LATE ENGLISH INTELLIGENCE. DEATH OF SIR ROBERT PEEL.
We regret to announce that an accident of a serious nature occurred to Sir Robert Peel on Saturday evening, June 2!>, as be was proceeding up Constitutional hill on horseback. The hon. gentleman left Whitehall gardens shortly before 5 o'clork on horseback, attended by hi* groom. Proceeding through (he paik, the Right Hon. Baronet had called at Buckingham Palace, and wag riding up Constitutional hill, when he met the Hon. Missel Ellii, daughters of Lndy Dover, nnd niecei of the Duchess of Sutherland, who were returning home on horseback from their afternoon's ride. Theie young ladies weie attended by a groom, who rode a somewhat skittish horse, and when Sir Robet 1 approached him the nnimal on which he was riding, also a young- and spirited home, began to plunge, and presently kicked Up his h'.nd leg*. The effect of tins ar» lion waß, that Sir Robert Peel wm instantly unhorsed, and fell over the animal's head, on his face in the rond. Although rendered insensible by the fall, Sir Robert for the moment retained hold of the bridle — probably 'it was entangled in some part of his person — md the home, being suddenly checked thereby, full heavily upon Sir Robert, his knees striking the Right Hon. Baronet about the centre of his back. Several persons were near the spot, and among them —Sir James Clark, Her Majesty's physician ; the Rev. Canon Wood, chaplain to her late Majesty the Queen Powager ; Commodore Eden, nephew to the Earl of Auckland ; and the Rev. Henry Mackenzie, vicar of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields ; who, with Mrs. Mackenzie, was walking through the park. The first persons to raise Sir Ilobert from the ground were two gentlemen numet! Towell and King, one residing in Cheshnmplace and the other in St. Paul's churchyard. The Right Hon. Baronet was then completely insensible ; his features slightly abrased, and his face pcifectly pallid. Sir James Clarke hastened to render assistance, and Commodore Eden, the first to recognise Sir Robert, gallopped oil' to his residence to ies en the shock to the family. Another gentleman gallopped off to St. George's Hospital, and returning 1 immediately with one of the medical assistants and a cabriolet to remove Sir Robert. Mr. Mackenzie juit previously observing an open carriage approaching, in which were two ladies, Mrs. Lucas of Bryanstone- square, and h?r daughter, explained to them the accident, upon which Mrs. Lucas insisted upon alighting, and placing her carriage at Mr. Mackenzie'! disposal. Sir Robert having thown symptoms of returning animation, and Sir James Clarke having expressed his opinion that bis remoTul might be edecled, be was lifted into the carriage, and supported by the two gentlemen who had picked him up, and attended by the medical officer from St. George's Hospital, was driven slowly home. On his artival in Whitehall gardens, he was immediately placed in bed and subjected to a medical ex« amination. Sir Benjamin Brodie, Dr. Seymour, Mr. Cttiar Hopkins, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. Jackson, the family sur b eon, were soon in attendance, and after a careful examination, tho following bulletin was issued :— " Whitehall-gardens, June 28, 7 p. m. " Sir Robert Peel has met with a tevere accident by fulling from bis horse. There is great reason to hope that there is no internal injury.'' During Saturday evening Sir Robart Peel wai permitted to see Lady Peel and the members of his family; but after this time it was thought advisable to exclude all strangers from the apartment for fear of producing any additional excitement. Sir Robert Peel passed a restless night on Saturday, his extreme sensibiliiy to (ouch increasing bour'y, and his symptoms altogether becoming very alarming, which at the first we believe dome of the medical gentlemen in attendance did not consider them to be. On Sundry evening the pulse having increased from between 80 and 90 t at at which it had ranged after the accident, to upwards of 100, it was deemed necessary to take tome blood, with a view of reducing the inflammation. Twenty leeches were accordingly applied to the left shoulder by Dr. Foucart, and a large quantity of blood was obtained. There was no positive improvement in the condition of the patient from this operation, and he continued in a very precarious state throughout the whole Sunday and Monday. On Monday night the alarnrng symptoms were greatly increased. About 7 o'clock Sir Hubert became delirious, and attempted to raise himself up in bed. In this state he continued during the greuter part of the niubt, and at intervals he became so much exhausted that his medical attendants were several times of opinion that he could not survive through the night. In the paroxysms of his sufferings Sir Robert's thoughts were with his oldest and dearest friends, and the names of llardinge and Graham were frequently upon his lips. At 4 o'clock on Tuesday morning, Sir Robert fell into a sound sleep, in which ho remained uninterruptedly until 8 o clock. On awaking, his mind *us quite competed, and his medical advisers considered him to be much refreshed by the rest he had cujoyed. Thcie w»3 still, however, cause for intense anxiety. Fiom the period of the accident up to the present time (nearly 70 hours) Sir Robert had taken no other sustenance than a glass of champagne and the yolk of one egg beaten up, which he was induced with some difficulty to swallow. Medicine had been administered, us a matter of course, but through the same lengthened period the system had remained perfectly inactive. The pulse had greatly increased on Tuesday, marking from 112 to 118, and becoming very weak At noon on Tuesday Sir Itobert expresied himself a little eabier. This relief was unhappily of thoit duration. At 2 o'clock far more dangerous symptoms than any which bad yet been obieived presented themselves. At this time Sir Robert began to brenth slertoroualy, and his senses again failed him. He ceased to answer any questions addressed to him and appeared to be sinking into a comatose itate. Sir Benjamin Brodie wus again scut for, and on his arrival agreed with Dr. Foucnrtaud the other medical gentlemen that the case now assumed a most dangerous aspect. The pulse had become very weak, and marked 118. From 2 to 6' o'clock the change for tho woi«e nas progressive, the pwl«e increasing to 130, and becoming gradually weaker. Stimulants were administered, but had no appearent effect, and the stertorous bicuthing become more und more painful. The relatives were now in. formed thut all the relief medical science could afford was exhausted, and that no hope whatever existed of of Sir Robert Peel's life being prolonged for 21 hours.
Bishop of Gibraltar (the Rer. Dr. Tomlinson) a very old frieud of Sir Robert*, was now tent for to ndminiitor tlie last offices of ths church; On the arrival of the prelate it was intimated to Lady Peel and the members of the famiy that they might now, without risk of increasing the dangerous condition of the patient, be a limited to the appartment in which he was lying. In a few moments the whole family wee aiscmbled in the presence of their beloved relative, whose exhausted condition at ibis time scarcely enabled him to recognise their identity. At 0 o'clock Sir Robert had become so exhausted ai to be callous to all external impressions. The members of his family still remained near him, with the exception of Ludy Peel, whose painfu'ly excited feel ings rendered it absolutely necensary to remove her from the apartment. The sufferers strength was, however, so far exhausted that, although he gave occational indication* of their presence, the power of utterance had altogether ceased, and it soon became evident that hit end was rapidly approaching. Sir Robert censed to exist at nine minutei after 11 o'clock. Those present at hit decease were, his three brothers, the Deun of Worcester, Colonel Peel, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrenre Peel, three of his ions, Mr. F. lVel, M.P., Capt. W. Peel, R.N., and Mr. Arthur Peel ; his son-in-law, Lord Villiera ; Lord Hardinge, Sir. J. Graham, and the medical gentlemen in attendance. Sensibility to pain had ceased lotne time before death, and his lost moments were not disturbed by any phyiical suffering. After death an examination of the body was made, when a most impoitant fact was for the first time discovered, viz., that the iil'th rib on the left side was fractured. This was the region wheie Sir Robert complained of suffering the greatest pain mid it was 111 1 rob ably the scut of the mortal injury, the broken ril) pressing on the lung, and producing whiit is technically known as effusion and pulmonary engorgement. The family were consulted on the subject of a post mortem examination, bnl both Mr. Frederick Peel and Captain Peel objected to allow the remains to be disturbed in any way, and the precise cause of death will, therefore, never be asceittincd. An application for permission to take a cast of the face, from an eminent j sculptor, was also refused. | Lady Peel continued throughout Tuesday night in a state of complete prostration, and yesterday morning her illness had so much increased that it wus found necessary to call in Sir JJenjamin Brodic. Several of the principal merountile establishments in this city, and the west end, manifested their high respect for the lamented deceased, and their regret at his prrmalure demise, by closing their windows— a proceeding almost universally adopted in the neighbourhood of. Whitehall. The flags of many vessels on the river, and also on many public buildings, were hoisted half-mast high, ai a mark of respect for the memory of the deceased. The following, fiom the 7hnei of this morning, is as just as it is well expressed :•—" Strange that on the bloodless field of statesmanship death should so often come with the suddenness, the violence, and the anguish of war. Chatham fell fighting. His still greater son sank under the news of Auiterliiz. Percival was assastimited on the threshold of the house, his hand filled with papers, and a speech on his tongue. Romilly, too, was a statesman, us well as a lawyer. Lord Liverpool was struck down in the midst of his duties. Canning fell suddenly while soaring in the pride of his might. Huskisson perished teiribly in the midst of his former colleagues. Bentinck aspired to be a statesman, and died in full health, without a moment's warning. But who would have thought that Peel would one day be added to the list ? The hero of a hundred fights still survive*. All around us we see octogenarian generals and admirals surviving countless accidents of b.itlle and of Aood, and dying »t lust of slow decay. Sir Robert Peel falls by a sudden c.isuality, before his strength has begun to fail or his mind to decline. Did not the thought suggest n murmur at the dispensations of Omnipotence, one might call it a waste of precious power, u mighty soul lost to the world by the mcerest trifle — by the silly panic, or momentary impatience of a brute. How much had such a man still to do 1 How many noble thoughts and splendid anticipations to deliver ! How many large views carefully elabcrated ! What treasures of observation, and acquisitions of political lore; nay, what n mighty part lie might still have played, had opportunity again invited, or necessity demanded his potent intervention. But in a moment all this is beyond the grave, and speculations which but yesterday were the probable are now become the theme of the school-boy. la the Home News, of the Bth of July, we find the following tribute to the memory of thii great statesman :— This shameful and incomprehensible outrage (alluding to the imult offered to the Queen) is tlie disgrace of our period, but its miifortune is come. It it rounded in a single sentence,— '* the death of Sir It. Peel? 1 No Englishman, in whatever part of the world he may be found, will read that simple but sad an» nounccment without a feeling of the deepest grief, without the most perfect sympathy with tlie sorrow all England manifests at the loss of a statesman so profound, an orator so eminent, apoliticiun so clear in his aims, so truthful in their pursuit, so disinterested in their consideration, and so successful in the attain merit of them. A man whose intrinsic worth was above all statesmanship, all eloquence and all political skill; a man to whom the Duke of Wellington alone does juttice in describing him as truth itself, whose fortune it was in every great achievement of hit life to lose friends and make enemies, but one to whom no personal enmity ever attached suspicion ; a man who throughout his life was honoured most by those who knew him bant, and in \m death is lamented and loved by all his countrymen ; mourned with a prophetic mourning he has lived an example and he dies a martyr. On the morning of Saturday, the 29th of June, Sir Robert Peel had spoken his last speech in the House of Commons. He had been coarsely attacked by a partizan of the Government, and the assailant had remained uncensured by the Premier himself, but Sir Robert made no other reply than by reminding the Government of the sledfust support he had lent it during four years. Compelled by conscience and duty, he had just broken with the Whigs and voted against the acquittal ofJLord Pulmcraton, but his convictions were urged with so much forbearance, that even his followers, who wete not bound by his ties, were at liberty to be won over to the adverse party. From the first it was not expected that he could recover, and yet the news of his death appeared to take the town by surprise, for the regularly issued bulletins hud inspired hopes rather than despair, and his I'uto appeared sudden, that it was not readily believed. The highest attention and consideration were paid him both dm ing his illness and after death. Tlie Prince Albert and the Prince of Pi ussia waited on him so soon as they heurd of his accident; all the noble and distinguished persons in London mude regular inquiries and yet a warmer intcroit wan shown by the humbler classes, who waited in Whitehull-gardcns eageily inquiring tidings, of Sir Robert's itutei from every Tisitor
as he quitted the gate, and still more eagerly fastening on the bulletins, and forcing tfic police on duty to read them aloud ; and when the, last bulletin announced theS fatal ending, the manifestation of deep sorrow wa9 unri < misteakablc. In the Palace he wan mourned, the House of Lords went out of their courscjto do him hoiw our, the Commons twice ndjourned at a mark of sympathy, and the Cabinet offered him a public funeral. The working classes "propose to ericct a public monument to his memory, Friends and opponents unitid to show rcipect to his mrniory — mi oblivion of party rancour, anil a reul tense of ibe lois the country had sustained in his death. A corresponding hut yet more unprecedented tribute was paid in the French Assembly, where M. Dupin pronounced an eloquent eulogmm and the regrets of the Assembly were noticed expressly in the record of their proceedings. In Dublin, every sign of public and private mourning wns manifested ; the press of the three kiugdomi (poke with one voice of sorrow and grateful memory ; at Liverpool and Birmingham a public mourning was influentially recommended for adoption, and wherever the tidings of his death have been received, it seetm to bo felt and allowed that in his grave lies the moderator of parties, the amiager of political paisions, the real reformer and " lover of the people, and the eloquent advocate of nltf that he thought best for the Crown and the nation, the intrepid opponent of whatever threatened evil to cither.
From the "Hobart Town Advertiser." By the kindness of Captain Chalmsworth, of the Royal Saxon, wo linvc received Madras papers containing extracts from the Home News of the Blh July. They will be found below. On Wednesday, 3id July, the House met ; but on the motion of Mr. Napier, who had a motion for the day, Sir Robert Inglis, and Sir VV. Somcrville immediately adjourned, waiving all business as a tribute-t-we believe unprecedented — to the memory of Sir It Peel, whose death Mr. Hume announced, and whose character all the speakers eulogized. The entire Houso heard with deep sympathy the lines quoted by Mr. Gladstone— " Now is the stately column broke ; The beacon's light is (juench'd in smoke ; The trumpet's silvery sound is still, The wardci silent on the hill;" and simultaneously rose and left the place. On Thursday, July 4, at noon, Sir G. Grey, who was overcome with giief, proposed, at the close of private business, to adjourn till evening, when a token of Ministerial respect would be laid before the House. The mcmbeis immediately adjourned till S o'clock, wheil( Lord John Russell rose amid dead silence, and'eveiy ona sat uncovered, while he spoke through tears and much affected, to offer on the part of the Crown and the Cabinet, a pnblic funeral, as in the case of Pitt and Grntt.m ; Mr. Goulburn, on the part of the family and fiicnds of Sir R. Peel, declined the honour, as inconsistent with the wishes of his lamented friend, who was to be buried, by his own desire, in the Church of Drayton-Uassett, where his father and his mother lay, and without ostentation or parade of any kind. On Thursday, the death of Sir Robert Peel was announced by the Marquiss of Lintdownc, who spoke in high praise of Sir Robert, from a knowledge of forty years; Lord Stnnley, Ldrd Brougham, and the Duko of Wellington, with tears, and the Duke of Cleveland, each with deep feeling, paid his tribute to the character of the gicat statesman, of regret for his loss and sympathy wilh liis family.
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New Zealander, Volume 6, Issue 478, 13 November 1850, Page 2
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3,010LATE ENGLISH INTELLIGENCE. DEATH OF SIR ROBERT PEEL. New Zealander, Volume 6, Issue 478, 13 November 1850, Page 2
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