A statue to the memory of Sir Robert Peel was
uncovered at Leeds yesterday, with an inaugural ceremony. The statue was placed in an open angle between the Court-house, the Coloured Cloth Hall, and the Commercial Buildings. At noon, a procession set out from the Court- house and assembled round the statue, as yet veiled. There were Mr. 3. H. Shaw, the Mayor of Leeds, the Earl of Harewood, Mr. Edmund Denison M.P., Sir George Goodman M.P., Dr. Hook the Vicar, and other gentlemen. The streets were thronged, and houses even to the tops. The statue was uncovered amid the firing of guns, the cheers of the people, and the flourish of trumpets.
Mr. William Beckett M.P. delivered the inaugural address. When he had concluded, the statue was formally made over by the Committee 'to the Corporation of Leeds, as trustees for the public. The Mayor of Leeds acknowledged the gift in a few hearty words. In .estimating the personal merits of statesmen, they must look beyond dif- ferences of opinion to motives, qualities, labours and sacrifices. "Tried by these tests, few, if any, have appea!red in our political arena during the last half-century who equalled Sir Robert Peel in the combination qualities requisite for an Ertel& Minister of State. His happy union of quickness with industry, and of caution with firmness, enabled him to ac- quire vast stores of political and general knowledge, and to apply that know- ledge to the public service with judgment and efficiency. His consummate skill as a Parliamentary leader, the luminous and persuasive eloquence with which he could expound and defend the measures of his Government before the Representatives of the People, and the mastery of temper which kept these high and varied powers ever at his command, preeminently fitted him for that honourable but arduous post. He was indeed himself (what in his last speech in Parliament he described a political opponent to be) one of whom we were all proud." le The ceremonieS Were terminated by the singing oft he Net4onal An!
The statue is the work of Mr. Behnes : it _represents- Sir Robert Peel in an attitude which he often assumed when addressing the House of Commons—his left arm resting on his hip, and his sight hand grasping a roll of papers. In height it is eight feet six inches, and it was "cast in one solid piece," at the works of Mr. F. Robinson, in Pimlico. The pedestal consists of a base of grey Aberdeen granite, with a shaft of red. On this shaft is deeply cut, in simple characters, the single word "Peel." We have already noticed the model from which the statue was worked, which we saw in the studio of the sculptor : that model was a good and animated likeness.
A poll was taken yesterday at Manchester, on the subject of a half- penny rate to maintain the Free Library recently established by sub- scription, in emulation of the Salford Library in Peel Park By the close of the poll at four o'clock, 4002 burgesses had recorded their votes, 3962 affirming the rate, and only 40 opposing it.
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