d to hear the result of
that mission which, with unparalleled kindness and generosity, you
undertook in the hope of mitigating the affliction of a friend, and
conducing possibly to the salvation of a wife and mother. Your
errand has not been a fruitless one, for it affords the conclusive
proof that everything that the forbearance and tender consideration
of a husband and the devotion of a friend could suggest as the
means of averting the necessity for appealing to the Law for such
protection as it can afford, had been essayed and essayed with the
utmost delicacy. This proof is valuable so far as the world and the
world's opinion is concerned--much more valuable as it respects the
heart and conscience of those who have been the active agents in a
work of charity. I can offer you nothing in return for that which
you undertook with the promptitude of affectionate friendship,
under circumstances which few would not have considered a valid
excuse if not a superior obligation, but the expression of my
sincere admiration for truly virtuous and generous conduct.--Ever,
my dear Gladstone, most faithfully yours,

ROBERT PEEL.
FOOTNOTES:

[207] _The Halifax Papers._

[208] Among them were such men as Wilson Patten, General Peel, Mr.
Corry, Lord Stanhope, Lord Hardinge, most of whom in days to come took
their places in conservative administrations.

[209] Memo, of 1876.

[210] A bill to indemnify the inhabitants of Lower Canada, many of whom
had taken part in the rebellion of 1837-8, for the destruction and
injury of their property. Mr. Gladstone strongly opposed any
compensation being given to Canadian, rebels.--_Hansard_, June 14, 1849.

[211] _Hansard_, Feb. 21, 1850, p. 1233.

[212] Garnett's _Edward Gibbon Wakefield_, p. 248. See also p. 232.

[213] See _The Gladstone Colony_ by J. F. Hogan, M.P., with prefatory
note by Mr. Gladstone, April 20, 1897, and the chapter in Lord
Sherbrooke's _Life_, 'Mr. Gladstone's Penal Colony.'

[214] Stafford Northcote published an effective vindication in a 'Letter
to a Friend,' 1847.

[215] Speech on affairs of Lower Canada, Mar. 8, 1837.

[216] On Government of Canada bill, May 29, 1840.

[217] See his evidence before a Select Committee on Colonial Military
Expenditure, June 6, 1861.

[218] See speech on Australian Colonies bill, June 26,