[Sidenote: Honours Conferred upon Civil Servants.] While the permanent official can win no credit for particular acts, a life of exceptional service does not pass unrecognised. Sir Robert Peel, who appreciated their importance, lamented that honours were not conferred upon them more freely.[194:1] Such a complaint could hardly be made to-day, for a number of them are knighted every year, and occasionally a permanent under-secretary, on retiring from office, is even raised to the peerage. In spite of self-effacement, therefore, the career of a permanent official is honourable and attractive. If he is debarred from the excitement and the glory of the political arena, he is spared its hazards, its vexations, and its disappointments. He wields great power, takes a real part in shaping the destinies of the nation, and if capable and fortunate he may end his days in the subdued lustre of the House of Lords. FOOTNOTES: [174:1] _Cf._ Gneist, "Self-Government in England," 3 Auf., 196-97. [174:2] Blackstone, Bk. I., 351. [174:3] 12 Ric. II., c. 10 (4). _Cf._ 32 Hen. VIII., c. 1. [175:1] Gneist, "Self-Government," 212. [175:2] Act II., Sc. I. The characters of the play purport to be French, but the manners and customs are, of course, English. Fletcher died in 1625. An earlier, though less definite, reference to the power of the clerk is found in William Lambard's "Eirenarcha or, Of the Office of the Justices of Peace," published in 1581 (p. 468): "Howbeit, I do not thinke, that in our case, this dutie of Estreating is so peculiar to the Clarke of the Peace, but that the Justices of the Peace themselves, ought also to have a common and carefull eye unto it . . . least otherwise, it lye altogither in the power of the Clarke of the Peace, to Save or Slay (as one sayd) the Sparrow that he holdeth closed in his hand." [177:1] Com. Papers, 1839, XVII., 1, pp. 37-38. [177:2] P. 235. [178:1] P. 235. [178:2] P. 268. [178:3] P. 279. [179:1] For the quotations from these memoirs I am indebted to Mr. Evan Randolph, who made, while a student at Harvard College, a careful examination of the subject. [179:2] "Autobiography," London Ed. (1885), I., 70. [179:3] _Ibid._, 130. [179:4] _Ibid._, 133. [179:5] _Ibid._, 136. [179:6] _Ibid._, 233, _cf._ 123. It was during Lord Glenelg's time that Stephen became permanent under-secretary. [180:1] "Autobiography," II., 38. [180:2] Marindin, "Letters of Lord Blachford," 227. [180:3] _Ibid._, 252. [180:4] _Ibid._, 275. [180:5] Morris, "Memoirs of Higginbottom," 183. [180:6] II., 505. [181:1] Parker, "Sir Robert Peel," III., 184. [181:2] Com. Papers, 1900, VII., 183.