Lord George Bentinck
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11 LORD GEORGE BENTINCK
A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY
By Benjamin Disraeli
'He left us the legacy of heroes: the memory of his great name and the
inspiration of his great example.'
TO
LORD HENRY BENTINCK,
IS INSCRIBED
This Political Biography
ONE FOR WHOM HE ENTERTAINED A DEEP AFFECTION,
AND WHOSE TALENTS AND VIRTUES
HE SHARES.
LORD GEORGE BENTINCK
A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY
[Illustration: bentink-page009]
CHAPTER I.
_The Man_
THE political career of Lord George Bentinck was peculiar. He had, to
use his own expression, 'sate in eight Parliaments without having taken
part in any great debate,' when remarkable events suddenly impelled him
to advance and occupy not only a considerable but a leading position
in our public affairs. During three years, under circumstances of great
difficulty, he displayed some of the highest qualities of political
life: courage and a lofty spirit; a mastery of details which experience
usually alone confers; a quick apprehension and a clear intelligence;
indomitable firmness; promptness, punctuality, and perseverance which
never failed; an energy seldom surpassed; and a capacity for labour
which was perhaps never equalled. At the very moment when he had
overcome many contrarieties and prejudices; when he had been most
successful in the House of Commons, and, sustained only by his own
resources, had considerably modified the legislation of the government
which he opposed on a measure of paramount importance; when the nation,
which had long watched him with interest, began to congratulate itself
on the devotion of such a man to the business of the country, he was in
an instant taken from us. Then it was that, the memory of the past and
the hope of the future blending together, all men seemed to mourn over
this untimely end, and there was that pang in the public heart which
accompanies the unexpected disappearance of a strong character.
What manner of man this was, who thus on a sudden in the middle term of
life relinquished all the ease and pleasure of a patrician existence to
work often eighteen hours daily, not for a vain and brilliant notoriety,
which was foreign alike both to his tastes and his turn of mind, but for
the advancement of principles, the advocacy of which in the chief scene
of his efforts was sure to obtain for him only contention and unkindly
feelings; what were his motives, purposes and opinions; how and why
did he labour; what were the whole scope and tendency of this original,
vigorous, and self-schooled intelligence; these would appear to be
subjects not unworthy of contemplation, and especially not uninteresting
to a free and political community.
The difficulty of treating cotemporary characters and events has been
ever acknowledged; but it may be doubted whether the difficulty is
diminished when we would commemorate the men and things that have
preceded us. The cloud of passion in the first instance, or in the
other the mist of time, may render it equally hard and perplexing to
discriminate.
It should not be forgotten that the most authentic and interesting
histories are those which have been composed by actors in the
transactions which they record. The cotemporary writer who is personally
familiar with his theme has unquestionably a great advantage; but it is
assumed that his pen can scarcely escape the bias of private friendship
or political connection. Yet truth, after all, is the sovereign passion
of mankind; nor is the writer of these pages prepared to relinquish his
conviction that it is possible to combine the accuracy of the present
with the impartiality of the future.
Lord George Bentinck had sat for eighteen years in Parliament, and,
before he entered it, had been for three years private secretary to Mr.
Canning, who had married the sister of the Duchess of Portland. Such a
post would seem a happy commencement of a public career; but whether
it were the untimely death of his distinguished relative, or a natural
indisposition, Lord George--though he retained the seat for King's
Lynn, in which he had succeeded his uncle, the late governor-general of
India--directed his energies to other than parliamentary pursuits. For
some time he had followed his profession, which was that of arms, but
of late years he had become absorbed in the pastime and fortunes of the
turf, in which his whole being seemed engrossed, and which he pursued on
a scale that perhaps has never been equalled.
Lord George had withdrawn his support from the government of the Duke of
Wellington, when the friends of Mr. Canning quitted that administration;
and when in time they formed not the least considerable portion of the
cabinet of Lord Grey, he resumed his seat on the ministerial benches. On
that occasion an administrative post was offered him and declined; and
on subsequent occasions similar requests to him to take office were
equally in vain. Lord George, therefore, was an original and hearty
supporter of the Reform Bill, and he continued to uphold the Whigs in
all their policy until the secession of Lord Stanley, between whom and
himself there subsisted warm personal as well as political sympathies.
Although he was not only a friend to religious liberty, as we shall have
occasion afterwards to remark, but always viewed with great sympathy
the condition of the Roman Catholic portion of the Irish population, he
shrank from the taint of the ultra-montane intrigue. Accompanying
Lord Stanley, he became in due time a member of the great Conservative
opposition, and, as he never did anything by halves, became one of
the most earnest, as he certainly was one of the most enlightened,
supporters of Sir Robert Peel. His trust in that minister was indeed
absolute, and he has subsequently stated in conversation that when,
towards the end of the session of '45, a member of the Tory party
ventured to predict and denounce the impending defection of the
minister, there was no member of the Conservative party who more
violently condemned the unfounded attack, or more readily impugned the
motives of the assailant.
He was not a very frequent attendant in the House. He might be counted
on for a party division, and when, towards the termination of the
Melbourne ministry, the forces were very nearly balanced, and the
struggle became very close, he might have been observed, on more
than one occasion, entering the House at a late hour, clad in a
white great-coat, which softened, but did not conceal, the scarlet
hunting-coat.
Although he took no part in debate, and attended the House rather as a
club than as a senate, he possessed a great and peculiar influence in
it. He was viewed with interest, and often with extraordinary regard,
by every sporting man in the House. With almost all of these he was
acquainted; some of them, on either side, were his intimate companions
and confederates.
His eager and energetic disposition; his quick perception, clear
judgment, and prompt decision; the tenacity with which he clung to his
opinions; his frankness and love of truth; his daring and speculative
spirit; his lofty bearing, blended as it was with a simplicity of manner
very remarkable; the ardour of his friendships, even the fierceness
of his hates and prejudices--all combined to form one of those strong
characters who, whatever may be their pursuit, must always direct and
lead.
Nature had clothed this vehement spirit with a material form which was
in perfect harmony with its noble and commanding character. He was tall
and remarkable for his presence; his countenance almost a model of manly
beauty; the face oval, the complexion clear and mantling; the forehead
lofty and white; the nose aquiline and delicately moulded; the upper
lip short. But it was in the dark-brown eye, which flashed with piercing
scrutiny, that all the character of the man came forth: a brilliant
glance, not soft, but ardent, acute, imperious, incapable of deception
or of being deceived.
Although he had not much sustained his literary culture, and of late
years, at any rate, had not given his mind to political study, he had
in the course of his life seen and heard a great deal, and with profit.
Nothing escaped his observation; he forgot nothing and always thought.
So it was that on all the great political questions of the day he had
arrived at conclusions which guided him. He always took large views
and had no prejudices about things, whatever he might indulge in as
to persons. He was always singularly anxious to acquire the truth, and
would spare no pains for that purpose; but when once his mind was made
up, it was impossible to influence him.
In politics, he was a Whig of 1688, which became him, modified, however,
by all the experience of the present age. He wished to see our society
founded on a broad basis of civil and religious liberty. He retained
much of the old jealousy of the court, but had none of popular
franchises. He was for the Established Church, but for nothing more,
and was very repugnant to priestly domination. As for the industrial
question, he was sincerely opposed to the Manchester scheme, because
he thought that its full development would impair and might subvert our
territorial constitution, which he held to be the real security of our
freedom, and because he believed that it would greatly injure Ireland,
and certainly dissolve our colonial empire.
He had a great respect for merchants, though he looked with some
degree of jealousy on the development of our merely foreign trade. His
knowledge of character qualified him in a great degree to govern men.
and if some drawbacks from this influence might be experienced in his
too rigid tenacity of opinion, and in some quickness of temper, which,
however, always sprang from a too sensitive heart, great compensation
might be found in the fact that there probably never was a human being
so entirely devoid of conceit and so completely exempt from selfishness.
Nothing delighted him more than to assist and advance others. All the
fruits of his laborious investigations were always at the service of
his friends without reserve or self-consideration. He encouraged them
by making occasions for their exertions, and would relinquish his own
opportunity without a moment's hesitation, if he thought the abandonment
might aid a better man.
CHAPTER II.
_The Protection Problem_
THERE was at this time a metropolitan society for the protection of
agriculture, of which the Duke of Richmond was chairman, and which
had been established to counteract the proceedings of the Manchester
confederation. It was in communication with the local Protection
societies throughout the country; and although the adhesion to its
service by the parliamentary members of the old Conservative party had
been more limited than might have been expected, nevertheless many
county members were enrolled in its ranks, and a few of the most eminent
were actively engaged in its management. In this they were assisted by
an equal number of the most considerable tenant-farmers. In the present
state of affairs, the council of the Protection Society afforded the
earliest and readiest means to collect opinion and methodize action; and
it was therefore resolved among its managers to invite all members of
Parliament who sympathized with their purpose, though they might not be
members of their society, to attend their meeting and aid them at the
present crisis with their counsel.
A compliance with this request occasioned the first public appearance
of Lord George Bentinck, as one of the organizers of a political
party,--for he aspired to no more. The question was, whether a third
political party could be created and sustained,--a result at all times
and under any circumstances difficult to achieve, and which had failed
even under the auspices of accomplished and experienced statesmen. In
the present emergency, was there that degree of outraged public feeling
in the country, which would overcome all obstacles and submit to any
inconveniences, in order to ensure its representation in the House of
Commons? It was the opinion of Lord George Bentinck that such was the
case; that if for the moment that feeling was inert and latent, it was
an apathy which arose from the sudden shock of public confidence, and
the despair which under such circumstances takes possession of men;
that if it could be shown to the country, that the great bulk of the
Conservative party were true to their faith, and were not afraid, even
against the fearful odds which they would have to encounter, to proclaim
it, the confidence and the courage of the country would rally, and the
party in the House of Commons would find external sympathy and support.
With these views it became of paramount importance that the discussion
on the government measure should be sustained on the part of the
Protectionists with their utmost powers. They must prove to the country,
that they could represent their cause in debate, and to this end all
their energies must be directed. It would be fatal to them if the
discussion were confined to one or two nights, and they overborne by
the leading and habitual speakers. They must bring forward new men; they
must encourage the efforts of those now unrecognized and comparatively
unknown; they must overcome all reserve and false shame, and act as
became men called upon to a critical and leading part, not by their
arrogance or ambition, but by the desertion and treachery of those to
whose abilities they had bowed without impatience and reluctance. There
was a probability of several vacancies immediately taking place in
counties where the seats were filled by converts, but men of too
scrupulous an honour to retain the charge which they had sought and
accepted as the professors of opinions contrary to those which now
received their mournful adhesion. The result of these elections would
greatly depend upon the spirit and figure of the party in the House of
Commons, in their first encounter with the enemy.
These views, so just and so spirited, advanced with high-bred
earnestness by one rarely met in political turmoils, and enforced with a
freshness and an affable simplicity which were very winning, wonderfully
encouraged those to whom they were addressed. All seemed touched by the
flame which burned in the breast of that man, so lofty in his thoughts
but so humble in his ambition, who counselled ever the highest deeds,
and was himself ever prepared to undertake the humblest duties.
The business of this day was notable. Calculations were made of those
who might be fairly counted on to take a part in debate; some discussion
even ensued as to who should venture to reply late at night to the
minister; a committee was appointed to communicate with all members on
either side supposed to be favourable to the principle of Protection to
the labour of the country; a parliamentary staff was organized, not only
to secure the attendance of members, but to guard over the elections;
finally, the form of the amendment to the government measure was
discussed and settled, and it was agreed that, if possible, it should be
moved by Mr. Philip Miles, the member for the city of Bristol, and
who had the ear of the House not merely from the importance of his
constituency, and seconded by Sir William Heathcote, the member for the
county of Hampshire, a country gentleman of great accomplishments, and
so highly considered by both sides that he was very generally spoken of
as a probable successor to the chair.
All was furnished by this lately forlorn party except a leader, and even
then many eyes were turned and some hopeful murmurs addressed towards
Lord George Bentinck, who in the course of this morning had given such
various proofs of his fitness and such evidence of his resource. But he
shook his head with a sort of suppressed smile, a faint blush, and an
air of proud humility that was natural to him: 'I think,' he said, 'we
have had enough of leaders; it is not in my way; I shall remain the last
of the rank and file.'
So little desirous, originally, was Lord George Bentinck to interfere
actively in that great controversy in which ultimately he took so
leading a part, that before the meeting of Parliament in 1846 he begged
a gentleman whom he greatly esteemed, a member of the legal profession,
and since raised to its highest honours, to call upon him at Harcourt
House, when he said that he had taken great pains to master the case
of the protective system; that he was convinced its abrogation would
ultimately be very injurious to this country; but although, both
in point of argument and materials, he feared no opponent, he felt
constitutionally so incapable of ever making a speech, that he wished
to induce some eminent lawyer to enter the House of Commons, and avail
himself of his views and materials, which he had, with that object,
reduced to writing. He begged, therefore, that his friend, although a
free-trader, would assist him, by suggesting a fitting person for this
office.
Accordingly, the name of a distinguished member of the bar, who had
already published a work of merit, impugning the principles of the new
commercial system, was mentioned, and this learned gentleman was applied
to, and was not indisposed to accept the task. A mere accident prevented
this arrangement being accomplished. Lord George then requested his
friend to make some other selection; but his adviser very sensibly
replied, that although the House of Commons would have listened with
respect to a gentleman who had given evidence of the sincerity of his
convictions by the publication of a work which had no reference to
Parliament, they would not endure the instance of a lawyer brought into
the House merely to speak from his brief; and that the attempt would be
utterly fruitless. He earnestly counselled Lord George himself to make
the effort; but Lord George, with characteristic tenacity, clung for
some time to his project, though his efforts to accomplish it were
fortunately not successful.
Some of the friends of Lord George Bentinck, remembering his
inexperience in debate, aware of the great length at which he must
necessarily treat the theme, and mindful that he was not physically
well-qualified for controlling popular assemblies, not having a strong
voice, or, naturally, a very fluent manner, were anxious that he should
not postpone his speech until an hour so late; that an audience, jaded
by twelve nights' discussion, would be ill-attuned to statistical
arguments and economical details. But still clinging to the hope
that some accident might yet again postpone the division, so that
the Protectionists might gain the vote of Mr. Hildyard, who had been
returned that day for South Notts, having defeated a cabinet minister,
Lord George remained motionless until long past midnight. Mr. Cobden
having spoken on the part of the confederation, the closing of the
debate was felt to be inevitable. Even then, by inducing a Protectionist
to solicit the Speaker's eye, Lord George attempted to avert the
division; but no supporter of the government measure, of any colour,
advancing to reply to this volunteer, Bentinck was obliged to rise.
He came out like a lion forced from his lair. And so it happened, that
after all his labours of body and mind, after all his research and
unwearied application and singular vigilance, after having been at his
post for a month, never leaving the House, even for refreshment, he
had to undertake the most difficult enterprise in which a man can well
embark, with a concurrence of every disadvantage which could ensure
failure and defeat. It would seem that the audience, the subject, and
the orator, must be equally exhausted; for the assembly had listened for
twelve nights to the controversy, and he who was about to address them
had, according to his strange habit, taken no sustenance the whole day;
it being his custom to dine after the House was up, which was very
often long after midnight, and this, with the exception of a slender
breakfast, rigidly restricted to dry toast, was his only meal in the
four-and-twenty hours.
He had been forced to this regimen, from food exercising a lethargic
influence over him; so that, in addition to some constitutional weakness
in his organ, he usually laboured, when he addressed the House, under
the disadvantage of general exhaustion. And this was, no doubt, a
principal cause of that over-excitement and apparently unnecessary
energy in his manner of speaking, of which he was himself perfectly,
and even painfully, conscious. He was wont to say, that before he could
speak he had to make a voice, and, as it were, to pump it from the very
core of his frame. One who took a great interest in his success once
impressed on him the expediency of trusting entirely to his natural
voice and the interest and gravity of his matter, which, combined
with his position as the recognized leader of a great party, would be
adequate to command the attention of his audience; and he subsequently
endeavoured very often to comply with this suggestion. He endeavoured
also very much to control his redundancy of action and gesture, when
that peculiarity was pointed out to him with the delicacy, but the
sincerity, of friendship. He entirely freed himself from a very awkward
feature of his first style of speaking, namely, the frequent repetition
of a sentence, which seemed at first a habit inveterate with him; but
such was his force of will, that when the necessity of ridding himself
of this drawback was properly pointed out to him, he achieved the
desired result. No one bore criticism more gently and kindly, so long as
it was confined to his personal and intellectual characteristics, for he
was a man absolutely without vanity or conceit, who thought very humbly
of himself, in respect of abilities, and deemed no labour too great to
achieve even a slight improvement. But though in these respects the very
child of simplicity, he was a man of almost unexampled pride, and chafed
under criticism, when his convictions or his conduct were questioned. He
was very tenacious of his opinion, almost inexorable; and it required
a courage nearly equal to his own, combined with a serene temper,
successfully to impugn his conclusions.
Not, therefore, excited by vanity, but sustained by self-respect, by
an overpowering feeling that he owed it to himself and the opinions he
held, to show to the world that they had not been lightly adopted and
should not be lightly laid aside, Bentinck rose, long past the noon of
night, at the end of this memorable debate, to undertake an office
from which the most successful and most experienced rhetoricians of
Parliament would have shrunk with intuitive discretion. But duty scorns
prudence, and criticism has few terrors for a man with a great purpose.
Unshaken by the adverse hour and circumstances, he proceeded to
accomplish the object which he had long meditated, and for which he was
fully prepared.
Reminding the House, while he appealed to their indulgence, that, though
he had had the honour of a seat for eight parliaments, he had never once
ventured to trespass on its time on any subject of great debate, he
at once took a clear and comprehensive ground of objection to the
government scheme. He opposed it not only because he objected to the
great change contemplated with respect to the agricultural interest,
but, on principle, to the entire measure, 'a great commercial
revolution, which we are of opinion that the circumstances of the
country do not by any means require.'
Noticing the observation of the Secretary at War, that the agricultural
interest, in submitting to this great change, might now accept it with
honour, instead of its being eventually extorted by force, he happily
retorted, that vicious as he thought the measure, he should feel it
deprived of half its vice if it could be carried without loss of honour,
damage to reputation, and forfeiture of public character to a vast
number of gentlemen now present. And he proceeded to show among other
testimonies, by an appeal to the distinct language of the speech from
the throne on the dissolution of 1841, that 'every member who occupied a
seat in this House was returned pledged either to oppose or maintain the
principle of protection to national industry.'
Adverting to the new position, that the experience of the last
three years justified the reversal of the system which the existing
administration had been summoned to office to uphold, he wisely
remarked, that 'the country will not be satisfied with three years'
experience of any system. Three years' experience is not sufficiently
extensive to afford a proper criterion by which we may decide the
failure or success of any description of policy whatsoever.'
Noticing that the minister had more especially founded 'his present
belief in doctrines contrary to those which he had heretofore uniformly
maintained,' by the assumption that the price of corn would not be more
reduced than the price of cattle and other commodities affected by the
tariff of 1842, and also by the results of previous experiments in the
instances of silk and wool, Lord George 'accepted his challenge'
on these grounds, and proceeded in great detail to investigate these
examples.
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