schemes of revolutionary violence, he most earnestly desired to see the multitude enjoying a larger share of the comforts of life. He had thorough confidence in the power of christianity to effect the needed improvements, provided its principles were accepted and acted on, and its spirit diffused among high and low.
At various times, and especially after he became connected with Lord Palmerston, Shaftesbury was invited to join the cabinet. At one time he was offered the chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster, but as he made it a condition that he should be at liberty to oppose the Maynooth endowment the post was refused. The first time the ribbon of the Garter was offered to him he declined it, though he accepted it some years later (21 May 1862). Beginning life as a conservative, his interest in the people and very genuine love for civil and religious liberty drew him towards the popular side. His freedom from party ties sometimes enabled him to act as mediator when an understanding between parties was indispensable. In many confidential matters he was the adviser of Lord Palmerston, and especially in the filling up of vacant bishoprics and other important offices in the church of England. His great influence with the people was recognised in times of peril and turned to useful account. He was oftener than once consulted by the queen and the prince consort on trying emergencies. In 1848, when the mob of London was believed to be meditating serious riots, Ashley was requested to use his influence to prevent the outbreak. He summoned to his aid the City Mission, and for weeks together very earnest efforts were made to restrain the multitude, with the result that when the panic was over, Sir George Grey, home secretary, wrote to him and thanked him and the City Mission for their valuable aid. On one occasion he received a memorial from forty notorious London thieves asking him to meet with them. He complied with the request, and addressed a meeting of 450, whom he besought to abandon their evil ways, and with such success that the greater part, availing themselves of an emigration scheme, were rescued from a life of crime.
In appearance Shaftesbury was tall and handsome, with a graceful figure and well-cut regular features. He spoke with neatness, force, and precision, and was highly effective without being much of an orator. From time to time he received valuable testimonials from the class to whose benefit his labours were directed. One of these, which he valued very highly, was a colossal bust presented to Lady Shaftesbury in 1859 by four thousand Lancashire operatives. Another was a donkey given to him by the London costermongers. His eightieth birthday was celebrated by a great public meeting in the Guildhall, presided over by the lord mayor, and represented on the part of the government by the late Mr. W. E. Forster [q. v.] , who not only rehearsed Shaftesbury's achievements, but referred to his own obligations to his example. In 1884 he received the freedom of the city of London. In May 1885 he was presented with an address from old scholars of the ragged schools. In reply he declared that he would rather be president of the ragged schools than of the Royal Academy; but for himself he would only say that the feeling in his heart was, ‘What hast thou that thou hast not received?’
Shaftesbury retained a great part of the vigour both of his mind and body to very near the end of his life. The infirmities of old age showed themselves chiefly in gout and deafness. In the autumn of 1885 he went to Folkestone, but died of congestion of the lungs, 1 Oct. 1885. He was lord-lieutenant of Dorset from 1856 till death.
The lives of Howard, Mrs. Fry, Wilberforce, and other great philanthropists are associated mainly with a single cause—Shaftesbury's with half a score. They opened out to him one after another in a kind of natural succession, and while at the very outset he had to contend with vehement opposition, during the latter part of his career he was borne along by the applause of the community, found willing coadjutors in all ranks of society, and had no more serious opponent than the vis inertiæ of a slumbering public. He was indeed the impersonation of the philanthropic spirit of the nineteenth century. Mr. Carlyle, in his ‘Latter-Day Pamphlets,’ has written severely enough against ‘this universal syllabub of philanthropic twaddle,’ but his sarcasm does not hit Shaftesbury. What horrified Carlyle was the coddling of criminals and increasing the burdens of honest labourers in the interest of scoundrels. Carlyle wrote in the name of justice. In the same name Shaftesbury worked. To redress wrong was the object of his first undertakings. He carried the same principle with him throughout. His mind did not greatly appreciate political changes which sought to elevate the social position of the workman, nor did he favour these much when others brought them forward. To promote industry, self-control, and useful labour, to make men faithful to the obligations of home and country and religion, were his constant aims. It would not be easy to tell how much the life of Shaftesbury has availed in warding
