Page:Life of the Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel.pdf/22

22 ribbon." His ambition was above such toys, and he preferred to write his name on the history of his country, so that it should be remembered with feelings of good will by the people from whom he sprung, and whose welfare he had so much at heart. No man has perhaps done more for rendering our collections of the works of genius accessible to the working classes. It has been stated that our artizans could not, like those of other countries, be trusted with admission to ornamental grounds, museums, or galleries of art; but Sir Robert Peel always reprobated the assertion. "It is not," said he, "the intelligent artizan, but the vulgar rich, who deface and injure statues, pictures, and ornamental trees."

Sir Robert Peel was a munificent patron of literature and the arts. He loved the society of the really great men of his time, and at his table might be seen many of the distinguished characters of whom posterity is likely to hear. During his administration, Southey received a pension of £300 a year, and was offered a baronetey; Wordsworth received a pension of the same amount; £150 a year was given to James Montgomery, £200 a year was bestowed on Mr. Tytler, £200 a year on Mr. Tennyson, £200 a year on Mr. M'Culloch, and £100 a year on the widow of Thomas Hood. Frances Brown, the blind poetess, received also a pension at his hands. His patronage was extended to the children of persons eminent in literature. For the sons of Mrs. Hemans he found places under the Crown, which they still enjoy; and the first appointment of his first administration was given to a son of Allan Cunningham.

Sir Robert's love of the fine arts was equal to his taste for literature. Though he was an admirer of the works of the old masters, and possessed many splendid specimens of them, his patronage was chiefly extended to living artists. He was a liberal and extensive purchaser of their works, and his gallery of