Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901 -- Sources
One of the most popular statesmen, one of the kindliest gentlemen, and
one of the truest Englishmen that ever filled the office of Premier is
to-day lost to the country. The news of Lord Palmerston’s death will
be received in every home throughout these islands, from the palace to
the cottage, with a feeling like that of personal bereavement. There is
not a province in our vast colonial empire, and there are few civilised
nations in the world, which will hear without an emotion of regret that
Lord Palmerston no longer guides the policy of England. Never again
will that familiar voice be heard in the councils of Europe, or in the
British Senate, of which he almost seemed a part, never again will that
native gaiety of spirits enliven the social circle in which he loved to
move. The death of no other subject could have left such a void in the
hearts of his countrymen, for no other has been identified so long or
so closely with our national life....
His name will not be remembered in connection with the triumph of a
grand cause, nor was his life devoted to the development of a single
idea, and yet he was a great man unless that title be confined by an
arbitrary limitation to a prescribed class of moral and intellectual
virtues.... In familiarity with the labyrinthine complications of
modern European diplomacy he excelled all living politicians, both at
home and abroad. In the art of distinguishing the prevailing current
of public opinion, in readiness of tact, in versatility of mind and
humour, in the masterly ease with which he handled the reins of
Government, and in the general felicity of his political temperament,
he had no rival in his own generation. To these gifts, however, he
added an unwearied application to duty, which would itself have earned
him a high position in the State.
The secret and source of his great popularity was his boundless
sympathy with all classes of his countrymen. He was a truly
large-hearted man, and moved among men and women of every rank as one
of themselves.
THE CAVE OF ADULLAM: SPEECH OF MR. BRIGHT ON THE FIRST READING OF THE
REFORM BILL OF 1866.
=Source.=--_The Times_, March 14, 1866.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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