It may be said, indeed, that generally among the upper boys there might be
observed at this time, at Eton, a reigning inclination for political
discussion. The school truly had at all times been proud of its statesmen
and its parliamentary heroes, but this was merely a superficial feeling in
comparison with the sentiment which now first became prevalent. The great
public questions that were the consequence of the Reform of the House of
Commons, had also agitated their young hearts. And especially the
controversies that were now rife respecting the nature and character of
ecclesiastical establishments, wonderfully addressed themselves to their
excited intelligence. They read their newspapers with a keen relish,
canvassed debates, and criticised speeches; and although in their debating
society, which had been instituted more than a quarter of a century,
discussion on topics of the day was prohibited, still by fixing on periods
of our history when affairs were analogous to the present, many a youthful
orator contrived very effectively to reply to Lord John, or to refute the
fallacies of his rival.

As the political opinions predominant in the school were what in ordinary
parlance are styled Tory, and indeed were far better entitled to that
glorious epithet than the flimsy shifts which their fathers were
professing in Parliament and the country; the formation and the fall of
Sir Robert Peel's government had been watched by Etonians with great
interest, and even excitement. The memorable efforts which the Minister
himself made, supported only by the silent votes of his numerous
adherents, and contending alone against the multiplied assaults of his
able and determined foes, with a spirit equal to the great occasion, and
with resources of parliamentary contest which seemed to increase with
every exigency; these great and unsupported struggles alone were
calculated to gain the sympathy of youthful and generous spirits. The
assault on the revenues of the Church; the subsequent crusade against the