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diff --git a/old/53338-0.txt b/old/53338-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b7ce967..0000000 --- a/old/53338-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5424 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Peace and Reform, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Peace and Reform - 1815-1837 - -Author: Various - -Release Date: October 21, 2016 [EBook #53338] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEACE AND REFORM *** - - - - -Produced by John Campbell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. - - Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been - corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within - the text and consultation of external sources. - - All misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, - have been retained. For example: free-men, freemen; burthen; - intrusted; topick; negociations; nugatory. - - - - - BELL'S ENGLISH HISTORY SOURCE BOOKS - - _General Editors_: S. E. WINBOLT, M.A., AND KENNETH BELL, M.A. - - - - - PEACE AND REFORM - - - - -BELL'S ENGLISH HISTORY SOURCE BOOKS. - - _Volumes now Ready._ 1_s. net each._ - - =1307-1399. War and Misrule= (special period for the School - Certificate Examination, July and December, 1913). Edited by A. - A. LOCKE. - - =1154-1216. The Angevins and the Charter.= Edited by S. M. - TOYNE, M.A., Headmaster of St. Peter's School, York, late - Assistant Master at Haileybury College. - - =1485-1547. The Reformation and the Renaissance.= Edited by F. - W. BEWSHER, Assistant Master at St. Paul's School. - - =1547-1603. The Age of Elizabeth.= Edited by ARUNDELL ESDAILE, - M.A. - - =1603-1660. Puritanism and Liberty.= Edited by KENNETH BELL, - M.A. - - =1660-1714. A Constitution in Making.= Edited by G. B. PERRETT, - M.A. - - =1714-1760. Walpole and Chatham.= Edited by K. A. ESDAILE. - - =1760-1801. American Independence and the French Revolution.= - Edited by S. E. WINBOLT, M.A. - - =1801-1815. England and Napoleon.= Edited by S. E. WINBOLT, M.A. - - =1815-1837. Peace and Reform.= Edited by A. C. W. EDWARDS, - Assistant Master at Christ's Hospital. - - =1876-1887. Imperialism and Mr. Gladstone.= Edited by R. H. - GRETTON. - - =1535-Present-day. Canada.= Edited by H. F. MUNRO, M.A. - - _Other volumes, covering the whole range of English History - from Roman Britain to 1887, are in active preparation, and will - be issued at short intervals._ - - LONDON: G. BELL AND SONS, LTD. - - - - - PEACE AND REFORM - - (1815--1837) - - COMPILED BY - A. C. W. EDWARDS - ASSISTANT MASTER AT CHRIST'S HOSPITAL - - [Illustration: (Publisher's colophon)] - - LONDON - G. BELL AND SONS, LTD. - 1913 - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -This series of English History Source Books is intended for use -with any ordinary textbook of English History. Experience has -conclusively shown that such apparatus is a valuable--nay, an -indispensable--adjunct to the history lesson. It is capable of -two main uses: either by way of lively illustration at the close -of a lesson, or by way of inference-drawing, before the textbook -is read, at the beginning of the lesson. The kind of problems -and exercises that may be based on the documents are legion, and -are admirably illustrated in a _History of England for Schools_, -Part I., by Keatinge and Frazer, pp. 377-381. However, we have no -wish to prescribe for the teacher the manner in which he shall -exercise his craft, but simply to provide him and his pupils with -materials hitherto not readily accessible for school purposes. The -very moderate price of the books in this series should bring them -within the reach of every secondary school. Source books enable -the pupil to take a more active part than hitherto in the history -lesson. Here is the apparatus, the raw material: its use we leave -to teacher and taught. - -Our belief is that the books may profitably be used by all grades -of historical students between the standards of fourth-form boys -in secondary schools and undergraduates at Universities. What -differentiates students at one extreme from those at the other is -not so much the kind of subject-matter dealt with, as the amount -they can read into or extract from it. - -In regard to choice of subject-matter, while trying to satisfy the -natural demand for certain "stock" documents of vital importance, -we hope to introduce much fresh and novel matter. It is our -intention that the majority of the extracts should be lively in -style--that is, personal, or descriptive, or rhetorical, or even -strongly partisan--and should not so much profess to give the truth -as supply data for inference. We aim at the greatest possible -variety, and lay under contribution letters, biographies, ballads -and poems, diaries, debates, and newspaper accounts. Economics, -London, municipal, and social life generally, and local history, -are represented in these pages. - -The order of the extracts is strictly chronological, each being -numbered, titled, and dated, and its authority given. The text -is modernised, where necessary, to the extent of leaving no -difficulties in reading. - -We shall be most grateful to teachers and students who may send us -suggestions for improvement. - - S. E. WINBOLT. - - KENNETH BELL. - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - 1816. THE DEBT _Cobbett's "Rural Rides"_ 1 - - THE BARBARY PIRATES _Lord Sidmouth's "Life - and Correspondence"_ 2 - - THE HOLY ALLIANCE "_Annual Register_" 2 - - THE STATE OF IRELAND _Doubleday's "Life of - Sir Robert Peel"_ 5 - - 1818. THE STATE OF ENGLAND _Lord Sidmouth's "Life - and Correspondence"_ 8 - - PARISH REGISTERS "_The London Medical - Repository_" 11 - - 1819. PETERLOO _Lord Sidmouth's "Life - and Correspondence"_ 14 - - THE STATE OF ENGLAND _Shelley's "Poems"_ 20 - - THE CATO STREET CONSPIRACY "_Annual Register_" 20 - - 1820. THE DEATH OF GEORGE III. _Lord Colchester's "Diary - and Correspondence_" 24 - - THE KING'S SPEECH "_Annual Register_" 25 - - THE CHARACTER OF JOHN BULL _Washington Irving's - "Sketch Book"_ 27 - - 1821. THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON "_The Gentleman's - Magazine_" 29 - - NAPOLEON _Shelley's "Poems"_ 31 - - NAPOLEON AND ENGLAND _Lord Tennyson's "Early - Sonnets"_ 32 - - 1823. THE MONROE DOCTRINE "_Annual Register_" 33 - - SLAVERY _Stapleton's "Life of - Canning"_ 34 - - THE STATE OF IRELAND _Lord Colchester's "Diary - and Correspondence"_ 35 - - TRANSPORTATION "_The Edinburgh Review_" 38 - - 1824. THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON AND _GLEIG'S "LIFE OF THE - HIS SONS Duke of Wellington"_ 39 - - 1825. FREE TRADE _Cobbett's "Rural Rides"_ 41 - - FINANCIAL CRISIS _Doubleday's "Life of Sir - Robert Peel"_ 44 - - 1826. THE FRENCH OCCUPATION OF _MARTINEAU'S "HISTORY - SPAIN of the Peace"_ 47 - - THE REMOVAL OF TRADE _Stapleton's "Life of - RESTRICTIONS Canning"_ 49 - - PORTUGUESE APPEAL FOR AID _STAPLETON'S "LIFE OF - AGAINST SPAIN Canning"_ 53 - - MR. CANNING AND THE PORTUGUESE _STAPLETON'S "LIFE OF - APPEAL Canning"_ 54 - - 1827. LIFE OF CONVICT-SERVANTS IN "_THE LONDON MAGAZINE_" 56 - AUSTRALIA - - INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE IV. _Lord Colchester's "Diary - and Correspondence"_ 58 - - THE TREATY OF LONDON _Stapleton's "Life of - Canning"_ 60 - - THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO "_The Gentleman's - Magazine_" 62 - - 1828. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION _Stanhope and Cardwell's - "Memoirs of Peel"_ 66 - - IRISH UNREST _Stanhope and Cardwell's - "Memoirs of Peel"_ 69 - - 1829. CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION "_Annual Register_" 70 - - 1830. DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S SUPPOSED _GLEIG'S "LIFE OF THE - DESIGNS ON THE CROWN Duke of Wellington"_ 72 - - HEAVY TAXATION _Cobbett's "Rural Rides"_ 73 - - RAILWAY CARRIAGES "_The Gentleman's - Magazine_" 75 - - DEATH OF HUSKISSON "_The Gentleman's - Magazine_" 77 - - THE USE OF CLOSE BOROUGHS _Gleig's "Life of the - Duke of Wellington"_ 79 - - 1831. LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S SPEECH _MOLESWORTH'S "HISTORY - ON REFORM BILL of the Reform Bill"_ 82 - - THE PASSING OF THE REFORM _MACAULAY'S "LIFE AND - BILL Letters"_ 87 - - PROROGATION OF ANTI-REFORM _MOLESWORTH'S "HISTORY - PARLIAMENT of the Reform Bill"_ 89 - - PARLIAMENTARY REFORM _Lord Macaulay's - "Speeches"_ 94 - - 1832. BATTLE SONG _Ebenezer Elliott's - "Poems"_ 95 - - 1833. REPEAL OF THE UNION _Lord Macaulay's - "Speeches"_ 96 - - JEWISH DISABILITIES _Lord Macaulay's - "Speeches"_ 98 - - 1834. STRIKES _Duke of Buckingham's - "Memoirs"_ 101 - - 1835. O'CONNELL AND THE HOUSE OF _MARTINEAU'S "HISTORY - LORDS of the Peace"_ 102 - - 1836. THE FACTORY SYSTEM _Fielden's "Curse of the - Factory System"_ 103 - - THE EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN _Fielden's "Curse of the - Factory System"_ 107 - - THE POLICE _Mullin's "Magistracy - of England"_ 110 - - THE KING AND THE CANADIAN "_THE EDINBURGH REVIEW_" 113 - QUESTION - - STATISTICS OF GREAT BRITAIN _Porter's "Party Tables"_ 116 - AND IRELAND - - - - -PEACE AND REFORM - -(1815--1837) - - - - -THE DEBT (1816). - -=Source.=--William Cobbett's _Rural Rides_, ed. by Mr. Pitt -Cobbett, 1885. - - -_Letter to Mr. Jabet of the "Birmingham Register," Nov., 1816._ - -The reformers have yet many and powerful foes; we have to contend -against a host, such as never existed before in the world. -Nine-tenths of the Press, all the channels of speedy communication -of sentiment; all the pulpits; all the associations of rich people; -all the taxing people; all the military and naval establishments; -all the yeomanry cavalry tribes. Your allies are endless in number -and mighty in influence. But we have _one ally_ worth the whole -of them put together, namely the DEBT! This is an ally whom no -honours or rewards can seduce from us. She is a steady, unrelaxing, -persevering, incorruptible ally. An ally that is proof against -all blandishments, all intrigues, all temptations, and all open -attacks. She sets at defiance all '_military_,' all '_yeomanry -cavalry_.' They may as well fire at a ghost. She cares no more for -the sabres of the yeomanry or the life guards than Milton's angels -did for the swords of Satan's myrmidons. This ally cares not a -straw about _spies_ and _informers_. She laughs at the employment -of _secret-service money_. She is always erect, day and night, -and is always firmly moving on in our cause, in spite of all the -terrors of gaols, dungeons, halters and axes. Therefore, Mr. -Jabet, be not so pert. The combat is not so unequal as you seem -to imagine; and, confident and insolent as you are now, the day of -your humiliation may not be far distant." - - - - -THE BARBARY PIRATES (1816). - -=Source.=--_Life and Correspondence of Lord Sidmouth_, by Dean -Pellew. Vol. III. p. 142. London, 1847. - - -_Letter from Viscount Exmouth on defeat of Barbary Pirates._ - - "Queen Charlotte, - - Algier's Bay, August 30th, 1816. - -"My dear Lord Sidmouth, - -"I perfectly remember, in your office, pledging myself to you for -the destruction of the Algerine navy. I am happy to inform you -I have redeemed my pledge, and am in whole bones, as is also my -opponent the Dey. His chastisement, however, has humbled him to the -dust; and he would receive me, if I chose it, on the Mole, upon his -knees. - -"You will readily believe how much I regret the sad loss we have -sustained: 883 out of 6500 is a large proportion; but we were -exposed to almost a complete circle of fire. I can only enclose -you the copy of my memorandum to-day to the fleet, and beg you to -believe that I consider this the happiest event of my fortunate -life. One thousand liberated slaves, just arrived from the country -whither the Dey had driven them, are now cheering on the Mole. The -consul has been cruelly treated, and the Dey been compelled to beg -his pardon, before his full court, by the dictation of my captain. - -"God bless you, my dear Lord. I hope to reach England before -October, and am ever your most faithful friend and servant, - - "EXMOUTH." - - - - -THE HOLY ALLIANCE (1816). - -=Source.=--_Annual Register, 1816._ - -The hon. member rose to move for the production of a copy of the -treaty concluded at Paris on September 26th between Austria, -Russia, and Prussia. By the tenor of this treaty, expressed in the -most devout and solemn language, the three potentates, members of -three different Christian churches, declared in the face of the -world their resolution both in the administration of their own -states, and in their political relations with other Governments, -to take for their sole guide the precepts of the holy religion -taught by our Saviour. In consequence, they signed an agreement -to three articles, the first of which bound them to a fraternity -of mutual friendship and assistance, and the common protection of -religion, peace and justice, which in the second was explained in -a kind of mystical strain, to notify that they regarded themselves -as delegated by Providence to govern three branches of one and the -same Christian nation, of which the Divine Being under his three -characters was the sole real sovereign; and the third declared a -readiness to receive into this holy alliance all the powers who -should solemnly avow the sacred principles which had dictated it. - -Politicians were much at a loss to conceive the occasion and -purpose of a treaty, at the same time so serious and so indefinite, -which appeared to bind the subscribers to nothing more than to -act upon those general principles which, as Christian princes, -they had always held forth as the rule of their conduct. It was -understood that its immediate cause was an impression made upon the -mind of the emperor Alexander, whose peculiar zeal in the project -was displayed by a manifesto issued on Christmas day, and signed -by his own hand, in which he made public the engagement which the -three powers had entered into, and which he interpreted to be a -reciprocal league of peace and amity upon Christian principles for -the general good. - -_Mr. Brougham_ prefaced his motion with reasons why he thought it -material that inquiry should be made respecting the above treaty, -instancing the circumstances of its having been contracted by -three powers, our allies, without our participation; of its having -received the signatures of the sovereigns themselves, whereas all -other treaties had been ratified by the medium of diplomatic -agents; of being apparently uncalled for, since the attachment -of the contracting parties to the Christian religion had never -been questioned. He adverted to the union of the same powers for -the partition of Poland, on which occasion the empress Catherine -had employed in the proclamations language similar to that of the -treaty. - -He concluded by moving an address to the Prince Regent, that he -would be pleased to give directions that a copy of the treaty would -be laid before the House. - -_Lord Castlereagh_ who had previously admitted to the authenticity -of the document moved for, after adducing, from the result of the -preceding union of these sovereigns, arguments against regarding -them with suspicion, informed the hon. gentlemen, that instead -of any secrecy in their proceedings on the present occasion, the -emperor of Russia had communicated to him a draft of the proposed -treaty, he believed, before it had been communicated to the other -sovereigns; and that after its signature a joint-letter had been -addressed by them to the Prince Regent, stating the grounds on -which it had been concluded, and anxiously desiring his accession -to it: that his Royal Highness in reply had expressed his -satisfaction at the nature of the treaty, and his assurance that -the British Government would not be the one least disposed to act -up to its principles. His lordship then went into a panegyric of -the emperor of Russia, and finally characterised the motion as -wholly unnecessary and of dangerous tendency if the confederacy -could be shaken by attempts to degrade the sovereigns of Europe by -unfounded imputations. - -On a division of the House, the motion was rejected by a majority -of 104 to 30. - -The public opinion concerning this extraordinary treaty seems to -have corresponded with that expressed by the hon. _Mr. Bennet_ in -his speech: "that the only motive which the noble lord could have -for refusing its production was, that he was ashamed of it and of -our allies." - - - - -THE STATE OF IRELAND (1816). - -=Source.=--_The Political Life of Sir Robert Peel_, by Thomas -Doubleday. London, 1856. Vol. I. pp. 169-172. - - -In the course of a debate on the army estimates in February, 1816, -the Irish Secretary entered into the following extraordinary -details on the employment of the soldiery in Ireland in the -suppression of illicit distillation, as well as of insurrectionary -movements in the wilder districts of Ireland: - -"It must not be forgotten (said Mr. Peel) that the employment -of a military force in Ireland, under existing circumstances, -is calculated to save the government of that country from the -necessity of recurring to those measures of civil rigour which -parliament had sanctioned with its approbation. In some districts, -where the military was not employed, they had been compelled to -suspend trial by jury, under the operation of the Insurrection Act; -but every one would allow that it was better to deter from the -commission of crime than to transport for it. If they could succeed -in deterring these, there was not the necessity to proclaim certain -districts. What he asserted was no visionary speculation. Events, -such as he now described, were passing at that moment. The Act to -which he alluded had been applied to several baronies in Tipperary, -upon the unanimous application of forty of the magistrates. He -believed he was right in saying the unanimous application. In some -cases, indeed, it had been refused; but he knew as a fact, that -not less than seventy-six magistrates of that county, united for -the paramount object of maintaining the public peace, had applied -to government for the application of that bill. A similar course -had been pursued in the county of Westmeath. It was proposed -in some counties to remove the soldiers; but the answer was by -the magistrates, 'If you remove the troops you must give us the -Insurrection Act, as it will be impossible to do without it.' Even -on constitutional grounds, therefore, and as calculated to prevent -a recurrence to these really severe measures, he would venture to -appeal to the House for its approbation of the alternative of -employing the military to aid the civil power. With respect to -its employment in another way, by doing the duty of custom-house -officers, he wished to observe that this system had prevailed -in Ireland at least as far back as in 1799. At that period, a -regulation for the employment of a military force in that service -was adopted. It was stated to be imperatively necessary for the -suppression of illicit distillation; and it was further ordered, -that any officer hesitating to employ his men on that service -should be brought to a court-martial for disobedience of orders. -He stated that, to prove the propriety of a remark made at the -commencement of his address, that even if it should be thought that -the introduction of a military force was a vicious practice, it -was at all events unavoidable without the accomplishment of other -essential reforms. - -"He should now state the extent to which the military arm had been -so employed, and in order also to show that it had not been the -policy of one single government merely, he should mention that, in -1806, under the government of the honourable gentlemen opposite, -448 military parties were employed in detecting and frustrating the -practice of illicit distillation; in 1807 there were 598 military -parties; in 1808 there were 431; in later periods still more; and -in the half-year ending the 31st December, 1815, there were 1889. -No one, he presumed, would deny that the morals and habits of the -lower classes were not only corrupted by the dreadful extent to -which that illicit distillation was carried, but that the laws -of the country were violated, and that the revenue was greatly -diminished by it. In order that the House might be enabled to judge -of the character of those who carried on those practices, as well -as of the danger attending their detection or apprehension, he -would mention one circumstance that came within his own knowledge. -In a district in the north-west of Ireland well known to the -gentlemen of that country as one where illicit distillation is -carried on to an enormous excess, frequent seizures were made by -parties of twenty to forty men, who generally had to risk an actual -engagement with the offenders. In one instance he recollected the -soldiers were fired at, and no less than two hundred rounds of -musketry were discharged in their own defence. They succeeded in -their seizures, however, but on their return were again attacked, -their seizures taken from them, and they themselves obliged to seek -shelter in a house on the road, where they maintained a contest -with the assailants till they were relieved by two hundred men who -were marched to their assistance. Such occurrences sufficiently -showed the necessity of employing a military force, but he would -again guard against its being supposed that he considered these -temporary remedies as at all calculated to afford any permanent -relief. He was as fully convinced of their inadequacy in that -respect as any honourable member could be; but whilst that -disposition to turbulence existed, would it be contended that the -crimes connected with it ought to go unpunished? Would it be said -that desperate bands that roamed about the country at night ought -to remain unmolested? - -"Perhaps it would be said that the course of policy hitherto -pursued in Ireland was a bad one. Let that be granted, then, for -the sake of argument; still, was it possible to remove the evils of -that bad and imperfect policy in an hour--or by the 25th of April? -Would it be possible, even to gentlemen opposite, to change on a -sudden the whole habits and manners of so large a class of the -community, and to introduce, as by magic, a radical and effectual -reform? It was utterly impossible. He was perfectly satisfied of -the inefficiency of these temporary remedies, but meanwhile the -hand of the robber must be arrested, or else the whole frame of -civilized society must be now dissolved, and a residence in Ireland -be rendered absolutely impracticable. He was of opinion that good -might be done in that country by a reformation of the police, and -he should prefer an army of police if he might so call it, to a -military army. He deeply regretted the very imperfect character -of the police in Ireland. Since he had the honour of filling -the station he occupied, he had turned much of his attention -to the subject of police, and proposed alterations which the -House had sanctioned. Real, substantial, and permanent reform, -however, amongst the lower classes, could be looked for only from -the general diffusion of knowledge, and from enlightening their -minds. From such sources of reform he anticipated the grandest -and the noblest results. (Hear, hear, hear.) He could state it as -a fact within his own knowledge, that the greatest eagerness for -instruction prevailed amongst the lower classes. It was the duty -of every one, even in these times of economy, not to obstruct the -progress or the limits of education, which ought to be as widely as -possible diffused. It would be infinitely better for Ireland and -for this country to have a well instructed and enlightened Catholic -population than an ignorant and a bigoted one!" - - Hansard's _Debates_, Vol. XXXII. pp. 926, 1816. - - - - -THE STATE OF ENGLAND (1818). - -=Source.=--_Life and Correspondence of Lord Sidmouth_, by Dean -Pellew. Vol. III. p. 242. London, 1847. - - -_Letter from Earl of Sheffield to Lord Sidmouth._ - - "Sheffield Place, Dec. 13th, 1818. - -"My dear Lord, - -"Although I doubt not your Lordship has ample information, I -cannot resist the pleasure of communicating the very satisfactory -accounts I have received from different parts, of the state of -trade and manufactures, and particularly from the neighbourhood -of Birmingham, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire. Both trade and -manufactures are in a flourishing condition, and likely to improve -still further. There appears to be little speculation beyond the -regular demands of the different markets, men without adequate -capital finding it almost impossible to procure credit; so that -there is now no disposition to force a trade, and no injurious -competition among the merchants to procure the execution of orders, -and, consequently, wages are fair and reasonable. I conceive that -things cannot be in a much better train either for the merchant or -manufacturer, not so for the constitution or agriculture of the -country: the first, I fear, is _en décadence_; the case, however, -of the latter is somewhat better than it was, though far short of -that of the trading part of the community. The demand for land is -considerably increased, but in many instances at reduced rents. -Agriculture, the most essential of all concerns, is so extremely -depressed by the great increase of tithes and of parochial rates, -that I cannot refrain from being its strenuous advocate: and so -strongly am I impressed with the evil consequences of the excessive -load of such taxation on the landed interests, and particularly -on the occupiers in the southern and midland parts of England, -that it is wonderful to me that agriculture has not been in those -districts annihilated; and there is nothing of which I am more -thoroughly convinced than the necessity of affording it every -relief and encouragement possible. I do not conceive that the -subject of the corn laws can be renewed at present with advantage. -The ignorance and supineness of the landowners generally is so -excessive; the violence of the middling and lower classes so -overbearing; the use made of it by the popularity hunters of all -descriptions so pernicious and vile; the fears of government so -great, and at the same time so natural, that, upon the whole, I do -not entertain a hope of any beneficial results from any efforts -that are now making, or may be made, for a considerable time. It -is greatly to be regretted, however, that in the last correction -of the corn laws, foreign grain, under any circumstances, should -be admitted duty free; it would have been sufficient to have -lowered the import duties, as to wheat, when the price in our -market was 5l. per quarter; but I by no means wish ministers so -soon to be embroiled again on that subject, nor do I think, earnest -as I am on this head, that this is the proper time to renew the -discussion, or to attempt a change with respect to the duties. -I would not, however, wish to damp the ardour of those who urge -the principle, that every thing arising from the soil, and every -manufacture of the country, should be protected by adequate import -duties; as that principle is generally observed with regard to -every article except wool, and must be in a country so heavily -tithed, and necessarily burdened with such an extraordinary degree -of taxation. Previously to the year 1793, no direct or assessed -tax, affecting agriculture, was tolerated, and surely it is now -expedient, whenever possible, to relinquish those taxes which -particularly affect that most essential interest of the country, -and to adopt such other measures as will enable it to support -the heavy imposts which fall upon it. The legislature might now -show attention to the grievances of the occupiers of land, by -relinquishing all the direct taxes imposed on agriculture during -the late war; and it will only be common justice to protect the -wool of the country from being debased in value, by the import -of wool from every part of the world free of duty, and it is not -difficult to demonstrate that a moderate duty on the import of -foreign wool would not affect, even in a slight degree, the great -mass of our woollen manufacture.... The levity of the public on -the most interesting and important subjects is often not only very -extraordinary, but even ridiculous. The well-founded alarm on -the ruinous and impolitic management of the poor, which appeared -to make a deep and general impression, seems now to be forgotten -except by the oppressed occupiers of lands, who so severely feel -the effects of it. The public mind is not yet ripe for such a great -measure as might prove an effectual remedy; but in the meantime I -think something might be done. Is your Lordship disposed to repeal -all the laws relating to the poor (heterogeneous, discordant, -impracticable, unintelligible, and absurd as they are), to the 43d -of Elizabeth, and to re-enact all those parts of them which the -circumstances of the times may require (defining the powers of the -magistrates, the parish officers, and the claims of the poor), and -form them into a regular intelligible code? for I verily believe -there is not one magistrate, nor any clerk (who governs him) who -is acquainted with them all. I believe I am one of the oldest -magistrates in the kingdom, being in my fiftieth year, and yet I -have never met with any man who seemed fully acquainted with them. -If an intelligent select committee, having a practical knowledge -of the subject (without which the ablest men are not competent to -it), could be induced to undertake this work, I have no doubt but -that a law could be so framed as to lead to a great amelioration -of our present vile system, if not gradually to a complete remedy. -But I must not impose more of my notions on your Lordship. You -must be now quite tired of me. If you think there is any thing in -this letter worthy of Lord Liverpool's attention, I wish it to -be communicated to him; but as I inflicted on his Lordship some -time ago a large dose respecting the poor, I refrain from a direct -communication. I am, seemingly, as well as ever I was; but I must -not risk myself in town before the end of March, except for two -nights on the meeting of parliament, in order to take my seat and -enable me to leave a proxy. I have the honour to be, with very -sincere regard, my dear Lord, most truly your Lordship's faithful -servant, - - "SHEFFIELD." - - - - -PARISH REGISTERS (1818). - -=Source.=--_The London Medical Repository_, Vol. X. p. 267. - - -_George Man Burrows on Parish Registers._ - -But I must reiterate, that it will be a work of supererogation -to offer either remarks or proposals for establishing improved -registers of marriages, births, baptisms, burials, diseases, &c. or -for attaining any of the other objects upon which I have dilated, -unless all denominations of religion in the whole of the united -kingdom be included. - -On recapitulation, it appears that the principal defects in the -present system are: - -1. Registers of marriages, births, baptisms, and burials, or bills -of mortality are not kept in every place of religious worship; nor -in hospitals and infirmaries having private burying-grounds. - -2. Children who die unbaptized are not entered in any register or -bill of mortality. - -3. Registers of baptism do not set forth the place and date of -birth. - -4. Registers of burial do not specify where a person died, as well -as where he lived, nor his condition, whether single, married, or -widowed. - -5. There is no certificate provided, showing in what parish a -person died, with other necessary particulars, as to age, the -disease, &c. - -6. A corpse may be removed from a parish within the bills of -mortality of London to one without, and the burial be omitted in -the returns. - -7. There is no medical authority for ascertaining and certifying -the nature of the disease of which a person died, &c. - -8. The names of diseases in the bills of mortality are either -unintelligible, or so arranged as to confound diseases very -distinct in their characters. - -9. In respect to ages, the periods are injudiciously divided; so -that many of the purposes to which the bills are applicable in -medical and political science are defeated. - -10. The law enforcing the keeping of Registers is defective; and -does not adequately regard political, civil, or medical information. - -11. All parishes and places of worship within that circle -denominated the bills of mortality of London, are not included in -the weekly or general annual returns; nor is there any existing -authority to enforce their being made, and regularly entered. - - * * * * * - -Among some of the advantages in medical, political, and moral -science, which would result, were proper parochial registers and -bills of mortality established and kept throughout the united -kingdom, the following present: - -I. MEDICALLY.--They point out: - -1. The causes of many diseases, and their affinity to one another. - -2. The rise, situation, increase, decrease, and cessation of -epidemic and contagious diseases. - -3. The means of guarding against their extension and effects. - -4. The comparative healthiness of different countries and places, -climates and seasons. - -5. The influence of particular trades and manufactures on the human -constitution. - -6. They elucidate many important and dubious medical points -essential to the perfection of the preventive and curative arts. - -II. POLITICALLY.--They are a means: - -1. Of ascertaining the increment or decrement of the population in -every place, and at any period. - -2. Of accurately ascertaining the population of the country, and at -any period. - -3. Of diminishing, if not nearly superseding, the immense expense -incurred by a census. - -4. Of obviating the difficulties, great expense, and frequent -disappointment in proving marriages, births, baptisms, and burials, -to which persons who are desirous of establishing legal proof of -their identity, descent, consanguinity, &c. are still exposed. - -5. The present extensive and beneficial system of assurance on -lives, reversionary payments, annuities, and legacy duties on the -latter species of testamentary property, is founded on calculations -deduced from numerous bills of mortality. - -6. The prosperity or decay of commerce, manufactures, or trade of -any place, is shown by comparing bills of mortality of different -dates. - -III. MORALLY.--They mark: - -1. The prevalence of moral or licentious habits. - -2. The diseases of which the inhabitants of a place die; and, -consequently, those arising from luxury or intemperance. - -3. The effects of the passions on human actions. - -4. By knowing where they are most required, the means of correcting -such effects may be the more effectually applied. - - - - -PETERLOO (1819). - -=Source.=--_Life and Correspondence of Lord Sidmouth_, by Dean -Pellew. Vol. III. p. 253. London, 1847. - - -_Letter of Sir Wm. Jolliffe to Thos. G. B. Estcourt._ - - "9 St. James's Place, April 11th, 1845. - -"My dear Sir, - -"Twenty-five years have passed since the collision unfortunately -occurred between the population of Manchester and its -neighbourhood, and the military stationed in that town, on the 16th -of August, 1819. - -"I was at that time a lieutenant in the 15th King's Hussars, -which regiment had been quartered in Manchester cavalry barracks -about six weeks. This was my first acquaintance with a large -manufacturing population. I had little knowledge of the condition -of that population; whether or no a great degree of distress was -then prevalent, or whether or no the distrust and bad feeling, -which appeared to exist between the employers and employed, was -wholly or in part caused by the agitation of political questions. -I will not, therefore, enter into any speculations upon these -points; but I will endeavour to narrate the facts which fell under -my own observation, although acting, as of course I was, under the -command of others, and in a subordinate situation. The military -force stationed in Manchester consisted of six troops of the 15th -Hussars, under the command of Colonel Dalrymple; one troop of horse -artillery, with two guns, under Major Dyneley; nearly the whole -of the 31st regiment, under Colonel Guy L'Estrange (who commanded -the whole force as senior officer). Some companies of the 88th -regiment, and the Cheshire yeomanry, had also been brought into -the town, in anticipation of disturbances which might result from -the expected meeting; and these latter had only arrived on the -morning of the 16th, or a few hours previously; and, lastly, there -was a troop of Manchester yeomanry cavalry, consisting of about -forty members, who, from the manner in which they were made use of -(to say the least), greatly aggravated the disasters of the day. -Their ranks were filled chiefly by wealthy master manufacturers; -and, without the knowledge which would have been possessed by a -(strictly speaking) military body, they were placed, most unwisely, -as it appeared, under the immediate command and orders of the civil -authorities. - -"Our regiment paraded in field-exercise order at about half-past -eight, or, it might be, nine o'clock a.m. Two squadrons of it were -marched into the town about ten o'clock. They were formed up and -dismounted in a wide street, the name of which I forget, to the -north of St. Peter's Field (the place appointed for the meeting), -and at the distance of nearly a quarter of a mile from it. The -Cheshire yeomanry were formed, on our left, in the same street. One -troop of our regiment was attached to the artillery, which took up -a position between the cavalry barracks and the town; and one troop -remained in charge of the barracks. - -"The two squadrons with which I was stationed must have remained -dismounted nearly two hours. During the greater portion of that -period, a solid mass of people continued moving along a street -about a hundred yards to our front, on their way to the place of -meeting. Other officers, as well as myself, occasionally rode to -the front (to the end of a street) to see them pass. They marched, -at a brisk pace, in ranks well closed up, five or six bands of -music being interspersed; and there appeared to be but few women -with them. Mr. Hunt, with two or three other men, and, I think, two -women dressed in light blue and white, were in an open carriage, -drawn by the people. This carriage was adorned with blue and white -flags; and the day was fine and hot. As soon as the great bulk -of the procession had passed, we were ordered to stand to our -horses. In a very short time afterwards the four troops of the -15th mounted, and at once moved off by the right, at a trot which -was increased to a canter. Some one who had been sent from the -place of meeting to bring us up led the way, through a number of -narrow streets and by a circuitous route, to (what I will call) -the south-west corner of St. Peter's Field. We advanced along the -south side of this space of ground, without a halt or pause even: -the words 'Front!' and 'Forward!' were given, and the trumpet -sounded the charge at the very moment the threes wheeled up. When -fronted, our line extended quite across the ground, which, in all -parts, was so filled with people that their hats seemed to touch. - -"It was then, for the first time, that I saw the Manchester troop -of yeomanry: they were scattered singly, or in small groups, over -the greater part of the field, literally hemmed up, and hedged into -the mob, so that they were powerless either to make an impression -or to escape; in fact, they were in the power of those whom they -were designed to overawe; and it required only a glance to discover -their helpless position, and the necessity of our being brought -to their rescue. As I was, at the time, informed, this hopeless -state of things happened thus: A platform had been erected near the -centre of the field, from which Mr. Hunt and others were to address -the multitude; and the magistrates, having ordered a strong body of -constables to be in readiness to arrest the speakers, unfortunately -imagined that they should support the peace officers by bringing up -this troop of yeomanry _at a walk_. The result of this movement, -instead of that which the magistrates desired, was unexpectedly -to place this small body of horsemen (so introduced into a dense -mob) entirely at the mercy of the people by whom they were, on all -sides, pressed upon and surrounded. - -"The charge of the hussars, to which I have just alluded, swept -this mingled mass of human beings before it: people, yeoman and -constables, in their confused attempts to escape, ran one over the -other; so that by the time we had arrived at the end of the field, -the fugitives were literally piled up to a considerable elevation -above the level of the ground. (I may here, by the way, state that -this field, as it is called, was merely an open space of ground, -surrounded by buildings and itself, I rather think, in course of -being built upon.) The hussars drove the people forward with the -flats of their swords; but sometimes, as is almost inevitably the -case when men are placed in such situations, the edge was used, -both by the hussars, and, as I have heard, by the yeomen also; but -of this latter fact, however, I was not cognisant; and believing -though I do, that nine out of ten of the sabre wounds were caused -by the hussars, I must still consider that it redounds highly to -the humane forbearance of the men of the 15th that more wounds were -not received, when the vast numbers are taken into consideration -with whom they were brought into hostile collision; beyond all -doubt, however, the far greater amount of injuries arose from the -pressure of the routed multitude. The hussars on the left, pursued -down the various streets which led from the place; those on the -right met with something more of resistance. The mob had taken -possession of various buildings on that side, particularly of a -Quaker's chapel and burial-ground enclosed with a wall. This they -occupied for some little time; and, in attempting to displace them, -some of the men and horses were struck with stones and brick-bats. -I was on the left; and as soon as I had passed completely over -the ground, and found myself in the street on the other side, I -turned back, and then, seeing a sort of fight still going on on -the right, I went in that direction. At the very moment I reached -the Quaker's meeting-house, I saw a farrier of the 15th ride at a -small door in the outer wall, and, to my surprise, his horse struck -it with such force that it flew open: two or three hussars then -rode in, and the place was immediately in their possession. I then -turned towards the elevated platform, which still remained in the -centre of the field with persons upon it: a few struggling hussars -and yeomen, together with a number of men having the appearance -of peace officers, were congregating upon it. On my way thither -I met the commanding officer of my regiment, who directed me to -find a trumpeter, in order that he might sound the 'rally' or -'retreat.' This sent me again down the street I had first been in -(after the pursuing men of my troop); but I had not ridden above -a hundred yards before I found a trumpeter, and returned with him -to the Colonel. The field and the adjacent streets now presented -an extraordinary sight: the ground was quite covered with hats, -shoes, sticks, musical instruments, and other things. Here and -there lay the unfortunates who were too much injured to move away; -and this sight was rendered the more distressing by observing some -women among the sufferers. - -"Standing near the corner of the street where I had been sent in -search of a trumpeter, a brother officer called my attention to -a pistol being fired from a window. I saw it fired twice; and I -believe it had been fired once before I observed it. - -"Some of the 31st regiment, just now arriving on the ground, were -ordered to take possession of this house; but I do not know if it -was carried into effect. - -"I next went towards a private of the regiment, whose horse had -fallen over a piece of timber nearly in the middle of the square, -and who was most seriously injured. There were many of these -pieces of timber (or timber trees) lying upon the ground; and as -these could not be distinguished when the mob covered them, they -had caused bad falls to one officer's horse and to many of the -troopers'. - -"While I was attending to the removal of the wounded soldier, the -artillery troop, with the troop of hussars attached to it, arrived -on the ground from the same direction by which we had entered the -field: these were quickly followed by the Cheshire yeomanry. The -31st regiment came in another direction; and the whole remained -formed up until our squadrons had fallen in again. - -"Carriages were brought to convey the wounded to the Manchester -Infirmary; and the troop of hussars, which came up with the guns, -was marched off to escort to the gaol a number of persons who had -been arrested, and among these Mr. Hunt. For some time the town was -patrolled by the troops, the streets being nearly empty, and the -shops, for the most part, closed. We then returned to the barracks. -I should not omit to mention, that, before the men were dismissed, -the arms were minutely examined; and that no carbine or pistol -was found to have been fired, and only one pistol to have been -loaded. About eight o'clock p.m., one squadron of the 15th Hussars -(two troops) was ordered on duty to form part of a strong night -picket, the other part of which consisted of two companies of the -88th regiment. This picket was stationed at a place called the New -Cross, at the end of Oldham Street. As soon as it had taken up its -position a mob assembled about it, which increased as the darkness -came on: stones were thrown at the soldiers; the hussars many times -cleared the ground by driving the mob up the streets leading from -the New Cross. But these attempts to get rid of the annoyance were -only successful for the moment; for the people got through the -houses or narrow passages from one street into another, and the -troops were again attacked, and many men and horses struck with -stones. This lasted nearly an hour and a half; and the soldiers -being more and more pressed upon, a town magistrate, who was with -the picket, read the Riot Act, and the officer in command ordered -the 88th to fire (which they did by platoon firing) down three of -the streets. The firing lasted only a few minutes: perhaps not -more than thirty shots were fired; but these had a magical effect: -the mob ran away, and dispersed forthwith, leaving three or four -persons on the ground with gun-shot wounds. - -"At four o'clock in the morning the picket squadron was relieved -by another squadron of the regiment. With this latter squadron I -was on duty; and after we had patrolled the town for two hours, the -officer in command sent me to the magistrates (who had remained -assembled during the night), to report to them that the town was -perfectly quiet, and to request their sanction to the return of the -military to their quarters. - -"On the afternoon of the 17th I visited, in company with some -military medical officers, the infirmary. I saw there from twelve -to twenty cases of sabre wounds; several persons that were severely -crushed, and, among these, two women, who appeared not likely to -recover. One man was in a dying state from a gun-shot wound in the -head; another had had his leg amputated: both these casualties -arose from the fire of the 88th the night before. Two or three were -reputed dead; one of them, a constable, killed in St. Peter's -Field; but I saw none of the bodies. - -"As shortly as I could, I have now related what fell under my own -observation during these twenty-four hours.... I trust that I have, -at least in some degree, complied with your wishes; and I beg you -will believe me, my dear Sir, yours most truly, - - "WILLM. J. HYLTON JOLLIFFE." - - "To Thomas Grimston Bucknall Estcourt, - "Esq., M.P." - - - - -STATE OF ENGLAND (1819). - -=Source.=--Works of P. B. Shelley. - - - An old, mad, blind, despised and dying king,-- - Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow - Through public scorn,--mud from a muddy spring,-- - Rulers who neither feel nor see nor know, - But leech-like to their fainting country cling, - Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow,-- - A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field,-- - An army, which liberticide and prey - Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield,-- - Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay; - Religion, Christless, Godless--a book sealed; - A Senate--Time's worst statute unrepealed,-- - Are graves, from which a glorious phantom may - Burst, to illumine our tempestuous day. - - - - -THE CATO STREET CONSPIRACY (1820). - -=Source.=--_Annual Register_, 1820, pp. 30-32. - - -At last, on Saturday, the 19th of February, it was resolved at one -of their meetings, that poverty did not allow them to delay their -purposes any longer, and that, therefore, on the next Wednesday, -the ministers should be murdered separately, each in his own -house. On Sunday they arranged their plans. Forty or fifty men were -to be set apart for the work of murder; and whoever failed through -any fault of his own, in performing the task assigned to him, was -to atone for his failure with his life. Two separate detachments -were at the same time to seize two pieces of cannon stationed in -Gray's-Inn-lane, and six in the artillery ground. The Mansion-house -was to be proclaimed the palace of the provisional government; the -Bank was to be attacked forthwith; and London was to be set fire to -in different quarters. - -Meetings were again held on Monday and Tuesday; and on the latter -day, a conspirator, named Edwards, informed Thistlewood, that there -was to be a cabinet dinner on the morrow. Thistlewood, doubting -the information, sent for a newspaper, and finding it announced -that a cabinet dinner was to be given at lord Harrowby's house -in Grosvenor-square on Wednesday evening; "As there has not been -a dinner so long," said he, "there will no doubt be fourteen or -sixteen there, and it will be a rare haul to murder them all -together." According to the fresh arrangements now determined -on, one of their number was to go with a note addressed to -lord Harrowby; when the door was opened to him, a band of the -conspirators were to rush in; and while some seized the servants, -and prevented any one from escaping from the house, others, forcing -their way into the room where the ministers were assembled, were -to murder them without mercy. It was particularly specified, that -the heads of lords Sidmouth and Castlereagh were to be brought -away in a bag. From lord Harrowby's house two of their number were -to proceed to throw fire-balls into the straw-shed of the cavalry -barracks in King-street, while the rest were to co-operate in the -execution of the subsequent parts of the scheme. - -In the meantime spies were dispatched to watch lord Harrowby's -house, and to ascertain that no police officers or soldiers were -concealed within it, or close to it. The next day was spent in -preparations. Their weapons and ammunition were put into a state of -readiness, and proclamations were written, which it was intended -to fix to the houses that were to be set on fire. In the course of -the day several of the infatuated wretches met, from time to time, -at the old place of rendezvous; and, towards six in the evening, -they assembled in a stable, situated in an obscure street, called -Cato-street, in the neighbourhood of the Edgware-road. Besides -the stable in the lower part, the building contained two rooms -above, accessible only by a ladder, in the larger of which, a -sentinel having been stationed below, the conspirators mustered, -to the number of twenty-four or twenty-five, all busy in adjusting -their accoutrements by the scanty light of one or two candles, and -exulting in the near approach of the bloody catastrophe. - -All their machinations, however, were known to the very men, whom -they hoped within an hour to see lying butchered at their feet. One -of the conspirators, Edwards, had, for some time, been in the pay -of government, to whom he communicated every step that was taken. -A man, too, of the name of Hidon, who had been solicited to enter -into the plot, warned lord Harrowby of it, the day before that -which was fixed for carrying it into execution. The ministers took -no steps which might deter or alarm the ruffians; for it would have -been the height of madness to have stopped them in their career -of guilt. Interruption would have saved them from punishment, -by rendering it impossible to procure evidence of the atrocious -nature of the plot; so that they would have been let loose upon -society, ready to enter into some new scheme of murder, which, by -being intrusted to a smaller, or more select number, or by being -attempted with less delay, might be followed by success. The -preparations for the dinner went on at lord Harrowby's house till -eight in the evening, though, in fact, no dinner was to be given. - -In the meantime, a strong party of Bow-street constables, under -the direction of Mr. Birnie, proceeded to Cato-street, where they -were to be met and supported by a detachment of the Coldstream -Guards. The police officers reached the spot about 8 o'clock. They -immediately entered the stable, and, mounting the ladder, found -the conspirators in the loft, on the point of proceeding to the -execution of their scheme. The principal officer called upon them -to surrender. Smithers, one of the constables, pressing forward -to seize Thistlewood, was pierced, by him, through the body, and -immediately fell. The lights in the loft were now extinguished; -some of the conspirators rushed down the ladder, and the officers -along with them; others forced their way out by a window in the -back part of the premises. At this moment, the detachment of the -military arrived, somewhat later than the precise time fixed. Two -of the conspirators, who were in the act of escaping, were seized: -by the joint exertions of the police and soldiers nine in all were -taken that evening, and conveyed to Bow-street. Thistlewood was -among those who had escaped, but he was arrested next morning, in -bed, in a house near Finsbury-square. Some others of them were -seized in the course of the next two days. - -On the 27th of March, true bills of indictment for high treason -were found against eleven of the prisoners; and, on the 17th of -April, Thistlewood was put upon his trial. The principal witness -was a conspirator, of the name of Adams, who, having escaped from -Cato-street, had been taken on the following Friday, and had -remained in custody up to the time when he was produced in court to -give evidence. After a trial which lasted three days, the accused -was found guilty on those counts of indictment which charged -him with having conspired to levy, and with having levied war -against the King. Ings, Brunt, Tidd, and Davidson, were afterwards -severally tried and convicted. The remaining six, permission to -withdraw their former plea having been given, pleaded guilty. One -of them, who appeared to have joined the meeting in Cato-street -without being aware of its true purpose, received a pardon; the -other five had their sentence commuted into transportation for -life. Thistlewood, with the four whom we have named, suffered the -sentence of the law, rather glorying in what they had attempted, -and regretting their failure, than repenting of their atrocious -guilt. - - - - -THE DEATH OF GEORGE III. (1820). - -=Source.=--_The Diary and Correspondence of Charles Abbott, Lord -Colchester._ London, 1861. Vol. III. p. 112. - - -_Letter from Mr. B. Wilbraham._ - - "Portland Place, February 7th, 1820. - -"My dear Lord, - -"I am not aware that I can communicate much more information than -the newspapers, if so much, but as a letter from London at a moment -like the present is supposed to be interesting, I write a few lines. - -"The death of the poor King was not expected by the public in -general, but those who were about him saw a rapid change taking -place, and a loathing of nourishment and other symptoms; and when I -was at Windsor three weeks ago, the Duke of York, who had not seen -him for five or six days, was much affected at the change. - -"He died without any pain, spoke a short time before his death, and -had no gleam of returning reason, which Dr. Willis then told me -he would not have. Since his death we have been in some danger of -losing the present King, who has been very ill of an inflammation -of the chest, which was cured by his losing 130 ounces of blood. -This loss would have killed you or me, but he is so accustomed -to being bled, that the day after the operation was performed -his pulse was at 84. He is now recovering, but I expect that his -constitution will not be the better for this violent, though -necessary discipline. - -"He held a Privy Council two days after the King's death, and was -forced to exert himself, which I believe was rather against him; -but he has not done anything of the sort since, and I hope he will -soon recover his strength. - -"No political change has taken place under the circumstances of -the country, but we look forward to a dissolution of Parliament; -and whether it will be early or late, before the ensuing session -of Parliament or after it, it is the question about which we are -very anxious; though I am not of the number, it being a matter of -indifference to me when I visit my Dover[1] friends. - -"Brougham, it is said, has sent the Queen a detailed account of -her patronage, which, as you know, is considerable, and a blank -patent for the office of her Attorney-General; when this returns -filled up, he will form a third party in the House of Commons, and -probably will be very troublesome to both the others; though the -Whigs will contrive to agree with him as often as they can. - -"You will be glad to hear that we are as peaceable and quiet as -lambs in Lancashire; that seditious printers, drillers at night, -and others were found guilty by the juries at the Manchester -Sessions, and were sentenced to various punishments without a -single murmur being heard in Court. I understand that this implicit -obedience to the laws has produced a sensation of considerable -surprise on the Continent, where people imagined us on the eve of -a revolution. I confess that I imagined we should not have been so -quiet in the North as we are. Hunt and Co., you know, are to be -tried at the Spring Lancashire Assizes.... - -"The Bank resumed bullion payments on the 1st February, in ingots -(to the amount of £300), commonly called Ricardos; and I understand -that in the first three days only three were applied for. One for -Lord Thanet, one for a country banker, from curiosity, and the -other I know not for whom. The price of gold is from two to three -shillings below the Mint price, which accounts for this little -demand. - - "Yours very truly, - - "E. B. WILBRAHAM." - - - - -THE KING'S SPEECH (1820). - -=Source.=--_Annual Register, 1820._ Appendix to Chronicle, p. 749. - - -_The King's Speech to the New Parliament_ (_Thursday, April 27_). - -"My Lords and Gentlemen; - -"I have taken the earliest occasion of assembling you here, after -having referred to the sense of my people. - -"In meeting you personally, for the first time since the death of -my beloved father, I am anxious to assure you, that I shall always -continue to imitate his great example, in unceasing attention to -the public interests, and in paternal solicitude for the welfare -and happiness of all classes of my subjects. - -"I have received from foreign powers renewed assurances of their -friendly disposition, and of their earnest desire to cultivate with -me the relations of peace and amity. - - -"Gentlemen of the House of Commons; - -"The estimates for the present year will be laid before you. - -"They have been framed upon principles of strict economy; but it is -to me matter of the deepest regret that the state of the country -has not allowed me to dispense with those additions to our military -force which I announced at the commencement of the last session of -parliament. - -"The first object to which your attention will be directed is the -provision to be made for the support of the civil government, and -of the honour and dignity of the crown. - -"I leave entirely at your disposal my interest in the hereditary -revenues; and I cannot deny myself the gratification of declaring, -that so far from desiring any arrangement which might lead to -the imposition of new burthens upon my people, or even might -diminish, on my account, the amount of the reductions incident to -my accession to the throne, I can have no wish, under circumstances -like the present, that any addition whatever should be made to the -settlement adopted by parliament in the year 1816. - - -"My Lords and Gentlemen; - -"Deeply as I regret that the machinations and designs of the -disaffected should have led in some parts of the country to -acts of open violence and insurrection, I cannot but express my -satisfaction at the promptitude with which those attempts have been -suppressed by the vigilance and activity of the magistrates, and -by the zealous co-operation of all those of my subjects, whose -exertions have been called forth to support the authority of the -laws. - -"The wisdom and firmness manifested by the late parliament, and -the due execution of the laws, have greatly contributed to restore -confidence throughout the kingdom, and to discountenance those -principles of sedition and irreligion which had been disseminated -with such malignant perseverance, and had poisoned the minds of the -ignorant and unwary. - -"I rely upon the continued support of parliament in my -determination to maintain, by all the means intrusted to my hands, -the public safety and tranquillity. - -"Deploring, as we all must, the distress which still unhappily -prevails among many of the labouring classes of the community, -and anxiously looking forward to its removal or mitigation, it is -in the meantime our common duty effectually to protect the loyal, -the peaceable, and the industrious, against those practices of -turbulence and intimidation by which the period of relief can only -be deferred, and by which the pressure of the distress has been -incalculably aggravated. - -"I trust, that an awakened sense of the dangers which they have -incurred, and of the arts which have been employed to seduce -them, will bring back by far the greater part of those who have -been unhappily led astray, and will revive in them that spirit -of loyalty, that due submission to the laws, and that attachment -to the constitution, which subsist unabated in the hearts of the -great body of the people, and which, under the blessing of Divine -Providence, have secured to the British nation the enjoyment of a -larger share of practical freedom, as well as of prosperity and -happiness, than have fallen to the lot of any nation in the world." - - - - -THE CHARACTER OF "JOHN BULL" (1820). - -=Source.=--Washington Irving's _Sketch Book_. Pp. 237-239. Bohn's -Libraries. G. Bell & Sons, London. - - -What is worst of all, is the effect which these pecuniary -embarrassments and domestic feuds have had on the poor man -himself. Instead of that jolly round corporation, and snug rosy -face, which he used to present, he has of late become as shrivelled -and shrunk as a frost-bitten apple. His scarlet gold-laced -waistcoat, which bellied out so bravely in those prosperous days -when he sailed before the wind, now hangs loosely about him like -a mainsail in a calm. His leather breeches are all in folds and -wrinkles, and apparently have much ado to hold up the boots that -yawn on both sides of his once sturdy legs. - -Instead of strutting about as formerly, with his three-cornered -hat on one side; flourishing his cudgel, and bringing it down -every moment with a hearty thump upon the ground; looking every -one sturdily in the face, and trolling out a stave of a catch or a -drinking song; he now goes about whistling thoughtfully to himself, -with his head drooping down, his cudgel tucked under his arm, and -his hands thrust to the bottom of his breeches pockets, which are -evidently empty. - -Such is the plight of honest John Bull at present; yet for all -this, the old fellow's spirit is as tall and as gallant as ever. If -you drop the least expression of sympathy or concern, he takes fire -in an instant; swears that he is the richest and stoutest fellow in -the country; talks of laying out large sums to adorn his house or -buy another estate; and with a valiant swagger and grasping of his -cudgel, longs exceedingly to have another bout at quarter-staff. - -Though there may be something rather whimsical in all this, yet I -confess I cannot look upon John's situation without strong feelings -of interest. With all his odd humours and obstinate prejudices, -he is a sterling-hearted old blade. He may not be so wonderfully -fine a fellow as he thinks himself, but he is at least twice as -good as his neighbours represent him. His virtues are all his own; -all plain, home bred and unaffected. His very faults smack of the -raciness of his good qualities. His extravagance savours of his -generosity; his quarrelsomeness, of his courage; his credulity, of -his open faith; his vanity, of his pride; and his bluntness, of his -sincerity. They are all the redundancies of a rich and liberal -character. He is like his old oak, rough without, but sound and -solid within, whose bark abounds with excrescences in proportion -to the growth and grandeur of the timber; and whose branches make -a fearful groaning and murmuring in the least storm, from their -very magnitude and luxuriance. There is something, too, in the -appearance of his old family mansion that is extremely poetical -and picturesque; and, as long as it can be rendered comfortably -habitable, I should almost tremble to see it meddled with, during -the present conflict of tastes and opinions. Some of his advisers -are no doubt good architects, that might be of service; but many, I -fear, are mere levellers, who, when they had once got to work with -their mattocks on this venerable edifice, would never stop until -they had brought it to the ground, and perhaps buried themselves -among the ruins. All that I wish is that John's present troubles -may teach him more prudence in the future. That he may cease to -distress his mind about other people's affairs; that he may give -up the fruitless attempt to promote the good of his neighbours, -and the peace and happiness of the world, by dint of the cudgel; -that he may remain quietly at home; gradually get his house into -repair; cultivate his rich estate according to his fancy; husband -his income--if he thinks proper; bring his unruly children into -order--if he can; renew the jovial scenes of ancient prosperity; -and long enjoy, on his paternal lands, a green, an honourable and a -merry old age. - - - - -THE DEATH OF NAPOLEON (1821). - -=Source.=--_The Gentleman's Magazine, 1821._ Vol. 91, p. 86. - - -May 5. At St. Helena, of a lingering illness, which had confined -him to his bed for upwards of forty days, Napoleon Buonaparte. -He desired that after his death his body should be opened, as he -suspected he was dying of the same disease which had killed his -father--a cancer in the stomach. - -He lay in state three days, at the particular wish of the French -people, who behaved to all visitors with much affability, amounting -to condescension. The body was opened; the stomach was the entire -seat of the disease--a cancer, or a schirrous state of that organ. -The disease must have caused great pain, and appeared to have been -of considerable standing. It was remarked before his death, that -for more than nine days he had refused all nourishment, which was -supposed to proceed from resignation or obstinacy; but the diseased -state of the stomach fully accounts for it. - -The body was laid out on a bed in a room of the middling size, -hung with black, and well lighted up. He was dressed in full -Field-Marshal's uniform; that said to have been worn by him at the -battle of Marengo. His person seemed small, and rather diminutive -(exact height five feet seven inches); but the fineness of the -countenance much exceeded expectation. The face appeared to be -large, compared with the body; the features pleasing and extremely -regular, still retaining a half-formed smile; and must have been -truly imposing, when enlivened by a penetrating pair of eyes. His -skin was perfectly sallow, which seemed to be its natural colour. - -The garden was laid out in the most fanciful manner; an astonishing -variety being contained in a very small space. - -Buonaparte died on Saturday, and the funeral took place the -following Wednesday at 12 o'clock. A grand procession was formed -of the officers, soldiers, and marines; which, altogether, made a -very striking exhibition. The troops were drawn up two men deep on -the road side, out of Longwood gates; each man resting the point -of his musket on his foot, with the left hand on its butt; and the -left cheek leaning on his hand in a mournful position; the band -stationed at the head of each corps playing a dead march. - -He was buried at the head of Rupert's Valley, about half-way -between James' Town and Longwood, under the shade of a large -willow-tree, near a small spring well, the water in which is both -good and pleasant. For some years past he had water carried to him -daily from this well, in two silver tankards which he brought from -Moscow. Some years since, when visiting this well, in company with -Madame Bertrand, he said, if the British Government buried him on -St. Helena, he wished this to be the spot. It is certainly a very -retired pretty situation, surrounded by high hills in the form of -an amphitheatre, the public road to Longwood leading along the top -of the ridge. - -After letting the coffin into the grave, three vollies from 11 -field pieces were fired, and the flag-ship also fired 25 minute -guns. The Catholic priest performed the ceremony after the rites of -the Romish Church. - -The grave was 10 feet long, 10 deep, and five wide; the bottom -happened to be solid rock, in which a space was cut to receive the -coffin; the sides and ends of the grave were each walled in with -one large Portland flag, and three large flags were put immediately -over the coffin, and fastened down with iron bars and lead, beside -Roman cement. The top of the grave is elevated about eight inches -above the surface of the ground, and covered over with three rough -slates. - - - - -NAPOLEON (1821). - -=Source.=--P. B. Shelley's _Poems_. - - - What! alive and so bold, O Earth? - Art thou not over bold? - What! leapest thou forth as of old - In the light of thy morning mirth, - The last of the flock of the starry fold? - Ha! leapest thou forth as of old? - Are not the limbs still when the ghost is fled - And can'st thou move, Napoleon being dead? - - How! is not thy quick heart cold? - What spark is alive on thy hearth? - How! is not _his_ death-knell knolled? - And livest _thou_ still, Mother Earth? - Thou wert warming thy fingers old - O'er the embers covered and cold - Of that most fiery spirit, when it fled-- - What, Mother, do you laugh now he is dead? - - "Who has known me of old," replied Earth, - "Or who has my story told? - It is thou who art over bold!" - And the lightning of scorn laughed forth - As she sung, "To my bosom I fold - All my sons when their knell is knolled, - And so with living motion all are fed, - And the quick spring like weeds out of the dead. - - "Still alive and still bold," shouted Earth, - "I grow bolder and still more bold. - The dead fill me ten thousand fold - Fuller of speed, and splendour, and mirth. - I was cloudy, and sullen, and cold, - Like a frozen chaos uprolled, - Till by the spirit of the mighty dead - My heart grew warm. I feed on whom I fed. - - "Ay, alive and bold," muttered Earth, - "Napoleon's fierce spirit rolled, - In terror and blood and gold, - A torrent of ruin to death from his birth. - Leave the millions who follow to mould - The metal before it be cold; - And weave into his shame, which like the dead - Shrouds me, the hopes that from his glory fled." - - - - -NAPOLEON AND ENGLAND (1821). - -=Source.=--Lord Tennyson's _Early Sonnets_, V. 1832. - - -BUONAPARTE. - - He thought to quell the stubborn hearts of oak, - Madman!--to chain with chains, and bind with bands - That island queen that sways the floods and lands - From Ind to Ind, but in fair daylight woke, - When from her wooden walls, lit by sure hands, - With thunders, and with lightnings and with smoke, - Peal after peal, the British battle broke, - Lulling the brine against the Coptic sands. - We taught him lowlier moods, when Elsinore - Heard the war moan along the distant sea, - Rocking with shattered spars, with sudden fires - Flamed over: at Trafalgar yet once more - We taught him: late he learned humility - Perforce, like those whom Gideon school'd with briers. - - - - -MONROE DOCTRINE (1823). - -=Source.=--_Annual Register_, 1823 (Public Documents). - - -_President Monroe's Message to Congress, Dec. 2, 1823._ - -"In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to -themselves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with -our policy to do so. It is only when our rights are invaded or -seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for -our defence. With the movements in this hemisphere we are, of -necessity, more immediately connected, and by causes which must be -obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political -system of the allied powers is essentially different in this -respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that -which exists in their respective governments. And to the defence -of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood -and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of our most enlightened -citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, -this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor, and -to the amicable relations existing between the United States and -those powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on -their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere -as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies -or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered, and -shall not interfere. But with the Governments who have declared -their independence, and maintained it, and whose independence we -have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, -we could not view any interposition, for the purpose of oppressing -them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any -European power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an -unfriendly disposition towards the United States." - - - - -SLAVERY (1823). - -=Source.=--_The Political Life of George Canning_, by A. G. -Stapleton. 1831. Vol. III. p. 90. - - -He concluded with moving as a resolution, "that the state -of Slavery was repugnant to the principles of the British -Constitution, and of the Christian Religion, and that it ought -to be abolished throughout the British Colonies with as much -expedition as might be found consistent with a due regard to the -well-being of the parties concerned." - -Mr. Canning rose immediately after Mr. Buxton had concluded, in the -hope that by at once making known the opinions of the Government -he might restrain the warmth of debate on so "fearful" a question, -on which he said the use of "one rash word," perhaps even of one -too "ardent an expression, might raise a flame not easily to be -extinguished." - -After pointing out the impropriety, not to say unfairness, of -Mr. Buxton, in having recourse to the by-gone question of the -Slave Trade as a topick of declamation, and remarking that the -course pursued by that gentleman of addressing himself not to the -judgment, but to the feelings of the House, was the one the least -likely to lead to a satisfactory result, Mr. Canning entreated the -members to look at the then "situation of the West Indies not as -a population accumulated by a succession of crimes, but simply as -it then existed." We might deplore the crimes and condemn those -who had encouraged their commission; but committed they had been -with the sanction of the British Parliament, whose duty it then -was to look at the subject not with reference to the crimes alone, -but to the nature of that state of society which had grown up in -consequence of their perpetration. - -"Looking at the West Indies," said Mr. Canning, "I find there a -numerous black population with a comparatively small proportion -of whites. The question, therefore, to be decided is, how -civil rights, moral improvement, and general happiness, can -be communicated to this overpowering multitude of slaves with -safety to their lives, and security to the interests of the White -Population? For the attainment of so great a good as raising these -unfortunate creatures in the scale of being, sacrifices ought -undoubtedly to be made; but would I therefore strike at the root -of the system--a system the growth of ages--and unhesitatingly -and rashly level it at a blow? Are we not all aware that there -are knots which cannot be suddenly disentangled and must not be -cut--difficulties which, if solved at all, must be solved by -patient consideration and impartial attention, in order that we may -not do the most flagrant injustice by aiming at justice itself." - - - - -THE STATE OF IRELAND (1823). - -=Source.=--_The Diary and Correspondence of Charles Abbot, Lord -Colchester_, Vol. III. p. 302. - - -_From Lord Redesdale._ - - "Batsford, October 30th. - -"My Dear Lord, - -"I think the state of Ireland at this time most perilous. - -"The government of a dictator, firm and well judging, assisted -by a great armed force ready to execute his will, is now become -necessary to the peace of Ireland. A Cromwell, at the head of such -an army as he had, not subject to the control of a Cabinet in -England--where is to be found such a man? Where is to be found such -an army? And how is the government of such a man, if found, to be -rendered independent of a Cabinet here? - -"He ought also to have so fully the confidence of Parliament, and -the spirit of the measures adopted by him ought to have been so -fully previously adopted in Parliament, that there should remain no -hope of obtaining countenance here for any complaint against him. -The people of Ireland must be fully persuaded that his orders must -be obliged. His government must bear some resemblance to that of -the French in Italy, but it must be uncorrupt, just, and humane, -and so far different from the French Government in Italy. - -"In this conceit I have imagined what is not possible; but if we -mean to save Ireland from great misery, we must approach as nearly -to what I have imagined as possible. - -"The first thing to be done must be to put an end to all the hopes -of the Roman Catholics obtaining the overthrow of the Protestant -establishment. This can only be done by a firm union of all -Protestants in both islands. Can we hope for this? The two Houses -of Parliament might pass strong resolutions on this subject. But -can we hope for unanimity in such resolutions? Can we hope to carry -such resolutions without strong opposition? May we not rather fear -that such propositions would be rejected, or so modified as to be -more mischievous than beneficial? I despair, therefore, of bringing -Ireland to a state of quiet. The system now pursued, I think, must -lead to increased agitation, and finally to insurrection, and -perhaps open war is better than the secret war now carried on. - -"I consider the late Tithe Bill as an experiment, which I -apprehended would, if it produced no other effect, show the -unreasonableness of the Irish landholders on the subject of tithes. -Tithes are undoubtedly a great oppression to agriculture. They are -a tax upon the most important manufacture, the production of food. -If the woollen manufacturers, for instance, were obliged to pay the -tenth yard of cloth manufactured for the maintenance of the clergy, -what would be the effect? Just the same as the payment of the tenth -of agricultural produce. The price must be raised in proportion -to the charge, or the profit of the manufacturer would be wholly -absorbed. A profit of 10 per cent. is esteemed a fair mercantile -profit; but the tithe of the manufactured cloth would be more than -10 per cent. on the price for which cloth now sells. Importation -would keep down the price, but it would ruin the manufacturer if -the article could be imported at a cheaper rate. If, therefore, -tithes could be transferred from the occupier to the landowner, it -would be beneficial to cultivation, though it would fall heavy on -the proprietors of land. On this ground also, I have approved of -the commutation of tithes in enclosures. - -"We give two-ninths of arable, and one-eighth of green land to the -tithe-owner. So far as tithes belong to the clergy, they put so -much land in mortmain. But land in mortmain is not so injurious to -agriculture as tithes taken in hand. And I thought the Bill might -lead to some permanent commutation, or at least to a settled rent, -putting all the occupiers of land on an equal footing with respect -to cultivation. - -"The French agriculturists have gained a great advantage by -throwing the maintenance of their clergy on the nation at large, -instead of tithes which pressed wholly on agriculture. Formerly -land was almost the only property productive of income; and, -therefore, many charges were imposed on land which ought, in the -present circumstances, to be a charge on property generally, if -that could be effected. It seems to me that the present state of -the European world is so changed that other changes must follow. -Moneyed property, the profits of trade and manufacturers, are -now a vast proportion of the income of the inhabitants of this -country, and the persons deriving income from these sources bear -that proportion only of the public burdens which are taxes on -expenditure; while the income derived from land maintains the -Church, the poor, the roads, the administration of justice, etc., -etc., to a vast amount, and pays at the same time all taxes -on expenditure; and the direct burdens on land increase with -the riches produced by trade and manufactures, and the moneyed -property. This I take to be a great cause of distress amongst the -agriculturists and their landlords. - - "Truly yours, - - "REDESDALE." - - - - -TRANSPORTATION (1823). - -=Source.=--In the _Edinburgh Review_, 1823, by the Rev. Sydney -Smith. - - -Men are governed by words, and under the infamous term convict, -are comprehended crimes of the most different degrees and species -of guilt. One man is transported for stealing three hams and a pot -of sausages; and in the next berth to him on board the transport -is a young surgeon, who has been engaged in the mutiny at the -Nore; the third man is for extorting money; the fourth was in a -respectable situation of life at the time of the Irish Rebellion, -and was so ill-read in History as to imagine that Ireland had been -ill-treated by England, and so bad a reasoner as to suppose, that -nine Catholics ought not to pay tithes to one Protestant. Then -comes a man who set his house on fire, to cheat the Phœnix Office; -and, lastly, that most glaring of all human villains, a poacher, -driven from Europe, wife and child, by thirty lords of manors, at -the Quarter Sessions, for killing a partridge. Now, all these are -crimes no doubt--particularly the last; but they are surely crimes -of very different degrees of intensity, to which different degrees -of contempt and horror are attached--and from which those who have -committed them may, by subsequent morality, emancipate themselves, -with different degrees of difficulty, and with more or less of -success. A warrant granted by a reformed bacon-stealer would be -absurd; but there is hardly any reason why a foolish hot-brained -young blockhead, who chose to favour the mutineers at the Nore when -he was sixteen years of age, may not make a very loyal subject, -when he is forty years of age, and has cast his Jacobine teeth, -and fallen into the practical jobbing and loyal baseness which so -commonly developes itself about that period of life. - -It is to be believed that a governor, placed over a land of -convicts, and capable of guarding his limbs from any sudden -collision with odometrous stones, or vertical posts of direction, -should make no distinction between the simple convict and the -double and treble convict--the man of three juries, who has three -times appeared at the Bailey, _trilarcenous_--three times driven -over the seas. - - - - -THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON AND HIS SONS (1824). - -=Source.=--_The Life of the Duke of Wellington_, by G. R. Gleig. - - -_Letter from the Duke of Wellington to the Rev. H. M. Wagner._ - - "Hatfield, 10th October, 1824. - -"My dear Sir, - -"I have received your letter of the 7th, to which I proceed to give -an answer; and I request you to communicate it to my sons, which -will save both me and them trouble. - -"After all inquiries which I have made, I believe that the -allowance which they ought to have, and which would go nearest to -provide for their education at Oxford, excluding a private tutor, -but including everything else, would be for Douro, who will be -entered as a nobleman, £800 per annum, including his half-pay; and -for Charles, who will be entered as a gentleman commoner, £500 per -annum, besides his half-pay. I therefore, by this post, direct -Messrs. Coutts to pay Douro £200, and Charles £125, on the 1st -October, 1st January, 1st April, and 1st July, each year, beginning -with the 1st inst. - -"I beg that Charles will observe that I make him this allowance, at -present, in order that he may defray the expenses of his education. -He must recollect, however, that he is only a younger brother, and -that it is not at all clear that he will ever have so much again, -unless he should make it by his own industry and talent; and I beg -you will tell them both that when I entered the world I had just -the sum for the whole year which I now give Charles every quarter. - -"I intend that these allowances shall cover all expenses of every -description; and I have reason to believe them so ample that I -expect they will not run in debt; particularly as I begin by paying -them in advance, and as I will take upon myself the following -expenses: - -"The entrance fees at the college and university for both. - -"The expenses of the nobleman's and gentleman-commoner's gowns. - -"They must pay for the furniture of their rooms themselves, but if -you should think the expense too heavy upon them immediately, I -would advance the money, and they can repay me hereafter. - -"I give them the horses which they now have with them, of which -they may dispose as they may think proper; and they may take any -servants they please out of my house or stables, they, of course, -paying their wages, and also their expenses, from the time of their -leaving me. - -"Accordingly, if you let me know what the entrance-money is, and -the expense of the gowns, I will send you the money. - -"I beg you to impress upon them that there is but one certain and -infallible way of avoiding debt, that is, first, to determine -to incur no expense, to defray which the money is not in their -pockets; secondly, to pay the money immediately for everything they -get, and for every expense they incur. They will then be certain -that everything they have is their own, and they will know at all -times what they can and what they cannot do. There is nothing so -easy, provided they begin in time; and I give them these ample -allowances, and pay them beforehand, purposely that they may at -once pay for everything the moment they get it. - -"They should, in adopting this system, advert to the expenses -of the college, which they have to defray themselves, their -servants' wages and clothes, the keep of their horses, and lay -by a sufficiency to defray their expenses till the 1st January. -The remainder will be their own, and they will lay it out as they -please; observing always, that if this remainder is laid out -uselessly or idly, and they act up rigidly to the system of paying -for everything at the time they get it, they may want clothes or -other necessaries, or reasonable gratifications, before the quarter -will expire. - -"I think it best to remind them of all this, because I hope that -they and I will have no further discussion upon these subjects. -In respect of their studies, I am very anxious about their -mathematics, as essential to those who serve in the army. If you -will let me know what the course is in the university, I will give -you my opinion upon other matters. They should likewise have a -perfect knowledge of modern geography and history, of course, but I -shall hear further from you on these points. I will go and see them -shortly after they shall have gone to Oxford, where they ought to -be on the 14th. They had better probably go to Strathfieldsaye to -make their arrangements for their departure, as soon as you will -receive this letter. - -"I wish you would let each of them keep a copy of this letter, and -send me one." - - - - -FREE TRADE (1825). - -=Source.=--William Cobbett's _Rural Rides_, ed. by Mr. Pitt -Cobbett, 1885. - - -One newspaper says that Mr. Huskisson is gone to Paris, and thinks -it likely that he will endeavour to "inculcate in the mind of the -Bourbons wise principles of _free trade_!" What next! Persuade -them, I suppose, that it is for _their good_ that English goods -should be admitted into France and into St. Domingo with little or -no duty? Persuade them to make a treaty of commerce with him; and -in short persuade them to make _France help to pay the interest -of our debt and dead-weight_, lest our system of paper should -go to pieces, and lest that should be followed by a _radical -reform_, which reform would be injurious to "the monarchical -principle!" This newspaper politician does, however, _think_ that -the Bourbons will be "too dull" to comprehend these "_enlightened_ -and _liberal_" notions; and I think so too. I think the Bourbons, -or, rather, those who will speak for them, will say: "No thank -you. You contracted your debt without our participation; you made -your _dead-weight_ for your own purposes: the seizure of our -museums and the loss of our frontier towns followed your victory -of Waterloo, though we were 'your Allies' at the time; you made us -pay an enormous tribute after that battle, and kept possession of -part of France till we had paid it; you _wished_, the other day, -to keep us out of Spain, and you, Mr. Huskisson, in a speech at -Liverpool, called our deliverance of the King of Spain an _unjust -and unprincipled act of aggression_, while Mr. Canning prayed -to God that we might not succeed. No thank you, Mr. Huskisson, -no. No coaxing, sir: we saw, then, too clearly the _advantage we -derived from your having a debt and a dead-weight_, to wish to -assist in relieving you of either. 'Monarchical principle' here or -'monarchical principle' there, we know that your mill-stone debt -is our best security. We like to have your wishes, your prayers, -and your abuses against us, rather than your _subsidies_ and your -_fleets_; and so, farewell, Mr. Huskisson; if you like, the English -may drink French wine; but whether they do or not, the French shall -not wear your rotten cottons. And, as a last word, how did you -maintain the 'monarchical principle,' the 'paternal principle,' -or as Castlereagh called it, the 'social system,' when you called -that an unjust and unprincipled aggression which put an end to the -bargain by which the convents and other Church property of Spain -were to be transferred to the Jews and jobbers of London? Bon -jour, Monsieur Huskisson, ci-devant membre et orateur du club de -quatre-vingt-neuf!" - -If they do not actually say this to him, this is what they will -think; and that is, as to the effect, precisely the same thing. It -is childishness to suppose that any nation will act from a desire -of _serving all other nations_, or _any one other nation_, as _well -as itself_. It will make, unless compelled, no compact by which it -does not think itself _a gainer_; and amongst its gains, it must, -and always does, reckon the injury to its rivals. It is a stupid -idea that _all nations are to gain_ by anything. Whatever is the -gain of one, must, in some way or other, be a loss to another. So -that this new project of "free trade" and "mutual gain" is a pure -humbug as that which the newspapers carried on during the "glorious -days" of loans, when they told us, at every loan, that the bargain -was "equally advantageous to the contractors and to the public!" -The fact is the "free trade" project is clearly the effect of a -_consciousness of our weakness_. As long as we felt _strong_, -we felt _bold_, we had no thought of conciliating the world; we -upheld a system of _exclusion_, which long experience proved to -be founded in _sound policy_. But we now find that our debts and -our loads of various sorts cripple us. We feel our incapacity for -the _carrying of trade sword in hand_: and so we have given up all -our old maxims, and are endeavouring to persuade the world that -we are anxious to enjoy no advantages that are not enjoyed also -by our neighbours. Alas! the world sees very clearly the cause of -all this; and the world _laughs at us_ for our imaginary cunning. -My old doggrel, that used to make me and my friends laugh in Long -Island, is precisely put to this case. - - When his man was stuffed with paper, - How John Bull did prance and caper! - How he foam'd and how he roared: - How his neighbours all he gored. - How he scrap'd the ground and hurled - Dirt and filth on all the world! - But John Bull of paper empty, - Though in midst of peace and plenty, - Is modest grown as worn-out sinner, - As Scottish laird that wants a dinner; - As Wilberforce, become content - A rotten borough to represent; - As Blue and Buff, when, after hunting - On Yankee coasts their "bits of bunting," - Came softly back across the seas, - And silent were as mice in cheese. - -Yes, the whole world, and particularly the French and the Yankees, -see very clearly the _course_ of this fit of modesty and of -liberality into which we have so recently fallen. They know well -that a _war_ would play the very devil with our national faith. -They know, in short, that no ministers in their senses will think -of supporting the paper system through another war. They know -well that no ministers now exist, or are likely to exist, will -venture to endanger the paper-system; and therefore they know that -(for England) they may now do just what they please. When the -French were about to invade Spain, Mr. Canning said that his last -despatch on the subject was to be understood as a _protest_, on the -part of England, against permanent occupation of any part of Spain -by France. There the French are, however; and at the end of two -years and a half he says that he knows nothing about any intention -that they have to quit Spain, or any part of it. - - - - -THE FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 1824 AND 1825. - -=Source.=--_The Political Life of Sir Robert Peel_, by Thomas -Doubleday. London, 1856. Vol. I. pp. 329-331. - - -The most trustworthy account of the almost insane operations -of 1824 and 1825 is perhaps that of Mr. Tooke, the well-known -author of the treatise on "High and Low Prices," who in his -"Considerations on the State of the Currency," published in 1826, -immediately after the panic, thus describes the steps that led to -it.[2] Speaking of the latter months of 1824 and the first six -months of 1825, Mr. Tooke thus proceeds: - -"Never did the public exhibit so great a degree of infatuation, -so complete an abandonment of all the most ordinary rules of -mercantile reasoning, since the celebrated bubble year of 1720, -as it did in the latter part of 1824 and the first three or four -months of 1825. - -"The speculative anticipation of an advance was no longer confined -to articles which presented a plausible ground for some rise, -however small. It extended itself to articles which were not -only deficient in quantity, but actually in excess. Thus coffee, -of which the stock was increased compared with the average of -former years, advanced from 70 to 80 per cent.; spices rose in -some instances from 100 to 200 per cent., without any reason -whatever, and with a total ignorance on the part of the operators -of everything connected with the relation of the supply to the -consumption. - -"In short, there was hardly an article of merchandise which did -not participate in the rise; for it had become the business of -the speculators, or of the brokers, who were interested in the -raising and keeping up prices, to look minutely through the general -prices-current, with a view to discover any article which had not -advanced, in order to make it the subject of anticipated demand. -If a person, not under the influence of the prevalent delusion, -ventured to inquire for what reason any particular article had -risen, the common answer was, 'Everything else has risen, and -_therefore_ this ought to rise.' - -"Whilst such were the transactions in the markets for goods, -and whilst there was an extension of the system of loans to the -transatlantic states, some of them affording little or no security, -but almost all coming out at a premium, an enlarged field was -presented for the spirit of gambling to enter upon. New mining, -insurance, and other schemes, were set on foot, on the principle of -joint-stock companies, in immense number. - -"The earliest South American mining speculations or associations -formed in this country had been entered into with considerable -circumspection, the parties with whom they originated having, by -local information and connexion, secured comparatively beneficial -contracts, and priority of the working of mines known to be most -productive. These apparent advantages being made known, attracted -numerous persons to buy shares from the original subscribers at -a progressively increasing premium. The great gains--or rather -premiums in anticipation of gains--thus obtained by one or two of -these associations, held out an inducement to the formation of new -ones. - -"It is well known how numerously mining and other joint-stock -companies sprung up, and how successful they were for some time -in catching and turning to account the disposition for hazardous -adventure which now pervaded the nation. The operators on the -share market made the new schemes the basis for an enormous extent -of gambling. Many persons, quite removed from all connexion with -business--retired officers, widows, and single women of small -fortune--risked their incomes or their savings in every species of -desperate enterprize. The competition and scramble for premiums -in concerns which ought never to have been but at a discount, -were perfectly astounding to those who took no part in such -transactions. These operations in shares had an effect like that -of speculations in goods, in adding to the mass of the circulation -of paper and of credit; and this, be it still kept in mind, -concurrently with the addition which had been made to the Bank of -England issues. - -"It is not possible to compute, with even any approach to accuracy, -the amount of the addition to the total of the circulating medium -by these united causes; but if I were called upon to hazard -an estimate, I should conjecture that the whole amount of the -circulating medium, including the transactions on credit without -the intervention of paper, must have been, on the average of the -four months ending April, 1825, _little if at all short of fifty -per cent. above what it had been in the corresponding period of -1823_. The approximation of this estimate to the truth is rendered -probable by the consideration that, upon the principles which -determine money prices and nominal values, such a general rise of -prices, amounting in some instances to above 100 per cent., without -even the allegation of any general scarcity, could not have taken -place without an immense expansion of the circulating medium." - -Tooke's _Considerations of the State of the Currency_, 1826, p. 47. - - - - -THE FRENCH OCCUPATION OF SPAIN (1826). - -=Source.=--Martineau's _History of the Peace_, Vol. I. pp. 406-408. -Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons. - - -It having been objected that the balance of dignity and honour -among nations had been affected by the French occupation of Spain, -which was thought to have exalted France and lowered England, Mr. -Canning replied: "I must beg leave to say that I dissent from that -averment. The House knows--the country knows--that when the French -army was on the point of entering Spain, his Majesty's Government -did all in their power to prevent it; that we resisted it by all -means short of war. I have just now stated some of the reasons why -we did not think the entry of that army into Spain a sufficient -ground for war; but there was, in addition to those which I have -stated, this peculiar reason, that whatever effect a war commenced -upon the mere ground of the entry of a French army into Spain, -might have, it probably would not have had the effect of getting -that army out of Spain. In a war against France at that time as -at any other, you might perhaps have acquired military glory; -you might, perhaps, have extended your colonial possessions; you -might even have achieved, at a great cost of blood and treasure, -an honourable peace; but as to getting the French out of Spain, -that would have been the one object which you almost certainly -would not have accomplished. How seldom, in the whole history of -the wars of Europe, has any war between two great powers ended in -the obtaining of the exact, the identical object for which the war -was begun! Besides, sir, I confess I think that the effects of the -French occupation of Spain have been infinitely exaggerated. I do -not blame those exaggerations, because I am aware that they are to -be attributed to the recollections of some of the best times of our -history; that they are the echoes of sentiments which, in the days -of William and Anne, animated the debates and dictated the votes -of the British Parliament. No peace was in those days thought safe -for this country while the crown of Spain continued on the head -of Bourbon; but were not the apprehensions of those days greatly -overstated? Has the power of Spain swallowed up the power of -maritime England? Or does England still remain, after the lapse of -more than a century, during which the crown of Spain has been worn -by a Bourbon, niched in the nook of that same Spain--Gibraltar?... -Again, sir, is the Spain of the present day the Spain ... whose -puissance was expected to shake England from her sphere? No, sir, -it was quite another Spain; it was the Spain within the limits of -whose empire the sun never set; it was Spain "with the Indies" -that excited the jealousies, and alarmed the imaginations of our -ancestors. But then, sir, the balance of power! The entry of the -French army into Spain disturbed that balance, and we ought to -have gone to war to restore it! I have already said that when the -French army entered Spain, we might, if we chose, have resisted or -resented that measure by war. But were there no other means than -war for restoring the balance of power? Is the balance of power a -fixed and unalterable standard? or is it not a standard perpetually -varying, as civilisation advances, and as new nations spring up, -and take their place among established political communities? The -balance of power, a century and a half ago, was to be adjusted -between France and Spain, the Netherlands, Austria and England. -Some years afterwards, Russia assumed her high station in European -politics. Some years after that again, Prussia became, not only a -substantive, but a preponderating monarchy. Thus, while the balance -of power continued in principle the same, the means of adjusting it -became more varied and enlarged. They became enlarged in proportion -to the increased number of considerable states--in proportion, -I may say, to the number of weights which might be shifted into -the one or the other scale. To look to the policy of Europe, in -the time of William and Anne, for the purpose of regulating the -balance of power in Europe at the present day, is to disregard the -progress of events, and to confuse dates and facts which throw a -reciprocal light upon each other. It would be disingenuous, indeed, -not to admit, that the entry of the French army into Spain was, -in a certain sense, a disparagement--an affront to the pride--a -blow to the feelings of England; and it can hardly be supposed -that the government did not sympathise, on that occasion, with the -feelings of the people. But I deny that, questionable or censurable -as the act might be, it was one which necessarily called for our -direct and hostile opposition. Was nothing then to be done? Was -there no other mode of resistance than by a direct attack upon -France; or by a war to be undertaken on the soil of Spain? What -if the possession of Spain might be rendered harmless in rival -hands--harmless as regarded us--and valueless to the possessors? -Might not compensation for disparagement be obtained and the policy -of our ancestors vindicated, by means better adapted to the present -time? If France occupied Spain, was it necessary, in order to avoid -the consequences of that occupation, that we should blockade Cadiz? -No. I looked another way. I sought materials of compensation in -another hemisphere. Contemplating Spain, such as our ancestors had -known her, I resolved that if France had Spain, it should not be -Spain 'with the Indies.' I called the New World into existence, to -redress the balance of the Old." - - - - -THE REMOVAL OF TRADE RESTRICTIONS - -=Source.=--_The Political Life of George Canning_, by A. G. -Stapleton. London, 1831. Vol. III. pp. 16-22. - - -Mr. Huskisson felt therefore, when he came to the Board of Trade, -that although much had been done, yet more remained to do, and he -proceeded fearlessly, yet at the same time most cautiously, in -relaxing those restrictions on our commerce, which if preserved -were calculated to render almost nugatory the concessions already -made. - -Accordingly during the sessions of 1823, 1824, and 1825, different -Acts were introduced by Mr. Huskisson for doing away with the -discriminating duties; but in order that foreign nations might not -impose new, or increase old discriminating duties, at the very -moment when we were abandoning ours, a power was reserved to the -King in Council to enforce the payment of additional duties upon -the ships of all foreign countries, in the event of the treatment -which British ships should meet with in their ports, not being -reciprocal to that, which their ships were to meet with, in the -ports of the United Kingdom. - -In 1826 a new rule of navigation, exclusively applicable to the -Mediterranean, was established. Goods, the productions of Asia and -Africa, which should find their way to ports in Europe within that -sea by internal routes, and not by the Atlantick Ocean, were made -importable from those ports in British ships: thus erecting the -Mediterranean and its surrounding shores, as it were, into a fifth -quarter of the globe. - -Mr. Huskisson also revised and altered the list of "enumerated -articles." When that list was first constructed it was intended -to consist of commodities of extensive importation; in process of -time some of the articles contained in the list had nearly ceased -to be imported, while their places were supplied by other articles -which were omitted. The list was therefore reconstructed upon the -principle of its original intention. - -In 1825 the general consolidation of the Laws of the Customs -was effected by Mr. Hume,[3] under the favouring auspices of -the Board of Trade and Treasury. The difficulty and vastness of -this undertaking was only surpassed by its importance. From the -reign of the first Edward up to the present times, these laws had -accumulated to the enormous number of fifteen hundred--frequently -contradictory, and made without reference to each other, they were -only understood by the initiated few, and required the devotion -of a whole life to their study, at once to comprehend, and to -obey them. They were unintelligible to the merchants, while they -perplexed and harassed all their proceedings. This chaos of -Legislation was compressed by Mr. Hume into Eleven Acts (a sort -of Code Napoleon), with an order, a clearness, and a precision -whereby even the least talented of our mercantile men are now -enabled to consult the laws of the Customs with facility, and to -take them with safety for their guide. These effects, upon which -for their advantages to commerce Mr. Huskisson several times -expatiated with exultation, would alone make this consolidation a -most important era in our fiscal policy; but advantage was likewise -taken of the opportunity to introduce into the Laws themselves -some memorable changes, in conformity with the spirit of those -principles of commercial intercourse, on which the Government had -determined to act. Not only were duties of importance considerably -reduced, but those on numerous minor articles were lowered. During -the war the rates of the Tariff had been so increased, for the -single purpose of revenue, that they had become for the most part -inapplicable to a state of peace, and required general revision. -This revision was regulated by the following principles: First, -those duties were reduced, the heaviness of which tended to lessen, -rather than to increase their total product. Secondly, the duties -on raw materials, and on various articles useful in manufactures, -were lowered to little more than nominal sums. Thirdly, protecting -duties of extravagant amount were reduced to that point, at which -the consumer was fairly entitled to relief, either by the increased -industry of the home manufacture, or by access to other sources of -supply. And, lastly, the comforts and the tastes of the publick, -and the advantage of their retail suppliers, were consulted by -the removal of duties which prevented the introduction, or most -unnecessarily abridged, the use of many articles without benefit to -any party whatever. - -By the system founded on these principles, there has not only -been distributed amongst a numerous population a great increase -of employment, but its diffusion has been greater in proportion, -than its increase. It is also very remarkable, that those trades -which have been prominent in complaining of foreign competition -have neither suffered more in diminution of profits, nor increased -less in extent of business, than those which have been able to hold -foreign competition at defiance. - -Besides this consolidation of the Customs' Laws which took place -in 1825, an Act was passed in the session of that year, whereby -many commercial advantages were conferred on the Colonies, beyond -those contained in Mr. Robinson's two acts of 1822; Mr. Huskisson -laying down as the fundamental principle on which his alterations -were founded--a principle deduced from past experience with respect -both to _Ireland and to our Colonies_--that "so far as the Colonies -themselves were concerned, their prosperity was cramped and impeded -by a system of exclusion and monopoly; and that whatever tended -to increase the prosperity of the Colonies could not fail, in the -long run, to advance, in an equal degree, the general interests -of the parent state." By these Acts, not only articles of first -necessity, but goods of all descriptions, with very few exceptions, -were allowed to be imported from all countries, either in British -ships, or in ships of the country of their production; and the -goods of the Colonies were allowed to be exported in any ships to -any foreign country whatever. The only part of the Colonial system -which was persevered in, was that which excludes foreign ships -from carrying goods from one British place to another; "so that by -this arrangement was preserved the foundation of our Navigation -Laws--all intercourse between the mother-country and the Colonies, -whether direct or circuitous, and all intercourse of the Colonies -with each other, being considered as a coasting trade to be -reserved entirely and absolutely for ourselves." - -The admission of foreign ships, however, was not unconditional: -it was made to depend upon reciprocal or equivalent liberality -towards our trade and navigation on the part of the countries -profiting by the advantages of it; but a power was given to the -King in Council to relax the rigour of the Law, if occasion should, -in any particular cases, seem to require it. By the same act, the -privileges of warehousing were extended to the chief trading ports -of the Colonies; a measure, which was well adapted to promote the -creation of _entrepôts_ in those places, for the general barter -trade of that quarter of the globe. - -Independently of all these measures of internal legislation, -Treaties of Commerce, founded on the principles of reciprocity, -were negotiated with Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, the Hanse Towns, -three of the new States of Spanish America, and lastly with France. -In the case of Prussia, the power with whom the first of these -Treaties was made, it may be said that, it was fairly forced upon -this country. It certainly was not the wish of our Government -unnecessarily to stir the question. But "the Prussian ship-owners -were all going to ruin," and the Prussian Government very wisely -resolved not to give to British ships privileges which the British -Government denied to Prussian ships. When once foreign powers -began to adopt that course, against which we could not justly -remonstrate, it has been already shewn that the only safe and wise -way was to meet it with concession. Prussia having therefore thus -attained her object, to have manifested any unwillingness to treat -other powers on the same footing, would have been inconsistent -with the principle of our navigation law, which, acting upon -the principle "divide et impera," was more anxious for an equal -distribution of foreign shipping, than for its diminution. - - - - -PORTUGUESE APPEAL FOR AID AGAINST SPAIN (1826). - -=Source.=--_The Political Life of George Canning_, by A. G. -Stapleton. London, 1831. Vol. III. p. 219. - - -_The King's Message._ - -"George R.--His Majesty acquaints the House of Commons that His -Majesty has received an earnest application from the Princess -Regent of Portugal, claiming, in virtue of the ancient obligations -of alliance and amity between His Majesty, and the Crown of -Portugal, His Majesty's aid against an hostile aggression from -Spain. - -"His Majesty has exerted himself for some time past, in conjunction -with His Majesty's Ally, the King of France, to prevent such an -aggression, and repeated assurances have been given by the Court of -Madrid of the determination of his Catholick Majesty, neither to -commit, nor to allow to be committed, from his Catholick Majesty's -territory, any aggression against Portugal; but His Majesty had -learned, with deep concern, that notwithstanding these assurances, -hostile inroads into the territory of Portugal have been concerted -in Spain, and have been executed under the eyes of Spanish -Authorities, by Portuguese Regiments, which had deserted into -Spain, and which the Spanish Government had repeatedly and solemnly -engaged to disarm, and to disperse. - -"His Majesty leaves no effort unexhausted to awaken the Spanish -Government to the dangerous consequences of this apparent -connivance. - -"His Majesty makes this communication to the House of Commons with -the full and entire confidence, that his faithful Commons will -afford to His Majesty their cordial concurrence and support in -maintaining the faith of treaties, and in securing against foreign -hostility the safety and independence of the kingdom of Portugal, -the oldest ally of Great Britain. - - "G. R." - - - - -MR. CANNING AND THE PORTUGUESE APPEAL (1826). - -=Source.=--_The Political Life of George Canning_, by A. G. -Stapleton. London, 1831. Vol. III. p. 222. - - -"Some years ago," said Mr. Canning, "in the discussion of the -negotiations respecting the French war against Spain, I took -the liberty of adverting to this topick. I then stated that the -position of this country in the present state of the world, was one -of neutrality, not only between contending nations, but between -conflicting principles; and that it was by neutrality alone that we -could maintain that balance, the preservation of which I believed -to be essential to the welfare of mankind. I then said that I -feared that the next war which should be kindled in Europe, would -be a war not so much of armies, as of opinions. Not four years -have elapsed, and behold my apprehension realised! It is, to be -sure, within narrow limits that this war of opinion is at present -confined: but it is a war of opinion, that Spain (whether as -Government, or as nation), is now waging against Portugal; it is -a war which has commenced in hatred of the new institutions of -Portugal. How long is it reasonable to expect that Portugal will -abstain from retaliation? If into that war this country shall be -compelled to enter, we shall enter into it, with a sincere and -anxious desire to mitigate, rather than exasperate--and to mingle -only in the conflict of arms, not in the more fatal conflict of -opinions. But I much fear that this country (however earnestly -she may endeavour to avoid it), could not, in such case, avoid -seeing ranked under her banners, all the restless and dissatisfied -of any nation with which she might come in conflict. It is the -contemplation of this new _power_ in any future war, which excites -my most anxious apprehension. It is one thing to have a giant's -strength, but it would be another to use it like a giant. The -consciousness of such strength is, undoubtedly, a source of -confidence and security; but in the situation in which this country -stands, our business is not to seek opportunities of displaying it, -but to content ourselves with letting the professors of violent -and exaggerated doctrines on both sides feel that it is not their -interest to convert an umpire, into an adversary. The situation of -England, amidst the struggle of political opinions, which agitates -more or less sensibly different countries of the world, may be -compared to that of the Ruler of the Winds, as described by the -poet: - - "'Celsâ sedet Aeolus arce, - Sceptra tenens; mollitque animos et temperat iras; - Ni faciat, maria ac terras caelumque profundum - Quippe ferant rapidi secum, verrantque per auras.' - -"The consequence of letting loose the passions at present chained -and confined, would be to produce a scene of desolation, which no -man can contemplate without horror: and I should not sleep easy on -my couch, if I were conscious that I had contributed to precipitate -it by a single moment. - -"This, then, is the reason--a reason very different from fear--the -reverse of a consciousness of disability,--why I dread the -recurrence of hostilities in any part of Europe: why I would bear -much, and would forbear long; why I would (as I have said) put up -with almost anything that did not touch national faith and national -honour;--rather than let slip the furies of war, the leash of which -we hold in our hands,--not knowing whom they may reach, or how far -their ravages may be carried. Such is the love of peace which the -British Government acknowledges, and such the necessity of peace -which the circumstances of the world inculcate. - -"Let us fly," said Mr. Canning, in conclusion, "to the aid of -Portugal by whomsoever attacked; because it is our duty to do -so: and let us cease our interference where that duty ends. We -go to Portugal not to rule, not to dictate, not to prescribe -Constitutions, but to defend and to preserve the independence of -an ally. We go to plant the standard of England on the well-known -heights of Lisbon. Where that standard is planted foreign dominion -shall not come." - - - - -THE LIFE OF CONVICT-SERVANTS IN AUSTRALIA (1827). - -=Source.=--_The London Magazine_, 1827. Vol. VIII. p. 518. - - -_Extract from "Two Years in New South Wales," by P. Cunningham, -Surgeon, R.N._ - -"The convict-servants are accommodated upon the farms in huts -walled round and roofed with bark, or built of split wood and -plaster, with thatched roofs. About four of them generally sleep -and mess in each hut, drawing their provisions every Saturday, and -being generally allowed the afternoon of that day, whereupon to -wash their clothes and grind their wheat. Their usual allowance I -have already stated to be a peck of wheat; seven pounds of beef, -or four and a half of pork; two ounces of tea, two ounces of -tobacco, and a pound of sugar, weekly; the majority of settlers -permitting them to raise vegetables in little gardens allotted for -their use, or supplying them occasionally from their own gardens. -Wages are only allowed at the option of the master; but you are -obliged to supply them with two full suits of clothes annually; -and you also furnish a bed-tick (to be stuffed with grass), and a -blanket, to each person, besides a tin-pot and knife; as also an -iron-pot and frying-pan to each mess. The tea, sugar, and tobacco, -are considered _bonuses_ for good conduct, and withheld in default -thereof. - -"To get work done, you must feed well; and when the rations are -ultimately raised upon your own farm, you never give their expense -a moment's consideration. The farm-men usually bake their flour -into flat cakes, which they call _dampers_, and cook these in the -ashes, cutting their salted meats into thin slices, and boiling -them in the iron-pot or frying-pan, by which means the salt is, in -a great measure, extracted. If tea and sugar are not supplied, milk -is allowed as a substitute, tea _or_ milk forming the beverage to -every meal. Though not living so comfortably as when everything -is cooked and put down before them, yet it is more after their -own mind, while the operations of preparing their meals amuse -their leisure hours and give a greater zest to the enjoyment of -those repasts. When the labour of the day is over, with enlivening -chit-chat, singing, and smoking, they chase away _ennui_, and make -the evening hours jog merrily by. Indeed, without the aid of that -magic care-killer, the pipe, I believe the greater portion of our -'pressed men' would 'take the bush' in a week after their arrival -in our solitudes, before time had attuned their minds to rural -prospects and industrious pursuits. - -"Convicts, when first assigned, if long habituated to a life -of idleness and dissipation, commonly soon become restless and -dissatisfied; and if failing to provoke you to return them into the -government employ, wherein they may again be enabled to idle away -their time in the joyous companionship of their old associates, -will run off for head-quarters, regardless of the flogging that -awaits them on being taken or on giving themselves up--the idle -ramble they have had fully compensating them for the twenty-five or -fifty lashes they may receive, in case they should not be admitted -among the list at head-quarters. Many, too, start off for want of -something for their fingers to pick at,--the leader of one batch -of runaways from a friend of mine, exclaiming to those he left -behind, on bidding them adieu, 'Why, I may as well be dead and -buried in earnest, as buried alive in this here place, where a -fellow has not even a _chance_!' The chance here wished for, not -being the _chance_ of bettering his condition by good conduct, -but by emptying the full pocket of some luckless wight! If they -can be coaxed or compelled to stop, however, for a _twelvemonth_ -or so, the greater portion, even of the worst, generally turn -out very fair and often very good servants; cockneys becoming -able ploughmen, and weavers, barbers, and such like soft-fingered -gentry, being metamorphosed into good fencers, herdsmen and -shepherds; a little urging and encouragement on the part of the -master, and perseverance in enforcing his authority, generally -sufficing. - -"The convict-servants commence labour at sunrise, and leave off -at sunset, being allowed an hour for breakfast, and an hour or -more for dinner. It is long before you can accustom the greater -portion to steady labour, the best of them usually working by fits -and starts, then lying down for an hour or two, and up and at it -again. To get your work readily and quietly done, the best method -is certainly to task them, and allow them to get through it as -they please; but as it is an object to accustom them to _regular_ -industry, it will eventually serve your purpose better, and benefit -them more, to keep them at constant work. Even some of the free-men -who have served their time are perpetually skipping about, seldom -remaining long in one situation." - - - - -AN INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE IV. (1827). - -=Source.=--_The Diary and Correspondence of Charles Abbot, Lord -Colchester._ London, 1861. Vol. III. p. 472. - - -March 27th. Heard from the Duke of Newcastle a fuller account of -his interview with the King, at Windsor, on Saturday last. (The -former account I had received from Lord Falmouth.) - -He arrived at Windsor at two, and requested an audience. At the -end of two hours, when he was exhausted and almost asleep, the door -of his apartment was opened, and the King was announced. - -The King received him very graciously; believed he understood -the subject of his visit; entered at great length into the whole -history of the Roman Catholics, from the reign of James II. down -to the present time. Professed himself a "Protestant, heart and -soul." Declared he never would give his assent to any measures for -Roman Catholic Emancipation. And, when pressed by the Duke as to -the new form of his administration, he assured the Duke "that the -First Minister should be for the Protestant side of the question," -and, as to Ireland, that the Chancellor there should be Protestant -also. He added that the present audience would be necessarily known -to everybody; but "he must keep faith with his Ministers." He said, -"the courage of his family had never been questioned." When assured -that, in choosing Protestants for his Ministers, his choice would -be supported by a large and powerful body of Peers, and pressed -for an assurance that his choice would be made accordingly, he -said, again and again, "Do you doubt me? But it is not I who fail -in my duty. It is you in Parliament. Why do you suffer the d----d -Association in Dublin?" - -The Duke of Newcastle clearly saw that the Chancellor had lost -his former influence with the King. It was evident that the King -knew the Duke of Rutland's opinions upon the present subject. The -King's sentiments were strongly expressed, but there was reason to -apprehend that considerations of ease and repose might outweigh his -principles. - -The Duke told the King plainly that the support or opposition -of himself, and of those for whom he was acting, would depend -on the choice that the King should finally make in forming his -Administration. - -In parting, the King very graciously told him "he never need ask an -audience _in form_, he was always welcome," and hoped he would come -and fish there in the summer. - -(_N.B._--The King did not finish the audience without talking to -the Duke about his _tailor_.) - - - - -THE TREATY OF LONDON (1827). - -=Source.=--_The Political Life of George Canning_, by A. G. -Stapleton. London, 1831. Vol. III. p. 286. - - -The treaty was signed on the 6th of July, 1827, by Prince Lieven, -Lord Dudley, and Prince Polignac. - -In execution of this treaty instructions were sent in common -to the Representatives of the three Powers at Constantinople, -directing them to present a joint declaration to the Divan; -stating that their respective Governments had for six years been -exerting themselves to induce the Porte to restore tranquillity -to Greece; that these efforts had been useless, and that a war of -extermination had been prolonged, of which the results were on the -one hand shocking to humanity, while on the other they inflicted -intolerable injuries on the commerce of all nations. That on -these accounts it was no longer possible to admit that the fate -of Greece, concerned exclusively the Ottoman Porte, and that the -Courts of London, of Paris, and St. Petersburgh, therefore, felt -it to be their duty to regulate by a special treaty the line of -conduct which they had resolved to follow. That they offered their -mediation between the Sublime Porte and the Greeks to put an end to -the war, and to settle by an amicable negotiation the relations, -which ought for the future to exist between them. - -That for the purpose of facilitating the success of the mediation, -they proposed to the Sublime Porte to suspend by an armistice -all acts of hostility towards the Greeks, to whom a similar and -simultaneous proposition was to be addressed. - -Lastly, that before the end of a month, the Ottoman Porte must make -known its definite determination. - -That it was hoped that that determination would be in conformity -with the wishes of the allied courts; but if the Porte refused to -comply with the request, or returned an evasive and insufficient -answer, or even maintained a complete silence, the allied courts -would be compelled to have recourse to the measures which they -should think most likely to be efficacious to put an end to a -state of things, incompatible with the true interests of the Porte, -with the security of the commerce, and the assured tranquillity of -Europe. - -In the event of no answer, an evasive answer, or a refusal on -the part of the Porte, before a month had elapsed, the Divan was -to be informed that the Allied Courts would interfere themselves -to establish an armistice; but that, in the execution of this -resolution, they were far from wishing to put an end to their -friendly relations with the Porte. - -The result of these representations was forthwith to be reported to -the Admirals, commanding the several fleets of the Allies, who were -instructed to make a similar requisition for an armistice, to the -Greek Government; and in the event of either that Government, or -the Porte refusing, or delaying, to consent to the establishment of -an armistice, coercive measures were to be taken to enforce it. - -If the Porte should be the refusing party (for after the -propositions made by the Greeks there was little chance of their -not consenting to the armistice), the Allied Squadrons were to -unite, and the Admirals were to enter into friendly relations with -the Greeks on the one hand, and on the other, to intercept all -ships, freighted with men and arms, destined to act against the -Greeks, whether coming from Turkey, or from the coast of Africa. - -But whatever measures they might adopt towards the Ottoman navy, -the three Admirals were especially instructed to take extreme care -(_soin extrême_) that they should not degenerate into hostilities. -The fixed intention of the three Powers was to interpose as -conciliators (_conciliatrices_), and any hostile step would be -contrary to the pacifick character, which they were desirous of -assuming. - -The settlement of this treaty, and of these instructions to the -representatives of the three Courts, at Constantinople, and to the -commanders of the Allied Squadron, were Mr. Canning's last acts on -the subject of Greek affairs. - - - - -THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO (1827). - -=Source.=--_The Gentleman's Magazine_, Vol. 97, 1827, p. 453. - - -TURKEY AND GREECE. - -In our last number (p. 360), we stated that the combined squadrons -of England and France (to which that of Russia, under Count -Heyden, has been since added) had compelled Ibrahim Pacha to -assent to an armistice, until the result of the negociations at -Constantinople should be known; when he promised that "his fleet -should not move from Navarino, until he received full instructions -from Constantinople." It appears, however, that Ibrahim, whether -in obedience to, or in opposition to the Ottoman Government, -treacherously broke the conditions of the armistice. In the first -place he attempted to make sail from Navarino to Patras, and on -being ordered back by Adm. Codrington, landed his troops, and -wreaked his barbarous vengeance on the miserable Greek inhabitants -of the Morea. In short, it was discovered that the Turkish -soldiers were desolating the country with fire and sword, and -even butchering the women and children. Capt. Hamilton, of the -Cambrian, communicated the circumstances to Adm. Codrington, in a -letter dated Kitries, October 18. He says: "I have the honour of -informing you that I arrived here yesterday morning, in company -with the Russian frigate Constantine, the captain of which ship had -placed himself under my orders. On entering the Gulf, we observed -by clouds of fire and smoke that the work of devastation was still -going on. The ships were anchored off the pass off Ancyro, and a -joint letter from myself and the Russian captain was despatched -to the Turkish commander. The Russian and English officers, the -bearers of it, were not allowed to proceed to head-quarters, nor -have we yet received any answer. In the afternoon, we, the two -captains, went on shore to the Greek quarters, and were received -with the greatest enthusiasm. The distress of the inhabitants -driven from the plain is shocking! women and children dying every -moment of absolute starvation, and hardly any having better -food than boiled grass! I have promised to send a small quantity -of bread to the caves in the mountains, where these unfortunate -wretches have taken refuge. It is supposed that if Ibrahim remained -in Greece, more than a third of its inhabitants will die of -absolute starvation." - -Under these circumstances the commanders of the allied forces -signed an agreement on the 18th of October to enter and take -a position in the port of Navarino, as a commodious means of -"renewing to Ibrahim Pacha propositions, which, entering into the -spirit of the treaty, were evidently to the advantage of the Porte -itself." After the first part of this arrangement had been executed -on the 20th by their anchoring close to the Turkish line of battle, -the allied flags of truce were fired upon, and many British lives -destroyed, in the very act of peaceable remonstrance with the -Infidels. The necessary retaliation for this outrage brought on -a general action, and the total destruction of a fleet which was -armed with 1,800 pieces of ordinance. - -The particulars of this brilliant victory are admirably detailed -in the official despatches addressed to J. W. Croker, Esq., by -Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, dated Navarino, October 21. -They appeared in a _Gazette Extraordinary_ of the 10th of November, -of which the following is a copy: - - - "H.M.'s Ship _Asia_, - - "Port of Navarino, October 21. - -"Sir, - -"I have the honour of informing his Royal Highness the Lord High -Admiral, that, my colleagues Count Heyden and the Chevalier de -Rigny having agreed with me that we should come into this port, -in order to induce Ibrahim Pacha to discontinue the brutal war of -extermination which he has been carrying on since his return here -from his failure in the Gulf of Patras, the combined squadrons -passed the batteries, in order to take up their anchorage, at about -two o'clock yesterday afternoon. The Turkish ships were moored in -the form of a crescent, with springs on their cables, the larger -ones presenting their broadsides towards the centre, the smaller -ones in succession within them, filling up the intervals. The -combined fleet was formed in the order of sailing in two columns, -the British and French forming the weather or starboard line, and -the Russian the lee line. - -"The _Asia_ led in, followed by the _Genoa_ and _Albion_, and -anchored close alongside a ship of the line bearing the flag of -the Capitana Bey, another ship of the line, and a large double -banked frigate, each thus having their proper opponent in the front -line of the Turkish fleet. The four ships to windward, part of the -Egyptian squadron, were allotted to the squadron of Rear-Adm. de -Rigny; and those to leeward, in the bight of the crescent, were -to mark the stations of the whole Russian squadron; the ships of -their line closing those of the English line, and being followed -up by their own frigates. The French frigate _Armide_ was directed -to place herself alongside the outermost frigate, on the left -hand entering the harbour; and the _Cambrian_, _Glasgow_, and -_Talbot_ next to her, and abreast of the _Asia_, _Genoa_, and -_Albion_; the _Dartmouth_ and the _Musquito_, the _Rose_, the -_Brisk_, and the _Philomel_ were to look after six fire vessels at -the entrance of the harbour. I gave orders that no gun should be -fired, unless guns were first fired by the Turks; and those orders -were strictly observed. The three English ships were accordingly -permitted to pass the batteries and to moor, as they did with great -rapidity, without any act of open hostility, although there was -evident preparation for it in all the Turkish ships; but upon the -_Dartmouth_ sending a boat to one of the fire vessels, Lieut. G. -W. H. Fitzroy, and several of her crew, were shot with musketry. -This produced a defensive fire of musketry from the _Dartmouth_, -and _La Syrene_, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral de Rigny; that -was succeeded by cannon-shot at the Rear-Admiral from one of the -Egyptian ships, which, of course, brought on a return, and thus -very shortly afterwards the battle became general. The _Asia_, -although placed alongside the ship of the Capitana Bey, was even -nearer to that of Moharem Bey, the commander of the Egyptian -ships; and since his ships did not fire at the _Asia_, although -the action was begun to windward, neither did the _Asia_ fire at -her. The latter, indeed, sent a message, "that he would not fire -at all," and therefore no hostility took place betwixt our two -ships for some time after the _Asia_ had returned the fire of the -Capitana Bey. - -"In the meantime, however, our excellent pilot, Mr. Peter Mitchell, -who went to interpret to Moharem my desire to avoid bloodshed, was -killed by his people in our boat alongside. - -"Whether with or without his orders I know not; but his ship soon -afterwards fired into the _Asia_, and was consequently effectually -destroyed by the _Asia's_ fire, sharing the same fate as his -brother Admiral on the starboard side, and falling to leeward a -mere wreck. These ships being out of the way, the _Asia_ became -exposed to a raking fire from vessels in the second and third -line, which carried away her mizen-mast by the board, disabled -some of her guns, and killed and wounded several of her crew. -This narration of the proceedings of the _Asia_ would probably be -equally applicable to most of the other ships of the fleet. The -manner in which the _Genoa_ and _Albion_ took their stations was -beautiful; and the conduct of my brother Admirals, Count Heyden -and the Chevalier de Rigny, throughout was admirable and highly -exemplary. - -"Captain Fellowes executed the part allotted to him perfectly, -and with the able assistance of his little but brave detachment, -saved the _Syrene_ from being burnt by the fire vessels. And the -_Cambrian_, _Glasgow_ and _Talbot_, following the fine example of -Capitaine Hugon, of the _Armide_, who was opposed to the leading -frigate of that line, effectually destroyed their opponents, and -also silenced the batteries. This bloody and destructive battle was -continued with unabated fury for four hours, and the scene of wreck -and devastation which presented itself at its termination was such -as has seldom been witnessed. As each ship of our opponents became -effectually disabled, such of her crew as could escape from her -endeavoured to set her on fire; and it is wonderful how we avoided -the effects of their successive and awful explosions. - -"I contemplate, as I do with extreme sorrow, the extent of our -loss, I console myself with the reflection that the measure which -produced the battle was absolutely necessary for obtaining the -results contemplated by the treaty, and that it was brought on -entirely by our opponents. - -"When I found the boasted Ottoman's word of honour made a sacrifice -to wanton savage devastation, and that a base advantage was taken -of our reliance upon Ibrahim's good faith, I own I felt a desire to -punish the offenders. But it was my duty to refrain, and refrain I -did; and I can assure his Royal Highness, that I would still have -avoided this disastrous extremity if other means had been open to -me. - -"Total killed, 75; total wounded, 197. - -"_Killed and wounded on board the French ships_: Killed, 43; 79 -severely wounded; 65 wounded. - -"Accounts have been received from Constantinople of a date -subsequent to the arrival of the above news at that city. The Divan -appeared to be in a state of consternation; and the Ambassadors -of the three allied powers were urgently pressing the subject of -their intended negociations. The haughty tone of the Porte seems to -be in some measure subdued; and, contrary to general expectation, -there has been no popular commotion excited against the resident -Christians." - - - - -THE ROMAN CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION (1828). - -=Source.=--_Memoirs of Sir Robert Peel_, by Stanhope and Cardwell. -London, 1856. Pt. I. p. 35. - - -_Extracts from Lord Anglesey's Letter to Lord Francis Leveson -Gower._ - -"I will give you my opinion upon the state of things and upon the -great question. - -"I begin by premising that I hold in abhorrence the Association, -the agitators, the priests, and their religion; and I believe -that not many, _but that some_ of the Bishops, are mild, moderate -and anxious to come to a fair and liberal compromise for the -adjustment of the points at issue. I think that these latter have -very little, if any, influence with the lower clergy and the -population. - -"Such is the extraordinary power of the Association, or rather of -the agitators, of whom there are many of high ability, of ardent -mind, of great daring (and, if there was no Association, these -men are now too well known not to maintain their power under the -existing order of exclusion), that I am quite certain they could -lead on the people to open rebellion at a moment's notice; and -their organization is such, that, in the hands of desperate and -intelligent leaders, they would be extremely formidable. The hope, -and indeed the probability of present tranquillity, rests upon the -forbearance and the not very determined courage of O'Connell, and -on his belief, as well as that of the principal men amongst them, -that they will carry their cause by unceasing agitation, and by -intimidation, without coming to blows. I believe their success -inevitable--that no power under heaven can arrest its progress. -There may be rebellion, you may put to death thousands, you may -suppress it, but it will only be to put off the day of compromise; -and in the meantime the country is still more impoverished, and the -minds of the people are, if possible, still more alienated, and -ruinous expense is entailed upon the empire. - -"But supposing that the whole evil was concentrated in the -Association, and that if that was suppressed all would go smoothly; -where is the man who can tell me how to suppress it? Many, many -cry out that the nuisance must be abated; that the Government is -supine; that the insolence of the demagogues is intolerable; but I -have not yet found one person capable of pointing out a remedy. All -are mute when you ask them to define their proposition. All that -even the most determined opposers to emancipation say is that it -is better to leave things as they are than to risk any change. But -will things remain as they are? Certainly not. They are bad; they -must get worse; and I see no possible means of improving them but -by depriving the demagogues of the power of directing the people; -and by taking Messrs. O'Connell, Sheil, and the rest of them from -the Association, and placing them in the House of Commons, this -desirable object would be at once accomplished. - -"July 3rd. The present order of things must not, cannot last. There -are three modes of proceeding: - -"1st. That of trying to go on as we have done. - -"2nd. To adjust the question by concession, and such guards as may -be deemed indispensable. - -"3rd. To put down the Association, and to crush the power of the -priests. - -"The first I hold to be impossible. - -"The second is practicable and advisable. - -"The third is only possible by supposing that you can reconstruct -the House of Commons; and to suppose that is to suppose that you -can totally alter the feelings of those who send them there. - -"I believe nothing short of the suspension of the Habeas Corpus -Act, and Martial Law will effect the third proposition. This -would effect it during their operation, and perhaps for a short -time after they had ceased, and then every evil would return with -accumulated weight. - -"But no House of Commons would consent to these measures until -there is open rebellion, and therefore until that occurs it is -useless to think of them. The second mode of proceeding is then, -I conceive, the only practicable one, but the present is not a -propitious time to effect even this. - -"I abhor the idea of truckling to the overbearing Catholic -demagogues. To make any movement towards conciliation under the -present excitement and system of terror would revolt me; but I do -most conscientiously, and after the most earnest consideration -of the subject, give it as my conviction that the first moment -of composure and tranquillity should be seized to signify the -intention of adjusting the question, lest another period of calm -should not present itself." - - - - -IRISH UNREST (1828). - -=Source.=--_Memoirs of Sir Robert Peel_, by Stanhope and Cardwell. -London, 1856. Pt. I. p. 35. - - -_Irish Police Reports, January and February, 1828._ - - _Sligo._--Generally quiet; 1 murder; 7 outrages. - - _Mayo._--Perfectly quiet; 1 murder; 1 outrage. - - _Roscommon._--Rockites rather busy; apprehensive of their - extending their operations; 2 murders; 11 outrages. - - _Clare._--Quiet; apprehensive of Ribbon spirit extending; 9 - outrages. - - _Leitrim._--Much disturbed; the sway of the Rockites - formidable; magistrates supposed to be deficient in energy; 36 - outrages. - - _Galway._--Perfectly quiet; 1 murder; 6 outrages. - - _Antrim._--Disturbed; robberies of fire-arms; not - insurrectionary; 3 murders; 7 outrages. - - _Armagh._--Quiet; 1 outrage. - - _Cavan._--Strong political feeling ready to develop itself; 9 - outrages. - - _Donegal._--Not tranquil; 2 murders; 4 outrages. - - _Down._--Quiet; 2 outrages. - - _Fermanagh._--Tranquil; 6 outrages. - - _Londonderry._--Generally quiet; 1 murder; 4 outrages. - - _Monaghan._--Disturbed; party violence runs high; 1 murder; 6 - outrages. - - _Ulster_ may be considered tolerably tranquil, with the - exception of some baronies in the counties of Donegal and - Monaghan. - - _Tipperary._--Whiteboy system prevails very generally; no - organized insurrectionary system founded upon political - feeling; 4 murders; 75 outrages. - - _Cork._--Generally quiet; 1 murder; 4 outrages. - - _Waterford._--Quiet; 3 outrages. - - _Kerry._--Quiet; 3 outrages. - - _Roscrea._--Dissatisfied spirit excited by inflammatory - speeches. - - _Limerick._--Satisfactory state; 9 outrages. - - _Wicklow._--Western division disturbed; considered necessary - to increase the constabulary force by ordering three men - to Dunlavin, and three more to another disturbed point; - Talbotstown the most disturbed; 3 outrages. - - _Kildare._--Nothing to notice. - - - - -CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION (1829). - -=Source.=--_Annual Register for 1829_, p. 94. - - -_Duke of Wellington's Speech._ - -[The attitude of the Ministry was set forth in a brief speech by -the Duke of Wellington at the close of the debate. While there -is little in the utterance beyond a personal explanation of the -secrecy maintained, it is inserted as being the final word on the -great question which had for so many years troubled the heart of -England.] - -The debate was closed by a brief reply from the Duke of Wellington. -The apprehended danger to the Irish Church from the admission of a -few Catholics into Parliament, he treated as futile, considering -that the throne would be filled by a Protestant. Moreover, a -fundamental article of the Union between the two countries was the -union of the two Churches; and it was impossible that any mischief -could happen to the Irish branch of this united Church, without -destroying the union of the two countries. "A different topic," -said his grace, "to which I wish to advert is a charge brought -against several of my colleagues, and also against myself, by the -noble earl on the cross-bench, of a want of consistency in our -conduct. My lords, I admit that many of my colleagues, as well -as myself, did on former occasions vote against a measure of a -similar description with this; and, my lords, I must say, that my -colleagues and myself felt, when we adopted this measure, that we -should be sacrificing ourselves and our popularity to that which -we felt to be our duty to our sovereign and our country. We knew -very well, that if we put ourselves at the head of the Protestant -cry of 'No Popery,' we should be much more popular even than those -who had excited against us that very cry. But we felt that in so -doing we should have left on the interests of the country a burthen -which must end in bearing them down, and further that we should -have deserved the hate and execration of our countrymen. Then I am -accused, and by a noble and learned friend of mine, of having acted -with great secrecy respecting this measure. Now I beg to tell him, -that he has done that to me in the course of this discussion which -he complains of others having done to him--in other words, he has, -in the language of a right hon. friend of his and mine, thrown a -large paving-stone, instead of throwing a small pebble. I say, that -if he accuses me of acting with secrecy on this question, he does -not deal with me altogether fairly. He knows as well as I do how -the Cabinet was constructed on this question; and I ask him, had -I any right to say a single word to any man whatsoever upon this -measure, until the person most interested in the kingdom upon it -had given his consent to my speaking out? Before he accused me of -secrecy, and of improper secrecy too, he ought to have known the -precise day upon which I received the permission of the highest -personage in the country, and had leave to open my mouth upon this -measure. There is another point also on which a noble earl accused -me of misconduct; and that is, that I did not at once dissolve the -Parliament. Now I must say that I think noble lords are mistaken -in the notion of the benefits which they think that they would -derive from a dissolution of Parliament at this crisis. I believe -that many of them are not aware of the consequences and of the -inconveniences of a dissolution of Parliament at any time. But when -I know, as I did know, and as I do know, the state of the elective -franchise in Ireland--when I recollected the number of men it took -to watch one election which took place in Ireland in the course -of last summer--when I knew the consequences which a dissolution -would produce on the return to the House of Commons, to say nothing -of the risks which must have been incurred at each election--of -collisions that might have lead to something little short of a -civil war--I say, that, knowing all these things, I should have -been wanting in duty to my sovereign and to my country, if I had -advised his Majesty to dissolve his Parliament." - - - - -THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S SUPPOSED DESIGNS ON THE CROWN (1830). - -=Source.=--_The Life of the Duke of Wellington_, by J. R. Gleig. - - -_Letter from Col. Fairman to the Editor of the "Morning Herald," -April 6, 1830._ - -"Dear Sir, - -"From those who may be supposed to have opportunities of knowing -'the secrets of the castle,' the King is stated to be by no manner -in so alarming a state as many folks would have it imagined. His -Majesty is likewise said to dictate the bulletins of his own -state of health. Some whisperings have also gone abroad, that -in the event of a demise of the crown, a regency would probably -be established, for reasons which occasioned the removal of the -next in the succession from the office of high-admiral. That a -maritime government might not prove consonant to the views of a -military chieftain of the most unbounded ambition, may admit of -easy belief; and as the second heir-presumptive is not alone a -female, but a minor, in addition to the argument which might be -applied to the present, that in the ordinary course of nature it -was not to be expected that his reign could be of long duration, in -these disjointed times it is by no means unlikely a vicarious form -of government may be attempted. The effort would be a bold one, -but after the measures we have seen, what new violations should -surprise us? Besides, the popular plea of economy and expedience -might be urged as the pretext, while aggrandisement and usurpation -might be the latent sole motive. It would only be necessary to -make out a plausible case, which, from the facts on record, there -could be no difficulty in doing, to the satisfaction of a pliable -and obsequious set of ministers, as also to the success of such an -experiment. - - "Most truly yours, - - "W. B. F." - -NOTE.--_Colonel Fairman was an Orangeman. After the Emancipation -Bill became law, the Orangemen gave vent to their wrath upon the -Duke of Wellington._ - - - - -HEAVY TAXATION OF THE WORKING CLASSES (1830). - -=Source.=--William Cobbett's _Rural Rides_, ed. by Mr. Pitt -Cobbett, 1885. - - - "Leicester, 26th April, 1830. - -"At the famous city of Lincoln, I had crowded audiences, -principally consisting of farmers, on the 21st and 22nd; -exceedingly well-behaved audiences, and great impression produced. -One of the evenings, in pointing out to them the wisdom of -explaining to their labourers the cause of their distress, in order -to ward off the effects of the resentment which labourers now feel -everywhere against the farmers, I related to them what my labourers -at Barn-Elm had been doing since I left home; and I repeated to -them the complaints that my labourers made, stating to them, from -memory, the following parts of that spirited petition: - -"That your petitioners have recently observed that many great sums -of money, part of which we pay, have been voted to be given to -persons who render no services to the country; some of which sums -we will mention here; that the sum of £94,000 has been voted to -disbanded _foreign_ officers, their _widows_ and _children_; that -your petitioners know that ever since the peace this charge has -been annually made; that it has been on the average, £110,000 a -year, and that, of course, this band of foreigners have actually -taken away out of England, since the peace, one million and seven -thousand pounds; partly taken from the fruit of our labour; and if -our dinners were actually taken from our table and carried over to -Hanover, the process could not be more visible to our eyes than -it now is; and we are astonished that those who fear that we, who -make the land bring forth crops, and who make the clothing and the -houses, shall swallow up the rental, appear to think nothing at all -of the swallowings of these Hanoverian men, women, and children, -who may continue thus to swallow for half a century to come. - - * * * * * - -"That your petitioners know that more than one half of their wages -is taken from them by the taxes; that these taxes go chiefly into -the hands of idlers; that your petitioners are the bees, and that -the tax receivers are the drones; but that your petitioners hope to -see the day when the checking of the increase of the drones, and -not of the bees, will be the object of an English parliament. - -"That, in consequence of taxes, your petitioners pay sixpence for -a pot of worse beer than they could make for one penny; that they -pay ten shillings for a pair of shoes that they could have for five -shillings; that they pay sevenpence for a pound of soap or candles -that they could have for threepence; that they pay sevenpence for -a pound of sugar that they could have for threepence; that they -pay six shillings for a pound of tea which they could have for two -shillings; that they pay double for their bread and meat, of what -they would have to pay if there were no idlers to be kept out of -the taxes; that, therefore, it is the taxes that make their wages -insufficient for their support, and that compel them to apply -for aid to the poor-rates; that, knowing these things they feel -indignant at hearing themselves described as _paupers_, while -so many thousands of idlers, for whose support they pay taxes, -are called _noble Lords_ and _Ladies_, _honourable Gentlemen_, -_Masters_, and _Misses_; that they feel indignant at hearing -themselves described as a nuisance to be got rid of, while the -idlers who live upon their earnings are upheld, caressed, and -cherished, as if they were the sole support of the country." - -Having repeated to them these passages, I proceeded: "My workmen -were induced thus to petition, in consequence of the information, -which I, their master, had communicated to them; and, gentlemen, -why should not your labourers petition in the same strain? Why -should you suffer them to remain in a state of ignorance, relative -to the cause of their misery? The eyes sweep over in this country -more riches in one moment than are contained in the whole county -in which I was born, and in which the petitioners live. Between -Holbeach and Boston, even at a public house, neither bread nor meat -was to be found; and while the landlord was telling me that the -people were become so poor that the butchers killed no meat in the -neighbourhood, I counted more than two thousand fat sheep lying -about in the pastures in that richest spot in the whole world. -Starvation in the midst of plenty; the land covered with food, and -the working people without victuals: everything taken away by the -tax-eaters of various descriptions: and yet you take no measures -for redress; and your miserable labourers seem to be doomed to -expire with hunger, without an effort to obtain relief. What! -cannot you point out to them the real cause of their sufferings; -cannot you take a piece of paper and write out a petition for -them; cannot your labourers petition as well as mine, are God's -blessings bestowed on you without any spirit to preserve them; -is the fatness of the land, is the earth teeming with food for -the body and raiment for the back, to be an apology for the waste -of that courage for which your fathers were so famous; is the -abundance which God has put into your hands to be the excuse for -your resigning yourselves to starvation? My God! is there no spirit -left in England except in the miserable sandhills of Surrey?" - - - - -RAILWAY CARRIAGES (1830). - -=Source.=--_The Gentleman's Magazine_, Vol. 100, p. 552. - - -_Railway Carriages--June 14._ - -The directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway made their -first public exhibition upon the line, and the experiment proved -most successful. The Arrow steam engine drew a carriage with -twelve inside passengers, another with thirty outside, and seven -carriages loaded with thirty-four tons of rough stone. The journey -from Liverpool to Manchester (rather more than thirty miles) was -performed in two hours 23½ minutes, including stoppages for -water, which occupied 13½ minutes. They left Manchester again for -Liverpool about half-past four o'clock, at the rate of about 25 -miles the hour, drawing two very large carriages with upwards of -fifty passengers, and performed the whole distance in one hour 46½ -minutes, including 12 minutes watering and to set down a passenger. - -The introduction of Railways is likely to be as beneficial -in improving the accommodation afforded to travellers, as in -increasing the expedition with which they will be conveyed. Some -of the carriages which have been made at the manufactory of the -Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, for the public conveyance -of passengers on the Railway, give quite a new idea of the ease -and luxury with which persons may in future travel. Most of the -carriages to be used as public coaches consist, like the French -diligences, of two or three bodies joined together. Some are -intended to accommodate four persons in each body, and others six. -Between the sittings is a rest for the arms, and each passenger has -a cushion to himself; the backs are padded and covered with fine -cloth, like a private carriage. - -There are at present exhibiting in Edinburgh three large models, -accompanied with drawings of railways and their carriages, invented -by Mr. Dick, who has a patent. These railways are of a different -nature from those hitherto in use, inasmuch as they are not laid -along the surface of the ground, but elevated to such a height -as when necessary to pass over the tops of houses and trees. The -principal supports are of stone, and, being placed at considerable -distances, have cast iron pillars between them. The carriages are -to be dragged along with a velocity hitherto unparalleled, by means -of a rope drawn by a steam-engine, or other prime mover--a series -being placed at intervals along the railway. From the construction -of the railway and carriages the friction is very small. - - - - -DEATH OF HUSKISSON (1830). - -=Source.=--_The Gentleman's Magazine_, Vol. 100, p. 264. - - -_September 15._ - -The interesting ceremony of opening the Manchester and Liverpool -Railway took place this day. It was rendered more splendid and -imposing by the presence of the Duke of Wellington and many -distinguished individuals, whom the Directors had invited. The -concourse of spectators at each end of the line was immense. The -procession left Liverpool twenty minutes before eleven o'clock -drawn by eight locomotive engines, the first of which was the -Northumbrian, with the Directors and numerous distinguished -visitors, including the Duke of Wellington. The other engines were -the Phœnix, North Star, Rocket, Dart, Comet, Arrow, and Meteor. The -carriage in which the Duke of Wellington and his friends travelled, -was truly magnificent. The floor was 32 feet long by 8 wide, and -was supported by eight large iron wheels. A grand canopy, 24 feet -long, was placed aloft upon gilded pillars, contrived so as to be -lowered in passing through the tunnel. The Northumbrian drew three -carriages, the first containing the band, the second the Duke -of Wellington and the distinguished visitors, and the third the -Directors. The Phœnix, and the North Star drew five carriages each; -the Rocket drew three; and the Dart, Comet, Arrow, and Meteor, each -four. The total number of persons conveyed was 772. On issuing -from the smaller tunnel at Liverpool, the first engine, that is, -the Northumbrian, took the south, or right-hand line of railway, -while the other seven engines proceeded along the north line. The -procession did not proceed at a particularly rapid pace--not more -than 15 or 16 miles an hour. In the course of the journey, the -Northumbrian accelerated or retarded its speed occasionally, to -give the Duke of Wellington an opportunity of inspecting the most -remarkable parts of the work. On the arrival of the procession at -Parkside (a little on this side of Newton) the carriages stopped -to take in a supply of water. Before starting from Liverpool, the -company were particularly requested not to leave the carriages, and -the same caution was repeated in the printed directions describing -the order of procession. Notwithstanding this regulation, however, -Mr. Huskisson, Mr. Wm. Holmes, M.P., and other gentlemen, alighted -from the carriage of the Duke of Wellington, when the Northumbrian -stopped at Parkside. At the moment they descended into the road, -three of the engines on the other line--the Phœnix, the North Star, -and the Rocket, were rapidly approaching. Mr. Huskisson and Mr. -Holmes were standing in the road between the two lines of railway, -which are about four feet distant from each other. Unluckily, Mr. -Huskisson imagining that there was not room for a person to stand -between the lines while the other engines were passing, made an -attempt to get again into the carriage of the Duke before the Dart -came up. He laid hold of the door of the carriage, and pulled -it open with so much force that he lost his balance, and fell -backwards across the rails of the other line, the moment before -the passing of the Dart. The conductor of that engine immediately -stopped it, but before that could be effected, both wheels of the -engine passed over the leg of the unfortunate gentleman, which was -placed over the rail, his head and body being under the engine. -The right leg was frightfully shattered, the muscles being torn to -pieces. The Earl of Wilton, Mr. Holmes, and Mr. Parkes, solicitor, -of Birmingham, raised Mr. Huskisson from the ground. The only -words he uttered were: "I have met my death--God forgive me!" A -tourniquet was immediately applied by the Earl of Wilton; and Dr. -Brandreth was quickly in attendance. He was then removed to a car, -and carried to Eccles, a village within four miles of Manchester; -and after his arrival there, was removed to the house of the Rev. -Mr. Blackburn, the rector of that place, where the Right Hon. -Gentleman expired between nine and ten o'clock the same evening. - -After the above melancholy accident a question arose as to what -ought to be done with regard to the further progress of the -business of the day. The Duke of Wellington refused to proceed -further. Some of the proprietors and directors insisted that they -had a public duty to perform in carrying the day's proceedings to -an end, and that the success of the project, on which they had -expended so much capital, might depend on their being regularly -finished. They contended, moreover, that the procession _must -go on_ to Manchester, if they wished to avoid a breach of the -public tranquillity. The Duke's scruples ultimately gave way, and -the order was issued to move on to Manchester. On its return the -Duke of Wellington quitted the rail-road about three miles before -the cortege reached Liverpool, and posted off to the Marquis of -Salisbury's seat at Childwell. The splendid corporation dinner -which had been prepared at Liverpool was suspended; and nothing -was heard spoken of but the above melancholy event. Mr. Huskisson -was interred on the 24th at the public cemetery at Liverpool. The -funeral was a public one. - - - - -ON THE USE OF CLOSE BOROUGHS (1831). - -=Source.=--_The Life of the Duke of Wellington_, by J. R. Gleig. - - -_Letter from the Duke of Wellington to J. R. Gleig, Esq._ - - "London, 11th April, 1831. - -"I have received your letters of the 8th and 9th. It is curious -enough that I, who have been the greatest reformer on earth, should -be held up as an enemy to all reform. This assertion is neither -more or less than one of the lying cries of the day. - -"If by reform is meant parliamentary reform, or a change in the -mode or system of representation, what I have said is, that I have -never heard of a plan that was safe and practicable that would -give satisfaction, and that while I was in office I should oppose -myself to reform in parliament. This was in answer to Lord Grey -on the first day of the session. I am still of the same opinion. -I think that parliament has done its duty: that constituted as -parliament is, having in it as a member every man noted in the -country for his fortune, his talents, his science, his industry, or -his influence; the first men of all professions, in all branches of -trade and manufacture, connected with our colonies and settlements -abroad, and representing, as it does, all the states of the United -Kingdom, the government of the country is still a task almost more -than human. To conduct the government would be impossible, if by -reform the House of Commons should be brought to a greater degree -under popular influence. Yet let those who wish for reform reflect -for a moment where we should all stand if we were to lose for a day -the protection of government. - -"That is the ground upon which I stand with respect to the question -of reform in general. I have more experience in the government -of this country than any man now alive, as well as in foreign -countries. I have no borough influence to lose, and I hate the -whole concern too much to think of endeavouring to gain any. Ask -the gentlemen of the Cinque Ports whether I have ever troubled any -of them. - -"On the other hand, I know that I should be the idol of the country -if I could pretend to alter my opinion and alter my course. And -I know that I exclude myself from political power by persevering -in the course which I have taken. But nothing shall induce me to -utter a word, either in public or in private, that I don't believe -to be true. If it is God's will that this great country should be -destroyed, and that mankind should be deprived of this last asylum -of peace and happiness, be it so; but, as long as I can raise my -voice, I will do so against the infatuated madness of the day. - -"In respect to details, it has always appeared to me that the -first step upon this subject was the most important. We talk of -unrepresented great towns! These are towns which have all the -benefit of being governed by the system of the British Constitution -without the evil of elections. Look at Scotland. Does Scotland -suffer because it has not the benefit of riotous elections? I -think that reform in Scotland would be, and I am certain would be -thought, a grievance by many in that country. I can answer for -there being many respectable men in Manchester, and I believe -there are some in Birmingham and Leeds, who are adverse to change. - -"But how is this change to be made? Either by adding to the number -of representatives in parliament from England, or by disfranchising -what are called the rotten boroughs! The first cannot be done -without a departure from the basis and a breach of the Acts of -Union. And, mind, a serious departure and breach of these acts, -inasmuch as the limits of the extension could not be less than -from fifteen to twenty towns. The last would be, in my opinion, -a violation of the first and most important principle of the -constitution, for no valid reason, and upon no ground whatever -excepting a popular cry, and an apprehension of the consequences -of resisting it. But this is not all. I confess that I see in -thirty members for rotten boroughs thirty men, I don't care of what -party, who would preserve the state of property as it is; who would -maintain by their votes the Church of England, its possessions, -its churches and universities, all our great institutions and -corporations, the union with Scotland and Ireland, the connection -of the country with its foreign colonies and possessions, the -national honour abroad and its good faith with the king's subjects -at home. I see men at the back of the government to enable it to -protect individuals and their property against the injustice of -the times, which would sacrifice all rights and all property to a -description of plunder called general convenience and utility. I -think it is the presence of this description of men in parliament -with the country gentlemen, and the great merchants, bankers, and -manufacturers, which constitute the great difference between the -House of Commons and those assemblies abroad called 'Chambers of -Deputies.' It is by means of the representatives of the close -corporations that the great proprietors of the country participate -in political power. I don't think that we could spare thirty or -forty of these representatives, or change them with advantage for -thirty or forty members elected for the great towns by any new -system. I am certain that the country would be injured by depriving -men of great property of political power, besides the injury done -to it by exposing the House of Commons to a greater degree of -popular influence. - -"You will observe that I have now considered only the smallest of -all reforms--a reform which would satisfy nobody. Yet it cannot be -adopted without a serious departure from principle (principle in -the maintenance of which the smallest as well as the greatest of us -is interested), and by running all the risks of those misfortunes -which all wish to avoid. - -"I tell you that we must not risk our great institutions and large -properties, personal as well as real. If we do, there is not a man -of this generation, so young, so old, so rich, so poor, so bold, so -timid, as that he will not feel the consequences of this rashness. -This opinion is founded not on reasoning only, but on experience, -and I shall never cease to declare it." - - - - -LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S SPEECH ON THE FIRST REFORM BILL (1831).[4] - -=Source.=--Molesworthy's _History of the Reform Bill_, London, -1866, p. 103. - - -The object of ministers has been to produce a measure with which -every reasonable man in the country will be satisfied--we wish to -take our stand between the two hostile parties, neither agreeing -with the bigotry of those who would reject all Reform, nor with the -fanaticism of those who contend that only one plan of Reform would -be wholesome or satisfactory, but placing ourselves between both, -and between the abuses we intend to amend and the convulsion we -hope to avert. - -The ancient constitution of our country declares that no man should -be taxed for the support of the State, who has not consented, by -himself or his representative, to the imposition of these taxes. -The well-known statute, _de tallagio non concedendo_, repeats the -same language; and, although some historical doubts have been -thrown upon it, its legal meaning has never been disputed. It -included "all the freemen of the land," and provided that each -county should send to the Commons of the realm, two knights, each -city two burgesses, and each borough two members. Thus about a -hundred places sent representatives, and some thirty or forty -others occasionally enjoyed the privilege, but it was discontinued -or revived as they rose or fell in the scale of wealth and -importance. Thus, no doubt, at that early period, the House of -Commons did represent the people of England; there is no doubt -likewise, that the House of Commons, as it now subsists, does not -represent the people of England. Therefore, if we look at the -question of right, the reformers have right in their favour. Then, -if we consider what is reasonable, we shall arrive at a similar -result. - -A stranger, who was told that this country is unparalleled in -wealth and industry, and more civilized, and more enlightened -than any country was before it; that it is a country that prides -itself on its freedom, and that once in every seven years it elects -representatives from its population, to act as the guardians and -preservers of that freedom,--would be anxious and curious to see -how that representation is formed, and how the people chose those -representatives, to whose faith and guardianship they entrust -their free and liberal institutions. Such a person would be very -much astonished if he were taken to a ruined mound, and told that -that mound sent two representatives to Parliament--if he were -taken to a stone wall, and told that three niches in it sent -two representatives to Parliament--if he were taken to a park, -where no houses were to be seen, and told that that park sent two -representatives to Parliament; but if he were told all this, and -were astonished at hearing it, he would be still more astonished -if he were to see large and opulent towns full of enterprise and -industry, and intelligence, containing vast magazines of every -species of manufactures, and were then told that these towns sent -no representatives to Parliament. - -Such a person would be still more astonished, if he were taken to -Liverpool, where there is a large constituency, and told, here you -will have a fine specimen of a popular election. - -He would see bribery employed to the greatest extent, and in the -most unblushing manner; he would see every voter receiving a number -of guineas in a box, as the price of his corruption; and after such -a spectacle, he would no doubt be much astonished that a nation -whose representatives are thus chosen, could perform the functions -of legislation at all, or enjoy respect in any degree. I say, then, -that if the question before the House is a question of reason, the -present state of representation is against reason. - -The confidence of the country in the construction and constitution -of the House of Commons is gone. It would be easier to transfer -the flourishing manufactures of Leeds and Manchester to Gatton and -Old Sarum, than re-establish confidence and sympathy between this -House and those whom it calls its constituents. If, therefore, the -question is one of right, right is in favour of Reform; if it be -a question of reason, reason is in favour of Reform; if it be a -question of policy and expediency, policy and expediency are in -favour of Reform. - -I come now to the explanation of the measure which, representing -the ministers of the King, I am about to propose to the House. -Those ministers have thought, and in my opinion justly thought, -that no half measures would be sufficient; that no trifling or -paltering with Reform could give stability to the Crown, strength -to Parliament, or satisfaction to the country. The chief grievances -of which the people complain are these. First, the nomination of -members by individuals; second, the election by close corporations; -third, the expense of elections. With regard to the first, it may -be exercised in two ways, either over a place containing scarcely -any inhabitants, and with a very extensive right of election; or -over a place of wide extent and numerous population, but where the -franchise is confined to very few persons. Gatton is an example -of the first, and Bath of the second. At Gatton, where the right -of voting is by scot and lot, all householders have a vote, but -there are only five persons to exercise the right. At Bath the -inhabitants are numerous, but very few of them have any concern in -the election. In the former case, we propose to deprive the borough -of the franchise altogether. In doing so, we have taken for our -guide the population returns of 1821; and we propose that every -borough which in that year had less than 2,000 inhabitants, should -altogether lose the right of sending members to Parliament, the -effect of which will be to disfranchise sixty-two boroughs. But we -do not stop here. As the honourable member for Boroughbridge [Sir -C. Wetherell] would say, we go _plus ultra_; we find that there -are forty-seven boroughs of only 4,000 inhabitants, and these we -shall deprive of the right of sending more than one member to -Parliament. We likewise intend that Weymouth, which at present -sends four members to Parliament, should in the future send only -two. The total reduction thus effected in the number of the members -of this House will be 168. This is the whole extent to which we are -prepared to go in the way of disfranchisement. - -We do not, however, mean to allow that the remaining boroughs -should be in the hands of a small number of persons to the -exclusion of the great body of the inhabitants who have property -and interest in the place. It is a point of great difficulty to -decide to whom the franchise should be extended. Though it is a -point much disputed, I believe it will be found that in ancient -times every inhabitant householder resident in a borough was -competent to vote for members of Parliament. As, however, this -arrangement excluded villeins and strangers, the franchise always -belonged to a particular body in every town;--that the voters -were persons of property is obvious, from the fact that they are -called upon to pay subsidies and taxes. Two different courses -seem to prevail in different places. In some, every person having -a house, and being free, was admitted to a general participation -in the privileges formerly possessed by burgesses; in others, the -burgesses became a select body, and were converted into a kind of -corporation, more or less exclusive. These differences, the House -will be aware, lead to the most difficult, and at the same time the -most useless questions that men can be called upon to decide. I -contend that it is proper to get rid of these complicated rights, -of these vexatious questions, and to give the real property and -real respectability of the different cities and towns, the right of -voting for members of Parliament. Finding that a qualification of -a house rated at £20 a year, would confine the elective franchise, -instead of enlarging it, we propose that the right of voting -should be given to the householders paying rates for houses of the -yearly value of £10 and upwards, upon certain conditions hereafter -to be stated. At the same time it is not intended to deprive the -present electors of their privilege of voting, provided they are -resident. With regard to non-residence, we are of opinion that it -produces much expense, is the cause of a great deal of bribery, -and occasions such manifest and manifold evils, that electors who -do not live in a place ought not to be permitted to retain their -votes. With regard to resident voters, we propose that they should -retain their right during life, but that no vote should be allowed -hereafter, except to £10 householders. - -I shall now proceed to the manner in which we propose to extend -the franchise in counties. The bill I wish to introduce will give -all copyholders to the value of £10 a year, qualified to serve on -juries, under the right hon. gentlemen's [Sir R. Peel] bill, a -right to vote for the return of knights of the shire; also, that -leaseholders, for not less than twenty-one years, whose annual rent -is not less than £50, and whose leases have not been renewed within -two years, shall enjoy the same privilege. - - - - -THE PASSING OF THE REFORM BILL, MARCH 30TH, 1831. - -=Source.=--_Macaulay's Life and Letters_, by the Right Hon. Sir -George Otto Trevelyan, 1876. - - -_Lord Macaulay's Description of the Scene._ - -Such a scene as the division of last Tuesday I never saw, and never -expect to see again. If I should live fifty years the impression of -it will be as fresh and sharp in my mind as if it had just taken -place. It was like seeing Caesar stabbed in the Senate House, or -seeing Oliver taking the mace from the table; a sight to be seen -only once, and never to be forgotten. The crowd overflowed the -House in every part. When the strangers were cleared out, and the -doors locked, we had six hundred and eight members present--more -by fifty-five than ever were in a division before. The Ayes and -the Noes were like two volleys of cannon from opposite sides of -a field of battle. When the opposition went out into the lobby, -an operation which took up twenty minutes or more, we spread -ourselves over the benches on both sides of the House; for there -were many of us who had not been able to find a seat during the -evening. When the doors were shut we began to speculate on our -numbers. Everybody was desponding. "We have lost it. We are only -two hundred and eighty at the most. I do not think we are two -hundred and fifty. They are three hundred. Alderman Thompson has -counted them. He says they are two hundred and ninety-nine." This -was the talk on our benches. I wonder that men who have been long -in Parliament do not acquire a better _coup d'œil_ for numbers. -The House, when only the Ayes were in it, looked to me a very -fair House--much fuller than it generally is even on debates of -considerable interest. I had no hope, however, of three hundred. As -the tellers passed along our lowest row on the left hand side the -interest was insupportable--two hundred and ninety-one--two hundred -and ninety-two--we were all standing up and stretching forward -telling with the tellers. At three hundred there was a short cry -of joy--at three hundred and two another--suppressed, however, in -a moment; for we did not yet know what the hostile force might be. -We knew, however, that we could not be severely beaten. The doors -were thrown open, and in they came. Each of them, as he entered, -brought some different report of their numbers. It must have been -impossible, as you may conceive, in the lobby crowded as they were, -to form any exact estimate. First, we heard that they were three -hundred and three; then that number rose to three hundred and ten; -then went down to three hundred and seven, Alexander Barry told me -that he had counted, and that they were three hundred and four. We -were all breathless with anxiety, when Charles Wood, who stood near -the door, jumped on a bench and cried out, "They are only three -hundred and one." We set up a shout that you might have heard to -Charing Cross, waving our hats, stamping against the floor, and -clapping our hands. The tellers scarcely got through the crowd; -for the House was thronged up to the table, and all the floor was -fluctuating with heads like the pit of a theatre. But you might -have heard a pin drop as Duncannon read the numbers. Then again -the shouts broke out, and many of us shed tears. I could scarcely -refrain. And the jaw of Peel fell; and the face of Twiss was as -the face of a damned soul; and Herries looked like Judas taking -his necktie off for the last operation. We shook hands and clapped -each other on the back, and went out laughing, crying, and huzzaing -into the lobby. And no sooner were the outer doors opened than -another shout answered that within the House. All the passages, -and the stairs into the waiting-rooms, were thronged by people who -had waited till four in the morning to know the issue. We passed -through a narrow lane between two thick masses of them; and all -the way down they were shouting and waving their hats, till we got -into the open air. I called a cabriolet, and the first thing the -driver asked was, "Is the Bill carried?" "Yes, by one." "Thank God -for it, sir." And away I rode to Gray's Inn--and so ended a scene -which will probably never be equalled till the reformed Parliament -wants reforming; and that I hope will not be till the days of our -grandchildren, till that truly orthodox and apostolical person, Dr. -Francis Ellis, is an archbishop of eighty." - - - - -THE PROROGATION OF THE ANTI-REFORM PARLIAMENT (1831).[5] - -=Source.=--Molesworthy's _History of the Reform Bill_, London, -1866, p. 185. - - -Under these circumstances, ministers acted with promptitude and -decision. Their defeat had occurred on the morning of the 22nd of -April; on the same day summonses were issued, calling a Cabinet -Council at St. James's Palace. So short was the notice, that -the ministers were unable to attend, as was customary on such -occasions, in their court dresses. - -At this council it was unanimously resolved that Parliament should -be prorogued the same day, with a view to its speedy dissolution, -and the royal speech, which had been prepared for the occasion, -was considered and adopted. All necessary arrangements having been -made, in order to take away from the King all pretext for delay, -Earl Grey and Lord Brougham were deputed to wait on the King, and -communicate to him the advice of the Cabinet. From what has been -already said, the reader will be prepared to anticipate that this -advice was far from palatable. The unusual haste with which it -was proposed to carry out that measure, naturally increased the -King's known objections to the proposed step, and furnished him -with a good excuse for refusing his assent to it. Earl Grey, the -pink and pattern of loyalty and chivalrous courtesy, shrunk from -the disagreeable errand, and requested his bolder and less courtly -colleague to introduce the subject, begging him at the same time to -manage the susceptibility of the King as much as possible. - -The Chancellor accordingly approached the subject very carefully, -prefacing the disagreeable message with which he was charged, with -a compliment on the King's desire to promote the welfare of his -people. He then proceeded to communicate the advice of the Cabinet, -adding, that they were unanimous in offering it. - -"What!" exclaimed the King, "would you have me dismiss in this -summary manner a Parliament which has granted me so splendid a -civil list, and given my Queen so liberal an annuity in case she -survives me?" - -"No doubt, sire," Lord Brougham replied, "in these respects they -have acted wisely and honourably, but your Majesty's advisers are -all of opinion, that in the present state of affairs, every hour -that this Parliament continues to sit is pregnant with danger to -the peace and security of your kingdom, and they humbly beseech -your Majesty to go down this very day and prorogue it. If you do -not, they cannot be answerable for the consequences." - -The King was greatly embarrassed; he evidently entertained the -strongest objection to the proposed measure, but he also felt the -danger which would result from the resignation of his ministers at -the present crisis. He therefore shifted his ground, and asked: -"Who is to carry the sword of state and the cap of maintenance?" - -"Sire, knowing the urgency of the crisis and the imminent peril in -which the country at this moment stands, we have ventured to tell -those whose duty it is to perform these and other similar offices, -to hold themselves in readiness." - -"But the troops, the life guards, I have given no orders for them -to be called out, and now it is too late." - -This was indeed a serious objection, for to call out the guards was -the special prerogative of the monarch himself, and no minister -had any right to order their attendance without his express command. - -"Sire," replied the Chancellor, with some hesitation, "we must -throw ourselves on your indulgence. Deeply feeling the gravity of -the crisis, and knowing your love for your people, we have taken -a liberty which nothing but the most imperious necessity could -warrant; we have ordered out the troops, and we humbly throw -ourselves on your Majesty's indulgence." - -The King's eye flashed and his cheeks became crimson. He was -evidently on the point of dismissing the ministry in an explosion -of anger. "Why, my lords," he exclaimed, "this is treason! _high_ -treason, and you, my Lord Chancellor, ought to know that it is." - -"Yes, sire, I do know it, and nothing but the strongest conviction -that your Majesty's crown and the interests of the nation are at -stake, could have induced us to take such a step, or to tender the -advice we are now giving." - -This submissive reply had the desired effect, the King cooled, -his prudence and better genius prevailed, and having once made -up his mind to yield with a good grace, he accepted, without any -objection, the speech which had been prepared for him, and which -the two ministers had brought with them, he gave orders respecting -the details of the approaching ceremonial, and having completely -recovered his habitual serenity and good humour, he dismissed the -two lords with a jocose threat of impeachment. - -At half-past two o'clock the King entered his state carriage. It -was remarked that the guards on this occasion rode wide of it, -as if they attended as a matter of state and ceremony, and not -as being needed for the King's protection. Persons wishing to -make a more open demonstration of their feelings, were allowed -to pass between the soldiers and approach the royal carriage. -One of these, a rough sailor-like person, pulled off his hat, -and waving it around his head, shouted lustily, "Turn out the -rogues, your Majesty." Notwithstanding the suddenness with which -the resolution to dissolve had been taken, the news had already -spread through the metropolis, an immense crowd was assembled, and -the King was greeted throughout his whole progress with the most -enthusiastic shouts. He was exceedingly fond of popularity, and -these acclamations helped to reconcile him to the step he had been -compelled to take, and to efface the unpleasant impression which -the scene which had so recently occurred could not fail to leave -behind it. - -Meanwhile, another scene of a far more violent kind was taking -place in the House of Lords. The Chancellor on leaving the King -went down to the House to hear appeals. Having gone through the -cause list he retired, in the hope that he should thereby prevent -Lord Wharncliffe from bringing forward his motion. But the -opposition lords had mustered in great force, and the House was -full in all parts. It is usual on the occasion of a prorogation -by the sovereign, for the peers to appear in their robes, and -most of those present wore theirs, but owing to the precipitation -with which the dissolution had been decided on, several peers, -especially on the opposition side of the House, were without them. -A large number of peeresses in full dress, and of members of the -House of Commons were also present. And now a struggle commenced -between the two parties into which the House was divided. The -object of the opposition was to press Lord Wharncliffe's motion -before the King's arrival; the supporters of the ministry wished to -prevent it from being passed. The firing of the park guns announced -that the King was already on his way down to the House, and told -the opposition they had no time to lose. On the motion of Lord -Mansfield, the Earl of Shaftesbury presided, in the absence of the -Lord Chancellor. - -The Duke of Richmond, in order to baffle the opposition, moved -that the standing order which required their lordships to take -their places should be enforced. The opposition saw at once -that this motion was made for the sake of delay, and angrily -protested against it; whereupon the duke threatened to call for -the enforcement of two other standing orders which prohibited the -use of intemperate and threatening language in the House. Lord -Londonderry, furious with indignation, broke out into a vehement -tirade against the conduct of the ministry, and thus effectually -played the game of his opponents. So violent was the excitement -which prevailed at this time in the House, that the ladies present -were terrified, thinking that the peers would actually come to -blows. At length Lord Londonderry was persuaded to sit down, and -Lord Wharncliffe obtained a hearing. But it was too late to press -his motion, and he contented himself with reading it, in order that -it might be entered on the journals of the House. - -At this conjuncture, the Lord Chancellor returned, and the moment -the reading of the address was concluded, he exclaimed in a -vehement and emphatic tone: - -"My lords, I have never yet heard it doubted that the King -possessed the prerogative of dissolving Parliament at pleasure, -still less have I ever known a doubt to exist on the subject at -a moment when the lower House have thought fit to refuse the -supplies." Scarcely had he uttered these words when he was summoned -to meet the King, who had just arrived and was in the robing room; -he at once quitted the House which resounded on all sides with -cries of "hear" and "the King." - -The tumult having in some degree subsided, Lord Mansfield addressed -the House, regretting the scene which had just occurred, and -condemning the dissolution, which he qualified as an act by which -the ministers were making the sovereign the instrument of his own -destruction. - -He was interrupted by another storm of violence and confusion, -which was at length appeased by the announcement that the King was -at hand. When he entered, the assembly had recovered its usual calm -and decorous tranquillity. The members of the House of Commons -having been summoned to the bar, the King, in a loud and firm -voice, pronounced his speech, which commenced with the following -words: - -"My lords and gentlemen, - -"I have come to meet you for the purpose of proroguing this -Parliament, with a view to its immediate dissolution. - -"I have been induced to resort to this measure for the purpose -of ascertaining the sense of my people, in the way in which it -can be most constitutionally and authentically expressed, on -the expediency of making such changes in the representation as -circumstances may appear to require, and which, founded on the -acknowledged principles of the constitution, may tend at once to -uphold the just rights and prerogatives of the crown, and to give -security to the liberties of the people." - - - - -PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, SEPT. 20TH (1831). - -=Source.=--_Lord Macaulay's Speeches_, 1854. - - -Sir, the public feeling concerning reform is of no such recent -origin, and springs from no such frivolous causes. Its first faint -commencement may be traced far, very far, back in our history. -During seventy years that feeling has had a great influence on the -public mind. Through the first thirty years of the reign of George -the Third, it was gradually increasing. The great leaders of the -two parties in the state were favourable to reform. Plans of reform -were supported by large and most respectable minorities in the -House of Commons. The French Revolution, filling the higher and -middle classes with an extreme dread of change, and the war calling -away the public attention from internal to external politics, threw -the question back; but the people never lost sight of it. Peace -came, and they were at leisure to think of domestic improvements. -Distress came, and they suspected, as was natural, that their -distress was the effect of unfaithful stewardship and unskilful -legislation. An opinion favourable to parliamentary reform grew -up rapidly, and became strong among the middle classes. But one -tie, one strong tie, still bound those classes to the Tory party. -I mean the Catholic question. It is impossible to deny that, on -that subject, a large proportion, a majority, I fear, of the middle -class of Englishmen, conscientiously held opinions opposed to those -which I have always entertained, and were disposed to sacrifice -every other consideration to what they regarded as a religious -duty. Thus the Catholic question hid, so to speak, the question of -parliamentary reform. The feeling in favour of parliamentary reform -grew, but it grew in the shade. Every man, I think, must have -observed the progress of that feeling in his own social circle. -But few reform meetings were held, and few petitions in favour of -reform presented. At length the Catholics were emancipated; the -solitary link of sympathy which attached the people to the Tories -was broken; the cry of "No popery" could no longer be opposed to -the cry of "Reform." That which, in the opinion of the two great -parties in parliament, and of a vast portion of the community, had -been the first question, suddenly disappeared; and the question of -parliamentary reform took the first place. Then was put forth all -the strength which had been growing in silence and obscurity. Then -it appeared that reform had on its side a coalition of interests -and opinions unprecedented in our history, all the liberality and -intelligence which had supported the Catholic claims, and all the -clamour which had opposed them. - - - - -BATTLE SONG (1832). - -=Source.=--Ebenezer Elliott's _Poems_, 1832. - - - Day, like our souls, is fiercely dark, - What then? 'Tis day! - We sleep no more; the cock crows--hark! - To arms! away! - They come! they come! the knell is rung - Of us or them; - Wide o'er their march the pomp is flung - Of gold and gem. - What collar'd hound of lawless sway - To famine dear-- - What pensioned slave of Attila, - Leads in the rear? - Come they from Scythian lands afar, - Our blood to spill? - Wear they the livery of the Czar? - They do his will. - Nor tassell'd silk, nor epaulet, - Nor plume, nor torse-- - No splendour gilds, all sternly met, - Our foot and horse. - But, dark and still, we only glow, - Condensed in ire! - Strike, tawdry slaves and ye shall know - Our gloom is fire. - In vain your pomp, ye evil powers, - Insults the land; - Wrongs, vengeance, and the Cause are ours, - And God's right hand! - Madmen! they trample into snakes - The wormy clod! - Like fire, beneath their feet awakes - The sword of God! - Behind, before, above, below, - They rouse the brave; - Where'er they go, they make a foe, - Or find a grave. - - - - -REPEAL OF THE UNION (1833). - -=Source.=--_Lord Macaulay's Speeches_, 1854. - - -_Speech of Lord Macaulay. Delivered in House of Commons, Feb. 6, -1833._ - -Ireland has undoubtedly just causes of complaint. We heard those -causes recapitulated last night by the honourable and learned -member,[6] who tells us that he represents not Dublin alone, but -Ireland, and that he stands between his country and civil war. I -do not deny that most of the grievances which he recounted exist, -that they are serious, and that they ought to be remedied as far -as it is in the power of legislation to remedy them. What I do -deny is that they were caused by the union, and that the repeal -of the union would remove them. I listened attentively while -the honourable and learned gentleman went through that long and -melancholy list: and I am confident that he did not mention a -single evil which was not a subject of bitter complaint while -Ireland had a domestic parliament. Is it fair, is it reasonable -in the honourable gentleman to impute to the union evils which, -as he knows better than any other man in this House, existed long -before the union? _Post hoc: ergo, propter hoc_ is not always sound -reasoning. But _ante hoc: ergo, non propter hoc_ is unanswerable. -The old rustic who told Sir Thomas More that Tenterden steeple was -the cause of Godwin sands reasoned much better than the honourable -and learned gentleman. For it was not till after Tenterden steeple -was built that the frightful wrecks on the Godwin sands were heard -of. But the honourable and learned gentleman would make Godwin -sands the cause of Tenterden steeple. Some of the Irish grievances -which he ascribes to the union are not only older than the union, -but are not peculiarly Irish. They are common to England, Scotland, -and Ireland; and it was in order to get rid of them that we, for -the common benefit of England, Scotland, and Ireland, passed the -Reform Bill last year. Other grievances which the honourable and -learned gentleman mentioned are doubtless local; but is there to -be a local legislature wherever there is a local grievance? Wales -has had local grievances. We all remembered the complaints which -were made a few years ago about the Welsh judicial system; but -did anybody therefore propose that Wales should have a distinct -parliament? Cornwall has some local grievances; but does anybody -propose that Cornwall shall have its own House of Lords and its own -House of Commons? Leeds has local grievances. The majority of my -constituents distrust and dislike the municipal government to which -they are subject; they therefore call loudly on us for corporation -reform: but they do not ask us for a separate legislature. Of this -I am quite sure, that every argument which has been urged for the -purpose of showing that Great Britain and Ireland ought to have -two distinct parliaments may be urged with far greater force for -the purpose of showing that the north of Ireland and the south -of Ireland ought to have two distinct parliaments. The House of -Commons of the United Kingdom, it has been said, is chiefly elected -by Protestants, and therefore cannot be trusted to legislate -for Catholic Ireland. If this be so, how can an Irish House of -Commons, chiefly elected by Catholics, be trusted to legislate -for Protestant Ulster? It is perfectly notorious that theological -antipathies are stronger in Ireland than here. I appeal to the -honourable and learned gentleman himself. He has often declared -that it is impossible for a Roman Catholic, whether prosecutor or -culprit, to obtain justice from a jury of Orangemen. It is indeed -certain that, in blood, religion, language, habits, character, the -population of some of the northern counties of Ireland has much -more in common with the population of England and Scotland than -with the population of Munster and Connaught. I defy the honourable -and learned member, therefore, to find a reason for having a -parliament at Dublin which will not be just as good a reason for -having another parliament at Londonderry. - - - - -JEWISH DISABILITIES (1833). - -=Source.=--_Lord Macaulay's Speeches._ London, 1854. - - -_Macaulay's Speech on Jewish Disabilities in a Committee of the -whole House, April 17, 1833._ - -"But where," says the member for the University of Oxford, "are you -to stop, if once you admit into the House of Commons people who -deny the authority of the Gospels? Will you let in a Mussulman? -Will you let in a Parsee? Will you let in a Hindoo, who worships -a lump of stone with seven heads? I will answer my honourable -friend's question by another. Where does he mean to stop? Is he -ready to roast unbelievers at slow fires? If not, let him tell -us why: and I will engage to prove that his reason is just as -decisive against the intolerance which he thinks a duty, as against -the intolerance which he thinks a crime. Once admit that we are -bound to inflict pain on a man because he is not of our religion; -and where are you to stop? Why stop at the point fixed by my -honourable friend rather than at the point fixed by the honourable -member for Oldham,[7] who would make the Jews incapable of holding -land? And why stop at the point fixed by the honourable member -for Oldham rather than at the point which would have been fixed -by a Spanish Inquisitor of the sixteenth century? When once you -enter on a course of persecution, I defy you to find any reason -for making a halt till you have reached the extreme point. When my -honourable friend tells us that he will allow the Jews to possess -property to any amount, but that he will not allow them to possess -the smallest political power, he holds contradictory language. -Property is power. The honourable member for Oldham reasons better -than my honourable friend. The honourable member for Oldham sees -very clearly that it is impossible to deprive a man of political -power if you suffer him to be the proprietor of half a county, -and therefore very consistently proposes to confiscate the landed -estates of the Jews. But even the honourable member for Oldham -does not go far enough. He has not proposed to confiscate the -personal property of the Jews. Yet it is perfectly certain that -any Jew who has a million may easily make himself very important -in the state. By such steps we pass from official power to landed -property, and from landed property to personal property, and from -property to liberty, and from liberty to life. In truth, those -persecutors who use the rack and the stake have much to say for -themselves. They are convinced that their end is good; and it -must be admitted that they employ means which are not unlikely to -attain the end. Religious dissent has repeatedly been put down by -sanguinary persecution. In that way the Albigenses were put down. -In that way Protestantism was suppressed in Spain and Italy, so -that it has never since reared its head. But I defy anybody to -produce an instance in which disabilities such as we are now -considering have produced any other effect than that of making the -sufferers angry and obstinate. My honourable friend should either -persecute to some purpose, or not persecute at all. He dislikes -the word persecution I know. He will not admit that the Jews are -persecuted. And yet I am confident that he would rather be sent to -the King's Bench Prison for three months, or be fined a hundred -pounds, than be subject to the disabilities under which the Jews -lie. How can he then say that to impose such disabilities is not -persecution, and that to fine and imprison is persecution? All -his reasoning consists in drawing arbitrary lines. What he does -not wish to inflict he calls persecution. What he does wish to -inflict he will not call persecution. What he takes from the Jews -he calls political power. What he is too good-natured to take from -the Jews he will not call political power. The Jew must not sit -in parliament: but he may be the proprietor of all the ten pound -houses in a borough. He may have more fifty pound tenants than -any peer in the kingdom. He may give the voters treats to please -their palates, and hire bands of gipsies to break their heads, as -if he were a Christian and a marquess. All the rest of this system -is of a piece. The Jew may be a juryman, but not a judge. He may -decide issues of fact, but not issues of law. He may give a hundred -thousand pounds damages; but he may not in the most trivial case -grant a new trial. He may rule the money market: he may influence -the exchanges: he may be summoned to congresses of emperors and -kings. Great potentates, instead of negotiating a loan with him by -tying him in a chair and pulling out his grinders, may treat with -him as with a great potentate, and may postpone the declaring of -war or the signing of a treaty till they have conferred with him. -All this is as it should be: but he must not be a Privy Councillor. -He must not be called Right Honourable, for that is political -power. And who is it that we are trying to cheat in this way? Even -Omniscience. Yes, Sir; we have been gravely told that the Jews are -under the divine displeasure, and that if we give them political -power God will visit us in judgment. Do we then think that God -cannot distinguish between substance and form? Does not he know -that, while we withhold from the Jews the semblance and name of -political power, we suffer them to possess the substance? The plain -truth is that my honourable friend is drawn in one direction by his -opinions, and in a directly opposite direction by his excellent -heart. He halts between two opinions. He tries to make a compromise -between principles which admit of no compromise. He goes a certain -way in intolerance. Then he stops, without being able to give a -reason for stopping. But I know the reason. It is his humanity. -Those who formerly dragged the Jew at a horse's tail, and singed -his beard with blazing furzebushes, were much worse men than my -honourable friend; but they were more consistent than he." - - - - -STRIKES (1834). - -=Source.=--Duke of Buckingham's _Memoirs of the Courts of William -IV. and Victoria_, Vol. II. p. 84. London, 1861. - - -On the 28th, [April] there was a strike of the London journeymen -tailors, numbering thirteen thousand. Their masters came to a -determination not to employ men belonging to trades unions, and -after a few weeks, the journeymen were content to return to their -work on those terms. - -These trades unions and their strikes were becoming an insufferable -nuisance; nevertheless, no proper effort was made to put them down. -The mischief they created was well known to the Government,[8] -their interference with trade, their atrocious oaths, impious -ceremonies, desperate tyranny, and secret assassinations, had been -brought under their observation; but Ministers could not be stirred -to any exhibition of energy for the protection either of the -manufacturer, the workman, or the public. - -Even the following powerful appeal was addressed to them without -effect: - -"Those whose lives and property have been endangered by these -illegal associations have a right to call on Government to employ -some additional means for their suppression. Those who wish for the -prosperity of our trade, and what is of far more importance, the -prosperity and happiness of the working-classes, should equally -desire their extinction. Those who hate oppression should give -their suffrages for the putting down these most capricious and -irresponsible of all despotism. They are alike hurtful to the -workmen who form them, to the capitalists who are the objects of -their hostility, and to the public who more remotely feel their -effects. Were we asked to give a definition of a trades union, we -should say that it is a society whose constitution is the worst of -democracies, whose power is based on outrage, whose practice is -tyranny, and whose end is self-destruction." - - - - -AGITATION FOR REFORM OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS (1835). - -=Source.=--Martineau's _History of the Peace_, Vol. III. pp. 254-5. -Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons. - - -_Speech by Mr. O'Connell at Edinburgh, 1835._ - -"We achieved but one good measure this last session; but that was -not our fault; for the 170 tyrants of the country prevented us -from achieving more. Ancient Athens was degraded for submitting -to thirty tyrants; modern Athens will never allow 170 tyrants to -rule over her.... It was stated in one of the clubs, that at one -time a dog had bitten the bishop, whereupon a noble lord, who was -present, said, 'I will lay any wager that the bishop began the -quarrel.' Now, really the House of Lords began the quarrel with -me. They may treat me as a mad dog if they please; I won't fight -them; but I will treat them as the Quaker treated the dog which had -attacked him. 'Heaven forbid,' said he, 'that I should do thee the -slightest injury, I am a man of peace, and I will not hurt thee'; -but when the dog went away, he cried out, 'Mad dog! mad dog!' and -all the people set upon him. Now, that is my remedy with the House -of Lords. I am more honest than the Quaker was; for the dog that -attacked me is really mad. Bills were rejected in the House of -Lords simply because Daniel O'Connell supported them; and I do say, -that if I had any twelve men on a jury on a question of lunacy, I -would put it to such jury to say if such men were not confirmed -madmen. So you perceive the dog is really mad--and accordingly -I have started on this mission to rouse the public mind to the -necessity of reforming the House of Lords; and I have had 50,000 -cheering me at Manchester, and 100,000 cheering me in Newcastle; -and I heard one simultaneous cry, 'Down with the mad dogs, and up -with common sense!' The same cry has resounded through Auld Reekie. -The Calton Hill and Arthur's Seat re-echoed with the sound; and -all Scotland has expressed the same determination to use every -legitimate effort to remove the House of Lords. Though the Commons -are with us, yet the House of Lords are against us; and they have -determined that they will not concede a portion of freedom which -they can possibly keep back. Sir Robert Peel, the greatest humbug -that ever lived, and as full of political and religious cant as any -man that ever canted in this canting world--feeling himself quite -safe on his own dunghill, says that we want but one chamber--one -House of radical reformers. He knew that in saying this he was -saying what was not true. We know too well the advantage of double -deliberation not to support two Houses; but they must be subject to -popular control; they must be the servants, not the masters, of the -people." - - - - -THE FACTORY SYSTEM (1836). - -=Source.=--_The Curse of the Factory System_, by John Fielden, M.P. -London, 1836. - - - "Oldham, 25th February, 1836. - -"Sir, - -"I am instructed by the Master Spinners and Manufacturers in this -Township to forward you the inclosed copy of a Memorial, the -original of which has this day been forwarded to John Frederick -Lees, Esq., one of the Members for this Borough, for presentation -to the Lords of His Majesty's Privy Council for Trade, and to -solicit your assistance and influence in obtaining an alteration of -the present Factory Regulation Act. - - "I am, Sir, - - "Your obedient Servant, - - "KAY CLEGG. - -"John Fielden, Esq., M.P. - -"House of Commons, London." - - -"_To the Right Honourable the Lords of His Majesty's Privy Council -for Trade, etc., etc._ - -"The Memorial of the Undersigned Mill-owners, Occupiers of Mills, -Master-Spinners, and Manufacturers of the Township of Oldham, in -the County of Lancaster. - -"Showeth, - -"That an Act of Parliament was made and passed in the third and -fourth years of the reign of his present Majesty, entitled 'An Act -to regulate the labour of children and young persons in the Mills -and Factories of the United Kingdom.' - -"That the eighth section of the said Act enacts 'That after the -expiration of thirty months from the passing of such Act it shall -not be lawful for any person whatsoever to employ, keep, or -allow to remain, in any factory or mill for a longer period than -forty-eight hours in any one week, any child who shall not have -completed his or her thirteenth year of age.' - -"That the said Act has prohibited the employment of children under -twelve years of age for more than nine hours in any one day since -the first day of March one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, -and such prohibition has tended greatly to injure the interests -both of your Memorialists and the parents of such children, -without any advantage resulting to the children themselves. - -"That your Memorialists are looking forward with great anxiety -and alarm to the situation in which they will be placed on the -first day of March next, by the working of children under thirteen -years of age being restricted to forty-eight hours in one week, -for that such restriction will have the effect of throwing all -children under thirteen years of age wholly out of employment, -and will render it impossible for your Memorialists to work their -respective mills with advantage, in proof whereof your Memorialists -confidently appeal to the Factory Inspectors of this district for -the truth of their assertion. - -"That your Memorialists are far from wishing a total repeal of the -provisions of the said Factory Act, but humbly submit that it is -absolutely necessary to the carrying on of the cotton trade with -advantage, to allow the employment of children of eleven years of -age for sixty-nine hours a week. - -"That your Memorialists approve of the principle of appointing -responsible superintendents over the mills and factories of -the United Kingdom, and are favourable to a restriction of the -employment of young persons under twenty-one years of age to -sixty-nine hours in the week. - - "Your Memorialists, therefore, pray that a Bill may be - forthwith introduced by his Majesty's Government, which shall - prevent the latter part of the above-mentioned section from - coming into operation on the first of March next, and which - shall permit children of eleven years of age to be employed for - sixty-nine hours per week in the mills and factories of the - United Kingdom." - -This memorial is signed by seventy-two mill-owners, but I do not -think it necessary to publish their names. The following is the -answer that I returned to Mr. Clegg: - - - "London, February 29, 1836. - -"Sir, - -"I have received your letter of the 27th, and a copy of the -memorial sent to Mr. Lees. - -"The prayer of the Memorialists, that young children between eleven -and thirteen years of age should be allowed to work in factories -sixty-nine hours in the week instead of forty-eight hours a week, -which the law now prescribes, is so revolting to my feelings, and -so opposed to my views of the protection such children are entitled -to, that I must decline supporting the prayer of the Memorialists. - -"The work-people have long petitioned that the maximum of time for -those under twenty-one should be fifty-eight hours per week. This I -should be glad to see adopted, as an experiment, and would support -such a proposition by my vote; but I do not think the restriction -is sufficient. - -"I am embarked in the same business with the Memorialists. I have -had long experience in it. I have paid great attention to this -question; and, after mature consideration of it, I am convinced -that eight hours work per day, in factories, is as long as ought -to be exacted from either children or adults, and I am of opinion, -too, that such a regulation, combined with a daily system of -training and instruction, would be more advantageous both to -masters and servants, than the regulation now in practice. But the -subject is so important, and is likely to be brought under the -consideration of Parliament so soon, that I propose to publish my -opinions, and the reasons for those opinions, and the conclusions I -have come to on this question, in reply to the Memorialists. - - "I am, Sir, - - "Your obedient Servant, - - "JOHN FIELDEN. - -"Klay Clegg, Esq., Oldham." - - - - -THE EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN. - -=Source.=--_The Curse of the Factory System_, by John Fielden, M.P. -London, 1836. - - -The Commissioners have given a short summary in pp. 26 to 28 of -their report, of the "Effects of Factory Labour on Children," from -which I make the extracts following. It is taken, it appears, from -the mouths of the children themselves, their parents, and their -overlookers. - - -The account of the child, when questioned, is: - -"Sick-tired, especially in the winter nights; so tired she can do -nothing; feels so tired she throws herself down when she gangs -home, no caring what she does; often much tired, and feels sore, -standing so long on her legs; often so tired she could not eat her -supper; night and morning very tired; has two sisters in the mill; -has heard them complain to her mother, and she says they must work; -whiles I do not know what to do with myself; as tired every morning -as I can be." - - -Another speaks in this way: - -"Many a time has been so fatigued that she could hardly take off -her clothes at night, or put them on in the morning; her mother -would be raging at her, because when she sat down she could not get -up again through the house; thinks they are in bondage; no much -better than the Israelites in Egypt, and life no pleasure to them; -so tired that she can't eat her supper, nor wake of herself." - - -The Commissioners say the evidence of parents is generally this: - -"Her children come home so tired and worn out they can hardly eat -their supper; has often seen her daughter come home so fatigued -that she would go to bed supperless; has seen young workers -absolutely oppressed, and unable to sit down or rise up." - - -They say that the evidence of the overlooker is: - -"Children are very often tired and stiff-like; have known children -hide themselves in the stove among the wool, so that they should -not go home when the work is over; have seen six or eight fetched -out of the stove and beat home; beat out of the mill, however; they -hide because too tired to go home." - - -Again, an overlooker says: - -"Many a one I have had to rouse, when the work is very slack, from -fatigue; the children very much jaded when worked late at night; -the children bore the long hours very ill indeed; after working -eight or nine or ten hours, they were nearly ready to faint; -some were asleep; some were only kept awake by being spoke to, -or by a little chastisement, to make them jump up. I was obliged -to chastise them when they were almost fainting, and it hurt my -feelings; then they would spring up and work pretty well for -another hour; but the last two or three hours was my hardest work, -for they then got so exhausted." - - -Another child says: - -"She often falls asleep while sitting, sometimes standing; her -little sister falls asleep, and they wake her by a cry; was up at -four this morning, which made her fall asleep at one, when the -Factory Commissioners came to inspect the mill." - - -A spinner says: - -"I find it difficult to keep my piecers awake the last hours of a -winter's evening; have seen them fall asleep, and go on performing -their work with their hands while they were asleep, after the -billey had stopped, when their work was over; I have stopped and -looked at them for two minutes, going through the motions of -piecening when they were fast asleep, when there was no work to -do, and they were doing nothing; children at night are so fatigued -that they are asleep often as soon as they sit down, so that it is -impossible to wake them to sense enough to wash themselves, or -even to eat a bit of supper, being so stupid in sleep." - - -In alluding to the cruelty of parents, who suffer their children to -be overworked in factories for their own gain, as spoken of in the -Report of the Board of Health in Manchester, and above-quoted, the -Commissioners say that - -"It is not wholly unknown in the West Riding of Yorkshire for -parents to carry their children to the mills in the morning on -their backs, and to carry them back again at night." - - -And, further, that - -"It appears in evidence that sometimes the sole consideration by -which parents are influenced in making choice of a person under -whom to place their children, is the amount of wages, not the mode -of treatment, to be secured to them." - - -If this is not enough to show that there were grounds for the -further protection, I will now refer to the same Report of the -Commissioners, to show, that from Scotland the details are full -as affecting, and even more disgusting. At page 18 (Report) the -Commissioners open with these words: - -"Had the fact not been established by indubitable evidence, -everyone must have been slow to credit, that in this age and -country the proprietors of extensive factories could have been -indifferent to the well-being of their work-people to such a degree -as is implied in the following statements": - - -In page 41 an half-overseer gives this evidence: - -"Does not like the long hours; he is very tired and hoarse at -night; and that some of the young female workers in his, the -spinning flat, have so swelled legs, one in particular, from -standing so long, about seventeen years old, that she can hardly -walk; that various of them have their feet bent in and their legs -crooked from the same cause." - - -In short, so universal is this complaint of "sair tired," and of -swelled legs, ankles, feet, hands, and arms, that it almost seems -as if one voice spoke the facts; for if we find them varied, it is -only here and there by touches like the above, so true to nature, -that one would think they must pierce even the most callous and -avaricious man to the very core. In one page we find a little child -of eight years old complaining that she is "sair tired" every -night, and has no time _for going to play_. - -"That, at the age when children suffer these injuries from the -labour they undergo, they are not _free agents_, but are _let out -to hire_, the wages they earn being received and appropriated by -their parents and guardians, and therefore they think that a case -is made out for the interference of the legislature in behalf of -the children employed in factories"--p. 32. - - - - -THE POLICE (1836). - -=Source.=--_Treatise on the Magistracy of England_, by Edward -Mullins. London, 1836. - - -_Commissioners' Report on Police._ - -"The constable is most commonly an uneducated person, from the -class of petty tradesmen or mechanics, and in practice is usually -nominated by his predecessor on going out of office. No inquiry -takes place into his qualification or fitness for the office, and -indeed he is said to be often the person in the parish the most -likely to break the peace. So common is it for the constable to -be unable to write or read, that an improper fee is often charged -upon that ground by the Magistrate's clerk, 'for making out the -constable's bill for conveyance to gaol.' - -"'The manner of appointing constables, in my opinion,' says a -correspondent, 'might be advantageously altered, for the court -leet jury and steward being irresponsible parties, and the jurymen -(vulgarly called Tom-fool's men) not liking the burthen themselves, -often appoint persons of _bad character_, and sometimes for the -purpose of keeping them off the parish.' If respectable persons are -sometimes chosen at the Leet, they 'find substitutes for a _small -sum_, and these deputies blunder through the year, and when they -are most wanted are never to be found.' What integrity or propriety -of conduct can there be expected from one whose necessity renders -every shilling that is offered him an irresistible temptation? - -"Entirely ignorant of his duties when first appointed, the parish -constable is often displaced at the end of the year, when his -acquaintance with them is, perhaps, beginning to improve. Even -when suited in other respects to the employment, his efficiency -is always in a great measure impaired by the nature of his -position with regard to those among whom he is called upon to -act. Belonging entirely to their class, and brought into constant -contact with them by his ordinary occupations, he is embarrassed -in the discharge of his duty by considerations of personal safety, -interest or feeling, and by an anxiety to retain the good will -of his neighbours. When all these circumstances are considered, -it would, indeed, be surprising if the constables were found to -render satisfactory service. In point of fact they are deficient in -zeal and activity to a degree which it is difficult to exaggerate, -and it may be said, without undue severity, that they are in all -respects utterly unfit for the duties to which they are appointed. - -"The accuracy of this statement, we believe (continue the -Commissioners) will be generally admitted by those who have -opportunities of becoming acquainted with the subject by personal -observation. 'No person can be aware,' says the treasurer of -the West Riding of Yorkshire, 'of the reluctance shewn by the -parish constables in apprehending felons, particularly since the -disposition shewn by the lower orders to retaliate by committing -destruction on their property.' 'There is not a single constable,' -he afterwards adds, 'who dares move, nor has he any encouragement -to move, and if he does move, he is quite incompetent.' - -"'We cannot go on in the country,' says another witness, 'with -our present police; when there is the least danger we are obliged -immediately to call out the special constables.' 'The present -system of parochial police,' says another, 'is unsound; it consists -of a constable in each parish, who has very often to make his -election between violating his duty as a constable, and forfeiting -the regard and affection of his neighbours.' '_The great end of -police is to prevent crime_,' is the remark of another gentleman of -great experience on this subject, 'and who ever heard of this being -the object of the present force? They are worse than useless.' - -"The frauds, extortion, embezzlement and pillage practised by these -officers are the natural consequence of their situation. They -charge for assistants when they are accompanied only by their wives -or by poor labourers, to whom they pay the common farmers' day -wages, receiving the county allowance and retaining the difference. - -"They charge for carriages when they compel prisoners to walk to -gaol; they receive the full mileage for all the witnesses attending -a prosecution, and contract with coaches to carry them at half -price. - -"They receive their allowance for time and trouble, and often keep -back a part; they pass stolen goods from hand to hand, so as to -make as many of themselves as possible necessary witnesses at the -trial; and what is matter of most serious charge against them, they -withhold, and it is said, in many instances appropriate, the money -and other valuable property found upon persons apprehended. - -"'We have at Thirsk (observes a Yorkshire magistrate) an -association for the prosecution of felons, but it does little good, -as we have _no police_, and the _constables are extremely bad_--so -bad as to call forth many severe expressions on their inefficiency -by Baron Alderson, a short time ago at York, in the case of two -violent attempts at murder committed near Thirsk.'" - -The Commissioners further report that, "It is the deliberate -opinion of a very valuable correspondent, that our constabulary -system has _greatly promoted_ the _increase_ of crime; that -no useful improvement can be introduced into the present -_miserable_ system of attempting to exercise police through parish -constables annually elected. 'Our constabulary system,' says this -correspondent, 'is so _absurd_ and _unjust_, that I really do not -think it fair or equitable to blame or deride the unfortunate -conscripts who are compelled to be tithingmen; if I did, I could -compose a _farce_ with the anecdotes to be collected of petty -occurrences in the warfare with offences in this neighbourhood; -neglect of duty, forgetfulness, ignorance, blunders, cowardice -without excuse, supineness,'" etc. - -The current of evidence as to the decayed and worn-out state of the -parish constabulary system is irresistibly strong; and its defects -are the more striking when viewed in contrast with the improved -system of an organized and permanent police as established in many -parts of the kingdom. - - - - -THE KING AND THE CANADIAN QUESTION (1836). - -=Source.=--_The Edinburgh Review._ Vol. 133, pp. 319-321. - - -_From the 'Recollections' of Lord Broughton de Gyfford._ - -"I heard from all quarters that H.M. was in a state of great -excitement. This was not all we knew of the Royal disinclination to -us; for, on Saturday, July 11, in Downing Street, Lord Melbourne -addressed us as follows: - -"'Gentlemen, you may as well know how you stand;' and, pulling -a paper from his pocket, he read a memorandum of a conversation -between the King and Lord Gosford, after the review, the day -before. The King said to Lord Gosford, 'Mind what you are about -in Canada. By G----d! I will never consent to alienate the Crown -lands, nor to make the Council elective. Mind me, my Lord, the -Cabinet is not my Cabinet, they had better take care, or, by -G----d! I will have them impeached. You are a gentleman, I believe. -I have no fear of you; but take care what you do.' - -"We all stared at each other. Melbourne said, 'It is better not to -quarrel with him. He is evidently in a state of great excitement.' -And yet the King gave Dedel, the Dutch Ambassador, the same day, on -taking leave, very sensible advice, and told him 'to let the King -of Holland know that he was ignorant of his true position, and that -Belgium was lost irrecoverably.' H.M. had also given his assent in -writing to the second reading of our Irish Church Reform Bill, -which showed that these outbursts were more physical than signs -of any settled design; although there were some of us who thought -it was intended to drive us by incivilities to resign our places, -and thus make us the apparent authors of our own retirement. Lord -Frederick Fitzclarence told me that his father had much to bear, -being beset by the Duke of Cumberland and Duchess of Gloucester by -day, and by the Queen at night. As to ourselves, it was clear to -me that, if we continued in the Government, it would be entirely -owing to the good sense and good manners of our chief, who knew -how to deal with his master, as well as with his colleagues, and -never, that I saw, made a mistake in regard to either; and I must -add that, when a stand was to be made on anything considered to be -a vital principle of his Government, he was as firm as a rock. - -"We foresaw that the instructions, which we had agreed upon as -the basis of Lord Gosford's administration in Canada, would meet -with much disfavour in the Royal closet; and Lord Glenelg told me -that when he read these instructions to the King, H.M. broke out -violently against the use of certain words, saying, 'No, my Lord, -I will not have that word; strike out "_conciliatory_"--strike out -"_liberal_"'; and then he added, 'you cannot wonder at my making -these difficulties with a Ministry that has been forced upon -me.' However, as Glenelg went on reading, H.M. got more calm. He -approved of what was said about the Legislative Council and the -territorial revenues. In short, he approved of the instructions -generally on that day, and also on the following Monday; but, when -Glenelg went into the closet this day (Wednesday, 15th July), he -was very sulky, and, indeed, rude; and objected to some things -to which he had previously consented. Lord Melbourne was told by -Glenelg how he had been treated, and, when he (Lord M.) went into -the closet, the King said he hoped he had not been uncivil to Lord -Glenelg, on which Lord Melbourne made only a stiff bow. The King -took the reproof most becomingly; for when Glenelg went in a second -time, H.M. was exceedingly kind to him, and said, 'He approved of -every word of the instructions'; and he then remarked 'that he was -not like William III. who often signed what he did not approve. He -would not do that. He was not disposed to infringe on the liberty -of any of his subjects; but he must preserve his own prerogative.' - -"H.M. retained his good humour at the Council, which he held -afterwards to hear the Recorder's Report. Chief Justice Denman was -detained at Guildhall, and kept His Majesty waiting a long time. -When he came the King took his apologies very kindly. He asked the -Chief Justice when he should leave London for the holidays, and -where he lived; and invited him to Windsor, and said he should be -glad to see him, adding, 'I hope you won't hang me, my Lord.' Such -was this kind good man, generally most just and generous, but, when -irritated, scarcely himself. He was more sincere than suited his -Royal office, and could not conceal his likings and dislikings from -those who were most affected by them." - - - - -STATISTICS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND FOR THE YEARS 1816-1837. - -=Source.=--Alison's _History of Europe_, London, 1848; compiled -from Porter's _Party Tables_, Marshall's Edition, and other sources. - - - -------+--------------+--------------+------------- - YEAR. | EXPORTS. | IMPORTS. | POPULATION. - -------+--------------+--------------+------------- - | | | - 1816 | £49,197,851 | £26,374,921 | 13,640,000 - | | | - 1817 | 50,404,111 | 29,910,502 | 13,860,000 - | | | - 1818 | 53,560,338 | 35,845,340 | 14,000,000 - | | | - 1819 | 42,438,989 | 29,681,640 | 14,200,000 - | | | - 1820 | 48,965,537 | 31,515,222 | 14,300,000 - | | | - 1821 | 51,461,423 | 29,769,122 | 14,391,631 - | | | - 1822 | 53,464,122 | 29,432,376 | 14,600,000 - | | | - 1823 | 52,408,276 | 34,591,260 | 14,800,000 - | | | - 1824 | 58,940,336 | 36,056,551 | 15,000,000 - | | | - 1825 | 56,335,514 | 42,660,954 | 15,200,000 - | | | - 1826 | 51,042,071 | 36,174,350 | 15,400,000 - | | | - 1827 | 62,050,008 | 43,489,346 | 15,600,000 - | | | - 1828 | 62,744,002 | 43,536,187 | 15,850,000 - | | | - 1829 | 66,835,443 | 42,311,609 | 16,140,000 - | | | - 1830 | 69,691,301 | 46,245,241 | 16,240,000 - | | | - 1831 | 71,429,004 | 49,713,889 | 16,539,318 - | | | - 1832 | 76,971,571 | 44,586,741 | 16,800,000 - | | | - 1833 | 79,773,142 | 45,952,551 | 17,050,000 - | | | - 1834 | 85,393,686 | 49,362,811 | 17,270,000 - | | | - 1835 | 91,074,455 | 48,911,542 | 17,480,000 - | | | - 1836 | 97,621,548 | 57,023,867 | 17,690,000 - | | | - 1837 | 85,781,669 | 54,737,301 | 17,800,000 - -------+--------------+--------------+------------- - - - -------+------------+-------------+--------------- - | TAXES | TAXES | AVERAGE PRICE - YEAR. | IMPOSED. | REPEALED. | OF WHEAT. - | | | WINCH. QR. - -------+------------+-------------+--------------- - | | | _s._ _d._ - | | | - 1816 | £320,058 | £17,547,565 | 82 0 - | | | - 1817 | 7,991 | 36,495 | 116 0 - | | | - 1818 | 1,336 | 9,564 | 98 0 - | | | - 1819 | 3,094,902 | 705,846 | 78 0 - | | | - 1820 | 119,602 | 4,000 | 76 0 - | | | - 1821 | 42,642 | 471,309 | 71 0 - | | | - 1822 | ---- | 2,139,101 | 53 0 - | | | - 1823 | 18,596 | 4,050,250 | 57 0 - | | | - 1824 | 45,605 | 1,704,724 | 72 0 - | | | - 1825 | 43,000 | 3,639,551 | 84 0 - | | | - 1826 | 188,000 | 1,973,812 | 73 0 - | | | - 1827 | 21,402 | 4,038 | 50 0 - | | | - 1828 | 1,966 | 51,998 | 71 0 - | | | - 1829 | ---- | 126,406 | 55 4 - | | | - 1830 | 696,004 | 4,093,955 | 64 10 - | | | - 1831 | 627,586 | 1,598,536 | 58 3 - | | | - 1832 | 44,526 | 747,264 | 52 6 - | | | - 1833 | ---- | 1,526,914 | 47 10 - | | | - 1834 | 198,394 | 2,091,516 | 39 8 - | | | - 1835 | 75 | 165,817 | 35 3 - | | | - 1836 | ---- | 986,786 | 57 7 - | | | - 1837 | 3,991 | 234 | 51 3 - -------+------------+-------------+--------------- - - -GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT M ACLEHOSE AND -CO. LTD. - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Mr. Wilbraham was M.P. for Dover. - -[2] The depression in the rate of interest created by this monetary -plethora is thus exhibited by Mr. Tooke: - - ---------------+------------+----------------- - | 3 Per Cent.| Premium on - Dates. | Consols. | Exchequer Bills. - ---------------+------------+----------------- - April 3, 1823, | 73½ | 10 to 12 - July 1, 1823, | 80¾ | 21 to 24 - Oct. 3, 1823, | 82½ | 37 to 40 - Jan. 1, 1824, | 86 | 51 to 53 - Apr. 2, 1824, | 94¼ | 56 to 58 - ---------------+------------+----------------- - -_Tooke on the State of the Currency_, 1826, p. 41. - -[3] James Deacon Hume, Esq., then of the Customs, now (1830) of the -Board of Trade. - -[4] The speech of Lord John Russell, when on March 1, 1831, he -introduced the first Reform Bill, opened a debate which practically -lasted until June 5, 1832. The Whig ministry knew that the fate -of their party depended upon that of the Bill, and they came to -realize that the fate of the dynasty itself might depend upon -the same thing. The Opposition were no less desirous of victory, -seeing in the Bill a measure which threatened the prosperity of -the people and the very existence of the State. "The country was -divided into two hostile camps, regarding each other with feelings -of increased exasperation. On the one hand, the anti-reformers -though, comparatively few, were immensely strong in position and -prestige.... On the other hand, the reformers could count upon the -support of the great mass of the people." - -[5] The First Reform Bill had passed two readings when the -ministry, concluded after an adverse vote upon a motion, introduced -by General Gascoyne, in opposition to their policy, that it was -useless to continue the struggle in Parliament. Confident of the -support of the electors, they resolved to appeal to the country. -To do this a dissolution of Parliament was necessary, and against -this the anti-reformers were firmly arrayed. The ministry appealed -to the King. In the selection which follows, this appeal is vividly -described, and the action of the King in dissolving Parliament is -clearly portrayed. - -[6] Mr. O'Connell - -[7] Mr. Cobbett. - -[8] _Character, Object, and Effects of Trades Unions_, etc., 8vo, -1834. See also an able article in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for -June, 1834. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Peace and Reform, by Various - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEACE AND REFORM *** - -***** This file should be named 53338-0.txt or 53338-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/3/3/53338/ - -Produced by John Campbell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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