Yesterday morning the Judicial Committee finished the case of Liddell and Westerton, after eight days of elaborate argument, and a powerful case was made in appeal against Lushington's judgement, which I expect to see reversed, and I hope it will, for I detest the proceedings of the people who back up Mr. Westerton, who would drag down the Church to a puritanical level, and strip it of its splendour.
DEATH OF LORD ELLESMERE.
February 19th.—Yesterday morning, at half-past twelve o'clock, my brother-in-law Lord Ellesmere, expired at Bridgewater House, after an illness of three months. He was surrounded by all his family, and died most peacefully, and without any suffering, and in possession of his mental powers till within a few hours of his death. Few men have quitted this world more beloved, respected, and lamented than this excellent person. He had just completed the fifty-seventh year of his age, so might naturally have been expected to live many years, and till he was taken ill, little more than three months ago, he appeared to be in his usual state of health and likely to have a long and enjoyable existence before him. It is no exaggeration to say that he was most estimable in every relation of life, and as such he enjoyed universal respect and regard. He never at any time played a conspicuous part in politics, for which he had neither ambition nor the necessary qualifications, but in such part as he was occasionally called upon to take, he acted with propriety and general approbation. But he had no taste for the turmoil of political life, and his temper was too serene and his love of repose too great to allow him to plunge deeply in political warfare. His abilities were not of a very high order, but he had a good understanding, a cultivated mind, and an inquisitive disposition, and though not profound in any branch of literature or science, he loved to wander over the vast fields of knowledge, so that he was stored with much superficial information on a great variety of subjects. His taste was good both in literature and art; he was an elegant poet, and a fair writer of his own tongue; he was naturally kind-hearted and charitable, more particularly to meritorious artists who stood in need of assistance, by whom his loss will be severely felt. All his tastes and pursuits were of the most refined character, and he delighted in the society of all who were remarkable for ability in any walk of life, and from whom he could derive information of any description. In political opinions he was the very type and model of a Liberal Conservative, and the statesman to whom he gave all his allegiance, together with a boundless admiration, was the Duke of Wellington. But he was always much more of a patriot than a political partisan, and he was oftener to be found giving an independent support to different Governments than fighting in the ranks of Opposition. He will, I have no doubt, be regarded as a loss to the country, even a greater loss than if he had been more actively and conspicuously engaged in politics, for he stood nearly alone in the station he occupied, with vast wealth, unblemished character, esteemed by people of all parties, without an enemy in the world, and having no personal objects to pursue; and though never thrusting himself forward, alike fitted for either active or contemplative life, he was at all times ready to exert his best energies in the public service or to promote the benefit and happiness of his fellow creatures. He was sincerely religious, without intolerance and austerity, or the slightest particle of ostentatious or spiritual pride. It was not, however, in the annals of political history or in the modest and unambitious incidents of his public career that his best panegyric is to be found, but in the more placid walk of private life, in the strict and conscientious discharge of his domestic and social duties, which was at the same time congenial to his sense of moral obligation, and to the benevolent impulses of his heart.
CHARACTER OF LORD ELLESMERE.
Lord Francis Leveson Gower, upon the death of his father the late Duke of Sutherland, succeeded to the immense fortune entailed upon him by his great-uncle, the Duke of Bridgewater, in the shape of the Bridgewater Canal, and found himself the possessor of vast wealth, and surrounded by a population sunk in ignorance and vice. From the first moment of his succession he considered himself in the light of a trustee for working out the moral and spiritual improvement of the people who were in a great measure committed to his charge. He accepted the obligation in a spirit of cheerfulness and resolution, and the due discharge of it continued to be the principal object of his interest and care for the remainder of his life. He employed his wealth liberally in promoting the material comfort and raising the moral condition of those by whose labour that wealth was produced. Churches, schools, and reading-rooms rose around Worsley Hall. His benevolent efforts were crowned with success, and he reaped his reward in the blessings of the surrounding multitudes and in the contemplation of their enjoyment of all the good which his active bounty had bestowed upon them. Such qualities as were here displayed, and a life thus devoted to works of duty and beneficence, made Lord Ellesmere an object of general veneration and attachment; but those alone who belonged to his family, or who had familiar access to the sanctuary of his domestic life, could appreciate fully the excellence and the charm of his character, and comprehend the immensity of the loss which those who were nearest and dearest to him have sustained by his death. He regarded with indifference the ordinary objects of worldly ambition; he lived in and for his family, and he was their joy, their delight, and their pride, fulfilling in the most exemplary manner all the duties of his station, political, social, literary, and artistic; unsurpassed as a husband, father, brother, or friend. He cultivated unremittingly the society of the best and wisest of his fellow-creatures, and it may be as truly said of him as it was of certain sages of antiquity, that 'his excellent understanding was adorned by study, ... and his days were spent in the pursuit of truth and the practice of virtue.' The length of these precious days was not permitted by the Divine Will to be extended to the ordinary duration of human life. In the three last months, while death was gradually but surely, and with his full consciousness, advancing, his courage was never shaken and the serenity of his temper was never disturbed; he always seemed to have more consideration for others than himself, and he met his approaching end with the firmness of a philosopher and the resignation of a Christian. To witness such an end free from bodily pain, with the mental faculties remaining unclouded till the last, full of peace and charity and love, was the best consolation that was possible to the family which surrounded his deathbed; to them he has left a memory which will be long reverenced by all who honour virtue and patriotism, and which they will cherish with never-ending sentiments of duty and affection. He has left them an example how to live and how to die, and the world in which he had no enemy will ungrudgingly acknowledge
That to the realms of bliss was ne'er conveyed
A purer spirit or more welcome shade.
February 27th.—The political war is raging furiously, and personal animosities are becoming bitterer than ever. Confusion, disorder, and doubt rage in both the great camps. Derby made a grand onslaught in the beginning of last week on the China question, and there was (an unusual thing in the Lords) an adjourned debate. Granville was very apprehensive of being beaten, but Bessborough, his able whipper-in, made such exertions that they ended by getting a very good majority. All the speaking was on the side of the Opposition, but it is quite curious how afraid people are of seriously shaking the Government. The day the debate in the Lords ended, that in the Commons began on the same question, duce Cobden.[1] The great event of the first night was John Russell's speech and powerful attack on the Government. It was one of his very best efforts and extremely successful with the House, but it was exceedingly bitter and displayed without stint or reason his hostile animus. It did all the mischief he wished to do, and everybody admits that if a division had then taken place Government would have been beaten by a great majority; but they have since adjourned twice, and the debate stands over till Monday, and the aspect of affairs appears to be very much altered. Whether it be that the effect of Lord John's speech has evaporated, that a rally has taken place among the Liberals, or that the aversion of the stiff Tories to the union between Gladstone and their leaders, the approaching consummation of which seems not to be denied, the general opinion has veered round, and now it is expected that Government will have a majority. Here again, as in the Lords, the speaking was all with the Opposition. Palmerston's speech is looked for with interest and curiosity. The remarkable incidents connected with these transactions have been the parliamentary conduct of Gladstone and John Russell and their respective positions. Gladstone seems to have been so inflamed by spite and ill humour that all prudence and discretion forsook him; he appears ready to say and do anything and to act with everybody if he can only contribute to upset the Government, though it is not easy to discover the cause of his bitterness, or what scheme of future conduct he has devised for himself. Lord John came over in a state of ill-humour which at first he appears to have kept under to a certain degree, and to have wished to have the appearance of acting with perfect independence, but still fairly and impartially speaking out what he thought the truth without caring whom he offended or whom he pleased by so doing. Thus he shocked Clarendon by what he said on the affair of Naples, and then pleased him very much by his next speech on foreign affairs. Then on the Budget he came to the aid of Lewis with great effect and bowled over Gladstone and Disraeli, yet even then evincing a certain spirit of hostility about the tea duties; but on the China question he gave way to all the bitter feeling that is in him, and cast all moderation to the winds. It is impossible to conjecture what he promises to himself, and what purpose he has in view by this conduct, for it is quite extraordinary to what absolute nothingness his political power has fallen. Here is a man who has been leader with occasional intervals of Whig Governments and of the Whig party since 1834, and with great and admitted abilities, and yet he is so entirely without following in the House of Commons that three insignificant votes are the most he can command. His speech the other night was very well received because it was a very good one, and because he spoke the opinions of the greater number of his hearers.
[1] [A motion was made by Mr. Cobden condemning the violent measures resorted to by the British authorities in the Canton river in consequence of the seizure of the lorcha 'Arrow' by the Chinese when she had hoisted the British flag. The debate was carried on with great acrimony, and ended by the adoption of Mr. Cobden's motion by 263 to 247, a majority of 16 against the Government.]
DISPUTE WITH CHINA.
There is, in fact, a strong feeling, both in Parliament and the country, against all that has been done at Canton, and this is the more remarkable because the press has, upon the whole, taken the opposite side. I never could understand why Palmerston and Clarendon were in such a hurry to identify themselves with Bowring's proceedings, and to send out without delay a full approbation of all he had done, till Granville told me that both of them had been under the extraordinary delusion that the Canton affair had been very well done and would be received with great applause and satisfaction here; in point of fact, that it was a great hit, from which the Government would derive considerable advantage, he (Granville) himself showing his good sense by taking exactly the opposite view. He tells me that George Lewis does so likewise, and I dare say, if the truth were known, that the majority of the Cabinet coincide with them. It is remarkable that the defence of the Government in the Lords should have fallen on a man who was speaking all the time against his own opinion, and I should think Labouchere, who took up the defence in the House of Commons, was the most unlikely man in the world to approve of such proceedings. Political necessities which compel men to act thus insincerely, and to strive to make the worse appear the better cause, with the full consciousness that they are fighting against truth, appear to me frightfully demoralising, a sad sealing of the political conscience, the spectacle of which is enough to scare honourable minds from entering into an arena where the contest is to be carried on in such a manner.