foreign affairs, of the adjustment of the sugar duties to
the principles of free trade--a matter in which Peel
patriotically surrendered his own convictions to the
paramount necessity of protecting free trade from the
renewed assaults of its enemies--of the repeal of the
Navigation Laws, and of the passing of the Encumbered
Estates Act for Ireland. The detailed history of these
measures and transactions belongs not so much to Peel's
biography as to the general history of the time, and to
the particular history of the Whig Administration of 1846.
For four years that Administration lived and throve in
very critical and troublous times upon Peel's patriotic
and independent support, and after his death it gradually
tottered to its own dissolution. He was determined
that no personal considerations, no mere party pre-
possessions, and no considerations, less than vital, even
of public policy, should give the protectionists--still
active, still powerful, and still thirsting for revenge--
a chance of destroying his handiwork by overthrowing
the Government to which the custody of free trade
had been committed. This was the last public service
of his life, and in many respects it was the most
beneficent as it was certainly the most disinterested.

There was, however, one department of public policy
in regard to which, at the close of the period under
review, Peel, after four years' experience, declined to
give his countenance to the Whig Government. This
was the department of foreign affairs, then conducted
by Palmerston with infinite capacity, audacity, and
resource, but with too little regard for the proper
amenities of diplomacy, the true dignity of his country,
and the legitimate susceptibilities of foreign nations.

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