The International Weekly Miscellany, Volume I, No. 7 | Page 5

by a Lady, George P. Putnam, 155
Broadway. 1850.]
* * * * *
THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH's "Sketches of Modern Philosophy,"
remarks the Tribune, "consist of a course of popular lectures on the
subject, delivered in the Royal Institution of London in the years
1804-5-6. As a contribution to the science of which they profess to treat,
their claims to respect are very moderate. Indeed, no one would ridicule
any pretensions of that kind with more zeal than the author himself.
The manuscripts were left in an imperfect state, Sydney Smith probably
supposing that no call would ever be made for their publication. They
were written merely for popular effect, to be spoken before a
miscellaneous audience, in which any abstract topics of moral
philosophy would be the last to awaken an interest. The title of the
book is accordingly a misnomer. It would lead no one to suspect the
rich and diversified character of its contents. They present no ambitious
attempts at metaphysical disquisition. They are free from dry
technicalities of ethical speculation. They have no specimens of logical
hair-splitting, no pedantic array of barren definitions, no subtle
distinctions proceeding from an ingenious fancy, and without any
foundation in nature. On the contrary, we find in this volume a series of
lively, off-hand, dashing comments on men and manners, often running
into broad humor, and always marked with the pungent common sense
that never forsook the facetious divine. His remarks on the conduct of
the understanding, on literary habits, on the use and value of books, and
other themes of a similar character, are for the most part instructive and
practical as well as piquant, and on the whole, the admirers of Sydney
Smith will have no reason to regret the publication of the volume."
* * * * *
[FROM THE LONDON TIMES.]
BIOGRAPHY OF SIR ROBERT PEEL.
In the following brief narrative of the principal facts in the life of the
great statesman who has just been snatched from among us, we must

disclaim all intention of dealing with his biography in any searching or
ambitious spirit. The national loss is so great, the bereavement is so
sudden, that we cannot sit down calmly either to eulogize or arraign the
memory of the deceased. We cannot forget that it was not a week ago
we were occupied in recording and commenting upon his last eloquent
address to that assembly which had so often listened with breathless
attention to his statesmanlike expositions of policy. We could do little
else when the mournful intelligence reached us that Sir Robert Peel was
no more, than pen a few expressions of sorrow and respect. Even now
the following imperfect record of facts must be accepted as a poor
substitute for the biography of that great Englishman whose loss will be
felt almost as a private bereavement by every family throughout the
British Empire:--
Sir Robert Peel was in the 63d year of his age, having been born near
Bury, in Lancashire, on the 5th of February, 1788. His father was a
manufacturer on a grand scale, and a man of much natural ability, and
of almost unequaled opulence. Full of a desire to render his son and
probable successor worthy of the influence and the vast wealth which
he had to bestow, the first Sir Robert Peel took the utmost pains
personally with the early training of the future prime minister. He
retained his son under his own immediate superintendence until he
arrived at a sufficient age to be sent to Harrow. Lord Byron, his
contemporary at Harrow, was a better declaimer and a more amusing
actor, but in sound learning and laborious application to school duties
young Peel had no equal. He had scarcely completed his 16th year
when he left Harrow and became a gentleman commoner of Christ
Church, Oxford, where he took the degree of A.B., in 1808, with
unprecedented distinction.
The year 1809 saw him attain his majority, and take his seat in the
House of Commons as a member for Cashel, in Tipperary.
The first Sir Robert Peel had long been a member of the House of
Commons, and the early efforts of his son in that assembly were
regarded with considerable interest, not only on account of his
University reputation, but also because he was the son of such a father.
He did not, however, begin public life by staking his fame on the
results of one elaborate oration; on the contrary, he rose now and then
on comparatively unimportant occasions; made a few brief modest

remarks, stated a fact or two, explained a difficulty when he happened
to understand the matter in hand better than others, and then sat down
without taxing too severely the patience or good nature of an auditory
accustomed to great