HEBL 



1'EKI.K 



of hi. father. Sir Kobert Peal), when he aaw 

 the* reform was inevitable, accepted defeat ami it 



lib ci.-at equanimiu He -blank fiom 

 like fax-lion* opposition to the iiieaMire, 

 conlenu<d himsrlf with presenting u forcibly 

 un he could the political /rr contra. After it w&o 

 he Became the leader of the ' Conservative ' 

 aad. aa we bare said. aeceplW reform 

 jMut, and irreversible, be only 



_ t * I ! . f !! ! . 



optniUun 

 imalf a*.a 



aavght by* keen and vigilant mtui-m <>i Whijj 

 maaeafea to retard the too rapid lride of liberal 

 Mm. In llOS. when the fint reformed parliament 



llOS. 

 IVel 



parliaii 



took bin Mat a* inemU-r ior 

 Tamworth, which he represented till the el..-- of 

 ln the ii-tiienieiit of the .Mellmiirne 

 Uatry in Xoi-mler IK34 he accepted the ollice 

 of prime minister Imt could not -nee.-.sl in pi\ in^ 

 stability to bin administration ; be was comjiellcd 

 afaia to give plan- to Vis.-.,,iiit Melbourne in Apiil 

 ISIS, and reum.-.l bin place as leader of the ..ppo 

 ilia*. Peel's conduct in op|-ition was always 

 eminently patriotic. The \\ l.i-s. who were !.),._ 

 ead on the one side by the new Kadical party 

 the Anti-corn law League, and on the other 

 by O'Coanell and the Irish n-penli-m. nmdlially 

 lost irroaad. and, beinc all but defeat's! in Istl 

 on a motion of want of .-..mi. I. -nee. dissolved par- 

 liament. The geaeial election that en-msl wax 

 <inuallv a context between Free Trade and Piotec- 

 Iton. Protection won ; and, when the new parlia- 

 ment met, a vote of no confidence was earned by 

 a majority of ninety -one. 



The Conservative party, headed by Peel, now 

 into office. The (treat feature of the new 

 the attitude it adopted on the 

 corn law question The Whi-s. \\hile in ollici-. 

 and evea after their expulsion, were bent upon a 

 filed bat moderate duly on fon-ign corn ; the Ami 

 eorn-law League would hear of nothing short of 

 aa entire repeal, while Sir Kohert was in favour of 

 a modification of the ididini; scale of duty which 

 had existed woe* 1838. He introduced and carried 

 in spite of strong opposition, a measure 



in the 

 under 

 hi 



, and h-l him to lirint; in a bill ( 1842) for 

 . -Hi. .n of an ' income u\' of 7<1. in the 

 pound, to be levied for three yean. To alleviate 

 the aew burden Peel commenced a revision of the 

 general tariff, and either abolished or lowered the 

 datieB on several very important artirh* of c<.m 

 meree, each as ilruif. d\e ...!-. rattle, sheep, 

 *4|t,salul meal, butte,. ,,,. cbeiw.-. and hml. 

 He atoo showed biniself reeHate in the n-premion 

 of Uw maleontenu of In-land. O'Cennell , \ } 

 - tried foe conspiracy, and. though the in.l-n.ent 

 ttrt him was set aidc on ,,p|- n | t <, the House 



(IMS), in spile of strong op|MMilion, a met 

 baaed upon this principle. The deficit in 

 revenue, which haul become quite alarming u 

 the Melbourne adniitu-lration, next en^a^i-.! 



Ixmla, the inHuence of the 'agitator' wan 

 kMk The nrt half ,rf |H4,^ wa. marked bv 

 the allowaaee to Ma^mmtb l-in K increa,-,! M ,\\ 

 '"B*! t" permanent endowment instead of 

 * *"""*' ? ^ 111 ' n<l '>' 1| "' foundation ,,| il,,- 

 mh neeeUrian ml|et(m, and other iin|H>rtant 

 mmiBrea. Hal the tuto mt in Ireland durini; 

 UMMInmn. follow.,! I,, friubtful famine, 1. 1, 

 dered cheap mrn ' a nerenity. if million. ,.. 

 * '_"*''*" (> "ll-n and UM LgQe redoahM 

 their exertions, l^.r.1 .tohn Kimwll atmounrod the 

 the Whig party oil the i-ri.i., and IWI 

 **' TWilwl. He tld hi* mini*terial rollnaoneii 

 thai the corn Uw. were doomed, and that their 

 repeal wa* inviiMe Some of them ref.i.jn.. (0 

 r aloti with him. be reit,ed. hut after few 

 .la>. wa mmllnl. and n^iimed ofliee. l^.rtl 

 Htaaley (afterward. Karl of Iterby) ere<le.|. and. 

 with l^ml f^orjreHeniinrk. lreli( whowwivaiM 

 atUck* fauiM IVel MMmHag him a challenge). 



and other*, formed a no siirn-nder ' Tory party ; 

 bat the Duke of Wellington, i.r.iliain, AberdaaB. 

 (iladxtone. and other eininent Conservatives gUxxi 

 hv him, and the mea-un- for the repeal was carried. 

 He wao, however, immediiitely iifterwards defeated 

 on an IriHh Protection of l.iie (till. Not so much 

 upon tin- account ax liecaupe he felt that the 

 ronr-e which he hml piusned had produced a (Us- 

 "oliiti.in uf the old tiei. of piirtv , anil that he could 

 not expert for some time to lind himself at tlm 

 head of a Btronj; pivern men I, I'c-el retired from 

 ollice in June IMti. cm";,' place to a \\'hi^ ailmin- 

 i-Iiaiiuii niuler Lord John Kilsscll, to which lie 

 ^-,ne an independent hut general support as the 

 lender of a middle party rather Whin than Tory. 

 In the critical times of 1847-48 lie was one of 

 I lie most important props of the government, 

 whose free-trade principles he had now completely 

 accepted. Hi* ecclesiastical |n>liey had alsn under- 

 ^oii.. a remarkalile change, and he now frankly 

 Mpportad ttwWUip in the efforts to .-arry an act 

 for the re|x-al of the .lewi-h di-ahilities. He \\ ;ui 

 himself re^nnled by the working and middle cl; ( 



lally with much grateful respect, lie had a 

 keen Kn^lish interest in sp.irt. and a ciilliviited 

 taste in matters literary anil artistic. An acci- 

 dent put an end to his career. On the JStli of 



June IS.VI he had delivered a ".real sp 'h against 



Ixird I'altMcrstiiii in the I Km 1'acilico matter: l>ut 

 on the toUowias day be was thrown from his |ior>e 

 near Hyde I'ark ( 'orner, and was oo much injured 

 that he lie<l on the night of the ->,\ of July. He 

 1'iiried in the church of Dray ton Bassett, his 

 St alliird-hire home. 



See Sir Robrrt fr el from hit Prirnte Paper*, edited by 

 i. l'rker (3 vols. 1891-99), his M,,,.n: r , (> V ..I>. 

 1867L bin Sptteha (5 volg. 18;5 and 1S.VM; m.'ii"- 

 mnh> on Peel by Ciiiiot (1S51), Laurence Peel, Ixird 

 Dallinj;, lUrn.'tt Smith. K. C. Montague (1888), Jnstm 

 M'Crthy (1891), J. K. Thur^.-ld I 18111); Shaw L,f,.v,, . 

 l>la.ndaCoimtll(W7); CrevilU-V Memoir,; ]'..- 

 fi.-ld'a Brntinrk ; Morb-y's i',M fl , .- I.> (mi l,.' s ltinr:,,i>-ii,f>l 

 (1890J; Croker' Afrmoirt, Diariet, and Corref/n,,i 

 (1884); akoCoRN LAWS, CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. 



I 'eel left live sons, the eldest of whom, SIR 

 ROBOT, and the second. SIR FRKDKUICK. have 

 lioth held ollice as ministers; whilst AliTllfK 

 WKLUBLKT. the youngest (lK>rn 1829), became 

 Speaker of tin- House of Commons in lss|. 



Peel, or I'KKI, IUWKII, the name e;ivcn to furti 

 lied towers or small castles of the type common on 

 the Scoiiisli border. Ill the 13th' and 14th cen- 

 turies the word 'peel' was used to denote the 

 earthen works, surmounted by palisades, which 

 surrounded and defended the courtyard ami town : 

 but later on the name wan applied to the tower 

 itself. Se- BORDERS, CASTLE. 



Perl'. I:K.H;<;K. an Kli/alicthan dramatist, was 

 -on afJamet IVele. Clerk of Christ V Hospital, and 

 wa horn numt probably alxiut 15.58. He had his 

 i-ducation I here, and went up to Oxford in 1571. 

 >ear his name is found on the list of member* 

 of Bkoadgatal Hall, now Pembroke College, and 

 from December 1574 to 1579 he was a student of 

 'hrist Church. He took his bachelor's decree in 

 l.'iTT. his master's in l.17!l. He seems to have had 

 M reputation at the university as a poi't and 

 arraiiKi-r of dramatic pap-antx, lint by 1581 he had 

 temoved to London, where for sevenieen yearn he 

 liv.-d a loysieiint' ISohemian life as actor, poet, and 

 playwright, living a discreditable death in 1,'iilS. 

 An Anacre,,,, ,lje,| hv the pot. so Ceor^e !' 

 by the | K1 \.' iites Meres. \Ve know that lie 

 married in i;,s:|, and was one. of thus.' warned to 

 re|.<-iitanee by the mberable Greene in his i.'mit*- 

 ,<;//, ,,f H'tt l,i,,i,,/,t i,-,t/i M:IH,IM of Itepfntui'"- 

 nr<<r2\. Little eonndence need be 'put in The. 

 Vary /Mb nf <; f , ir ,, r /- rr / f (1607), which are 



