Sheffield, further explained and justified
his course by saying —

I made a resolution with myself that, having got Lord Derby
into power, we would, if it were possible, screw out of him a real
reform of Parliament. It always appeared to me that the Whigs
never could carry a second Reform Bill. I stated so in 1859. I
was hooted and yelled at in this very town because I so stated.
. . . Then came Lord Derby again, and then I recollected my
old determination. " If ever a Reform Bill is carried," I said to
myself, *' it will be by those men, and so sure as they bring it in, I
will support them." I was among the first who did so, and I was
again received with a yell of disapprobation. Oh, how I wa5
lectured ! . . . Poor man 1 it was thought having lived so long I
did not know what I was doing. Well, time went on, and I was
called upon to resign my seat. Certain people here in this town,
calling themselves Reformers — wretched people to teach me— these
men called upon me to resign the great trust imposed on me by
the people of Sheffield. I treated them with the contempt they
merited. I steadily supported that Bill, and what has been the
result ? We have got a more Liberal Bill than ever Whig pro-
posed. We have got a Bill that has frightened, I believe, the
very persons who proposed it. It has not frightened me. I
believe we shall find now what the people of England really
mean. I have great confidence in the right-heartcdness of my
own countrymen. I have no dread of the future. . . . We have

\ r

III,

314

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

\ i

got a great dcul more good out of the Tory administration than out
of anybody else. This Reform Bill is before us. AVe have now to
work it. ... I am quite sure there can be no harm to England
while we have a free press, a free people ; but with that press and
constant intercommunication of thought, it will render the passing
of the Reform Bill one of the greatest boons ever conferred upon
the people of this country.

Mr. B^obuck, throughout these Reform discussions, had,
as was said at the time, been true to his usual practice ot
«o emphasizing by his strong expressions individual bricks,
as to concentrate attention on them, and divert it from the
entire edifice. He had exposed himself to much adverse
comment in his constituency by opposing Mr. Laing's
proposal to make the six largest cities three-cornered
constituencies. For, although he subsequently advocated
the claims of Sheffield to inclusion in the list, there was a
prevalent impression that this was a case of being zealous
to lock the stable door after the horse had been stolen.
Mr. Roebuck explained his course in the following letter : —

To a Constituent,

19, Ashley riare, 8JV., Juhj 10, 1868.— The story of the
three members' constituencies is a simple one, and can soon be
told. Many attempts to stop and destroy the Reform Bill were
made under the guise of liberality. The project respecting the
three members was one of them. It was thought that Mr. Disraeli
Lad got to the length of his tether, that his party would go no
further, and that if they at this time could be induced to recal-
citrate, the Liberals who had hitherto supported the Government
must vote with the real enemies of the Bill, that the Govern-
ment would be put into a minority, must go out, and that the
Bill would then be defeated. Mr. Disraeli said in the debate that
the Government could not accede to the proposal, and that the
defeat of the Government on the motion would seriously endanger
the Bill. We knew what this meant — viz. that his party could
not be induced to go further in the way of concession. Seeing
this, we said, *' We will not throw away the good we have attained,
for the purpose of adding six members to large constituencies, and

REJECTED BY SHEFFIELD.

315

tftkinrf away six from small ones. This benefit, if it should be
desired, can easily be obtained from the new Tarliament when it
meets. In the mean time we will insure the Bill." We voted for
the Government, put them into a majority, and saved the Bill.
But Mr. Disraeli, upon consulting his party again, found that
they deemed the trouble of the contest a greater evil than yielding
the point, and they yielded so far as four members were concerned.
I complained of this, and strove for Sheffield ; but I was told that
the party of Mr. Disraeli would go no further than four members,
und so, according to my own expression, Sheffield was left out in
the cold. This is the plain history of the case. It is a story that
could be told of many other similar attempts to defeat the Bill,
which attempts were defeated by our steady determination to
carry the Bill, spite of calumny, spite of threats, spite of abuse.
The Bill is now law, and is law because a number of Liberals
were more far-sighted, ay, and more disinterested, than those
who called themselves leaders of the Liberal party.

There were other subjects on which Mr. Roebuck's
opinions and action were antagonistic to those of many
of his Sheffield supporters.

Early in 1868, in a lecture on Capital and Labour, he
aflfronted Trades Union feeling by dwelling on the sins
of Labour without touching on the correlative errors of
Capital. The meeting heard him patiently, but resented
what it considered the one-sidedness of the lecture. The
usual motion of thanks was rejected, because there was
injudiciously linked with it an implied approval of the
lecture, and a commendation of Mr. Roebuck's "usual
dauntless advocacy of the commercial interests of this
country." Subsequently the Trades Unionists called his
action "indecent and unfair," as coming from one who
was sitting on the Royal Commission at that time inves-
tigating, under the presidency of Sir William Erie, the
constitution, character, and proceedinf? ^ (f the Trades
Unions throughout the kingdom, and certain outrages
which had occurred at Sheffield. The commission had
delegated three examiners, who were armed with special

3i6

LIFE OF JO /IN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

powers conferred by Act of Parliament, to prosecute the
local inquiry, and this brought homo to agents of the
unions a series of terrible acts of vengeance and violence.
The Sheffield examiners reported in August, 1807, but the
larger commission, of which it was a branch, continued its
wider inquiries until the following year. Mr. Roebuck
justified himself in the following letter : —

To J. Ewjland {Shpffiehl).

Fehruary 8, 18GH. — ... My great ofFcuco, then, or mistake,
was that I abruptly termiuiited my locture, or specoh, without
treating on tlie duties of Capital.

For a momout eonsidor the circumstances in which I was
speaking. The audience was one of working men of a town
in which there had lately been horrid disclosures of mm'dcr
and cruelty committed by men of the very class which I was
addressing. These men had lately had au opportunity of bringing
charges, and, if possible, of substantiating them against the
possessors of capital. No such charge was preferred, and my
belief is that none such, if made, could have been substantiated.
My mind was, by the nature of things, directed to the subject
occupying all men's minds, viz. the wroug views eutcrt' sd
respecting the nature of labour and capital. When I had ex] I

what the errors were, I had really done all, as I conceiveii, i-uat
I was expected to do, and illustrated the principles I had
laid down by one striking instance. I stated broadly what I
thought ought to be the aim of the Legislature in any future
legislation, and there I left the matter.

What is the conclusion drawu from this, to you, hasty
termination ? Why, that my confidence in, and sympathy with,
the working man has, if not totally disappeared, greatly dimin-
ished. Let me for a moment consider this conclusion. The
real meaning of it I take to be this : that Capital and Labour are
antagonists ; that having discoursed upon the mistakes upon the
one part, I ought to have set forth the errors of the other. But,
under the circumstances, was this needed ? I had endeavoured
to show, and, I think, had shown, that labour and capital were
equally necessary for production. There was before the world
of Sheffield no proof of any glaring mistake on the part of the

RE'yrxTED nv suErnELD.

3'7

id
I

built

had

capitalist, imd 1 liad coimltincd my views of lubonr and ("!i))it.'il
so that one exposition cxliiinstod both subjects. My lo<]fislativo
Hfe had been passed in RnpyK)rtin!,' siu-h le<_MsIation a'* prevents any
improper inttuenee wliicli capital irives from biiiii,' employed
to tlie detriment of the lalionrer ; and because T did not descant
on what mi«,'ht be the sliortcomini^'s of the capitalist, my juist
life was forr'otten. I was hooted at as an enemv, thontrli the
whole vitrour of my mind and body bad for six and thirty years
l)een steadfastly and disinterestedly devotod to ]>rot"Ctini,' and
watchitiLr over the interests of my fellow-countrymen of every
class and deforce.

You compel me to talk of myself. I reluctantly yield to
the necessity. I ask yon, then, to look sit my career as a politician.
Is there anythiu",' in it which has been caused or broui,dit about
by consideration of self? Have I ever liattercl or attempted
to cajole the people ? When I have thou^'ht them wroni;, have
I not said so ? When I tiion,i,dit them riirht, have 1 not,
at f^very risk, boldly support-d and defended them 'i Hut you say
that "more constant intercourse with the rich and influential niay
have weaned your sympathies from the Inrdy sons of toil." At
what time do you state this smiiosition ? Just when I have
fi^iven the strontjest evidcnoe of my confidence in, and sympathy
with, those hardy sons of toil. My influence has been streiiuously
employed in inducin'jj the House of Commons to give those
"hardy sons of to-l" more power in the Government of the
country than they ever yet enjoyed. And there are not few
who will tell you that that influence was not wholly powerless in
bringins? about the passing of the last Reform IJill. iJut your
supposition in its foundation is incorrect. My intercourse with
the rich and influential has not been more constant of late years
than through my whole life. My syniiiuthy with the working
man was not the result of associating with them, but arose from
careful study and industrious investigation. My habits have
been through life the same ; my fortunes have not changed ;
experience, I hope, has corrected errors ; age has not chilled
my sympathies ; and the temptations which failed to iiiHuenee the
young man will not now make me swerve from what I believe
the path of duty, now that my career is coming to its end.

In a conversation on June 27, 18G8, Mr. Walpole, the

' I. v^yt im'm *i I

^Bii

3>8

L/FE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Home Secretary, told Mr. Roebuck tluit if in his life he hatl
never done anything else but yet at the Sheffield outrages,
he would have deserved well of his country. Said he —

"I well remember your coming with the rc(iuestof the masters,
and then of the men. I took the two petitions for iu(iuiry to
the Cabinet Council, and on my requesting their leave to grant
the iu(|uiry, they, with one accord, lifted up their hands and eyes,
and poiut-blauk refused. I theu said this was a serious mutter
to refuse inquiry to people so accused. I said some other things,
and that it was an opportunity uot to be lost, it might never
happen again, and so on. They then told me they agreed to
leave the matter in my hands, aud to do as I liked ; and, as
you know, I appointed the Commission. How does it work,
as I hear no two agree ? " "I do not lind that," said Roebuck.
" Harrison * does not like it, but he has wonderfully changed
since we first began." Mr. Walpole added, " You fought the
inquiry through the House, and not a soul of them heli)ed you.
It was ijours^''

In 1870, Sir William Erie, who had been Chairman of
the Commission, said to Mr. Roebuck, " I shall always
remember the two years passed in the Trades Union Com-
mission, two of the happiest years of my life." Sir Roundel I
Palmer joined the group with " Yes, an inquiry most nobly
conducted, and most nobly ended ; but it had one bad
result, it terminated your Parliamentary career, and
deprived the country of the services of a great statesman."

But what finally split up the Liberals of Sheffield, and
completed the alienation of the majority of them from Mr.
Roebuck, was the attitude he assumed towards the dis-
establishment of the Irish Church. In former years, Mr.
Roebuck had dwelt with vehemence on the wrongs done
to the Irish by what he called " the greatest enormity in
Europe" — an alien Church. Mr. Gladstone, in 1868,
addressed himself to the removal of this evil, coupling
with it that equally great question of the Irish tenantry,

* Mr. Frederic Harrison.

^■%.

REJECTED BY SHEFFIELD.

319

»j;

which Sir Robert Peel, in the height of his power, had
approached, but left untouched. To the general astonish-
ment, Mr. Roebuck took up the old Tory plea for the Irish
establishment, that it maintained an educated gentleman
in every parish, who, with his family, spent more money
than he received, and conferred the greatest benotit upon
the locality. In Air. Roebuck's o})inion, that man was
no statesman who would disestablish the Church. His
favourite theme at this time was an insistence that tiie
Irish had no grievance of which to complain, all their
troubles being self-made. It was in Ai)ril that Mr. Glad-
stone moved his resolutions, declaring that the Irish Church
must cease to exist as an establishment, and providing
that, pending the action of Parliament, no new life interest
should be created.

To Mrs. Roobuck.

April 4, ISOS. — Last night rdadstone referred twice to me
in his reply on the groat debate ou the Irish Church. The Tiinrs
imperfectly reports both references. The first was u short
allusion. Gladstone was explaining a change in his own opinion
respecting the presence of bishops in the House. He said, as
near as I can recollect, " I thought tlieu, air, that it would be
wise to rctiiin more Irish bishops in the House of I^ords, and
this, in spite of the sneer of my honourable and learned friend,
the member for Sheffield, respecting churchmen and legislators —
not that I mean to blame that sneer. No — it was perfectly
true ! "

The second was more marked, and the omission uf the Til)lt^.^'
more significant. The words of Gladstone were to this effect —
*' And here I must answer a question put to me by my honourable
friend, the member for SlielHeld. He asked me in a marked and
solemn manner, a pertinent and solemn (piestion — one which he
was perfectly justified in asking, and one which 1 am prepared to
answer. It was whether I was prepared to pui-sue to the end
the object of these resolutions. He said that the exjieetations
of the jxiople of Irt'land had been often raised to be often dis-
appointed. I admit this."

320

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Gladstone then proceeded as is reported in the Times, and
in a manner which indnces me to think that haforrsees many diffi-
culties in giving effect to his resolutions, and that he was even then
preparing for what might be another case of Irish disappointment.

A town's meeting in Sheffield sent up petitions in favour
of Mr. Gladstone's policy, and in reply to a letter forwarding
these, Mr. Roebuck wrote —

To Robert Leader (Sheffield).

April 2, 1868. — I will present the petition of the public meeting
to-night. IMr. Gladstone's resolutions I shall support, and, I suspect,
upon a more thorough-going principle than will be adopted by
most of those who will vote for them. About the mover, I see
that you and I differ. He holds so comma ag a position, and
is so eminently gifted, that his errors, if he commit errors, are far
more mischievous than those of ordinary men, and I believe it to
be my duty to speak plainly my opinion upon so important a
subject. My country has a right to demand from me my real
views, and I should be unworthy of the post I hold if I shrunk
from this my duty, even from fear of offending many who cer-
tainly have not my experience, though they may be far more
endowed with abil'iy than myself. I write this because your
hint, though short, was significant and somewhat imperative.

Mr. Roebuck did, accordingly, vote for the resolutions,
but in his speech he hurled bitter taunts at the minister,
and imputed that he was actuated by a desire for personal
aggrandisement.

This speech, his colleague, Mr. Hadfield, reported, " was
silently received." It was the last straw which broke the
back of the long-suffering Sheffield Liberal camel. The
local newspaper which hitherto had held staunchly to Mr.
Roebuck, making the best of the many strains he put upon
its loyalty, at length declared that the time had arrived
when the honourable member's supporters owed it to them-
selves and the country to come to some definite under-
standing as to the relations they were in future to bear to
him and to the Liberal party at large. And Mr. Hadfield

REJECTED BY SHEFFIELD.

321

ics, and
mj iliffi-
ren then
ntment.

1 favour
?^arding

meeting
[ suspect,
)pted by
er, I see
bion, and
3, are far
Levc it to
)ortant a
i my real
I shrunk
who cer-
far more
use your
live.

Dlutions,
ninister,
personal

d, " was

roke the
The

Y to Mr.

)ut upon
arrived

them-
under-
bear to

Badfield

recommended that the Liberal committee should moot and
consider the position of the friends of progress and reform in
Sheffield. " The constituents," he said, " must consider the
duty they owe to themselves and to the country, regardless
of the present members, except so far as they represent the
best interests of the nation."

The details of what followed are of local, rather than of
general interest. Towards the end of June a meeting of
the committee of Messrs. Roebuck and Hadfield was held.
This Mr. Roebuck unexpectedly attended to " have it out "
with his friends. And there ensued an exceedingly frank
and outspoken exchange of opinions, both sides sticking
manfully to their guns. Mr. Roebuck treated the indict-
ment against him as including these main counts: his
action on reform, his attacks on Mr. Gladstone, his attitude
towards trades unions — especially as shown by his treat-
ment of witnesses before the Royal Commission — and his
antagonism to restrictions on the sale of liquors. On the
last he had yet once again, in this session, poured his con-
temptuous scorn. In the committee neither side convinced
the other, and from that moment, all chance of harmony
being at an end, the sword was drawn from the scabbard,
and some of Mr. Roebuck's most influential friends, finding
what they deemed loyalty to the interests of Liberalism
incompatible with his retention of the seat, explained
publicly why they could no longer support him, and why
they threw the whole weight of their influence into the
cause of Mr. Mundella, who had been brought forward as
a candidate. If, said the newspaper which expressed their
views, the electors were not prepared to let Mr. Roebuck
ride them with whip and spur into the Tory camp, and
make them fall into line behind Mr. Disraeli, they must
unhorse him.

At the succeeding Cutlers' Feast, in September, Mr.
Roebuck gave fresh offence by references to the United
States, made in the presence of Mr. Reverdy Johnson, then

' t

322

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

minister representing the Republic in England. There
had, he said, been poured into America a tide of corruption,
" a feculent torrent " of almost all the vice and turbulence
of Europe. " We see," he continued, "the wild Irishman, the
liery Frenchman, the assassinating Italian, and the dumb-
founded Spaniard, all going out in one mass, and wishing
to fulfil their expectations in the mind of America." The
Times having "most unreservedly condemned the out-
rageous indecency of this language, as unfounded in fact
as it was offensive under the circumstances in which it
was uttered," Mr. Roebucic protested against this "mis-
conception of the purpose and effect of the speech."

To the Editor of the Times.

You seem to assume that I intended to disparage the United
States, and that I did insult her minister by the remarks I made.
Now, to notice first the matter last mentioned. I have the best
authority for saying that Mr. Johnson did not so eouccive my
observations. He knew full well that I had been active in pre-
paring for him a warm welcome to Sheffield ; that I had put upon
record in words as strong as our language afforded the pleasure
that we felt upon the occasion of his visit ; and that, in one of
the addresses that were to be presented to him, I had most
earnestly spoken of the blessing that peace and goodwill between
the two nations would confer on mankind. In fact, he has given
me every assurance that he felt greatly pleased by all that had
happened since his arrival here, and to myself personally he used
expressions of kindness and friendship which touched me very
nearly, which I sliall ever remember, but which I need not repeat.
So much fo" th-; insult which you suppose I intended to fling, and
which you say I did fling, at the American Minister.

But that you should have fallen into this error is not sur-
prising when one considers the strange construction you put upon
tiie words and arguments I used. You seem to imagine that I
deliberately spoke ill of the United States, and that I said things
of her institutions that must necessarily have been offensive to the
gentleman who represented her. Now, what was my purpose, my
reasoning, and what were the words I used ? I was speaking of the

REJECTED BY SHEFFIELD.

V-l

There
'ruption,
rbulence
man, the
ic dumb-
wishing
a." The
the out-
l in fact
which it
lis "mis-

,he United

:s I made.

;e the best

uceive my

ive in pre-

\ put upon

i pleasure

in one of

had most

II between

has given

that had

ly he used

me very

ofc repeat.

fling, and

not snr-

put upon

ne that I

things

ive to the

laid

frpose, my
dng of the

great change that had hccn lately made in onr repi'csontatlou, and
my purpose was to relieve the minds of my hearers of any alarms
they might entertain in consetjuence of that change. To aid
this my purpose I brought in America as an ilhistratiou. I said
that there were two nations, and two only, who had really con-
fided the government of their respective countries to the great
body of their people. America had done so under conditions less
favourable for success than England ; and the argument was that,
seeing how successful America has been, we need have no fear of
England. I explained the differing conditions under which the
two nations acted. America had one favourable condition that
we had not — viz. unoccupied land to an almost fabulous extent ;
but I said that there was an element in her politics highly mis-
chievous, and from which we were free — this was an emigration
from Europe of peraonsof the worst and most dangerous character.
Is not this assertion true, and is it not daily made in the United
States in speeches in Congress, in the daily papers, and in every
sort of publication ? — made in words far stronger than mine ;
made, too, by the most thoughtful and patriotic Americans ?
That the course of American policy has been disturbed l)y this
mischievous emigration no one who knows America will, I think,
deny ; that T may have overrated its mischievous influence may be
true. I do not think so, and I know that my opinion is shared
by many eminent Americans. In describing a had thing you do
not use words of eulogy ; the epithets I chose may not have been
happy, but as regards the thing described they are true. While
speaking of this torrent of bad emigration, I did not include or
allude to that vast body of virtuous and worthy persons who go Ic
America in order to find a new and more favourable field for their
industry and talent than their own country affords. That in-
estimable benefit has been conferred on the United States by such
an emigration I well know. The same class of men have created
our flourishing colonies over the world, and I hope I am not so
foolish or so prejudiced as to confound things so essentially
dissimilar as the two classes of emigrants that I speak of. That
the bad element exists I am sure, that it has affected in an evil
manner the politics of America I believe, in common with many
of her most distinguished sons. To mention this fact, even before
an American Minister, I cannot consider an offence against good
taste and good manners ; that no offence was taken I know.

324

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

I mentioned also one other thinj;, which is also notorious in
America, and against which I warned my fellow countrymen — that
was the almost universal withdrawal of rich and educated
Americans from the business of politics, and the consequent
advantage taken of their absence by mere political adventurers.
Is this not also true ? And where was the harm of mentioning a
fact which is notorious, when the mentioning of it might be a
beneficial warning to my own countrymen, and perhaps might also
be useful in its influence upon the minds of Americans ?

I will only add a passing remark upon the hard words you use
when speaking of myself. I rather fancy that my experience in
political life is greatoi- than that of the gentleman who wrote the
article of which I am now speaking, and I should have hoped that
it might have suggested itself to him while inditing his diatribe,
that the veteran politician might be right and he himself in the

wrong.

In the turmoil of the election which followed, Mr.
Roebuck maintained his sturdy independence, and showed
that time had not withered his old powers of spirited
attack, or lessened the joys which fierce combat brought.
In his election address he expressed the hope that as he
had grown older he had grown wiser, that age had made
him more tolerant, more patient, more ready to believe
that men opposed to him and his views were deserving of
respect and toleration; but his toleration seemed to be
extended rather to the traditional opponents of "those
great doctrines of intellectual and moral and civil freedom,
of which he had ever been an ardent and faithful
supporter," than to those who had worked, and were
prepared to continue to work, in the same cause.

Two extracts from speeches he delivered during the
election are given here : —

I am a man of peace, but I have been taught, and unhappily
it is true teaching, that to preserve the peace you should be able
to protect yourselves. In the wide world of ambition, and the
search after glory, we may have things threatened and done if
we are not able to hold up our hands and to defend ourselves.

I-

REJECTED BY SHEFFIELD.

325

torious in
nen — that
educated
onsequent
.venturers,
ationing a
ight be a
night also

is you use
crience in
wrote the
loped that
3 diatribe,
ieif in the

wed, Mr.
I showed

spirited
brought,
at as he
ad made
) believe
jrving of
ed to be
f "those
freedom,

faithful
nd w^ere

ring the

unhappily
Id be able
, and the
i done if
ourselves.

Therefore I say that Hnj,'land must bo defended ; she must be
protected from insult ; she must be protected from injury. Her
sons are over the .^lol»e. They t,'o to Asia, to Africa, to America,
and all over Enrojie. They are upon every sea ; every tishery is
vexed by them, as Hurke said ; so she ought to be able to protect
her sons as well abroad as at home. But all this costs money ;
and therefore it is a very poor economy to say you won't protect
your children abroad. That is ray view with rei^ard to peace and
war. No aggressive wars for me, neither in Europe nor in India.
I am against all aggression ; but defensive war is justifiable, and
Englaiid ought to be prepared to defend herself.

Again —

My object has been through life to make the working-man
as exalted and civilized a creature as I could make him. I wanted
to place before his mind a picture of civilized life such as I see
it in my own life, and I ask him, as my friend and my brother,
to meet me in that career. ]My life has been passed with a partner
whom I am delighted to think of. She is gentle, kind, civilized.
I wanted him to have a partner of the same description. My
household has been a civilized household. It has been a house-
hold in which thought, high and elevated ideas of literature, and
grace and beauty, have always found everytliiug that could recom-
mend them ; and when I came home from my intellectual con-
flicts in the world, I found there a resort, and the pillow on
which I could lay my head. There was everything there that
could recommend man to his Creator. I wanted to make the
working-man like me. His house might be made the abode of
culture, the abode of everything that is civilized and humanizing.
I wanted no drink, no dog, no wretched and degrading things
to interrupt life and happiness. I wanted him to be like me, a
civilized human being, cultivating my mind, thinking oidy of
whatever would elevate me and make lue that which I ought to
be, a representative of my race.

The result of the election canio upon Mr. Roebuck as
a painful surprise. It was: Hadfield, 14,707; Mundella,
12,212 ; Roebuck, 9571 ; Price, 5272.

The current and sedulously encouraged opinion outside
Sheffield was that Mr. Roebuck had fallen a victim to the

326

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

anger of that worst section of Trades Union opinion, which
was in sympathy with the crimes of violence associated
with the name of Broadhead. This, however, was a super-
ficial theory, untenable by those really acquainted with all
the facts of the case and the ramifications of public feeling.
But it largely increased the widespread regret with which
Mr. Roebuck's exclusion from Parliament was everywhere
received — a regret which was not altogether unshared even
by those who, compelled to sunder long ties of friendship,
and to sacrifice personal feeling and admiration on the
altar of loyalty to principle, and in obedience to a stem
sense of duty, had brought it about. And in this respect
they had, at any rate, the sanction of Mr. Roebuck's own
teaching, for, in reference to objections to his plain speak-
ing and unsparing attitude, he was accustomed to say,
" I don't care who the truth injures : I cannot help it. It
is like the surgeon's knife, cutting through a sore and bad
place. He cuts it off, gives pain, but does good." Mr.
Roebuck's farewell address to his late constituents was
dignified and temperate. After thanks to his supporters
and to his executive committee, he said —

We must all accept the decision of the electors as the faithful
expression of the present opinions of the majority of the electors.
It cannot be expected that we should acquiesce in the wisdom or
the justice of this decision. Whether time is to reverse this
decree time must show ; for me it is a final one. I am too old
to wait for the decisions of time, though I am confident that, when
calm reflection takes the place of excitement and prejudice, it will
be acknowledged that I have been always a faithful servant, and
that my services deserved a different return. I make no com-
plaint ; I make no accusations. The future must decide between
me and the newly-made constituency of Sheffield.

( IV )

ion, which
associated
s a super-
d with all
lie feelincf.
ith which
'erywhere
ared even
riendship,
>n on the

a stem
lis respect
ick's own
i/in speak-

1 to say,
)lp it. It
3 and bad
od." Mr.
lents was
upporters

he faithful
e electors,
wisdom or
verse this
in too old
lihat, when
ice, it will
rvant, and
5 no com-
ic between

CHAPTER XXVII.

OUT OF PARLIAMENT, AND IN AGAIN. 18G8-187-" ,

As when, in 1847, Mr. Roebuck was rejected by Bath he
turned his freedom from Parliamontsry duties to the
compilation of his " History of the V/hig Ministry," so now
he seems quickly to have reverted to literary projects.
There is in existence a memorandum in which he wrote —

My intention is, if possible, to write a faithful history of the
House of Commons, which was constituted by the Reform Act of
1832. The first House of Commons, chosen under the provisions
of this Act, met in the spring of the year 1S33. The last House
elected under the same authority was dissolved in the autumn of
18C8. The existence of this great legislative assembly was con-
fined within tliose two periods ; and I desire to lay before my
countrymen a record of the deeds done by it in that space of time.
H I be not greatly mistaken, this record will exhibit a picture
unparalleled in the legislative history of mankind— a picture of
wise reforms wisely executed ; of a great revolution, gradually,
peacefully, and effectively accomplished ; of the greatest solici-
tude shown for all existing interests ; of a resolute determination
to exterminate abuse, to improve all the institutions of the
State ; of calmness and justice presiding on the occasion of
every change effected; of courage attended by wisdom, by
truth, and by honour. In short, there will be pourtrayed a
picture of a legislature proving itself worthy of ruling the des-
tinies of one of the greatest people that ever played a part in
the history of mankind.

This design, unfortunately, was never carried out.

1^1

H 1

328

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

To an unnamed Correspondent.

19, AhIiUij Place, S.W., Febnmry 15, 1809.— There is one
subject to which I will call your attention, in order to sugj^est it
to you as u matter for consideration. The subject is the Pulpit.
What is its power at present as a means of instruction ? When
the Christian pulpit was first used as a means of power and
influence, it stood out as possessed of peculiar, nay, sini^ular,
udvantaf^os. An educated man, havinc^ the power of addressing
frequently the same body of persons with great and over-
whelming author, ty, aided by all the terrors which religion
wields and superetit >\\ intensifies, would necessarily exercise a
tyrannical influence. But this condition of things has been
greatly changed by printing, and the spread of information which
printing has brought about. The newspaper comes every day, is
at hau'^. at all hours, touches upon every subject that interests
humanity, suits itself to every tnste, and supersedes, as a moral
teacher and general instructor, every other class of teacher. The
pulpit now, and he who fills it, take a very secondary place as
respects importance in the ranks of the guides and instructors of
mankind. Then comes the question. Is the parson of no use to
the community ? is he to be considered as a useless official, an
idle appendage to an old and worn-out system ? My answer is,
By no means. I consider the mere fact of an educated, and, for
the most part, virtuous, man being placed in every parish in
England, a most happy circumstance as regards her welfare and
good living. But the means by which that man is to lead and
guide his people are changed from what they were in times past.
It is not now by the sway of mere intellect that he is to
govern. His power over what people are to believe has almost
entirely gone. His chief means of teaching is example. His duty
is to be a pattern to his flock. He should teach men what to do,
and leave to other instructors the teaching of what they are to
believe. This will, I have no doubt, appear to you a wild
phantasy of mine, but I believe, if you will calmly and patiently
consider the whole matter, you will feel that there is a good deal
of truth in my statements.

In March, 1869, Mr. Roebuck met at Sheffield his old
antagonist at the Bath election of 1847 — the Earl of

^i.

Ol^r OF PARLIAMENT, AXD IX AGAIN. 329

ere 18 one

8ugf,'est it

he Pulpit.

I? When

power and

, siujjjular,

addressing

and over-

li religion

exercise a

has been

iion which

cry day, is

b interests

5 a moral

ber. The

T place as

motors of

no use to

fficial, an

mswer is,

, and, for

parish in

[fare and

lead and

|mcs past.

e is to

s almost

|His duty

at to do,

sy are to

a wild
latiently

od deal

Ihis old
arl of

Shaftesbury. His lordship, who had gone down to lay the
foundation-stone of some alms-houses, privately expressed
regret that he had been the means of ejecting Mr. Roebuck
from his first constituency. Mr. Roebuck somewhat pre-
maturely spoke of his own presence on this occasion as the
closing act of his political life.

On March 15, 1869, he was presented by his friends
and admirers with £3000, invested in Consols in the name
of his daughter. In the speech in which he acknow-
ledged the gift some touches of real pathos were mingled
with characteristic references to the consistency of liis
career.

I fed myself now as if, in .uoing along tlio journey of life — and
I apprehend it is pretty near to its end — I have arrived at the
liill-top from which, turning round, I may look backward. To
every man this sort of prospect is a bitter thing — hopes dis-
appointed, wishes unfulfilled, motives misinterpreted, calumny
used. All these things one looks back upon and sees in the
career which we have passed through. But still, in every desert
they say there is an oasis, and I, looking back, see one bright
spot in my career, and that is my connection with Sheffield.

Speaking of his life, he said —

I set out in political life attached to no political party in the
State — allied to neither. I saw before me a straight line of con-
duet to pursue. I saw contending powei's — on one side the great
body of the Tory party ; on the other the groat body of the Whig
party. I truckled to neither, and I incurred the hate of both.
. . . My life, I say, has been dedicated to my country. I have
gained nothing for myself, but I hope I have won a name. But
what is in a name ? In a few short years I sliall disappear, and
the chances are my name will be forgotten. In this rush and
hurry of the world, in the great mass of people who come before
the world's eyes, there are ten thousand chances to one that I sliall
be forgotten. But until I do die I shall have the cheering spirit
withhi me that throughout my life I have done my duty ; and,
doing my duty, I have won the applause, and I believe the
support, of the best thinking of my countrymen.

330

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK'.

Ho predicted that those who had ejected him from
Sheffield would find they had made a mistake. The time
would come when they would say, " The old man was not
80 bad a fellow as we thought him."

At a banquet the same evening IVFr. Roebuck delivered
what he called his " political testament." It was com-
prehended in these three points : " Beware of trades
unions; bewaro of Ireland; beware of America." The
warnings addressed to the capitalists in this speech, to
the effect that if they yielded to the demands of labour
they were ruined for ever, exposed Mr. Roebuck to renewed
criticism and animadversion by the representatives of the

working-men.

To Wi/linm Fisher (Shrjj^phl).

May 2'), ISO'.). — I always fancied that you considered my
interests as a U'f,'aey left you by your father, and in all my corre-
spondence witli you, whether personal or written, I have ever felt
as if he were present, watchinf^ over and, as it were, sanctifyinj^
our friendship. I dare say you will think this somewhat straui^o
language to be held by so matter-of-fact a person as myself. But
1 have, as I find at times, a stratum of sentiment in the hard
composition of my spirit, and the untiring kindness of yourself
and Mrs. Fisher has softened what the world calls my stony heart.

In the August of the same year (1869), Mr. Roebuck
attended a banquet given to the Duke of Norfolk on the
occasion of his coming of age. He spoke very appre-
ciatively of honours, power, and wealth, and the aristocracy,
though, curiously enough, describing himself as well known
to be "a thorough-going Radical." At the succeeding
Cutlers' Feast, in giving the toast of the Army and Navy,
Mr. Roebuck complained that statesmen were met with
" a pitiful talk about economy," though we had " . ouii L
us jealous nations of every sort, from the desr- uc free

republic." In these years he frequently deli^ . addresses
on Education — at Dewsbury, Nottingham, ii. Itham (near

OUT OF PARLIAMENT, AXD IN AGAIN

33'

it with

uUlhl

■ free
dresses

near

Huddersfield), and clsowhcro. In tlicso he was accustomed
to claim that he had not swerved from the plan of edu-
cation submitted by him to the Mouse of Commons in
1833, and seein'' in Mr. Forster's Bill a substantial realiza-
tion of the principles he had lonj^ preached, that measure
met with his cordial approval. From time to time o])por-
tunities were fjjiven to Mr. Roebuck to keep in touch with
his old constituency, many of his sui)porters cleaviiiij
tenaciously to the hope that ho would yet regain his seat.
Some approaches had been nuide to Mr. Ucjubuck by a
section of the electors of Marylebone. The exchange of
views led to the publication of the followiiiL;; letter: —

To the Kilihr of tlip Tioifs.

19, Aslihij PJarr, Mai/ 27, 1S(!!). — In your piijior of to-day you
have u stateniont that I rocoivcd a deputation from persons
rosidins,' in tiic l)orou<,di of Marylebone, and that I made to them
certain statements. Amoni; other statements it is said that I
declared to thciu that I was opposed to ]\Ir. (Iladstone's Irish
Church Hill, because I believed it to be a robl)ery and a spoliation.
x\.s I never said anythinj; like this, I wish now to say wliut I did
say, and the circninstances in which I spoke. Certain li-cntlemen
wrote to me askinij; if I would receive a dciaitation of persons
connected with the borouirli of Marylehoiie on the subject of the
probable vacancy in that borouirh. I wrote to them, sayini,' that
I should be happy to receive them, but 1 asked them to decide
whether our meetinf]^ should be considered puMic or private.
I>ccause, I said, if it is to l>e public, tliouirh the principles which
1 shall enunciate will be the same as those I should put forth in
a private meeting, yet the words I shall use may ])e different. A
l>rudent reserve in the one case may not be my guide in the other.
[ was told l)y letter that the meeting was to be strictly jirivate,
and that the dei)utation would consider tliemselves bound in
honour to deem everything that passed strictly private. When
the deputation came they ask(.'d me in "general terms what were
my views as to Mv. Gladstone's Irish Church Bill. ]\Iy answer
was that in my view Mr. Gladstone's I Jill was impolitic and dis-
honest ; but I wished them to understand that in my view an

33=

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

, i 1 * " - ■

Establislied Church was a bad iustrnmeut for the propagjation of
roli<,'ion ; that tlioreforc I was on that j^rouiid opposed to the
Ji'isli Church. Still, I could not but acknowledge that the Irish
Church had done much ;^ood, and though upon the whole I did
not consider it an institution that I should have established, yet,
being established, I was bound to acknowledge, i".s an Englishman,
it had rendered great benefits to the State ; iliat under these
circumstances I was asked to disestablish it. My answer was that
I believed the proposal to disestablish it was (1) impolitic, and
next, (2) dishonest. It was impolitic l)ecause it would not satisfy
tiiiit class of the Irish people it sought to conciliate, and that it
wiis pat forth under false pretences. I endeavoured to prove
l)oth these proi)ositions, but I said nothing as to the robbery or
S[)oliation, holding as I do that the property of the Irish Church
is the projierty of the people, and that they may do with it as
they please. My belief that Mr. Gladstone's Bill is impolitic and
dishonest is wholly different from the statement that it is a
spoliation and a robbery. A spoliation and a robbery I do not
beheve it to be, but that it is impolitic and dishonest every hour
proves ; and the future will show that I am right in denouncing
the minister who thus recklessly proposes so dangerous a measure.

After the work of the Royal Commission on Trades
Unions terminated, towards the end of 1869, Mr. Roebuck
was appointed on another, an inquiry into the Labour
Laws, of which the head was the Chief Justice, Sir
Alexander Cockburn.

The never-failing love of reading stood him in good
stead. He brightened up his Latin, and apparently with
some relief he would put aside the turmoil of present day
politics and turn to the comparative calm of the old Roman
writers, scarcely one of whom he passed over ; I ut Cicero,
Valerius Paterculus, Horace, and Virgil were his chief
favourites. Of Virgil, indeed, he never wearied. One day
it was said to him, " You never seem to tire of Virgil ? "
"Ah," he replied, with a little twist of his shoulders,
" there is a devil in him " — alluding to the ancient notion
that an especial demon inspired a poet.

pagation of
ised to the
it the Irish
i^hole I did
ilished, yet,
aglishman,
nder these
n- was that
)olitic, and
not satisfy
nd that it
to prove
robbery or
ih Church
(vith it as
)olitic and
it it is a
I do not
very hour
3nouncing
■ measure.

1 Trades

Roebuck

Labour

tice. Sir

in good
tly with
sent day

Roman
' Cicero,
is chief
)no day
^irgil ? "
oulders,

notion

OC/r OF PARLIAMENT, AND IN AGAIN. 333

In the early part of 1870 it was found that cataract in
both eyes had formed; and when one eye had become
quite darkened the cataract was removed with perfect
success. From his always abstemious ways, but little
change of habit was necessary, beyond remaining in a
darkened room, and not using the eyes at all.

At this moment the Franco-Prussian war liroke out,
and he followed the course of events with the keenest
anxiety. Every morning came the question, "Arc the
French moving on ? have they crossed the frontier ? " Then
as days went on, it was, " Ah, if the French lose their first
elan, if they do not continue to move rapidly onwards,
they will be beaten."

At last, one Sunday in August, the newsboys were
heard shouting the Ohsen'er in the street. The newspaper
was brought in, and was found to contain the news of the
battle of Wiirth, the first serious reverse of the French
army.

Some days later, among other incidents of the time
that were told to Mr. Roebuck, was an ex[)loit by Achillo
Murat, who was then on the staff of the French Emperor.
Finding that the French were defeated, he asked leave,
and went at once to Paris, to his wife, a Montenegrin
princess, whom he instantly brought away to England,
with her three-weeks'-old baby and her mother. A
man asleep at a London hotel was awakened early one
morning, to find standing by his bedside a French ofiicer,
whose uniform was torn to shreds by bullets. This was
Achille Murat, who had just arrived in London with
his family. His English friend, on hearing the state
of aflfairs, told him to take his family to his country
house, giving him the key of the cellar, with the
injunction to make the ladies feel at homo for as lon<T
as was necessary. Murat did so, and then returned to
the Emperor, whom he never left unti' the captivity at
Wilhelmshohe..

334

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

Mr. Roebuck's recovery of sight was steady, and though
he could again see, his family would not, for nearly three
months, let him read or write. He followed the daily
history of the war with the greatest interest, until at last
the accounts became so terrible that he could no longer
bear to hear them read. At this time he was at Usk, in
Monmouthshire, and passed much time in the open air.
One beautiful afternoon in early September he was sitting
with his wife and daughter under a mulberry tree on the
grass facing the river Usk, when his brother-in-law,
Thomas Falconer, came hastily into the garden with a
telegram in his hand, saying, " There has been a battle at
Sedan ; the French army has surrendered, and the Emperor
is a prisoner."

The contrast between, this terrible tale and the peaceful
and secure surroundings in which it was told, made a deep
impression on those present not lightly to be forgotten.

In the following November there was a very remark-
able display of the Aurora Borealis. The awestruck
Monmouthshire villagers declared that the war was shown
in the sky.

To an elector of Sheffield Mr. Roebuck, some months
later, made the fishing remark, "I fear that my good
word has not much power nowadays in Sheffield." In
answer to this his correspondent had assured him " that in
almost every public room in Sheffield expressions of regret
have been made that we have not a John Arthur Roebuck
in Parliament, but the mere links of a chain the Premier
can rattle at his will." This elicited the following letter : —

To (I Skeffiehl Electa)'.

Jawunr}! 3, 1S71. — I hiivo seen in my time so many instances
of short memories on the part of the people, that I felt that two
ycara' absence was quite enough to wi})e me out of men's recol-
lections. I can easily fancy, however, that the want of a plain,
bold speaker, with some political knowledj^je, may be felt at the
present hour, when England's interests are trembling in the

d though
,rly three
ihe daily
il at last
10 longer
b Usk, in
jpen air.
IS sitting
e on the
3r-in-law,
L with a
battle at
Emperor

i peaceful
le a deep
)tten.
' remark-
westruck
as shown

J months
ny good
Id." In
" that in
regi'et
loebuek
I Premier
letter : —

instancea

[that two

|u's recol-

a plain,

It at the

the

OUT OF PARLIAMENT, AND IN AGAIN. 335

balance. I sit and chafe, knowinj^ that I can do nothing, and
seeing that weakness and imbecile vanity rule and guide our
councils in this important crisis. The next year will place in
jeopardy the honour, the power — aye, the very existence — of our
country, and all we can do is to sit by with folded hands, and
accept quietly what fate shall bring. But this language is useless.
We must submit. As for myself, I am very well, and mentally
i believe myself to be as vigorous as ever. My blindness,
thanks to modern art, has been greatly relieved, and I can read
and write as usual. I am writing to you by the aid of what I
call my naw eye, and the result lies before you — no very bad
specimen of renovated sight. Years are stealing on ; I know
not what I may be capable of when the time for action conies.
But if then I shall be as I am now, I shall be willing, if called
on, to fight my old fight in favour of truth and freedom, and to
do battle against noisy humbug and vulgar hypocrisy.

To William Fis/irr {SkoflMd).

February 21, 1871. — Is there any chance for me, if I stand
again for Sheffield ? Now, I want you to answer me this question
frankly. Do Uuo fear that I shall shut my oars to the voice of
a true friend like you. If you say that there is no fair chance,
and that my coming forward would be a tax upon my friends,
which they would consider a disagreeable burthen, I should at
once abstain from putting myself forward, and consider myself
as pohtically dead — a circumstance which would give nie no great
pain, certainly none equal to what I should feel if I believed that
my friends looked upon my candidature as an unnecessary trouble,
a thing not desirable, and upon me as a jxistileut bore.

The answer to this inquiry may be judged from the
fact that in March, 1871, Mr. Roebuck lectured in Sheffield
on the events which had occurred since the General Election.
The Irish Church Act and the Irish Land Act were both
" unwise, unstatesmanlike, and fraught with danger."
Nor were there wanting in his address scornful references
to " those gentle cousins of ours " across the Atlantic. As
to the Franco-German War, Lord Granville ought to have
told both despots that before God and man their conduct

336

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK'.

deserved the reprobation of mankind. Another speech,
on current political topics, appointed for December 14,
1871, had been deferred because, just when it should have
been delivered, the Prince of Wales was hovering between
life and death, and in the painful national anxiety public
attention was riveted on the bulletins from his sick-bed.

To an unnamed Correftpondenf.

December 2, 1871. — I am alarmed, too, by the lan^uajre of
the bulletins, which is always in royal cases studiously guarded,
but I fancy one can generally read through the lines, and find a
meaning at the back. Following that plan now, I can, I believe,
see that the prince has been far worse than the world is told.
Besides the royal family, the person who suffers the greatest
distress must be Lord Londesborough, whose house was the scene
of the disaster, and whose care, by flushing the drains, called the
poison into action. The same thing has so often happened, that
I am astonished that a thing so well known to be dangerous
should have been done. l\Iay it please God to avert any further
calamity. The (lueen, poor lady, is in no fit state to bear uj)
against any great grief. But gloomy anticipations are unwise.

7'o the same.

December 0, 187 1. — If the Prince of Wales should die before
the 14th, or if he continues in the same precarious state, it
will be impossible for me, as a gentleman, to deliver my speech on
the 14th. I know this will be the cause of annoyance, but I
cannot help it. At this time to show disrespect to the queen and
the Princess of Wales would not suit my feelings, and would
certainly be thoroughly impolitic — would, in fact, be the height
of folly. The state of the public mind here in London is such
as has not been seen since the day of the death of Princess
Charlotte ; and I see throughout the country n»eetings of all
kinds are being postponed. Under these circumstances, i i>eg of
you to coincide with me in thinking that our meeting should be
indefinitely postponed. A favourable and quiet time will coiae
when what I shall utter, if there be anything of worth in it, will
receive due attention, and my warnings, if worthy, will have their
due weight.

ler speech,
comber 14,
hould have
ig between
iety public
ick-bed.

Ifinwuajnrc of
sly guarded,
1, and find a
n, I believe,
irld is told,
the greatest
[IS the scene
?, called the
)pened, that
-' dangerous
any further
to l)oar up
unwise.

die before

18 state, it

J speech on

nee, but I

queen and

and would

the height

on is such

f Princess

Qgs of all

s, i J)eg of

should be

will coiae

in it, will

lave their

OUT OF PARLIAMENT, AND IN AGAIN. 337

To the same.

Jamiary 15, 1872.— My appearance at Sheffield this time has
no personal object. I go simply because I was asked, not because
I wished to appear, nor because I hoped from so doing I should
reap any personal advantage. I have long since given up all
expectation of re-election. I feel that my course is run, and that
others think so. I think I was weak in yielding to Dodworth's
request; but the bolt is shot, and the result cannot be very
mischievous to my body. ... I am not surprised that you should
think old friends drop from me. 'Tis the nature of things— I am
old ; have been long, too long, before the world. Young faces
and new hopes excite vivid emotions. I feel no pain at this and
make no complaint. Old services are forgotten amid the rash of
fresh expectations. And all this makes the passing away of life
less of a regret.

The postponed meeting was held on January 17,
1872. Mr. Roebuck was careful to repeat that he had no
personal object to serve in attending. He was there simply
to gratify those friends who wished to hear opinions on
the present condition of the country from one who, " cast,
as it were, ashore, as on the bank of some rushing river,
might look on that river with calmness and equanimity,
and could regard affairs with a more tranquil, and calm,
and assured, and penetrating eye, than if mixed up in the
turmoil." The speech was largely an attack on Mr. Glad-
stone. He described him and Mr. Disraeli as bidding
against each other, Mr. Gladstone overtrumping the card
of Household Suffrage with Irish Disestablishment. He
saw in every act the resolute determination of Mr. Glad-
stone to obtain personal power and domination, even at
the expense of the State and the Constitution. He spoke
of him as a man gifted with many great powers, but at
the same time gifted with many great weaknesses.

He is a great speaker, but to my mind no orator, lie has
great powers of what is called eloqueuce, and he certainly has

;■

I -V

i 1

338

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

the command of resource in the business of deception. Besides,
he has that sort of feminine vindictiveuess that always runs with
weak-minded men, and you will see that everybody who, in any
portion of his career, crossed his path, is punished by a crushing
power. This is brought to bear in many and curious ways. 1 le
cannot maintain his own counsel, but out it comes ; what is within
him he must declare. ... If you allow the domination of Wt.
Gladstone to proceed onward as it has been proceeding, you
will be a very foolish people, deserving of every species of degra-
dation to which people can be subjected.

This speech was remarkable as containing one of Mr.
Roebuck's rare admissions of mistake in policy, or change
in opinion. In an earlier part of this book we saw with
what vehemence he assailed the House of Lords, and how
impatiently he denounced Lord John Russell's acceptance
of the peers' emasculation of the Municipal Corporations
Bill. Instead of concessions, he had said, " Let us re-enact
every one of our original measures, saying that such was
the pleasure of the people — let those who dare resist it."
And he had insisted that " unmixed is the evil which
the House of Lords inflicts upon the nation, whether
we view them as legislators, as judges, or simply as an
aristocracy."

But now, after forty years, he found a long string of
reasons in vindication of the House of Lords, and justifying
its recent action in throwing out the Ballot Bill. " I have
lived long enough," he said, " to find out that I have made
blunders in life, and I have acquired the courage to pro-
claim the blunders I have made. ... I recollect perfectly
well in my youth having written a paper headed ' Of what
Use is the House of Lords ? ' but I must say I made a great
mistake."

He repeated this confession at the Cutlers' Feast i ^ the
next autumn. *' I answered that question very much to my
own satisfaction then, but very much to my own dis-
approbation now. I could not at that time see the great

«^ -_:-.r^

*^\fc*wr^>J|t> i^^T.^^J

:a-.

ion. Besides,
iiys runs with
^ who, in any
l)y a crushing
LIS ways. Ho
ihat is within
ation of IMr.
ceedint;, you
cies of dcirra-

one of Mr.
Y, or change
ire saw with
is, and how
5 acceptance
orporations
us re-enact
it such was
L'c resist it."
evil wliich
whether
)ly as an

string of
justifying

" I have
lave made
,ge to pro-

perfectly

Of what
,de a great

ast i ^ the

uch to my

own dis-

the great

OUT OF PARLIAMENT, AND IN AGAI^\ 339

advantage whicli I now think arises from the existence of
that assembly."

A year later (March, 1873), Mr. Roebuck, speaking at
a Foresters' banquet, bade the working-men beware of
" miserable " demagogues, " mischief makers," who, " like
a serpent, come to bite and instil venom." This advice
was not well received by those to whom it was addressed.
In the same month the sound of the coming electoral
battle was heard in the appointment of a committee to get
up a requisition unking Mr. Foebuck to come forward for
the representation of Sheffield at the next election.

It was, in fact, manifest that an appeal to the country
could not long be deferred, and a;? it was deemed certain
that the age of Mr. Hadfield would prevent him from
seeking re-election, the Liberals of Sheffield were anxious
to be provided with a suitable candidate, as a colleague for
Mr. Mundella. But there were many causes of dissension,
making agreement impossible. The natural result was
that, when the end of the year came, two suggested Liberal
candidates for Mr. Hadfield's seat were in the field — Mr.
Alfred Allott, a local aspirant, and Mr. Joseph Chamberlain,
then Mayor of Birmingham. Mr. Chamberlain's presence
at a mass meeting, where he was enthusiastically adopted,
filled the Conservatives with apprehension, and compelled
Mr. Roebuck to make up his mind decisively whether he
would stand or not.

To John Lawloit {ShoffieJd).

January, 1874.— One crreatoliject in all I do and say is to meet
the wishes of my friends atid justify their kindness and friendship.
Now, you must be well aware that amoii,<,'st those friends there arc
often conflicting views and opinions, and that I must often be in
a difliculty when endeavouriiit,' to meet the wishes of all that wish
me well. I am in that position at this present time. Some of
my heartiest supporters desire that I should hold ii public meet-
in*? in January and address the electors. Other -friends, equally
hearty, believe that such a proceeding would be exceedingly

■J

340

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

unwise and out of time, and I must own that I believe this latter
opinion to be coiTcct.

Further consideration confirmed him in the opinion
that it was inexpedient for him at that time to address the
electors, and although this was based on the plea of the un-
desirability of prematurely involving the borough in the
turmoil of a contested election, his followers despaired of
having him as a candidate, and in public put forth reasons,
based on " pride, and principle, and policy," why he should
neither appear to court the suffrages of the electors, nor
care to go back to the House of Commons. They made
up their minds, indeed, that Mr. Chamberlain would fill
the vacant seat. But when, on the sudden dissolution of
Parliament a week or two after, it was found that Liberal
opinion was acutely divided between Mr. AUott and Mr.
Chamberlain, the chance was too good to be lost, and
bolder counsels prevailed. Mr. Roebuck's hesitations were
thrown to the winds. Telegram after telegram poured in,
praying him to go down, and at last Mr. and Mrs. Roebuck
went to Sheffield to stay with Mr. Thomas Jessop, a very
staunch and hearty friend.

The Tories, avoiding the mistake of putting one of their

own party in the field, united with the Roebuckites, and

exerted all their strength to return one who, though still

calling himself " a thorough-going Radical," systematically

supported the Tories, and opposed the Liberals far more

effectually than any Conservative could have done. The

rival claims of Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. AUott were,

indeed, submitted to a mass meeting in Paradise Square,

and, in obedience to the verdict, Mr. Allott retired. But

it was too late. The short time that intervened between

the dissolution and the completion of the election, was

eminently favourable to Mr. Roebuck and unfavourable

to Mr. Chamberlain. It enabled Mr. Roebuck's friends to

dispense with more than a single appearance of their

candidate in public, and it gave Mr. Chamberlain very few

■ M 4'-

this latter

3 opinion
idress the
of the un-
^h in the
jpaired of
h reasons,
he should
ctors, nor
hey made
vould fill
)lution of
it Liberal
t and Mr.
lost, and
ions were
Doui'ed in.
Roebuck
)p, a very

e of their

cites, and

)ugh still

iiatically

'ar more

He. The

tt were.

Square,

d. But

between

ion, was

vourable

lends to

)f their

ery few

OVT QF PARLIAMENT, AND IN AGAIN. 341

opportunities to make himself known to the electors —
a misfortune that was enhanced by the death of his father,
which compelled his absence from Sheffield for two or
three days.

Mr. Roebuck's one election speech was prefaced by his
customary bit of autobiography —

Sometliint? very near to fifty years ago, I determined witbiti
myself to be a public man upon the public stage of England, and
I thought when I regarded the state of party in this country,
and the form of government under which we live, that there
required something more than there iuid hitherto been seen,
something more than the clashing battles of Tory and Whig, of
Conservative and Liberal ; that there ought to be a body of men
neither of one party nor the other, but simply of the party of the
country itself. I determined within myself to be one of that
party. I hoped that by showing an example others might follow
in my steps ; but I determined that everything — place, profit, dis-
tinction, honour — all should be sacrificed to the one great olijeet
that I desired, namely, to bring before my countrymen a body of
independent members, who should follow only the interests of the
country. Now that has been my object through life, and so
steadily have I pursued it that although often place, power, and
profit have been within my grasp, I forfeited them all because I
wished to continue onward in the course which I had begun,
namely, au independent member of Parliament. That I have been.
From the beginning to the hour in which you withdrew your
confidence from me, I was emphatically an independent member
of Parliament. Neither Whig nor Tory could count upon me, and
the " whipper in " dared not approach me with his whip. It has
been invariably said — aye, I speak it with proud confidence —
" It is not worth while to ask for Roebuck's vote. You don't
know which way he will vote ; he votes as he thinks proper."
Now, that was the guide and rule of my conduct when 1 entered
Parliament.

Mr. Roebuck, aforetime, had been a resolute champion
of secular education. The xclusion from the model school
he founded in Bath of all religious instruction beyond a
reading from the Bible by the Master, proved a not

iHi

ifi

? (1

342

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

inconsiderablo factor in his defeat at Bath in 1837. Speak-
ing now of religious teaching in our schools, be defined the
Bible as " the great well of English undefiled," and in a
few sentences afterwards ho continued —

It is not one book, it is many l)ooks. It is literature, it is
history, it is law, it is pi'ovorhs, it is poetry, it is essays, it is all,
it is evorythiuj?, it is the liiblo. lie is an ignorant man who
wishes to shut the Bible out from the young of this country.

By a device, attributed to the other side, Mr. Allott^
in spite of his protests, was nominated, and the mayor
refused to allow his name to be withdrawn. In the result,
Mr. Roebuck polled 14,193 votes, Mr. Mundella 12,858,
Mr. Chamberlain 11,058, and Mr. Allott C21. The winners
were jubilant, and from all parts of the country there were
expressions of satisfaction, for not even Liberals were
proof against the piquancy of the prospect of the House
of Commons once more enjoying " Tear 'em's " pungent
oratory.

Of course there were the inevitable banquets in Sheffield.
At the first of these, in February, Mr. Roebuck said —

The work at the poll, and the emotion expressed this evening,
are not the result of a nicre passing feeling. They are the reward
of a life of service. You tell me my life has been spent in a way
that you approve, and when I think from whom that approval
comes, that yon represent, and represent fairly, the great bulk
of the people of England, who are my countrymen, have I not
a right to be proud, and shall I be accused of egotism because
on this occasion I speak for myself and in obedience to your
approval ?

He attributed the Liberal reverses to the feeling of
insecurity created in the country by " a reckless, hasty,
petulant course of action."

And here, again, there was another softening of old
beliefs —

Ck\

OUT OF PARLIAMENT, AND IX AGAIN. 343

837. Speak-
defined the
ed," and in a

tcraturo, it is
^Siiys, it is all,
aiit man who
country.

, Mr. AUott
>

the mayor
a the result,
lolla 12,858,
The winners
T there were
berals were
r the House
s " pungent

in Sheffield,
said —

this evening,
fe tiie reward
•cut in a way
bat approval
e great bulk
have I not
tism because
ncc to your

feeling of
:less, hasty,

ling of old

I say to my Liberal friends, you, in your younger days, beliovcd
that the Church of England was an institution that was very
injurious to the people of England. I answer, as one of these,
I did believe so, but tinw; has gone on, and the Church of England
has improved, and with her improvement my opinions have
changed. I believe the Liberal party has changed. I ask the
Liberal party if they would now have Disestablishment? I say
no, I do not l)elieve they would.

If I might presume to give any adviee to the great men who
may hereafter govern this country, I would say to them, "Make
a new party ; forget on the one side what is called Liberal, and
on the other what is called Conservative, and make a National
party. Let England bo your concern, and not party considera-
tions."

A " Working-men's banquet " followed a month or two
later. Referring to some outside criticisms on his attitude
on the Trades Union Commission, Mr. lloebuck remarked —

These arc things that I regard not. I answer them by my
life. I say to any man who has spoken in covert slander, " Look
at what I have done, and why I have done it, and for what I
have done it ? " I have never been a paid agitator. I have never
lived upon the hard earnings of my fellow working-men ; I have
never gone forward to spread discontent amongst working-men
against masters whom they ought to respect. I have done none
of these things, and perhaps, therefore, you dislike me. I am
known unto you. My life has been dedicated to my country.
Such as it is, governed by the intelligence which Ood has given me,
it has been employed, I think honestly, fearlessly, on behalf of
ray fellow countrymen. I have not asked whether they be rich,
or whether they be poor. Whether they be great men, or whether
they be little men, I have expected nothing from them. I told
them what I thought of them. If I thought well of them, I said
that good of them ; if I thought ill of them, I told them what
I thought. And shall it now be said that I am sent to that
Labour Commission to represent the masters ?

He explained that when asked to serve on that Com-
mission he accepted the position in obedience to the
dictates of duty, although knowing it would cost him his

<!|

344

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

seat in Parliament. He counselled Englishmen against
leaving their country at the instigation of those who would
have them emigrate, advising thom to remain at home and
make her great. " And I hold him to be a dastard
Englishman who drives Englishmen from England. . . .
There are many here that Hit across the country like a
bad miasma — or like the light that leads you into a bog."

The peroration was simple, but very effective : —

I remember what has been stated as to the allotted life of
man. I have passed that. Many years are not allotted to me
now, but those years, whatever they may be, shall be dedieated
to Uiy countrymen ; and 1 feel that in a community like the one
I see before me I am doinj? f?ood in my generation, and in my
latter days paviujj the way for the good that comes when butwecu
Eiiu'lishmeu and Englishmen, rank and rank, men shall be
brothers, and wo shall tight the war of life against the whole
world, shoulder to shoulder, Englishmen all, all brothers, aU
deserving before the law to be cherished and recognized, doing
their duty, and doing it honoured amongst men.

^' ^V,.

5 ,

( 345 )

t against
ho would
lome aud
dastard
[ind. . . .
y liko a
a boy."

L'd life of
led to me
dedicated
c the one
tid in my
I between
sbiill be
ho whole
bhers, all
ed, doing

CHAPTER XXVIII.

MR. ROEIIUCK'S last PARLIAMENT. 1S71-1S7S.

Mr. RoEiJUCK did not take any prominent part in the
debates in tho first Session of tho new rarliamcnt. Tbo
expansion of tho constituencies by household sutlVai^e had
given rise to a demand for an extension of tho hours of
polling, that tho more industrious portion of the artisans
might be able to vote in tho evening, without leaving; tiieir
employment during working hours. Mr. Roebuck declared
himself against tho change, alleging that no working-man
had complained to hira. In Juno ho was fountl opposing,
as usual, Sir Wilfrid Lawson's Permissive Dill.

In July, Mr. Butt brought forward a |)roposal for Home
Rule, in the form of a motion " That tiiis House will
immediately resolve itself into a connnitteo to consider tho
present Parliamentary relations between CJreat Britain and
Ireland." For some years past J\lr. Roebuck had preached
the doctrine that Ireland had no substantial grievances —
her miseries, he insisted, were caused by her own weak-
nesses, prejudices, narrowness, mutual hostility, and im-
providence. Tho Irish members camo to Parliament
eternally whining like mendicants, and the Roman Catholic
clergy had, he said, preached sedition, and had taught tho
Irish people to hate the English rule. Ireland was not fit
for Home Rule. The result of it would bo that civil war
would break out before the power of England had been
withdrawn a single hour. Tho north would rise against

) ;

346

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

the south and would put it dowv Let Irishmen, he
counselled, learn how much their true happiness is promoted
by the union with England.

On the 2nd of July, Mr. Roebuck, with apologies for
his feebleness, rose to enforce these views, to insist upon
self-help and self-reliance as the one thing needed by
Ireland, and to maintain how fatal separation from England
would be. His voice was so low that he was called upon
to speak up. On this, for a few sentences, he raised his
voice to a pitch of clearness and emphasis reminiscent of
his vigorous days. But almost immediately afterwards he
stopped abruptly in the midst of an unfinished sentence.

The House gave him an encouraging cheer. He in-
dicated his appreciation of its kindness, but he could not
recover the thread of his argument. Extending his arms,
with his hands open, and remai'king, " My forces fail me ;
I cannot go on," he resumed his seat, with the assistance
of members rear him. A minute before, it seemed as if
he were possessed of his old energy, and would deliver an
effective and vigorous speech. He sat down among many
indications of the generous and warm-hearted sympathy
which in the House of Commons rises superior to all
jiolitical considerations. He did not, however, leave the
House, but sat out the I'est of the debate, and voted in
the Division.

The state of health thus indicated compelled Mr.
Roebuck to make his attendances in the House of Commons
both brief and rare. Thus he took no part in the animated
discussions on the attempt made in the Public Worship
Regulation Bill to curb Ritualism in the Church of England.
But his opinion on this much-controverted measure was
expressed in a letter to a Sheffield clergyman, in which he
described himself as deeply grieved at the strife raging in
the Church. He could hardly fancy, he said, that the two
Archbishops, and the present and past Lord Chancellors,
promoted that Bill as part of a plan for pulling down the

m^mn

hmen, he
promoted

>logies for
isist upon
ceded by
I England
.lied upon
raised his
niscent of
awards he
itence.

He in-
30uld not
his arms,
i fail me ;
issistance
nod as if
leliver an
ng many
ympathy
or to all
leave the
voted in

lied Mr.
commons
mimated
Worship
England,
sure M'as
vhieh he
aging in
the two
incellors,
lown the

Af/i. J^OEBUCfC'S LAST PARLIAMENT. 347

Church. So far as he could see, the only object of the Bill
was to put a stop to the silly and dangerous doings of men
who were carried away by fanatical notions as to the im-
portance of dress, posture, and genuHections — men whoso
great purpose seemed to be to make Hgiros of themselves,
to be stared at by young girls and silly women. Ho was
prepared to aid in the endeavour to repress these fellies.

In another letter, of some^vhat earlier date, touching on
the same subject, he had written —

I have a great fontcui])t fur the tniinpcry and puerility of
whiit is culled Ritualism, a-n, as luiiii!; coiitrnry to the feeling's
of the large majority of the inomhers of the ("hurch of l^nuland,
I am prepared to insist tluit it be nut manifested in the churches
which are public. If a man build a church and continue it
private property, he may he i)ermitted to play in it what foolish
pranks he pleases ; but he ou,;j:ht not to have the sanction of the
State to what mii,'ht be considered private or particular folly.
As to the Ecclesiastical Courts, T am prepared to support any well-
devised scheme for their reform or reconstruction. ISut the
reform of a legal system is a far more dillicult matter than un-
learned peisous supj)osc. The reform onuht to l)e complete and
systematic ; piecemeal reforms are mischievous. The thing ought
to be completely done, or not attempted. 1 am not jtrepared to
point out any known man competent to the task of framing a
new and better system. There must, however, be such men to
be found if properly sought for. Honesty, knowledge, coui-agc,
ought to be the ciu'ef (pialities in the character of the ecclesiastical
reforirrr.

There is nothing remarkable to record in Jlr. Roe-
b- ck's Parliamentary work in 1S75. He earnestly advo-
cated the passing of the liurials Bill, and, speaking on yet
another of the perpetually recurring Irish Coercion Bills,
he repeated his old contention that, adnutting the bad
Government to which Ireland ha<l been suljected in the
past, since the Reform Act the House of Commons had
honestly and successt'idly striven to do justice to Ireland.
At that moment, he insisted, the people of Ireland were

348

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

as well governed as those of England. He paid various
visits to his constituents, and showed his old interest in
education by attending the re-opening of the Manchester
AtheniBum by Lord Chief Justice Coleridge. In this year
he received a very graceful compliment from his colleague
in the representation of Sheffield. Mr. Mundella had been
so fortunate as to acquire portraits of Mr. Roebuck and
Lord Brougham, painted when they were in the prime of
life, by Mr. Pickersgill, R.A., and he presented these to
the local museum. The conjunction was especially appro-
priate, because of the relations of intimacy subsisting
between Brougham and Roebuck. On the occasion of
Brougham's death, in ISGS, Mr. Roebuck had pronounced
a eulogy upon him as " a wise, a great, and a good man,"
when urging upon the Government the suitability of
erecting a monument to his memory.

Mr. Roebuck supported (187G) the proposal of the
Government to add to the Royal style and title of her
Majesty the appellation, " Empress of India." " I like,"
he said, " the word ' Queen ' better than ' Empress,' but
what I have to consider is the position which England
holds on this question." He answered the questions. Was
it wise to make any alteration at all ? and, Was it wise to
make the alteration which^the Ministry proposed ? — in the
affirmative, although acknowledging that it would be well
to localize the title and keep it strictly for use with regard
to India.

To Mrs. Roebuck.

10, Ashloy Phico, May 8, 187G. — ... On Saturday the Duke
of Welliugtou called. Ho imiiiediatoly be<^aii a])Out the Titles Bill,
lu the course of the convorsation lie told nio this story.

" My father was Prince of "Waterloo, but he never called him-
self so. Ho had too many titles to mention them all on all
occasions, but he had once to pay dear for them. He told a man
to order dinner for him at a particular hotel. The man did so,
mentioning all the Duke's titles. The Duke came, waited a short

imfm

MR. ,ROEBUCIC'S LAST PARLIAMENT.

349

time, ' Is the din ner not coming ? ' he said. ' Why don't you bring
the dinner?' Tlie waiter answered, 'AVe are waiting for the
rest of the party.' Thoy had prepared dinner for about twenty
people— and which cost £20."

Now, here is a letter of gossip for you !

The old dislike to coercive measures of sobriety cropped
out once more on the Irish Sunday Closing Bill (1.S77),
Mr. Roebuck admitted that, at first, under the impression
that the people of Ireland wanted this measure, and tliat
drunkenness was exceptionally rampant on Sundays, he
was disposed to support it ; but subsequently convinced of
the inaccuracy of these beliefs, ho strongly opposed pro-
visions which, he artjued, would increase rather than
diminish Sunday drinkinrr.and he urged that the proper plan
was to provide rational amusement by opening museums.

When the dis([uiet that had prevailed in the Turkish
provinces of Eastern Europe culminated in the Bulgarian
massacres, Mr. Roebuck gave his support to the policy (jf
Lord Bcaconsfield's Government, maintaining that it was
in harmony with the past history of this country, and
that it was calculated to maintain the prestige and god
name of England tliroughout the world. True to Ids
antipathy to Mr. Gladstone and his methods, ho aimed his
invectives less at the Turkish crimes than at the great
Liberal's fervid denunciation of them. This he descril)ed
as a disgraceful clamour — " a row " made for party pur-
poses without consideration of consequences, weakening
the hands of the Government and endangering a war
productive of far greater evils. Wv. Gladstone was, in his
view, "a bastard philanthropist," and "no statesman."
Roebuck was strongly in favour of sustaining the Turkish
Empire ; and while he denounced Russia for cruelty, false-
ness, and cowardice, ho championed the Turk as " an
honest kind of good fellow," and " the gentleman "
amongst nationalities. But while the Turk was a man
for whom he had the greatest possible respect, he hated

I !' 1

350

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

and detested the Turkish Government as heartily as he
abhorred that of Russia. The war he believed to have
been entered upon simply for dynastic purposes, ind the
policy for England was to maintain peace, as far k? it was
consistent with English interests — which was only another
way of saying with the interests of the world. With these
views, uttered at the Sheffield Cutlers' Feast of 1.S77, were
mingled scoffs at IMr. Gladstone's enthusiasm, passion,
vanity, and self-sufficiency. " He may be a very good
chopper, but, depend upon it, he is not an English
statesman."

Being, at the commencement of 1878, unequal to the
physical etibrt of addressing his constituents on this
Eastern (luestion, Mr. Roebuck complied with a request
for a statement of his views, in the following letter : —

To a CoHHtUucnt.

19, Ashley Pl((n\ Jaiumnj 7, 1878. — It is with jrreat difficulty
that I Ijrinjjf niysolf to the task of auswcrins' your letter. I am
oppressfid by a groat sorrow, and my mind is bowed down and
darkened by a cloud which now hangs over me. The oldest and
dearest of my friends * has died suddenly, and the blow has
shaken me heavily. Excuse me, then, if my answer is short and
general. You seem surprised that I have not publicly expressed
mv views on what is called the Eastern Question. I have been
silent because I believed I could do no good by speaking, and
might do harm. The evidence before the world is necessarily \ cry
incomplete, so that the means of forming a judgment is imperfect.
Besides, I believed that the Governinent intended to do what was
required by the honour and interests of England. I knew them
to be men of ability, and furthermore, I believed them to be
lionest. They have before them the best evidence the case all'ords,
and their judgments would not, I conceived, be aided by any
suggestions of mine. Moreover, I knew that there was great
danger of misconception abroai. Foreigners seldom understand
us, and are always prone to juJge all that we say with prejudice,
and to draw conclusions from our words that were never intended

* G. J. Graham.

MR. ROEBUCK'S LAST PARLIAMENT,

331

ly as he

to have

, jind the

t;« it was

r another

ith these

577, were

passion,

3ry good

English

al to the

on this

I request

t difficulty

ter. I am

down and

oldest and

blow has

short and

■ expressed

have heen

tinij", and

sarily \ ery

imperfect.

what was

new them

lem to bo

se aflords,

hy any

was great

nderstand

jrcjudicc,

intended

Seeing, then, that there was no necessity for my si>caking, I held
my tonf^uo. I find no fault with those who take a ililVereiit view.
I suppose them to believe that they are doing their duty l)y giving
expression to what I think crude and unsujjported opinions —
opinions which, if spoken by myself, with my views, would have
been, in my judgment, simply mischievous impertinence. Well,
then, you may ask, have you no opinions concerning the present
state of things ? My answer is, I certainly have opinions on the
matter, and very strong ones, which I shall deem it my duty to
set forth in my place in Parliament, but which would do no good
if oJfU'iouslij stated at the present time and uu«lcr present circum-
stances.

As my chief great aim is the maintenance of peace, and the
preservation of the interests and honour of Knghind, and as I
believe that to be the aim of the Administration, I hold that the
safest course for any one like myself, having no ollicial position,
is to abstain from interference in matters which are at present
veiled from our view. I deem it unjust and dangerous to attri-
bute intentions to our (iovernmeut which no one can prove them
to entertain, and which they altogether disdain. l>y so doing we
weaken their influence abroad, and render uiore diflicnlt the task
which lies before them, and take away from the power for good
which our country ought to possess. The discordant clamour of
contending parties here in England does intinite mischief, as it
leads foreign nations to believe that there is no stidiility in our
councils, and that, for anything we can do in the great troubles
of Europe, England may be left out of consideration. If, on the
other hand, we were to exhibit to the world the spectacle of a
nation steadily supporting our Government, the word of that
Government would have weight with all parties interested in the
conflict going on. and our endeavour to procure ])eace and an
honouralile settlement of the present discords would he successful.

The war, in my mind, is a thoroughly unjust proceeding on
the part of Russia. 1'lie pretences she puts forth ai'o, in my
mind, mere figments. She is no less barbarous than Turkey -, she
is far more dishonest. I have no admiration for the Turkish
(Jovernment ; l)Ut I do not believe that the substitution of
Russia for Turkey would be a benefit to the wretched people who
are made the pretext for the present invasion.

In this state of things it is very difficult to choose a safe

352

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

and honest course for England. To support cither would be to
support bad ^'ovemmeiit. If we were to support Russia, in
addition to bud ^'overnnient wo should aid national dishonesty.
Then, on the other hand, if we stand still and allow Russia to
possess herself of all European Turkey, we should fatally injure
the interests of Enjjjland, and the cause of liberty iu Europe. In
this state, what arc we to do ? Withhold aid from both parties,
but ^ivc Russia pliiinly to understand that we shall make (errifori'fl
(iflfiraiuUsemciit a mnts belli. Russia would not dare to j?o to war
with Eiifjland. We need no armies. A fleet in the Baltic and
one in the Mediterranean would paralyze Russia ; and we may
rest assured that Austria, France, Germany, and the lesser States
of tlie East and South of Europe, look with no friendly eyes upon
Russia. We have no interests that cross those of these countries.
Peace with the world is our policy ; and, if we presented to the
world the spectacle of a united people, we should have weit^ht in
the councils of Eurf)pe. But, (iuarrellins^ with one another, and
tearinii: each other to pieces, the world believes us to be paralyzed
by our discords, lauirhs at and scorns us. Would that we could
put aside party feuds and act as brethren should act, and thus
our course would be plain, and our policy safe and easy. In my
present state of mind, I cannot write more ; but I hope the time
is not fur distant when I shall be able to explain myself fully
upon this important matter, and support that policy which the
true interests of our country require.

During the month that followed, Mr. Roebuck was
compelled by serious indisposition to absent himself much
from Parliament ; but in May the opportunity which he
had desired of exposing his views on the Eastern Question
in Parliament, was afforded to him. In connection with
this, there occurred an incident which gave vise to much
feeling and misconception. The House was debating the
action of the Government in bringing Indian troops to
Malta, and Mr. Roebuck, on the evening of May 23, made
a speech in support of this stop, and in condemnation of the
course pursued by the Opposition, in bringing forward
Lord Hartington's hostile motion. From his place among
the Liberals, leaning on his stick, he bitterly denounced

I'i

I ,,

MR. ROEBUCK'S LAST PARUAMEXT.

353

Duld be to
Russia, in
lishonesty.
Russia to
;ally injure
urope. In
til parties,
e territorinl
) tjo to war
Baltic and
id we may
3sser States
r eyes upon
3 countries,
ited to the
i weijjfht in
lother, and
e paralyzed
it we could
,, and thus
sy. In my
[)e the time
:self fully
which the

3uck was

self much

which he

Question

ion with

to much

)ating the

;roops to

23, made

ion of the

forward

,ce amonii:

enounced

them with scathing epigrams. An eye-witness of the scene
wrote —

At first he spoke in so low a tone as to lie hardly audible.
The silence, however, speedily liecaine so intense that every word
could be heard, and, so cncounii^ed, the lion. i,'eiitleman made
an effort to revive his old style. In the middle of his speech
a curious little incident occurred, which brouti^ht out the sympatiiy
of the House. The stillness of the chamber had for a moment
been broken l)y the movements of a clumsy member, and there
was a cry of " Order." The interruption, which was unintelligible
to the veteran, attracted his attention, and for a moment he
paused to ascertain what it meant. Leanini^ forward on his
stick, and turninj; round with evident dillieulty, he inquired
whether it was meant that he was out of order, and, by way of
explaininj^ his rerpiest, added the words, " I did not hear, and
I cannot see." Out of consideration for the ai^e and antecedents
of the hon. member, the Liberals refrained from demonstrations
of all kinds throughout his speech, while, for a similar cause, the
Tories were all tlie louder in their applause, the loudest cheers
beinff evoked by what was nothinj; more nor less than a covert
attack on the sincerity of ]Mr. (lladstone. When iMr. Roebnek
ended, he left the House amid a ,<reneral exodus of members.

Later in the night, Mr. Roebuck was answered by Sir
Henry James, who worked up the House to an intense
pitch of excitement by quoting a passage from one of
Mr. Roebuck's old Pamphlets. In this lie had abused
the Tories with even more vigour than that with which
to-night he had vilified the Liberals. Sir Henry James,
who Avas exceedingly animated, spoke amid continual
interruptions from the Tory benches. When ho quoted
the declaration that the Tories were persons who only
wanted to "fleece the people," there was quite an uproar
in the House ; and Sir Henty Drummond Wolff, amid loud
cries, rose to inquire whether the ijuotation was in order.
The Speaker, to the delight of the Opposition, ruled in
favdur (tf Sir Henry James, who, having Avith difficulty,
and amid shouts of " Date," " Question," and other cries,

2 A

354

L/FJC OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

finished reading the extract, ended by dramatically tearing
up the manuscript, Hinging the pieces on the table, and
inviting Mr. Roebuck to take his seat among his political
allies.

Sir Henry James was still speaking to a crowded
House when Mr. Roebuck made his appearance and moved
slowly up the floor to his usual seat, the first below the
gan>,'way on the Opposition side. Mr. Dillwyn, who
claimed the seat, though conceding it by courtesy to
Mr. Roebuck when advised of his intention to be present,
showed no disposition to give way, nor did Mr. Walter or
Sir Charles Dilke, who occupied the next places, make
an effort to incommode themselves for Mr. Roebuck's
convenience. Some, on the other side, cried " Oh," and
broke out into cheers when Mr. Gorst and Mr. R. Yorke
ostentatiously crossed the floor and offered the hon.
member a seat among the ultra Tories. For a moment
or two there seemed some hesitation in the mind of the
honourable member. In the result he accepted the invita-
tion, and took the proffered seat amid the prolonged cheers
of the Ministerialists. Several around said to him, " Now
you are here, why not stay with us?" His answer was
a shake of the head, " That I cannot do. It will not do."

About this period the " interviewer " for a London
newspaper attributed to the " little man," whom he found
in a shawl dressing-gown in Ashley Place, the statement
that he had a very high opinion of a large proportion
of the working class, but little sympathy with their leadera.
He was represented as saying that he had often thought
that, had he chosen to sacrifice his self-respect, he might
have become a leader of working men himself.* They
liked, as soldiers do, to be led by gentlemen. They had
no distrust of their social superiors; on the contrary^
trusting them far more than their own brethren.

* Seeonte, pp. 118 and 204.

:' ,1

y tearing

ible, and

political

crowded
id moved
elow the
yn, who
irtesy to
\ present,
ifValter or
les, make
loebuck's
Oh," and
R. Yorke
the hon.

moment
id of the
le invita-
[ed cheers
m, " Now
swer was
not do."
London

he found
statement
>roportion
ir leadera.
1 thought
he might
f.* They
They had

contrary,.

MR. RQEBUCK\S LAST PARLIAMENT. 35;

They think a f^entlcman has nothing,' to piiu, and they i,'ive
him credit for perfect disinterestedness. In the main tlicy'aro
quite ric!:ht. Sometimes I regret that I did not take tliem in
hand. I feel certain I could have helped them, for I know
their wants and feclinjrs, their faults and failinj^s, thorou{,'hly,
and 1 like and esteem them— that is, those who work instead of
talkiui?. I am perfectly frank in tellini,' tliem of their faults, and
they like me none the worse for doing so.

I I

356

LIFE OF JOIIX ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE LAST YEAR— DEATH IN HARNESS. 187S-1S79.

Already, in the spring of 1.S7.S, politicians and constitu-
encies were beginning to look forward to the time when
the country would be called upon to pronounce a verdict
on the doings of the Beaconstield adnnnistration. The
problems of the future exercised both Mr. Roebuck's friends
and his opponents in Sheffield.

To William Finher {Shofiielil).

Afnil 19, 1878. — My own wish is to retire; the fatigues of
Parliament pressing now heavily upon niu. But I feel this to be
u great crisis when opinions are of vital importance. I have been
greatly pained by much of the talk that has beeu going on, while
our country, its greatness, and even safety, arc greatly threatened.
In this state of thiujjs, to shrink from the strife, and for one's
own ease to retire from the struggle, would he paltry cowardice.
In this case, then, I wish to know the wishes of my old friends.
Do they desire to retain my services such as they are and will be ?
Do they think that I should be useful, with all the failings which
decaying nature brings ? Do tlicy believe that, weak veteran
that I am, my ligure in the front of the battle would he an aid
to the cause of our commou beloved country ? If they think
and say, " Yes," then I am I'cady to undertake the straggle, and
do my utmost in this hour of need and danger. My life has beeu
one continued strife in favour of great principles, and whenever
I may retire I shall feel that most of the objects at which I have
aimed have been won. I should be proud, even when this is the
case, to continue my labours for the purpose of upholding the

THE LAST YEAR — DEATH IX HARXESS. 357

honour and safety of Kiiirliiiicl, To dio iu huruoss in such a cuuhc
would bo a j,'lory and a triumph.

879.

jonstitu-
10 when
verdict
.n. The
8 friends

tigues of
his to 1)u
lavc been
ou, while
rcatcned.
for one's
ward ice.

friends,
will be ?
^8 which

veteran
\Q an aid
ey think
gi^le, and
has been
whenever
;h I have
lis is the
ding the

In Juno tho local Liberals threw down tho giigo of battlo
by adopting Mr. S. D. Waddy as Mr. Mundolla's colleague
when the next contest shouhl come, and the challenge was
taken up. Mr. Roebuck presented himself as a candidate
for re-election, and delivered a speech which showed that ho
had lost none of his okl habit of hard hitting. Tho meeting
was notable as tho first public acknowledgment of an
allianco between him and tho Conservative party. Those
present pledged themselves to support Mr. Roebuck at the
next election, " and whatever other candidate may be chosen
by the committee of his Liberal antl Conservative friends."

Tho last occasion on which Mr. Roebuck addressed tho
House of Commons was in the debute on the memorable
resolutions of Lord Hartington (August, 1S7H), condemning
tho protocols of tho Berlin Congress. Ho began with an
apology. " I feel myself weak," he said, " and almost un-
able to appear before this House, and I beg therefore its
indulgence on the present occasion." That indulgence was
readily accorded to him, and he proceeded to express the
opinion that the Government, with respect to the Eastern
Question, had pursued the right course, " bravely, sagaci-
ously, successfully."

At the end of the year, the declaration of war against
Afghanistan compelled the Ministry to summon Parliament
for a .short session. Mr. Roebuck had Intended to take
part in the debate on Mr. AVhitbread's motion condemning
the policy which led to the war, but the death of a brother-
in-law prevented him. This was unfortunate. Remember-
ing tho prominent part Mr. Roebuck took in the Afghan
debates of 18413, his attitude, when history repeated itself,
would have been interesting. The fact that he voted with
the Government indicates the line he would have taken.
He had come, by this time, to be regarded by the whips of

!•

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

1.0

I.I

1^128 1

■50 i"^" nil

■ 4

2.5

. ... 1^

2.0

1.8

1.25

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Photographic

Sciences

Corporation

c ^<° J%

23 MEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, ^.Y. 14580

(716)872-4503

Jlii

ICi

oat

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

the Tory party as one of their flock. There is in existence
a letter from Sir W. Hart Dyke regretting inability to
find " a pair " for Mr. Roebuck for the division of December
13, but offering to him the accommodation of his private
room during the hours of waiting for the debate to end.
Thus had Mr. Roebuck at last succumbed to that crack of
the "whip," which he so scornfully resented during the
election of 1874, when he said that neither Whig nor Tory
could count upon his vote, and that no " whipper-in " dared
approach him.

In 1878, Mr. Roebuck was, on the recommendation of
his antagonist of old days, then Mr. Disraeli, now Lord
Beaconsfield, sworn in a member of the Queen's Most
Honourable Privy Council. He committed to paper, in
compliance with the wishes of his family, the following
" Story of my being made a Privy Councillor " : —

Sir John Brown, at the end of July, 1878, wrote asking me
to request liOrd Beaconsfield to be a guest at the next Cutlers'
feast. I weut, by appointment, to Downing Street, and after
our talk on this matter was over, Lord Beaconsfield said, " I had
intended, before I received your letter, to ask you to come and
see me, as there is a matter upon which I desire to speak to you.
Some time before I went to Berlin, the Queen wrote to me a
letter in which she spoke of you. The paragraph was a very
pretty one, and I had resolved to show it to you ; but in the
bustle of my departure the letter was mislaid, but I can tell you
tiie substance. Her Majesty said that she thought that some
mark of her appreciation of your conduct should be conferred
upon you. That conduct, she said, ' was that of a true patriot.'
These were her words, and she applied to me to suggest the mode.
I then proposed that the office of Privy Councillor would be an
appropriate distinction. It would show thi't the distinction came
from her Majesty herself, and in this case would not be official
but simply personal ; the result of her Majesty's own approval,
and not the appendage of any office. Would this suit your views
and wishes ? "

I answered, " Yes, certainly. I had long thought that such
a distinction would be an honour, and one which, while it was

\ -

1 existence
lability to
December
lis private
te to end.
.t crack of
lurinw the
J nor Tory
-in" dared

idation of

now Lord

len's Most

paper, in

following

3 asking me
ext Cutlers'
, and after
lid, " I had
) come and
eak to you.
te to me a
was a very
but in the
an tell you
that some
s conferred
ue patriot.'
b the mode,
ould be an
etion came
> be official
a approval,
your views

that such
hile it was

THE LAST YEAR — DEATH IN HARNESS. 359

really an honour, could not bo doomet! by any one unworthy as
the corrupt reward of corrupt conduct." "There is only one
thing," said Lord lioaconstiold, " and that is to save you the
trouble of a long journey to Osborne. I hope that the Court
may go to Windsor, and that you may be sworn in there."

On the morning of the 14th of August Zippy saw me to
Victoria Station, where I found that the Tiord Chancellor, the
Duke of Richmond and Gordon, the Duke of Northumberland,
and Mr. Peel, Clerk of the Privy Council, were to be my fellow-
travellers. There was pleasant chat on the way, the Duke of
Eichmond most completely fulfilling his promise to take care of
me. He insisted on giving me his arm, and helping me in and
out of the railway carriage, the steamers, and the carriages into
which we had to get before we arrived at Osborne.

On the way down I said to Mr. Peel, on finding that I had
to kneel to kiss her Majesty's hand, "By the Lord, I shall be
like Gibbon if I go on my knees ; it will require somebody to
help me up. Seriously, it will be very difficult and painful."
Whereupon the Duke of Richmond said that he would arrange
it, and so he did ; for after our arrival at Osborne he told me
that the Queen had been so good as to dispense with my going
on my knees, and that I should be permitted to kiss hands
standing.

In due time I was called into the presence. Having made
my bow, I found Prince Leopold sitting in a chair ; next to him
the Duke of Richmond ; then the Lord Chancellor and the Duke
of Northumberland, myself the last in the row, all standing. I
was then called upon to take the oath of allegiance, then the long
oath of a Privy Councillor ; then I kissed hands, and was, as one
of the Council, present at the business which was then done.

Before I was admitted to the presence Sir John Powell asked
me to see him. I went, and found him with two books before
him. He said that the Queen wished to have my autograph in
those books on the date of my birth.

After I had come from the audience, I was informed that her
Majesty desired to see me, and would send for me.

After some short time, the Duke of Richmond giving me his
arm, we were ushered into the presence of lier Majesty. We
found the Queen standing near the door with Prince Leopold on
her right hand. She advanced and said, as nearly as I can

36o

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

recollect the words, " I Lave sent for you, Mr. Roebuck, so that
I might be able to express to you personally my high appreciation
of what you have said and done upon the late trying occasions.
I consider your conduct to have been that of a true patriot, and I
am glad to have this opportunity of expressing to yourself my
approbation and thanks."

I, upon this, expressed my sincere and warm thanks "or her
Majesty's goodness, saying that I was amply rewarded for all that
I suffered, and I had suffered, because of what I had done, and
which had Avon her Majesty's approval.

Her Majesty then beckoned to Prince Leopold, who shook
hands with me. Then the Duke and myself retired.

\\\\

To his own family Mr. Roebuck expressed himself as
much touched by the handsome manner in which her
Majesty spoke to him on this occasion.

At the Cutlers' feast of 1878 Mr. Roebuck was in his
old form. Flattered by the uproarious welcome accorded
to him, he flew at his opponents with glimpses of his
accustomed vigour, tauntingly ridiculing those who sug-
gested that he was "an old dog," toothless, and effete,
and bound to retire. He reasserted his unchanging-
integrity, and defended his public career, avowing that he
had never bowed his neck to any party yoke. What he
had bowed it to was the yoke of duty to England. That
was what had guided him through life — the interests of
his country. " I have not," he said, " sought in party
politics my line of conduct, but I have looked forward and
asked myself this question — Does this conduce to the
honour and happiness of England? England," he con-
tinued, " has been the sun by which I have guided my
course." He saw at the head of affairs a gentleman, well
worthy to guide the interests of the country, who, against
all opposition and against mighty feelings of dislike and
jealousy, would win the highest honour of the State. True,
Lord Beaconsfield was a Conservative, but was he on that
account to stand apart, bark at him, sneer at him, and

THE LAST YEAR— DEATH IN HARNESS. 361

k, so that
preciatioii
occasions,
iot, and 1
urself my

;s "or her
)r all that
done, and

he shook

!m.self as
iiich her

IS in his
accorded
s of his
i^ho sug-
d effete,
ihanging
f that he
What he
I That
srests of
n party
rard and
3 to the
he con-
ided my
lan, well
, against
ike and
!. True,
on that
im, and

write articles against him ? No ; he put the consideration
aside. It mattered not to him that Lord Beaconsfield was
at the head of the State; if he did rightly he would
support him ; if he did wrongly, he would oppose him.
" When," he declared, " I follow the interests of England,
I follow the interests of the whole human race." The
action of Russia in Turkey, ostensibly for the deliverance
of the Christian, he treated in terms of scorn, exclaimino- :

The poor Christian ! I want to know how Russia treated the
poor Catholic ? Was the Catholic not a Christian in her mind ?
She whipped tlic Catholic into the Greek church, and that she
called Christianity. Now this was the Power that I was abused
for not supporting-. I always said that I believed Russia was
arrogant, unfair, unjust, and encroaching- upon everybody — that
she sought her own interests and her own interests alone— that
she was utterly unworthy of trust ; and that I thought him void
of wisdom who trusted her, if there were not behind some private
interests which made the man declare in favour of Russia, when
he had passed his life in opposing her— some private interest which
induced him to blow the trumpet in her favour when no man of
ability, except under such circumstances, would trust her.

He concluded by repeating that he thought only of his
country. He was determined to lend the Administration
all the powers he had, and they would meet the world
with a united front.

To a Sheffield Correspondent.

It), Ashley Place, April 23, 1879. — I think you are anxious
without cause. Public opinion will be governed by the result,
not by the flourishes of wordy rhetoricians. You see that this
morning's news proves the Government to have acted wisely and
with energy ; and so you will find with respect to the Afghans and
our policy in the East of Europe. My experience has taught me
that it is unwise to trouble the constituency before an election,
and you must remember that an election is not at hand. The
Parliament will be kept alive as long the law allows, and address-
ing the people only harasses them, troubles them, and puts them,

, iliiPi

362

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

in the result, out of humour with those who disturb them.
r pray you, think this over, and do not allow yourself to be
made anxious when there is no need for anxiety. If fortune
favours the Government, if our arms are successful, if the
position of England be prosperous when the General Election
comes, the result will be in their favour ; if disaster happens,
nothing can save them (that is, the present Government). So,
I say, it all depends on the result. Such being my view, my
advice is to be quiet, and let our opponents talk themselves
hoarse. When the General lilection is imminent, then let us
act — not before.

Mr. Roebuck paid his last visit to ShefHeld in July,
1879, when he opened the new asylum buildings of the
local licensed victuallers' association. His extreme feeble-
ness excited general remark, his voice being so weak that
it was with difficulty he could be heard a few paces off.
He alluded to the change that had taken place in public
opinion during his career —

I find myself now in company with persons allied in opinions
to me, who I recollect, in the days of my youth, used to make
a separate seat between me and them when we sat together in
the House of Commons. But time, which conquers all things,
has brought truth to the foremost, and these opinions which I,
as a young man, upheld and boldly set forth in the House of
Commons — very much to the scandal of many there — I find these
opinions governing the country, and myself believed to be rather
behindhand. People whom I recollect to be old-fashioned Tories
now look upon me as something not altogether Radical. I am
told that I am changed ; but I am not now other than I was
before. It is not I who have changed ; it is they. Now, when
we meet upon equal terms and upon equal beliefs, it is not I,
surely, who should blush. My belief is the one now predominant.
Theirs has gone — God knows where.

That was Mr. Roebuck's creed to the last. From it he
never swerved. It was his honest and conscientious belief
that while much around him had changed and altered, the

THE LAST YEAR^DEATH IN HARNESS. 363

aims, the methods, and the principles of John Arthur
Roebuck had, from first to last, been consistent in them-
selves — harmonious parts of the scheme with which he
started public life. And not even his severest critics were
disposed to deprive him of that great consolation of his
declining years.

Mr, Roebuck's latest public utterance was a letter,
dated November 21, 1879, to the Lord Mayor of London,
read at the Mansion House, apologizing for absence from
a meeting to promote a memorial to Sir Rowland Hill. He
wrote :

I take a great interest iu youi- efforts to mark the gratitude
of the country to the late Sir Rowland Hill. He was a very
old and much-esteemed friend of mine, and I believe few men
have done so much as he for the good of his nation and his race.
"With his great scheme I was early made acquainted. Indeed, I
have a letter somewhere in Avhich his scheme is explained, with
a request that I would not speak of it, as he was not ready to
make it public " just yet." I say all this because my physical
condition is such as to make me very unfit and very unwilling
to attend a great public meeting. I hope, therefore, you will
excuse my absence. I deem myself greatly honoured by your
invitation, and nothing but absolute necessity keeps me away.

Although, as has been seen, Mr. Roebuck was inclined,
in the summer of 1878, when a dissolution was anticipated
after Lord Beaconsfield's return from Berlin, to contemplate
again offering himself for re-electiou at Sheffield, increasing
infirmity led him, in the following year, to relinquish any
such idea.

Recognition of the necessity of retiring from public life
seems, indeed, to have been forced upon him in January
(1879). For in that month he wrote to his chairman, Mr.
William Fisher, showing himself anxious to secure a
successor in the representation of Sheffield, who would
follow a course similar to his own. He described the kind
of man that, in his opinion, the future member for Sheffield

* I-
i 5 !

111'.

lil I

364

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

should be. " The object aimed at," he said, " was to obtain
a large-minded man, whose view of the state of things at
present was favourable to the Beaconsfield administration,
but who would be guided in the future by his own in-
dependent judgment." Mr. Roebucic held also " that he
must be a good speaker ; if he had any past political life
his course must prove him free from any partisan views —
to be, in short, a real Liberal, beyond the influence of mere
party, and guided only by what he believed to be the
interests of England." In the same letter Mr. Roebuck
said he found age growing too much for him ; and felt that
he could not in future adequately perform the duties of a
member of Parliament. ** As to what I say about myself,"
he added, " I must beg of you and my other friends to
believe me when I say that I have come to the conclusion
that I here speak of, very slowly and with great pain, and
very reluctantly ; but if my friends think my aid absolutely
necessary, I would, as far as possible, assist them ; but let
them judge kindly of me, and remember that seventy-six
years is no light weight."

It was not until the summer of 1879 that Mr. Roebuck's
lingering cleavings to Parliament were finally abandoned,
and that he decisively decided not again to ask the con-
stituency to retain him in his charge. This resolution was
kept a secret from all but his most intimate friends. It
was desired that the announcement should come from
Mr. Roebuck's own lips. He intended to make his retiring
speech an occasion for reviewing his whole career, and
arrangements were being prepared with a view to have
this valedictory ceremony in the January of 1880.

To Willmm Fisher (Shfiffield).

Ashley Place, November 21, 1879. — I agree with every word
of your letter, and leave it entirely with my friends as to the
time of the announcement. I always intended that it should be
given in public meeting, on which occasion I proposed to give

THE LAST YEAR— DEATH IX HIR.VESS. 365

a summary of my political career. What, then, I would propose
is as follows : (1) That my friends sliould settle upon what day
the announcement should be made. (l>) That timely notice
should be <,nven of a public meetin>r, called by myself, asking
my constituents to meet mo, in order that T mi<,'ht address them
in rej^ard of the comini,^ election. (;i) That the time and place
us settled by my friends should be canvassed at the same time.
So much for business. My health has slowly recovered from the
effects of malaria, and amonj^st the most painful of which was
a most trying depression of spirits, accompanied by a feeling of
general malum— no special pain anywhere, but everywhere a sense
of suffering. This has gradually worn off, and I am now, though
weak, without pain, and with .. general feeling of comfort. " [
hope you will give me due notice of the time when I am expected
at Sheffield. I shall, as usual, be attended by my two faithful
guardians [Mrs. and Miss Roebuck], who, with myself, will, I
hope, be able to face any weather that may happen. It is here
now so dark with a snow-storm that I can hardly see to write.

Mr. Fisher, in reply, cordially invited Mr. Roebuck and
his "two faithful guardians" to make his house their
home during the visit. Mr. Roebuck's acceptance of that
invitation was the last missive received from him by any
friend in Sheffield, and, indeed, was probably the last letter
he ever wrote. It was dated November 25. On the
evening of that day (Tuesday) he was present at the
usual dinner of the Benchers of the Inner Temple. The
night was a severe one, with very low temperature, and,
having venturesomely gone without the warm fur coat he
was accustomed to wear in wintry weather, he took cold.
He lost his voice, and was troubled with a severe coup-h.
Early on the morning of Thursday the 27th he had a
choking fit, caused by failure of the heart's action. Sir
William Gull was called in, and Mrs. Roebuck, writing on
the 29th (Saturday), recorded the medical verdict that
"" The lungs are safe, but he is very weak." Still, no serious
results seem to have been apprehended, for Mrs. Roebuck
added, " We have five weeks before the meeting, but from

•iifr

366

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

the severity of the attack, it will not be prudent to expose
him to the winter's cold."

Along with that letter there was delivered a telegi'am
announcing that the end came at half-past one on Sunday
morning, November 30. He had become alarmingly ill
on the Saturday night. He suffered a great deal of pain,
but in the last houi"s became easier, and he passed away
peacefully. He was in the 78th year of his age.

He was buried in the quiet churchyard of Bushey,
Hertfordshire — where, for more than forty years, his
brother-in-law, the Rev. William Falconer, M.A., had been
rector — amid a large concourse of friends and admirers.
The voice of criticism was hushed in the general sorrow,
and tributes of respect laid upon his grave were tendered
as heartily by his political antagonists as by his warmest
adherents.

h! \

( 367 )

ij!

CHAPTER XXX.

ESTIMATES OF MR. UOEBUCK's CAREER AND ORATORY.

Mr. Gladstone, who was at that time in the midst of his
Midlothian campaign, made a noble return for the many
invectives Mr. Roebuck had levelled at his character, hi.s
statesmanship, and even his lionesty : —

Mr. Roebuck was a raun of distinguished mental powers, and
as a speaker, as a Parliamentary orator, he had not only many
distinguished qualities, but he had some most valuable and telling
qualities in a degree perhaps superior to almost any man, if not to
any other man, of his generation. Mr. Roebuck, I need not say,
was not in sympathy with me ; or, rather, I was not in sympathy
with him. On the contrary, 1 have the misfortune to believe that
I held a singularly low place in his estimation ; but, while recog-
nizing those talents on the part of Mr. Roebuck which all the
world admired, while aware of and lamenting the later course and
colour of his political opinions, I wish to take this, the very first
opportunity, of stating my full and firm belief that in his later,
as well as in his earlier, career, Mr. Roebuck was governed from
first to last by principles of integrity and of patriotism. I hope
that the honour due to integrity will ever be done to him. That
the particular form in which his patriotism developed itself should
be imitated by others I must confess, with all due respect and
sympathy, I do not desire. Now the grave has closed over a very
able man ; and it will be good for us all that on this occasion we
should exercise ourselves particularly— for of late years many of
us have been vexed with the particular direction of his olitical
course— we should exercise ourselves in yielding to him that tribute
of respect which is always due to honesty of purpose. I, like Mr.

; ,

368

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK,

1
i

lioc'lmck, have had wliat I do not hcsitato to call the misfortune,
the necessity — the conscientious necessity — of (;hani,Mn,<,' the political
connection in which I hegan my public career. We changed in
very different directions. I nmst assume, and I do l)elicve, that
]\Ir. Roebuck was well assured in his own mind of the soundness
of the policy that of late he was supporting. I assure you that in
that one particular of firm conviction, of absolute reliance — of
strong reliance, I will say — upon the soundness of a certain policy,
J do not yield to Mr. Roebuck, although, unhappily, the policy of
which I approve is different.

The press of all sections paid full tribute to Mr.
Roebuck's great merit and unique personality. He was, it
was said, essentially a critic, an Ishmaelite, " the zebra of
politics," a good hater, but, most of all, a hater of hollow
pretexts and a scorner of shams — a man of angles and
peculiarities, uncomfortable to friends and dangerous to
opponents.

The newspaper which, in Sheffield, was chiefly respon-
sible for Mr. Roebuck's rejection in 1868, and which
continued in strong opposition to his public course to
the end, wrote —

Mr. Roebuck had his faults, but we prefer not to see them
now. He made mistakes, but we wish to forget them at this
moment. He offended many sensibilities, but they may be left to
find their own consolation. What we desire most to keep in mind
are the aspects in which Mr. Roebuck showed to the greatest
advantage, the fields in which he best served the country of which
he was so proud. The picture that first rises to the mind's eye at
the mention of Mr. Roebuck's name is one which appeals strongly
to English sympathies. It is the figure of that physically feeble
being who, bent in body but aggressive in mind, delighted fear-
lessly to confront odds that seemed overwhelming. The dauntless
bearing of him who faced an angry constituency, and sent it away
admiring and repentant, could not but or imand respect. The
frail old man who quietly braved Mr. Campbell Foster's torrent of
invective that memorable summer evening in Paradise Square,
contrasted dramatically with the burly Boanerges who raged

ESTIMATES OF HIS CAREER AND ORATORY. 369

isfortiinc,
,u political
livnf^cd ill
lieve, that
soundness
ou that in
liancc — of
ain policy,
3 policy of

to Ml',
le was, it
I zebra of
of hollow
igles and
geious to

ly respon-

nd which

course to

a see them
em at this
y be left to
ep in mind
le f^reatest
•y of which
nd's eye ab
ils stron^fly
3ally feeble

hted fear-
e dauntless
ent it away
pect. The

torrent of
ise Square,

who raged

nq:aiiist him. ^Iv. Roebuck was always at his greatest when he
played the part of Horatius —

" Fiicini? friirfiil odds
For tliu iislit'H of liis i'lttliers,
And the templew of his gods ! "

A very lar<,'e j)art of Shetlield's pride in 'S[v. Roebuck arose from
the conviction that in him she possessed somethini,' unique. She
had irot what no otlier constituency could rival. Otliors inijjjhL
a])provc themselves in ]iafcient attention to necessary detail ; others
miixlit excel in staLe^manlike prudence, in wise foresight, in the
.1,'onius that builds up, and in half a hundred qualities that tlic
member for Sheffield lacked — but still they were not Roebuck.
His splendid self-(rontidence was unrivalled. His powers of
destructive criticism were inimitable. J lis ctrotism was sublime.
There was soinethinjf almost pathetic in the uiivp-erini,' faith with
which he rej;arded liis country as England !•; the o:race of
Roebuck ; and these two monopolized his field of vision. The
manner iu which he put Roebuck first and ]'ii,i,darfl seeonr^ and
the magniticencc with which he was apt to :ace all his oiintry's
<,n'entpe s to a judicious obedience to the Roebuck! ,i behest, were
characteristics which often j.roved irresistibly tempting to tlu;
satirist and the scoffer. But they had tiieir ; !at in an intense;
patriotism, and in an overpowering- intellectual imy)atience. Even
now the pens which were ea,o;erest to snatch political capital out of
the latter-day developments of Mr. Roebuck's fierce repudiation
of the trammels of party, his restless frettings at the mere sight
of those traces in wiiich he would never run, are (|uick to write
down his life as a palpable failure, or to damn it with the question-
able praise that one such man is abundantly sufficient. Admirable,
we are told, as a Roebuck may be as a unit, this unapproachabh;
entity is far too inimitable for a repetition to be tolerated ; and
while we mourn a real loss, we may be thankful that this is the
first and the last of the race. Such language it is not our
intention to endorse. When we are told that Mr. Roebuck's
career was a failure, we are fain to admit that it fell far short of
the splendid possibilities that were open to the brilliant young
disciple of Jeremy ]5eutham and of Joseph Hume ; but it gives us
greater satisfaction to remember that Mr. Roebuck himself shared
not iu that dreariest of all beliefs of hopeless failure now expressed

2 B

370

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

''%

by his once admirers. He' was very far from thinking his life a
failure. On the contrary, he was never tired of expressing the
satisfaction with which he coutemplatod its well-rounded com-
pleteness, and the joy its harmonious oneness, its symmetric
consistency, afforded to him. It was no grief to Mr. Roebuck to
find himself — to employ his own expression — "as he usually was,
happily in a minority." On the contrary, he rather preferred it,
for then he knew he was right. " I believe," he said, " taken as
a whole, that my life has been a success." It may not, indeed,
have been an ideal career in the estimation of the disciples of
" sweetness and light." It was not a career to be imitated of
those whose chief desire is to live in peace and charity with all
men. Mr. Roebuck had scant patience with these. His notion
of the duties of life took no accouut of euphemisms, or expedi-
encies, or the veiling of opinions. He said what he thought in the
sharpest, directest, most incisive words in the English language ;
and since his thoughts seldom glowed with admiration for the
greatness of friend or foe, they were apt to prove unpalatable.
This nil admirari attitude of mind has many uses. It is wholesome
for public men, and systems, and institutions to be exposed to
the tonic blasts of keen criticism.

The role of the candid friend or bitter foe was that for which
nature intended Mr. Roebuck ; and there is no denying that he
did the work better than it had been done since the days of Swift,
better than it is likely to be done for many a long year to come.

" Perfectly independent ? " said the Spectator. Yes —

Thorns in the flesh are always independent of the organism '
in which they create so much disturbance ; and it is, in fact, their
independence, quite as much as their sharpness, which creates the
disturbance. Mr. Roebuck was, almost by essence, a thorn in
the flesh of the party to which he nominally belonged. Whatever
good he did in public life — and he did some very good things,
especially in the earlier part of his career — he did by well
establishing himself as a thorn in the tenderest region of his
party's organization, and shifting about there freely, as that ^
party moved. It was as a thorn in the flesh of the Liberals that
lie long ago exposed the scandals of our government of Canada.
It was as a thorn in the flesh of the Liberals that he exposed the
scandals of the administrative collapse in the Crimea. It was

; his life u
i-essing the
aded coin-
syinmetric
Hoebuck to
sually was,
referred it,
, " takeu as
Lot, indeed,
disciples of
imitated of
ity with all
His notion
1, or expedi-
)Ught in the
h language ;
tion for the
unpalatable,
is wliolesonie
le exposed to

lat for which
ying that he
ays of Swift,
ir to come.

r*. Yes —

he organism '
in fact, their
h creates the

a thorn in
Whatever
good things,
did by well
•egion of his
eely, as that
Liberals that
it of Canada.

exposed the
mea. It was

ESTIMATES OF HIS CAREER AND ORATORY. 371

as a thorn in the flesh of the Liberals that he denounced Lord
Palmerston's tendency to fraternize with French Imperialism
during the earlier years of liouia Napoleon's reijbne. We can
well believe that Mr. Gladstone's administration from 18G9 to
1874 would have been rather the better than the worse for such
a thorn in the flesh, to remind it of its liability to the universal
doom ; nay, that Mr. Roebuck's rejection for Sheffield in 18(58,
though a very wise and loyal protest on the part of Sheffield
against Mr. Roebuck's strange vagaries, was not ultimately
advantageous to the Ministry which it numerically strengthened.
For, certainly, if Mr. Roebuck ever served his country well,
it was by giving voice to the irritation with which the country
regarded certain errors of Liberal Governments. But even this
function — a valuable one in its way— it cannot be doubted that
Mr. Roebuck overdid. He believed so very much in " the
contrary," he was so very sharp in his fault-finding with almost
every attempt io carry out a Liberal policy, sometimes even when,
as in the case of the disestablishment of the Irish Church, ho
had been deeply pledged to the same policy himself in earlier
life, that his warnings came without authority, and his invectives
without force. Mr. Roebuck's Radicalism was, indeed, more
of a constitutional, political irritability than of a constitutional
sympathy with popular policy. He could not choose but be
the " candid friend " of any party to which he belonged. And
if he had ever joined the Tories formally, he would have been
as serious a thorn in the side of Lord Beaconstield as he
was, for the last twenty years, in the side of Lord Palmerston
and Mr. Gladstone. It was his mission to scold allies, rather
than to assail foes. The rather warm partisanship for capital,
and hostility * to labour, which marked his speeches in all the
struggles between capital and labour, was no doubt due to the
feeling that, nominally at least, it was the labourer for whom
he appeared. Perhaps his bitter attacks on the United States
of America were due to the same feeling that they were a people
of cousins, and that, as a relative and friend of the family, ho
was bound to confess the disagreeable impressions made upon
him. Possibly the same explanation may be given of his curious
advocacy of the cause of Austria against that of Italy, as no

* He had no hostility to labour— as labour— for ho realized clearly
that labour and capital could not get on without one another.

I'! i!

37-

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

I %

doubt it may of the much more defensible and intelligible
attack on Lord John liusscll for his Ecclesiastical Titles Bill,
jiud of not a few of his raids against the "ribaldry" of the press.
The cause of Italy, the cause of the Northern States, the cause
of a free press, the cause of Protestantism, were probably all
causes which, in his heart, Mr. Roebuck felt bound, by his
principles, to advocate ; but for that very reason ho resented
the bondage in which he found himself, and eagerly looked round
for an excuse to pour forth his displeasure at certain aspects of
these causes which fretted and oppressed him. The antagonistic
currents of feeling in Mr. Roebuck were certainly excited more
by faults in organizations to which he belonged than by faults
in organizations to which he did not belong. There are men who
are much more apt to imagine faults and blunders in any system
for which they are responsible than in any system for which they
are not responsible, and Mr. Roebuck was one of them. When
the late Mr. Uadfield and he jointly represented Sheffield, they
might have been termed the curds and whey of the Liberal
party, Mr. Hadfield furnishing all the solid and nutritious
elements of steady-going Liberalism, Mr. Roebuck all those whicli
are of advantage cliiefly in case of a sudden attack of cold, when
the Liberal party had need of such remedies as a hot and biting
fluid, administered to an invalid with his feet in hot water, might
provide. And yet Mr. Roebuck was not prone to find fault,
or even suspect fault in England, though he was prone to find
and suspect fault in the party which, for much the greater part
of his political life, administered the government of England.
The fault he most commonly found with that party was precisely
this — that they did not always take for granted that the aggrandise-
ment of England in the earth was the one chief end of political,
diplomatic, and international effort. . . . Indeed, Sir. Roebuck,
though he loved to pick holes in the party to which he regarded
himself as belonging, and the Government entrusted by that
party with power, never, apparently, dreamt for a moment
that English power, if it were attained, might be indifferently
used. . . . The more there was of English power, the better
he was pleased, though with those who wielded English power
he was seldom pleased at all. He seemed to be persuaded that,
in the hands most likely to wield it, English influence would
certainly be abused, and yet to desire earnestly to see it grow

ESTIMATES OF HIS CAREER AND ORATORY. 373

intelligible
Titles Bill,
>f the press.
3, the cause
probably all
ind, by his
he resented
)oked round
1 aspects of
antagonistic
xcited more
m by faults
ire men who
I any system
which they
lem. AVhen
leffield, they
the Liberal
i nutritious
those whicli
: cold, when
t and biting
i-ater, might
find fault,
rone to find
greater part
of England,
ras precisely
! aggrandise-
of political,
'r. Roebuck,
he regarded
ted by that
a moment
indifferently
the better
glish power
suaded that,
lence would
see it grow

and swell. It was a very odd state of mind. ]\Ir. Roebuck was,
indeed, u political misanthrope, who compensated himself for
attacking almost all possible English Governments, by making
an idol of England, steadily ignoring the fact that the Govern-
ment which was pretty sure to be installed in England would
be, in his opinion, cowardly, feeble, and bad.

One who had enjoyed many opportunities of hearing
Mr. Roebuck's speeches, wrote —

Among the orators of the platform or of Parliament, there has
been no man, within living memory, who possessed such a mastery
of crisp, vigorous, nervous English. Hislsentences were perfect
and pointed. Like a rapier, rather than a two-edged sword, they
pierced to the heart of a question, and often and often has tLe
telling accuracy of the thrust delighted his friends and thrown
discouragement into the ranks of his enemies. Perhaps it was in
the House of Commons that Mr. Roebuck's oratory was most
telling in his best days ; for he had caught the House of Com-
mons' tone, and that fastidious assembly appreciated both the
shai-pness and the polish of his style. Even when his voice had
to a large extent lost its power, his utterance was so distinct, his
action so dignified, that, when he rose to address it, the House was
hushed.* There was in him nothing of the garrulousness of age :
his incisive style and epigrammatic energy seemed untouched by
time. His speeches were rarely long, and in nothing superfluous.
There was a classic grace about his eloquence that formed a
remarkable contrast to the slip-shod utterances of less notable
men. His speeches were always refreshing, for there was a certain
crispness about them strongly in contrast with much of the
Parliamentary eloquence of the day. Even the best oratory of

* It was Roebuck's "perfect delivery" that most impressed so unfriendly
a critic as Kinglake. "Placing unbounded confidence in bimself, and
troubling his mind very little about any one else, he had a hardiness beyond
other mortals, a compact and vigorous diction, that was good enough, yet not
too good, for his purpose, and, above all, a matclilcss delivery which made
up — much more than made up — for want of stature and voice ; because it
mode him seem like one filled witli a sense of his inoflUblo iwwer " (" luvasion
of the Crimea," vol. vi. p. S.")?). Kinglake admits t Roebuck " had tho
ear — the rapt ear "of the House, although ho attri» s the welcome ever
given to "an accomplished denouncer who was sure to Uu vicious and brief,"
to anticipations of mischief and amusement.

374

LIFE OF JOHN ARTHUR ROEBUCK.

onr time runs into a wordy dilTuscncss, and from this error Mr.
Roebuck wus singularly free.

The Daily News once said —

He was probably the best example that our generation has
known of sinijily good speaking — speaking which, if it does not
rise to the height of oratory, never sinks into slovenly chatter,
or semi-articulate growling, nor adorns itself with the false glitter
of declamatory rhetoric. The shape and the substance were
admirably suited to each other. Mr. Roebuck's speech was
simply his thought and feeling made audible — often it reflected
the thought and feeling of others who were too prudent to give
them expression. The words in which he clothed his meaning
were just the words in which he made it distinct to himself. For
this reason he was a pointed speaker, without being a witty one,
and, without being imaginative, he had a sufficient faculty of
illustration to aid clear statement and exposition. For this
reason also, he was always a short speaker. He never acquired,
because he never had any necessity for, the dangerous gift of
amplification. Qualification and parenthesis, and copiousness
of epithet, and all the verbiage which makes sentences involved
and speeches long, arc usually the result of inability to choose
the few suitable words which would have done promptly all the
business for which the posse comitahis of ill-drilled and straggling
phrases is called out. The inability to choose the right words,
and the consequent necessity of enlisting five times as many as
are necessary, is the result of indistinct and confused thinking.
Mr. Roebuck never wasted words, and he was therefore always
able to find a suitable provision for them when necessary. Mr.
Roebuck was above all things a distinct and precise speaker.
This gift was, no doubt, due in part to the natural character of
his mind, but also in a great degree to his training as a disciple
in that school of thought in which Bentham, and John Austin,
and James Mill were masters, and which was cultivated in the
Socratic dialogues of which Mr. Grote's room in Threadneedle
Street was the scene, whence proceeded some of the most valuable
speculations and researches of the time. If Mr. Roebuck escaped
the peculiar vices of slovenly thought and language, which are
the besetting danger of Parliamentary debate, his deliverance
may in no slight degree be attributed to the delicate weighing

ESTIMATES OF HIS CAREER AND ORATORY. 375

error Mr.

jration has
it docs not
ily chatter,
false flutter
tance were
speech was
it reflected
jnt to give
is meaning
nsclf. For
I witty one,

faculty of
For this
ir acquired,
ous gift of
copiousness
es involved
j^ to choose
ptly all the
1 straggling
ight words,
as many as
d thinking,
fore always
ssary. Mr.
se speaker,
character of
iS a disciple
ohn Austin,
ited in the
hreadneedle
ost valuable
uck escaped
, which are

deliverance
be weighing

of ideas and the precise use of words to which he was trained by
liis philosophical associates.

In private life Mi-. Roebuck did not readily unbend to
comparative strangers. His courtesy to mere acquaintances,
though perfect, Avas somewhat cold and distant. Yet any-
one who came to him with an honest desire for information
was never snubbed or laughed at ; however trivial th(i
question might appear, the answer was given with pains-
taking care and kindness. And to his intimates, and in the
domestic circle, he was a model of gentleness and kindness.
His tone so quiet ; his manner of such an almost silken
softness, that he seemed one of the mildest of mortals, as he
was one of the most charming, instructive, and delightful
of companions.

s > '1

iiil

,..''*
%?■,

■ill

INDEX

Abiieville, 136

Aberdeen, Lord, Ministry, 256 ; resigns,

259
Aborigines, extermination of, 248, 253,

300, 301
Adderley, Sir C. B., '^38
Addington (Speaker), 195
Afghan war, 73 n. ; retreat from Cabul,

142 M. ; Roebuck's motion on, 147,

148, 179; (1878), 357, 361
Agnew, Sir A., 57, 97, 101
Albemarle, Lord, 165, 170, 250
Alexandria, 132

Allott, Alfred, (Sheffield), 339, 340, 342
Althori), Lord, 60, 62, 64. See Spencer,

96
Annerslev, Col., 34
Anstey, T. Chisholm, (Youghal), 225,

230
Anti-Corn-Law League. See Corn

Laws,
Anti-Papal cries, 208, 246, 247, 372
Apponyi, Count, 286
Armaments, reduction of, 248 ; and

arbitration, 265
Arnott, Mr., 231
Arran, Lord, 159-161
Ashburnham, Dr., 205
Ashburton Treaty, the, 135 n.
Ashley, Lord, 151, 152, 174, 179, 181,

182, 185, 186, 188, 235, 244, 283,

285. See Shaftesbury.
Ashley Arnewood, 155, 165, 166, 188,

200, 201, 203, 204, 236, 243, 247,

249, 255, 257
Ashton-under-Lyne, 136

Auckland, Lord, 148, 152, 179

Augusta (Canada), 6, 14, 10

Austin, Alfred, 106

Austin, Charles, 32, 104, 100

Austin, John, 374

Australia. See Colonies,

Austria, in Italy, 204, 290, 291, 292,
294; constitutional government in,
285, 293, 371; English alliance with,
286 ; V. Prussia, 287, 298

Austria, Emperor of, 285, 291

Baillie, H, J., Inverness, 248

Baines, Sir Edward, 108, 207, 208

Ballot, the, 44, 53, 74, 225, 233, 249,
253, 338

Bankruptcy Laws, 223, 225

Barber, prosecution of, 57

Barber, J, H., (Sheffield), 301

Barron, Simon, 42 n.

Barry, Sir Charles, 52

Bath, Roebuck's candidature (1832),
31, 42 ; election, 48, 49 ; (1835), 60 ;
dinners at, 72,88, 89; defeat (1837),
99, 100; address, 127; election
(1841), 137, 138; petition against
Corn Laws, etc, 138 ; meeting, 140 ;
Anti-Corn Laws, 145 ; education, 57,
148, 341 ; defeat (1847), 175-177,
181, 182, 185, 328; thanks Roe-
buck, 261, 283.

Bath Chronicle, 42 n.

Bath Education Society, 57, 341

Bath Journal, Keene's, 168

Bath Working Men's Association, 126

I \ \

378

INDEX.

Bcitliwick church, 180

Beaconsfielil, Lord. See Disraeli, Bul-
giU'iaa massacres, 349 ; Eastern
l)oiicy, 35(3, ;!57, 360, 36! ; makes
Roebuck privy councillor, 358, 359 ;
return from Berliu, 363, 371

Beaufort, 26

Beauharnois, Canal, 147

Beckwith, Sir Sydney, 14

Bedingfield, Lady, 165

Beer, Act, 57 ; Sunday Sale of, 295

Belgium, people, politicians, society,
and climate, 157, 163, 164, 202;
King Leopold, 157, 158, 159, 160,
163, 165, 201, 202; church music,
157, 158; queen of, 159, 160, Legis-
lative Chamber, 158-160 ; tariff war
with Holland, 164, 165

Bentham, Jeremy, 25, 27, 28, 37, 217,
308, 369, 374

Bentinck, Lord George, 167, 170, 171,

172, 181, 182

Berkeley, Captain, 199, 228, 229;
admiral, 232

Berkeley, Charlotte, Lady, 232

Berkeley, F. H. F., 249

Berkeley, Grantley, 228

Bernal, Kalph, 78

Bishop of New Zealand, 263

Bishops' Retirement Bill, 262, 263

Black, John, duel with Roebuck, 190-
193

Black, J. R., of Kentucky, 106

Black, Dr. R., 82, 153, 200, 201, 203

Blake, Jliss, artist, 254

Blanc, Louis, 205, 206

Bleaching and dye works, 283

Blessington, Lady, 135

Bolton, 290

Booth, A., (Sheffield), 265

Boscawen, Mrs. Anne, 3, 4

Boyle, Cavendish, 154

Bradford -on-A von, 212, 213

Bratiano, Demetrius, 270

Brazil, 267

Bright, John, 179; pugnacious, 223-
230, 232, 241 ; defeated at Man-
chester, 266 ; American war, 296,
3ol

Broadhead, William, 326

Brooks, Shirley, 250

Brotherton, Mr., 154

Brougham, Lord, 64, 80, 103, 103 «.,
104, 106, 110, 114, 122, 140, 170,

173, 204 ; on Palmerston, 147 ; on
Roebuck, 148, 152-181; on Count
D'Orsay, 150; Roebuck's history,
156, 204, 215, 216, 218, 245, 247,

248, 251 ; rumour as to joining
Peel's cabinet, 162; fears the mob,
208 ; early photograph of, 215 ; his
character, 216 n. ; in Paris, 239;
talks of visiting America, 242; ^.ord
Grey, 245,247 ; on Roumania, 2". n. ;
portrait and death, 348

Brown, Sir John, (Sheffield), 297, 305,
311, 358

Brown, Wilson, 175, 186

Browne, R. D., (Mayo), 228

Bruce, H. A., (afterwards Lord Aber-
dare), 264

Bruges, H. Ludlow, 99, 137

Brussels. See Belgium-
Bulgarian massacres, 349

Bulier, Charles, 76, 115, 173; death
of, 210, 211, 215

Bulier, Mrs. Charles, 38, 215

Biirilett, Sir Francis, 50

Burdett-Coutts, Miss, 205

Burials Bill, 347

Burke, Edmund, 67

Burv, wealth of, 211

Bushv, Herts, 247, 254, 311, 366

Butt," Isaac, 196 n., 264, 345

Byng, George, 85, 89, 90, 103

Byng, G. S., 250

Caguari case, 270

Cairns, Lord Chancellor, 359

Cambridge, Duke of, 260

Campbell, Colonel, 190

Campbell, Sir John, (Lord Chancellor),
130

Canada, 3, 11, 14-24; climate of, 16;
settlers in, 21, 22; grievances of,
62, 66, 67, 70, 72, 80, 96, 107, 370 ;
rebellion of, 108, 232 n. ; Bill for
Suspension of Constitution of, 109-
112; case pleaded before the Com-
mons, 109, — and Lords, 113, 114;
independence, 115; convicts from,
115, 121, 122; Corn Bill, 141;
Montcalm's defeat, 142 ; Indemnity
Bill and riots, 224-227 ; confede-
ration of, 263

Canning, Lord, and Oude proclamation,
271

Canvassing, 44, 63, 185

Capital and labour, 220, 315, 371

C -dwell, Lord, 236, 237, 245, 250

Cii.lile, Richard, 57

Carlyle, Thomas, 136

Carrel, Armand, 106

to joining
's the mob,
)f, 215; his
Paris, 239;
, 242 ; T,ord
tnia, 2'. n. ;

), 297, 305,

Lord Aber-

173; denth
15

1,366
5

Chancellor),

late of, 16 ;
evances of,
1, 107, 370 ;
t. ; Bill for
on of, 109-
e the Com-
113, 114;
ivicts from.
Bill, 141;
; Indemnity
7 ; confede-

roclamation.

5, 371
:45, 250

INDEX.

379

Carron Iron Works, 2, 47

Castle Howard, 245

Castlereagh, Lord, 218

Cavaignac, Godefroy, lOG

Cecil, Lord Robert, (afterwnrdsSIarquis

of Salisbury), 264 n.
"Cecil," Mrs. Gore's, 135
Ceylon, allairs of, 232, 247, 248
Challenges. See Duelling.
Chamberlain, .Joseph, 33U, 340, 342
Chandler, Kev., 141
Chapman, H. S., 61, 75, 76, 192 n.
Charles XIL, Voltaire's historv of, 130
Charter, The People's, 125, 12(5, 133
Chartist Association, 133; almanack,

133; press, 126
Chartists, 133, 134 ; petition, 142, 195 ;
and Corn Laws, 145, 146; and
suffrage, 203, 219
Children's books, 59, 186
China, policy towards, 120; Lorcha

war, 264, 265
Christchurch, under the Reform Act,

3.3,34; 155, 191, 192, 193
Chronicle, The, 60, 94, 104, 190
Chronicle, The Weekly, 109, 111
Church of England, disestablishment
and disendowment, 44, 56, 123, 183,
184, 343 ; ritualism, 346, 347, 372
Clarendon, Lord, 251
Clark, T., chartist, 219
Clemson, Americiin minister at

Brussels, 165
Clifford, Sir Augustus, 114
Clyde, the, 12, il8
Cobbett, William, 61, 62
Cobden, Richard, Corn Law agitation,
145, 146, 179; retrenchment, 213;
his party, 221 ; foreign debtors,
223, 230 ; deceased wife's sister,
234; peace, 241, 248; China War,
264, 265, and arbitration, 265; de-
feated at Huddersfield, 266
Cochrane, Baillie, 227
Cockburn, Lord Chief Justice, 332
Cohen, Mr., 169
Coldbath Fields fray, 50
Coleridge, Lord Chief Justice, 348
Colonial policy, 225; Australian, 231,
232, 234, 237-239, 270; Hudson's
Bay, 263, 271
"Colonies of England," Roebuck's book

on, 200, 222, 225
Columbia river, 135
Commons, House of. See Parliament.
Compton, Henry, (S. Hants), 234
Coningham, W., (Brighton), 306
'Conservative party, a new, 213

Constitutional, The, 94

"Corinne," 141

Corn Law League, 140, 167, 170

Corn Laws, 68, 123, Hi", 138, 139, 141,

145, 146, 147; repeal, 161, 167,

170, 176; fixod duty, 231 ; repealed,

240 ; duty, 252
Corrupt practices. See Elections.
CosnH)grai)hy, a seaman's, 12
Cottenhani, Lord, 114
County Courts Extension Bill, 239
Crimean War, 258, 250 ; inquiry into

conduct of, 258, 259, 260-262, 370
Cross, piiilosopher, 229
Crowder, R. lUidden, 211
"Crown and Anchor," Westminster,

meeting at, 108

I).

Daily Xews, 374

Daly, Father, (Galway), 273, 289

Danubiau Principalities, 270

D'Aremberg, Due, 159

Darrell, Captain, 108

Daubeney, Colonel, 66

Deceased Wife's Sister's Bill, 234, 235

Dehauranne, Duvergier, 250

Delane, Mr., 241

Dender Valley railway, 202

Denison, E. Beckett, 206, 208

Denison, J. Evelyn,(after wards Speaker),
239

Denison, Sir W., Governor of Van
Diemen's Land, 230

Denman, Lord Chief Justice, 69, 150

Denmark and Prussia, 299

Dennistoun, Alexander, 116, 117

Derby, Lord, (see also Stanley), 251 ;
Prime Minister, 252 ; defeated (1852),
256 ; second ministry, 270 ; and re-
form, 276, 270, 280, 310, 312, 313 ;
and "Galway Job," 279

Derwent, The, 136

" Dictionary of National Biography,"
9, 218 n.

Dilke, Sir Charles, 354

Dillwyn, L. L. (Swansea), 354

Disabilities, civil and religious, 44

Disraeli, Benjamin, 26 n. ; attacks Peel,
156, 107, 1()8 ; on Ireland, 170 ; on
navigation laws, 170 ; and dwelling,
197, 198 ; compliments Roebuck,
226, 238; on Canada, 227; and
Protectionists, 238, 247 ; on foreign
policy, 242 ; Gladstone, 244 ; on
Ceylon, 247 ; redistribution, 253,

! ,

', I

! -'I
i ■

I !

, :

A ^1

380

INDEX,

314, 315; China War, 264 ; India,

270; Reform Bill, 276, 310, ;U'-',

321, 337 ; Schleswijf-Holstein, 299
Dissenters, 68, 100, 183, 184, 187, 206,

208, 212, 213
Dorchester labourers, 67
Dodson, Sir John, 243
Dodworth, J., (ShefTield), 337
D'Orsay, Count, 135, 150
Drummond, H. H., (Perthshire), 230
Dublin, protection of citizens, 180
Duelling, 49, 79, 82, 189-199
Dulwich, Crete's house nt, 70, 71
Duncan, Lord, (Bath), 137, 138, 140,

145, 155, 175, 176, 181-183, 186
Duncombe, Thomas, 143, 156, 181
Dundas, David, 234, 235, 242
Dunkellin, Lord, 310
Dunn, Thomas, (Sheffield), 249, 251,

253, 303
Durham, Bishop of, 246
Durham, Lord, 121, 122
Duties on corn. See Corn Laws.
Duties on spirits, 248
Duties on sugar and timber, 137, 139,

168
Dyke, Sir W. Hart, 358

£.

Eardley, Sir Culling, 206, 208, 212

Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, 246, 247, 372

Eddison, Mr., (Leeds), 235, 236

Edinburgh, 130, 219

Edinburgh Review, 130

Education, national, 56, 57, 62, 66,

184, 341, 342 ; Graham's Bill, 148 ;

Russell's plan, 173-176, 262; Fox's

Bill, 237 ; and the suffrage, 299 ;

Forster's Bill, 331
Edwards, Geo., (Bath), 221
Eglintou, Lord, 273
Elections, corrupt practices at, 96,

143-145, 196, 248, 272
Elgin, Lord, mobbed in Montreal, 224,

225
EUenborough, Lord, thanks to, 147;

annexation of Scinde, 151, 152, 179 ;

censure on Canning, 271
EUice, Edward, 232, 247, 250, 251
EUiotson, Dr., 79, 231
Emigrants, manners of Highland, 12, 13
Emigration in 1815,11; discouraged,

344
England, self-government for, 96, 210 ;

an example to the world, 209 ; her

strength makes for peace, 256, 325,

330 ; her duty to India, 271 ; foreigu
hatred of, 253, 288 ; alliance with
Austria, 285-289, 290, 298, 371 ;
relations with United States, 28L;
for the English, :i44; her interests
the interests of the whole world,
360, 361, 369, 372

England, J., (Sheffield), 316

Erie, Chief Justice, 315, 318

Escott, Bi(;khiim,i(Winchester),106, 229

" Evelina," 141

Ewart, W., 102

Examimr, The, 190

Expenditure, extravagant, 123

Factory and Education Bill (Graham's),

148, 152 ; Ashley's, 283, 285
Factory life in Glasgow, 117, 119, 121 ;

in Leeds, 235 ; in bleaching and dye

works, 283, 284
Fairbairn, Sir Peter, 206, 209-211, 254
Falconer, Alexander P., 45, 118
Falconer, Henrietta. Mee Roebuck, Mrs.

J. A.
Falconer, Dr. R. W., 255
Falconer, Thomas, 7 n., 31, 61, 106,

1 14, 204, 225, 334
Falconer, Rev. Dr. Thomas, 31, 113, 194
Falconer, Rev. William, 106, 254, 311,

366
Falkirk, 248
Fearon, 202

Fenton, Colonel, (Sheffield), 221
Fenton, Rev. Mr., (Norton), 221
Fergusson, Sir William, 310, 311
Ferrand, W. B., 154, 174, 196-198
Fielding, Copley, 116, 210
Finality, Lord John Russell's, 123
Finsbury, dinner, 94 ; representation

of, 201
Fisher, William, (Sheffield), 220, 246
Fisher, William, Jun., (Sheffield), 261,

266, 280, 304, 305, 310, 313, 330,

335, 356, 363-365
Fitzroy, Captain, 144
Fitzrov, Hon. H., 194
Fitz William, Hon. C, 206, 207
Fleets, at Spithead,256; at Cherbourg,

272; at Portsmouth, 309
Fleming, Dr., 210
Flogging by magistrates, 237, 238
Fonblanque, Albany, 190
Foreign policy, 131, 229, 267, 270,

299, 300, 333, 349, 350-352, 357,

361 ; debts, 223, 225

271 ; foreign
lliaace witti
2W, 371 ;
States, 281;
ler interests
hole world,

3
8
er),10a,22a

123

(Graham's),

285

', 119,121;

ng aad dye

•9-211, 254:
118
ebuck, Mrs.

I, 61, lOG,

1,113,194
, 254, 311,

221
221
311
'6-198

1, 123
resentation

220, 24G
ield), 2GI,
313, 330,

Jherbourg,

,238

267, 270,
352, 357,

INDEX.

381

Foresters' banquet, 339

Forster, Churlus, (Walsall), 277

Forster, W. K., 3:31

Foster, Campbell, 303-305, 308

F'oster, U. l>lake, 48

Fox, C J., 55

Fox, H. JI., (Longford), 199, 228, 229

Fox, W. J., (Oldliam), 230, 237 n.

France, policy towards, 131, 132; in
Italy, 204; attacks Uonie, 'J29, 231,
291 ; alarming state of, 235, 230 ;
armaments, 248; jealousy of Enijland,
253 ; Orsini conspiracy, 1269 ; Cher-
bourg a standing meiiace, 272, 275 ;
commercial treaty, 283 ; annexation
of Savoy, 283, 2'JO; American war,
296 ; German war, 333, 335

Freemason's Tavern, debating society,
32,40

Free trade, 44, 169. Sco also Corn
Laws, Tariti' Keform, etc.

Frystoue, 136

Gaixsford, R. J., (SheflRel.l), 291, 293

Galway, speeches at, 177, 272, 273

Gahvay Packet Company, 272, 274,
289, 290, 294

Garibaldi, 290

Gascoigne, General, 208

Gaskill, Daniel, 70, 102

Germany, alliance with, 202. Sco
Austria.

Gibson, Milner, 230, 237 n.

Gibson (sculptor), 237

Gilchrist, Dr., 48

Girardin, M., 106

Gladstone, \V. E., 141, 227 ; and colo-
nies, 232, 238, 239 n. ; and Disraeli,
244, 253 ; China War, 264 ; Danu-
bian principalities, 270 ; and Roe-
buck, 271, 367, 371 ; reform, 310-
312; Irish Church, 318-320, 331,
332, 337 ; Bulgarian massacres, 349,
350, 353

Glasgow, representation of, 115-124;
description of, in 1839, 117 ; factory
life in, 117, 119, 121 ; press of, 122

Glenelg, Lord, 84, 114

Glossop, 126

Glover's " Leonidas," 9

Goldsmid, N., 190

Gordon, Duchess of, 114

Gordon, Lady Duff, 210, 215

Gore's " Cecil," 135

Gorst, Sir John, 354

Oosford, Lord, 72

(Joiigh, Lord, 213

Graham, G. J., 27, 29, 38, 40, 157,
180, 249, 350

Grnham, Sir James, 56, 129 ; Factorv
Bills, 148, 152, 153; Ferrand's
charges against, 154, 196; tamper-
ing with letters, 156, 160, 182;
Ireland, 224; the colonies, 226, 227,
232, 238, 239; and the Feelites,
240; Jilaying for leadership, 241;
and Roebuck's liistory, 250 ; reform,
278

Granville, Lady, 250

Granville, Lord, 335

Grattau, H., (Meath), 268

Greece, throne of, 152 n. ; Pacifico dis-
pute, 24U-242

GrenfuU, C. P., (Preston), 250

Greville memoirs, 64

Grey, Sir Georj/e, 174, 278

Grey, Lord, (2nd Earl), 62, 64, 88, 208 ;
and brougham, 24.'), 247 ; corre-
spondence with Williani IV., 247

Grey, Lord, (3rd Enrl), 162, 173, 230,
234,237,238. &t' Howick, Lord. .

Grisi, 230

Grote, George, puzzled, 26 n. ; his house,
29 ; Roebuck's propertv qualilication,
50; the ballot, 53, 87; Roebuck's
speech, 56; Political Knowledge So-
ciety and Pami)hiets, 59, 61, 76, 77 ;
residence at Dulwich, 70, 71 ; his
eclipse, 88; speech at B^irtlemy Fair
Show, 90 ; sea' threatened, 102 ; on
Canada, 109, 110 ; F. Place on, 111,
113, 374

Grote, Mrs., 29 ; F. Place on, 87 ;
jealous for Grote, 88 ; mortification
of, 90 ; on electoral losses, 102 ;
correspondence with F. Place, 105;
quarrels with Roebuck, 113; on
Roebuck as Radical leader, 127

Gudin, artist, 298

Guernsey, 73, 154

Gull, Sir William, 365

Gully, Dr., Malvern, 256, 310

Gurney, Mr., 114

Hadfield, George, (Sheffield), 253,
255, 264-266, 279, 303, 304, 320.
321, 325, 337, 372

Hallam, Henry, 213

Hamilton, General, 106

Hanmer, Sir John, 67

\\\

38a

INDEX.

. >:

Hnnlin?, Mr,, 1.10

HnrtluM, Mr., '11

Harrison, Kn.'Jeric, 318

Harrison, .Saimu'l, lU'J

Hnrtington, Mnr(|ui.i of, (Duko of

DevoiiKiiire), '.'80, ;J52, 357
Harvey, D. VV., 1)4, O.")
Harwich, corruption at, 14.")
Hawes, Sir «., 180, 210, '-'->.-), 235, 263
Haytur, Sir W. G„ (Wolis), 235
Health of Towns Hill, 181

Heatou, Mr., (Lee.ls), 23,j, 230

Lord

Herbert, Siilnev, (afterwards
Herbert of Lea'), 227

Hetherington's JJesjMtch, 82

Hill, Marcus, 182

Hill, Matthew Davenport, 228

Hill, Sir Howliind, 363

Hobhouse, H. W., 42, 43, 48, 49, 66, 145

Hobhouse, .1. C, 84, 104 ; and Js'ottiug-
hani, 145

Hogg, J. W., 154, 197

Holyoalce, G. J., 27 n., 125 «., 126

Hoo<l, Thomas, 7 n.

Houghton, Lord, 106, 136

House and window tax, 56

Howe, Mr., 121

Howick, Lord, 147, 156. See Grey,
3rd Earl.

Hudson, George, 226

Hudson's Bay Company, 263, 271

Hume, Joseph, introduces Roebuck to
Bath, 30, 31 n., 42, 369 ; on pensions,
56 ; political knowledge society, 59 ;
pamphlets, 61, 76; preaches mild-
ness, 72; on House of Lords, 73;
Radical dissatisfaction with, 80, 81,
83, 85-90, 93, 94, 102-104; and
Montrose, 142 ; on Portugal, 181 ;
challenged by Peel, 195 ; and Fer-
rand, 197, 203, 230; on Eastern
policy, 232 ; on property tax, 248

Hungary, 231, 293

Hunt, William, 72

Hutt, W., 102

IBDITT, William (Sheffield), 299
Imperial Titles Bill, 348
Import duties, Peel's reduction of, 167
Income tax, 139, 140; for Ireland, 155,

169, 171, 172
India (see also Afghan, Scinde), 213;

law of Bengal, 240; transferred to

the Crown, 270; Oude confiscation,

271

Inns of Court monopoly, 44

Ireland, right of self-government, 9<5 ;
O'Connuil's policy, 149, l.V); dis-
contents, 150,330; repeal, 150, 177,
178; condition of, 151, — in 1847,
109, 171,— in 1875,348; income tax,
155, 109, 172; Maynooth grant, 150;
Devon Commission, 109; Potato
blight, 220 ; scramble for English
money, 224 n. ; abolition of lord-
lieutenancy, 207, 208 ; true union,
273, 274 ; Home Rule, 293, 345, .340 ;
real cause of troubles in, 300, .145 ;
their cure, 273, 274, 300, 345;
Fenian conspiracy, 309

Irish Church, 58, 64, 60, 149, 150, 318-
320,331,332,335,3.37,371

clergy (R.C.), 345

Coercion Bills, 54, 55, 64, 80, 149.

107-169, 177, 347

landlords, 169, 171, 178, 224 n.,

318; Land Improvement and Drain-
age Bill, 224 ; Land Act (1871), 335

— — municipal corporations, 78, 83,
95,90

Parliamentary Voters' Bill, 234

Poor Law, 109, 171, 172, 170, 178

railways, loans to, 171, 172, 181,

182

Registration Bill, 129, 134

State Prisoners and Transpor-
tation for Treason Bill, 228

Sunday Closing Bill, 349

Tithe Bill, 79

in America, 281, 322

Italy, King of, 290

Italian unity, 204, 279, 290-294, 301

James, Sir Henry, (afterwards Lord

James), 353, 354
Jay, Rev. William, 185, 186
Jerrold, Douglas, 172
Jessop, Thomas, (Sheffield), 340
Jewish disabilities, 220, 233
Jocelyn, Lord, 195
Johnson, Dr., 141
Johnson, Reverdy, 321, 322
Justice, administration of, 44

Kaffirs, treatment of, 248, 253
Kean, Charles, actor, 4, 5
Kearsley, J. H., (Wigan), 98

y Tl

IXDEX.

383

•nment, 90 ;

ISO; tlis-
il, 150, 177,
—in 1847,

iacomu tax,

grant, 1 5t> ;
la ; Potato
for English
)n of lord-
true union,
3, 345, ;»4(5 ;
1, ;ioo, :i45 ;

300, 345;

D, 150, 318-
371

64, 80, 149,

178, 224 n.,
b anil Drain-
(1871), 335
ms, 78, 80,

1' Bill, 234
72, 176, 178
1, 172, 181,

\ 134

\ Transpor-
28
049

)-294, 301

vards Lord

340

253

Kemble, Charles and John, actors, 5
Kenniuu, Mis!<, artist, 254
Keogh, W., (Athlone), 238
Ke|)|i«i. Sec Ailjern\arle, Lord.
Kilmarnouk, repri'sontation of, 1 17, 118
King, 1*. J. Loclu', (Surrey), 247, 2+8
Kinglake's "Crimean War," I'JG n,,

260 n., 373 n.
Knowles, Sir P'rancis, 190
Kossuth, Louis, 279

Laiiouciikke, H., (afterwards Lord

Taunton), 141, 2G3, 278
Laing, S., 314
Lancashire, South, representation ol',

253
Langside Hill, 120
Laocoon, the, 159
Larceny Jurisdiction Bill, 237
Law, Recorder, 7 n., 57

reform, 262

Lawless, C. J.. rClonmel), 228
Lawton, Johr <, S leliield), 339
Layard, A. H., '58, 264, 265
Leader, John Temple, M.P. for Bridge-
water and Westminster, 50, 76, 86,
88, 94, 103; his Putney Hill gather-
ings, 106 ; on Camul.i, 107, 108 ; on
Roebucii's pugnacitv, 189
Leader, Robert, (Shetliehl), 297, 301, 320
Leeds, 127, 128, 130, 133,206,207, 211,

235
Leeds Afercitri/, 108, 207, 208, 213
Leeds Tiiacs, 131

Lefevre, Speaker, 228, 229, 234, 248
Lesseps, M. de, 2()1

Letters from J. Temple Leader to the
Editor, 50, 106, 189; from Francis
Place to Joseph Hume, 85, 89, — to
Joseph Parkes, 90, 1 10,— to Mrs.
Grote, 102, 105,— to John Travers,
105,— to S. Harrison, 109,— to E.
Baines, Jun., 109, — to Erskine Perry,
125. To Place, from H. S. Chapman,
75,— Joseph Hume, 76, 86, 88,—
Perronet Thompson, 89, — J. S. Mill,
94, — E. Baines, 108, — Joseph Parkes,
110,— Mrs. Grote, 90, 102, 127.
From Mrs, Roebuck to Dr. Falconer,
113, — to an unnamed correspondent,
193,— to Dr. R. Black, 200

from Roebuck to F. Place, 33,

81, 86, 104, 112, 212, 214, 216; to
A. P. Falconer, 45 ; to unnamed
correspondents, 47, 281, 314, 328,

334, 336, 337, 347, 35i», 361 j to
'I'liit's Maiiiiiinc, 52, 58, 65, 95 ; to

Mrs. Roc'lMitk, 70, 72, 88, lit!-
123, 127-130, 134, 13M-142, 149,
157-105, 107, 175, 179-18'J, 185,
188, 'jol, •2i\2, 204, 200, 210,
211, 213, 215, 220, 221, 223-22."),
220-247, 249-254, 273, 275, 29S,
305,319,3+8; to ir.r% Chronic/,;
109; to workiiiij men, 120; to
William Tait, 13o-l;U, 151, 156; to
A. Punlic, 1J2; to Th.mias North,
138, 208, 210, 213; to Kev. D.
Wasseli, 183; to S. McGillivrav,
191 ; to Dr. R. Black, 201, 203; to
Tiiomas Falconer, 204, 225; to Sir
P. Fairbairn,209; to Willi.im Fisher,
220,253; to William Fisher, Jun.,
206, 280, 304, 305, 310, 311, 313,
330, 335, 356, 364; to A. Booth,
265 ; to Rev. J. Maclean, 244 ; to
Count Ajjponyi, 280 ; to H.J. Gains-
ford, 291, 293; to Robert Leader,
297, 301, .320; to W. Ibbitt, 299 ;
to John Stuart Mill, 307; to J.
England, 310; to The Tivics, 322,
331 ; to John Lawton, 339 ; to Lord
Mayor of London, 363

l^etters to Roebuck, from W. Hawkes
Smith, 61 ; Lord Brougham, 114,
148; Sir W. Napier, 152; P. A.
Taylor, 153; John Black, 191; T.
Dunn, 249; William Fisher, 206;
the Dean of Elphin, 273, 274;
Francis Place, 82, 87, 94, 103, 111,
133, 218 ; Earl of Shaftesbury, 285

Lever, Joiin Orrell, (Gahvay), 289, 290

Lewin, Mr., 136

Lewis, Sir George Cornewall, 174, 278

Lincoln, Lord, (afterwards Duke of
Newcastle), 182

Lindsay, W. S., (Sunderland), 296

Liskeard, rejiresentation of, 211

Lisle, Mrs. Colonel, 182

" Little's Poems." Sea Moore, Thomas.

Littleton, E., Irish Secretary, 04

Liverpool Liberals, 129

Locke, Joseph, (Honiton), 243

Locke's " Human Understanding," 26

Loftus, Lord Augustus, 298

Londesborough, Lord, 336

London, rejiresentation of, 102, 232, 255

, Lord Mayor of, 363

Lonsdale, Lord, 181

Lords, House of, of what use, 09, 338,
339; disfigures Municipal Corpora-
tions Bill, 70; proposal to abolish
veto, 71 ; on Irish Corporations

^^i:!

i 1

l\ I

3S4

INDEX.

15111,78,83; tramjilcs on Ministers,
M ; Roebuck nt the bar of, li;$, lU;
Poor Laws, 18'2; ilefemtecl, '221 ; on
Jewish oath, 'I'Xd, 'J3+ ; censures
''almerstou's policy, '240 ; action on
Ballot Bill vindicated, ;5;!8

Lovett, William, 125, 133, 203

LyniiugtoD, 165

Lyndh\irst, Lord Chancellor, 114, 154

Lytton, Sir E. B., 2(51

:\L

Macai'I,ay, T. B., (afterwards Lord),
14;!, 211 «., 213, 2Il>

McGillivray, Simon, 101-193

Macliinnoii, Mr., 172, 241)

Maclean, Hev. .1., 244

^laclise, artist, 2."i4

JIacnaghtiMi, Sir VV., niunlcr of, 142 //.

Madras, 2, 182

Mas^istracv, an elective, 44

iMalot, Lady, 173

JIalniesbury, Lord, 229

Manchester, like Paris, 210 ; Athonanim,
348

Manners, Lord John, (afterwards Duke
of Rutland), 197, 198,233

Marrast, Armand, lOG

Mary, (^ueen of Scots, 120

Marylebone, reiircsmitatiou of, 331

Mayuooth grant, 150

Meager "of the Sword," 228

Mechanics' institutes, 283, 330

Jleersbrook, 2, 221

Melbourne, Lord, 02, 04, 84, 88, 90 »i.,
103, 118, 12;i, 208

^Members duties, etc. Sec Parliament.

Methueu, Paul, (N. Wilts), 78, 79

Middlesex, dinner, 85-87, 89, 90, 94 ;
election (1830), 217

Milford Haven, 279, 280, 290

Militia Bill, Russell defeated on, 251,
253

Mill, James, 8 «., 27 «., 28, 29, .•)74

Mill, John Stuart, 25; the Utilitarians,
20, 27 ; mental state of, 28 ; in Paris
with Itoebuck, 29 ; scatters violet
seeds, 29 ; debating society, 32,
34; sketch of, 30-41; his views of
poetry, 37 ; causes of his alienation
from Roebuck, 38-40, 76; on the
Radicals, 80 ; on Roebuck's demo-
cratic speech, 94 ; rejjresentatiou of
Westminster, 306-308

Jlill, Mrs. J. S. See Taylor, :\rrs.

Mills, Frank, 102, 180, 201, 202, 213,

214, 222, 235, 240, 243, 298
Mills, John, 180
]\Iilnc8, R. Monckton, (afterwards Lord

Houghton), 100, 130, 250
Missionaries, 156
Mcddavia and VVallachia, 270
Moles worth. Rev. W. N., 232, 2;].". n.
Jloleswortli, Sir William, 61, 70, 71,

74, 70, 79, 81, 83, 85-89, 94, 100,

108, 190, 231, 237 n., 238
Jlontalembert, M., 271
Montagu, Lady Mary, 47
Montagu, Lord Robert, 297
'Montcalm, General, 142
Jlontgomery, Alfred, 100, 229
Montponsier, Due de, 168
Montreal, 14, 15; i'arliament House

burnt, 224. See Canada,
^lontnisc, representation of, 142
Jloore, Thoma.«, 7 71., 57 n.
Morpeth, Lord, (atterwards Karl of

Carlisle), 95, 204, 200
Mundella, A. J., 321, ;;25, 337, 342,

348, 357
Munich, 298
Mnnici|ial corporation reform, 44, 69;

Lord's amendments, 69, 70, 71, 83,

338
Murat, Achille, 333
Murch, Rev. Jerome, 175, 170, 178,

186
Murray, Jlr., 202
Murray, Regent, 120

Xaas, Lord,(Kildare; afterwards Earl
of Mayo), 248, 273

Xapior, Sir Charles, at Bath, 88 ; and
Scinde, 151; thanks to, 152; and
Ciown of Greece, 152 n., 211!, 215,
220

Napier, Macvey, 130

Najiier, Richard, 154

Napier, Lady William, 220

Napb'r, Sir William, 72, 88; "Penin-
sular War," 130, 152; Governor of
Guernsey, 73, 1,54, 172, 181, 194

Nai)les, the Cagliari dispute, 270 ;
Government overthrown, 290

Najiolcon, President, a bad man, 253 ;
Kinperor, tribute to, 258; a despot,
272; perjured lips, 275, 276;
truckling to, 283, 371 ; in Italy,
291 ; urged to recognize confederates,

INDEX,

385

>0l, 202, 2i:t,

I, 298

erwards Lunl
oO

270

2;!2, 23:1 >i.
, 61, 70, 71,
-89, 94, lOG,

, 229

anient House

la.

of, 142

't.

aids Karl of

25, :}37, 342,

iforni, 44, 69 ;
<>, 70, 71, 83,

75, 170, 178,

torwarils Earl

nth, an ; and
to, 152; and
«., 213, 215,

88; "I'enin-
Gdvernor of
181, 194

ispiito, 270 ;

n, 290

ui man, 253 ;

8 ; a despot,

275, 276 ;

1 ; in Italy,

confederates,

296, 298 ; picture of, 299 ; influcuoe
for peace, 309 ; captive, 333, 334

Nation, state of the, 212, 240

National convention, 195

Navigation laws, 170, 223, 240

Newcastle, Duke of, 260 n. iS'ce Lincoln,
Lord.

Newspapers, stamped and unstain])ed,
57, 60, 78, 126, 190; degradation
of the press, 68

New Zealand, settlement of, 156 ;
Waketield's colonization scheme,
173, 192 n. ; bishopric, 263 ; abori-
gines, 300

Nomination boroughs, 33

Norfolk, Duke of, 330

Norman, G., (BathX 175, 186, 261

Normanby, Lord, 173

North, Thomas, (Bath), 138, 208, 210,
213

Northern Star^ the, 126

Northumberland, Duke of, 359

Nottingham, corruption at, 144

Oathb, Parliamentary, 226, 233
O'Brien, Smith, 177, 178, 198 ; trans-
ported, 228
O'Connell, Daniel. 54, 58, 64, 80, 94,

103, 1U6, 129, 149; trial of, 150;

death of, 176 ; Roebuck's association

with, 177-180, 188
O'Connor, Feargus, 126, 127, 143, 196,

203
O'Connell, John, (Limerick), 224, 228
Ostend, 162
Oswald, James, 123
Oude. i%e India.
Ouse, the, 120, 128
Outran), Sir James, 151
Overend, William, (Sheffield), 253, 264,

266
Owenites, co-operative society, 32 ;

doctrines of, 205

Paoet, Sir James, 310

Pakington, Sir J., 237, 259

Palmer, General, 43, 48, 66, 73, 88, 99,

100
Palmer, Sir Boundell, (Lord Selborne),

318
Palmerston, Lady, 251, 252

Si'ii

30;

Palmerston, Lord, and France, 131, 132,
173; corrupt practices, 144; Ameri-
<;an treaty, 147 ; opposed by Grey,
162 ; Panama and Suez Canals, 201,
202, 267 ; foreign aifairs, 223, 231 ;
French in Rome, 229 ; Greece, 240 ;
his great defence, 241-243; tit for
tat on Russell, 251 ; Ministry (1855),
258; dissolves on China vote, 264,
265; Parliamentary reform, 266,
267, 278, 279; Persia and Brazil,
267 ; defeated on Orsini Conspiracy
Bill, 269, 270 ; distrusted by Roe'-
buck, 131, 132, 147, 279-281 ; ap-
]>roved by Roebuck, 231, 241, 299 ;
Ameriran War, 295-297 ; Schleswig-
Holstein, 299 ; death, 309
Pamphlets for the people, 60, 61, 69,

71,74,75,78, 190,353
Panama Canal, 201, 202
Papal aggression (1850), 246,

Ecclesiastical Titles Bill.
Paper duty, 237 n.
Papineau, M., 62, 121, 197
Paris, revolution (1830), 29,
insurrection (1849), 226, 239
Parker, John, (Sheffield), 251, 253, 25:>,

265
Parkes, Joseph, 70, 90, 110, 179
Parliament, the reformed, 51 ; manners
in, 52, 53 ; reform of procedure, 97 ;
temper of, 308 ; Scottish consti-
tuencies, 134

, members of, their duties, 48;
property qualification, 49, 50;
subscriptions, 63; mental qualifica-
tion and training, 32, 297, 298, 306,
364; responsibilities of, 297, 298;
relations to constituents, 303

, Houses of, old, 52, 53 ; new, 52 ;

tem|)orary, 65
Parliamentary elections, ministerial

interference in, 56
Parliaments, triennial, 44
Parties, state of (1841), 134; (1850),
238,240, 241; (1867), 312; anew
< 'onservative party, 213; a National
partr, 312, 343; a party of one, 238,
262, 270, 370. See Whigs and
Tories.
Pate, R., strikes the Queen, 242
Peace, |iarty, 241, 266 ; fleet the best

preserver of, 257
Peacock, Thomas Love, 8, 25
Peel, Mr., Clerk of Privy Council, 359
Peel, Sir Robert, short ministry (1835),
65, 66 ; charge against Roebuck, 67 ;
throws over the Lords, 69, 70,

2 c

386

INDEX.

71 ; his ToryUiu, 123 ; spoech at
Tamworth, 138 ; budget (1S42), 139 ;
income tax, 140 ; on Chartists, 143 ;
thanks to Indian army, 147, 152 ;
O'Connell, 150; Disraeli's attacks
oD, 156, 168; decides to repeal Corn
Law-o, .161, 163, 167 ; resignation,
161 ; return to oflSce, 162 ; tariff
reforms, 167; his fall, 167; Irish
coercion, 168 ; on France, 173, 229 ;
challenges Hume, 195, 197, 198;
cheers Roebuck, 232; magistrates
and flogging, 237 ; saves the Whigs,
238, 242; death, 243, 244; papers,
245 ; Irish land, 319

Peelites, 240, 241, 253

Peninsular war, Napier's History of,
130

Penrith, 205

Permissive Bill, 295, 301, 345

Perry, Erskine, 125

Pei*sia, war with, 267

Perth, 134

Petitions, presentation of, 139

Philippe, King Louis, 30, 131, 132

Phinn, T., (Bath), 246

Photography, early, 215

Pickersgill, R.A., 348

Pitt's duel with Tierney, 195

Place, Francis, 27, 28, 33, 42, 59, 75,
76, 80-82, 85-89.94, 102-105, 108-
112, 125, 127, 133, 212, 214, 216,
218

Plumridge, Captain, 144

Poetry, the influence of, 37, 38, 40

Poland, 300, 301

Polignac, 218

Political and Moral Knowledge Society,
60

Politics, fierceness in, 45, 305 ; women
in, 46

Pontefract, 129

Poor Laws, 86, 100, 174, 197, 221 ;
Lords and, 182

Portugal, 180, 181

Post Office, espionage in, 156 ; Sunday
delivery stopped, 241 ; resumed, 243,
244

Potato crop, failure of, 161

Powell, Sir John, 359

Powerscourt, Lord, 99, 100, 137 ; duel
with Roebuck, 193-195

Prandi, Signor, 106

Presentatious to Roebuck, 32, 127, 188,
212, 261, 329

Press, corrupt, 68

Price, Edwin Plumer, 325

Price, Grove, 71

Priestley, Dr., 26

Prince Albert, 251, 257, 2'>0 n.

Prince Leopold, 359, 360

Prince of Wales' illness, 336

Princess Charlotte, 336

Princess Royal, afterwards Empress

Frederick William of Germany, 267
Princess Royal, daughter of George HI.,

267
Probyn, Air., 303
Property qualification, 49, 50
Property tax, 248

Protectionist efibrts, 223, 231,240, 247
Prussia, and headship of Germany, 286 ;

rivalry with Austria, 287, 298;

hatred of England, 288 ; Schleswig-

Holstein, 299
Pvblic Ledger, The, 190
Pulpit, Power of the, 328
Purdie, A., 122
Putney Hill, Leader's villa at, 106, 189,

194

Quebec, 13, 15, 26
Queen Caroline, 215
Queen Victoria, struck, 242 ; Palmer-

ston, 251 ; at Cherbourg, 275-276 ;

Empress, 348; honours Roebuck,

358-360

Radical a8piration3, 59; policy, 74,
93; recriminations, 79, 91, 94, 95;
rout (1837), 101, 102; disappoiht-
ments, 80, 102, 103, 105, 111, 113

Railways, Great Western, 68 ; bills,
180, 181 ; Great Eastern r.nd Hudson,
223 n., 225, 226

Reading, corruption at, 145

Reddie, Mr., 118

Reform, Parliamentary, Act of 1832,
30, 212 ; gerrymandering, 33, 169,
203, 204, 208, 214, 233 n., 245;
County Franchise Bill (1851), 247,
248; manhood suffrAge, 252, 299;
Palmerston on, 267-274; Disraeli's
fancy franchise, 2^6 ; Russell's Bill,
309-311 ; Disrae'i's household suf-
frage (!869), 312-314, 337; three-
cornered constituenoes, 314

Revans, John, 180, 192 n.

Revans, Samuel, 192, 193

Reynolds, J., (DuLlin), 228

INDEX.

387

ilia at, 106, 189,

Rice, Spring, 84, 114

Richardson, artist, 210, 254

Richmond, Duke of, 359

Rintoul of the Specta^tTy 106

Roberts, artist, 254

Roebuck, Benjamin, 2, 3, 14, 48, 221

Roebuck, Mrs. Benjamin, 47, 48, 72

Roebuck, Benjamin, Jun., 9, 18

Roebuck, Ebenezer, 2, 3, 48

Roebuck, Mr;). Ebenezer, (n<f« Zipporah
Tickell, afterwards Mrs, Simpson,
Roebuck's mother), 2, 3, 14, 17 ;
death of, 142, 182

Roebuck, George, 17

Roebuck, Henry, 18, 182

Roebuck, Henry Disley, 47

Roebuck, Miss H. Zipporah, 31, 155,
188, 205, 311, 359, 365

Roebuck, Dr. John, 2, 47, 138

Roebuck, John, 2, 48

Roebuck, John Arthur, autobiography,
1-41, 341 ; birth and family, 2, 14,
16, 19, 182; mother, 2, 3, 14, 17,
142, 182 ; recollections of Kcan,
Young, the Kembles, 4, 5 ; skating,
5, 6 ; education, 6-10, 23 ; emi-
gration to Canada, 3, 11, 14; life
in Canada, 16-24; its influence on
his character, 18-23 ; artistic tastes,
21, 63, 72, 116, 120, 205, 254, 255 ;
return to England, 24, 25 ; joins the
Utilitarians, 25-29 ; Mill, Bentham,
and Grote, 25-30; candidature at
Bath, 31 ; obtains a seat and a wife,
31, 32 ; oratorical training, 31, 32 ;
presentations to, qx. \ the Reform
Act at Christchurch, 33-35 ; estimate
of and severance from J. S. Mill,
36-41, 306 ; the influence of poetry,
37, 38, 40; programme at Bath
and first election (1832), 42-48;
seat challenged, 49 ; on Church of
England and disestablishment and
ritualism, 9.0. ; personal encounters,
Foster, 48,— Kearsley, 78, — Ferrand,
174, — Black, 190-193, — Powers-
court, 194,— F. O'Connor, 196,-
Smythe, 197,— Somers and Fox, 228,
— Bail lie Cochrane, 227; on fierce-
ness in politic-'), 45, 305 ; women in
politics and as letter-writers, 46, 47 ;
the House of Commons in 1833, 51-
53,— and in 1868, 308 ; first speech
in, 54 ; Irish coercion, qx, ; national
education, q.v, ; school at Bath, 57,
341 ; attacks on temperance legis-
lation, 57, 295, 301, 345, 349;
(ohiunj)ioDship of the persecuted, 57,

67, 68 ; unstamped newspapers, q.v. ;
attacked by Cobbett, 62 ; animosity
against Sabbatarian legislation {see
Sunday observance); attitude to
Whigs and Tories (jsee Whigs and
Tories, and Politics, state of) ; chil-
dren's books, 59, 186; pamphlets for
the people and other political
writings, q.v.; starts Society for
Diffusion of Political Knowledge, 59,
60 ; on canvassing, 44, 63, 185 ; ill-
nesses, 63, 79, 176, 231, 247, 252,
254-259, 310, 311, 333-335; on
members' responsibilities (see Par-
liament) ; re-election for Bath (1835),
66 ; Canada, agent for {see Canada) ;
pleads for Canada at bar of Com-
mons, 110, 111 ; and of Lords, 113,
114; gratitude of Canadians, 115;
attacks House of Lords, q.v, ; defends
it, 221, 338; friendship with the
Napiers, 72, 73, 154, 181, 194;
answers his assailants, 81, 82, 95,
140, 148, 175, 176, 181, 185, 275,
276, 281, 291, 292, 301-303, 305,
321, 324, 368; democratic speech,
92, 93, 96 ; writes Parliamentary
sketches, 95, 96, 146 ; self-govern-
ment for England, 96, 210; and
Ireland, q.v.; attacks the Whig^^,
169, 171, 175, 182, 231, 248; saves
them, 181, 240, 241 ; his courage
and independence, 97, 98, 329, 341,
368-370; "a thorn in the flesh,"
370, 371 ; his irritability and im-
patience, 107, 110, 176, 178, 181,
182, 253, 302, 371; but has a sen-
timental side, 330; defeat at Bath
(1837), 99, 100,— its causes, 101 ;
attacks on Dissenters {see Dissenters);
work at the bar, 104, 121, 122, 128,
129, 134, 136, 137, 141, 154, 176,
234, 235 ; on taking otBce, 104, 179,
180, 181, 210, 213, 235, 237, 245,
247 ; speech at the Crown and
Anchor, 108, 109; offends Mrs.
Grote, 103 ; invited to contest Glas-
gow, 116-124, 252; Kilmarnock,

117, 118; other seats, 200, 201;
Finsbury, 201 ; West Riding, 206-
210; Liskeard, 211 ; Tower Hamlets,
251 ; Marylebone, 331 ; factory life
and legislation, q.v. ; connection
with the people's charter, 125, 126,
133, 143 ; as a leader of the people,

118, 204, 220, 354, 355; encour-
aging Leeds reformers, 127, 131 ; on
lawyers, 128, 239; Carlyle excites

388

INDEX,

I lr(

contempt, 136; literary estimates,
130, 135, 141, 142 ; distrusts Palmer-
stOD, 131, 132, 147; interests iiim
in Panama Canal, 201, 202 ; approves
his policy, 231, 241 ; opposes him
on China war, 264, 265, — and on
Orsini case, 269, 371 ; thinks him
falsa and hollow, 279-281, 371;
urges him to recognize confederates,
296 ; prefers hsm to Russell, 299 ;
thinks hira right, 299; on state of
parties (jsee Parties) ; a party of one,
238, 262, 270, 370; writes history
of the Whig Ministry of 1830, q.v. ;
and "Colonies of England," 200, 222,
225 ; on income tax, 139, 140 ;
advocates its extension to Ireland,
155, 169, 171, 172; re-elected for
Bath (1841), 137, 138; final re-
jection at Bath (1847), 175, 186-
188; challenges members for cor-
rupt practices, 143-145; attitude
to Anti-Corn Law League, 146,
167, 179, 265; on Irish Church,
53; attacks it, 140, 150; defends
it, q.v.; parliamentary position, 153,
222, 247 : and training, 297, 307 ;
his Hampshire farm (see Ashley
Arnewood); residence at Ashley
Place, 155; colonial schemes and
policy (sM Colonies, New Zealand,
etc.) ; visits Paris, 29, 30, 296, 298 ;
France, 63; Bath, 72, 73, 88, 127,
148, 175, 188. 283 ; Glasgow, 116 ;
York, 120, 127, 128, 134, 140, 149,
234, 243; Pontefract, 129, 136;
Frystone, 136; Birmingham, 138;
Belgium, 157-163, 201, 202;
Brougham Hall, 204, 205; Liver-
pool, 116, 129, 135, 236; Leeds,
128, 206, 235, 236, 252, 276 ; Bury,
211 ; Bradford-on-Avon, 212 ; Castle
Howard, 255; Malvern, 256; Oal-
way, 272; Milford Haven, 279;
Middlesbro', 283; Sheffield, q.v.;
Vienna, 285, 289; Salisbury, 72,
231, 294; Swanage, 297; Munich,
298 ; Dewsburv, Nottingham, and
.Meltham, 330*; Usk, 334; Man>
cliester, 348; encounters with Dis-
raeli, 168, 170, 197; compliments
him, 226, 238; backs him for office,
244; rolls him over, 247; opposes
his fancy Franchise Bill (1859), 276 ;
supports it, 279; sup}K>rts his Ro-
furm Bill (1867), 312,— and his
Eastern poller, 349, 357, 360 ; made
privy councillor by, 358 ; flings him-

self into the Corn Law fray, 168, 231 ;
stirs up the Irish, 169-172, 178, 179,
224, 228, 229 ; popular with them,
234 ; Whigs and Peelites court or fear
him, 118, 142, 171, 179-182, 234,
237, 239, 241, 247 ; on O'Connel),
177 ; angry with Lord John Russell,
181; will not follov/ him, 252 ; resents
insolence of, 278 ; attacks his Durham
letter, 246,247, 372,— and his Vienna
mission, 261 ; opinion of him, 252,
278 (see Russell); thinks Louis
Blanc a charlatan, 205; objects of
his political life, 209, 110, 280, 305,
317, 325, 329, 341, 342, 344, 360,
362; the birth of photography, 215;
association with Brougham (see
Brougham) ; on Wellington, 218 ;
tirst election for Sheffield (1849),
219-221 ; second (1852), 251-255 ;
third (1857), 264-266; fourth (1859),
279 ; fifth (1865), 304 ; defeated at
(1868), 325, 326, 371; re-elected
(1874), 342 ; on working men, 220,
295, 301, 317, 325, 345, 354, 355 ;
how to deal with public meetings,
220, 221, 275, 292, 302,305; Par-
liamentary Reform, q.v. ; speech on
Jewish oath, 226 ; champions Roths-
child, 233 ; opposes Deceased Wife's
Sister Bill, 234, 235; defends ex-
termination of aborigines, 248, 253,
300; bitten by a dog, 249; in a
railway accident, 256 ; denounces
Napoleon, praises him, and visits
him (sec Napoleon); at Sheffield
cutlers' feasts, q.v.; strength of
England makes for peace, 256, 325,
330; obtains Sebastopol inquiry,
258-260, 370; portraits, 215, 261,
348; always too soon, 264, 270,
313; the parliamentary policeman,
143-145, 196 n., 263, 264 ; speech on
confiscation of Oude, 271 ; described
by Montalembert, 271 ; England's
duty, 271 ; "Tear 'em," 272 ; cham-
pions Galway Packet Company,
q.v. ; attitude to Italian unity, 279 ;
and Austrian occupation, 290-294,
301 ; and annexation of Savoy, 283,
290; supports Derby's Ministry,
280; advocates Anglo-Austrian Al-
liance, 285-289, 290, 298, 371 ; on
England's relations with United
States, 281 ; advocates recognition
of the South, 295-298 ; attacks the
North, 296, 301, 321-324, 335,
371, 372 ; democracy, 299, 321, 324,

INDEX.

389

on, 290-294,

330, 335 ; relations with constituents
strained, 291, 297, 300, 301-305,
309, 315, 318, 320,— and brolccn,
321 ; contemplates retirement, 304,
305, 356 ; has seen the error of his
Radical days, 313 ; still a thorough-
going Radical, 330, 340, 362;
changed views, 338, 341, 342; <' I
have not changed," 362, 370; on
capital and labour, 315-317, 330,
371; the Sheffield outrages, 318;
Trades Union and Labour Laws
ComraisMoiier. 315, 318, 321, 332,
343 ; unfavourable opinions of Glad-
stone {see Gladstone); political tes-
tament, 330; contemplates writing
history of House of Commons, 327 ;
views on the pulpit, 328; love of
Latin, 332 ; longings after the old
-eat, 334, 335, 337 ; it is offered to
him, 339 ; he accepts, 340 ; and
obtains it, 342 ; clings to it, 357,
362 ; but Anally decides to relinquish
it, 363, 364; qualifications for his
successor, 364: denounces dema-
gogues, 339, 343; his last Par-
liament, 345 ; " My forces fail me,"
346, 352, 353; supports Beacons-
field's Eastern policy {see Foreign
Policy); attacked jy Sir Henry
James, 353; joins the Tories, 354,
357, 358, 361 ; last speech in Par-
liament, 357 ; how he was made a
privy councillor, 358-360; the
Queen's graciousness, 359, 360 ;
England before all. 360, 361, 369,
372; last public letter, 363; last
illness, 365; death, 366; Mr. Glad-
stone's tribute, 367 ; estimates of
his career and oratory, 367-374 ;
his private character, 375. (For Roe-
buck's connection with other public
questions and legislation, see refe-
rences under separate headings.)

Roebuck, Mrs. John Arthur, {nie Hen-
rietta Falconer), 31, 45, 46, 63, 155,
193, 210, 243, 247, 311, 365. See
s,n. Letters.

Roebuck, Richard, 17

Roebuck, Thomas, 48

Roebuck, William, 17, 21

Roland, Madame, 46

Rolfe, Sir R., 135 ; Baron, 154

Rome, French attack on, 229

Romilly, Sir J., 33, 250

Rose, Sir George, 33

Rothschild, Baron Lionel de, 233, 250,
255, 277

Roumania, 270

Royal Academy, 2>j4

Ruskin Museum, 2

Russell, Lady John, 250

Russell, Lord John, npsets the coach,
64 ; on House of Lords, 70, 71, 72,
338; F. Place on, 83, 84; Canada,
96, 109, 110, 225, 227; and the
Radicals, 102, 105; finality, 123;
defeated (1841), 137 ; appeals to
country, 137 ; attempts to exasperate
him, 138; Chartists, 143; Corn
Laws, 147, 161, 170, 172, 224, 234;
factories, 153; Edinburgh letter,
161 ; unable to form Ministry, 162 ;
forms Ministry (1846), 169; naviga-
tion laws, 170 ; education plan, 173-
175, 179, 262 ; discourages attack
on Roebuck's scat, 181, 182 ; angry
with Roebuck, 181, 182; colonies,
225, 231, 239 ; adverse vote in Lords,
240 ; reversed in Commons, 242 ;
Sunday work in Post Office, 243;
Durham letter, 246, 372 ; resigns,
but resumes (1851), 247; clings to
office, 248 ; four times defeated, 248 ;
resigns, 251, 252, 259; Roebuck's
opinion of, 252, 278, 299; Vienua
mission, 261 ; New Zealand bishopric,
263; China War, 264; Irish vice-
royalty, 267; Reform Bill (1859),
276-278 ; (1866), 309, 310 ; foreign
policy, 299; Ministry (1866), 309;
defeated, 310, 312

Russia, 78, 204 ; invasion of Hungary,
231 ; and Turkey, 258 {see Crimean
War) ; Turkish war, 349-353 ; treat-
ment of Christians, 361 {see also
Eastern Questioa).

I Sadm:ir, James, 263, 264

I St. Albans, corruption at, 248, 253

] St. Lawrence river, 6, 14, 21-23 ; navi-
gation of, 15
Salisbury, 231,294, 301

I Salwey, Colonel, (Ludlow), 230

I Sandbach, Mrs., (Liverpool), 236-237

I Savoy, French annexation of, 283,
! 290

! Schleswig-Holstein, 2S9

I Scindc, annexation of, 73, 151, 179

\ Scobell, Capt., 99, 100

i Seats, redistribution of, 253

I Sebastopol. Sec Crimean War.

til

390

INDEX,

m !

SeftOD, Lord, 236
Selby, Mr., 49
Sevigny, Madame de, 47
Seymour, Lord, 259, 260 n.
Shaftesbury, Earl of, 285, 329. See

Aahley.
ShefHeld Collegiate School, 23

Cutlers' Feaiis, 249, 256, 272,

309, 321, 330, 338, 350, 358, 360

Mechanics' Institute, 20

, meetings at, 220, 221, 275, 292 ;

" wild beasts " at, 301-305; 310, 313,

321, 335, 337

presentation to Roebuck, 32 ;

thanks to Roebuck, 261 ; opposition
to Roebuck, 297, 309,315, 318, 320,
321

, Roebuck's elections (1849), 219-

221 ; (1852), 251, 253-255 ; (1857),

264-266; (1859), 279; (1865), 303,

304; defeated (1868), 325, 326;

re-elected (1874), 339, 342
, scenery near, 135, 136; flood

and Water Company, 301

trade outrages, 316, 318, 326

, third member for, 314

Shiel, R. L., 150, 168 n.

Simcoe, General, Gorernor-Qeneral of

Canada, 4
Simpson, Mr., 3, 8, 9, 14, 15, 17
Simpson, Mrs. See Roebuck, Mrs.

Ebenezer.
Simpson, Mrs. Bridgman, 254
Sinclair, Sir G., 134, 226
Sinecures and pensions, 56, 231
Skating, 5, 6
Slavery, abolition of, 44 ; slave trade,

270
Smith, John Abel, 243
Smith, Richard, (Sheffield), 261
Smith, W. H., 306, 307
Smith, W. Hawkes, 61
Smythe, G. A. F., (afterwards Lord

Strangford), 197, 198
Society for Diffusion of Political and

Moral Knowledge, 59-61
Semers, J. P., (Sligo), 199
Somes, John, (Hull), 295
Soult, Marshal, 132
Spanish marriages, 168
Speakers, Sutton, 54 ; Addington, 195;

I^fevre, 228, 229, 234, 248 ; Denison,

239 ; Brand, 353
Spectator (hintoul's), 92, 101, 106
Spectator, The, 370-373
Spencer, Lord, 65. See Althorp.
Spithead review, 256
Stafford, bribery at, 96

Stamps (Newspaper), 57, 60, 68, 74,
78, 81, 82, 126

Stanley, Mr., encounter with O'Connell,
54; Irish Church, 58, 64; Canada,
62, 115; (Lord) Roebuck's opinion
of, 95, 96 n. ; Irish Registration Bill,
129 n.; Corn Laws, 147; Ireland,
169 ; Greece, 240. See Derby, Lord.

Stansfield, Clarkson, 254

Sterling, Mr, (The Times), 190

Stevens, J. L., 82, 190

Steward, Patrick, 67

Stewart, Mrs., 137, 138

Stockport, 136

Strutt, E., 70, 181

Stuart, Lord Dudley, 78

Sudbury, disfranchisement of, 253

Suez Canal, 201, 202, 267

Suffrage, 124, 138. See Reform,
Parliamentary.

Sumner, Charles, 106

Sunday closing, 295, 301, 349

observance, 57-59, 68, 69, 97,

99, 101, 248, 266, 295; in Post
Office, 241, 243, 244; trading, 248

opening of museums, 58

Superstitions, 243, 334

Sutherland, Duchess of, 114

Sutton (Speaker), 54

Swanage, 297

Syria, 132

Taifs Edinburgh Magazine, 52, 57 n.,

59, 61 n., 79 n., 95 »»., 130-134, 186,

211 n., 216 n.
Tait, William, 151, 156, 167
Tapps, Sir George, 34
Taxation, graduated, 44 ; excessive, 230
Taxes on knowledge, 44, 68
Taylor, Mr., 38
Taylor, Mrs., (afterwards Mrs. J. S.

Mill), 38, 39
Taylor, P. A., 163

" Tear 'em," origin of the name, 272
Temperance legislation, 57, 295, 301,

345
Tennant, Sir Emerson, 152 n.
Thiers, M., 131, 132, 250
Thomas, Clement, 106
Thompson, Gen. Perronet, 76, 83, 85,

89, 102, 145
Tickeli, Eliza, 3, 4, 173
Tickell, Richard, 2-4; Richard, Mrs.,

16,17

1 I

i 1

INDEX.

391

Tickell, Thomas, 2 n.

Ti kell, Zipporah, 2 {see Roebuck, Mrs.
Ebenezer); her mother, 11

Ticrney, Mr., 195

Timber duties, 139

Tmes, The, 60, 61, 77, 138, 144, 153,
174, 182, 190, 208, 213, 219, 231,
237, 241, 245, 275-6 ; on Roebuck-
baiting, 30 ; 303, 319, 320, 322-331

TinJal], Chief Justice, 150

Tipperary, 263

Torrens, McCulIagh, 268

TorringtoD, Lord, Governor of Cevlon,
247, 248

Trades Unions, 315, 321, 326, 343

Travers, John, 105

Trelawny, Edward John, 106, 194

Trelawnv, Sir J. S., (Tavistock), 235

Trelawnv, Sir W. L. S., 102

Truro, Lady, 251

Tufnell, H., 211

Turk, The, 349

Turkey, war with Russia, 349, 351-353

Un (TED States, relations with England,
281; war, 295-298, 371, 372;
Democracy in, 299, 301, 321-324,
330, 335

Utilitarians, 25-27, 37

Van der Hagen, M., 158, 160, 161
Van de Weyer, M., 159, 160, 250
Van Diemen's Land, Canadian convicts

in, 115; ordinances, 230
Van Praet, M., 159
Venetia, 291
Vienna, 289, 290
Vigier, M., 72
Villiers, Charles Pelham, 105, 146, 147,

174, 176, 230
Vincent, Henry, 126
Vindicator, The Western, 126
Voltaire, 130

VVaddy, Rev. Dr., 148, 149
Waddy, S. D., 357

Wakefield, E. Gibbon, colonization

scheme, 173
Wakley, Thomas, 94, 105
Wallas, Graham, 27 n.
Walmsley, Sir J., 230, 236
Walpole's " History of England," 62 n.,

214 n.
Walpole, Spencer, 273, 317, 318
Walter, John, (Timet), at Nottingham,

144, 197 ; advice to horsewhip, 144;

summoned to bar of House, 145 ; on

Corn Laws, 147
Walter, John, (Berks), 354
War establishments, 123
Warburton, Henry, 59, 61
Warburton, William, Dean of Elphin,

273, 274
Ward, H. G., 197, 219-221
Ward, Mr., 235
Wassail, Rev. D., 183
Water Colours Exhibition, 254
Watson, James, 126
Watt, James, 138 n.
Watts, Dr. Isaac, 185
Wellesley, Lord, 229
Wellington, Duke of, 59, 69, 114, 152,

203, 214, 217-18, 348 ; second duke

of, 106, 348
Westminster elections (1835, 1837),

50 n. ; representation of, 81, 103;

Mill's election, 306-308
Westminster Review, 70, 87
Westmoreland, scenery of, 205
West Riding, representation of, 206-

210, 212, 219, 253, 305
Whig dissensions, 62, 116, 119
Ministry (1830), History of, 132,

133, 15H, 200, 203, 204, 212, 214-

218, 229, 230, 245, 247, 250
Whigs and Tories, 44, 51, 59, 74, 83,

84, 86-90, 93, 97, 99, 100, 102, 103,

117, 123, 134, 138, 169, 171, 175,

182, 203, 213, 231, 248, 278-280,

31'i 329 341
Whitb'read,' S., (Bedford), 357
White Conduit House, 105
White's " Inner Life of House of Com-

mons," 269 n.
Whiteside, James (Chief Justice), 273
Wilde, Sir Thomas, (Lord Chancellor

Truro), 150
William IV., King, coup cTitat (1834),

64; death, 99; visit to city, 214;

and Brougham, 24^ ; correspondence

with Earl Grey, 2* .«.
Window tax, 140, 155
Winterhalter, painter, 254
Women as letter-writers, 47

:>1

•I

ill

392

. INDEX.

Women in politics, 46

Wood, Sir Charles, (afterwards Lord

Halifax), 278
Woods and forests, management of, 248
Woolf, Sir H. D., 353
Woollen trade, 128
Working classes, National Union of,

61 ; wife beaters and dog fanciers,

205, 301 ; 220, 317, 325, 345, 354,

355
Working lien's Associations, 125,

126

Wortler, Rt. Hon. James S., 141, 213,

235
Worthy, Hon. F. S., 304

York, 120, 122, 128, 234, 235
Yorke, R., (Oloucestershire), 354
Yorkshire election (1830), 217
Young, Charles, actor, 4, 5
Young, G. F., 67

THE END.

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•-'-nn,o. rdi,ioaupon.v.ryda>h,. It ,s wr,tt.„ ,„ t v si
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.■/.V,"'/.7 ..

JOn IIH.DRKI).

Orfiot au^ «rar|Jt-ntcr.

!!> l>r. RICHARDS.

I'lditcd !>' i'! 1 ix |.\ I'lNsKM.

'..'• '-:i-'.' .J.>v,' •.\> /••,;,, r,v .V./W;/.;/;.

crown Svo , ;s. Oil,

-iU' Vol

I ho work of Mrs. I'm-.s.mu has already adra.tfd x\\c : ...,on of tho
reading puMio and o. iinary rnties to. ihr strcMi^th of her writing anil
licr laithtul rcndning ol country IilV and character. This n-nd is wcli
calculated to add to tho roputaiion sho has ahvady attained by • lonny's
Case,' and ' No IMaco for Ripouianco.'

:(f

Mr. Edward Arnold's

THE KING WITH TWO FACES.

By M. E. COLERIDGE,

Author of ' The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus,' etc.

One vol., crown 8vo., 6s.

Readers who recollect the remarkable interest of Miss Coleridge's
first novel, ' The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus,' will be glad to know that
in this novel she again bases the story upon a romantic incident of
history, taken, on this occasion, from the history of Sweden. The
characters of the story are drawn with force and dexterity, and the work
is one of striking originality.

THE SON OF A PEASANT.

By EDWARD McNULTY,

Author of ' Misther CKyan^ etc.

One vol., crown 8vo., 6s.

' Misther O'Ryan ' was the author's first attempt at fiction, and
attracted attention for the cleverness of its satire, and as a faithful and
humorous sketch of Irish life. ' The Son of a Peasant ' is a story of
greater length — a novel rather than a sketch of Irish life, but it exhibits
the same rich appreciation of the humorous and pathetic side of Irish
character.

NETHERDYKE.

By R. J. CHARLETON,

Author of ' Ne-wcastle Tozvn,^ etc.

One "ol., crown 8vo., 6s.

' Netherdyke * is a romance of the rebellion of ' forty-five.* It gives a
stirring and picturesque account of the adventures of Prince Charles,
which will be likely to be acceptable both to boys and to aii levers of
adventure.

New Books and Announcements.

CES.

5 Coleridge's
to know that
c incident of
veden. The
ind the work

fiction, and

a faithful and

is a story of

but it exhibits

: side of Irish

ve.* It gives a
I'rince Charles,
to ail lovers of

XCbe SpottsmaiVs Xibtat^*

Edited by the Rx. Hon. Sir HERBERT MAXWELL, Bart., M.P.

TWO NEW VOLUMES.

REMINISCENCES OF A HUNTSMAN.

By the HON. GRANTLEY F. BERKELEY.

With a Coloured Frontispiece and the original Illustrations by John
Leech, and several Coloured Plates and other Illustrations by G. R.

Jallanu.

Large 8vo., handsomely bound, 15s. Also a Large-Paper Edition,
limited to 200 copies, two guineas net.

These reminiscences, by one well known among sportsmen of his day,
consist of an interesting medley of records of the chase, observations on
men and manners of the time, notes on natural history, and experiences
in shooting and fishing. The author was a bit of a character, and his
peculiarities are faithfully reflected in his pages. As a master of hounds
he forms a curious link with a bygone state of things, when his father
hunted the whole country between Bristol and Kensington Gardens.

THE ART OF DEER-STALKING.

By WILLIAM SCROPE.

With Frontispiece by Edwin Landsker, and 9 Photogravure Plates of

the original Illustrations.

'.:irge 8vo., handsomely bound, 15s. Also a Large-Paper Edition,
limited to 200 copies, two guineas net.

The author of this book, which has long been in the first rank of
.'itcrature of the forest, was an example of the best kind of sijortsman.
A. highly cultivated scholar and a painter far more accomplished than
aiost amateurs, Scrope had a keen eye for a great deal mere than the
mere pursuit of game. He filled his notebook with traditions and
anecdotes collected among stalkers and gillies in an age before
compulsory education had driven old-world lore out of their heads, and
wove them into his treatise on deer-stalking wth great taste and literary
skill.

■>f

Mr. Edward Arnold's

Zbc Sport0man'0 Xibrar^.

Edited by the Right Hon. SIR HERBERT MAXWELL, Bart., M.P.

A Re-issue, in handsome volumes, of certain rare and entertaining books on

sport, carefully selected by the Editor, and illustrated by the best sporting

artists of the day, and with reproductions of old plates.

Library Edition, 15s. a Volume.

Large Paper Edition (limited to 200 copies), 2 guineas a volume.

The Earl of Coventry writes : 'I think the idea of a "Sportsman's Library" an
excellent one. So many now follow various sports that a library of the old books brought
out again will be very attractive.'

Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, Bart., writes : ' Just the class of work to be popular,
whether in the shelves or lying on the smoking-room table. A pleasure to read, see, and
handle. '

THE LIFE

Volume L

7 \ FOX, AND THE DIARY OF A
HUNTSMAN.

By THOMAS SMITH, .piaster of the Hambledon and Pytchley Hounds.

With Illustrations by the Author, and Coloured Plates by
G. H. Jalland.

' It will be a classic of fox-hunting till the end of time.' — Yorkshire Post.

Volume II.

A SPORTING TOUR THROUGH THE NORTHERN

PARTS OF ENGLAND AND GREAT PART OF

THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND.

By COLONEL T. THORNTON, of Thornville Royal, in Yorkshire.

With the Original Illustrations by Garrard, and other Illustrations and
Coloured Plates by G. E. Lodge.

' Sportsmen of all descriptions will gladly welcome the snniptuous new edition issued by
Mr. Edward Arnold of Colonel T. Thornton's "Sporting Tour," which has long been a
scarce book.' — Daily A'cuis.

VOI.UMK III.

THE SPORTSMAN IN IRELAND.

By a COSMOPOLITE.

With Coloured Plates and Black and White Drawings by P. Chenevix

Trench, and reproductions of the Original Illustrations drawn by R. Allen

and engraved by W. Westall, A.R.A.

' The book is one to be read and erjo/td.' — SiiturJay A'eview.

New Books and Announcements.

IDolumee of Sport, (Travel an^ HDvcnture.

RECENTL Y PUBLISHED.

WILD NORWAY :

With Chapters on the Swedish Highlands, Jutland, and Spitzbergen.

By ABEL CHAPMAN, Author of ' Wild Spain,' etc.

With seventeen full-page Illustrations and numerous smaller ones by the
Author and Charles Whymper.

Demy 8vo., i6s.

' There is not a chapter in this book which would not be missed.' — Sf>ectator.

' A very good, very accurate, and deeply inf .-esting book of wild lite and natural history.' — Illus-
trated Sporting and Dramatic Naus.

' Will be read with keen interest by the angler, the hunter of wild game, and the student of bird
life.' — Sctsman.

' It will be found not only an invaluable but a delightful companion by the sportsman, the angler,
and the ornithologist.'— '/'////«.

THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES.

The First Expedition from Somaliland to Lake
Rudolf and Lamu.

A Narrative of Scientific Exploration and Sporting Adventures.

By A. DONALDSON SMITH, M.D., F.R.G.S.

With nearly thirty full-page Plates and mimerous smaller Illustrations by

A. D. McCOKMlCK, Charlks Whvmi'ER, etc., and detailed Maps

of the countries traversed.

Super royal 8vo., One Guinea net.

' will be of the greatest interest to sportsman, traveller, and man of f^dence.'—rnll Afall Gazftti:
'Since the publication of Stanley's " Across the Dark Continent," there has been no work of

African travel equal, in scientific inipcrt.nnce and thrillii)g interest, to Dr. Donaldson Smith's book.

As a book of exciting s-port, apart from its gergraphical and ethnological usefulness, it deserves to

stand alongside the best exptrienccs of the tmiphest Anglt^-Indian shikiiris.' — fni/j' 'fi/turaf/i.
' While to the large class of people interested in .Vfrican exploration this book is indispensable,

sportsmen will find in its pages a wealth of exciting incidents rarely equalled in similar work.s.' — St.
James's Gazette.

ON VELDT AND FARM :

In Cape Colony, Bechuanaland, Natal, and the Transvaal.

By FRANCES McNAB.
With Map. Crown 8vo., 300 pages, 3s. 6d.

' Well worth the study of those interested in the agricultural and general development ol South
Africa.'— ^SVt/wn/rti^ A' tT'/t'7('.

' A delightful book, and we can confidently recommend it as far more worth reading than many a
work of infinitely greater pretensions. The whole work is full of interest, and is, moreover, written
in a style that compels the attention of the reader.'— Clobc.

' Abounds in interesting and useful information.' — Daily Xetvs.

i/»

Mr. Edward Arnold's List.

SOLDIERING AND SURVEYING IN BRITISH EAST

AFRICA, 1891-1894.

An Account of the Survey for the Uganda Railway, and the various
Campaigns in the British Protectorate during the last few years.

By Major J. R. MACDONALD, R.E.

Illustrated from Sketches and Photographs by the Author and numerous

Plans and a Map.

Demy 8vo., i6s.

' No country in the world has had greater need of an impartial historian than Uganda, and, strange
to say, though the bitter feelings engendered by the struggles of the past ten years have not had time
to cool, one has been found among the actors in these stormy scenes — Major Macdonald. . . . No
one who reads this exciting book of adventure can regret that we are spending ;£3,ooo,ooo on the
railway. Major Macdonald writes with considerable literary and historical skill, and his sketches
and maps are all excellent.' — Pa// Ma// Gazette.

' The illustrations from photographs and sketches are better than any we have seen of this part of
the Dark Continent, and the maps are distinctly good.' — Dai/y Chronic/e.

MEMO^.IES OF THE MONTHS.

Leaves frum a Field Naturalist's Note-book.

By the Right Hon. Sir HERBERT MAXWELL, Bart., M.P.
Crotvn 8vo., with four Photogravure Illustrations, 6s.

' It is a very long time since we have read so pleasant a book as this.' — Dai/y Chtonic/e.

' Most agreeably and freshly written.' — Fie/d.

' Few books will fill the idle moments of a country-loving man more pleasantly.' — Britis/i Kericiv.

' The easy style, the graphic descriptions of bird-life, and of the ways of beasts and fishes, the clever
sketches of sport, the happy introductions of plant-lore and of fragments of myth and legend, will
ensure a warm welcome for this delightful volume.' — Dai/y Netvs,

FISH TAILS AND SOME TRUE ONES.

By BRADNOCK HALL, Author of ' Rough Mischance.'

With an original Etchinj:; by the Author, and twelve full-page
Illustrations by T. H. McL.\CHLAN.

Crown 8vo., 6s.

' This is one of the best books of angling reminiscences I have ever come across.' — Fis/iing Gazette.

' A pleasant companion for an angler's holiday.' — G/asi^mo Hera/d.

' Witty, in the best taste, and abounding with sympathetic interest to the angler. . . . The illus-
trations are exceedingly good. . . . The stories are Ciipit.il, every one.' — t'ie/d.

Books of Travel t Sport, and Adventure,

IDolumes ot ZTravel, Sport, an^ 3l^venture.

numerous

of this part of

BLCOn— THE CITY OF BLOOD. {See page 3.)

Balfour— TWELVE HUNDRED MILES IN A WAGGON. A Nar-

rative of a Journey in Cape Colony, the Transvaal, and the Chartered Company's
Territories. By ALICE Blanche Balfour. With nearly forty original Illustrations
from Sketches by the Author, and a Map. Demy 8vo. , cloth, i6s.

Beynon— WITH KELLY TO CHITRAL. By Lieutenant W. G. L.

Beynon, D.S.O., 3rd Goorkha Rifles, Staff Officer to Colonel Kelly with the Relief
Force. With Maps, Plans, and Illustrations. Demy 8vo., 7s. 6d.

Bottome — A SUNSHINE TRIP: Glimpses of the Orient.

Extracts from Letters written by Margaret Bottome. With Portrait, elegantly
bound, 4s. 6d.

Bull— THE CRUISE OF THE * ANTARCTIC To the South Polar

Regions. By H. J. Bull, a member of the Expedition. With frontispiece by W.
L. WVLLIE, A.R. A. , and numerous full-page illustrations by W. G. Burn-Murdoch.
Demy 8vo., iss.

Chapman— WILD NORWAY. {See page n.)

Colvile-THE LAND OF THE NILE SPRINGS. By Colonel Sir

Henry Colvile, K.C.M.G., C.B., recently British Commissioner in Uganda. With
Photogravure Frontispiece, 16 full-page Illustrations and 2 Maps. Demy 8vo., 16s.

Custance-RIDING RECOLLECTIONS AND TURF STORIES. By

Henry Custance, three times winner of the Derby.
2S. 6d.

One vol., crown 8vo., cloth,

Freshfleld — THE EXPLORATION OF THE CAUCASUS. By

Douglas W. Fkeshfield, lately President of the Alpine Club and Honorary Secretary
of the Royal Geographical Society. With Contributions by H. W. HoLDtR, J. G.
Cockin, H. Woulley, M. De Dechy, and Prof. Boxney, D.Sc, F.R.S. Illustrated
by 3 Panoramas, 74 full-page Photogravures, about 140 Illustrations in the text, chiefly
from Photographs by Vittokio Sella, and 4 Original Maps, including the first
authentic map of the Caucasus specially prepared from unpublished sources by Mr.
Freshkield. In two volumes, large 410., 600 pp., Three Guineas net.

Gordon— PERSIA REVISITED. With Remarks on H.I.M. Mozuffer-

ed-Uin Shah, and the Present Situation in Persia (1896). By General Sir T. E.
Gordon, K.C.I.E., C.B., C.S.I. Formerly Military Aaach6 and Oriental Secretary
to the British Legation at Teheran, Author of ' The Roof of the world," etc. Demy
8vo., with full-page illustrations, los. 6d.

Hall-FISH TAILS AND SOME TRUE ONES. {Seepage 12.)
Hole— A LITTLE TOUR IN AMERICA. By the Very Rev. S.

Reynolds Hole, Dean of Rochester, Author of ' The Memories of De.in Hole,'
'A Book about Roses," etc. Wirh numerous Illustrations. Demy Bvo., i6s.

Hole— A LITTLE TOUR IN IRELAND. By 'Oxonian' (the Very

Rev. S. Reynolds Holi:). With nearly forty Illustrations by John Leech.
Large crown 8vo. , 6s.

Knigrht-Bruce-MEMORIES OF MASHONALAND. By the late

Right Rev. Bishop Knight-Bkuce, formerly Bishop of Mashonaland. 8vo., los. 6d.

Macdonald-SOLDIERING AND SURVEYING IN BRITISH

EAST AFRICA. (.SVv/>,/^v 12 )

Mr, Edward Arnold's List.

McNab— ON FARM AND VELDT. {See/>age n.)
Maxwell— THE SPORTSMAN'S LIBRARY. (Seepages 9 and 10.)
Maxwell-MEMORIES OF THE MONTHS. (Seepage 12.)
Pike-THROUGH THE SUB-ARCTIC FOREST. A Record of

a Canoe Journey for 4,000 miles, from Fort Wrangtl to the Pelly Lakes, and down
the Yukon to the Behring Sea. By Warburton Pike. Author of ' The Barren
Grounds of Canada.' With illustrations by Chaki.es Whymper, from Photographs
taken by the Author, and a Map. Demy 8vo., i6s.

PoUok — FIFTY YEARS' REMINISCENCES OF INDIA. By

Lieut. -Colonel Pollok, author of ' Sport in Burmah.' Illustrated by A. C. Corboulu.
Demy 8vo., 16s.

Portal— THE BRITISH MISSION TO UGANDA. By the late Sir

Gerald Portal, K.C.M.G. Edited by Rbnnell Rood, C.M.G. With an Intro-
duction by the Right Honourable Lord Cromer, G. C.M.G. Illustrated from
photos taken during the Expedition by Colonel Rhodes. DemySvo., 21s.

Portal— MY MISSION TO ABYSSINIA. By the late Sir Gerald

H. Portal, C.B. With Map and Illustrations. Demy 8vo., 15s.

Slatin— FIRE AND SWORD IN THE SUDAN. (Seepage 6.)

Smith— THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. (See
page II.)

Stone— IN AND BEYOND THE HIMALAYAS: A Record of Sport

and Travel. By S. J. Stone, late Deputy Inspector-General of the Punjab Police.
With i6 full-page Illustrations by Charles Whympek. Demy Svo., i6s.

AMERICAN SPORT AND TRAVEL.

These books, selected from the Catalogue of Messrs. Rand McNally & Co., the well-
known publishers of Chicago, have been placed in Mk. Edward Arnold's hands under
the impression that many British Travellers and Sportsmen may find them useful before
starting on expeditions in the United States.

AldPich— ARCTIC ALASKA AND SIBERIA; or, Eight Months

with the Arctic Whalemen. By Herbert L. Aldkich. Crown 8vo., cloth, 4s. 6d.

AMERICAN GAME FISHES. Their Habits, Habitat, and Pecu-

liarities ; How, When, and Where to Angle for them. By various Writers. Cloth,
los. 6d.

Higgins— NEW GUIDE TO THE PACIFIC COAST. Santa F^

Route. By C. A. Higgins. Crown 8vo., cloth, 4s, 6d.

Lefflngwell-THE ART OF WING - SHOOTING. A Practical

Treatise on the Use of the Shot-gun. By W. B. Leffingwell. With numerous
Illustrations. Crown 8vo., cloth, 4s. 6d.

Shields-CAMPING AND CAMP OUTFITS. By G. O. Shields

('Coquina'). Containing also Chapters on Camp Medicine, Cookery, and How to
Load a Packhorse. Crown 8vo., cloth, 5s.

Shields— THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. By various

Writers. Edited by G. O. Shields (' Coquina '). Cloth, 15s.

Thomas— SWEDEN AND THE SWEDES. By William Widgery

Thomas, Jan., United States Minister to Sweden and Norway. With numerous
Illustrations. Cloth, i6s.

Fiction.

i=i

TOorfts of jfictton.

RECENTLY PUBLISHED.

A DEVOTEE :

An Episode in the Life of a Butterfly.

By MARY CHOLMONDELEY, Author of • Diana Tempest,' 'The

Danvers Jewels,' etc.

Crown 8vo., 3s. 6d.

' The many readers and admirers of that fine novel " Diana Tempest " will welcome a new book by
Miss Cholmondeley with interest and high expectation, and it is pleasant to be able to inform them
that they will not be disappointed. A most original and truthful sketch.' — Vilest minster Gazette.

' Another of Miss Cholmondeley's clever social sketches from the world about her.' — Manchester
Guardian.

' Miss Cholmondeley's sketches of young men and women belonging to fashionable society are as
c\t\erasever.'—At/ten<eum.

'The story is written with Miss Cholmondeley's usual vigour, brilliancy, and delicacy.' — Guardian.

A RELUCTANT EVANGELIST,

AND OTHER STORIES.

By ALICE SPINNER,

Author of ' Lucilla,' ' A Study in Colour,' etc.
Crown 8vo., 6s.

'Good, too, is Miss Spinner's budget of short stories. " Uuckra Tommie" is an exquisitely
pathetic ■itory.'—Patt Ma!/ Gazette.

' \'ivid and suggestive studies.' — S/>ectator.

' Remarkably clever studies of life and character.' — Lady.

INTERLUDES.

By MAUD OXENDEN.
Crown 8vo., 6s.

'An admirably written book. The author is to be congratulated on the strength with whichshe
portrays men and women, and describes the passions of love or of grief that sometimes till the mind.'
— Scotsman.

THE BAYONET THAT CAME HOME.

By N. WYNNE WILLIAMS,
Atithorof^ Tales of Modern Greece.''

Crown 8vo., 3s. 6d.

'Well worth reading.' — Lii'erfiool Mercury.

' Enthrals the reader to the end.' —Manchester Courier.

I'l f-

Mr. Edward Arnold's List.

Moxhe of jf iction.

* Adalet '— HADJIRA : A Turkish Love Story. By * Adalet.' i vol.,
crown 8vo., cloth, 6s.

Adderley— STEPHEN REMARX. The Story of a Venture in Ethics.

By the Hon. and Rev. James Auderley, formerly Head of the Oxford House and
Christ Church Mission, Bethnal Green. Twenty-Second Thousand. Small 8vo.,
elegantly bound, 3s. 6d. Also, in paper cover, is.

Adderley— PAUL MERCER. {Seepage 7.)
Blatchford-TOMMY ATKINS. A Tale of the Ranks. By Robert

Blatchford, Author of ' A Son of the Forge,' ' Merrie England," etc. New Edition.
Crown 8vo. , cloth, 3s. 6d.

Charleton— NETHERDYKE. {Seepages.)

Cherbuliez— THE TUTOR'S SECRET. (Le Secret du Prdcepteur.)
Translated from the French of Victor Cherbuliez. One vol. , crown 8vo. , cloth, 6s.

Cholmondeley— A DEVOTEE. By Mary Cholmondelev. {See

page IS-)

Clifford— LOVE-LETTERS OF A WORLDLY WOMAN. By Mrs.

W. K. Clifford, Author of 'Aunt Anne,' 'Mrs. Keith's Crime,' etc. One vol.,
crown 8vo., cloth, ss. 6d.

Coleridge-THE KING WITH TWO FACES. {Seepage 8.)
CoUingwood— THE BONDWOMAN. A Story of the Northmen in

Lakeland. By W. G. COLLINGWOOD, Author of ' Thorstein of the Mere,' ' The Life
and Work of John Ruskin,' etc. Cloth, i6nio., 3s. 6d.

Crane- GEORGE'S MOTHER. By Stephen Crane. Author of

' The Red Badge of Courage.' Cloth, 2s.

Dunmore— ORMISDAL. A Novel. By the Earl of Dunmore,

F.R.G.S., Author of 'The Pamirs.' One vol., crown 8vo., cloth, 6s.

Ford— ON THE THRESHOLD. By Isabella O. Ford, Author of

' Miss Blake of Monkshalton.' One vol., crown 8vo., 3s. 6d.

Gaunt— DAVE'S SWEETHEART. By Mary Gaunt. One vol.,

8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d.

Hall-FISH TAILS AND SOME TRUE ONES. {Seepage 12.)

Hutchinson— THAT FIDDLER FELLOW : A Tale of St. Andrews.
By Horace G. Hutchinson, Author of 'My Wife's Politics,' 'Golf,' 'Creatures
of Circumstance,' etc Crown 8vo., cloth, 2S. 6d.

'WW

iH'.

Fiction and Adventure.

Knutsford-THE MYSTERY OF THE RUE SOLY. Translated by

Lady Knutsford from the French of H. dk Balzac. Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d,

McNulty— MISTHER O'RYAN. An Incident in the History of

a Nation. By Edward McNultv. Small 8vo., elegantly bound, 3s. 6d.

McNulty-SON OF A PEASANT. {See />a^re s.)
Montr^SOP— WORTH WHILE. By F. F. Montr^sor, Author

' Into the Highways and Hedges.' Crown 8vo., cloth, 2s. 6d.

Oxenden— INTERLUDES. {Seepage 15.)

Pinsent— JOB HILDRED. {Seepage 7). *"=''

Prescott— A MASK AND A MARTYR. By E. Livingston P

COTT, Author of ' Scarlet and Steel,' Cloth, 6s. '^'"f^

Spinnep-A RELUCTANT EVANGELIST. {See page is.) ..^

WiUiams-THE BAYONET THAT CAME HOME. {Seepage 15.)

<ntk
itics

tTalee of adventure for 360)^0.

Clowes— THE DOUBLE EMPEROR. By W. Laird Clowes, Author

of 'The Great Peril,' etc. Illustrated. Crown Bvo., 3s. 6d.

Fawcett — SWALLOWED BY AN EARTHQUAKE. By E. D.

rAWCETT. Illustrated. Crown Bvo. , 3s. 6d.

Fawcett— HARTMANN THE ANARCHIST; op, The Doom of the

Great City. By E. Douglas Fawcett. With sixteen full-page and numerous
smaller Illustrations by F. T. Jane. Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d.

Fawcett— THE SECRET OF THE DESERT. By E. D. Fawcett.

With numerous full-page Illustrations. Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d.

HePVey— THE REEF OF GOLD. By Maurice H. Hervey. With

numerous full-page Illustrations, handsomely bound. Gilt edges, 5s.

HePVey— ERIC THE ARCHER. By Maurice H. Hervey. With

numerous full-page Illustrations. Handsomely bound, crown 8vo. , 55.

Munpoe— THE FUR SEAL'S TOOTH. By Kirk Munroe. Fully

illustrated. Crown 8vo., cloth, 53.

MunPOe — SNOW-SHOES AND SLEDGES. By Kirk Munroe.

Fully illustrated. Crown 8vo., cloth, 53.

MunPoe — RICK DALE. By Kirk Munroe. Fully n'-i^trated.

Crown Bvo., cloth, 5s.

Nash— BAREROCK ; or, The Island of Pearls. By Henry Nash.
With numerous Illustrations by Lancelot Speed. Large crown Bvo., handsomely
boimd, gilt edges, 5s.

•81

Mr. Edward Arnold's List.

MorFtd on Science an^ pbiloaopb)?.

RECENTL\ PUBLISHED,

Aa.

WASTED RECORDS OF DISEASE.

CHARLES E. PAGET, Lecturer on Public Health in Owens College,
I Medical Officer of Health for Salford, etc.

Crown 8vo., 2s. 6d.

Ad(

/e welcome Mr. Paget' s attempt to indicate the lines on which efforts at reform may
gjpccessful.' — British Medical Journal.

\n admirable common-sense statement of the case.' —Yorkshire Post.
■ An interesting summary of what has been done to register diseases.' — Sanitary Journal.
'The importance of disease registration is lucidly and ably discussed.' — Pall Mall
Gazette.

THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.

By E. \V. HOPKINS, Ph.D. (Leipzig), Professor of Sanskrit and
Comparative Philology in Hryn Mawr College.

One volume, demy 8vo., 8s. 6d. net.

'Ought to meet avery distinct want. Professor Hopkins has ample learning. He knows
the sacred books as few men do. He is also an independent student and critic. ...
valuable biblios»rapliy, with works and articles classified under subjects, and a good ind
should be mentioned.' — .Manchester G'lardi:.;:.

j I

A TEXT-BOOK OF NURSING FOR HOME AND

HOSPITAL USE.

By C. WEEKS SHAW.

Revised and largely re-written by W. Radford, House Surgeon at the
Poplar Hospital, under the supervision of Sir DvCE Duckworth, M.D.,

F.R.C.P.

Fully Illustrated, crown Svo., 3s. 6d.

' A careful perusal of its pages has convinced us that at present the book has no equal. . . .
May justly be described as a standard work of its kind, and one for svhich we foresee an
e.xtensive circulation.' — Hospital.

'The teaching in tlie book is modern and thoroughly practical.' — Scottish Medical and
Surgical Journal.

' The book is invaluable alike in the home and in the hospital ward.' — Cafie Times.

' Should be in the hands of every nurse who is anxious to qualify herself in her profes-
sion.' — Nurses' Journal.

' We can recommend the book to nurses and practitioners alike.' — Lancet,

New Scientific Books.

at reform may

THE CHANCES OF DEATH, AND OTHER STUDIES

IN EVOLUTION.

By KARL PEARSON, F.R.S., Author of 'The Ethic of Free Thought,' etc.

In two vols., demy 8vo., with Illustrations, 255. net.

Contents of Vol. I. —The Chances of Death— The Scientific Aspect of Monte
Carlo Koulette — Reproductive Selection — Socialism and Natural Selection — I'olitics
and Science — Reaction — Woman and Labour — Variation in Man and Woman.

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A TREASURY OF MINOR BRITISH POETRY.

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The episodes
ant events of
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cretary of State
Bedford Street,
1 application.

at the shortest

Plications will

LITERA-
ATIONAL

n and Company,
Messrs. E. L.

IN ELE-
[lESENTS

FAGB

. 28
. 16

. 7
• 5
. 14
. 14

Adams.— The Palace on the Moor
Adderley. — Stephen Remarx

,, Paul Mercer

Aglen.— Old Testament History
ALDRiCH.— Arctic Alaska
American Game Fishes

Bacon.— Ciiv of Blood .... 3
Balfour.— Twelve Hundred Miles in a

Waggon »3

Bell, Mrs. — Kleines Haustheater . . 23
Bell (Rev. Canon).— The Gospel the
Power of God

,, Sermons ....

,, Diana's Looking Glass .

,, Poems Old and New

Benson. — Men of Might.
Beukeley. — Reminiscences of a Hunts

man

Beynon.— With Kelly to Chitral .
Blatchford. —Tommy Atkins
Bottome. — A Sunshine Trip .
Boyle. — Recollections of the Dean of

Salisbury

Brown. ^ Works on Poultry Keeping .
Bryan. — Mark in Europe
Bull. —The Cruise of the ' Antarctic '
BURBIDGE.— Wild Flowers in Art .
Burgess. — Political Science .
Butler.— Select Essays of Sainte Beuve

Cawston.— The Early Chartered Com-
panies

Chapman.— Wild Norway

Chaki.eton.— Netherdyke

Cherbuliez.— The Tutor's Secret .

Children's Favourite Series .

Children's Hour Series

Cholmondelky.— A Devotee

Clifford. — Love-Letters

Clough. — Memoir of Anne 1. Clough .

Clouston.— Early English Furniture

Clowes.— Double Emperor .

Coleridge.— King with Two Faces

CoLLiNGWOOD.— Thorstein .

,, The Bondwoman .

Collins.— A Treasury of Minor British
Poetry

CoLViLE.— Land of the Nile Springs

Cook. — Sidney's Defense of Poesy
,, Shelley's Defence of Poetry

Cosmopolite.— Sportsman in Ireland .

Crane. — George's Mother

Cunningham.— Draughts Manual .

CusTANCE. — Riding Recollections .

Davidson.— Handbook to Dante . . 23

22
23
23
23

9
13
16

25
27
20

20
23

25
II

8
16
28
28

15
16

, 8

23
16

13
23
23
10
16
27
13

PACK

Dk Vkrk.— Recollections . . .a
Dunmore.— Ormisdal . . . .16

Ellacombe. — In a Gloucestershire
Garden 27

Ellacombe. — The Plant Lore of Shake-
speare 23

Fawcett. — Hartmann the Anarchist . 28
,, Riddle of the Universe . 20
, , Secret of the Desert . . 28
,, Swallowed by an Earthquake 28
Field.— Master Magnus. . . .28
Fleming. — Art of Reading and Speaking 23
FoKD.— On the Threshold . . .16
Fowler.— Echoes of Old County Life . 25
Frb:shfiei.d. — Exploration of the Cau-
casus 13

Gardner. — Friends of Olden Time . a8
Rome: Middle of World . 4
Gaknett.— Selections in English Prose . 23
Gaunt. — Dave's Sweetheart . . .16
Gordon. — Persia Revisited . . .13
GoSCHEN. — Cultivation and Use of the

Imagination 23

Gussip.— Chess Pocket Manual . . 27
Great Public Schools . . .23
GUMMEHE. — Old English Ballads . . 23

Hadjira 16

Hall.— Fish Tails 12

Hans Andersen.— Snow Queen . . 28
,, Tales from . . 28
Hare. — Life and Letters of Maria Edge-
worth 25

Harrison. — Early Victorian Literature . 24
Haktshukne.— Old English Glasses . i
Hkkschell. — Parisian IBeggars . . 22
Hervey. — Eric the Archer . . . a8
Reef of Gold . . . .38
Higgins. — New Guide to the Pacific

Coast 14

Hole. — Addresses to Working Men . 24
,, Book about Roses . . .21
,, Book about the Garden . . 27
,, Little Tour in America . .13
,, Little Tour in Ireland . . 13

,, Memories 25

,, More Memories . . . .25
Holt.— Fancy Dresses Described . . 27
Hoi'KiNSON. — Toby's Promise . . 28
HoPKiN.s.— Religions of India. . . 18
Hudson.— Life, Art, and Characters of

Shakespeare . . .24

,, Harvard Shakespeare . . 24

Hunt. — What is Poetry ? . . .24

32 Mr. Edward Arnold's New Books & Auuoimccmcnts.

PAOC

Hutchinson.— That Fiddler Fellow . 16

INTKRNATIONAL EDUCATION SERIES . 39

Johnston.— Joel ; a Boy of Galilee . a8

Kav. — OiniiMh's Yaman . . . .25
Kknney-Hekbrrt.— Fifty Breakfasts . 27
„ ,, Fifty Dinners . 27

„ ,, Fifiy Lunches . 27

„ „ Fifty Suppers . 4

„ ,, Comiiicr.-sensc

Cookery 27

K n ight-Bruce. —Memories of Mashona-

land 13

Knox —Hunters Three . . .28
K..i;TSFORD,— Mystery of the Rue Soly . 17
KUHNS.— The Treatment of Nature in
Dnnte 21

Lano. — Lamb's Adventures of Ulysses . 24
Leader. — Autobiography of Roebuck . 2
Lecky.— Political Value of History. . 25
Le Kanu. — Seventy Years of Irish Life . 25
Lekkingwell.— Art of Wing-Shooting . 14
Legh. — How Dick and Molly went round

the World 28

Legh. —How Dick and Molly saw Eng-
land 28

Legh.— My Dog Plato . . . .28
Lotze.— Philosophical Outlines . . 20

Macdonald. — Memoirs of Sir John

Macdonald 25

Macdonald. — Soldiering and Surveying

in British East Africa . ... 12

Maud. — Wagner's Heroes . . .24

,, Wagner's Heroines . . .32

Maxwell. — The Sportsman's Library . 10

,, Memories of the Months . 12

McNab.— On Veldt and Farm . . 11

McNuLTY.— MistherO'Ryan . . .17

,, Son of a Peasant . . 8

MiLNER.— England in Egypt . . .25

Arnold Toynbee , . .36

MoNTRifsoR.— Worth While . . .17

More Beasts for Worse Children . . 6

MORGAN. — Animal Life . . . . -20

,, Habit and Instinct . . 19

„ Psychology for Teachers . 20

,, Springs of Conduct . . 20

MORPHOLOGY, Journal OF . . .20

Morrison.— Life's Prescription . . 24

Mi;nroe.— Fur Seal's Tooth . . .28

,, Rick Dale . . . .28

„ Snow-shoes and Sledges . 28

Nash.— Barerock 28

National Review . . . .30

Oman.— History of England . . .26

Oxendrn. —Interludes

FAGI

Paget. — Wasted Records of Disease
Pearson.— The Chances of Death .
Perry.— Calculus for Engineers
Philosophical Review
Pike. -Through the Sub-Arctic Forest .
PiLKlNGTON.— An Eton Playing-Field .
Pinsent— Job Hildred ....
PoLLOK. — Fifty Years' Reminiscences of

India

Pope. — Memoirs of Sir John Macdonald .
Portal. — Biiiish Mission to Uganda

,, My Mission to Abysiiinia

Practical Sciknce Manuals .
Prescott. — A Mask and a Martyr .
Pulitzer. — Romance of Prince Eugene .

18
19
>9

14
36

M
as
14
'4

Raleigh.— Robert Louis Stevenson

.. Style 4

Ransome.— Battles of Frederick the Great 36
Raymond.— Mushroom Cave . . .38
Rochefort. —The Adventures of My Life 36
RouD.— Ballads of the Fleet . . .5
KoDD.- Worksby Rennell Rodd . .24
RuEHUCK.— Autobiography . . .3

Santley.— Student and Singer . . 36
Schelling. — Elizabethan Lyrics . . 34
,, Ben Jonson's Timber . 34

ScROPE. — Art of Deer-Stalking . . 9
Shaw.— A Text Book of Nursing . . 18
Sherard. — Alphonse Daudet . . .36
Shields. — Camping and Camp Outfits . 14
Shields.— American Book of the Dog . 14
Shorland. — Cycling for Health and

Pleasure 37

SiCHEL.— The Story of Two Salons . . 24
Slatin. — Fire and Sword in the Sudan . 6
Smith. — The Life of a Fox . . .10
,, Through Unknown African

Countries 11

Spinner.— A Reluctant Evangelist . . 15
Stone. — In and Beyond the Himalayas . 14

Tatham.— Men of Might . . .25

Thayer. — Best Elizabethan Plays . . 34

Thomas.— Sweden and the Swedes . . 14

Thornton.— A Sporting Tour . .10

Tollemache.— Benjamin Jowett . . 36

Twining. — Recollections of Life and

Work 36

White. — PleasurahL- Bee-Keeping
Wild Flovlks in Art and N itKi.
Williams. —The Bayori' th came

Home ...
Winchester Colleg

Young. — General Astro, ay

'3
20

cmcnts.

PAGB

1 • • •

»s

s of Disease

of Death .

[;ineers

«9

• • •

Arctic Forest .

Playing-Field .

eminiscences ol

hn Macdonald .

to Uganda

Abyssinia

VNUAI,S ,

a Marivr .
Prince Eugene .

«7

Stevenson

iderick the Great 26

Java .

itures of My Life

eet .

11 Rodd .

hy . . .

Singer

1 Lyrics .

I's Timber

alking

Nursing .

udet .

Camp Outfits .

)k of the Dog .

or Health and

■ • • •

wo Salons .

1 in the Sudan .

3X . . ■

lown African

• • • •

•Evangelist .

the Himalayas

t . . .

an Plays .

le Swedes .

Tour

n Jowett .

s of Life and

e-Keeping

r AND N iVJKl

jni <h came

•J
24

^o hill