Though in later days he will
be remembered as a statesman rather than as a novelist, it is
necessary to study those three books in order to understand what
England and the English were in Victoria's early years.
Each of these Reform parties had rendered signal service in their
own fashion: Church, Government, and People were no longer disunited,
distinctions of class had been broken down, and with their
disappearance Chartism came to an end. The failure of the "physical
force" Chartists in 1848 had served to enforce the lesson taught by
Carlyle and Kingsley, that the way to gain reform was not through
deeds of violence and bloodshed. Each man must learn to fit himself
for his part in the great movement toward Reform. Intelligence, not
force, must be their weapon.
After years of bitter strife between the Two Nations, England a last
enjoyed peace within her own borders--that peace which a patriot poet,
Ernest Jones, during a time of bitter trial had so earnestly prayed
for:
God of battles, give us peace!
Rich with honour's proud increase;
Peace that frees the fettered brave;
Peace that scorns to make a slave;
Peace that spurns a tyrant's hand;
Peace that lifts each fallen land;
Peace of peoples, not of kings;
Peace that conquering freedom brings;
Peace that bids oppression cease;
God of battles, give us peace!
_Appendix to Chapter VI_
1838.
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