the task of forming it, and therefore the King sent for him at
once. But Peel was not in England; he had gone with his wife to Italy,
and, as we know from his own published letters, he had not entered into
any communication, even with the Duke of Wellington, as to the probable
movements of political affairs in his absence, not supposing for a
moment that any emergency could arise at home which might make it
necessary for him to cut short his holiday and return to the working
ground of Westminster. A special messenger had to be sent off at once
to convey to Peel the wishes of his sovereign, and one has to stop and
think over things a little before he can quite realize what it meant in
those days, which seem so near our own, to send a special message from
London to the heart of Italy. Peel was at Rome, and had just returned
with his wife one night from a great ball given by a celebrated Italian
Princess, when he received the letter which urged him to come back and
become for the first time Prime Minister of England. Peel's mind was
at once made up. That sense of duty which always guided his movements
dictated his reply. There was for him no question of personal pride or
ambition to be gratified, or of any graceful effort to affect the ways
of one who modestly shrinks from a task beyond his power. He saw that
his sovereign needed {236} his immediate services, and that was enough
for him. He and his wife were just on the eve of what had promised to
be a delightful visit to Naples, but the visit to Naples was put off
without a second thought to the indefinite future, and the statesman
and his wife set out at once on their journey to London. The
preparations for such a journey at that time were such as might give
pause even to an experienced explorer in our own easy-going and
luxurious age. Sir Robert Peel, of course, had to travel by private
carriage. He had to traverse more than one State in order to reach the
sea at Calais. The roads were dangerous in many places, and Peel had
to take some well-armed servants with him. He had to go well provided
with the most elaborate official passports. He had even to obtain a
special passport for himself, lest, in the event of his wife finding
the constant travel too much for her, she might have to take rest at
some town on the way, and Peel, if he attempted to continue his
journey, might be stopped somewhere until he had satisfactorily
accounted for the disappearance of th