Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 8.djvu/614

600 CASSELL'S ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OP ENGLAND. [Victoria. —Maury (talk) 05:40, 23 December 2016 (UTC) were successfully performed by a man dying by inches. Mr. Sidney Herbert was suffering from a disease of a peculiarly wasting character, of which the origin is to be found in the debility occasioned by close work and mental exhauotiou." In the July of this year he resigned his secretariat, and went abroad ; but the flame of life had burnt too low to be revived by healthier breezes or southern skies. He felt that it was too late, end returned home to Wilton to die. Three months later another celebrated man passed away — Sir James Graham. The advance of age — he Was sLxty-nine when he died — had somewhat blunted the force and diminished the weight of that robust nature, so that for some years previously Sir James Graham had not been much heard of ; but many keenly felt that when he died nearly the last of an earlier generation of statesmen had gone to his rest. It was impossible to look at the magnificent proportions of the stout borderer, the Knight of Netherby, the repre- sentative of so many generations of gallant Cumberland Grahams, without regarding him as a man cast in a different and more antique mould than the majority of the politicians who sat on the green benches beside him. He began life as an enthusiastic reformer, and battler with social abuses ; less, it would seem, from any deeply- seated convictions, than from the general vigour of his intellect and the strenuousness of his character, which, when the great war was over, and no outlet given that way, impelled him to rush eagerly into the strife of parties, and moreover disposed him to take the aggres- sive rather than the defensive line in politics. But after the Reform Bill had been won, and Lord Grey with his old Boman nobleness and dignity was no more, and the mantle of power had fallen on weaker shoulders, the natural forces and tendencies which marshal men on this side or on that in the field of politics began to re-assert themselves ; and Sir James Graham in 1834, along with Lord Stanley, on the question of the re-adjustmeut of the Irish Church and the famous Appropriation Clause, went over to the ranks of that " territorial" and Con- servative party to which he by birth and interest belonged. The writer well remembers the bitter re- sentment which this act of "ratting" inspired, then and for years afterwards, in the breasts of the Whig party. However, Sir James Graham never got farther than the most advanced line of the Conservative party — the " Bight Centre" as it would be called in France — and whon in 18H ho joined the ministry of Sir Robert Peel, he threw himself with hearty sympathy into all the reforming projects of that great statesman ; and after having helped him to carry the Bepeal of the Corn Laws in 18!G, was along with him ejected from olTlce by the adverse vote of the House of Commons on the Irinh Coercion Bill. He wua again at the head of the Ad- miralty during the Crimean War ; but, though he showed much of his old administrative ability, the novelty and difficulty of the problems which had to be met, under the altered conditions of modern warfare, seemed to demand a greater elasticity of mind than he could bring to them. He was bold, yet without rancour, in his enmities, firm and faithful in his friendships ; and Sir Robert Peel, as if by an instinct, daily sought the sup- port of his arm as he passed after the debate from the House of Commons. On the 6th of August Parliament was prorogued by commission. The royal speech expressed Her Majesty's deep gratification at the spirit of devoted patriotism which animated her volunteer forces, and the admiration with which she had observed their rapid progress in discipline and military efficiency. Among the measures to which she had given her assent, were the Act for Improving the Laws relating to Bankruptcy and Insol- vency ; the Acts for Consolidating and Assimilating the Criminal Law of England and Ireland, and for Pro- moting the Revision of the Statute Law ; the Act for the Improvement of Harbours on the coast of the United Kingdom, and for relieving Merchant Shipping from Passing Tolls ; and many other measures of public usefulness, the results of the labours of the session. The National Volunteer Association, to which allusion was made in the Queen's speech, was formed on the IGth of November, ISJ'J. In May cf the same year the formation of volunteer corps of riflemen had commenced, under the auspices of the Government; and by the end of the year many thousands were enrolled in all parts of Great Britain. The association enjoyed the patronage of the Queen and the Prince Consort. The Secretary of War, Mr. Sidney Herbert (afterwards Lord Herbert of Lea), was president ; the Earl of Derby and several other noblemen being vice-presidents. On tho 7th of March, 18G0, 2,590 volunteer officers were presented to the Queen ; after which they dined together, the Duke of Cambridge occupying the chair. Ou the 23rd of June following, there was a grand review in Hyde Park, when 18,450 volunteers defiled before the (lueon in admirablo order. A great national rillo shooting match was held at Wimbledon, from the 2ud to the 7th of July, when Captain Edward Ross obtained the Queen's prize of £2j, and tho gold medal of the association. Again, on the 7th of August, tho Queen reviewed 20,000 vohmteors at I'Minburgh. In the beginning of 18G1, the association had an annual income of £1,500, with a capital of £3,000; the volunteers in Great Britain then numbering at least 160,000. Tho sudden rise of this vast volunteer army, composed of the finest men in the world, was the answer which Great Britain gave to tho threats of French iuvasiuu.