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- margin-bottom: .1em; - visibility: hidden; - color: white; - width: .01em; - display: none; - } - - blockquote {margin: 1.5em 3% 1.5em 3%;} - - .poem-container {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%;} - .poem {display: block;} - .poem .attrib {max-width: 25em; margin-right: 0;} - .poem .stanza {page-break-inside: avoid;} - .poem .center {text-align: left; margin-left: 10em;} - - .hang {margin: .5em 3% 2em 3%;} - - .transnote { - page-break-inside: avoid; - margin-left: 2%; - margin-right: 2%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - padding: .5em; - } - -} - </style> - </head> - -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Representative British Orations with -Introductions and Explanatory Notes,, by Charles Kendall Adams - -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: Representative British Orations with Introductions and Explanatory Notes, Volume III (of 4) - -Author: Charles Kendall Adams - -Release Date: September 6, 2017 [EBook #55491] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REPRESENTATIVE BRITISH ORATIONS, VOL 3 *** - - - - -Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Charlie Howard, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="center"><div class="ad"> -<p class="center sans">Uniform with British Orations</p> - -<blockquote class="hang"> - -<p>AMERICAN ORATIONS, to illustrate -American Political History, edited, with -introductions, by <span class="smcap">Alexander Johnston</span>, -Professor of Jurisprudence and Political -Economy in the College of New Jersey. -3 vols., 16 mo, $3.75.</p> - -<p>PROSE MASTERPIECES FROM MODERN -ESSAYISTS, comprising single specimen essays -from <span class="smcap">Irving</span>, <span class="smcap">Leigh Hunt</span>, <span class="smcap">Lamb</span>, <span class="smcap">De -Quincey</span>, <span class="smcap">Landor</span>, <span class="smcap">Sydney Smith</span>, <span class="smcap">Thackeray</span>, -<span class="smcap">Emerson</span>, <span class="smcap">Arnold</span>, <span class="smcap">Morley</span>, <span class="smcap">Helps</span>, -<span class="smcap">Kingsley</span>, <span class="smcap">Ruskin</span>, <span class="smcap">Lowell</span>, <span class="smcap">Carlyle</span>, <span class="smcap">Macaulay</span>, -<span class="smcap">Froude</span>, <span class="smcap">Freeman</span>, <span class="smcap">Gladstone</span>, <span class="smcap">Newman</span>, -<span class="smcap">Leslie Stephen</span>. 3 vols., 16 mo, bevelled -boards, $3.75 and $4.50.</p></blockquote> - -<p class="p2 center"><span class="smcap">G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York and London</span></p> -</div></div> - -<div class="newpage p4 center"><div class="narrow bordout"> -<div class="bordin"> -<h1><span class="small">REPRESENTATIVE</span><br /> -BRITISH ORATIONS</h1> - -<p class="p2 center vspace">WITH<br /> -INTRODUCTIONS AND EXPLANATORY NOTES</p> - -<p class="p2 center vspace">BY<br /> -<span class="large">CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS.</span></p> - -<div class="p2 poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza-attrib"> -<span class="i0"><i xml:lang="la" lang="la">Videtisne quantum munus sit oratoris historia?</i></span></div> -<div class="attrib"> -—<span class="smcap">Cicero</span>, <cite>DeOratore</cite>, ii, 15</div> -</div></div> - -<p class="p1 center xlarge">✩✩✩</p> - -<p class="p1 center vspace">NEW YORK & LONDON<br /> -<span class="larger gesperrt">G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS</span><br /> -<span class="bold">The Knickerbocker Press</span><br /> -1884 -</p> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="newpage p4 center vspace smaller"> -COPYRIGHT<br /> -G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS<br /> -1884.</p> - -<p class="p2 center vspace smaller">Press of<br /> -<span class="smcap">G. P. Putnam’s Sons</span><br /> -New York -</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - -<table id="toc" summary="Contents"> - <tr class="small"> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">PAGE</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl notpad"><span class="smcap">George Canning</span></td> - <td class="tdr notpad"><a href="#GEORGE_CANNING">1</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">George Canning</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#GEORGE_CANNING2">13</a></td></tr> - <tr class="sub"> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">On the Policy of Granting Aid to Portugal when Invaded by Spain; House of Commons, December 12, 1826.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Lord Macaulay</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#LORD_MACAULAY">50</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Lord Macaulay</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#LORD_MACAULAY2">62</a></td></tr> - <tr class="sub"> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">On the Reform Bill of 1832; House of Commons, March 2, 1831.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Richard Cobden</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#RICHARD_COBDEN">95</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Richard Cobden</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#RICHARD_COBDEN2">109</a></td></tr> - <tr class="sub"> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">On the Effects of Protection on the Agricultural Interests of the Country; House of Commons, March 13, 1845.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">John Bright</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#JOHN_BRIGHT">155</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">John Bright</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#JOHN_BRIGHT2">159</a></td></tr> - <tr class="sub"> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">On the Foreign Policy of England; Delivered at a Banquet Given in Honor of Mr. Bright, at Birmingham, October 29, 1858.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Lord Beaconsfield</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#LORD_BEACONSFIELD">204</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Lord Beaconsfield</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#LORD_BEACONSFIELD2">216</a></td></tr> - <tr class="sub"> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">On the Principles of the Conservative Party; Delivered at Manchester, April 3, 1872.</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">William Ewart Gladstone</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#WILLIAM_EWART_GLADSTONE">277</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">William Ewart Gladstone</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#WILLIAM_EWART_GLADSTONE2">287</a></td></tr> - <tr class="sub"> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">On Domestic and Foreign Affairs; Delivered at West Calder, November 27, 1879.</span></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="GEORGE_CANNING">GEORGE CANNING.</h2> -</div> - -<p>The subject of this sketch was born in London -in 1770. When he was only one year old, -the death of his father threw the responsibility -of his training and education upon his mother. -Dependent upon her own energies for the support -of herself and her child, she at first established -a small school in London, and a little -later fitted herself for the stage, where she -achieved considerable success.</p> - -<p>As soon as George entered school, he began -to show remarkable proficiency in the study of -Latin and Greek, as well as in English literature. -Mr. Stapleton, his biographer, tells us -that when still a child, young Canning was incidentally -called upon to recite some verses, when -he began with one of the poems of Gray, and -did not stop or falter till he repeated the contents<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span> -of the entire volume. At the age of fifteen -he went to Eton, where he was at once -recognized as a boy of surpassing abilities and -attainments. In the following year some of -his school-fellows joined him in starting a -weekly paper, called the <cite>Microcosm</cite>, to -which he acted the part of editor and chief -contributor. The brilliancy and wit of the paper -were such as to attract even the attention of -the leading reviews. He also paid great attention -to the art of extemporaneous speaking. -A society had been established in the school -in which all the forms and methods of the -House of Commons were rigidly observed. -The Speaker, the Cabinet, and the Opposition -played their mimic parts with all the energy -and interest so many of the members afterward -displayed in Parliament itself. George -became “Captain” of the school, and, when in -1788 he went up to Oxford, he carried with him -a reputation for accuracy and maturity of scholarship -which at once drew the eyes of the -whole university upon him. Even in his first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span> -year he entered the list of competitors for the -Chancellor’s Prize offered for the best Latin -poem, and was successful over all the upper -classmen. Throughout his course his attention -was absorbed with the study of literature -and the practice of writing and speaking.</p> - -<p>He left the University at the age of twenty-two, -and at once began the study of law. His -great reputation, however, had already attracted -the attention of Pitt, who now invited him to -take a seat in the House of Commons from one -of the Government boroughs. With this request -Canning complied; and, accordingly, he -became a member of the House in 1793 in the -twenty-fourth year of his age.</p> - -<p>His maiden speech, delivered some two -months after he entered the House, was brilliant, -but was generally thought to be somewhat -lacking in the qualities of solidity and -good judgment. His tastes were so eminently -rhetorical in their nature, that, for some years to -come, he was inclined to excess of ornamentation. -Joined to this peculiarity was an irresistible<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span> -inclination to indulge in wit and badinage -at the expense of his fellow-members. -This tendency was so predominant that for a -long time it was said that he never made what -he called a successful speech without making -an enemy for life.</p> - -<p>In 1797, in connection with a few friends, -Canning projected the journal known as the -<cite>Anti-Jacobin Review</cite>. Its object was to counteract -those peculiar doctrines of the French -Revolution which its contributors thought dangerous. -Many of Canning’s articles were -satires, and were so admirable in their way as -to be worthy of a place among the most -noted extravaganzas of English literature. The -“Knife Grinder,” and the drama entitled “The -Rovers,” are perhaps the most successful. “The -Rovers” was written to ridicule the German -drama then prevailing, and it was regarded as -of so much consequence that Niebuhr in one -of his gravest works has devoted nearly a page -to a refutation of it.<a id="FNanchor_A" href="#Footnote_A" class="fnanchor">A</a> A good impression of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span> -Canning’s peculiar wit will be conveyed by -“Rogers’ Song,” taken from “The Rovers.” -Mr. Hayward<a id="FNanchor_B" href="#Footnote_B" class="fnanchor">B</a> informs us that Canning had -written the first five stanzas of the song, when -Pitt, coming into his room and accidentally -seeing it, was so amused that he took up a pen -and added the fifth stanza on the spot. The -following is the song <span class="locked">entire:—</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span></p> - -<div class="footnotep"> -<p><a id="Footnote_A" href="#FNanchor_A" class="fnanchor">A</a> “Geschichte des Zeitalters der Revolution,” ii., 242.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_B" href="#FNanchor_B" class="fnanchor">B</a> “Biographical Essays,” i., 211.</p> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"><div class="poem"> - -<div class="center smcap smaller">I.</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“When’er with haggard eyes I view<br /></span> -<span class="i2">This dungeon that I’m rotting in,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I think of those companions true<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Who studied with me at the U—<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="p1 center smcap smaller">II.</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Sweet kerchief, checked with heavenly blue,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Which once my love sat knotting in!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Alas! Matilda then was true,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">At least I thought so at the U—<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="p1 center smcap smaller">III.</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Barbs! Barbs! alas! how swift you flew,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Her neat post-wagon trotting in;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ye bore Matilda from my view;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Forlorn I languished at the U—<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen—<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="p1 center smcap smaller">IV.</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“This faded form! this pallid hue!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">This blood my veins is clotting in<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My years are many—they were few<br /></span> -<span class="i2">When first I entered at the U—<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen—<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="p1 center smcap smaller">V.</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“There first for thee my passion grew,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Sweet! sweet Matilda Pottingen!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thou wast the daughter of my tu—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">—tor, law professor at the U—<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen—<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="p1 center smcap smaller">VI.</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Sun, moon, and thou, vain world, adieu,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">That kings and priests are plotting in:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here doomed to starve on water-gru—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">el, never shall I see the U—<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen—<br /></span> -<span class="i4">—niversity of Gottingen.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>Unfortunately for his influence, Canning -could not limit his wit or his pasquinades -to the Germans and French. The <em>Anti-Jacobin</em><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span> -contained many ludicrous satires on -the personal peculiarities of men like Erskine, -Mackintosh, and Coleridge. Some of these -made bitter complaints that the Government -should lend its influence to and should reward -the authors of these atrocious calumnies. There -is evidence that the publication was discontinued -at the suggestion of the Prime-Minister in consequence -of these complaints, and it is very -probable that Canning’s advancement was retarded -by his utter lack of self-restraint.</p> - -<p>On the accession of the Duke of Portland, in -1807, Canning became Secretary of Foreign -Affairs, an office which he held for two years, -till he had a quarrel with Lord Castlereagh, -which resulted in a duel, and not only drove -them both out of office, but overthrew the Portland -Ministry. During the next seven years he -was out of power, though he was regular in his -parliamentary duties, and it was to him especially -that Lord Wellington was indebted for -the firm and even enthusiastic support of England -during his military career.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span></p> - -<p>Canning always regarded himself as the political -disciple of Pitt. To his constituents at -Liverpool he said: “In the grave of Mr. Pitt -my political allegiance lies buried.” He owned -no other master, and all his energies were devoted -to carrying out Pitt’s policy of foreign -affairs. The part of England in the protection -of the smaller nationalities against the larger -ones,—that policy which has preserved Belgium, -Holland, Switzerland, Portugal, and Turkey,—was -but a continuance of the policy of -Pitt, though it took definite form under the -influence of Canning, and is quite as often associated -with his name. The doctrine was strongly -put forward on three important occasions. -The first was in his speech urging England to -join her fortunes with those of Spain in driving -Bonaparte from the Peninsula. This, as Mr. -Seeley, in his “Life of Stein” has shown, was -the turning point in Napoleon’s career, and it -is the peculiar glory of Canning that England -was brought into the alliance by his influence. -With pardonable exultation he once said: “If<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span> -there is any part of my political conduct in -which I <em>glory</em>, it is that in the face of every difficulty, -discouragement, and prophecy of failure, -<em>mine</em> was the hand that committed England to -an alliance with Spain.” The second occasion -was when, in 1822, he was a second time Minister -of Foreign Affairs, and when France was -collecting troops to overthrow constitutional -government in Spain, and urging the other foreign -powers, assembled at Verona, to unite in -the same purpose, he despatched Wellington -to Verona with so energetic a protest that even -France was dissuaded from the course she had -intended to pursue. Again, in 1826, Canning -took a similar course in giving aid to Portugal -when invaded by Spain. His continental policy -might be said to consist of two parts: England -should insist that the small governments should -not be disturbed by the larger, and that each -nation should be allowed to regulate its own -internal affairs.</p> - -<p>On the death of Lord Liverpool, in 1827, -Canning became Prime-Minister. The great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span> -question then before the country was the political -emancipation of the Roman Catholics. The -Test Act, adopted in the reign of Charles II., -had excluded Catholics from political rights—from -seats in Parliament and from the privilege -of voting—and the act was still in force. With -the agitation that was now endeavoring to secure -the emancipation of the Catholics from -political disabilities, Canning was in hearty -sympathy. When he was called into supreme -power, therefore, the inference was natural that -Catholic emancipation was to be carried -through. Wellington, Peel, and nearly all the -Tories in the ministry threw up their places. -Their purpose was to compel Canning to resign; -for knowing his views on the question of emancipation, -they were unwilling to hold office under -him. Unfortunately, while the struggle involved -in their resignation was going on, Canning’s -health suddenly gave way, and sinking -rapidly, he expired on the 8th of August, 1827, -in the fifty-eighth year of his age. It is a singular -and an interesting fact that the very men<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span> -who, in 1827, refused to follow Canning in the -work of emancipation, were driven two years -later by public opinion to put themselves at the -head of the movement.</p> - -<p>By many excellent judges Canning is regarded -as one of the foremost of English orators. -Brougham speaks of him in terms of almost the -highest praise, and so judicious a critic as Sir -James Mackintosh says that “Mr. Canning seems -to have been the best model among our orators of -the adorned style. In some qualities,” he continues, -“Mr. Canning surpassed Mr. Pitt. His -diction was more various—sometimes more -simple—more idiomatical, even in its more -elevated parts. It sparkled with imagery, and -was brightened by illustration, in both of which -Mr. Pitt, for so great an orator, was defective. -Had he been a dry and meagre speaker, Mr. -Canning would have been universally allowed -to have been one of the greatest masters of argument; -but his hearers were so dazzled by the -splendor of his diction that they did not perceive -the acuteness and the occasional excessive<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span> -refinement of his reasoning; a consequence -which, as it shows the injurious effects of a -seductive fault, can with the less justness be -overlooked in the estimate of his understanding.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="GEORGE_CANNING2">GEORGE CANNING.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">ON THE POLICY OF GRANTING AID TO PORTUGAL<br /> -WHEN INVADED BY SPAIN; HOUSE OF COMMONS,<br /> -DECEMBER 12, 1826.</span></h2> -</div> - -<blockquote class="end"> - -<p>When Mr. Canning was Minister of Foreign Affairs in -1826, a body of Absolutists attempted to destroy the existing -Portuguese Government, which had been founded on the basis -of a liberal constitution, and had been acknowledged by England, -France, Austria, and Russia. This government was -obnoxious to Ferdinand, King of Spain; and, accordingly, -supported by the sympathy of Austria and Russia, as well as -by the active assistance of Spain, the Portuguese Absolutists -organized a military expedition on Spanish soil for the overthrow -of the Portuguese Government. Portugal asked for the -protection of England. Five thousand troops were instantly -ordered to Lisbon. This action was in strict accordance with -what is sometimes known as “Mr. Canning’s Foreign Policy,”—that -of allowing every nation to manage its own internal -affairs, and of allowing no interference with the smaller -nations by the larger.</p> - -<p>The following speech in explanation of his reasons for -prompt action is the masterpiece of his eloquence.</p></blockquote> - -<p class="sal"><span class="smcap">Mr. Speaker</span>:</p> - -<p>In proposing to the House of Commons to -acknowledge, by an humble and dutiful address,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span> -his Majesty’s most gracious message, and to -reply to it in terms which will be, in effect, an -echo of the sentiments and a fulfilment of the -anticipations of that message, I feel that, however -confident I may be in the justice, and -however clear as to the policy of the measures -therein announced, it becomes me, as a British -minister, recommending to Parliament any step -which may approximate this country even to -the hazard of a war, while I explain the grounds -of that proposal, to accompany my explanation -with expressions of regret.</p> - -<p>I can assure the House, that there is not -within its walls any set of men more deeply -convinced than his Majesty’s ministers—nor -any individual more intimately persuaded than -he who has now the honor of addressing you—of -the vital importance of the continuance of -peace to this country and to the world. So -strongly am I impressed with this opinion—and -for reasons of which I will put the House more -fully in possession before I sit down—that I -declare there is no question of doubtful or controverted -policy—no opportunity of present -national advantage—no precaution against remote -difficulty—which I would not gladly compromise, -pass over, or adjourn, rather than call<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span> -on Parliament to sanction, at this moment, any -measure which had a tendency to involve the -country in war. But, at the same time, sir, I feel -that which has been felt, in the best times of -English history, by the best statesmen of this -country, and by the Parliaments by whom those -statesmen were supported—I feel that there -are two causes, and but two causes, which can -not be either compromised, passed over, or -adjourned. These causes are: adherence to the -national faith, and regard for the national -honor.</p> - -<p>Sir, if I did not consider both these causes as -involved in the proposition which I have this -day to make to you, I should not address the -House, as I now do, in the full and entire confidence -that the gracious communication of his -Majesty will be met by the House with the -concurrence of which his Majesty has declared -his expectation.</p> - -<p>In order to bring the matter which I have to -submit to you, under the cognizance of the -House, in the shortest and clearest manner, I -beg leave to state it, in the first instance, divested -of any collateral considerations. It is a -case of law and of fact: of national law on the -one hand, and of notorious fact on the other;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> -such as it must be, in my opinion as impossible -for Parliament, as it was for the government, to -regard in any but one light, or to come to any -but one conclusion upon it.</p> - -<p>Among the alliances by which, at different -periods of our history, this country has been -connected with the other nations of Europe, -none is so ancient in origin, and so precise in -obligation—none has continued so long, and -been observed so faithfully—of none is the -memory so intimately interwoven with the -most brilliant records of our triumphs, as that -by which Great Britain is connected with Portugal. -It dates back to distant centuries; it -has survived an endless variety of fortunes. -Anterior in existence to the accession of the -House of Braganza to the throne of Portugal—it -derived, however, fresh vigor from that event; -and never from that epoch to the present hour, -has the independent monarchy of Portugal -ceased to be nurtured by the friendship of -Great Britain. This alliance has never been -seriously interrupted; but it has been renewed -by repeated sanctions. It has been -maintained under difficulties by which the -fidelity of other alliances was shaken, and has -been vindicated in fields of blood and of glory.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span></p> - -<p>That the alliance with Portugal has been -always unqualifiedly advantageous to this country—that -it has not been sometimes inconvenient -and sometimes burdensome—I am not -bound nor prepared to maintain. But no British -statesman, so far as I know, has ever suggested -the expediency of shaking it off; and it is -assuredly not at a moment of need that honor -and what I may be allowed to call national sympathy -would permit us to weigh, with an over-scrupulous -exactness, the amount of difficulties -and dangers attendant upon its faithful and -steadfast observance. What feelings of national -honor would forbid, is forbidden alike by the -plain dictates of national faith.</p> - -<p>It is not at distant periods of history, and in -by-gone ages only, that the traces of the union -between Great Britain and Portugal are to be -found. In the last compact of modern Europe, -the compact which forms the basis of its present -international law—I mean the treaty of Vienna -of 1815,—this country, with its eyes open to the -possible inconveniences of the connection, but -with a memory awake to its past benefits, solemnly -renewed the previously existing obligations -of alliance and amity with Portugal. I -will take leave to read to the House the third<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> -article of the treaty concluded at Vienna, in -1815, between Great Britain on the one hand -and Portugal on the other. It is couched in -the following terms: “The treaty of Alliance, -concluded at Rio de Janeiro, on the 19th of -February, 1810, being founded on circumstances -of a temporary nature, which have happily -ceased to exist, the said treaty is hereby declared -to be void in all its parts, and of no -effect; <em>without prejudice, however, to the ancient -treaties of alliance, friendship, and guarantee, -which have so long and so happily subsisted between -the two Crowns, and which are hereby -renewed by the high contracting parties, and acknowledged -to be of full force and effect</em>.”</p> - -<p>In order to appreciate the force of this stipulation—recent -in point of time, recent, also, in -the sanction of Parliament—the House will, -perhaps, allow me to explain shortly the circumstances -in reference to which it was contracted. -In the year 1807, when, upon the -declaration of Bonaparte, that the House of -Braganza had ceased to reign, the King of -Portugal, by the advice of Great Britain, was -induced to set sail for the Brazils; almost at the -very moment of his most faithful Majesty’s -embarkation, a secret convention was signed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> -between his Majesty and the King of Portugal, -stipulating that, in the event of his most faithful -Majesty’s establishing the seat of his government -in Brazil, Great Britain would never -acknowledge any other dynasty than that of -the House of Braganza on the throne of Portugal. -That convention, I say, was contemporaneous -with the migration to the Brazils; a step of -great importance at the time, as removing from -the grasp of Bonaparte the sovereign family of -Braganza. Afterward, in the year 1810, when -the seat of the King of Portugal’s government -was established at Rio de Janeiro, and when it -seemed probable, in the then apparently hopeless -condition of the affairs of Europe, that it -was likely long to continue there, the secret -convention of 1807, of which the main object -was accomplished by the fact of the emigration -to Brazil, was abrogated, and a new and public -treaty was concluded, into which was transferred -the stipulation of 1807, binding Great Britain, -so long as his faithful Majesty should be compelled -to reside in Brazil, not to acknowledge -any other sovereign of Portugal than a member -of the House of Braganza. That stipulation, -which had hitherto been <em>secret</em>, thus became -<em>patent</em>, and part of the known law of nations.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span></p> - -<p>In the year 1814, in consequence of the happy -conclusion of the war, the option was afforded -to the King of Portugal of returning to his -European dominions. It was then felt that, as -the necessity of his most faithful Majesty’s -absence from Portugal had ceased, the ground -for the obligation originally contracted in the -secret convention of 1807, and afterward transferred -to the patent treaty of 1810, was removed. -The treaty of 1810 was, therefore, annulled at -the Congress of Vienna; and in lieu of the -stipulation not to acknowledge any other -sovereign of Portugal than a member of the -House of Braganza, was substituted that which -I have just read to the House.</p> - -<p>Annulling the treaty of 1810, the treaty of -Vienna renews and confirms (as the House will -have seen) all <em>former</em> treaties between Great -Britain and Portugal, describing them as “ancient -treaties of alliance, friendship, and guarantee”; -as having “long and happily subsisted -between the two Crowns”; and as being allowed, -by the two high contracting parties, to remain -“in full force and effect.”</p> - -<p>What, then, is the force—what is the effect -of those ancient treaties? I am prepared to -show to the House what it is. But before I do<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> -so, I must say, that if all the treaties to which -this article of the treaty of Vienna refers, had -perished by some convulsion of nature, or had -by some extraordinary accident been consigned -to total oblivion, still it would be impossible -not to admit, as an incontestable inference from -this article of the treaty of Vienna alone, that, -in a moral point of view, there is incumbent on -Great Britain a decided obligation to act as the -effectual defender of Portugal. If I could not -show the letter of a single antecedent stipulation, -I should still contend that a solemn -admission, only ten years old, of the existence -at that time of “treaties of alliance, friendship, -and guarantee,” held Great Britain to the discharge -of the obligations which that very -description implies. But fortunately there is -no such difficulty in specifying the nature of -those obligations. All of the preceding treaties -exist—all of them are of easy reference—all of -them are known to this country, to Spain, to -every nation of the civilized world. They are -so numerous, and their general result is so -uniform, that it may be sufficient to select only -two of them to show the nature of all.</p> - -<p>The first to which I shall advert is the treaty -of 1661, which was concluded at the time of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> -the marriage of Charles the Second with the -Infanta of Portugal. After reciting the marriage, -and making over to Great Britain, in consequence -of that marriage, first, a considerable -sum of money, and, secondly, several important -places, some of which, as Tangier, we no longer -possess, but others of which, as Bombay, still -belong to this country, the treaty runs thus: -“In consideration of all which grants, so much -to the benefit of the King of Great Britain and -his subjects in general, and of the delivery of -those important places to his said Majesty and -his heirs forever, etc., the King of Great Britain -does profess and declare, with the consent and -advice of his council, that he will take the -interest of Portugal and all its dominions to -heart, defending the same with his utmost -power by sea and land, <em>even as England itself</em>”; -and it then proceeds to specify the succors to -be sent, and the manner of sending them.</p> - -<p>I come next to the treaty of 1703, a treaty -of alliance contemporaneous with the Methuen -treaty, which has regulated, for upward of a -century, the commercial relations of the two -countries. The treaty of 1703 was a tripartite -engagement between the States-General of -Holland, England, and Portugal. The second<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> -article of that treaty sets forth, that, “If ever -it shall happen that the Kings of Spain and -France, either the present or the future, that -both of them together, or either of them separately, -shall make war, or give occasion to suspect -that they intend to make war, upon the -kingdom of Portugal, either on the continent -of Europe, or on its dominions beyond the -seas, her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, -and the Lords the States-General, shall use -their friendly offices with the said Kings, or -either of them, in order to persuade them to -observe the terms of peace toward Portugal, -and not to make war upon it.” The third -article declares, “That in the event of these -good offices not proving successful, but altogether -ineffectual, so that war should be made -by the aforesaid Kings, or by either of them, -upon Portugal, the above-mentioned powers of -Great Britain and Holland shall make war with -all their force upon the aforesaid Kings or -King who shall carry hostile arms into Portugal; -and toward that war, which shall be carried -on in Europe, they shall supply twelve -thousand men, whom they shall arm and pay, -as well when in quarters as in action; and the -said high allies shall be obliged to keep that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span> -number of men complete, by recruiting it from -time to time at their own expense.”</p> - -<p>I am aware, indeed, that with respect to either -of the treaties which I have quoted, it is possible -to raise a question—whether variation of circumstances -or change of times may not have somewhat -relaxed its obligations. The treaty of -1661, it might be said, was so loose and prodigal -in the wording—it is so unreasonable, so wholly -out of nature, that any one country should be -expected to defend another, “<em>even as itself</em>”; -such stipulations are of so exaggerated a character, -as to resemble effusions of feeling, rather -than enunciations of deliberate compact. Again, -with respect to the treaty of 1703, if the case -rested on that treaty alone, a question might -be raised, whether or not, when one of the contracting -parties—Holland—had since so changed -her relations with Portugal, as to consider her -obligations under the treaty of 1703 as obsolete—whether -or not, I say, under such circumstances, -the obligation on the remaining party -be not likewise void. I should not hesitate to -answer both these objections in the negative. -But without entering into such a controversy, it -is sufficient for me to say that the time and -place for taking such objections was at the Congress<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> -at Vienna. Then and there it was that if -you, indeed, considered these treaties as obsolete, -you ought frankly and fearlessly to have -declared them to be so. But then and there, with -your eyes open, and in the face of all modern -Europe, you proclaimed anew the ancient treaties -of alliance, friendship, and guarantee, “so -long subsisting between the Crowns of Great -Britain and Portugal,” as still “acknowledged -by Great Britain,” and still “of full force and -effect.” It is not, however, on specific articles -alone—it is not so much, perhaps, on either of -these ancient treaties, taken separately, as it is -on the spirit and understanding of the whole -body of treaties, of which the essence is concentrated -and preserved in the treaty of Vienna, -that we acknowledge in Portugal a right to look -to Great Britain as her ally and defender.</p> - -<p>This, sir, being the state, morally and politically, -of our obligations toward Portugal, it is -obvious that when Portugal, in apprehension -of the coming storm, called on Great Britain for -assistance, the only hesitation on our part could -be—not whether that assistance was due, supposing -the occasion for demanding it to arise, -but simply whether that occasion—in other -words, whether the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">casus fœderis</i> had arisen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span></p> - -<p>I understand, indeed, that in some quarters it -has been imputed to his Majesty’s ministers -that an extraordinary delay intervened between -the taking of the determination to give assistance -to Portugal and the carrying of that determination -into effect. But how stands the -fact? On Sunday, the third of this month, we -received from the Portuguese embassador a direct -and formal demand of assistance against a -hostile aggression from Spain. Our answer was, -that although rumors had reached us through -France, his Majesty’s Government had not that -accurate information—that official and precise -intelligence of facts—on which they could properly -found an application to Parliament. It -was only on last Friday night that this precise -information arrived. On Saturday his Majesty’s -confidential servants came to a decision. -On Sunday that decision received the sanction -of his Majesty. On Monday it was communicated -to both Houses of Parliament; and -this day, sir, at the hour in which I have the -honor of addressing you, the troops are on their -march for embarkation.</p> - -<p>I trust, then, sir, that no unseemly delay is -imputable to government. But undoubtedly, -on the other hand, when the claim of Portugal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> -for assistance—a claim clear, indeed, in justice, -but at the same time fearfully spreading in its -possible consequences, came before us, it was -the duty of his Majesty’s Government to do -nothing on hearsay. The eventual force of the -claim was admitted; but a thorough knowledge -of facts was necessary before the compliance -with that claim could be granted. The government -here labored under some disadvantage. -The rumors which reached us through Madrid -were obviously distorted, to answer partial political -purposes; and the intelligence through -the press of France, though substantially correct, -was, in particulars, vague and contradictory. -A measure of grave and serious moment -could never be founded on such authority; nor -could the ministers come down to Parliament -until they had a confident assurance that the -case which they had to lay before the Legislature -was true in all its parts.</p> - -<p>But there was another reason which induced -a necessary caution. In former instances, when -Portugal applied to this country for assistance, -the whole power of the state in Portugal was -vested in the person of the monarch. The expression -of his wish, the manifestation of his -desire, the putting forth of his claim, was sufficient<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span> -ground for immediate and decisive action -on the part of Great Britain, supposing the -<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">casus fœderis</i> to be made out. But, on this -occasion, inquiry was in the first place to be -made whether, according to the new constitution -of Portugal, the call upon Great Britain -was made with the consent of all the powers -and authorities competent to make it, so as to -carry with it an assurance of that reception in -Portugal for our army, which the army of a -friend and ally had a right to expect. Before a -British soldier should put his foot on Portuguese -ground, nay, before he should leave the -shores of England, it was our duty to ascertain -that the step taken by the Regency of Portugal -was taken with the cordial concurrence of the -Legislature of that country. It was but this -morning that we received intelligence of the -proceedings of the Chambers at Lisbon, which -establishes the fact of such concurrence. This -intelligence is contained in a dispatch from Sir -W. A’Court, dated 29th of November, of which -I will read an extract to the House. “The -day after the news arrived of the entry of the -rebels into Portugal, the ministers demanded -from the Chambers an extension of power for -the executive government, and the permission<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span> -to apply for foreign succors, in virtue of ancient -treaties, in the event of their being deemed -necessary. The deputies gave the requisite -authority by acclamation; and an equally good -spirit was manifested by the peers, who granted -every power that the ministers could possibly -require. They even went further, and, rising -in a body from their seats, declared their devotion -to their country, and their readiness to give -their personal services, if necessary, to repel -any hostile invasion. The Duke de Cadaval, -president of the Chamber, was the first to make -this declaration; and the minister who described -this proceeding to me, said it was a -movement worthy of the good days of Portugal!”</p> - -<p>I have thus incidentally disposed of the supposed -imputation of delay in complying with -the requisition of the Portuguese Government. -The main question, however, is this: Was it -obligatory upon us to comply with that requisition? -In other words, had the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">casus fœderis</i> -arisen? In our opinion it had. Bands of Portuguese -rebels, armed, equipped, and trained in -Spain, had crossed the Spanish frontier, carrying -terror and devastation into their own country, -and proclaiming sometimes the brother of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> -the reigning sovereign of Portugal, sometimes -a Spanish princess, and sometimes even Ferdinand -of Spain, as the rightful occupant of the -Portuguese throne. These rebels crossed the -frontier, not at one point only, but at several -points; for it is remarkable that the aggression, -on which the original application to Great -Britain for succor was founded, is not the aggression -with reference to which that application -has been complied with.</p> - -<p>The attack announced by the French newspapers -was on the north of Portugal, in the -province of Tras-os-Montes; an official account -of which has been received by his Majesty’s -Government only this day. But on Friday an -account was received of an invasion in the south -of Portugal, and of the capture of Villa Vicosa, -a town lying on the road from the southern -frontier to Lisbon. This new fact established -even more satisfactorily than a mere confirmation -of the attack first complained of would -have done, the systematic nature of the aggression -of Spain against Portugal. One hostile -irruption might have been made by some single -corps escaping from their quarters—by some -body of stragglers, who might have evaded the -vigilance of Spanish authorities; and one such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span> -accidental and unconnected act of violence -might not have been conclusive evidence of -cognizance and design on the part of those authorities; -but when a series of attacks are made -along the whole line of a frontier, it is difficult -to deny that such multiplied instances of hostility -are evidence of concerted aggression.</p> - -<p>If a single company of <em>Spanish</em> soldiers had -crossed the frontier in hostile array, there could -not, it is presumed, be a doubt as to the character -of that invasion. Shall bodies of men, -armed, clothed, and regimented by Spain, carry -fire and sword into the bosom of her unoffending -neighbor, and shall it be pretended that no -attack, no invasion has taken place, because, -forsooth, these outrages are committed against -Portugal by men to whom Portugal had given -birth and nurture? What petty quibbling -would it be to say, that an invasion of Portugal -from Spain was not a <em>Spanish</em> invasion, because -Spain did not employ her own troops, but hired -mercenaries to effect her purpose? And what -difference is it, except as an aggravation, that -the mercenaries in this instance were natives of -Portugal.</p> - -<p>I have already stated, and I now repeat, that -it never has been the wish or the pretension of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span> -the British Government to interfere in the internal -concerns of the Portuguese nation. -Questions of that kind the Portuguese nation -must settle among themselves. But if we were -to admit that hordes of traitorous refugees from -Portugal, with Spanish arms, or arms furnished -or restored to them by Spanish authorities, in -their hands, might put off their country for one -purpose, and put it on again for another—put -it off for the purpose of attack, and put it on -again for the purpose of impunity—if, I say, -we were to admit this juggle, and either pretend -to be deceived by it ourselves, or attempt -to deceive Portugal, into a belief that there was -nothing of external attack, nothing of foreign -hostility, in such a system of aggression—such -pretence and attempt would, perhaps, be only -ridiculous and contemptible; if they did not -require a much more serious character from being -employed as an excuse for infidelity to -ancient friendship, and as a pretext for getting -rid of the positive stipulations of treaties.</p> - -<p>This, then, is the case which I lay before the -House of Commons. Here is, on the one hand, -an undoubted pledge of national faith—not -taken in a corner—not kept secret between the -parties, but publicly recorded among the annals<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span> -of history, in the face of the world. Here are, -on the other hand, undeniable acts of foreign -aggression, perpetrated, indeed, principally -through the instrumentality of domestic traitors, -but supported with foreign means, instigated -by foreign councils, and directed to foreign -ends. Putting these facts and this pledge together, -it is impossible that his Majesty should -refuse the call that has been made upon him; -nor can Parliament, I am convinced, refuse to -enable his Majesty to fulfil his undoubted obligations. -I am willing to rest the whole question -of to-night, and to call for the vote of the -House of Commons upon this simple case, -divested altogether of collateral circumstances; -from which I especially wish to separate it, in -the minds of those who hear me, and also in -the minds of others, to whom what I now say -will find its way. If I were to sit down this -moment, without adding another word, I have -no doubt but that I should have the concurrence -of the House in the address which I mean -to propose.</p> - -<p>When I state this, it will be obvious to the -House, that the vote for which I am about to -call upon them is a vote for the defence of -Portugal, not a vote for war against Spain. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> -beg the House to keep these two points entirely -distinct in their consideration. For the former -I think I have said enough. If, in what I have -now further to say, I should bear hard upon the -Spanish Government, I beg that it may be observed -that, unjustifiable as I shall show their -conduct to have been—contrary to the law of -nations, contrary to the law of good neighborhood, -contrary, I might say, to the laws of God -and man—with respect to Portugal—still I do -not mean to preclude a <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">locus pœnitentiæ</i>, a possibility -of redress and reparation. It is our duty -to fly to the defence of Portugal, be the assailant -who he may. And, be it remembered, that, -in thus fulfilling the stipulation of ancient -treaties, of the existence and obligation of which -all the world are aware, we, according to the -universally admitted construction of the law of -nations, neither make war upon that assailant, -nor give to that assailant, much less to any -other power, just cause of war against ourselves.</p> - -<p>Sir, the present situation of Portugal is so -anomalous, and the recent years of her history -are crowded with events so unusual, that the -House will, perhaps, not think that I am unprofitably -wasting its time, if I take the liberty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span> -of calling its attention, shortly and succinctly, -to those events, and to their influence on the -political relations of Europe. It is known that -the consequence of the residence of the King of -Portugal in Brazil was to raise the latter country -from a colonial to a metropolitan condition; -and that, from the time when the King began -to contemplate his return to Portugal, there -grew up in Brazil a desire of independence that -threatened dissension, if not something like -civil contest, between the European and American -dominions of the House of Braganza. It is -known, also, that Great Britain undertook a -mediation between Portugal and Brazil, and -induced the King to consent to a separation of -the two crowns—confirming that of Brazil on -the head of his eldest son. The ink with which -this agreement was written was scarcely dry, -when the unexpected death of the King of -Portugal produced a new state of things, which -reunited on the same head the two crowns -which it had been the policy of England, as -well as of Portugal and of Brazil, to separate. -On that occasion, Great Britain, and another -European court, closely connected with Brazil, -tendered advice to the Emperor of Brazil, now -become King of Portugal, which advice it can<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span> -not be accurately said that his Imperial Majesty -followed, because he had decided for himself -before it reached Rio de Janeiro; but in conformity -with which advice, though not in consequence -of it, his Imperial Majesty determined -to abdicate the crown of Portugal in favor of -his eldest daughter. But the Emperor of Brazil -had done more. What had not been foreseen—what -would have been beyond the province -of any foreign power to advise—his Imperial -Majesty had accompanied his abdication of the -crown of Portugal with the grant of a free constitutional -charter for that kingdom.</p> - -<p>It has been surmised that this measure, as -well as the abdication which it accompanied, -was the offspring of our advice. No such thing—Great -Britain did not suggest this measure. It -is not her duty nor her practice to offer suggestions -for the internal regulation of foreign states. -She neither approved nor disapproved of the -grant of a constitutional charter to Portugal; -her opinion upon that grant was never required. -True it is, that the instrument of the constitutional -charter was brought to Europe by a -gentleman of high trust in the service of the -British Government. Sir C. Stuart had gone to -Brazil to negotiate the separation between that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span> -country and Portugal. In addition to his character -of Plenipotentiary of Great Britain, as the -mediating power, he had also been invested by -the King of Portugal with the character of his -most faithful Majesty’s Plenipotentiary for the -negotiation with Brazil. That negotiation had -been brought to a happy conclusion; and therewith -the British part of Sir C. Stuart’s commission -had terminated. But Sir C. Stuart was -still resident at Rio de Janeiro, as the Plenipotentiary -of the King of Portugal, for negotiating -commercial arrangements between Portugal and -Brazil. In this latter character it was that Sir -C. Stuart, on his return to Europe, was requested -by the Emperor of Brazil to be the bearer to -Portugal of the new constitutional charter. His -Majesty’s government found no fault with Sir -C. Stuart for executing this commission; but it -was immediately felt that if Sir C. Stuart were -allowed to remain at Lisbon, it might appear, -in the eyes of Europe, that England was the -contriver and imposer of the Portuguese constitution. -Sir C. Stuart was, therefore, directed -to return home forthwith, in order that the constitution, -if carried into effect there, might -plainly appear to be adopted by the Portuguese -nation itself, not forced upon them by English -interference.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span></p> - -<p>As to the merits, sir, of the new constitution -of Portugal, I have neither the intention nor the -right to offer any opinion. Personally, I may -have formed one; but as an English minister, all -I have to say is: May God prosper this attempt -at the establishment of constitutional liberty in -Portugal! and may that nation be found as fit -to enjoy and to cherish its new-born privileges, -as it has often proved itself capable of discharging -its duties among the nations of the -world!</p> - -<p>I, sir, am neither the champion nor the critic -of the Portuguese constitution. But it is -admitted on all hands to have proceeded from -a legitimate source—a consideration which has -mainly reconciled continental Europe to its -establishment; and to us, as Englishmen, it is -recommended by the ready acceptance which it -has met with from all orders of the Portuguese -people. To that constitution, therefore, thus -unquestioned in its origin, even by those who -are most jealous of new institutions—to that -constitution, thus sanctioned in its outset by -the glad and grateful acclamations of those who -are destined to live under it—to that constitution, -founded on principles, in a great degree, -similar to those of our own, though differently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span> -modified,—it is impossible that Englishmen -should not wish well. But it would not be for -us to force that constitution on the people of -Portugal, if they were unwilling to receive it, or -if any schism should exist among the Portuguese -themselves, as to its fitness and congenialty to -the wants and wishes of the nation. It is no -business of ours to fight its battles. We go to -Portugal in the discharge of a sacred obligation, -contracted under ancient and modern treaties. -When there, nothing shall be done by us to enforce -the establishment of the constitution; -but we must take care that nothing shall be -done by others to prevent it from being fairly -carried into effect. Internally, let the Portuguese -settle their own affairs; but with respect -to external force, while Great Britain has an arm -to raise, it must be raised against the efforts of -any power that should attempt forcibly to control -the choice and fetter the independence of -Portugal.</p> - -<p>Has such been the intention of Spain? -Whether the proceedings which have lately -been practised or permitted in Spain were acts -of a government exercising the usual power of -prudence and foresight (without which a government -is, for the good of the people which live<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> -under it, no government at all), or whether they -were the acts of some secret illegitimate power—of -some furious fanatical faction, over-riding -the counsels of the ostensible government, defying -it in the capital, and disobeying it on the -frontiers,—I will not stop to inquire. It is indifferent -to Portugal, smarting under her wrongs—it -is indifferent to England, who is called -upon to avenge them,—whether the present -state of things be the result of the intrigues of a -faction, over which, if the Spanish Government -has no control, it ought to assume one as soon -as possible; or of local authorities, over whom -it has control, and for whose acts it must, therefore, -be held responsible. It matters not, I say, -from which of these sources the evil has arisen. -In either case, Portugal must be protected; and -from England that protection is due.</p> - -<p>It would be unjust, however, to the Spanish -Government, to say that it is only among the -members of that government that an unconquerable -hatred of liberal institutions exists in -Spain. However incredible the phenomena -may appear in this country, I am persuaded -that a vast majority of the Spanish nation entertain -a decided attachment to arbitrary power, -and a predilection for absolute government.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> -The more liberal institutions of countries in -the neighborhood have not yet extended their -influence into Spain, nor awakened any sympathy -in the mass of the Spanish people. -Whether the public authorities of Spain did or -did not partake of the national sentiment, there -would almost necessarily grow up between Portugal -and Spain, under present circumstances, an -opposition of feelings which it would not require -the authority or the suggestions of the government -to excite and stimulate into action. Without -blame, therefore, to the government of Spain—out -of the natural antipathy between the two -neighboring nations—the one prizing its recent -freedom, the other hugging its traditionary -servitude,—there might arise mutual provocations -and reciprocal injuries, which, perhaps, -even the most active and vigilant ministry could -not altogether restrain. I am inclined to believe -that such has been, in part at least, the -origin of the differences between Spain and Portugal. -That in their progress they have been -adopted, matured, methodized, combined, and -brought into more perfect action, by some authority -more united and more efficient than the -mere feeling disseminated through the mass of -the community, is certain; but I do believe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span> -their origin to have been as much in the real -sentiment of the Spanish population, as in -the opinion or contrivance of the government -itself.</p> - -<p>Whether this be or be not the case, is precisely -the question between us and Spain. If, -though partaking in the general feelings of the -Spanish nation, the Spanish Government has, -nevertheless, done nothing to embody those -feelings, and to direct them hostilely against -Portugal; if all that has occurred on the frontiers -has occurred only because the vigilance of -the Spanish Government has been surprised, its -confidence betrayed, and its orders neglected; -if its engagements have been repeatedly and -shamefully violated, not by its own good-will, -but against its recommendation and desire, let -us see some symptoms of disapprobation, some -signs of repentance, some measures indicative -of sorrow for the past and of sincerity for the -future. In that case, his Majesty’s message, to -which I propose this night to return an answer -of concurrence, will retain the character which -I have ascribed to it—that of a measure of defence -for Portugal, not a measure of resentment -again Spain.</p> - -<p>With these explanations and qualifications,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span> -let us now proceed to the review of facts. -Great desertions took place from the Portuguese -army into Spain, and some desertions took -place from the Spanish army into Portugal. In -the first instance, the Portuguese authorities -were taken by surprise; but in every subsequent -instance, where they had an opportunity of -exercising a discretion, it is but just to say that -they uniformly discouraged the desertions of -the Spanish soldiery. There exist between -Spain and Portugal specific treaties, stipulating -the mutual surrender of deserters. Portugal -had, therefore, a right to claim of Spain that -every Portuguese deserter should be forthwith -sent back. I hardly know whether from its -own impulse, or in consequence of our advice, -the Portuguese Government waived its right -under those treaties; very wisely reflecting that -it would be highly inconvenient to be placed by -the return of their deserters in the difficult -alternative of either granting a dangerous amnesty -or ordering numerous executions. The -Portuguese Government, therefore, signified to -Spain that it would be entirely satisfied if, instead -of surrendering the deserters, Spain would -restore their arms, horses, and equipments; -and, separating the men from their officers,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> -would remove both from the frontiers into the -interior of Spain. Solemn engagements were -entered into by the Spanish Government to this -effect—first with Portugal, next with France, -and afterward with England. Those engagements, -concluded one day, were violated the -next. The deserters, instead of being disarmed -and dispersed, were allowed to remain congregated -together near the frontiers of Portugal, -where they were enrolled, trained, and disciplined -for the expedition which they have since -undertaken. It is plain that in these proceedings -there was perfidy somewhere. It rests -with the Spanish Government to show that it -was not with them. It rests with the Spanish -Government to prove that, if its engagements -have not been fulfilled—if its intentions have -been eluded and unexecuted,—the fault has not -been with the government, and that it is ready -to make every reparation in its power.</p> - -<p>I have said that these promises were made to -France and to Great Britain as well as to Portugal. -I should do a great injustice to France -if I were not to add, that the representations of -that government upon this point to the cabinet -of Madrid, have been as urgent, and alas! as -fruitless, as those of Great Britain. Upon the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span> -first irruption into the Portuguese territory, the -French Government testified its displeasure by -instantly recalling its embassador; and it further -directed its chargé d’affaires to signify to his -Catholic Majesty, that Spain was not to look -for any support from France against the consequences -of this aggression upon Portugal. I -am bound, I repeat, in justice to the French -Government, to state, that it has exerted itself -to the utmost in urging Spain to retrace the -steps which she has so unfortunately taken. It -is not for me to say whether any more efficient -course might have been adopted to give effect -to their exhortations; but as to the sincerity -and good faith of the exertions made by the -government of France to press Spain to the -execution of her engagements, I have not the -shadow of a doubt, and I confidently reckon -upon their continuance.</p> - -<p>It will be for Spain, upon knowledge of the -step now taken by his Majesty, to consider in -what way she will meet it. The earnest hope -and wish of his Majesty’s Government is, that -she may meet it in such a manner as to avert -any ill consequences to herself from the measure -into which we have been driven by the unjust -attack upon Portugal.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span></p> - -<p>Sir, I set out with saying that there were -reasons which entirely satisfied my judgment -that nothing short of a point of national faith or -national honor would justify, at the present moment, -any voluntary approximation to the possibility -of war. Let me be understood, however, -distinctly as not meaning to say that I dread -war in a good cause (and in no other way may -it be the lot of this country ever to engage!) -from a distrust of the strength of the country to -commence it, or of her resources to maintain it. -I dread it, indeed—but upon far other grounds: -I dread it from an apprehension of the tremendous -consequences which might arise from any -hostilities in which we might now be engaged. -Some years ago, in the discussion of the negotiations -respecting the French war against -Spain, I took the liberty of adverting to this -topic. 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> -be a war not so much of armies as of opinions. -Not four years have elapsed, and behold my -apprehension realized! It is, to be sure, within -narrow limits that this war of opinion is at present -confined; but it <em>is</em> 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 endeavor 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 -<em>power</em> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> -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, amid -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:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i22">“Celsâ sedet Æolus arce,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sceptra tenens; mollitque animos et temperat iras<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ni faciat, maria ac terras cœlumque profundum<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Quippe ferant rapidi secum, verrantque per auras.”<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">1</a><br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> -would (as I have said) put up with almost any -thing that did not touch national faith and -national honor, 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 for peace -which the circumstances of the world inculcate. -I will push these topics no further.</p> - -<p>I return, in conclusion, to the object of the -address. Let us fly 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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="LORD_MACAULAY">LORD MACAULAY.</h2> -</div> - -<p>In August of 1825 there appeared in the -<cite>Edinburgh Review</cite> an article on Milton which -attracted instantaneous and universal attention. -Though it did not, perhaps, go to the bottom -of the various topics it had to deal with, it displayed -so wonderful a range of knowledge, so -great a variety of strong and striking thoughts, -and such a splendor of rhetoric, that it dazzled -and drew into an earnest enthusiasm the host -of readers of that already famous journal. -When it came to be known that the author of -this marvellous piece of literary workmanship -was a young man of only twenty-five, it was at -once perceived that a new luminary had made -its appearance in the galaxy of English authorship. -From that time till the day when, nearly -thirty years later, his services in behalf of letters<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span> -were rewarded with a grave in the Poets’ -Corner at Westminster Abbey, Thomas Babington -Macaulay wielded a literary influence -not surpassed by that of any other master of -English prose.</p> - -<p>He was the son of Zachary Macaulay, a man -who had distinguished himself as an anti-slavery -philanthropist even among men like Stephen, -Clarkson, and Wilberforce. His mother was a -daughter of Thomas Mills, a bookseller, and a -Quaker. Though the lad did not inherit a fortune, -his father was able without much inconvenience -to give him the advantages of an -education at one of the universities. Up to the -age of thirteen he was taught almost exclusively -by his mother; and when he was at length -placed in a private school, his brightness and -eagerness of mind astonished all those with -whom he came in contact. That most charming -of all biographies of literary men, Trevelyan’s -“Life and Letters of Macaulay,” teems -with evidence of his singular attainments at an -early age.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span></p> - -<p>At Cambridge, which he entered at the age -of eighteen, he devoted himself with great fervor -to the study of the classics, to reading in -history and general literature, and to the development -of his abilities as an extemporaneous -speaker. He took whatever prizes came in his -way, but, owing to his distaste for the mathematics, -did not try for honors at the completion -of his course. On leaving the university with -the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1822, his mental -habits and peculiarities seem to have been -substantially fixed. He was already master of -vast stores of information, which he always -seemed to keep under the play of his wit and -his imagination. His memory was so prodigious -that he could repeat the names of the -popes either backward or forward; and he once -remarked that if every copy of the “Paradise -Lost” were to be destroyed, he thought he -could reproduce the poem from memory. He -read with such marvellous rapidity that he -would devour a book in the course of a morning -walk in London; and the vast accumulations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span> -which he thus brought into the range of -his knowledge were so vitalized by his feelings -and his imagination that they were always -completely at his service.</p> - -<p>Though his biographer shows us that he was -one of the most charming and lovable of men, -his writings would convey another impression. -He appears never to have had any self-distrust; -he was seldom in doubt on any subject; what -to others seemed mere probabilities were to -him positive certainties; indeed, on whatever -question he wrote or spoke his opinions always -seemed to have been irrevocably fixed long before. -Lord Melbourne told the whole story -when he once said: “I wish I was as cock-sure -of any thing as Tom Macaulay is of every -thing.”</p> - -<p>The essay on Milton was followed at brief -intervals by that remarkable series on Machiavelli, -Dryden, Hallam, Hampden, Ranke, and -others, which has been the delight and inspiration -of so many students in England and America. -Macaulay studied law, but we never hear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span> -that his literary labors were disturbed by clients. -The prices which his articles commanded in the -market of the Reviews enabled him to gratify -his tastes; and he seems never to have had any -inclination to push himself into an active practice -of his profession.</p> - -<p>One of the peculiar merits claimed for the old -borough system by its friends was that it enabled -young men of great promise to find an easy way -into the House of Commons. Pitt, Channing, -and Brougham had first been appointed from -pocket boroughs, and now Macaulay was to -receive a similar favor. In 1830, the very year -when the Whigs, after a long exclusion from -office, came into power under Lord Grey, -Macaulay, through the favor of Lord Lansdowne, -entered the House, as the Member for -Calne. Though he afterward boasted that, -while sitting as the nominee of Lord Lansdowne, -he was as independent as when at a later -period he represented the popular constituencies -of Leeds and Edinburgh, it is worthy of note -that from the first he was an ardent and unqualified<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span> -supporter of the Whigs. In the great -question of Representative Reform his sympathies -were thoroughly enlisted on the side of -Earl Grey; and his speeches on the subject, -four in number, contributed not a little to the -final triumph of that great movement. Some -of his letters, given by Trevelyan, reveal in the -most graphic light the intensity of public feeling -while the contest was going on.</p> - -<p>In the reformed Parliament of 1834 he took a -seat as a member from Leeds; but in that same -year his place was made vacant by his appointment -as one of the Government Council for -India. For this position he was amply qualified. -His essays on the “Utilitarian Theory of -Government” and “Dumont’s Recollections of -Mirabeau” showed that he had studied jurisprudence -as a science, and even that he considered -the province of a jurist as superior to -that of a statesman. Moreover he had made -an especial study of India. In July of 1833 the -Government brought forward its new India Bill, -and Macaulay’s speech on the measure left perhaps<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> -even a deeper impression than had been -made by either of his speeches on the Reform -Bill. Jeffrey, who happened to be present, -wrote to one of his correspondents: “Mack is a -marvellous person. He made the very best -speech that has been made this session on -India. The Speaker, who is a severe judge, -says he rather thinks it the best speech he ever -heard.”</p> - -<p>Trevelyan, in his life of Macaulay, has -thrown out into clear light the object of his -uncle in exiling himself from England during -four years by going to India. While Macaulay -was not without faith that he could be of service -to the Government, the consideration which -led to his decision was of a pecuniary nature. -Though unmarried, he was not in a condition -to be strictly independent, and without pecuniary -independence, he was open to the charge -while in Parliament of being an adventurer. -The salary of the position offered was liberal, -even in the English sense of that term. He was -to receive £10,000 a year; and his letters show<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span> -with what care he computed that, being a -bachelor, he could live in India even in a -governmental position on $25,000 a year, and -save a similar amount for permanent investment. -His hope was that at the end of five -years he would be able to return with about -$125,000 and henceforth devote himself with -entire independence to a higher range of literary -study. He had already begun to make -plans for his great History.</p> - -<p>There were, however, those who regarded the -appointment as an unmerited reward for political -services. When some one sneered at his -abilities, Shiel, in his mocking way, replied: -“Nonsense, sir! Don’t attempt to run down -Macaulay; he’s the cleverest man in Christendom. -Didn’t he make four speeches on the -Reform Bill and get £10,000 a year? Think of -that and be dumb!”</p> - -<p>While in India Macaulay’s chief energies were -devoted to the preparation of a code, by which -he hoped to solve the perplexing problems that -constantly thrust themselves forward in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> -government of that teeming peninsula. Though -in this effort he was not successful, the ability -and ingenuity of his work were generally acknowledged. -His code was regarded as impracticable, -and was finally rejected. It was -during his stay in India that the essays on -Mackintosh and Bacon were prepared.</p> - -<p>Soon after his return in 1838 an election to -Parliament by the important constituency of -Edinburgh once more brought him into legislative -activity. He supported Lord Melbourne -till the downfall of his ministry, in 1841, and -then became an opponent of Sir Robert Peel, -in opposition to whose policy he delivered some -of his ablest speeches. When a candidate for -reëlection in 1847, he was defeated on account -of some offence he had given in advocating a -policy of liberality toward the means of educating -Catholics in Ireland. But this defeat, -though deeply mortifying to him at the time, -was not without compensating advantages. -He now had leisure to devote himself to the -great literary work which for a considerable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> -time had already been under his pen. In 1848 -appeared the first two volumes of the “History -of England from the Time of James the -Second.” The work sprang at once into that -phenomenal popularity which has scarcely yet -abated, for it still enjoys the high distinction of -having been more read than any other historical -work in the language. The third and -fourth volumes were given to the world in -1855, just as he was beginning to feel the approaches -of that irresistible disease which was -soon to bring his labors to an untimely end. -Two years after the appearance of the fourth -volume his services in behalf of history and -letters were rewarded with the peerage. The -numerous essays flowing from his pen still -showed that the splendor of his faculties was -undimmed, and it was therefore with surprise -as well as sorrow that, late in December of 1859, -the English-speaking world learned of his death -from disease of the heart. With the unanimous -concurrence of a mourning nation, he was -given the highest literary honor of a burial in -the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span></p> - -<p>The peculiarities of Macaulay’s oratory were -strikingly similar to those of his writings. -With the exception, however, of his speech on -the government of India, no one of his orations -has the elaborateness so characteristic of -his essays. Perhaps the most vivid notion of -the methods and qualities of his address is conveyed -by the description that appeared in the -“Noctes Ambrosianæ” immediately after the -delivery of the speech selected for this volume. -It is the description of a most ardent political -enemy and a most energetic hater of all Whigs. -After saying that Macaulay is “the cleverest -declaimer on the Whig side of the House,” -Wilson goes on to say: “He is an ugly, cross-made, -splay-footed, shapeless little dumpling of -a fellow, with a featureless face too—except, -indeed, a good expansive forehead,—sleek, puritanical, -sandy hair, large glimmering eyes, and -a mouth from ear to ear. He has a lisp and -burr, moreover, and speaks thickly and huskily -for several minutes before he gets into the swing -of his discourse; but after that nothing can be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span> -more dazzling than his whole execution. What -he says is substantially, of course, stuff and -nonsense; but it is so well worded, and so volubly -and forcibly delivered—there is such an -endless string of epigram and antithesis—such -a flashing of epithets, such an accumulation of -images, and the voice is so trumpet-like, and -the action so grotesquely emphatic, that you -might hear a pin drop in the House. Even -Manners Sutton himself listens.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="LORD_MACAULAY2">LORD MACAULAY.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">ON THE REFORM BILL OF 1832;<br />HOUSE OF COMMONS,<br /> -MARCH 2, 1831.</span></h2> -</div> - -<blockquote class="end"> - -<p>The privilege of representation in the House of Commons -was early conferred on different localities for a variety of -reasons. Before the end of the seventeenth century the constituency -of the House had come to be fixed. Seats were -held by representatives of counties and of such cities and -boroughs as for one reason or another had been admitted as -a mark of royal favor. In the course of the eighteenth century -it came to be plainly seen that the development of the country -was constantly increasing the anomalies and inequalities of -representation. Boroughs which in the fourteenth and fifteenth -centuries had received the right of representation continued -to send one or two members, even though as in some -localities the population had entirely dwindled away; and -large cities like Liverpool, Manchester, and Leeds had grown -up to a population of hundreds of thousands without any representation -whatever.</p> - -<p>This system gave every encouragement to corruption. The -smaller boroughs were eagerly bought by those who desired to -control the politics of the Lower House; and consequently, -before the end of the last century it was found that so many -of the boroughs were owned by members of the House of Lords -that both Houses of Parliament were under the control of the -nobility. Some of the peers, besides sitting in person in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> -House of Lords, virtually appointed four, five, six, or, in one -instance, nine members of the House of Commons. Of the -decayed boroughs some were held by the government, some -by peers, and some by unscrupulous speculators who were in -the habit of selling the representation to the highest bidders. -In times of political excitement bribery became systematic, and -in some cases assumed colossal proportions. That the constitution -was able to survive the strain put upon it, is perhaps -the most striking proof of its remarkable vitality and strength.</p> - -<p>The necessity of a fundamental reform in the methods of -representation was first publicly announced by Lord Chatham -in his speech on the right of taxing the American colonies. -The younger Pitt, in the early years of his administration, made -several attempts to bring the subject into parliamentary favor. -But the excesses of the French Revolution made even reformers -timid; and the government was so exclusively occupied -with the Napoleonic wars that the agitation made but slow -progress. It happened, moreover, that for several years the -most eloquent and influential members of the House of Commons -were opposed to the measure. From 1807 to 1830 the -Tories were in power, and during this period, therefore, there -was no reason to hope that any thing could be done except in -the way of creating public opinion.</p> - -<p>At the head of the movement in behalf of reform was Earl -Grey. For nearly half a century he devoted his great energies -and his excellent judgment to the subject with such skill and -discretion that constant inroads were made on public opinion. -At length the subject took so strong hold of the people that -in spite of the fact that the Tories were intrenched in power -behind the old system, the Whigs were victorious in the election -of 1830. Earl Grey was appointed Prime-Minister, and it -was universally understood that the first object of the government -would be the passage of a reform bill.</p> - -<p>The leader of the government in the House of Commons<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span> -was Lord John Russell, who had been scarcely second to Earl -Grey in active sympathy for reform. To him, therefore, was -intrusted the introduction of the measure. His speech -explaining the provisions of the bill at once placed it before -Parliament and the country as a question of the most momentous -importance. The sweeping provisions of the act aroused -the most violent opposition and even the ridicule of the Tories. -It proposed to disfranchise fifty-six rotten boroughs and to -redistribute the 143 seats thus made vacant. It also changed -the basis of franchise in constituencies not otherwise disturbed. -But the country favored the movement, and soon the cry was -raised that nothing would satisfy the nation but “the whole -bill and nothing but the bill.”</p> - -<p>When the measure, after a most able discussion on both -sides, finally came to a second reading, it was carried in the -House of Commons, amid unparalleled excitement, by a majority -of 302 to 301. The smallness of this majority made it -doubtful whether the bill could be finally carried even in the -House of Commons. An amendment was offered on which -the government was defeated. As the subject was now the -all-absorbing question before the nation, the ministry determined -to dissolve Parliament, and thus bring public opinion to a -definite expression. The result showed the wisdom of the -course; for more than a hundred who had voted against the -bill lost their seats. With some trifling changes the measure -was re-introduced into the House of Commons, and speedily -carried. It then went to the House of Lords, where it was -discussed perhaps with even greater ability than had been -shown in the Lower House. Grey and Brougham urged the -measure with great earnestness, while Eldon and Lyndhurst -opposed it with scarcely less skill and power. On coming to -a final vote the bill was defeated by a majority of forty-three.</p> - -<p>The excitement in the country over this result was unparalleled. -The attitude of the Lords was in evident opposition to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> -the will of the country; and there was much speculation as to -the course which ought to be pursued. At length the ministry -determined not only to re-introduce the measure, but also to -advise the king to create new peers in sufficient number to -carry the bill through the Upper House. A list of about -eighty names was made out for this purpose. The House of -Lords, however, at the last moment gave way. The Duke of -Wellington and a knot of his followers, unwilling that so violent -a method should be resorted to, absented themselves from -the House in order that the bill might be carried in their absence, -and without any responsibility on their part. This -most important measure of modern English legislation became -a law on the 7th of June, 1832.</p> - -<p>The action taken has generally been considered as establishing -an important constitutional precedent. The significance -of the method resorted to has been well indicated by -Bagehot in his brilliant work on the English constitution. He -says of the Lords: “Their veto is a sort of hypothetical veto. -They say: We reject your bill this once, or these twice, or -even these thrice; but if you keep sending it up, at the last -we won’t reject it. The House has ceased to be one of latent -directors, and has become one of temporary rejectors and -palpable alterers.”</p> - -<p>The following speech of Macaulay was one of the first of -those delivered on the bill in the House of Commons. No -other speech in the whole course of the discussion gave a more -comprehensive view of the vast interests involved in the great -measure. The day after the delivery of the speech his sister -wrote: “His voice from cold and over-excitement got quite -into a scream towards the last part. A person told him that -he had not heard such speaking since Fox. ‘You have not -heard such screaming since Fox,’ he replied.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>It is a circumstance, sir, of happy augury for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> -the motion before the House, that almost all -those who have opposed it have declared themselves -hostile on principle to parliamentary reform. -Two members, I think, have confessed -that, though they disapprove of the plan now -submitted to us, they are forced to admit the -necessity of a change in the representative -system. Yet even those gentlemen have used, -as far as I have observed, no arguments which -would not apply as strongly to the most moderate -change as to that which has been proposed -by his Majesty’s Government. I say, sir, -that I consider this as a circumstance of happy -augury. For what I feared was, not the opposition -of those who are averse to all reform, but -the disunion of reformers. I knew that during -three months every reformer had been employed -in conjecturing what the plan of the government -would be. I knew that every reformer -had imagined in his own mind a scheme differing -doubtless in some points from that which -my noble friend, the Paymaster of the Forces -(Lord John Russell), has developed. I felt, -therefore, great apprehension that one person -would be dissatisfied with one part of the bill, -that another person would be dissatisfied with -another part, and that thus our whole strength<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span> -would be wasted in internal dissensions. That -apprehension is now at an end. I have seen -with delight the perfect concord which prevails -among all who deserve the name of reformers -in this House; and I trust that I may consider -it as an omen of the concord which will prevail -among reformers throughout the country. I -will not, sir, at present express any opinion as -to the details of the bill; but having during the -last twenty-four hours given the most diligent -consideration to its general principles, I have -no hesitation in pronouncing it a wise, noble, -and comprehensive measure, skilfully framed -for the healing of great distempers, for the -securing at once of the public liberties, and of -the public repose, and for the reconciling and -knitting together of all the orders of the state.</p> - -<p>The honorable baronet who has just sat down -(Sir Robert Peel) has told us that the ministers -have attempted to unite two inconsistent principles -in one abortive measure. Those were -his very words. He thinks, if I understand -him rightly, that we ought either to leave the -representative system such as it is, or to make -it perfectly symmetrical. I think, sir, that the -ministers would have acted unwisely if they -had taken either course. Their principle is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> -plain, rational, and consistent. It is this, to -admit the middle class to a large and direct -share in the representation, without any violent -shock to the institutions of our country. [Hear! -hear!] I understand those cheers; but surely -the gentlemen who utter them will allow that -the change which will be made in our institutions -by this bill is far less violent than that -which, according to the honorable baronet, -ought to be made if we make any reform at all. -I praise the ministers for not attempting, at the -present time, to make the representation uniform. -I praise them for not effacing the old -distinction between the towns and the counties, -and for not assigning members to districts, -according to the American practice, by the -Rule of Three. The government has, in my -opinion, done all that was necessary for the removal -of a great practical evil, and no more -than was necessary.</p> - -<p>I consider this, sir, as a practical question. I -rest my opinion on no general theory of government. -I distrust all general theories of government. -I will not positively say, that there is -any form of polity which may not, in some conceivable -circumstances, be the best possible. I -believe that there are societies in which every<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span> -man may safely be admitted to vote. [Hear! -hear!] Gentlemen may cheer, but such is my -opinion. I say, sir, that there are countries in -which the condition of the laboring classes is -such that they may safely be entrusted with the -right of electing members of the legislature. -If the laborers of England were in that state in -which I, from my soul, wish to see them; if employment -were always plentiful, wages always -high, food always cheap; if a large family were -considered not as an encumbrance but as a -blessing, the principal objections to universal -suffrage would, I think, be removed. Universal -suffrage exists in the United States without -producing any very frightful consequences; and -I do not believe that the people of those States, -or of any part of the world, are in any good -quality naturally superior to our own countrymen. -But, unhappily, the laboring classes in -England, and in all old countries, are occasionally -in a state of great distress. Some of -the causes of this distress are, I fear, beyond the -control of the government. We know what -effect distress produces, even on people more -intelligent than the great body of the laboring -classes can possibly be. We know that it makes -even wise men irritable, unreasonable, credulous,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> -eager for immediate relief, heedless of remote -consequences. There is no quackery in medicine, -religion, or politics, which may not impose -even on a powerful mind, when that mind has -been disordered by pain or fear. It is therefore -no reflection on the poorer class of Englishmen, -who are not, and who cannot in the nature of -things be, highly educated, to say that distress -produces on them its natural effects, those -effects which it would produce on the Americans, -or on any other people; that it blinds -their judgment, that it inflames their passions, -that it makes them prone to believe those who -flatter them, and to distrust those who would -serve them. For the sake, therefore, of the -whole society; for the sake of the laboring -classes themselves, I hold it to be clearly expedient -that, in a country like this, the right of -suffrage should depend on a pecuniary qualification.</p> - -<p>But, sir, every argument which would induce -me to oppose universal suffrage induces me to -support the plan which is now before us. I am -opposed to universal suffrage, because I think -that it would produce a destructive revolution. -I support this plan, because I am sure that it is -our best security against a revolution. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span> -noble Paymaster of the Forces hinted, delicately -indeed and remotely, at this subject. -He spoke of the danger of disappointing the -expectations of the nation; and for this he was -charged with threatening the House. Sir, in -the year 1817, the late Lord Londonderry proposed -a suspension of the habeas-corpus act. -On that occasion he told the House that, unless -the measures which he recommended were -adopted, the public peace could not be preserved. -Was he accused of threatening the House? -Again, in the year 1819, he proposed the laws -known by the name of the Six Acts. He then -told the House that, unless the executive power -were reinforced, all the institutions of the country -would be overturned by popular violence. -Was he then accused of threatening the House? -Will any gentleman say that it is parliamentary -and decorous to urge the danger arising from -popular discontent as an argument for severity; -but that it is unparliamentary and indecorous -to urge that same danger as an argument for -conciliation? I, sir, do entertain great apprehension -for the fate of my country; I do -in my conscience believe that, unless the plan -proposed, or some similar plan, be speedily -adopted, great and terrible calamities will befall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> -us. Entertaining this opinion, I think myself -bound to state it, not as a threat, but as a reason. -I support this bill because it will improve -our institutions; but I support it also because -it tends to preserve them. That we may exclude -those whom it is necessary to exclude, we -must admit those whom it may be safe to -admit. At present we oppose the schemes of -revolutionists with only one half, with only -one quarter, of our proper force. We say, and -we say justly, that it is not by mere numbers, -but by property and intelligence, that the nation -ought to be governed. Yet, saying this, we exclude -from all share in the government great -masses of property and intelligence, great numbers -of those who are most interested in preserving -tranquillity, and who know best how to -preserve it. We do more. We drive over to -the side of revolution those whom we shut out -from power. Is this a time when the cause of -law and order can spare one of its natural -allies?</p> - -<p>My noble friend, the Paymaster of the Forces, -happily described the effect which some -parts of our representative system would produce -on the mind of a foreigner, who had heard -much of our freedom and greatness. If, sir,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span> -I wished to make such a foreigner clearly understand -what I consider as the great defects of -our system, I would conduct him through that -immense city which lies to the north of Great -Russell Street and Oxford Street, a city superior -in size and population to the capitals of many -mighty kingdoms; and probably superior in -opulence, intelligence, and general respectability, -to any city in the world. I would conduct -him through that interminable succession -of streets and squares, all consisting of well-built -and well-furnished houses. I would make him -observe the brilliancy of the shops and the -crowd of well-appointed equipages. I would -show him that magnificent circle of palaces -which surrounds the Regent’s Park. I would -tell him that the rental of this district was far -greater than that of the whole kingdom of -Scotland at the time of the Union. And then -I would tell him, that this was an unrepresented -district.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> It is needless to give any more instances. -It is needless to speak of Manchester, -Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, with no representation, -or of Edinburgh and Glasgow with -a mock representation.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> If a property tax -were now imposed on the principle that no person -who had less than a hundred and fifty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> -pounds a year should contribute, I should not -be surprised to find that one half in number -and value of the contributors had no votes at -all; and it would, beyond all doubt, be found -that one fiftieth part in number and value of -the contributors had a larger share of the representation -than the other forty-nine fiftieths. -This is not government by property. It is -government by certain detached portions and -fragments of property, selected from the rest, -and preferred to the rest, on no rational principle -whatever.</p> - -<p>To say that such a system is ancient is no -defence. My honorable friend, the member -for the University of Oxford, challenges us to -show that the constitution was ever better -than it is. Sir, we are legislators, not antiquaries. -The question for us is, not whether the -constitution was better formerly, but whether -we can make it better now. In fact, however, -the system was not in ancient times, by any -means, so absurd as it is in our age. One noble -Lord [Lord Stormont] has to-night told us that -the town of Aldborough, which he represents, -was not larger in the time of Edward the First -than it is at present. The line of its walls, he -assures us, may still be traced. It is now built<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span> -up to that line. He argues, therefore, that as -the founder of our representative institutions -gave members to Aldborough when it was as -small as it now is, those who would disfranchise -it on account of its smallness have no right to -say that they are recurring to the original principle -of our representative institutions. But -does the noble Lord remember the change -which has taken place in the country during -the last five centuries? Does he remember -how much England has grown in population, -while Aldborough has been standing still? -Does he consider, that in the time of Edward -the First the kingdom did not contain two -millions of inhabitants? It now contains nearly -fourteen millions. A hamlet of the present -day would have been a town of some importance -in the time of our early Parliaments. -Aldborough may be absolutely as considerable -a place as ever, but, compared with the kingdom, -it is much less considerable, by the noble -Lord’s own showing, than when it first elected -burgesses. My honorable friend, the member -for the University of Oxford, has collected -numerous instances of the tyranny which the -kings and nobles anciently exercised, both over -this House and over the electors. It is not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span> -strange that, in times when nothing was held -sacred, the rights of the people, and of the representatives -of the people, should not have -been held sacred. The proceedings which my -honorable friend has mentioned no more prove -that, by the ancient constitution of the realm, -this House ought to be a tool of the king and -of the aristocracy, than the benevolences and -the shipmoney prove their own legality, or -than those unjustifiable arrests, which took -place long after the ratification of the Great -Charter, and even after the Petition of Right, -prove that the subject was not anciently entitled -to his personal liberty. We talk of the -wisdom of our ancestors; and in one respect at -least they were wiser than we. They legislated -for their own times. They looked at the -England which was before them. They did -not think it necessary to give twice as many -members to York as they gave to London, because -York had been capital of Britain in the -time of Constantius Chlorus; and they would -have been amazed indeed if they had foreseen -that a city of more than a hundred thousand inhabitants -would be left without representatives -in the nineteenth century, merely because it -stood on ground which, in the thirteenth century,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span> -had been occupied by a few huts. They -framed a representative system, which, though -not without defects and irregularities, was well -adapted to the state of England in their time. -But a great revolution took place. The character -of the old corporations changed. New -forms of property came into existence. New -portions of society rose into importance. There -were in our rural districts rich cultivators, who -were not freeholders. There were in our capital -rich traders, who were not livery men. -Towns shrank into villages. Villages swelled -into cities larger than the London of the Plantagenets. -Unhappily, while the natural growth -of society went on, the artificial polity continued -unchanged. The ancient form of the representation -remained, and precisely because -the form remained, the spirit departed. Then -came that pressure almost to bursting, the new -wine in the old bottles, the new society under -the old institutions. It is now time for us to -pay a decent, a rational, a manly reverence to -our ancestors, not by superstitiously adhering -to what they, in other circumstances, did, but -by doing what they, in our circumstances, -would have done. All history is full of revolutions, -produced by causes similar to those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> -which are now operating in England. A portion -of the community which had been of no -account, expands and becomes strong. It demands -a place in the system, suited, not to its -former weakness, but to its present power. If -this is granted, all is well. If this is refused, -then comes the struggle between the young -energy of one class and the ancient privileges -of another. Such was the struggle between -the Plebeians and the Patricians of Rome. -Such was the struggle of the Italian allies for -admission to the full rights of Roman citizens. -Such was the struggle of our North American -colonies against the mother country. Such -was the struggle which the Third Estate of -France maintained against the aristocracy of -birth. Such was the struggle which the Roman -Catholics of Ireland maintained against the -aristocracy of creed. Such is the struggle -which the free people of color in Jamaica are -now maintaining against the aristocracy of -skin. Such, finally, is the struggle which the -middle classes in England are maintaining -against an aristocracy of mere locality, against -an aristocracy, the principle of which is to invest -a hundred drunken potwallopers in one -place, or the owner of a ruined hovel in another,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span> -with powers which are withheld from cities renowned -to the farthest ends of the earth for -the marvels of their wealth, and of their industry.</p> - -<p>But these great cities, says my honorable -friend, the member for the University of Oxford, -are virtually, though not directly, represented. -Are not the wishes of Manchester, he -asks, as much consulted as those of any town -which sends members to Parliament? Now, -sir, I do not understand how a power which is -salutary when exercised virtually can be noxious -when exercised directly. If the wishes of -Manchester have as much weight with us as -they would have under a system which should -give representatives to Manchester, how can -there be any danger in giving representatives -to Manchester? A virtual representative is, I -presume, a man who acts as a direct representative -would act; for surely it would be absurd -to say that a man virtually represents the -people of Manchester, who is in the habit of -saying No, when a man directly representing -the people of Manchester would say Aye. -The utmost that can be expected from virtual -Representation is, that it may be as good as -direct representation. If so, why not grant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span> -direct representation to places which, as everybody -allows, ought, by some process or other, -to be represented?</p> - -<p>If it be said that there is an evil in change as -change, I answer that there is also an evil in -discontent as discontent. This, indeed, is the -strongest part of our case. It is said that the -system works well. I deny it. I deny that a -system works well, which the people regard -with aversion. We may say here that it is a -good system and a perfect system. But if any -man were to say so to any six hundred and fifty-eight -respectable farmers or shop-keepers, -chosen by lot in any part of England, he would -be hooted down and laughed to scorn. Are -these the feelings with which any part of the -government ought to be regarded? Above all, -are these the feelings with which the popular -branch of the legislature ought to be regarded? -It is almost as essential to the utility of a -House of Commons, that it should possess the -confidence of the people, as that it should -deserve that confidence. Unfortunately, that -which is in theory the popular part of our government, -is in practice the unpopular part. -Who wishes to dethrone the king? Who -wishes to turn the Lords out of their House?<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span> -Here and there a crazy Radical, whom the boys -in the street point at as he walks along. Who -wishes to alter the constitution of this House? -The whole people. It is natural that it should -be so. The House of Commons is, in the language -of Mr. Burke, a check, not on the people, -but for the people. While that check is efficient, -there is no reason to fear that the king -or the nobles will oppress the people. But if -that check requires checking, how is it to be -checked? If the salt shall lose its savor, -wherewith shall we season it? The distrust -with which the nation regards this House may -be unjust. But what then? Can you remove -that distrust? That it exists cannot be denied. -That it is an evil cannot be denied. That it is -an increasing evil cannot be denied. One gentleman -tells us that it has been produced by the -late events in France and Belgium;<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> another, -that it is the effect of seditious works which -have lately been published. If this feeling be -of origin so recent, I have read history to little -purpose. Sir, this alarming discontent is not -the growth of a day, or of a year. If there be -any symptoms by which it is possible to distinguish -the chronic diseases of the body politic -from its passing inflammations, all those symptoms<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span> -exist in the present case. The taint has -been gradually becoming more extensive and -more malignant, through the whole lifetime of -two generations. We have tried anodynes. -We have tried cruel operations. What are we -to try now? Who flatters himself that he can -turn this feeling back? Does there remain any -argument which escaped the comprehensive -intellect of Mr. Burke, or the subtlety of Mr. -Windham? Does there remain any species of -coercion which was not tried by Mr. Pitt and -by Lord Londonderry? We have had laws. -We have had blood. New treasons have been -created. The press has been shackled. The -habeas-corpus act has been suspended. Public -meetings have been prohibited. The event -has proved that these expedients were mere -palliatives. You are at the end of your palliatives. -The evil remains. It is more formidable -than ever. What is to be done?</p> - -<p>Under such circumstances, a great plan of -reconciliation, prepared by the ministers of the -crown, has been brought before us in a manner -which gives additional lustre to a noble name, -inseparably associated during two centuries -with the dearest liberties of the English people. -I will not say that this plan is in all its<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> -details precisely such as I might wish it to be; -but it is founded on a great and a sound principle. -It takes away a vast power from a few. -It distributes that power through the great mass -of the middle order. Every man, therefore, -who thinks as I think, is bound to stand firmly -by ministers who are resolved to stand or fall -with this measure. Were I one of them, I -would sooner, infinitely sooner, fall with such a -measure than stand by any other means that -ever supported a cabinet.</p> - -<p>My honorable friend, the member for the University -of Oxford [Sir Robert Inglis] tells us that -if we pass this law England will soon be a republic. -The reformed House of Commons will, according -to him, before it has sat ten years, depose -the king and expel the Lords from their -House. Sir, if my honorable friend could prove -this, he would have succeeded in bringing an argument -for democracy infinitely stronger than -any that is to be found in the works of Paine. -My honorable friend’s proposition is in fact this: -that our monarchical and aristocratical institutions -have no hold on the public mind of England; -that these institutions are regarded with -aversion by a decided majority of the middle -class. This, sir, I say, is plainly deducible from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> -his proposition; for he tells us that the representatives -of the middle class will inevitably -abolish royalty and nobility within ten years; -and there is surely no reason to think that the -representatives of the middle class will be more -inclined to a democratic revolution than their -constituents. Now, sir, if I were convinced that -the great body of the middle class in England -look with aversion on monarchy and aristocracy, -I should be forced, much against my will, -to come to this conclusion, that monarchical -and aristocratical institutions are unsuited to -my country. Monarchy and aristocracy, valuable -and useful as I think them, are still valuable -and useful as means and not as ends. The -end of government is the happiness of the -people, and I do not conceive that, in a -country like this, the happiness of the people -can be promoted by a form of government in -which the middle classes place no confidence, -and which exists only because the middle -classes have no organ by which to make their -sentiments known. But, sir, I am fully convinced -that the middle classes sincerely wish to -uphold the royal prerogatives and the constitutional -rights of the peers. What facts does -my honorable friend produce in support of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span> -opinion? One fact only, and that a fact which -has absolutely nothing to do with the question. -The effect of this reform, he tells us, would be -to make the House of Commons more powerful. -It was all-powerful once before, in the beginning -of 1649. Then it cut off the head of -the king, and abolished the House of Peers. -Therefore, if it again has the supreme power, -it will act in the same manner. Now, sir, it was -not the House of Commons that cut off the -head of Charles the First; nor was the House -of Commons then all-powerful. It had been -greatly reduced in numbers by successive expulsions. -It was under the absolute dominion -of the army. A majority of the House was -willing to take the terms offered by the king. -The soldiers turned out the majority; and the -minority, not a sixth part of the whole House, -passed those votes of which my honorable -friend speaks,—votes of which the middle classes -disapproved then, and of which they disapprove -still.</p> - -<p>My honorable friend, and almost all the gentlemen -who have taken the same side with him -in this debate, have dwelt much on the utility -of close and rotten boroughs. It is by means -of such boroughs, they tell us, that the ablest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span> -men have been introduced into Parliament.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">5</a> -It is true that many distinguished persons have -represented places of this description. But, -sir, we must judge of a form of government by -its general tendency, not by happy accidents. -Every form of government has its happy accidents. -Despotism has its happy accidents. -Yet we are not disposed to abolish all constitutional -checks to place an absolute master over -us, and to take our chance whether he may be -a Caligula or a Marcus Aurelius. In whatever -way the House of Commons may be -chosen, some able men will be chosen in that -way who would not be chosen in any other -way. If there were a law that the hundred -tallest men in England should be members of -Parliament, there would probably be some able -men among those who would come into the -House by virtue of this law. If the hundred -persons whose names stand first in the alphabetical -list of the Court Guide were made -members of Parliament, there would probably -be able men among them. We read in ancient -history that a very able king was elected by -the neighing of his horse, but we shall scarcely, -I think, adopt this mode of election. In one -of the most celebrated republics of antiquity,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> -Athens, senators and magistrates were chosen -by lot; and sometimes the lot fell fortunately. -Once, for example, Socrates was in office. A -cruel and unjust proposition was made by a -demagogue.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">6</a> Socrates resisted it at the hazard -of his own life. There is no event in Grecian -history more interesting than that memorable -resistance. Yet who would have officers appointed -by lot, because the accident of the lot -may have given to a great and good man a -power which he would probably never have attained -in any other way? We must judge, as -I said, by the general tendency of a system. -No person can doubt that a House of Commons, -chosen freely by the middle classes, will -contain many very able men. I do not say that -precisely the same able men who would find -their way into the present House of Commons -will find their way into the reformed House; -but that is not the question. No particular -man is necessary to the state. We may depend -on it, that if we provide the country with popular -institutions, those institutions will provide it -with great men.</p> - -<p>There is another objection, which, I think, -was first raised by the honorable and learned -member for Newport [Mr. Horace Twiss]. He<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> -tells us that the elective franchise is property; -that to take it away from a man who has not -been judicially convicted of malpractices is -robbery; that no crime is proved against the -voters in the closed boroughs; that no crime is -even imputed to them in the preamble of the -bill; and that therefore to disfranchise them -without compensation would be an act of -revolutionary tyranny. The honorable and -learned gentleman has compared the conduct -of the present ministers, to that of those odious -tools of power who, toward the close of the -reign of Charles the Second, seized the charters -of the Whig corporations. Now, there was -another precedent, which I wonder that he did -not recollect, both because it is much more -nearly in point than that to which he referred, -and because my noble friend, the Paymaster of -the Forces, had previously alluded to it. If the -elective franchise is property, if to disfranchise -voters without a crime proved, or a compensation -given, be robbery, was there ever such an -act of robbery as the disfranchising of the Irish -forty-shilling freeholders?<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> Was any pecuniary -compensation given to them? Is it declared in -the preamble of the bill which took away their -franchise, that they had been convicted of any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span> -offence? Was any judicial inquiry instituted -into their conduct? Were they even accused -of any crime? Or if you say it was a crime in -the electors of Clare to vote for the honorable -and learned gentleman who now represents the -County of Waterford [Mr. O’Connell], was a -Protestant freeholder in Louth to be punished -for the crime of a Catholic freeholder in Clare? -If the principle of the honorable and learned -member for Newport be sound, the franchise -of the Irish peasant was property. That franchise -the ministers under whom the honorable -and learned member held office did not scruple -to take away. Will he accuse those ministers -of robbery? If not, how can he bring such an -accusation against their successors?</p> - -<p>Every gentleman, I think, who has spoken -from the other side of the House, has alluded to -the opinions which some of his Majesty’s -ministers formerly entertained on the subject -of reform. It would be officious in me, sir, to -undertake the defence of gentlemen who are so -well able to defend themselves. I will only say -that, in my opinion, the country will not think -worse either of their capacity or of their patriotism, -because they have shown that they can profit -by experience, because they have learned to see<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span> -the folly of delaying inevitable changes. There -are others who ought to have learned the same -lesson. I say, sir, that there are those who, I -should have thought, must have had enough to -last them all their lives of that humiliation -which follows obstinate and boastful resistance -to charges rendered necessary by the progress -of society and by the development of the -human mind. Is it possible that those persons -can wish again to occupy a position which can -neither be defended nor surrendered with honor? -I well remember, sir, a certain evening in the -month of May, 1827. I had not then the honor -of a seat in this House; but I was an attentive -observer of its proceedings. The right honorable -baronet opposite [Sir Robert Peel], of whom -personally I desire to speak with that high -respect which I feel for his talents and his character, -but of whose public conduct I must speak -with the sincerity required by my public duty, -was then, as he is now, out of office. He had -just resigned the seals of the Home Department, -because he conceived that the recent ministerial -arrangements had been too favorable to the -Catholic claims. He rose to ask whether it was -the intention of the new cabinet to repeal the -Test and Corporation Acts, and to reform the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span> -Parliament. He bound up, I well remember, -those two questions together; and he declared -that, if the ministers should either attempt to -repeal the Test and Corporation Acts, or bring -forward a measure of Parliamentary reform, he -should think it his duty to oppose them to the -utmost. Since that declaration was made, four -years have elapsed; and what is now the state of -the three questions which then chiefly agitated -the minds of men? What is become of the Test -and Corporation Acts? They are repealed. -By whom? By the right honorable baronet. -What has become of the Catholic disabilities? -They are removed. By whom? By the right -honorable baronet.<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">8</a> The question of parliamentary -reform is still behind. But signs, of -which it is impossible to misconceive the import, -do most clearly indicate that, unless that question -also be speedily settled, property, and order, -and all the institutions of this great monarchy, -will be exposed to fearful peril. Is it possible -that gentlemen long versed in high political -affairs cannot read these signs? Is it possible -that they can really believe that the representative -system of England, such as it now is, will -last till the year 1860? If not, for what would -they have us wait? Would they have us wait<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span> -merely that we may show to all the world how -little we have profited by our own recent experience?</p> - -<p>Would they have us wait, that we may once -again hit the exact point where we can neither -refuse with authority nor concede with grace? -Would they have us wait, that the numbers of -the discontented party may become larger, its -demands higher, its feelings more acrimonious, -its organization more complete? Would they -have us wait till the whole tragi-comedy of 1827 -has been acted over again; till they have been -brought into office by a cry of “No Reform,” -to be reformers, as they were once before brought -into office by a cry of “No Popery,” to be -emancipators? Have they obliterated from -their minds—gladly, perhaps, would some -among them obliterate from their minds—the -transactions of that year? And have they forgotten -all the transactions of the succeeding -year? Have they forgotten how the spirit of -liberty in Ireland, debarred from its natural outlet, -found a vent by forbidden passages? Have -they forgotten how we were forced to indulge -the Catholics in all the license of rebels, merely -because we chose to withhold from them the -liberties of subjects? Do they wait for associations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span> -more formidable than that of the Corn -Exchange, for contributions larger than the -Rent, for agitators more violent than those -who, three years ago, divided with the king -and the Parliament the sovereignty of Ireland? -Do they wait for that last and most dreadful -paroxysm of popular rage, for that last and -most cruel test of military fidelity? Let them -wait, if their past experience shall induce them -to think that any high honor or any exquisite -pleasure is to be obtained by a policy like this. -Let them wait, if this strange and fearful infatuation -be indeed upon them, that they should -not see with their eyes, or hear with their ears, -or understand with their heart. But let us -know our interest and our duty better. Turn -where we may, within, around, the voice of -great events is proclaiming to us: Reform, that -you may preserve. Now, therefore, while every -thing at home and abroad forebodes ruin to -those who persist in a hopeless struggle against -the spirit of the age; now, while the crash of -the proudest throne of the continent is still resounding -in our ears; now, while the roof of a -British palace affords an ignominious shelter to -the exiled heir of forty kings; now, while we -see on every side ancient institutions subverted, -and great societies dissolved; now, while the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> -heart of England is still sound; now, while old -feelings and old associations retain a power and -a charm which may too soon pass away; now, -in this your accepted time, now, in this your -day of salvation, take counsel, not of prejudice, -not of party spirit, not of the ignominious pride -of a fatal consistency, but of history, of reason, -of the ages which are past, of the signs of this -most portentous time. Pronounce in a manner -worthy of the expectation with which this great -debate has been anticipated, and of the long -remembrance which it will leave behind. Renew -the youth of the state. Save property, -divided against itself. Save the multitude, endangered -by its own ungovernable passions. -Save the aristocracy, endangered by its own unpopular -power. Save the greatest, and fairest, -and most highly civilized community that ever -existed, from calamities which may in a few -days sweep away all the rich heritage of so -many ages of wisdom and glory. The danger -is terrible. The time is short. If this bill -should be rejected, I pray to God that none of -those who concur in rejecting it may ever remember -their votes with unavailing remorse, -amidst the wreck of laws, the confusion of ranks, -the spoliation of property, and the dissolution -of social order.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="RICHARD_COBDEN">RICHARD COBDEN.</h2> -</div> - -<p>The name of Cobden will always be associated -with the great changes that took place in -the economic policy of England about the middle -of the nineteenth century. As the result of -a public agitation that was carried into every -hamlet of Great Britain, and that extended over -a period of seven years, the policy of Protection -was practically abandoned, and the policy of -Free Trade practically adopted. Of that remarkable -movement Cobden was the directing -and inspiring genius.</p> - -<p>Born in 1804, Cobden’s childhood was passed -in the disastrous years of the later Napoleonic -wars, and the financial distresses that followed. -His father’s moderate fortune was involved in -the ruin that was so general. As there were -eleven children in the family, and as the means<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span> -rescued from the financial wreck were but -slender, the educational advantages of Richard -were not great. At fifteen he was obliged to -leave the grammar-school in order to enter -the counting-house of his uncle in London. -The most that can be said of his education is -that it was enough to give him an insatiable -taste for knowledge, that it implanted within -him so ardent a desire, that throughout life he -was indefatigable in the work of self-development.</p> - -<p>At the age of twenty he became a commercial -traveller for his uncle, and, in the course of -the six years that followed, acquired a very -comprehensive knowledge of the industrial -condition of England. When he attained eminence -there were many who remembered the -discussions on political economy and kindred -subjects with which he had enlivened his travelling -associates. At twenty-six he induced -two of his acquaintances to join with him in -entering upon a business of their own. They -founded an industry of calico-printing, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span> -were so successful that the firm soon had three -establishments, one at Sabden, where the printing -works were, and one each at London and -Manchester, for the sale of their products. -Cobden prints soon becoming famous for the -excellence of their material and the beauty of -their design; the sales were large and the income -of the firm very considerable. In eight years -from the establishment of the partnership, the -business was so flourishing and so well organized -that Cobden was able to devote his energies -almost exclusively to matters of public -importance.</p> - -<p>His first pamphlet, that entitled “England, -Ireland, and America,” was published in 1835, -and attracted such attention for its breadth -and boldness that it ran rapidly through several -editions. The views advocated were those of -peace, non-intervention, retrenchment, and free -trade,—in fact, the doctrines which he continued -to hold throughout life. A tour of observation -in the United States and Canada, as well as in -the countries of Europe, intensified his convictions;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> -and consequently when, in 1838, the -Anti-Corn-Law Association was formed, it -found him in every way fitted to take a leading -part in the work of agitation. It was at his -suggestion that the local association was soon -changed into the National Anti-Corn-Law -League.</p> - -<p>The so-called Corn Laws have a long history. -As early as 1436 an attempt was made to regulate -the price of grain in England by means of -export and import duties. The amount of duties -imposed varied from time to time according -to the needs of the state treasury and the -prices of corn. It was not until the passage of -what is known as Burke’s Act of 1773 that any -deliberate attempt was made to bring the Corn -Laws into some degree of reason and order. -This act was the beginning of a policy which -some years later resulted in the adoption of -what is known as the sliding scale of rates. -This policy culminated in the law of 1828, -which proceeded upon the general plan of -making the duty vary inversely with the price<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span> -of grain in the home market. When the price -of wheat, for example, was sixty-four shillings -a quarter, the duty was twenty-three shillings -and eight pence. For every rise of a shilling in -the market-price, the duty was diminished; -while, on the other hand, for every decline in -the price the duty was increased. This was -the general character of the law which prevailed -when the agitation of the Anti-Corn-Law -League began.</p> - -<p>For some years before 1838 the impression -had become more or less prevalent that the influence -of the Corn Laws was favorable to the -landowners and the landowners alone. The -system was devised as a means of protecting -the interests of agriculture. The financial disturbances -occasioned partly by the Napoleonic -wars, partly by the invention of labor-saving -machines, and partly by a succession of bad -crops, tended at once to diminish the price of -labor and increase the prices of food. The -consequence was a universal prevalence of -suffering among the wage-receiving class. Cobden<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span> -and his associates believed that the suffering -was chiefly due to the system of protection. -The league was formed for the purpose of -arousing public opinion in opposition to the -prevailing system; and it did not rest till, after -the most remarkable agitation in the history of -reform, it had convinced the public of its -errors, and swept the Corn Laws from the -statute-books.</p> - -<p>For seven years Cobden had the ear of the -public, and during that period his labors were -incessant. He not only spoke in all the large -towns and cities, but he directed and inspired -the movements of hundreds of others. The -policy of the league was not only to send -speakers into every electoral district, but to -flood the country with the most effective writings -on the subject in hand. What may be -called the statistics of the league are impressive -and instructive. Five hundred persons were -employed to distribute tracts from house to -house. In a single year five millions of such -tracts were put into the families of electors in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span> -England and Scotland, and the number distributed -to non-electors exceeded nine millions. -This work of 1843 was done at a cost of about -£50,000; in the following year it was resolved -to redouble the efforts, and before the end of -1844 nearly £90,000 had been raised and expended.</p> - -<p>The whole theory of Cobden’s propagandism -was simply that, if the truth was brought to -people’s doors, they would embrace it. The -method was twofold. It sought to bring the -facts bearing on the question to the attention -of the people by means of the press, and then -by public speech to persuade and arouse them -to action. Of all the speakers of the time -probably Cobden was the most effective. His -methods were always plain and straightforward, -showing a transparent honesty, a definite purpose, -an argumentative keenness, and an almost -irresistible persuasiveness.</p> - -<p>Cobden entered the House of Commons in -1841, and, from his first speech, delivered five -days after the opening of the session, was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span> -an acknowledged power in Parliament. He -compelled attention even from an unfriendly -audience, by his thorough mastery of the subject -and by the directness and boldness with -which he charged upon the ranks of his adversaries. -His methods of address were new in -the House; but it soon came to be universally -conceded that he was one of the most powerful -debaters in Parliament. It is the unique distinction -of Cobden among English orators that -he converted to his views a government long -opposed to him, and finally persuaded a Prime-Minister -to reverse his policy and become -champion of the very cause he had formerly -condemned. In the March of 1845 Cobden -thought the time had come for the appointment -of a select committee to inquire into the causes -of the prevailing agricultural distress. It was in -moving for such a committee that he made the -speech selected for this collection. That the -argument made a great impression may be -inferred from Mr. Morley’s account of its effect -on Peel. “The Prime-Minister,” he says, “had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span> -followed every sentence with earnest attention; -his face grew more and more solemn as the -argument proceeded. At length he crumpled -up the notes which he had been taking, and was -heard by an onlooker who was close by to say -to Mr. Sidney Herbert who sat next him on the -bench: ‘You must answer this, for I cannot.’ -And in fact Mr. Sidney Herbert did make the -answer while Peel listened in silence.”</p> - -<p>During the summer of 1845 the agitation went -on without any very obvious results. Indeed -the cause seemed to be making no headway in -Parliament, and Mr. Disraeli, in one of his characteristic -phrases, spoke of the appeals, varied -even by the persuasive ingenuity of Mr. Cobden, -as a “wearisome iteration.” But Cobden meantime -felt sure of his ground. Speaking to one -of those immense multitudes, “which,” he said, -“could only be assembled in ancient Rome to -witness the brutal conflicts of men, or can now -be found in Spain to witness the brutal conflicts -of animals,” he exclaimed: “What, if you -could get into the innermost minds of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span> -ministers, would you find them thinking as to -the repeal of the Corn Laws? I know it as well -as though I were in their hearts. It is this: -they are afraid that the Corn Law cannot be -maintained—no, not a rag of it, during a period -of scarcity prices, of a famine season, such as we -had in ’39, ’40, and ’41. They know it. They -are prepared, when such a time comes, to -abolish the Corn Laws, and they have made up -their minds to it. There is no doubt in the -world of it. They are going to repeal it, as I -told you,—mark my words,—at a season of distress. -That distress may come; aye, three -weeks of showery weather when the wheat is in -bloom or ripening, would repeal these Corn -Laws.”</p> - -<p>This remarkable prophecy was now to have -a startling fulfilment. The autumn of 1845 -was a long succession of rains. Disquieting -rumors and even portents of actual famine -came from all parts of the islands. On the last -day of October the cabinet met in great haste; -and three other meetings took place within a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span> -week. Peel was in favor of calling a meeting of -Parliament at once, and suspending for a limited -period the duty on importation. Others -declared that it would be impossible to restore -the duty when it was once removed; and the -cabinet separated on the 6th of November -without coming to any decision. But on the -22d of the same month the public was thrown -into great commotion by an address launched -from Edinburgh by Lord John Russell to his -constituents of London. He declared that -“procrastination might produce a state of suffering -that was frightful to contemplate.” “Let -us all unite,” cried he, “to put down a system -which has been proved to be the blight of commerce, -the bane of agriculture, the source of -bitter division among classes, the cause of penury, -fever, mortality, and crime among the -people. If this end is to be achieved, it must -be gained by the unequivocal expression of -the public voice.” This was the first announcement -that Lord John Russell was a convert to -the doctrines of the league. As the old reformer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span> -was on his way to London, Mr. John -Bright met him at a railway station in Yorkshire, -and said: “Your letter has now made -the total and immediate repeal of the Corn Law -inevitable; nothing can save it.”</p> - -<p>Another cabinet meeting was called, but still -there was no agreement as to the policy of -convoking Parliament. The public distress and -excitement were such that the Prime-Minister -now felt it his duty to resign. That event took -place on the 5th of December. It was universally -understood that the strenuous opposition -was in the Duke of Wellington and Lord -Stanley. In a great gathering at Birmingham, -Cobden exclaimed: “The Duke is a man whom -all like to honor for his high courage, his firmness -of resolve, his indomitable perseverance; -but let me remind him,” added the orator, in a -magnificent outburst and amidst a storm of approval, -“that notwithstanding all his victories -in the field, he never yet entered into a contest -with Englishmen in which he was not -beaten.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span></p> - -<p>The voice of the public could not be resisted. -On the 4th of December the <cite>Times</cite> newspaper -announced that Parliament would meet early -in January, and that an immediate repeal of -the Corn Laws would be proposed. On the -day following this announcement, Peel tendered -his resignation. The Queen sent for Lord -John Russell; but the attempt of the Opposition -to form a ministry was not successful, and -Peel reluctantly consented to resume the leadership. -The speech of the Queen in opening -Parliament made it evident that the occasion -of the meeting was the repeal of the obnoxious -laws. The question was practically settled -when Parliament met; and the long debate is -chiefly memorable for the extraordinary succession -of excoriations to which the Prime-Minister -was subjected by Disraeli. But in spite of -a most energetic opposition the repealing bill -slowly made its way to ultimate triumph. It -was on the 26th of June, 1846, that the bill was -passed, and that the great reformer’s work was -done.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span></p> - -<p>Until his death in 1865, Cobden continued to -exert a powerful influence in behalf of the ideas -which from the first he had advocated. His -political opponents were among the most hearty -to recognize his worth; and his most intimate -friend, Mr. Bright, spoke of him in the House -of Commons as “the manliest and gentlest -spirit that ever quitted or tenanted a human -form.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="RICHARD_COBDEN2">RICHARD COBDEN.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">ON THE EFFECTS OF PROTECTION ON THE AGRICULTURAL<br /> -INTERESTS OF THE COUNTRY;<br />HOUSE -OF COMMONS,<br />MARCH 13, 1845.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="sal"><span class="smcap">Sir</span>:</p> - -<p>I am relieved upon the present occasion from -any necessity for apologizing to the other side of -the House for the motion which I am about to -submit. It will be in the recollection of honorable -members, that a fortnight before putting -this notice upon the book, I expressed a hope -that the matter would be taken up by some honorable -member opposite. I do not think, therefore, -that in reply to any observations I may -have to make upon the question, I shall hear, -as I did last year, an observation that the quarter -from which this motion came was suspicious.<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> -I may also add, sir, that I have so -framed my motion as to include in it the objects -embraced in both the amendments which -are made to it. I therefore conclude, that -having included the honorable gentlemen’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> -amendments [Mr. Stafford O’Brien and Mr. -Wodehouse], they will not now feel it necessary -to press them.</p> - -<p>Sir, the object of this motion is to appoint a -select committee to inquire into the present condition -of the agricultural interests; and, at the -same time, to ascertain how the laws regulating -the importation of agricultural produce have -affected the agriculturists of this country. As -regards the distress among farmers, I presume -we cannot go to a higher authority than those -honorable gentlemen who profess to be the -farmers’ friends and protectors. I find it stated -by those honorable gentlemen who recently paid -their respects to the Prime-Minister, that the -agriculturists are in a state of great embarrassment -and distress. I find that one gentleman -from Norfolk [Mr. Hudson] stated that the -farmers in the county are paying their rents, -but paying them out of capital, and not profits. -I find Mr. Turner of Upton, in Devonshire, -stating that one half of the smaller farmers in -that county are insolvent, and that the others -are rapidly falling into the same condition; -that the farmers with larger holdings are quitting -their farms with a view of saving the rest of -their property; and that, unless some remedial<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span> -measures be adopted by this House, they will -be utterly ruined. The accounts which I have -given you of those districts are such as I have -had from many other sources. I put it to honorable -gentlemen opposite, whether the condition -of the farmers in Suffolk, Wiltshire, and Hampshire, -is better than that which I have described -in Norfolk and Devonshire? I put it to county -members, whether—taking the whole of the -south of England, from the confines of Nottinghamshire -to the Land’s End,—whether, as a -rule, the farmers are not now in a state of the -greatest embarrassment? There may be exceptions; -but I put it to them whether, as a -rule, that is not their condition in all parts?</p> - -<p>Then, sir, according to every precedent in -this House, this is a fit and proper time to -bring forward the motion of which I have -given notice. I venture to state that had his -Grace of Buckingham possessed a seat in -this House, he would have done now what -he did when he was Lord Chandos—have -moved this resolution which I am now about to -move. The distress of the farmers being admitted, -the next question which arises is, What -is its cause? I feel a greater necessity to -bring forward this motion for a committee of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span> -inquiry, because I find great discrepancies of -opinion among honorable gentlemen opposite -as to what is the cause of the distress among -the farmers. In the first place there is a discrepancy -as to the generality or locality of the -existing distress. I find the right honorable -baronet at the head of the government [Sir -Robert Peel] saying that the distress is local; -and he moreover says it does not arise from -the legislation of this House. The honorable -member for Dorsetshire declares, on the other -hand, that the distress is general, and that it -does not arise from legislation. I am at a loss -to understand what this protection to agriculture -means, because I find such contradictory -accounts given in this House by the promoters -of that system. For instance, nine months -ago, when my honorable friend, the member -for Wolverhampton [Mr. Villiers], brought forward -his motion for the abolition of the Corn -Laws,<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">10</a> the right honorable gentleman, then -the President of the Board of Trade, in replying -to him, said that the present Corn Law -had been most successful in its operations. -He took great credit to the government for -the steadiness of price that was obtained under -that law. I will read you the quotation, because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span> -we find these statements so often controverted. -He said:</p> - -<p>“Was there any man who had supported the -law in the year 1842 who could honestly say -that he had been disappointed in its workings? -Could any one point out a promise or a prediction -hazarded in the course of the protracted -debates upon the measure, which promise or -prediction had been subsequently falsified.”</p> - -<p>Now, recollect that the right honorable gentleman -was speaking when wheat was 56<i>s.</i> per -quarter, and that wheat is now 45<i>s.</i> The right -honorable baronet at the head of the government -now says: “My legislation has had nothing to do -with wheat at 45<i>s.</i> a quarter”; but how are we -to get over the difficulty that the responsible -member of government at the head of the -Board of Trade, only nine months ago, claimed -merit for the government having kept up the -price of wheat at 56<i>s.</i>? These discrepancies -themselves between the government and its -supporters, render it more and more necessary -that this question of protection should be inquired -into. I ask, What does it mean? The -price of wheat is 45<i>s.</i> this day. I have been -speaking to the highest authority in England -upon this point—one who is often quoted by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span> -this House—within the last week, and he tells -me, that with another favorable harvest, he -thinks it very likely that wheat will be 35<i>s.</i> a -quarter. What does this legislation mean, or -what does it purport to be, if you are to have -prices fluctuating from 56<i>s.</i> down to 35<i>s.</i> a -quarter, and probably lower? Can you prevent -it by the legislation of this House? That is -the question. There is a great delusion spread -abroad amongst the farmers; and it is the duty -of this House to have that delusion dissipated -by inquiring into the matter.</p> - -<p>Now, there are these very different opinions -on the other side of the House; but there are -members upon this side representing very important -interests, who think that farmers are -suffering because they have this legislative protection. -There is all this difference of opinion. -Now, is not that a fit and proper subject for -your inquiry? I am prepared to go into a -select committee, and to bring forward evidence -to show that the farmers are laboring -under great evils—evils that I would connect -with the legislation of this House, though they -are evils which appear to be altogether dissociated -from it. The first great evil under which -the farmer labors is the want of capital. No<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span> -one can deny that. I do not mean at all to disparage -the farmers. The farmers of this country -are just the same race as the rest of us; and, if -they were placed in a similar position, theirs -would be as good a trade—I mean that they -would be as successful men of business—as -others; but it is notorious, as a rule, that the -farmers of this country are deficient in capital; -and I ask, How can any business be carried on -successfully where there is a deficiency of capital? -I take it that honorable gentlemen opposite, -acquainted with farming, would admit that -10<i>l.</i> an acre, on an arable farm, would be a sufficient -amount of capital for carrying on the -business of farming successfully. I will take it, -then, that 10<i>l.</i> an acre would be a fair capital -for an arable farm. I have made many inquiries -upon this subject in all parts of the -kingdom, and I give it you as my decided conviction, -that at this present moment farmers do -not average 5<i>l.</i> an acre capital on their farms. -I speak of England, and I take England south -of the Trent, though, of course, there are exceptions -in every county; there are men of -large capital in all parts—men farming their -own land; but, taking it as a rule, I hesitate -not to give my opinion—and I am prepared to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span> -back that opinion by witnesses before your -committee—that, as a rule, farmers have not, -upon an average, more than 5<i>l.</i> an acre capital -for their arable land. I have given you a tract -of country to which I may add all Wales; -probably 20,000,000 of acres of cultivable land. -I have no doubt whatever, that there are 100,000,000<i>l.</i> -of capital wanting upon that land. What -is the meaning of farming capital? There are -strange notions about the word “capital.” It -means more manure, a greater amount of labor, -a greater number of cattle, and larger crops. -Picture a country in which you can say there is -a deficiency of one half of all those blessings -which ought to, and might, exist there, and -then judge what the condition of laborers wanting -employment and food is.</p> - -<p>But you will say, capital would be invested if -it could be done with profit. I admit it; that -is the question I want you to inquire into. -How is it that in a country where there is a -plethora of capital, where every other business -and pursuit is overflowing with money, where -you have men going to France for railways -and to Pennsylvania for bonds, embarking in -schemes for connecting the Atlantic with the -Pacific by canals, railways in the valley of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span> -Mississippi, and sending their money to the -bottom of the Mexican mines; while you have -a country rich and overflowing, ready to take -investments in every corner of the globe; how -is it, I say, that this capital does not find its -employment in the most attractive of all forms—upon -the soil of this country? The cause is -notorious—it is admitted by your highest authorities; -the reason is, there is not security -for capital in land. Capital shrinks instinctively -from insecurity of tenure; and you have not in -England that security which would warrant men -of capital investing their money in the soil.</p> - -<p>Now, is it not a matter worthy of consideration, -how far this insecurity of tenure is bound -up with that protective system of which you -are so enamoured? Suppose it can be shown -that there is a vicious circle; that you have -made politics of Corn Laws, and that you want -voters to maintain them; that you very erroneously -think that the Corn Laws are your great -mine of wealth, and, therefore, you must have a -dependent tenantry, that you may have their -votes at elections to maintain this law in Parliament. -Well, if you will have dependent voters, -you cannot have men of spirit and capital. -Then your policy reacts upon you. If you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span> -have not men of skill and capital, you cannot -have improvements and employment for your -laborers. Then comes round that vicious termination -of the circle—you have pauperism, -poor-rates, county-rates, and all the other evils -of which you are now speaking and complaining.<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">11</a> -* * *</p> - -<p>Now, sir, not only does the want of security -prevent capital flowing into the farming business, -but it actually deters from the improvement -of the land those who are already in the -occupation of it. There are many men, tenants -of your land, who could improve their farms if -they had a sufficient security, and they have -either capital themselves or their friends could -supply it; but with the absence of leases, and -the want of security, you are actually deterring -them from laying out their money on your -land. They keep every thing the same from -year to year. You know that it is impossible to -farm your estates properly unless a tenant has -an investment for more than one year. A man -ought to be able to begin a farm with at least -eight years before him, before he expects to see -a return for the whole of the outlay of his -money. You are, therefore, keeping your tenants-at-will -at a yearly kind of cultivation, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span> -you are preventing them carrying on their businesses -in a proper way. Not only do you prevent -the laying out of capital upon your land, and -disable the farmers from cultivating it, but your -policy tends to make them servile and dependent; -so that they are actually disinclined to -improvement, afraid to let you see that they -can improve, because they are apprehensive -that you will pounce upon them for an increase -of rent. I see the honorable member for Lincolnshire -opposite, and he rather smiled at the -expression when I said that the state of dependence -of the farmers was such that they were -actually afraid to appear to be improving their -land. Now that honorable gentleman, the -member for Lincolnshire [Mr. Christopher], -upon the motion made last year for agricultural -statistics, by my honorable friend, the member -for Manchester [Mr. Milner Gibson], made the -following statement:</p> - -<p>“It is most desirable for the farmer to know -the actual quantity of corn grown in this country, -as such knowledge would insure steadiness of -prices, which was infinitely more valuable to -the agriculturist than fluctuating prices. But -to ascertain this there was extreme difficulty. -They could not leave it to the farmer to make<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span> -a return of the quantity which he produced, for -it was not for his interest to do so. If in any -one or two years he produced four quarters per -acre on land which had previously grown but -three, he might fear that his landlord would -say: ‘Your land is more productive than I -imagined, and I must therefore raise your rent.’ -The interest of the farmers, therefore, would be -to underrate, and to furnish low returns.”</p> - -<p>Now, I ask honorable gentlemen here, the -landed gentry of England, what a state of things -is that when, upon their own testimony respecting -the farming capitalists in this country, they -dare not appear to have a good horse—they -dare not appear to be growing more than -four quarters instead of three? [Mr. Christopher: -Hear!] The honorable member cheers, -but I am quoting from his own authority. I -say this condition of things, indicated by these -two quotations, brings the tenant-farmers—if -they are such as these gentlemen describe them -to be,—it brings them down to a very low point -of servility. In Egypt Mehemet Ali takes the -utmost grain of corn from his people, who bury -it beneath their hearthstones in their cottages, -and will suffer the bastinado rather than tell -how much corn they grow. Our tenants are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span> -not afraid of the bastinado, but they are terrified -at the rise of rent. This is the state of -things amongst the tenant-farmers, farming -without leases.<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">12</a> In England leases are the -exception, and not the rule. But even where -you have leases in England—where you have -leases or agreements—I doubt whether they are -not in many cases worse tenures than where -there is no lease at all; the clauses being of -such an obsolete and preposterous character as -to defy any man to carry on the business of -farming under them profitably.</p> - -<p>Now, I do not know why we should not in -this country have leases for land upon similar -terms to the leases of manufactories, or any -“plant” or premises. I do not think that -farming will ever be carried on as it ought to be -until you have leases drawn up in the same way -as a man takes a manufactory, and pays perhaps -a £1,000 a year for it. I know people who -pay £4,000 a year for manufactories to carry on -their business, and at fair rents. There is an -honorable gentleman near me who pays more -than £4,000 a year for the rent of his manufactory. -What covenants do you think he has in -his lease? What would he think if it stated -how many revolutions there should be in a minute<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span> -of the spindles, or if they prescribed the construction -of the straps or the gearing of the -machinery? Why, he takes his manufactory -with a schedule of its present state—bricks, -mortar, and machinery—and when the lease is -over, he must leave it in the same state, or else -pay a compensation for the dilapidation. [The -Chancellor of the Exchequer: Hear! hear!] -The right honorable gentleman, the Chancellor -of the Exchequer, cheers that statement. I want -to ask his opinion respecting a similar lease for -a farm. I am rather disposed to think that the -Anti-Corn-Law Leaguers will very likely form a -joint-stock association, having none but free -traders in the body, that we may purchase an -estate and have a model farm; taking care that -it shall be in one of the rural counties, one of -the most purely agricultural parts of the country, -where we think there is the greatest need -of improvement—perhaps in Buckinghamshire,—and -there shall be a model farm, homestead, -and cottages; and I may tell the noble Lord, -the member for Newark, that we shall have -a model garden, and we will not make any -boast about it. But the great object will be to -have a model lease. We will have as the farmer -a man of intelligence and capital.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span></p> - -<p>I am not so unreasonable as to tell you that -you ought to let your land to men who have -not a competent capital, or are not sufficiently -intelligent; but I say, select such a man as -that, let him know his business and have a sufficient -capital, and you cannot give him too wide -a scope. We will find such a man, and will let -him our farm; there shall be a lease precisely -such as that upon which my honorable friend -takes his factory. There shall be no clause inserted -in it to dictate to him how he shall cultivate -his farm; he shall do what he likes with -the old pasture. If he can make more by -ploughing it up he shall do so; if he can grow -white crops every year—which I know there are -people doing at this moment in more places -than one in this country,—or if he can make any -other improvement or discovery, he shall be free -to do so. We will let him the land, with a -schedule of the state of tillage and the condition -of the homestead, and all we will bind him to -will be this: “You shall leave the land as good -as when you entered upon it. If it be in an inferior -state it shall be valued again, and you -shall compensate us; but if it be in an improved -state it shall be valued, and we, the landlords, -will compensate you.” We will give possession<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span> -of every thing upon the land, whether it be -wild or tame animals; he shall have the absolute -control. Take as stringent precautions as -you please to compel the punctual payment of -the rent; take the right of re-entry as summarily -as you like if the rent be not duly paid; but -let the payment of rent duly be the sole test as -to the well-doing of the tenant; and so long as -he can pay the rent, and do it promptly, that is -the only criterion you need have that the -farmer is doing well; and if he is a man of -capital, you have the strongest possible security -that he will not waste your property while he -has possession of it.</p> - -<p>Now, sir, I have mentioned a deficiency of -capital as being the primary want among farmers. -I have stated the want of security in leases -as the cause of the want of capital; but you -may still say: “You have not connected this -with the Corn Laws and the protective system.” -I will read the opinion of an honorable -gentleman who sits upon this side of the -House; it is in a published letter of Mr. Hayter, -who, I know, is himself an ardent supporter -of agriculture. He says:</p> - -<p>“The more I see of and practise agriculture, -the more firmly am I convinced that the whole<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span> -unemployed labor of the country could, under -a better system of husbandry, be advantageously -put into operation; and, moreover, that -the Corn Laws have been one of the principal -causes of the present system of bad farming and -consequent pauperism. Nothing short of their -entire removal will ever induce the average -farmer to rely upon any thing else than the -legislature for the payment of his rent; his belief -being that all rent is paid by corn, and -nothing else than corn, and that the legislature -can, by enacting Corn Laws, create a price which -will make his rent easy. The day of their [the -Corn Laws’] entire abolition ought to be a day -of jubilee and rejoicing to every man interested -in land.”</p> - -<p>Now, sir, I do not stop to connect the cause -and effect in this matter, and inquire whether -your Corn Laws or your protective system have -caused the want of leases and capital. I do not -stop to make good my proof, and for this reason, -that you have adopted a system of legislation -in this House by which you profess to -make the farming trade prosperous. I show -you, after thirty years’ trial, what is the depressed -condition of the agriculturists; I prove -to you what is the impoverished state of farmers,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span> -and also of laborers, and you will not -contest any one of those propositions. I say it -is enough, having had thirty years’ trial of your -specific with no better results than these, for -me to ask you to go into committee to see if -something better cannot be devised. I am -going to contend that free trade in grain would -be more advantageous to farmers—and with -them I include laborers—than restriction; to -oblige the honorable member for Norfolk, I -will take with them also the landlords; and I -contend that free trade in corn and grain of -every kind would be more beneficial to them -than to any other class of the community. I -should have contended the same before the -passing of the late tariff, but now I am prepared -to do so with tenfold more force. What -has the right honorable baronet [Sir R. Peel] -done? He has passed a law to admit fat cattle -at a nominal duty. Some foreign fat cattle -were selling in Smithfield the other day at about -15<i>l.</i> or 16<i>l.</i> per head, paying only about seven -and one half per cent. duty; but he has not admitted -the raw material out of which these fat -cattle are made. Mr. Huskisson did not act in -this manner when he commenced his plan of -free trade.<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">13</a> He began by admitting the raw<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span> -material of manufactures before he admitted -the manufactured article; but in your case you -have commenced at precisely the opposite end, -and have allowed free trade in cattle instead of -that upon which they are fattened. I say give -free trade in that grain which goes to make the -cattle. I contend that by this protective system -the farmers throughout the country are -more injured than any other class in the community. -I would take, for instance, the article -of clover-seed. The honorable member for -North Northamptonshire put a question the -other night to the right honorable baronet at -the head of the government. He looked so -exceedingly alarmed that I wondered what the -subject was which created the apprehension. -He asked the right honorable baronet whether -he was going to admit clover-seed into this -country. I believe clover-seed is to be excluded -from the schedule of free importation. Now, I -ask for whose benefit is this exception made? -I ask the honorable gentleman, the member for -North Northamptonshire, whether those whom -he represents, the farmers of that district of -the county, are, in a large majority of instances, -sellers of clover-seed? I will undertake to say -they are not. How many counties in England<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span> -are there which are benefited by the protection -of clover-seed? I will take the whole of Scotland. -If there be any Scotch members present, -I ask them whether they do not in their country -import the clover-seed from England? They -do not grow it. I undertake to say that there -are not ten counties in the United Kingdom -which are interested in the importation of -clover-seed out of their own borders. Neither -have they any of this article in Ireland. But -yet we have clover-seed excluded from the -farmers, although they are not interested as a -body in its protection at all.</p> - -<p>Again, take the article of beans. There are -lands in Essex where they can grow them alternate -years with wheat. I find that beans come -from that district to Mark Lane; and I believe -also that in some parts of Lincolnshire and -Cambridgeshire they do the same; but how is it -with the poor lands of Surrey or the poor downland -of Wiltshire? Take the whole of the -counties. How many of them are there which -are exporters of beans, or send them to market? -You are taxing the whole of the farmers who -do not sell their beans, for the pretended benefit -of a few counties or districts of counties -where they do. Mark you, where they can grow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span> -beans on the stronger and better soils, it is not -in one case out of ten that they grow them for -the market. They may grow them for their -own use; but where they do not cultivate -beans, send them to market, and turn them into -money, those farmers can have no interest -whatever in keeping up the money price of that -which they never sell.</p> - -<p>Take the article of oats. How many farmers -are there who ever have oats down on the -credit side of their books, as an item upon -which they rely for the payment of their rents? -The farmers may, and generally do, grow oats -for feeding their own horses; but it is an exception -to the rule—and a rare exception too—where -the farmer depends upon the sale of his -oats to meet his expenses. Take the article of -hops. You have a protection upon them for -the benefit of the growers in Kent, Sussex, and -Surrey; but yet the cultivators of hops are -taxed for the protection of others in articles -which they do not themselves produce. Take -the article of cheese. Not one farmer in ten in -the whole country makes his own cheese, and -yet they and their servants are large consumers -of it. But what are the counties which have the -protection in this article? Cheshire, Gloucestershire,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span> -Wiltshire, part of Derbyshire, and Leicestershire. -Here are some four or five dairy -counties having an interest in the protection of -cheese; but recollect that those counties are -peculiarly hardly taxed in beans and oats, because -in those counties where they are chiefly -dairy farms, they are most in want of artificial -food for their cattle. There are the whole of -the hilly districts; and I hope my friend, the -member for Nottingham [Mr. Gisborne], is -here, because he has a special grievance in this -matter. He lives in Derbyshire, and very commendably -employs himself in rearing good cattle -upon the hills: but he is taxed for your protection -for his beans, peas, oats, Indian corn, -and every thing which he wants for feeding -them. He told me, only the other day, that -he should like nothing better than to give up -the little remnant of protection on cattle, -if you would only let him buy a thousand -quarters of black oats for the consumption of -his stock. Take the whole of the hilly districts, -and the down country of Wiltshire; the -whole of that expanse of downs in the south -of England; take the Cheviots, where the flock-masters -reside; the Grampians in Scotland; -and take the whole of Wales, they are not benefited<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span> -in the slightest degree by the protection -on these articles; but, on the contrary, you are -taxing the very things they want. They require -provender as abundantly and cheaply as -they can get it. Allowing a free importation -of food for cattle is the only way in which those -counties can improve the breed of their lean -stocks, and the only manner in which they can -ever bring their land up to any thing like a -proper state of fertility.</p> - -<p>I will go further and say, that farmers with thin -soil,—I mean the stock farmers, whom you will -find in Hertfordshire and Surrey, farmers with -large capitals, arable farmers,—I say those men -are deeply interested in having a free importation -of food for their cattle, because they have -thin, poor land. This land of its own self does -not contain the means of its increased fertility; -and the only way is the bringing in of an -additional quantity of food from elsewhere, -that they can bring up their farms to a proper -state of cultivation. I have been favored with -an estimate made by a very experienced, clever -farmer in Wiltshire—probably honorable gentlemen -will bear me out, when I say a man of -great intelligence and skill, and entitled to -every consideration in this House. I refer to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span> -Mr. Nathaniel Atherton, Kingston, Wilts. That -gentleman estimates that upon 400 acres of -land he could increase his profits to the amount -of 280<i>l.</i>, paying the same rent as at present, -provided there was a free importation of foreign -grain of all kinds. He would buy 500 quarters -of oats at 15<i>s.</i>, or the same amount in -beans or peas at 14<i>s.</i> or 15<i>s.</i> a sack, to be fed -on the land or in the yard; by which he would -grow additional 160 quarters of wheat, and 230 -quarters of barley, and gain an increased profit -of 300<i>l.</i> upon his sheep and cattle. His plan -embraces the employment of an additional capital -of 1,000<i>l.</i>; and he would pay 150<i>l.</i> a year -more for labor. I had an opportunity, the -other day, of speaking to a very intelligent -farmer in Hertfordshire, Mr. Lattimore, of -Wheathampstead. Very likely there are honorable -members here to whom he is known. -I do not know whether the noble Lord, the -member for Hertfordshire is present; if so, he -will, no doubt, know that Mr. Lattimore stands -as high in Hertford market as a skilful farmer -and a man of abundant capital as any in the -county. He is a gentleman of most unquestionable -intelligence; and what does he say? -He told me that last year he paid 230<i>l.</i> enhanced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span> -price on his beans and other provender -which he bought for his cattle:—230<i>l.</i> enhanced -price in consequence of that restriction -upon the trade in foreign grain, amounting to -14<i>s.</i> a quarter on all the wheat he sold off his -farm.</p> - -<p>Now, I undertake to say, in the name of Mr. -Atherton, of Wiltshire, and Mr. Lattimore, of -Hertfordshire, that they are as decided advocates -for free trade in grain of every kind as I -am. I am not now quoting merely solitary cases. -I told honorable gentlemen once before that I -have probably as large an acquaintance among -farmers as any one in the House. I think I -could give you from every county the names of -some of the first-rate farmers who are as ardent -free-traders as I am. I requested the Secretary -of this much dreaded Anti-Corn-Law League to -make me out a list of the farmers who are subscribers -to that association, and I find there are -upward of one hundred in England and Scotland -who subscribe to the league fund, comprising, -I hesitate not to say, the most intelligent -men to be found in the kingdom. I went -into the Lothians, at the invitation of twenty-two -farmers there, several of whom were paying -upward of 1,000<i>l.</i> a year rent. I spent two<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span> -or three days among them, and I never found a -body of more intelligent, liberal-minded men in -my life. Those are men who do not want restrictions -upon the importation of grain. They -desire nothing but fair play. They say: “Let -us have our Indian corn, Egyptian beans, and -Polish oats as freely as we have our linseed -cake, and we can bear competition with any -corn-growers in the world.” But by excluding -the provender for cattle, and at the same time -admitting the cattle almost duty free, I think -you are giving an example of one of the greatest -absurdities and perversions of nature and common-sense -that ever was seen.</p> - -<p>We have heard of great absurdities in legislation -in commercial matters of late. We know -that there has been such a case as sending coffee -from Cuba to the Cape of Good Hope, in -order to bring it back to England under the -law; but I venture to say, that in less than ten -years from this time, people will look back -with more amazement in their minds, at the -fact that, while you are sending ships to Ichaboe -to bring back the guano, you are passing a law -to exclude Indian corn, beans, oats, peas, and -every thing else that gives nourishment to your -cattle, which would give you a thousand times<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span> -more productive manure than all the guano of -Ichaboe.</p> - -<p>Upon the last occasion when I spoke upon this -subject, I was answered by the right honorable -gentleman, the President of the Board of Trade. -He talked about throwing poor lands out of -cultivation, and converting arable lands into -pasture. I hope that we men of the Anti-Corn-Law -League may not be reproached again with -seeking to cause any such disasters. My belief -is—and the conviction is founded upon a most -extensive inquiry among the most intelligent -farmers, without stint of trouble and pains,—that -the course you are pursuing tends every -hour to throw land out of cultivation, and -make poor lands unproductive. Do not let us -be told again that we desire to draw the laborers -from the land, in order that we may reduce -the wages of the work-people employed in factories.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">14</a> -I tell you that, if you bestow capital -on the soil, and cultivate it with the same skill -as manufacturers bestow upon their business, -you have not population enough in the rural -districts for the purpose. I yesterday received -a letter from Lord Ducie, in which he gives -precisely the same opinion. He says: “If we -had the land properly cultivated, there are not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span> -sufficient laborers to till it.” You are chasing -your laborers from village to village, passing -laws to compel people to support paupers, devising -every means to smuggle them abroad—to -the antipodes, if you can get them there; -why, you would have to run after them, and -bring them back again, if you had your land -properly cultivated. I tell you honestly my -conviction, that it is by these means, and these -only, that you can avert very great and serious -troubles and disasters in your agricultural districts.</p> - -<p>Sir, I remember, on the last occasion when -this subject was discussed, there was a great -deal said about disturbing an interest.<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">15</a> It was -said this inquiry could not be gone into, because -we were disturbing and unsettling a great -interest. I have no desire to undervalue the -agricultural interest. I have heard it said that -they are the greatest consumers of manufactured -goods in this country; that they are such -large consumers of our goods that we had better -look after the home trade, and not think of -destroying it. But what sort of consumers of -manufactures think you the laborers can be, -with the wages they are now getting in agricultural -districts? Understand me; I am arguing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span> -for a principle that I solemnly believe would -raise the wages of the laborers in the agricultural -districts. I believe you would have no men -starving upon 7<i>s.</i> a week, if you had abundant -capital and competent skill employed upon the -soil; but I ask what is this consumption of -manufactured goods that we have heard so much -about? I have taken some pains, and made -large inquiries as to the amount laid out in the -average of cases by agricultural laborers and -their families for clothing; I probably may -startle you by telling you that we have exported -in one year more of our manufactures to Brazil -than have been consumed in a similar period by -the whole of your agricultural peasantry and -their families. You have 960,000 agricultural -laborers in England and Wales, according to -the last census; I undertake to say they do not -expend on an average 30<i>s.</i> a year on their families, -supposing every one of them to be in employ. -I speak of manufactured goods, excluding -shoes. I assert that the whole of the agricultural -peasantry and their families in England -and Wales do not spend a million and a half -per annum for manufactured goods, in clothing -and bedding. And, with regard to your excisable -and duty-paying articles, what can the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span> -poor wretch lay out upon them, who out of 8<i>s.</i> -or 9<i>s.</i> a week has a wife and family to support? -I undertake to prove to your satisfaction—and -you may do it yourselves if you will but dare to -look the figures in the face,—I will undertake to -prove to you that they do not pay, upon an -average, each family, 15<i>s.</i> per annum; that the -whole of their contributions to the revenue do -not amount to 700,000<i>l.</i> Now, is not this a -mighty interest to be disturbed? I would keep -that interest as justly as though it were one of -the most important; but I say, when you have -by your present system brought down your -agricultural peasantry to that state, have you -any thing to offer for bettering their condition, -or at all events to justify resisting an inquiry?</p> - -<p>On the last occasion when I addressed the -House on this subject, I recollect stating some -facts to show that you had no reasonable ground -to fear foreign competition; those facts I do -not intend to reiterate, because they have never -been contradicted. But there are still attempts -made to frighten people by telling them: “If -you open the ports to foreign corn, you will -have corn let in here for nothing.” One of the -favorite fallacies which are now put forth is -this: “Look at the price of corn in England,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span> -and see what it is abroad; you have prices low -here, and yet you have corn coming in from -abroad and paying the maximum duty. Now, -if you had not 20<i>s.</i> duty to pay, what a quantity -of corn you would have brought in, and how -low the price would be!” This statement -arises from a fallacy—I hope not dishonestly -put forth—in not understanding the difference -between the real and the nominal price of corn. -The price of corn at Dantzic now, when there is -no regular sale, is nominal; the price of corn -when it is coming in regularly is the real price. -Now, go back to 1838. In January of that year -the price of wheat at Dantzic was nominal; -there was no demand for England; there were -no purchasers except for speculation, with the -chance, probably, of having to throw the wheat -into the sea; but in the months of July and -August of that year, when apprehensions arose -of a failure of our harvest, then the price of -corn in Dantzic rose instantly, sympathizing -with the markets of England; and at the end of -the year, in December, the price of wheat at -Dantzic had doubled the amount at which it -had been in January; and during the three following -years, when you had a regular importation -of corn,—during all that time, by the averages<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span> -laid upon the table of this House, wheat at -Dantzic averaged 40<i>s.</i> Wheat at Dantzic was -at that price during the three years 1839, 1840, -and 1841. Now, I mention this just to show -the fact to honorable gentlemen, and to entreat -them that they will not go and alarm their tenantry -by this outcry of the danger of foreign -competition. You ought to be pursuing a directly -opposite course—you ought to be trying -to stimulate them in every possible way, by -showing that they can compete with foreigners; -that what others can do in Poland, they can do -in England.</p> - -<p>I have an illustration of this subject in the -case of a society of which the honorable member -for Suffolk is chairman. We have lately -seen a new light spreading amongst agricultural -gentlemen. We are told the salvation of -this country is to arise from the cultivation -of flax. There is a National Flax Society, of -which Lord Rendlesham is the president. This -Flax Society state in their prospectus, a copy -of which I have here, purporting to be the First -Annual Report of the National Flax Agricultural -Improvement Association,—after talking -of the ministers holding out no hope from -legislation, the report goes on to state that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span> -upon these grounds the National Flax Society -call upon the nation for its support, on the -ground that they are going to remedy the -distress of the country. The founder of this -society is Mr. Warnes of Norfolk. I observe -Mr. Warnes paid a visit to Sussex, and he -attended an agricultural meeting at which the -honorable baronet, the member for Shoreham -[Sir Charles Burrell], presided. After the usual -loyal toasts, the honorable baronet proposed -the toast of the evening: “Mr. Warnes and the -cultivation of flax.” The honorable baronet was -not aware, I dare say, that he was then furnishing -a most deadly weapon to the lecturers of -the Anti-Corn-Law League. We are told you -cannot compete with foreigners unless you have -a high protective duty. You have a high protective -duty on wheat, amounting at this moment -to 20<i>s.</i> a quarter. A quarter of wheat at -the present time is just worth the same as one -cwt. of flax. On a quarter of wheat you have a -protective duty against the Pole and Russian of -20<i>s.</i>; upon the one cwt. of flax you have a protective -duty of 1<i>d.</i> And I did not hear a murmur -from honorable gentlemen opposite when -the Prime-Minister proposed to take off that -protective duty of 1<i>d.</i> totally and immediately.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span></p> - -<p>But we are told that English agriculturists -cannot compete with foreigners, and especially -with that serf labor that is to be found somewhere -up the Baltic. Well, but flax comes -from the Baltic and there is no protective duty. -Honorable gentlemen say we have no objection -to raw materials where there is no labor connected -with them; but we cannot contend -against foreigners in wheat, because there is -such an amount of labor in it. Why, there -is twice as much labor in flax as there is in -wheat; but the member for Shoreham favors -the growth of flax in order to restore the country, -which is sinking into this abject and hopeless -state for want of agricultural protection. -But the honorable baronet will forgive me—I -am sure he will, he looks as if he would—if I -allude a little to the subject of leases. The -honorable gentleman on that occasion, I believe, -complained that it was a great pity that -farmers did not grow more flax. I do not know -whether it was true or not that the same honorable -baronet’s leases to his own tenants forbade -them to grow that article.</p> - -<p>Now, it is quite as possible that the right -honorable baronet does not exactly know what -covenants or clauses there are in his leases. But<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span> -I know that it is a very common case to preclude -the growth of flax; and it just shows the -kind of management by which the landed proprietors -have carried on their affairs, that actually, -I believe, the original source of the error -that flax was very pernicious to the ground was -derived from Virgil; I believe there is a passage -in the Georgics to that effect.<a id="FNanchor_15A" href="#Footnote_15A" class="fnanchor">15<i>a</i></a> From that -classic authority, no doubt, some learned lawyer -put this clause into the lease, and there it has -remained ever since.</p> - -<p>Now, I have alluded to the condition of the -laborers at the present time; but I am bound -to say that while the farmers at the present -moment are in a worse condition than they -have been for the last ten years, I believe the -agricultural laborers have passed over the winter -with less suffering and distress, although it -has been a five-months’ winter, and a severer -one, too, than they endured in the previous -year. [Hear!] I am glad to find that corroborated -by honorable gentlemen opposite, -because it bears out, in a remarkable degree, -the opinion that we, who are in connection -with the free-trade question, entertain. We -maintain that a low price of food is beneficial -to the laboring classes. We assert, and we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span> -can prove it, at least in the manufacturing districts, -that whenever provisions are dear wages -are low, and whenever food is cheap wages invariably -rise. We have had a strike in almost -every business in Lancashire since the price of -wheat has been down to something like 50<i>s.</i>; -and I am glad to be corroborated when I state -that the agricultural laborers have been in a -better condition during the last winter than -they were in the previous one. But does not -that show that, even in your case, though your -laborers have in a general way only just as -much as will find them a subsistence, they are -benefited by a great abundance of the first -necessaries of life? Although their wages may -rise and fall with the price of food,—although -they may go up with the advance in the price -of corn, and fall when it is lowered,—still, I -maintain that it does not rise in the same proportion -as the price of food rises, nor fall to the -extent to which food falls. Therefore in all -cases the agricultural laborers are in a better -state when food is low than when it is high. I -have a very curious proof that high-priced food -leads to pauperism in the agricultural districts, -which I will read to you. It is a laborer’s certificate -seen at Stowupland, in Suffolk, in July,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span> -1844, which was placed upon the mantel-piece -of a peasant’s cottage there:</p> - -<p>“West Suffolk Agricultural Association, established -in 1833 for the advancement of agriculture -and the encouragement of industry and -skill and good conduct among laborers and -servants in husbandry, President—the Duke of -Grafton, Lord-Lieutenant of the county: This -is to certify that a prize of 2<i>l.</i> was awarded to -William Burch, aged 82, laborer of the parish -of Stowupland, in West Suffolk, September 25, -1840, for having brought up nine children without -relief, except when flour was very dear; -and for having worked on the same farm -twenty-eight years. (Signed) Rt. Rushbrooke, -Chairman.”</p> - -<p>Now I need not press that point. It is admitted -by honorable gentlemen opposite—and -I am glad it is so—that after a very severe winter, -in the midst of great distress among farmers, -when there have been a great many able-bodied -men wanting employment, still there -have been fewer in the streets and work-houses -than there had been in the previous year; and -I hope we shall not again be told by honorable -gentlemen opposite that cheap bread is injurious -to the laborers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span></p> - -<p>But the condition of the agricultural laborer -is a bad case at the very best. You can look -before you, and you have to foresee the means -of giving employment to those men. I need -not tell you that the late census shows that you -cannot employ your own increasing population -in the agricultural districts. But you say the -farmer should employ them. Now, I am bound -to say that, whatever may be the condition of -the agricultural laborer, I hold that the farmer -is not responsible for that condition while he is -placed in the situation in which he now is by the -present system. I have seen during the last -autumn and winter a great many exhortations -made to the farmers, that they should employ -more laborers. I think that is very unfair -towards the farmer; I believe he is the man -who is suffering most; he stands between you -and your impoverished, suffering peasantry; -and it is rather too bad to point to the farmer -as the man who should relieve them. I have an -extract from Lord Hardwick’s address to the -laborers of Haddenham. He says:</p> - -<p>“Conciliate your employers, and if they do -not perform their duty to you and themselves, -address yourselves to the landlords, and I assure -you that you will find us ready to urge our own<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span> -tenants to the proper cultivation of their farms, -and, consequently, to the just employment of -the laborer.”</p> - -<p>Now, I hold that this duty begins nearer -home, and that the landed proprietors are the -parties who are responsible if the laborers have -not employment. You have absolute power; -there is no doubt about that. You can, if you -please, legislate for the laborers, or yourselves. -Whatever you may have done besides, your -legislation has been adverse to the laborer, and -you have no right to call upon the farmers to -remedy the evils which you have caused. Will -not this evil—if evil you call it—press on you -more and more every year? What can you do -to remedy the mischief? I only appear here -now because you have proposed nothing. We -all know your system of allotments, and we are -all aware of its failure. What other remedy -have you? for, mark you, that is worse than a -plaything, if you were allowed to carry out your -own views. [Hear!] Aye, it is well enough -for some of you that there are wiser heads than -your own to lead you, or you would be conducting -yourselves into precisely the same condition -in which they are in Ireland, but with this difference—this -increased difficulty,—that there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span> -they do manage to maintain the rights of -property by the aid of the English Exchequer -and 20,000 bayonets; but divide your own -country into small allotments, and where would -be the rights of property? What do you propose -to do now? That is the question. Nothing -has been brought forward this year, which -I have heard, having for its object to benefit -the great mass of the English population; -nothing I have heard suggested which has at -all tended to alleviate their condition.</p> - -<p>You admit that the farmer’s capital is sinking -from under him, and that he is in a worse -state than ever. Have you distinctly provided -some plan to give confidence to the farmer, -to cause an influx of capital to be expended upon -his land, and so bring increased employment -to the laborer? How is this to be met? I -cannot believe you are going to make this a -political game. You must set up some specific -object to benefit the agricultural interest. It is -well said that the last election was an agricultural -triumph. There are two hundred county -members sitting behind the Prime-Minister who -prove that it was so. What, then, is your plan -for this distressing state of things? That is -what I want to ask you. Do not, as you have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span> -done before, quarrel with me because I have -imperfectly stated my case; I have done my -best; and I again ask you what you have to -propose? I tell you that this “Protection,” -as it has been called, is a failure. It was so -when you had the prohibition up to 80<i>s.</i> You -know the state of your farming tenantry in -1821. It was a failure when you had a protection -price of 60<i>s.</i>; for you know what was -the condition of your farm tenantry in 1835. -It is a failure now with your last amendment, -for you have admitted and proclaimed it to us; -and what is the condition of your agricultural -population at this time? I ask, what is your -plan? I hope it is not a pretence; a mere -political game that has been played throughout -the last election, and that you have not all come -up here as mere politicians. There are politicians -in the House; men who look with an -ambition—probably a justifiable one—to the -honors of office. There may be men who—with -thirty years of continuous service, having -been pressed into a groove from which they -can neither escape nor retreat—may be holding -office, high office, maintained there, probably, -at the expense of their present convictions -which do not harmonize very well with their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span> -early opinions. I make allowances for them; -but the great body of the honorable gentlemen -opposite came up to this House, not as politicians, -but as the farmers’ friends, and protectors -of the agricultural interests. Well, what -do you propose to do? You have heard the -Prime-Minister declare that, if he could restore -all the protection which you have had, that -protection would not benefit agriculturists. -Is that your belief? If so, why not proclaim -it? and if it is not your conviction, you will -have falsified your mission in this House, by -following the right honorable baronet out into -the lobby, and opposing inquiry into the condition -of the very men who sent you here.<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">16</a></p> - -<p>With mere politicians I have no right to expect -to succeed in this motion. But I have no -hesitation in telling you, that, if you give me a -committee of this House, I will explode the -delusion of agricultural protection! I will -bring forward such a mass of evidence, and -give you such a preponderance of talent and -of authority, that when the Blue-Book is published -and sent forth to the world, as we can -now send it, by our vehicles of information, -your system of protection shall not live in -public opinion for two years afterward.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">17</a> Politicians<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span> -do not want that. This cry of protection -has been a very convenient handle for -politicians. The cry of protection carried the -counties at the last election, and politicians -gained honors, emoluments, and place by it. But -is that old tattered flag of protection, tarnished -and torn as it is already, to be kept hoisted -still in the counties for the benefit of politicians; -or will you come forward honestly -and fairly to inquire into this question? I -cannot believe that the gentry of England will -be made mere drum-heads to be sounded upon -by a Prime-Minister to give forth unmeaning -and empty sounds, and to have no articulate -voice of their own. No! You are the gentry -of England who represent the counties. You -are the aristocracy of England. Your fathers -led our fathers; you may lead us if you will go -the right way. But, although you have retained -your influence with this country longer than -any other aristocracy, it has not been by opposing -popular opinion, or by setting yourselves -against the spirit of the age.</p> - -<p>In other days, when the battle and the hunting-fields -were the tests of manly vigor, your -fathers were first and foremost there. The -aristocracy of England were not like the noblesse<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span> -of France, the mere minions of a court; nor were -they like the hidalgos of Madrid, who dwindled -into pigmies. You have been Englishmen. -You have not shown a want of courage and -firmness when any call has been made upon -you. This is a new era. It is the age of improvement, -it is the age of social advancement, -not the age for war or for feudal sports. You -live in a mercantile age, when the whole wealth -of the world is poured into your lap. You -cannot have the advantages of commercial -rents and feudal privileges; but you may be -what you always have been, if you will identify -yourselves with the spirit of the age. The English -people look to the gentry and aristocracy of -their country as their leaders. I, who am not -one of you, have no hesitation in telling you -that there is a deep-rooted, an hereditary prejudice, -if I may so call it, in your favor in this -country. But you never got it, and you will -not keep it, by obstructing the spirit of the age. -If you are indifferent to enlightened means of -finding employment to your own peasantry; if -you are found obstructing that advance which is -calculated to knit nations more together in the -bonds of peace by means of commercial intercourse; -if you are found fighting against the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span> -discoveries which have almost given breath and -life to material nature, and setting up yourselves -as obstructives of that which destiny has decreed -shall go on,—why, then, you will be the -gentry of England no longer, and others will be -found to take your place.</p> - -<p>And I have no hesitation in saying that you -stand just now in a very critical position. -There is a wide-spread suspicion that you have -been tampering with the best feelings and with -the honest confidence of your constituents in -this cause. Everywhere you are doubted and -suspected. Read your own organs, and you -will see that this is the case. Well, then, this -is the time to show that you are not the mere -party politicians which you are said to be. I have -said that we shall be opposed in this measure -by politicians; they do not want inquiry. -But I ask you to go into this committee with -me. I will give you a majority of county -members. You shall have a majority of the -Central Society in that committee. I ask you -only to go into a fair inquiry as to the causes -of the distress of your own population. I only -ask that this matter may be fairly examined. -Whether you establish my principle or yours, -good will come out of the inquiry; and I do,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span> -therefore, beg and entreat the honorable independent -country gentlemen of this House that -they will not refuse, on this occasion, to go into -a fair, a full, and an impartial inquiry.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="JOHN_BRIGHT">JOHN BRIGHT.</h2> -</div> - -<p>The most eloquent of the orators of the -Liberal party in England was born at Greenbank, -a village now forming a part of Rochedale, -in 1811. His father was a manufacturer -of some prominence, and the son at the age of -fifteen left school and became identified with -the business interests of the firm. The education -of John Bright was neither comprehensive -nor thorough. He early showed an unusual -fondness for English literature, and he acquired -a large knowledge of English history; but in -other respects his education was simply of that -fragmentary nature which comes from quick intelligence -and large opportunities of observation. -His teachers have left no record of any -remarkable promise in his early days. About -the time of attaining his majority he travelled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span> -extensively on the continent; and the first evidence -of great oratorical promise was given in -a course of lectures embodying his recollections -of a tour in Europe and the Holy Land in -1835.</p> - -<p>Though Bright had taken an active part in -the local agitation for reform in 1832, it was -not till he became identified with the Anti-Corn-Law -League in 1839 that he became -prominent as a public speaker. In the course -of the agitation that followed he was closely -identified with Cobden in the work of the -league. Bright’s oratory, while less persuasive -than that of Cobden, was of a loftier tone, and -was better adapted to arouse the attention of -the people to the importance of the subject. -Throughout the whole of the Anti-Corn-Law -movement the names of Cobden and Bright -were closely associated, and the intimate and -beautiful friendship then begun continued -without interruption till Cobden’s death. It -was the popular influence they acquired by -their speeches in behalf of free trade that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span> -brought them both into Parliament. Bright -took his seat in 1843, and delivered his maiden -speech in August of the same year in behalf of -extending the principles of free trade. Though -defeated in 1857 by the city of Manchester, on -account of his energetic opposition to the -course of the government in the Crimean War, -he was immediately taken up by the electors -of Birmingham and returned by a triumphant -majority. His career in the House of Commons, -therefore, has been uninterrupted for -more than thirty years.</p> - -<p>During the whole of this period Mr. Bright’s -powers have been consistently exerted in behalf -of certain definite lines of political policy. From -first to last he has been the uncompromising -advocate and champion of the principles of free -trade. He has been a thorough student of American -affairs; and at the time of the American -civil war, it was his eloquence more than any -other one thing that restrained England from -following the lead of France into the policy of -acknowledging the independence of the seceding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span> -States. In domestic affairs he has advocated -the general policy of retrenchment, a -more equitable distribution of the seats with -reference to population, and a wide extension of -the rights of suffrage. In 1857 his strenuous -and eloquent opposition to the methods of -Palmerston cost him his seat in the House; and -in 1882 he resigned his place in the cabinet, because -he was unwilling to share the policy of -Mr. Gladstone which led to the bombardment -of Alexandria. On each of these subjects -he has left a group of speeches that are likely to -retain an honorable and permanent place in the -history of British eloquence. It has been his lot -to be more frequently opposed to the government -than in sympathy with it; and although -he can hardly be said to have originated any -great lines of policy, his influence has always -been felt in behalf of peace and of an extension -of popular freedom.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="JOHN_BRIGHT2">JOHN BRIGHT.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">ON THE FOREIGN POLICY OF ENGLAND; DELIVERED<br /> -AT A BANQUET GIVEN IN HONOR OF MR. BRIGHT,<br /> -AT BIRMINGHAM, OCTOBER 29, 1858.</span></h2> -</div> - -<blockquote class="end"> - -<p>[The foreign policy of Lord Palmerston in the Crimean -War had been severely criticized by Cobden and Bright, and -in consequence of this criticism, Bright had lost his seat for -Manchester. He was at once, however, elected by Birmingham; -and the speech here given was delivered in the Town-Hall -on the occasion of his first visit to his constituents.]</p></blockquote> - -<p>The frequent and far too complimentary -manner in which my name has been mentioned -to-night, and the most kind way in which you -have received me, have placed me in a position -somewhat humiliating, and really painful; for -to receive laudation which one feels one cannot -possibly have merited, is much more painful -than to be passed by in a distribution of commendation -to which possibly one might lay -some claim.</p> - -<p>If one twentieth part of what has been said -is true, if I am entitled to any measure of your<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span> -approbation, I may begin to think that my -public career and my opinions are not so un-English -and so anti-national as some of those -who profess to be the best of our public instructors -have sometimes assumed. How, indeed, can -I, any more than any of you, be un-English and -anti-national? Was I not born upon the same -soil? Do I not come of the same English -stock? Are not my family committed irrevocably -to the fortunes of this country? Is not -whatever property I may have depending, as -much as yours is depending, upon the good government -of our common fatherland? Then how -shall any man dare to say to any one of his -countrymen, because he happens to hold a different -opinion on questions of great public -policy, that therefore he is un-English, and is to -be condemned as anti-national? There are -those who would assume that between my -countrymen and me, and between my constituents -and me, there has been, and there -is now, a great gulf fixed, and that if I cannot -pass over to them and to you, they and you -can by no possibility pass over to me.</p> - -<p>Now, I take the liberty here, in the presence -of an audience as intelligent as can be collected -within the limits of this island, and of those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span> -who have the strongest claims to know what -opinions I do entertain relative to certain great -questions of public policy, to assert that I hold -no views, that I have never promulgated any -views, on those controverted questions with respect -to which I cannot bring as witnesses in -my favor, and as fellow-believers with myself, -some of the best and most revered names in -the history of English statesmanship.</p> - -<p>About 120 years ago, the government of this -country was directed by Sir Robert Walpole, -a great minister, who for a long period preserved -the country in peace, and whose pride it was -that during those years he had done so. Unfortunately, -toward the close of his career, he -was driven by faction into a policy which was -the ruin of his political position.<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">18</a></p> - -<p>Sir Robert Walpole declared, when speaking -of the question of war as affecting this country, -that nothing could be so foolish, nothing so -mad, as a policy of war for a trading nation. -And he went so far as to say, that any peace -was better than the most successful war.</p> - -<p>I do not give you the precise language made -use of by the minister, for I speak only from -memory; but I am satisfied I am not misrepresenting -him in what I have now stated.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span></p> - -<p>Come down fifty years nearer to our own -time, and you find a statesman, not long in -office, but still strong in the affections of all -persons of Liberal principles in this country, and -in his time representing fully the sentiments of -the Liberal party—Charles James Fox.</p> - -<p>Mr. Fox, referring to the policy of the government -of his time, which was one of constant -interference in the affairs of Europe, and by -which the country was continually involved in -the calamities of war, said that although he -would not assert or maintain the principle, that -under no circumstances could England have -any cause of interference with the affairs of the -continent of Europe, yet he would prefer the -policy of positive non-interference and of perfect -isolation, rather than the constant intermeddling -to which our recent policy had subjected us, -and which brought so much trouble and suffering -upon the country. In this case also I am -not prepared to give you his exact words, but -I am sure that I fairly describe the sentiments -which he expressed.</p> - -<p>Come down fifty years later, and to a time -within the recollection of most of us, and you -find another statesman, once the most popular -man in England, and still remembered in this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span> -town and elsewhere with respect and affection. -I allude to Earl Grey. When Earl Grey came -into office for the purpose of carrying the question -of parliamentary reform, he unfurled the -banner of peace, retrenchment, and reform, and -that sentiment was received in every part of the -United Kingdom, by every man who was or had -been in favor of Liberal principles, as predicting -the advent of a new era which should save his -country from many of the calamities of the -past.</p> - -<p>Come down still nearer, and to a time that -seems but the other day, and you find another -minister, second to none of those whom I have -mentioned—the late Sir Robert Peel. I had -the opportunity of observing the conduct of Sir -Robert Peel, from the time when he took office -in 1841; I watched his proceedings particularly -from the year 1843, when I entered Parliament, -up to the time of his lamented death<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">19</a>; and -during the whole of that period, I venture to -say, his principles, if they were to be discovered -from his conduct and his speeches, were precisely -those which I have held, and which I -have always endeavored to press upon the -attention of my countrymen. If you have any -doubt upon that point I would refer you to that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span> -last, that beautiful, that most solemn speech, -which he delivered with an earnestness and a -sense of responsibility as if he had known he -was leaving a legacy to his country. If you refer -to that speech, delivered on the morning of -the very day on which occurred the accident -which terminated his life, you will find that its -whole tenor is in conformity with all the doctrines -that I have urged upon my countrymen -for years past with respect to our policy in -foreign affairs. When Sir Robert Peel went -home just before the dawn of day, upon the -last occasion that he passed from the House of -Commons, the scene of so many of his triumphs, -I have heard from what I think a good authority, -that after he entered his own house -he expressed the exceeding relief which he experienced -at having delivered himself of a -speech which he had been reluctantly obliged -to make against a ministry which he was -anxious to support, and he added, if I am not -mistaken: “I have made a speech of peace.”</p> - -<p>Well, if this be so, if I can give you four -names like these,—if there were time I could -make a longer list of still eminent, if inferior -men,—I should like to know why I, as one of a -small party, am to be set down as teaching some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span> -new doctrine which is not fit for my countrymen -to hear, and why I am to be assailed in every -form of language, as if there was one great -department of governmental affairs on which -I was incompetent to offer any opinion to my -countrymen.</p> - -<p>But leaving the opinions of individuals, I appeal -to this audience, to every man who knows -any thing of the views and policy of the Liberal -party in past years, whether it is not the fact -that, up to 1832, and indeed to a much later -period, probably to the year 1850, those sentiments -of Sir Robert Walpole, of Mr. Fox, of -Earl Grey, and of Sir Robert Peel, the sentiments -which I in humbler mode have propounded, -were not received unanimously by -the Liberal party as their fixed and unchangeable -creed? And why should they not? Are -they not founded upon reason? Do not all -statesmen know, as you know, that upon peace, -and peace alone can be based the successful industry -of a nation, and that by successful industry -alone can be created that wealth which, -permeating all classes of the people, not confined -to great proprietors, great merchants, and -great speculators, not running in a stream -merely down your principal streets, but turning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span> -fertilizing rivulets into every by-lane and -every alley, tends so powerfully to promote -the comfort, happiness, and contentment of a -nation? Do you not know that all progress -comes from successful and peaceful industry, -and that upon it is based your superstructure -of education, of morals, of self-respect among -your people, as well as every measure for extending -and consolidating freedom in your public -institutions? I am not afraid to acknowledge -that I do oppose—that I do utterly condemn -and denounce—a great part of the foreign -policy which is practised and adhered to by the -government of this country.</p> - -<p>You know, of course, that about one hundred -and seventy years ago there happened in this -country what we have always been accustomed -to call a “Glorious Revolution”—a Revolution -which had this effect: that it put a bit into the -mouth of the monarch, so that he was not able -of his own free will to do, and he dared no -longer attempt to do, the things which his predecessors -had done without fear. But if at the -Revolution the monarchy of England was -bridled and bitted, at the same time the great -territorial families of England were enthroned: -and from that period until the year 1831 or 1832<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span>—until -the time when Birmingham politically -became famous,—those territorial families -reigned with an almost undisputed sway over -the destinies and the industry of the people of -these kingdoms.<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">20</a> If you turn to the history of -England from the period of the Revolution to -the present, you will find that an entirely new -policy was adopted, and that while we had endeavored -in former times to keep ourselves free -from European complications, we now began -to act upon a system of constant entanglement -in the affairs of foreign countries, as if there -were neither property nor honors, nor any thing -worth striving for, to be acquired in any other -field. The language coined and used then has -continued to our day. Lord Somers, in writing -for William III., speaks of the endless and -sanguinary wars of that period as wars “to -maintain the liberties of Europe.” There -were wars “to support the Protestant interest,” -and there were many wars to preserve our old -friend “the balance of power.”</p> - -<p>We have been at war since that time, I believe, -with, for, and against every considerable -nation in Europe. We fought to put down a -pretended French supremacy under Louis -XIV. We fought to prevent France and Spain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span> -coming under the sceptre of one monarch, -although, if we had not fought, it would have -been impossible in the course of things that -they should have become so united.<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">21</a> We -fought to maintain the Italian provinces in connection -with the House of Austria. We fought -to put down the supremacy of Napoleon Bonaparte; -and the minister who was employed by -this country at Vienna, after the great war, -when it was determined that no Bonaparte -should ever again sit on the throne of France, -was the very man to make an alliance with another -Bonaparte for the purpose of carrying on -a war to prevent the supremacy of the late -Emperor of Russia.<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">22</a> So that we have been all -around Europe, and across it over and over -again, and after a policy so distinguished, so -pre-eminent, so long continued, and so costly, I -think we have a fair right—I have, at least—to -ask those who are in favor of it to show us its -visible result. Europe is not at this moment, -so far as I know, speaking of it broadly, and -making allowance for certain improvements in -its general civilization, more free politically -than it was before. The balance of power is -like perpetual motion, or any of those impossible -things which some men are always racking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span> -their brains and spending their time and money -to accomplish.</p> - -<p>We all know and deplore that at the present -moment a larger number of the grown men of -Europe are employed, and a larger portion of -the industry of Europe is absorbed, to provide -for, and maintain, the enormous armaments -which are now on foot in every considerable -continental state. Assuming, then, that Europe -is not much better in consequence of the -sacrifices we have made, let us inquire what has -been the result in England, because, after all, -that is the question which it becomes us most -to consider. I believe that I understate the -sum when I say that, in pursuit of this will-o’-the-wisp -(the liberties of Europe and the balance -of power), there has been extracted from -the industry of the people of this small island -no less an amount than 2,000,000,000<i>l.</i> sterling.<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">23</a> -I cannot imagine how much 2,000,000,000<i>l.</i> -is, and therefore I shall not attempt to -make you comprehend it.</p> - -<p>I presume it is something like those vast and -incomprehensible astronomical distances with -which we have been lately made familiar; but, -however familiar, we feel that we do not know -one bit more about them than we did before.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span> -When I try to think of that sum of 2,000,000,000<i>l.</i> -there is a sort of vision passes before my -mind’s eye. I see your peasant laborer delve -and plunge, sow and reap, sweat beneath the -summer’s sun, or grow prematurely old before -the winter’s blast. I see your noble mechanic -with his manly countenance and his matchless -skill, toiling at his bench or his forge. I see -one of the workers in our factories in the north, -a woman—a girl it may be—gentle and good, -as many of them are, as your sisters and daughters -are—I see her intent upon the spindle, -whose revolutions are so rapid, that the eye -fails altogether to detect them, or watching the -alternating flight of the unresting shuttle. I -turn again to another portion of your population, -which, “plunged in mines, forgets a sun -was made,” and I see the man who brings up -from the secret chambers of the earth the elements -of the riches and greatness of his country. -When I see all this I have before me a -mass of produce and of wealth which I am no -more able to comprehend than I am that 200,000,000<i>l.</i> -of which I have spoken, but I behold -in its full proportions the hideous error of your -governments, whose fatal policy consumes in -some cases a half, never less than a third, of all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span> -the results of that industry which God intended -should fertilize and bless every home in England, -but the fruits of which are squandered in -every part of the surface of the globe, without -producing the smallest good to the people of -England.</p> - -<p>We have, it is true, some visible results that -are of a more positive character. We have -that which some people call a great advantage—the -national debt—a debt which is now so -large that the most prudent, the most economical, -and the most honest have given up all hope, -not of its being paid off, but of its being diminished -in amount.<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">24</a></p> - -<p>We have, too, taxes which have been during -many years so onerous that there have been -times when the patient beasts of burden threatened -to revolt—so onerous that it has been -utterly impossible to levy them with any kind -of honest equality, according to the means of -the people to pay them. We have that, moreover, -which is a standing wonder to all foreigners -who consider our condition—an amount -of apparently immovable pauperism which to -strangers is wholly irreconcilable with the fact -that we, as a nation, produce more of what -should make us all comfortable than is produced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span> -by any other nation of similar numbers on the -face of the globe. Let us likewise remember -that during the period of those great and so-called -glorious contests on the continent of -Europe, every description of home reform was -not only delayed, but actually crushed out of -the minds of the great bulk of the people. -There can be no doubt whatever that in 1793 -England was about to realize political changes -and reforms, such as did not appear again until -1830,<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">25</a> and during the period of that war, which -now almost all men agree to have been wholly -unnecessary, we were passing through a period -which may be described as the dark age of -English politics; when there was no more freedom -to write or speak, or politically to act, -than there is now in the most despotic country -of Europe.</p> - -<p>But, it may be asked, did nobody gain? If -Europe is no better, and the people of England -have been so much worse, who has benefited by -the new system of foreign policy? What has -been the fate of those who were enthroned at -the Revolution, and whose supremacy has been -for so long a period undisputed among us? -Mr. Kinglake, the author of an interesting book -on Eastern travel, describing the habits of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span> -some acquaintances that he made in the Syrian -deserts, says, that the jackals of the desert -follow their prey in families like the place-hunters -of Europe. I will reverse, if you like, -the comparison, and say that the great territorial -families of England, which were enthroned -at the Revolution, have followed their prey like -the jackals of the desert. Do you not observe -at a glance, that, from the time of William III., -by reason of the foreign policy which I denounce, -wars have been multiplied, taxes increased, -loans made, and the sums of money -which every year the government has to expend -augmented, and that so the patronage at the -disposal of ministers must have increased also, -and the families who were enthroned and made -powerful in the legislation and administration -of the country must have had the first pull at, -and the largest profit out of, that patronage? -There is no actuary in existence who can calculate -how much of the wealth, of the strength, -of the supremacy of the territorial families of -England, has been derived from an unholy participation -in the fruits of the industry of the -people, which have been wrested from them by -every device of taxation, and squandered in -every conceivable crime of which a government -could possibly be guilty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span></p> - -<p>The more you examine this matter the more -you will come to the conclusion which I have -arrived at, that this foreign policy, this regard -for the “liberties of Europe,” this care at one -time for “the Protestant interests,” this excessive -love for “the balance of power,” is -neither more nor less than a gigantic system of -out-door relief for the aristocracy of Great -Britain. [Great laughter.]<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">26</a> I observe that you -receive that declaration as if it were some new -and important discovery. In 1815, when the -great war with France was ended, every Liberal -in England, whose politics, whose hopes, and -whose faith had not been crushed out of him by -the tyranny of the time of that war, was fully -aware of this, and openly admitted it, and up to -1832, and for some years afterward, it was the -fixed and undoubted creed of the great Liberal -party. But somehow all is changed. We, who -stand upon the old landmarks, who walk in the -old paths, who would conserve what is wise -and prudent, are hustled and shoved about as -if we were come to turn the world upside down. -The change which has taken place seems to -confirm the opinion of a lamented friend of -mine, who, not having succeeded in all his -hopes, thought that men made no progress<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span> -whatever, but went round and round like a squirrel -in a cage. The idea is now so general that -it is our duty to meddle everywhere, that it -really seems as if we had pushed the Tories from -the field, expelling them by our competition.</p> - -<p>I should like to lay before you a list of the -treaties which we have made, and of the responsibilities -under which we have laid ourselves -with respect to the various countries of Europe. -I do not know where such an enumeration is to -be found, but I suppose it would be possible for -antiquaries and men of investigating minds to -dig them out from the recesses of the Foreign -Office, and perhaps to make some of them intelligible -to the country. I believe, however, that -if we go to the Baltic we shall find that we have -a treaty to defend Sweden, and the only thing -which Sweden agrees to do in return is not to -give up any portion of her territories to Russia. -Coming down a little south we have a treaty -which invites us, enables us, and perhaps, if we -acted fully up to our duty with regard to it, -would compel us to interfere in the question between -Denmark and the Duchies.<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">27</a> If I mistake -not, we have a treaty which binds us down -to the maintenance of the little kingdom of -Belgium, as established after its separation from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span> -Holland. We have numerous treaties with -France. We are understood to be bound by -treaty to maintain constitutional government in -Spain and Portugal. If we go round into the -Mediterranean, we find the little kingdom of -Sardinia, to which we have lent some millions -of money, and with which we have entered into -important treaties for preserving the balance of -power in Europe. If we go beyond the kingdom -of Italy, and cross the Adriatic, we come -to the small kingdom of Greece, against which -we have a nice account that will never be -settled; while we have engagements to maintain -that respectable but diminutive country -under its present constitutional government.<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">28</a> -Then leaving the kingdom of Greece we pass -up the eastern end of the Mediterranean, and -from Greece to the Red Sea, wherever the authority -of the Sultan is more or less admitted, -the blood and the industry of England are -pledged to the permanent sustentation of the -“independence and integrity” of the Ottoman -Empire.<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">29</a></p> - -<p>I confess that as a citizen of this country, -wishing to live peaceably among my fellow-countrymen, -and wishing to see my countrymen -free, and able to enjoy the fruits of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span> -their labor, I protest against a system which -binds us in all these networks and complications -from which it is impossible that one can -gain one single atom of advantage for this -country. It is not all glory after all. Glory -may be worth something, but it is not always -glory. We have had within the last few years -despatches from Vienna and from St. Petersburg, -which, if we had not deserved them, -would have been very offensive and not a little -insolent.<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">30</a> We have had the ambassador of -the Queen expelled summarily from Madrid, -and we have had an ambassador driven almost -with ignominy from Washington.<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">31</a> We have -blockaded Athens for a claim which was known -to be false.<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">32</a> We have quarrelled with Naples, -for we chose to give advice to Naples, which -was not received in the submissive spirit expected -from her, and our minister was therefore -withdrawn.<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">33</a> Not three years ago, too, we -seized a considerable kingdom in India, with -which our government had but recently entered -into the most solemn treaty, which every -lawyer in England and in Europe, I believe, -would consider binding before God and the -world.<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">34</a> We deposed its monarch; we committed -a great immorality and a great crime,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span> -and we have reaped an almost instantaneous -retribution in the most gigantic and sanguinary -revolt which probably any nation ever made -against its conquerors. Within the last few -years we have had two wars with a great empire, -which we are told contains at least one -third of the whole human race.<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">35</a> The first war -was called, and appropriately called, the Opium -War. No man, I believe, with a spark of -morality in his composition, no man who cares -any thing for the opinion of his fellow-countrymen, -has dared to justify that war. The war -which has just been concluded, if it has been -concluded, had its origin in the first war; for -the enormities committed in the first war are -the foundation of the implacable hostility which -it is said the inhabitants of Canton bear to all -persons connected with the English name. Yet, -though we have these troubles in India—a vast -country which we do not know how to govern,—and -a war with China—a country with which, -though everybody else can remain at peace, we -cannot,—such is the inveterate habit of conquest, -such is the insatiable lust of territory, -such is, in my view, the depraved, unhappy -state of opinion of the country on this subject, -that there are not a few persons, Chambers of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span> -Commerce, to wit, in different parts of the -kingdom (though I am glad to say it has not -been so with the Chamber of Commerce at -Birmingham), who have been urging our -government to take possession of a province of -the greatest island in the Eastern seas; a possession -which must at once necessitate increased -estimates and increased taxation, and which -would probably lead us into merciless and disgraceful -wars with the half-savage tribes who -inhabit that island.<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">36</a></p> - -<p>I will not dwell upon that question. The -gentleman who is principally concerned in it is -at this moment, as you know, stricken down -with affliction, and I am unwilling to enter here -into any considerable discussion of the case -which he is urging upon the public; but I say -that we have territory enough in India; and if -we have not troubles enough there, if we have -not difficulties enough in China, if we have not -taxation enough, by all means gratify your -wishes for more; but I hope that whatever may -be the shortcomings of the government with -regard to any other questions in which we are -all interested—and may they be few!—they -will shut their eyes, they will turn their backs -obstinately from adding in this mode, or in any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span> -mode, to the English possessions in the East. I -suppose that if any ingenious person were to -prepare a large map of the world, as far as it -is known, and were to mark upon it, in any -color that he liked, the spots where Englishmen -have fought and English blood has been poured -forth, and the treasures of English industry -squandered, scarcely a country, scarcely a province -of the vast expanse of the habitable globe, -would be thus undistinguished.</p> - -<p>Perhaps there are in this room, I am sure -there are in the country, many persons who -hold a superstitious traditionary belief that, -somehow or other, our vast trade is to be attributed -to what we have done in this way, -that it is thus we have opened markets and advanced -commerce, that English greatness depends -upon the extent of English conquests and -English military renown. But I am inclined to -think that, with the exception of Australia, -there is not a single dependency of the crown -which, if we come to reckon what it has cost in -war and protection, would not be found to be -a positive loss to the people of this country. -Take the United States, with which we have -such an enormous and constantly increasing -trade. The wise statesmen of the last generation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span> -men whom your school histories tell you -were statesmen, serving under a monarch who -they tell you was a patriotic monarch, spent -130,000,000<i>l.</i> of the fruits of the industry of the -people in a vain—happily a vain—endeavor to -retain the colonies of the United States in subjection -to the monarchy of England.</p> - -<p>Add up the interest of that 130,000,000<i>l.</i> for -all this time, and how long do you think it will -be before there will be a profit on the trade -with the United States which will repay the -enormous sum we invested in a war to retain -those States as colonies of this empire? It -never will be paid off. Wherever you turn, -you will find that the opening of markets, developing -of new countries, introducing cotton -cloth with cannon balls, are vain, foolish, and -wretched excuses for wars, and ought not to be -listened to for a moment by any man who understands -the multiplication table, or who can -do the simplest sum in arithmetic.</p> - -<p>Since the “Glorious Revolution,” since the -enthronization of the great Norman territorial -families, they have spent in wars, and we have -worked for, about 2,000,000,000<i>l.</i> The interest -on that is 100,000,000<i>l.</i> per annum, which -alone, to say nothing of the principal sum, is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span> -three or four times as much as the whole -amount of your annual export trade from that -time to this.<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">37</a></p> - -<p>Therefore, if war has provided you with a -trade, it has been at an enormous cost; but I -think it is by no means doubtful that your -trade would have been no less in amount and -no less profitable, had peace and justice been -inscribed on your flag instead of conquest and -the love of military renown. But even in this -year, 1858—we have got a long way into the -century,—we find that within the last seven -years our public debt has greatly increased. -Whatever be the increase of our population, of -our machinery, of our industry, of our wealth, -still our national debt goes on increasing.<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">38</a> -Although we have not a foot more territory to -conserve, or an enemy in the world who dreams -of attacking us, we find that our annual military -expenses during the last twenty years -have risen from 12,000,000<i>l.</i> to 22,000,000<i>l.</i></p> - -<p>Some people believe that it is a good thing -to pay a great revenue to the state. Even so -eminent a man as Lord John Russell is not -without a delusion of this sort. Lord John -Russell, as you have heard, while speaking of -me in flattering and friendly terms, says he is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span> -unfortunately obliged to differ from me frequently; -therefore, I suppose there is no particular -harm in my saying that I am sometimes -obliged to differ from him. Some time ago he -was a great star in the northern hemisphere, -shining, not with unaccustomed, but with his -usual brilliancy at Liverpool. He made a -speech, in which there was a great deal to be -admired, to a meeting composed, it was said, -to a great extent of working men; and in -it he stimulated them to a feeling of pride in -the greatness of their country, and in being citizens -of a state which enjoyed a revenue of -100,000,000<i>l.</i> a year, which included the revenues -of the United Kingdom and of British -India. But I think it would have been far -more to the purpose if he could have congratulated -the working men of Liverpool on this -vast empire being conducted in an orderly manner, -on its laws being well administered and -well obeyed, its shores sufficiently defended, its -people prosperous and happy, on a revenue of -20,000,000<i>l.</i> The state indeed, of which Lord -John Russell is a part, may enjoy a revenue of -100,000,000<i>l.</i>, but I am afraid the working men -can only be said to enjoy it in the sense in -which men not very choice in their expressions<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span> -say that for a long time they have enjoyed very -bad health.</p> - -<p>I am prepared to admit that it is a subject of -congratulation that there is a people so great, -so free, and so industrious that it can produce -a sufficient income out of which 100,000,000<i>l.</i> -a year, if need absolutely were, could be spared -for some great and noble object; but it is not -a thing to be proud of that our government -should require us to pay that enormous sum for -the simple purposes of government and defence.</p> - -<p>Nothing can by any possibility tend more to -the corruption of a government than enormous -revenues. We have heard lately of instances -of certain joint-stock institutions with very -great capital collapsing suddenly, bringing disgrace -upon their managers and ruin upon hundreds -of families. A great deal of that has -arisen, not so much from intentional fraud as -from the fact that weak and incapable men -have found themselves tumbling about in an -ocean of bank-notes and gold, and they appear -to have lost all sight of where it came from, to -whom it belonged, and whether it was possible -by any maladministration ever to come to an -end of it. That is absolutely what is done by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span> -governments. You have read in the papers -lately some accounts of the proceedings before -a commission appointed to inquire into alleged -maladministration with reference to the supply -of clothing to the army, but if anybody had -said any thing in the time of the late government -about any such maladministration, there is -not one of those great statesmen, of whom we -are told we ought always to speak with so much -reverence, who would not have got up and declared -that nothing could be more admirable -than the system of book-keeping at Weedon, -nothing more economical than the manner in -which the War Department spent the money -provided by public taxation. But we know -that it is not so. I have heard a gentleman—one -who is as competent as any man in England -to give an opinion about it—a man of -business, and not surpassed by any one as a -man of business, declare, after a long examination -of the details of the question, that he -would undertake to do everything that is done -not only for the defence of the country, but for -many other things which are done by your -navy, and which are not necessary for that purpose, -for half the annual cost that is voted in -the estimates.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span></p> - -<p>I think the expenditure of these vast sums, -and especially of those which we spend for -military purposes, leads us to adopt a defiant -and insolent tone towards foreign countries. -We have the freest press in Europe, and the -freest platform in Europe, but every man who -writes an article in a newspaper, and every man -who stands on a platform, ought to do it under -a solemn sense of responsibility. Every word -he writes, every word I utter, passes with a -rapidity of which our forefathers were utterly -ignorant, to the very ends of the earth; the -words become things and acts, and they produce -on the minds of other nations effects which -a man may never have intended. Take a -recent case; take the case of France. I am not -expected to defend, and I shall certainly not -attack, the present government of France.</p> - -<p>The instant that it appeared in its present -shape the minister of England conducting your -foreign affairs, speaking ostensibly for the cabinet, -for his sovereign, and for the English -nation, offered his congratulations, and the support -of England was at once accorded to the -re-created French empire.<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">39</a> Soon after this -an intimate alliance was entered into between -the Queen of England, through her Ministers, -and the Emperor of the French.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span></p> - -<p>I am not about to defend the policy which -flowed from that alliance, nor shall I take up -your time by making any attack upon it. An -alliance was entered into and a war was entered -into. English and French soldiers fought on -the same field, and they suffered, I fear, from -the same neglect. They now lie buried on the -bleak heights of the Crimea, and except by -their mothers, who do not soon forget their -children, I suppose they are mostly forgotten. -I have never heard it suggested that the French -Government did not behave with the most -perfect honor to this government and to this -country all through these grave transactions; -but I have heard it stated by those who most -know, that nothing could be more honorable, -nothing more just, than the conduct of the -French Emperor to this government throughout -the whole of that struggle. More recently, -when the war in China was begun by a government -which I have condemned and denounced -in the House of Commons, the Emperor of the -French sent his ships and troops to co-operate -with us, but I never heard that any thing was -done there to create a suspicion of a feeling of -hostility on his part toward us. The Emperor -of the French came to London, and some of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span> -those powerful organs of the press that have -since taken the line of which I am complaining, -did all but invite the people of London to prostrate -themselves under the wheels of the chariot -which conveyed along our streets the revived -monarchy of France. The Queen of England -went to Paris, and was she not received there -with as much affection and as much respect as -her high position and her honorable character -entitled her to?</p> - -<p>What has occurred since? If there was a -momentary unpleasantness, I am quite sure -every impartial man will agree that, under the -peculiarly irritating circumstances of the time -there was at least as much forbearance shown -on one side of the Channel as on the other. -Then we have had much said lately about a -naval fortification recently completed in France, -which has been more than one hundred years -in progress, and which was not devised by the -present Emperor of the French.</p> - -<p>For one hundred years great sums had been -spent on it, and at last, like every other great -work, it was brought to an end. The English -Queen and others were invited over, and many -went who were not invited. And yet in all this -we are told that there is something to create<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span> -extreme alarm and suspicion; we, who never -fortified any places; we, who have not a greater -than Sebastopol at Gibraltar; we who have -not an impregnable fortress at Malta, who have -not spent the fortune of a nation almost in the -Ionian Islands, and who are doing nothing at -Alderney; we are to take offence at the fortifications -of Cherbourg! There are few persons -who at some time or other have not been brought -into contact with a poor unhappy fellow-creature -who has some peculiar delusion or suspicion -pressing on his mind. I recollect a friend of -mine going down from Derby to Leeds in -the train with a very quiet and respectable looking -gentleman sitting opposite to him. They -had both been staying at the Midland Hotel, -and they began talking about it. All at once -the gentleman said: “Did you notice any -thing particular about the bread at breakfast?” -“No,” said my friend, “I did not.” “Oh! but -I did,” said the poor gentleman, “and I am -convinced there was an attempt made to poison -me, and it is a very curious thing that I never -go to an hotel without I discover some attempt -to do me mischief.” The unfortunate man was -laboring under one of the greatest calamities -which can befall a human creature. But what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span> -are we to say of a nation which lives under -a perpetual delusion that it is about to be -attacked—a nation which is the most combined -on the face of the earth, with little less than -30,000,000 of people all united under a government -which, though we intend to reform we -do not the less respect, and which has mechanical -power and wealth to which no other -country offers any parallel? There is no causeway -to Britain; the free waves of the sea flow -day and night forever round her shores, and yet -there are people going about with whom this -hallucination is so strong that they do not -merely discover it quietly to their friends, but -they write it down in double-leaded columns, in -leading articles,—nay, some of them actually -get up on platforms and proclaim it to hundreds -and thousands of their fellow-countrymen. -I should like to ask you whether these -delusions are to last forever, whether this policy -is to be the perpetual policy of England, -whether these results are to go on gathering -and gathering until there come, as come there -must inevitably, some dreadful catastrophe on -our country.</p> - -<p>I should like to-night, if I could, to inaugurate -one of the best and holiest revolutions that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span> -ever took place in this country. We have had -a dozen revolutions since some of us were -children. We have had one revolution in -which you had a great share—a great revolution -of opinion on the question of the suffrage. -Does it not read like madness that men, thirty -years ago, were frantic at the idea of the people -of Birmingham having a 10<i>l.</i> franchise? -Does it not seem something like idiocy to be -told that a banker in Leeds, when it was proposed -to transfer the seats of one rotten -borough to the town of Leeds, should say (and -it was repeated in the House of Commons on -his authority) that if the people of Leeds had -the franchise conferred upon them it would not -be possible to keep the bank doors open with -safety, and that he should remove his business -to some quiet place, out of danger from the -savage race that peopled that town? But now -all confess that the people are perfectly competent -to have votes, and nobody dreams of -arguing that the privilege will make them less -orderly.</p> - -<p>Take the question of colonial government. -Twenty years ago the government of our colonies -was a huge job. A small family party in -each, in connection with the Colonial Office,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span> -ruled our colonies. We had then discontent, -and now and then a little wholesome insurrection, -especially in Canada. The result was that -we have given up the colonial policy which -had hitherto been held sacred, and since that -time not only have our colonies greatly advanced -in wealth and material resources, but -no parts of the empire are more tranquil and -loyal.<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">40</a></p> - -<p>Take also the question of protection. Not -thirty years ago, but twelve years ago, there -was a great party in Parliament, led by a Duke -in one House, and by a son and brother of a -duke in the other, which declared that utter -ruin must come, not only on the agricultural -interest, but upon the manufactures and commerce -of England, if we departed from our old -theories upon this subject of protection. They -told us that the laborer—the unhappy laborer—of -whom it may be said in this country:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Here landless laborers hopeless toil and strive,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But taste no portion of the sweets they hive,”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">that the laborer was to be ruined; that is, that -the paupers were to be pauperized. These -gentlemen were overthrown. The plain, -honest, common-sense of the country swept -away their cob-web theories, and they are gone.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span> -What is the result? From 1846 to 1857 we -have received into this country of grain of all -kinds, including flour, maize, or India corn—all -objects heretofore not of absolute prohibition, -but which were intended to be prohibited until -it was not safe for people to be starved any -more,—not less than an amount equal in value -to 224,000,000<i>l.</i> That is equal to 18,700,000<i>l.</i> -per annum on the average of twelve years. -During that period, too, your home growth has -been stimulated to an enormous extent. You -have imported annually 200,000 tons of guano, -and the result has been a proportionate increase -in the productions of the soil, for 200,000 tons -of guano will grow an equal weight and value -of wheat. With all this, agriculture was never -more prosperous, while manufactures were -never, at the same time, more extensively exported; -and with all this, the laborers, for -whom the tears of the Protectionist were shed, -have, according to the admission of the most -violent of the class, never been in a better -state since the beginning of the great French -war.</p> - -<p>One other revolution of opinion has been in -regard to our criminal law. I have lately been -reading a book which I would advise every man<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span> -to read—the “Life of Sir Samuel Romilly.” -He tells us in simple language of the almost insuperable -difficulties he had to contend with to -persuade the legislature of this country to -abolish the punishment of death for stealing -from a dwelling-house to the value of 5<i>s.</i>, an offence -which now is punished by a few weeks’ -imprisonment. Lords, bishops, and statesmen -opposed these efforts year after year, and there -have been some thousands of persons put to -death publicly for offences which are not now -punishable with death. Now every man and -woman in the kingdom would feel a thrill of -horror if told that a fellow-creature was to be -put to death for such a cause.</p> - -<p>These are revolutions in opinion, and let me -tell you that when you accomplish a revolution -in opinion upon a great question, when -you alter it from bad to good, it is not like -charitably giving a beggar 6<i>d.</i> and seeing him -no more, but it is a great beneficent act, which -affects not merely the rich and the powerful, -but penetrates every lane, every cottage in the -land, and wherever it goes brings blessings and -happiness. It is not from statesmen that these -things come. It is not from them that have -proceeded these great revolutions of opinion on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span> -the questions of reform, protection, colonial -government, and criminal law—it was from -public meetings such as this, from the intelligence -and conscience of the great body of the -people who have no interest in wrong, and who -never go from the right but by temporary error -and under momentary passion.</p> - -<p>It is for you to decide whether our greatness -shall be only temporary, or whether is shall be -enduring. When I am told that the greatness -of our country is shown by the 100,000,000<i>l.</i> of -revenue produced, may I not also ask how it is -that we have 1,100,000 paupers in this kingdom, -and why it is that 7,000,000<i>l.</i> should be taken -from the industry chiefly of the laboring classes -to support a small nation, as it were, of paupers? -Since your legislation upon the Corn Laws, you -have not only had nearly 20,000,000<i>l.</i> of food -brought into the country annually, but such an -extraordinary increase of trade that your exports -are about doubled, and yet I understand -that in the year 1856, for I have no later return, -there were no less than 1,100,000 paupers in the -United Kingdom, and the sum raised in poor-rates -was not less than 7,200,000<i>l.</i><a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">41</a> And -that cost of pauperism is not the full amount, -for there is a vast amount of temporary, casual,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span> -and vagrant pauperism that does not come in -to swell that sum.</p> - -<p>Then do not you well know—I know it, because -I live among the population of Lancashire, -and I doubt not the same may be said of -the population of this city and county—that -just above the level of the 1,100,000 there is at -least an equal number who are ever oscillating -between independence and pauperism, who, -with a heroism which is not the less heroic because -it is secret and unrecorded, are doing -their very utmost to maintain an honorable -and independent position before their fellow-men?</p> - -<p>While Irish labor, notwithstanding the improvement -which has taken place in Ireland, is -only paid at the rate of about one shilling a -day; while in the straths and glens of Scotland -there are hundreds of shepherd families whose -whole food almost consists of oatmeal porridge -from day to day, and from week to week; while -these things continue, I say that we have no -reason to be self-satisfied and contented with -our position; but that we who are in Parliament -and are more directly responsible for -affairs, and you who are also responsible though -in a lesser degree, are bound by the sacred<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span> -duty which we owe our country to examine -why it is that with all this trade, all this industry, -and all this personal freedom, there is still -so much that is unsound at the base of our -social fabric?</p> - -<p>Let me direct your attention now to another -point which I never think of without feelings -that words would altogether fail to express. -You hear constantly that woman, the helpmate -of man, who adorns, dignifies, and blesses our -lives, that woman in this country is cheap; that -vast numbers whose names ought to be synonyms -for purity and virtue, are plunged into -profligacy and infamy. But do you not know -that you sent 40,000 men to perish on the bleak -heights of the Crimea, and that the revolt in -India, caused, in part at least, by the grievous -iniquity of the seizure of Oude, may tax your -country to the extent of 100,000 lives before it is -extinguished; and do you not know that for the -140,000 men thus drafted off and consigned -to premature graves, nature provided in your -country 140,000 women? If you have taken -the men who should have been the husbands of -these women, and if you have sacrificed 100,000,000<i>l.</i>, -which as capital reserved in the country -would have been an ample fund for their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span> -employment and for the sustentation of their -families, are you not guilty of a great sin in involving -yourselves in such a loss of life and of -money in war, except on grounds and under -circumstances which, according to the opinions -of every man in the country, should leave no -kind of option whatever for your choice?</p> - -<p>I know perfectly well the kind of observations -which a certain class of critics will make upon -this speech.</p> - -<p>I have been already told by a very eminent -newspaper publisher in Calcutta, who, commenting -on a speech I made at the close of the session -with regard to the condition of India, and -our future policy in that country, said, that the -policy I recommended was intended to strike at -the root of the advancement of the British empire, -and that its advancement did not necessarily -involve the calamities which I pointed -out as likely to occur.</p> - -<p>My Calcutta critic assured me that Rome pursued -a similar policy for a period of eight centuries, -and that for those eight centuries she -remained great. Now, I do not think that -examples taken from pagan, sanguinary Rome, -are proper models for the imitation of a Christian -country, nor would I limit my hopes of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span> -greatness of England even to the long duration -of 800 years.</p> - -<p>But what is Rome now? The great city is -dead. A poet has described her as “the lone -mother of dead empires.” Her language even -is dead. Her very tombs are empty; the ashes -of her most illustrious citizens are dispersed.</p> - -<p>“The Scipios’ tomb contains no ashes now.” -Yet I am asked, I, who am one of the legislators -of a Christian country, to measure my policy by -the policy of ancient and pagan Rome!</p> - -<p>I believe there is no permanent greatness to -a nation except it be based upon morality. I -do not care for military greatness or military -renown. I care for the condition of the people -among whom I live. There is no man in England -who is less likely to speak irreverently of -the crown and monarchy of England than I am; -but crowns, coronets, mitres, military display, -the pomp of war, wide colonies, and a huge empire -are, in my view, all trifles, light as air, and -not worth considering, unless with them you -can have a fair share of comfort, contentment, -and happiness among the great body of the people. -Palaces, baronial castles, great halls, stately -mansions, do not make a nation. The nation -in every country dwells in the cottage; and unless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span> -the light of your constitution can shine there, -unless the beauty of your legislation and the excellence -of your statesmanship are impressed -there on the feelings and condition of the people, -rely upon it you have yet to learn the duties -of government.</p> - -<p>I have not, as you have observed, pleaded -that this country should remain without adequate -and scientific means of defence. I acknowledge -it to be the duty of your statesmen, -acting upon the known opinions and principles -of ninety-nine out of every hundred persons in -the country, at all times, with all possible moderation, -but with all possible efficiency, to take -steps which shall preserve order within and on -the confines of your kingdom. But I shall repudiate -and denounce the expenditure of every -shilling, the engagement of every man, the employment -of every ship, which has no object -but intermeddling in the affairs of other countries, -and endeavoring to extend the boundaries -of an empire which is already large enough -to satisfy the greatest ambition, and I fear is -much too large for the highest statesmanship to -which any man has yet attained.</p> - -<p>The most ancient of profane historians has -told us that the Scythians of his time were a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span> -very warlike people, and that they elevated an -old cimeter upon a platform as a symbol of -Mars, for to Mars alone, I believe, they built -altars and offered sacrifices. To this cimeter -they offered sacrifices of horses and cattle, the -main wealth of the country, and more costly -sacrifices than to all the rest of their gods. I -often ask myself whether we are at all advanced -in one respect beyond those Scythians. What -are our contributions to charity, to education, -to morality, to religion, to justice, and to civil -government, when compared with the wealth we -expend in sacrifices to the old cimeter? Two -nights ago I addressed in this hall a vast assembly -composed to a great extent of your -countrymen who have no political power, who -are at work from the dawn of the day to the -evening, and who have therefore limited means -of informing themselves on these great subjects. -Now I am privileged to speak to a -somewhat different audience. You represent -those of your great community who have a -more complete education, who have on some -points greater intelligence, and in whose hands -reside the power and influence of the district. -I am speaking, too, within the hearing of -those whose gentle nature, whose finer instincts,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span> -whose purer minds, have not suffered -as some of us have suffered in the turmoil -and strife of life. You can mould opinion, you -can create political power;—you cannot think a -good thought on this subject and communicate -it to your neighbors,—you cannot make these -points topics of discussion in your social circles -and more general meetings, without affecting -sensibly and speedily the course which the -government of your country will pursue.</p> - -<p>May I ask you, then, to believe, as I do most -devoutly believe, that the moral law was not -written for men alone in their individual character, -but that it was written as well for nations, -and for nations great as this of which we are -citizens. If nations reject and deride that -moral law, there is a penalty which will inevitably -follow. It may not come at once, it may -not come in our lifetime; but rely upon it, the -great Italian is not a poet only, but a prophet, -when he says:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“The sword of heaven is not in haste to smite,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor yet doth linger.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">We have experience, we have beacons, we have -landmarks enough. We know what the past -has cost us, we know how much and how far<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span> -we have wandered, but we are not left without a -guide. It is true we have not, as an ancient -people had, Urim and Thummim—those oraculous -gems on Aaron’s breast,—from which to -take counsel, but we have the unchangeable -and eternal principles of the moral law to -guide us, and only so far as we walk by that -guidance can we be permanently a great nation, -or our people a happy people.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="LORD_BEACONSFIELD">LORD BEACONSFIELD.</h2> -</div> - -<p>In 1825 the novel-reading public of England -was thrown into not a little excitement by the -appearance of a curious but brilliant work of -imagination entitled “Vivian Grey.” This piece -of literary pyrotechny was rapidly followed by -“The Young Duke,” “Henrietta Temple,” -“Contarini Fleming,” “Alroy,” and other curious -compounds of fiction and politics. The -name of the author did not at first appear; but -it soon came to be known that the series was -the product of a student of law, not yet twenty-five -years of age, and the son of Isaac Disraeli, -the author of the “Curiosities of Literature.” -This young novelist was described by the -society journals of the day as a man who frequented -Gore House, and not only poured out -upon society there torrents of remarkable talk<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span> -on literary and political affairs, but made himself -amusingly conspicuous by his decorations -of gaudy waistcoats and gold chains. It came -soon to be universally known in London society -that this eccentric genius, though educated in -private under his father’s care, had been a great -reader of literature and history, and had come -to have very definite notions in regard to -almost every question under the sun.</p> - -<p>Flushed with the success of his literary experiences, -young Disraeli travelled extensively -in Europe and the East, and then returned in -1831, resolved to secure a seat in Parliament. -In his first efforts he was not successful; but -in 1837, the year of Queen Victoria’s accession, -the electors of Maidstone gave him a seat, and -accordingly he entered the House of Commons -in the thirty-third year of his age.</p> - -<p>His first speech was generally regarded as a -singular, even a ridiculous, failure. Those who -depend for their impression on its words as they -appear in Hansard or in Lord Beaconsfield’s -selected speeches, will hardly perceive in its fanciful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span> -flights the reasons for the outbursts of -laughter and jeers with which it was greeted and -finally brought to an end. It must have been -the gaudiness of the speaker’s dress, and the violent -and theatrical manner of his speech, quite -as much as the irrelevancy of what he said, that -threw the House into roars of laughter, and led -them to suppress the speaker altogether. He -did not, however, take his seat without thundering -out the prophecy—which appeared at the -time quite as much like a threat—that the time -would come when they would hear him. It -was long before he secured the ear of the -House. Between 1840 and 1845 he was largely -occupied with literary works, and during that -period he published “Coningsby,” “Sybil,” -and “Tancred,” a trio of really remarkable -political novels, designed to present a picture -of the forces at work in the nation and of the -way in which they should be dealt with by Parliament. -The conversations of Sidonia in -“Coningsby” give a clear and probably correct -notion of Disraeli’s political opinions. He advanced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span> -with great emphasis the doctrine that -the Tory party was the party of the people, -and that the welfare of the lower classes was -only to be secured by the prevalence of Tory -principles. Holding these views he attached -himself firmly to the party led by Sir Robert -Peel; and it was not until 1846, when the leader -announced his determination to bring in a bill -for the modification of the Corn Laws, that -Disraeli deserted him. The eccentric young -member was an ardent Protectionist. In -the course of the ten years that had elapsed -since his first sad experience he had become a -master of argumentative fence, and in the years -that followed he developed such extraordinary -abilities in his assaults upon the government -that he was universally recognized as a consummate -master of parliamentary invective and the -most powerful orator of the Opposition. The -repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 was followed -by a succession of poor harvests and by great -suffering. In a series of speeches extending -over the years from 1846 to 1852, Disraeli,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span> -with a skill and an eloquence that raised him -to the front rank of British orators, attributed -this suffering to the financial and economic -policy of the government. These repeated and -well-directed blows finally broke the power of -the ministry, and when, in 1852, the Liberals -went out of office, the Tories came in with Lord -Derby as Prime-Minister and Mr. Disraeli as -Chancellor of the Exchequer.</p> - -<p>This position was held by Disraeli through -each of Derby’s three administrations; and on -the resignation of that nobleman in February -of 1868 the Chancellor of the Exchequer was -raised to the post of Prime-Minister. This, -however, he was obliged to resign before the -end of the year; but in 1873, when Mr. Gladstone’s -Government was defeated on the Irish -Education Bill, the position was again tendered -him. The circumstances of the situation, however, -did not encourage him to accept. The -Liberal ministry had been defeated not by the -Conservatives alone, but by a combination with -the Home Rulers, a group of some sixty Irish<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span> -members who were likely to vote with the -Liberals on all other questions. The offer, -therefore, was declined; but when in the following -year Mr. Gladstone decided to test the -relative strength of the parties by a dissolution -and an appeal to the country, the Conservatives -were returned in triumphant majority, and Mr. -Disraeli, in February, 1874, was called a second -time to the head of the government. This -position he continued to hold till the election -of 1880, when, under the rigorous assaults of -Gladstone and his followers, the Conservative -policy was rejected by the country. Meanwhile, -in August of 1876, Disraeli had been raised to -the peerage with the title of Earl of Beaconsfield, -and in July of 1878 had been invested -with the Order of the Garter. With the downfall -of his ministry in 1880, Lord Beaconsfield’s -political career came to an end, though he continued -to inspire the Opposition to the policy of -his opponents till the time of his death in -1881.</p> - -<p>Throughout Disraeli’s political career, or at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span> -least ever after the very first years of it, he was -a staunch advocate of the old Tory principles -advocated by Lord Bolingbroke and Lord Shelburne. -In “Coningsby” and cropping out -here and there in his speeches we find constant -evidences of his belief that the welfare of the -common people depends upon the union of the -upper and the lower classes under the guidance -of the Conservative party. He held that the -triumph of the Whigs was the triumph of the -middle class in opposition to the interests of -the lower, and that the inevitable results of a -triumph of Whig principles must be the creation -of irreconcilable differences between classes -that ought to be cordially united. These views -were elaborated in his “Life of Lord George -Bentinck,” in his “Defence of the English Constitution,” -and to some extent in his speeches -on the Reform Bill of 1867.</p> - -<p>Two portions of Lord Beaconsfield’s career -were very violently criticised. The first was -his course in regard to the reform of 1867. -Immediately after Lord Palmerston’s death in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span> -1865, and the accession of Earl Russell’s ministry, -it became evident that the popular demand -could only be satisfied with a reform of the -franchise. A bill was accordingly introduced -with the design of further extending the right -of suffrage in the manner of the great measure -of 1832. The bill was powerfully advocated by -Mr. Gladstone, the Chancellor of the Exchequer -in the House, and was opposed with equal vigor -by Mr. Disraeli. On a motion to amend, the -government was defeated, and Russell and -Gladstone going out of power, Derby and Disraeli -came in. As to what would be done, the -public were not long left in doubt. On the -18th of March, 1867. Mr. Disraeli came forward -with a measure of reform far more sweeping in -its nature than that which he had in the previous -administration so vigorously and successfully -opposed. The extension of suffrage was -to be made on a new principle, or at least a -principle which appeared to be new, though in -fact it had been advocated in Disraeli’s early -writings. In his speech introducing the measure<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span> -he called attention to the fact that no less -than five times since 1832 attempts had been -made to place the right of suffrage on -a firm basis, but that all of these had failed. He -declared that they had failed because they were -mere expedients, whereas the question could -only be settled by the adoption of a clearly defined -principle. Hitherto the right to vote had -depended upon income; it ought to depend, he -declared, upon permanency of interest. He -therefore proposed the substitution of the -principle of household suffrage in the place of -suffrage founded upon the payment of a fixed -rate. The measure was looked upon with consternation -by the Liberals, and was most strenuously -opposed by Gladstone and his followers; -but it was advocated in a succession of speeches -of so much power and skill by Disraeli that no -opposition could prevent its final passage. But -the author of the measure, always more or less -distrusted, was henceforth regarded as a political -adventurer who had stolen into the camp of -his enemy and run off with the spoils.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span></p> - -<p>The foreign policy of Disraeli was equally -obnoxious to his opponents. In one respect he -was the lineal successor of Pitt, Canning, and -Palmerston. Though he differed with many of -the views held by those great foreign ministers, -and did not shrink from criticising them with -great severity, he was always in favor of a -vigorous assertion of the rights and interests of -Great Britain. This, in the opinion of his opponents, -descended into a meddlesome interference -with the affairs of other nations. In -Afghanistan, in Abyssinia, in South Africa, and -especially in the Eastern Mediterranean, his -policy was thought to be aggressive, and provoked -the most violent opposition of the Liberal -party. By the treaty of San Stefano, concluded -in 1878 between Russia and Turkey at -the close of the war between these powers, -Turkey was reduced almost to a cipher in the -hands of Russia. In the opinion of Lord -Beaconsfield this solution imperilled the interests -of Great Britain in the Mediterranean. -Russia was accordingly required by the English<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span> -Government to submit the treaty to a congress -of European powers. This at first Russia refused -to do, whereupon the Prime-Minister -moved an address to the Queen asking her to -call out the Reserves. This was done, and was -immediately followed by the still more vigorous -step of bringing up to Malta a division of the -Indian army. Russia at once began to lower -her pretensions, and finally agreed that the -treaty should be submitted to a European -Congress. In June of 1878 Lord Beaconsfield -and Lord Salisbury went as English Plenipotentiaries -to the Congress at Berlin called to -consider the whole question. The result was -an important modification of the Treaty of San -Stefano and a practical restoration of the independence -of the Turkish empire. On the -return of the Ambassadors, bringing back, as -Beaconsfield said, “peace with honor,” they -were received with an ovation which has not -often had a parallel in English history. Three -years later, Mr. Gladstone, in paying a tribute to -his deceased rival, singled out his reception in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span> -the House of Lords as the culminating point of -his greatness in the eyes of all those who regarded -his policy with admiration; and applied -to the Berlin triumph the well-known words of -Virgil:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Aspice et insignis spoliis Marcellus opimis<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ingreditur, victorque viros supereminet omnes.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="LORD_BEACONSFIELD2">LORD BEACONSFIELD.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY;<br /> -DELIVERED AT MANCHESTER,<br /> -APRIL 3, 1872.</span></h2> -</div> - -<blockquote class="end"> - -<p>[In November of 1871, Sir Charles Dilke delivered an address -at Newcastle, in which he denounced the cost of royalty. -The popular agitation that followed throughout the country -was very considerable; and, as Mr. Gladstone was then Prime-Minister, -there were not a few that supposed this attack upon -the support of the crown to be a premonition of a policy to be -adopted by the government. The position of Dilke met with -no popular encouragement, but it gave an opportunity to the -Opposition which they were by no means reluctant to avail -themselves of. The agitation that followed had not a little -influence in bringing on the downfall of Gladstone’s ministry -in 1874. Lord Beaconsfield was at the head of the Opposition, -and the following speech was at once the most effective assault -made upon the policy of Gladstone, and the most comprehensive -statement of the principles advocated by the Conservative -party.]</p></blockquote> - -<p class="sal"><span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>:</p> - -<p>The Chairman has correctly reminded you -that this is not the first time that my voice has -been heard in this hall. But that was an occasion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span> -very different from that which now assembles -us together—was nearly thirty years ago, -when I endeavored to support and stimulate -the flagging energies of an institution in which -I thought there were the germs of future refinement -and intellectual advantage to the rising -generation of Manchester, and since I have -been here on this occasion I have learned with -much gratification that it is now counted among -your most flourishing institutions. There was -also another and more recent occasion when the -gracious office fell to me to distribute among -the members of the Mechanics’ Institution those -prizes which they had gained through their -study in letters and in science. Gentlemen, -these were pleasing offices, and if life consisted -only of such offices you would not have to complain -of it. But life has its masculine duties, -and we are assembled here to fulfil some of the -most important of these, when, as citizens of a -free country, we are assembled together to declare -our determination to maintain, to uphold -the constitution to which we are debtors, in -our opinion, for our freedom and our welfare.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, there seems at first something -incongruous that one should be addressing the -population of so influential and intelligent a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span> -county as Lancashire who is not locally connected -with them, and, gentlemen, I will frankly -admit that this circumstance did for a long -time make me hesitate in accepting your cordial -and generous invitation. But, gentlemen, after -what occurred yesterday, after receiving more -than two hundred addresses from every part of -this great county, after the welcome which then -greeted me, I feel that I should not be doing -justice to your feelings, I should not do my duty -to myself, if I any longer considered my presence -here to-night to be an act of presumption. -Gentlemen, though it may not be an act of -presumption, it still is, I am told, an act of great -difficulty. Our opponents assure us that the -Conservative party has no political programme; -and, therefore, they must look with much satisfaction -to one whom you honor to-night by -considering him the leader and representative -of your opinions when he comes forward, at -your invitation, to express to you what that -programme is. The Conservative party are accused -of having no programme of policy. If -by a programme is meant a plan to despoil -churches and plunder landlords, I admit we -have no programme. If by a programme is -meant a policy which assails or menaces every<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span> -institution and every interest, every class and -every calling in the country, I admit we have -no programme. But if to have a policy with -distinct ends, and these such as most deeply interest -the great body of the nation, be a becoming -programme for a political party, then I contend -we have an adequate programme, and one -which, here or elsewhere, I shall always be prepared -to assert and to vindicate.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, the programme of the Conservative -party is to maintain the constitution of -the country. I have not come down to Manchester -to deliver an essay on the English constitution; -but when the banner of Republicanism -is unfurled—when the fundamental principles -of our institutions are controverted—I -think, perhaps, it may not be inconvenient that -I should make some few practical remarks upon -the character of our constitution—upon that -monarchy limited by the co-ordinate authority -of the estates of the realm, which, under the -title of Queen, Lords, and Commons, has contributed -so greatly to the prosperity of this -country, and with the maintenance of which I -believe that prosperity is bound up.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, since the settlement of that -constitution, now nearly two centuries ago,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span> -England has never experienced a revolution, -though there is no country in which there -has been so continuous and such considerable -change. How is this? Because the wisdom of -your forefathers placed the prize of supreme -power without the sphere of human passions. -Whatever the struggle of parties, whatever the -strife of factions, whatever the excitement and -exaltation of the public mind, there has always -been something in this country round which all -classes and parties could rally, representing the -majesty of the law, the administration of justice, -and involving, at the same time, the -security for every man’s rights and the fountain -of honor. Now, gentlemen, it is well -clearly to comprehend what is meant by a -country not having a revolution for two centuries. -It means, for that space, the unbroken -exercise and enjoyment of the ingenuity of man. -It means for that space the continuous application -of the discoveries of science to his comfort -and convenience. It means the accumulation of -capital, the elevation of labor, the establishment -of those admirable factories which cover your district; -the unwearied improvement of the cultivation -of the land, which has extracted from a -somewhat churlish soil harvests more exuberant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span> -than those furnished by lands nearer to the -sun. It means the continuous order which is -the only parent of personal liberty and political -right. And you owe all these, gentlemen, to the -Throne.</p> - -<p>There is another powerful and most beneficial -influence which is also exercised by the crown. -Gentlemen, I am a party man. I believe that, -without party, parliamentary government is -impossible. I look upon parliamentary government -as the noblest government in the world, -and certainly the one most suited to England. -But without the discipline of political connection, -animated by the principle of private honor, -I feel certain that a popular assembly would -sink before the power or the corruption of a -minister. Yet, gentlemen, I am not blind to -the faults of party government. It has one -great defect. Party has a tendency to warp the -intelligence, and there is no minister, however -resolved he may be in treating a great public -question, who does not find some difficulty in -emancipating himself from the traditionary -prejudice on which he has long acted. It is, -therefore, a great merit in our constitution, that -before a minister introduces a measure to Parliament, -he must submit it to an intelligence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span> -superior to all party, and entirely free from influences -of that character.</p> - -<p>I know it will be said, gentlemen, that, however -beautiful in theory, the personal influence -of the sovereign is now absorbed in the responsibility -of the minister. Gentlemen, I think -you will find there is great fallacy in this view. -The principles of the English constitution do -not contemplate the absence of personal influence -on the part of the sovereign; and if they -did, the principles of human nature would -prevent the fulfilment of such a theory. Gentlemen, -I need not tell you that I am now making -on this subject abstract observations of general -application to our institutions and our history. -But take the case of a sovereign of England -who accedes to his throne at the earliest age -the law permits and who enjoys a long reign,—take -an instance like that of George III. From -the earliest moment of his accession that -sovereign is placed in constant communication -with the most able statesmen of the period, and -of all parties. Even with average ability it is -impossible not to perceive that such a sovereign -must soon attain a great mass of political -information and political experience. Information -and experience, gentlemen, whether they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span> -are possessed by a sovereign or by the humblest -of his subjects, are irresistible in life. No man -with the vast responsibility that devolves upon -an English minister can afford to treat with indifference -a suggestion that has not occurred to -him, or information with which he had not -been previously supplied. But, gentlemen, -pursue this view of the subject. The longer -the reign, the influence of that sovereign must -proportionately increase. All the illustrious -statesmen who served his youth disappear. A -new generation of public servants rises up, -there is a critical conjuncture in affairs—a moment -of perplexity and peril. Then it is that -the sovereign can appeal to a similar state of -affairs that occurred perhaps thirty years before. -When all are in doubt among his servants, -he can quote the advice that was given -by the illustrious men of his early years, and -though he may maintain himself within the -strictest limits of the constitution, who can -suppose when such information and such suggestions -are made by the most exalted person -in the country that they can be without effect? -No, gentlemen; a minister who could venture -to treat such influence with indifference would -not be a constitutional minister, but an arrogant -idiot.<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">42</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span></p> - -<p>Gentlemen, the influence of the crown is not -confined merely to political affairs. England is -a domestic country. Here the home is revered -and the hearth is sacred. The nation is represented -by a family—the royal family; and if -that family is educated with a sense of responsibility -and a sentiment of public duty, it is difficult -to exaggerate the salutary influence they -may exercise over a nation.<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">43</a> It is not merely -an influence upon manners; it is not merely -that they are a model for refinement and for -good taste—they affect the heart as well as the -intelligence of the people; and in the hour of -public adversity, or in the anxious conjuncture -of public affairs, the nation rallies round -the family and the throne, and its spirit is -animated and sustained by the expression of -public affection. Gentlemen, there is yet one -other remark that I would make upon our -monarchy, though had it not been for recent -circumstances, I should have refrained from -doing so. An attack has recently been made -upon the throne on account of the costliness -of the institution.<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">44</a> Gentlemen, I shall not -dwell upon the fact that if the people of England -appreciate the monarchy, as I believe they -do, it would be painful to them that their royal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span> -and representative family should not be maintained -with becoming dignity, or fill in the -public eye a position inferior to some of the -nobles of the land. Nor will I insist upon what -is unquestionably the fact, that the revenues -of the crown estates, on which our sovereign -might live with as much right as the Duke of -Bedford, or the Duke of Northumberland, has -to his estates, are now paid into the public exchequer. -All this, upon the present occasion, -I am not going to insist upon. What I now -say is this: that there is no sovereignty of any -first-rate state which costs so little to the -people as the sovereignty of England. I will -not compare our civil list with those of European -empires, because it is known that in -amount they treble and quadruple it; but I -will compare it with the cost of sovereignty in -a republic, and that a republic with which you -are intimately acquainted—the republic of the -United States of America.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, there is no analogy between the -position of our sovereign, Queen Victoria, and -that of the President of the United States. -The President of the United States is not the -sovereign of the United States. There is a -very near analogy between the position of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span> -President of the United States and that of the -Prime-Minister of England, and both are paid -at much the same rate—the income of a second-class -professional man.<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">45</a> The sovereign of the -United States is the people; and I will now -show you what the sovereignty of the United -States costs. Gentlemen, you are aware of the -Constitution of the United States. There are -thirty-seven independent States, each with a -sovereign Legislature. Besides these, there is a -Confederation of States to conduct their external -affairs, which consists of the House of -Representatives and a Senate. There are two -hundred and eighty-five members of the House -of Representatives, and there are seventy-four -members of the Senate, making altogether -three hundred and fifty-nine members of Congress. -Now each member of Congress receives -1,000<i>l.</i> sterling per annum. In addition to -this he receives an allowance called “mileage,” -which varies according to the distance which -he travels, but the aggregate cost of which is -about 30,000<i>l.</i> per annum. That makes 389,000<i>l.</i>, -almost the exact amount of our civil list.</p> - -<p>But this, gentlemen, will allow you to make -only a very imperfect estimate of the cost of -sovereignty in the United States. Every<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span> -member of every Legislature in the 37 States -is also paid. There are, I believe, 5,010 members -of State Legislatures, who receive about -$350 per annum each. As some of the returns -are imperfect, the average which I have given -of expenditure may be rather high, and therefore -I have not counted the mileage, which is also -universally allowed. Five thousand and ten -members of State Legislatures at $350 each -make $1,753,500, or 350,700<i>l.</i> sterling a year. So -you see, gentlemen, that the immediate expenditure -for the sovereignty of the United -States is between 700,000<i>l.</i> and 800,000<i>l.</i> a year. -Gentlemen, I have not time to pursue this interesting -theme, otherwise I could show that you -have still but imperfectly ascertained the cost -of sovereignty in a republic. But, gentlemen, I -cannot resist giving you one further illustration.</p> - -<p>The government of this country is considerably -carried on by the aid of royal commissions. -So great is the increase of public business that -it would be probably impossible for a minister -to carry on affairs without this assistance. The -Queen of England can command for these -objects the services of the most experienced -statesmen, and men of the highest position in -society. If necessary, she can summon to them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span> -distinguished scholars or men most celebrated -in science and in art; and she receives from -them services that are unpaid. They are only -too proud to be described in the commission -as her Majesty’s “trusty councillors”; and if any -member of these commissions performs some -transcendent services, both of thought and of -labor, he is munificently rewarded by a public -distinction conferred upon him by the fountain -of honor. Gentlemen, the government of the -United States, has, I believe, not less availed -itself of the services of commissions than the -government of the United Kingdom; but in a -country where there is no fountain of honor, -every member of these commissions is paid.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, I trust I have now made some -suggestions to you respecting the monarchy of -England which at least may be so far serviceable -that when we are separated they may not be -altogether without advantage; and now, gentlemen, -I would say something on the subject of -the House of Lords. It is not merely the authority -of the throne that is now disputed, but -the character and influence of the House of -Lords that are held up by some to public disregard. -Gentlemen, I shall not stop for a moment -to offer you any proofs of the advantage of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span> -second chamber; and for this reason. That -subject has been discussed now for a century, -ever since the establishment of the government -of the United States, and all great authorities, -American, German, French, Italian, have agreed -in this, that a representative government is -impossible without a second chamber. And it -has been, especially of late, maintained by -great political writers in all countries, that the -repeated failure of what is called the French -republic is mainly to be ascribed to its not -having a second chamber.</p> - -<p>But, gentlemen, however anxious foreign -countries have been to enjoy this advantage, -that anxiety has only been equalled by the difficulty -which they have found in fulfilling their -object. How is a second chamber to be constituted? -By nominees of the sovereign power? -What influence can be exercised by a chamber -of nominees? Are they to be bound by popular -election? In what manner are they to be -elected? If by the same constituency as the -popular body, what claim have they, under such -circumstances, to criticise or to control the decisions -of that body? If they are to be elected -by a more select body, qualified by a higher -franchise, there immediately occurs the objection,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span> -why should the majority be governed by -the minority? The United States of America -were fortunate in finding a solution of this difficulty; -but the United States of America had -elements to deal with which never occurred before, -and never probably will occur again, -because they formed their illustrious Senate -from materials that were offered them by the -thirty-seven States. We, gentlemen, have the -House of Lords, an assembly which has historically -developed and periodically adapted -itself to the wants and necessities of the times.</p> - -<p>What, gentlemen, is the first quality which is -required in a second chamber? Without doubt, -independence. What is the best foundation of -independence? Without doubt, property. The -Prime-Minister of England has only recently -told you, and I believe he spoke quite accurately, -that the average income of the members of -the House of Lords is 20,000<i>l.</i> per annum. Of -course there are some who have more, and -some who have less; but the influence of a -public assembly, so far as property is concerned, -depends upon its aggregate property, -which, in the present case, is a revenue of -9,000,000<i>l.</i> a year. But, gentlemen, you must -look to the nature of this property. It is visible<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span> -property, and therefore it is responsible -property, which every rate-payer in the room -knows to his cost. But, gentlemen, it is not -only visible property; it is, generally speaking, -territorial property; and one of the elements of -territorial property is, that it is representative. -Now, for illustration, suppose—which God forbid—there -was no House of Commons, and any -Englishman—I will take him from either end of -the island—a Cumberland, or a Cornish man, -finds himself aggrieved, the Cumbrian says: -“This conduct I experience is most unjust. I -know a Cumberland man in the House of Lords, -the Earl of Carlisle or the Earl of Lonsdale; I -will go to him; he will never see a Cumberland -man ill-treated.” The Cornish man will say: -“I will go the Lord of Port Eliot; his family -have sacrificed themselves before this for the -liberties of Englishmen, and he will get justice -done me.”<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">46</a></p> - -<p>But, gentlemen, the charge against the House -of Lords is that the dignities are hereditary, -and we are told that if we have a House of -Peers they should be peers for life. There are -great authorities in favor of this, and even my -noble friend near me [Lord Derby], the other -day, gave in his adhesion to a limited application<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span> -of this principle. Now, gentlemen, in the -first place, let me observe that every peer is a -peer for life, as he cannot be a peer after his -death; but some peers for life are succeeded in -their dignities by their children. The question -arises, who is most responsible—a peer for life -whose dignities are not descendible, or a peer -for life whose dignities are hereditary? Now, -gentlemen, a peer for life is in a very strong -position. He says: “Here I am; I have got -power and I will exercise it.” I have no doubt -that, on the whole, a peer for life would exercise -it for what he deemed was the public good. -Let us hope that. But, after all, he might and -could exercise it according to his own will. -Nobody can call him to account; he is independent -of everybody. But a peer for life -whose dignities descend is in a very different -position. He has every inducement to study -public opinion, and, when he believes it just, to -yield; because he naturally feels that if the -order to which he belongs is in constant collision -with public opinion, the chances are that -his dignities will not descend to his posterity.<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">47</a></p> - -<p>Therefore, gentlemen, I am not prepared myself -to believe that a solution of any difficulties -in the public mind on this subject is to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span> -found by creating peers for life. I know there -are some philosophers who believe that the -best substitute for the House of Lords would -be an assembly formed of ex-governors of colonies.<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">48</a> -I have not sufficient experience on that -subject to give a decided opinion upon it. -When the Muse of Comedy threw her frolic -grace over society, a retired governor was generally -one of the characters in every comedy; -and the last of our great actors—who, by the -by, was a great favorite at Manchester—Mr. -Farren, was celebrated for his delineation of -the character in question. Whether it be the -recollection of that performance or not, I confess -I am inclined to believe that an English -gentleman—born to business, managing his own -estate, administering the affairs of his county, -mixing with all classes of his fellow-men, now -in the hunting-field, now in the railway direction, -unaffected, unostentatious, proud of his -ancestors, if they have contributed to the -greatness of our common country—is, on the -whole, more likely to form a senator agreeable -to English opinion and English taste than any -substitute that has yet been produced.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, let me make one observation -more, on the subject of the House of Lords,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span> -before I conclude. There is some advantage -in political experience. I remember the time -when there was a similar outcry against the -House of Lords, but much more intense and -powerful; and, gentlemen, it arose from the -same cause. A Liberal government had been -installed in office, with an immense Liberal majority. -They proposed some violent measures. -The House of Lords modified some, delayed -others, and some they threw out. Instantly -there was a cry to abolish or to reform the -House of Lords, and the greatest popular orator -(Daniel O’Connell) that probably ever existed -was sent on a pilgrimage over England to -excite the people in favor of this opinion. -What happened? That happened, gentlemen, -which may happen to-morrow. There was a -dissolution of Parliament. The great Liberal -majority vanished. The balance of parties was -restored. It was discovered that the House of -Lords had behind them at least half of the English -people. We heard no more cries for -their abolition or their reform, and before two -years more passed England was really governed -by the House of Lords, under the wise influence -of the Duke of Wellington and the commanding -eloquence of Lyndhurst; and such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span> -was the enthusiasm of the nation in favor of -the second chamber that at every public meeting -its health was drunk, with the additional -sentiment, for which we are indebted to one of -the most distinguished members that ever represented -the House of Commons: “Thank -God, there is the House of Lords.”<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">49</a></p> - -<p>Gentlemen, you will perhaps not be surprised -that, having made some remarks upon the monarchy -and the House of Lords, I should say -something respecting that House in which I -have literally passed the greater part of my life, -and to which I am devotedly attached. It is -not likely, therefore, that I should say any thing -to depreciate the legitimate position and influence -of the House of Commons. Gentlemen, -it is said that the diminished power of the throne -and the assailed authority of the House of Lords -are owing to the increased power of the House -of Commons, and the new position which of late -years, and especially during the last forty years, -it has assumed in the English constitution. -Gentlemen, the main power of the House of -Commons depends upon its command over the -public purse, and its control of the public expenditure; -and if that power is possessed by a -party which has a large majority in the House<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span> -of Commons, the influence of the House of -Commons is proportionately increased, and, -under some circumstances, becomes more predominant. -But, gentlemen, this power of the -House of Commons is not a power which has -been created by any reform act, from the days -of Lord Grey in 1832 to 1867. It is the power -which the House of Commons has enjoyed for -centuries, which it has frequently asserted and -sometimes even tyrannically exercised. Gentlemen, -the House of Commons represents the -constituencies of England, and I am here to -show you that no addition to the elements of -that constituency has placed the House of Commons -in a different position with regard to the -throne and the House of Lords from that it has -always constitutionally occupied.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, we speak now on this subject -with great advantage. We recently have had -published authentic documents upon this matter -which are highly instructive. We have, for -example, just published the census of Great -Britain, and we are now in possession of the -last registration of voters for the United Kingdom. -Gentlemen, it appears that by the census -the population at this time is about 32,000,000. -It is shown by the last registration<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">237</span> -that, after making the usual deductions for -deaths, removals, double entries, and so on, the -constituency of the United Kingdom may be -placed at 2,200,000. So, gentlemen, it at once -appears that there are 30,000,000 people in this -country who are as much represented by the -House of Lords as by the House of Commons, -and who, for the protection of their rights, -must depend upon them and the majesty of the -throne. And now, gentlemen, I will tell you -what was done by the last reform act.</p> - -<p>Lord Grey, in his measure of 1832, which -was no doubt a statesman-like measure, committed -a great, and for a time it appeared an -irretrievable, error. By that measure he fortified -the legitimate influence of the aristocracy; -and accorded to the middle classes great and -salutary franchises; but he not only made no -provision for the representation of the working -classes in the constitution, but he absolutely -abolished those ancient franchises which the -working classes had peculiarly enjoyed and exercised -from time immemorial. Gentlemen, -that was the origin of Chartism, and of that -electoral uneasiness which existed in this country -more or less for thirty years.</p> - -<p>The Liberal party, I feel it my duty to say,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">238</span> -had not acted fairly by this question. In their -adversity they held out hopes to the working -classes, but when they had a strong government -they laughed their vows to scorn. In 1848 -there was a French revolution, and a republic -was established. No one can have forgotten -what the effect was in this country. I remember -the day when not a woman could leave her -house in London, and when cannon were planted -on Westminster Bridge. When Lord Derby -became Prime-Minister affairs had arrived at -such a point that it was of the first moment -that the question should be sincerely dealt -with. He had to encounter great difficulties, -but he accomplished his purpose with the support -of a united party. And, gentlemen, what -has been the result? A year ago there was -another revolution in France, and a republic -was again established of the most menacing -character. What happened in this country? -You could not get half a dozen men to assemble -in a street and grumble. Why? Because -the people had got what they wanted. They -were content, and they were grateful.<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">50</a></p> - -<p>But, gentlemen, the constitution of England -is not merely a constitution in state, it is a constitution -in Church and State. The wisest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">239</span> -sovereigns and statesmen have ever been -anxious to connect authority with religion—some -to increase their power, some, perhaps, to -mitigate its exercise. But the same difficulty has -been experienced in effecting this union which -has been experienced in forming a second chamber—either -the spiritual power has usurped upon -the civil, and established a sacerdotal society, or -the civil power has invaded successfully the -rights of the spiritual, and the ministers of religion -have been degraded into stipendiaries of -the state and instruments of the government. -In England we accomplish this great result by -an alliance between Church and State, between -two originally independent powers. I will not -go into the history of that alliance, which is -rather a question for those archæological societies -which occasionally amuse and instruct the -people of this city. Enough for me that this -union was made and has contributed for centuries -to the civilization of this country. Gentlemen, -there is the same assault against the -Church of England and the union between the -State and the Church as there is against the -monarchy and against the House of Lords. It -is said that the existence of Nonconformity -proves that the Church is a failure. I draw<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">240</span> -from these premises an exactly contrary conclusion; -and I maintain that to have secured a -national profession of faith with the unlimited -enjoyment of private judgment in matters spiritual, -is the solution of the most difficult problem, -and one of the triumphs of civilization.</p> - -<p>It is said that the existence of parties in the -Church also proves its incompetence. On that -matter, too, I entertain a contrary opinion. Parties -have always existed in the Church; and some -have appealed to them as arguments in favor of -its divine institution, because, in the services and -doctrines of the Church have been found representatives -of every mood in the human mind. -Those who are influenced by ceremonies find -consolation in forms which secure to them the -beauty of holiness. Those who are not satisfied -except with enthusiasm find in its ministrations -the exaltation they require, while others who believe -that the “anchor of faith” can never be -safely moored except in the dry sands of reason -find a religion within the pale of the Church -which can boast of its irrefragable logic and its -irresistible evidence.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, I am inclined sometimes to believe -that those who advocate the abolition of the -union between Church and State have not carefully<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">241</span> -considered the consequences of such a -course. The Church is a powerful corporation -of many millions of her Majesty’s subjects, with -a consummate organization and wealth which in -its aggregate is vast. Restricted and controlled -by the state, so powerful a corporation may be -only fruitful of public advantage, but it becomes -a great question what might be the consequences -of the severance of the controlling tie -between these two bodies. The State would be -enfeebled, but the Church would probably be -strengthened. Whether that is a result to be -desired is a grave question for all men. For my -own part, I am bound to say that I doubt -whether it would be favorable to the cause of -civil and religious liberty. I know that there -is a common idea that if the union between -Church and State was severed, the wealth of the -Church would revert to the State; but it would -be well to remember that the great proportion -of ecclesiastical property is the property of individuals. -Take, for example, the fact that the -great mass of Church patronage is patronage in -the hands of private persons. That you could not -touch without compensation to the patrons. -You have established that principle in your -late Irish bill, where there was very little patronage.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">242</span> -And in the present state of the public -mind on the subject, there is very little doubt -that there would be scarcely a patron in England—irrespective -of other aid the Church -would receive—who would not dedicate his -compensation to the spiritual wants of his -neighbors.</p> - -<p>It was computed some years ago that the -property of the Church in this manner, if the -union was terminated, would not be less than between -80,000,000<i>l.</i> and 90,000,000<i>l.</i>, and since -that period the amount of private property dedicated -to the purposes of the Church has very -largely increased. I therefore trust that when -the occasion offers for the country to speak out, -it will speak out in an unmistakable manner on -this subject; and recognizing the inestimable -services of the Church, that it will call upon the -government to maintain its union with the -State. Upon this subject there is one remark I -would make. Nothing is more surprising to -me than the plea on which the present outcry -is made against the Church of England. I -could not believe that in the nineteenth century -the charge against the Church of England -should be that churchmen, and especially the -clergy, had educated the people. If I were to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">243</span> -fix upon one circumstance more than another -which redounded to the honor of churchmen, -it is that they should fulfil this noble office; -and, next to being “the stewards of divine -mysteries,” I think the greatest distinction of -the clergy is the admirable manner in which -they have devoted their lives and their fortunes -to this greatest of national objects.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, you are well acquainted in this -city with this controversy. It was in this city—I -don’t know whether it was not in this hall—that -that remarkable meeting was held of the -Nonconformists to effect important alterations -in the Education Act, and you are acquainted -with the discussion in Parliament which arose -in consequence of that meeting. Gentlemen, I -have due and great respect for the Nonconformist -body. I acknowledge their services to -their country, and though I believe that the -political reasons which mainly called them into -existence have entirely ceased, it is impossible -not to treat with consideration a body which -has been eminent for its conscience, its learning, -and its patriotism; but I must express my -mortification that, from a feeling of envy or of -pique, the Nonconformist body, rather than -assist the Church in their great enterprise,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">244</span> -should absolutely have become the partisans of -a merely secular education. I believe myself, -gentlemen, that without the recognition of a -superintending Providence in the affairs of this -world all national education will be disastrous, -and I feel confident that it is impossible to stop -at that mere recognition. Religious education -is demanded by the nation generally and by the -instincts of human nature. I should like to see -the Church and the Nonconformists work together; -but I trust, whatever may be the result, -the country will stand by the Church in its efforts -to maintain the religious education of the people. -Gentlemen, I foresee yet trials for the -Church of England; but I am confident in its -future. I am confident in its future because I -believe there is now a very general feeling that -to be national it must be comprehensive. I -will not use the word “broad,” because it is an -epithet applied to a system with which I have -no sympathy. But I would wish churchmen, -and especially the clergy, always to remember -that in our “Father’s home there are many -mansions,” and I believe that comprehensive -spirit is perfectly consistent with the maintenance -of formularies and the belief in dogmas -without which I hold no practical religion can -exist.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">245</span></p> - -<p>Gentlemen, I have now endeavored to express -to you my general views upon the most -important subjects that can interest Englishmen. -They are subjects upon which, in my mind, a -man should speak with frankness and clearness -to his countrymen, and although I do not come -down here to make a party speech, I am bound -to say that the manner in which those subjects -are treated by the leading subject of this realm -is to me most unsatisfactory. Although the -Prime-Minister of England is always writing -letters and making speeches, and particularly -on these topics, he seems to me ever to send -forth an “uncertain sound.” If a member of -Parliament announces himself a Republican, -Mr. Gladstone takes the earliest opportunity of -describing him as a “fellow-worker” in public -life. If an inconsiderate multitude calls for the -abolition or reform of the House of Lords, Mr. -Gladstone says that it is no easy task, and that -he must think once or twice, or perhaps even -thrice, before he can undertake it. If your -neighbor the member for Bradford, Mr. Miall, -brings forward a motion in the House of Commons -for the severance of Church and State, -Mr. Gladstone assures Mr. Miall with the utmost -courtesy that he believes the opinion of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">246</span> -House of Commons is against him, but that if -Mr. Miall wishes to influence the House of -Commons he must address the people out of -doors; whereupon Mr. Miall immediately calls -a public meeting, and alleges as its cause the -advice he has just received from the Prime-Minister.</p> - -<p>But, gentlemen, after all, the test of political -institutions is the condition of the country -whose fortunes they regulate; and I do not -mean to evade that test. You are the inhabitants -of an island of no colossal size; which, -geographically speaking, was intended by nature -as the appendage of some continental empire—either -of Gauls and Franks on the other side -of the Channel, or of Teutons and Scandinavians -beyond the German Sea. Such indeed, and for -a long period, was your early history. You -were invaded; you were pillaged and you were -conquered; yet amid all these disgraces and -vicissitudes there was gradually formed that -English race which has brought about a very -different state of affairs. Instead of being invaded, -your land is proverbially the only -“inviolate land”—“the inviolate land of the -sage and free.” Instead of being plundered, you -have attracted to your shores all the capital of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">247</span> -the world. Instead of being conquered, your -flag floats on many waters, and your standard -waves in either zone. It may be said that -these achievements are due to the race that -inhabited the land, and not to its institutions. -Gentlemen, in political institutions are the -embodied experiences of a race. You have -established a society of classes which give vigor -and variety to life. But no class possesses a -single exclusive privilege, and all are equal -before the law. You possess a real aristocracy, -open to all who desire to enter it. You have -not merely a middle class, but a hierarchy of -middle classes, in which every degree of wealth, -refinement, industry, energy, and enterprise is -duly represented.</p> - -<p>And now, gentlemen, what is the condition -of the great body of the people? In the first -place, gentlemen, they have for centuries been -in the full enjoyment of that which no other -country in Europe has ever completely attained—complete -rights of personal freedom. In the -second place, there has been a gradual, and -therefore a wise, distribution on a large scale of -political rights. Speaking with reference to -the industries of this great part of the country, -I can personally contrast it with the condition<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">248</span> -of the working classes forty years ago. In that -period they have attained two results—the -raising of their wages and the diminution of -their toil.<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">51</a> Increased means and increased -leisure are the two civilizers of man. That the -working classes of Lancashire and Yorkshire -have proved not unworthy of these boons may -be easily maintained; but their progress and -elevation have been during this interval wonderfully -aided and assisted by three causes, -which are not so distinctively attributable to -their own energies. The first is the revolution -in locomotion, which has opened the world to -the working man, which has enlarged the horizon -of his experience, increased his knowledge -of nature and of art, and added immensely to -the salutary recreation, amusement, and pleasure -of his existence. The second cause is the -cheap postage, the moral benefits of which cannot -be exaggerated. And the third is that unshackled -press which has furnished him with -endless sources of instruction, information, and -amusement.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, if you would permit me, I would -now make an observation upon another class of -the laboring population. This is not a civic -assembly, although we meet in a city. That<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">249</span> -was for convenience, but the invitation which I -received was to meet the county and all the -boroughs of Lancashire; and I wish to make a -few observations upon the condition of the -agricultural laborer. That is a subject which -now greatly attracts public attention. And, in -the first place, to prevent any misconception, I -beg to express my opinion that an agricultural -laborer has as much right to combine for the -bettering of his condition as a manufacturing -laborer or a worker in metals. If the causes of -his combination are natural—that is to say, if -they arise from his own feelings and from the -necessities of his own condition, the combination -will end in results mutually beneficial to -employers and employed. If, on the other -hand, it is factitious and he is acted upon by -extraneous influences and extraneous ideas, the -combination will produce, I fear, much loss and -misery both to employers and employed; and -after a time he will find himself in a similar, or -in a worse, position.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, in my opinion, the farmers of -England cannot, as a body, afford to pay higher -wages than they do, and those who will answer -me by saying that they must find their ability -by the reduction of rents are, I think, involving<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">250</span> -themselves with economic laws which may prove -too difficult for them to cope with. The profits -of a farmer are very moderate. The interest -upon capital invested in land is the smallest -that any property furnishes. The farmer will -have his profits and the investor in land will -have his interest, even though they may be obtained -at the cost of changing the mode of the -cultivation of the country. Gentlemen, I should -deeply regret to see the tillage of this country -reduced, and a recurrence to pasture take place. -I should regret it principally on account of the -agricultural laborers themselves. Their new -friends call them Hodge, and describe them as -a stolid race. I must say that, from my experience -of them, they are sufficiently shrewd and -open to reason. I would say to them with -confidence, as the great Athenian said to the -Spartan who rudely assailed him: “Strike, but -hear me.”</p> - -<p>First, a change in the cultivation of the soil -of this country would be very injurious to the -laboring class; and secondly, I am of opinion -that that class instead of being stationary has -made, if not as much progress as the manufacturing -class, very considerable progress during -the last forty years. Many persons write and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">251</span> -speak about the agricultural laborer with not -so perfect a knowledge of his condition as is -desirable. They treat him always as a human -being who in every part of the country finds -himself in an identical condition. Now, on the -contrary, there is no class of laborers in which -there is greater variety of condition than that -of the agricultural laborers. It changes from -north to south, from east to west, and from -county to county. It changes even in the -same county, where there is an alteration of -soil and of configuration. The hind in Northumberland -is in a very different condition -from the famous Dorsetshire laborer; the tiller -of the soil in Lincolnshire is different from his -fellow-agriculturist in Sussex. What the effect -of manufactures is upon the agricultural districts -in their neighborhood it would be -presumption in me to dwell upon; your own -experience must tell you whether the agricultural -laborer in North Lancashire, for example, -has had no rise in wages and no diminution in -toil. Take the case of the Dorsetshire laborer—the -whole of the agricultural laborers on the -southwestern coast of England for a very long -period worked only half the time of the laborers -in other parts of England, and received only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">252</span> -half the wages. In the experience of many, I -dare say, who are here present, even thirty -years ago a Dorsetshire laborer never worked -after three o’clock in the day; and why? Because -the whole of that part of England was -demoralized by smuggling. No one worked -after three o’clock in the day, for a very good -reason—because he had to work at night. No -farmer allowed his team to be employed after -three o’clock, because he reserved his horses to -take his illicit cargo at night and carry it rapidly -into the interior. Therefore, as the men were -employed and remunerated otherwise, they got -into a habit of half work and half play so far -as the land was concerned, and when smuggling -was abolished—and it has only been abolished -for thirty years,—these imperfect habits of -labor continued, and do even now continue to -a great extent. That is the origin of the condition -of the agricultural laborer in the southwestern -part of England.</p> - -<p>But now, gentlemen, I want to test the condition -of the agricultural laborer generally; and -I will take a part of England with which I am -familiar, and can speak as to the accuracy of the -facts—I mean the group described as the south-midland -counties. The conditions of labor there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">253</span> -are the same, or pretty nearly the same, throughout. -The group may be described as a strictly -agricultural community, and they embrace a population -of probably a million and a half. Now, I -have no hesitation in saying that the improvement -in their lot during the last forty years has -been progressive and is remarkable. I attribute -it to three causes. In the first place, the rise in -their money wages is no less than fifteen per -cent. The second great cause of their improvement -is the almost total disappearance of excessive -and exhausting toil, from the general -introduction of machinery. I don’t know -whether I could get a couple of men who could, -or, if they could, would thresh a load of wheat -in my neighborhood. The third great cause -which has improved their condition is the very -general, not to say universal, institution of allotment -grounds. Now, gentlemen, when I find -that this has been the course of affairs in our -very considerable and strictly agricultural portion -of the country, where there have been no -exceptional circumstances, like smuggling, to -degrade and demoralize the race, I cannot resist -the conviction that the condition of the agricultural -laborers, instead of being stationary, as we -are constantly told by those not acquainted with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">254</span> -them, has been one of progressive improvement, -and that in those counties—and they are many—where -the stimulating influence of a manufacturing -neighborhood acts upon the land, the -general conclusion at which I arrive is that the -agricultural laborer has had his share in the advance -of national prosperity. Gentlemen, I am -not here to maintain that there is nothing to be -done to increase the well-being of the working -classes of this country, generally speaking. -There is not a single class in the country which -is not susceptible of improvement; and that -makes the life and animation of our society. -But in all we do we must remember, as my -noble friend told them at Liverpool, that much -depends upon the working classes themselves; -and what I know of the working classes in Lancashire -makes me sure that they will respond -to this appeal. Much also may be expected -from that sympathy between classes which is a -distinctive feature of the present day; and, in -the last place, no inconsiderable results may be -obtained by judicious and prudent legislation. -But, gentlemen, in attempting to legislate upon -social matters, the great object is to be practical—to -have before us some distinct aims and -some distinct means by which they can be accomplished.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">255</span></p> - -<p>Gentlemen, I think public attention as regards -these matters ought to be concentrated upon -sanitary legislation. That is a wide subject, -and, if properly treated, comprises almost every -consideration which has a just claim upon legislative -interference. Pure air, pure water, the inspection -of unhealthy habitations, the adulteration -of food,—these and many kindred matters -may be legitimately dealt with by the Legislature; -and I am bound to say the Legislature is -not idle upon them; for we have at this time -two important measures before Parliament on -the subject. One—by a late colleague of mine, -Sir Charles Adderley—is a large and comprehensive -measure, founded upon a sure basis, for -it consolidates all existing public acts, and improves -them. A prejudice has been raised -against that proposal, by stating that it interferes -with the private acts of the great towns. -I take this opportunity of contradicting that. -The bill of Sir Charles Adderley does not touch -the acts of the great towns. It only allows -them, if they think fit, to avail themselves of its -new provisions.</p> - -<p>The other measure by the government is of a -partial character. What it comprises is good, -so far as it goes, but it shrinks from that bold<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">256</span> -consolidation of existing acts which I think one -of the great merits of Sir Charles Adderley’s -bill, which permits us to become acquainted -with how much may be done in favor of sanitary -improvement by existing provisions. Gentlemen, -I cannot impress upon you too strongly -my conviction of the importance of the Legislature -and society uniting together in favor of -these important results. A great scholar and a -great wit, three hundred years ago, said that, in -his opinion, there was a great mistake in the -Vulgate, which, as you all know, is the Latin -translation of the Holy Scriptures, and that, instead -of saying “Vanity of vanities, all is -vanity”—<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas</i>—the -wise and witty king really said: “<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">Sanitas -sanitatum, omnia sanitas</i>.” Gentlemen, it is impossible -to overrate the importance of the subject. -After all the first consideration of a minister -should be the health of the people. A -land may be covered with historic trophies, -with museums of science and galleries of art, -with universities and with libraries; the people -may be civilized and ingenious; the country -may be even famous in the annals and action of -the world, but, gentlemen, if the population -every ten years decreases, and the stature of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">257</span> -the race every ten years diminishes, the history -of that country will soon be the history of the -past.<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">52</a></p> - -<p>Gentlemen, I said I had not come here to -make a party speech. I have addressed you -upon subjects of grave, and I will venture to -believe of general, interest; but to be here and -altogether silent upon the present state of -public affairs would not be respectful to you, -and, perhaps, on the whole, would be thought -incongruous. Gentlemen, I cannot pretend -that our position either at home or abroad is in -my opinion satisfactory. At home, at a period -of immense prosperity, with a people contented -and naturally loyal, we find to our surprise the -most extravagant doctrines professed and the -fundamental principles of our most valuable institutions -impugned, and that, too, by persons -of some authority. Gentlemen, this startling -inconsistency is accounted for, in my mind, by -the circumstances under which the present administration -was formed. It is the first instance -in my knowledge of a British administration -being avowedly formed on a principle -of violence.<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">53</a> It is unnecessary for me to remind -you of the circumstances which preceded -the formation of that government. You were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">258</span> -the principal scene and theatre of the development -of statesmanship that then occurred. -You witnessed the incubation of the portentous -birth. You remember when you were informed -that the policy to secure the prosperity -of Ireland and the content of Irishmen was a -policy of sacrilege and confiscation. Gentlemen, -when Ireland was placed under the wise -and able administration of Lord Abercorn, Ireland -was prosperous, and I may say content. -But there happened at that time a very peculiar -conjuncture in politics. The civil war in -America had just ceased; and a band of military -adventurers—Poles, Italians, and many -Irishmen—concocted in New York a conspiracy -to invade Ireland, with the belief that the -whole country would rise to welcome them. -How that conspiracy was baffled—how those -plots were confounded, I need not now remind -you. For that we were mainly indebted to the -eminent qualities of a great man who has just -left us.<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">54</a> You remember how the constituencies -were appealed to to vote against the government -which had made so unfit an appointment -as that of Lord Mayo to the Viceroyalty -of India. It was by his great qualities when -Secretary for Ireland, by his vigilance, his courage,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">259</span> -his patience, and his perseverance that this -conspiracy was defeated. Never was a minister -better informed. He knew what was going on -at New York just as well as what was going on -in the city of Dublin.</p> - -<p>When the Fenian conspiracy had been entirely -put down, it became necessary to consider -the policy which it was expedient to pursue in -Ireland; and it seemed to us at that time that -what Ireland required after all the excitement -which it had experienced was a policy which -should largely develop its material resources. -There were one or two subjects of a different -character, which, for the advantage of the state, -it would have been desirable to have settled, if -that could have been effected with a general -concurrence of both the great parties in that -country. Had we remained in office, that -would have been done. But we were destined -to quit it, and we quitted it without a murmur. -The policy of our successors was different. -Their specific was to despoil churches and plunder -landlords, and what has been the result?<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">55</a> -Sedition rampant, treason thinly veiled, and -whenever a vacancy occurs in the representation -a candidate is returned pledged to the disruption -of the realm. Her Majesty’s new ministers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">260</span> -proceeded in their career like a body of -men under the influence of some delirious drug. -Not satiated with the spoliation and anarchy of -Ireland, they began to attack every institution -and every interest, every class and calling in the -country.<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">56</a></p> - -<p>It is curious to observe their course. They -took into hand the army. What have they -done? I will not comment on what they have -done. I will historically state it, and leave you -to draw the inference. So long as constitutional -England has existed there has been a -jealousy among all classes against the existence -of a standing army. As our empire expanded, -and the existence of a large body of disciplined -troops became a necessity, every precaution -was taken to prevent the danger to our liberties -which a standing army involved.</p> - -<p>It was a first principle not to concentrate in -the island any overwhelming number of troops, -and a considerable portion was distributed in -the colonies. Care was taken that the troops -generally should be officered by a class of men -deeply interested in the property and the liberties -of England. So extreme was the jealousy -that the relations between that once constitutional -force, the militia, and the sovereign were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">261</span> -rigidly guarded, and it was carefully placed -under local influences. All this is changed. -We have a standing army of large amount, -quartered and brigaded and encamped permanently -in England, and fed by a considerable -and constantly increasing Reserve.</p> - -<p>It will in due time be officered by a class of -men eminently scientific, but with no relations -necessarily with society; while the militia is -withdrawn from all local influences, and placed -under the immediate command of the Secretary -of War. Thus, in the nineteenth century, we have -a large standing army established in England, -contrary to all the traditions of the land, and -that by a Liberal government, and with the -warm acclamations of the Liberal party.</p> - -<p>Let us look what they have done with the -Admiralty. You remember, in this country especially, -the denunciations of the profligate expenditure -of the Conservative government, and -you have since had an opportunity of comparing -it with the gentler burden of Liberal estimates. -The navy was not merely an instance -of profligate expenditure, but of incompetent -and inadequate management. A great revolution -was promised in its administration. A -gentleman [Mr. Childers], almost unknown to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">262</span> -English politics, was strangely preferred to one -of the highest places in the councils of her -Majesty. He set to at his task with ruthless -activity. The Consultative Council, under -which Nelson had gained all his victories, was -dissolved. The Secretaryship of the Admiralty, -an office which exercised a complete supervision -over every division of that great department,—an -office which was to the Admiralty -what the Secretary of State is to the kingdom,—which, -in the qualities which it required and -the duties which it fulfilled, was rightly a stepping-stone -to the cabinet, as in the instances of -Lord Halifax, Lord Herbert, and many others—was -reduced to absolute insignificance. Even -the office of Control, which of all others required -a position of independence, and on -which the safety of the navy mainly depended, -was deprived of all its important attributes. -For two years the Opposition called the attention -of Parliament to these destructive changes, -but Parliament and the nation were alike insensible. -Full of other business, they could -not give a thought to what they looked upon -merely as captious criticism. It requires a great -disaster to command the attention of England; -and when the “Captain” was lost, and when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">263</span> -they had the detail of the perilous voyage of -the “Megara,” then public indignation demanded -a complete change in this renovating -administration of the navy.<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">57</a></p> - -<p>And what has occurred? It is only a few -weeks since that in the House of Commons I -heard the naval statement made by a new First -Lord [Mr. Goschen], and it consisted only of -the rescinding of all the revolutionary changes -of his predecessor, the mischief of every one of -which during the last two years has been -pressed upon the attention of Parliament and -the country by that constitutional and necessary -body, the Opposition. Gentlemen, it will -not do for me—considering the time I have already -occupied, and there are still some subjects -of importance that must be touched—to dwell -upon any of the other similar topics, of which -there is a rich abundance. I doubt not there is -in this hall more than one farmer who has been -alarmed by the suggestion that his agricultural -machinery should be taxed.<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">58</a></p> - -<p>I doubt not there is in this hall more than -one publican who remembers that last year an -act of Parliament was introduced to denounce -him as a “sinner.” I doubt not there are in this -hall a widow and an orphan who remember the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">264</span> -profligate proposition to plunder their lonely -heritage. But, gentlemen, as time advanced it -was not difficult to perceive that extravagance -was being substituted for energy by the government. -The unnatural stimulus was subsiding. -Their paroxysms ended in prostration. Some -took refuge in melancholy, and their eminent -chief alternated between a menace and a sigh. -As I sat opposite the treasury bench the ministers -reminded me of one of those marine landscapes -not very unusual on the coast of South -America. You behold a range of exhausted -volcanoes. Not a flame flickers on a single -pallid crest. But the situation is still dangerous. -There are occasional earthquakes, and -ever and anon the dark rumbling of the sea.</p> - -<p>But, gentlemen, there is one other topic on -which I must touch. If the management of -our domestic affairs has been founded upon a -principle of violence, that certainly cannot be -alleged against the management of our external -relations. I know the difficulty of addressing a -body of Englishmen on these topics. The -very phrase “Foreign Affairs” makes an -Englishman convinced that I am about to treat -of subjects with which he has no concern. Unhappily -the relations of England to the rest of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">265</span> -the world, which are “Foreign Affairs,” are the -matters which most influence his lot. Upon -them depends the increase or reduction of taxation. -Upon them depends the enjoyment or -the embarrassment of his industry. And yet, -though so momentous are the consequences -of the mismanagement of our foreign relations, -no one thinks of them till the mischief occurs -and then it is found how the most vital consequences -have been occasioned by mere inadvertence.</p> - -<p>I will illustrate this point by two anecdotes. -Since I have been in public life there has been -for this country a great calamity and there is a -great danger, and both might have been avoided. -The calamity was the Crimean War. You -know what were the consequences of the Crimean -War: A great addition to your debt, an -enormous addition to your taxation, a cost -more precious than your treasure—the best -blood of England. Half a million of men, I -believe, perished in that great undertaking. -Nor are the evil consequences of that war -adequately described by what I have said. All -the disorders and disturbances of Europe, those -immense armaments that are an incubus on -national industry and the great obstacle to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">266</span> -progressive civilization, may be traced and justly -attributed to the Crimean War. And yet the -Crimean War need never have occurred.</p> - -<p>When Lord Derby acceded to office, against -his own wishes, in 1852, the Liberal party most -unconstitutionally forced him to dissolve Parliament -at a certain time by stopping the supplies, -or at least by limiting the period for which they -were voted. There was not a single reason to -justify that course, for Lord Derby had only -accepted office, having once declined it, on the -renewed application of his sovereign. The -country, at the dissolution, increased the power -of the Conservative party, but did not give to -Lord Derby a majority, and he had to retire -from power. There was not the slightest -chance of a Crimean War when we retired from -office; but the Emperor of Russia, believing -that the successor of Lord Derby was no enemy -to Russian aggression in the East, commenced -those proceedings, with the result of which you -are familiar. I speak of what I know, not of -what I believe, but of what I have evidence in -my possession to prove—that the Crimean War -never would have happened if Lord Derby had -remained in office.<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">59</a></p> - -<p>The great danger is the present state of our<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">267</span> -relations with the United States. When I acceded -to office, I did so, so far as regarded the -United States of America, with some advantage. -During the whole of the civil war in -America both my noble friend near me and I -had maintained a strict and fair neutrality.<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">60</a> -This was fully appreciated by the government -of the United States, and they expressed their -wish that with our aid the settlement of all -differences between the two governments -should be accomplished. They sent here a -plenipotentiary, an honorable gentleman, very -intelligent and possessing general confidence. -My noble friend near me, with great ability, -negotiated a treaty for the settlement of all -these claims. He was the first minister who -proposed to refer them to arbitration, and the -treaty was signed by the American Government. -It was signed, I think, on November -10th, on the eve of the dissolution of Parliament. -The borough elections that first occurred -proved what would be the fate of the ministry, -and the moment they were known in America -the American Government announced that Mr. -Reverdy Johnson [the American Minister] had -mistaken his instructions, and they could not -present the treaty to the Senate for its sanction—the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">268</span> -sanction of which there had been previously -no doubt.<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">61</a></p> - -<p>But the fact is that, as in the case of the -Crimean War it was supposed that our successors -would be favorable to Russian aggression, -so it was supposed that by the accession to -office of Mr. Gladstone and a gentleman you -know well, Mr. Bright, the American claims -would be considered in a very different spirit. -How they have been considered is a subject -which, no doubt, occupies deeply the minds of -the people of Lancashire. Now, gentlemen, -observe this—the question of the Black Sea -involved in the Crimean War, the question of -the American claims involved in our negotiations -with Mr. Johnson, are the two questions -that have again turned up, and have been the -two great questions that have been under the -management of his government.</p> - -<p>How have they treated them? Prince Gortschakoff, -thinking he saw an opportunity, announced -his determination to break from the -Treaty of Paris, and terminate all the conditions -hostile to Russia which had been the result of -the Crimean War. What was the first movement -on the part of our government is at present -a mystery. This we know, that they selected<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">269</span> -the most rising diplomatist of the day [Mr. Odo -Russell, later Lord Ampthill], and sent him to -Prince Bismarck with a declaration that the -policy of Russia, if persisted in, was war with -England. Now, gentlemen, there was not the -slightest chance of Russia going to war with -England, and no necessity, as I shall always -maintain, of England going to war with Russia. -I believe I am not wrong in stating that the -Russian Government were prepared to withdraw -from the position they had rashly taken; -but suddenly her Majesty’s Government, to use -a technical phrase, threw over the plenipotentiary, -and, instead of threatening war, if the -Treaty of Paris was violated, they agreed to -arrangements by which the violation of that -treaty should be sanctioned by England, and, -in the form of a congress, they showed themselves -guaranteeing their own humiliation. -That Mr. Odo Russell made no mistake is -quite obvious, because he has since been selected -to be her Majesty’s ambassador at the -most important court of Europe. Gentlemen, -what will be the consequence of this extraordinary -weakness on the part of the British -Government it is difficult to foresee. Already -we hear that Sebastopol is to be refortified, nor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">270</span> -can any man doubt that the entire command -of the Black Sea will soon be in the possession -of Russia.<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">62</a> The time may not be distant -when we may hear of the Russian power in the -Persian Gulf, and what effect that may have -upon the dominions of England and upon those -possessions on the productions of which you -every year more and more depend, are questions -upon which it will be well for you on -proper occasions to meditate.</p> - -<p>I come now to that question which most -deeply interests you at this moment, and that -is our relations with the United States. I -approved the government referring this question -to arbitration. It was only following the -policy of Lord Stanley. My noble friend disapproved -the negotiations being carried on at -Washington. I confess that I would willingly -have persuaded myself that this was not a mistake, -but reflection has convinced me that my -noble friend was right. I remember the successful -negotiation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty -by Sir Henry Bulwer. I flattered myself that -treaties at Washington might be successfully -negotiated; but I agree with my noble friend -that his general view was far more sound than -my own. But no one, when that commission<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">271</span> -was sent forth, for a moment could anticipate -the course of their conduct under the strict injunctions -of the government. We believed -that commission was sent to ascertain what -points should be submitted to arbitration, to be -decided by the principles of the law of nations. -We had not the slightest idea that that commission -was sent with power and instructions -to alter the law of nations itself.<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">63</a> When that -result was announced, we expressed our entire -disapprobation; and yet trusting to the representations -of the government that matters -were concluded satisfactorily, we had to decide -whether it were wise, if the great result was obtained, -to wrangle upon points, however important, -such as those to which I have referred.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, it appears that, though all parts -of England were ready to make those sacrifices, -the two negotiating states—the government of -the United Kingdom and the government of -the United States—placed a different interpretation -upon the treaty when the time had -arrived to put its provisions into practice. -Gentlemen, in my mind, and in the opinion of -my noble friend near me, there was but one -course to take under the circumstances, painful -as it might be, and that was at once to appeal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">272</span> -to the good feeling and good sense of the -United States, and, stating the difficulty, to -invite confidential conference whether it might -not be removed.<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">64</a> But her Majesty’s Government -took a different course. On December -15th her Majesty’s Government were aware of -a contrary interpretation being placed on the -Treaty of Washington by the American Government. -The Prime-Minister received a copy of -their counter case, and he confessed he had -never read it. He had a considerable number -of copies sent to him to distribute among his -colleagues, and you remember, probably, the -remarkable statement in which he informed the -House that he had distributed those copies to -everybody except those for whom they were -intended.</p> - -<p>Time went on, and the adverse interpretation -of the American Government oozed out, -and was noticed by the press. Public alarm -and public indignation were excited; and it -was only seven weeks afterward, on the very -eve of the meeting of Parliament—some twenty-four -hours before the meeting of Parliament—that -her Majesty’s Government felt they were -absolutely obliged to make a “friendly communication” -to the United States that they had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">273</span> -arrived at an interpretation of the treaty the -reverse of that of the American Government. -What was the position of the American Government. -Seven weeks had passed without -their having received the slightest intimation -from her Majesty’s ministers. They had circulated -their case throughout the world. They -had translated it into every European language. -It had been sent to every court and cabinet, to -every sovereign and prime-minister. It was -impossible for the American Government to recede -from their position, even if they had -believed it to be an erroneous one. And then, -to aggravate the difficulty, the Prime-Minister -goes down to Parliament, declares that there is -only one interpretation to be placed on the -treaty, and defies and attacks everybody who -believes it susceptible of another.</p> - -<p>Was there ever such a combination of negligence -and blundering? And now, gentlemen, -what is about to happen? All we know is that -her Majesty’s ministers are doing everything in -their power to evade the cognizance and criticism -of Parliament. They have received an answer -to their “friendly communication”; of -which, I believe, it has been ascertained that -the American Government adhere to their interpretation;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">274</span> -and yet they prolong the controversy. -What is about to occur it is unnecessary -for one to predict; but if it be this—if after a -fruitless ratiocination worthy of a schoolman, -we ultimately agree so far to the interpretation -of the American Government as to submit the -whole case to arbitration, with feeble reservation -of a protest, if it be decided against us, I -venture to say that we shall be entering on a -course not more distinguished by its feebleness -than by its impending peril. There is before us -every prospect of the same incompetence that -distinguished our negotiations respecting the -independence of the Black Sea; and I fear that -there is every chance that this incompetence -will be sealed by our ultimately acknowledging -these direct claims of the United States, which, -both as regards principle and practical results, -are fraught with the utmost danger to this -country. Gentlemen, don’t suppose, because I -counsel firmness and decision at the right moment, -that I am of that school of statesmen -who are favorable to a turbulent and aggressive -diplomacy. I have resisted it during a great -part of my life. I am not unaware that the relations -of England to Europe have undergone a -vast change during the century that has just<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">275</span> -elapsed. The relations of England to Europe -are not the same as they were in the days of -Lord Chatham or Frederick the Great. The -Queen of England has become the sovereign of -the most powerful of Oriental states. On the -other side of the globe there are now establishments -belonging to her, teeming with wealth -and population, which will, in due time, exercise -their influence over the distribution of power. -The old establishments of this country, now the -United States of America, throw their lengthening -shades over the Atlantic, which mix with -European waters. These are vast and novel -elements in the distribution of power. I acknowledge -that the policy of England with -respect to Europe should be a policy of reserve, -but proud reserve; and in answer to those -statesmen—those mistaken statesmen who have -intimated the decay of the power of England -and the decline of its resources, I express here -my confident conviction that there never was a -moment in our history when the power of England -was so great and her resources so vast and -inexhaustible.<a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">65</a></p> - -<p>And yet, gentlemen, it is not merely our -fleets and armies, our powerful artillery, our -accumulated capital, and our unlimited credit<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">276</span> -on which I so much depend, as upon that unbroken -spirit of her people, which I believe was -never prouder of the imperial country to which -they belong. Gentlemen, it is to that spirit -that I above all things trust. I look upon the -people of Lancashire as a fair representative of -the people of England. I think the manner in -which they have invited me here, locally a -stranger, to receive the expression of their cordial -sympathy, and only because they recognize -some effort on my part to maintain the greatness -of their country, is evidence of the spirit -of the land. I must express to you again my -deep sense of the generous manner in which -you have welcomed me, and in which you have -permitted me to express to you my views upon -public affairs. Proud of your confidence, and -encouraged by your sympathy, I now deliver to -you, as my last words, the cause of the Tory -party, the English constitution, and of the -British empire.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">277</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="WILLIAM_EWART_GLADSTONE">WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.</h2> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Gladstone, the fourth son of the late -Sir John Gladstone, a prominent and prosperous -merchant of Liverpool, was born in 1809. He -was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford, -where his scholarship was at once so -thorough and so comprehensive as to win for -him at his graduation in 1831 the great distinction -of a double first-class. Having spent nearly -a year in a continental tour, he was elected to -the House of Commons in December, 1832, at -the election which immediately followed the -passage of the great reform bill. In political -sympathies he ranked with the Tories, and followed -with little reserve the leadership of Sir -Robert Peel. The great reputation he had -acquired at the university, his mercantile habits, -his high character, and his manifest abilities as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">278</span> -a speaker, recommended him at once to the favor -of the Premier, who admitted him to the ministry -as Junior Lord of the Treasury, in December -of 1834, and as Under-Secretary for Colonial -Affairs in February of the following year. In -1841 Mr. Gladstone became Vice-President of -the Board of Trade and Master of the Mint, -and in the same year was sworn in as a member -of the Privy Council. In the position now held -it devolved upon him to explain and defend the -commercial policy of the government. The revision -of the tariff in 1842 was entrusted to his -energy and industry, as a part of this duty, and -so admirably was the laborious task executed, -not only in its mastery of general principles, -but in its command of details, that the bill -received the sanction of both Houses with -scarcely an alteration. Gladstone’s great abilities -as a financier were at once universally recognized; -and, accordingly, his appointment as -President of the Board of Trade and his admission -to the cabinet in 1843 were generally -approved.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">279</span></p> - -<p>In 1846, Sir Robert Peel, who up to this time -had been regarded as the most strenuous opponent -of free trade, announced his intention of -bringing in a bill to modify the existing Corn -Laws. The announcement created great popular -agitation. Gladstone determined to support -Peel; but holding his seat from Newark, the -property of the Duke of Newcastle, who sympathized -strongly with the Opposition, he was -unwilling to appear to be in a false position, and -accordingly he resigned, and remained out -of Parliament for about a year. This voluntary -withdrawal from the House is worthy of -note, not only on account of the honorable motives -which prompted it, but also as the only -interruption of a parliamentary career of more -than half a century. His parliamentary abilities, -however, were not long permitted to be idle, for -in 1847 he was returned as one of the members -for the University of Oxford.</p> - -<p>Up to this time he had appeared to sympathize -strongly with the principles of the Tory party. -His work on “The State in its Relations with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">280</span> -the Church,” published in 1838, had not only -proved him to be, even when still a young man, -a deep and original thinker, but had also shown -that his sympathies were unmistakably with the -Tories and the High Church. Macaulay, in -his elaborate and critical review of the work, introduced -Gladstone to his readers as “the rising -hope of those stern and unbending Tories who -follow, reluctantly and mutinously, a leader -whose experience and eloquence are indispensable -to them, but whose cautious temper and -moderate opinions they abhor.” But if the -“stern and unbending Tories” had any such -“rising hope” in Mr. Gladstone, they were destined -to be disappointed. In the four years that -followed 1847 the member for Oxford found -himself frequently opposed to his former friends; -and in 1851 he formally separated himself from -the great body of the Conservative party. He -was re-elected for Oxford, though as the result -of a very bitter contest; and on the defeat -of the Derby-Disraeli ministry and the succession -of the “Coalition” under Lord Aberdeen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">281</span> -in 1852, he was appointed to the Chancellorship -of the Exchequer, where his thorough knowledge -of finance was of the greatest assistance -to the government during the Crimean War.</p> - -<p>In the fifteen years that followed, Mr. Gladstone -came to be more and more generally -recognized, not only as one of the ablest, but -also as one of the most influential members of -the House of Commons. Meanwhile his reputation -was considerably advanced by the -numerous literary productions which came -from his pen. On the death of Lord Palmerston -in 1865, he became leader of the House of -Commons, retaining the Chancellorship of the -Exchequer in the second administration of -Earl Russell. It was at this time that Gladstone’s -career as the leader of the great reformatory -movement may be said to have -begun.</p> - -<p>Early in the session of 1866, he brought forward -a reform bill designed to extend the -franchise substantially on the line of advance -that had been adopted in 1832. On the 18th<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">282</span> -of June, the measure was defeated by a majority -of eleven votes, and Mr. Gladstone and his -colleagues at once resigned. During the next -administration, the ranks of the Liberal party, -however, were divided, and therefore it was -found impossible to defeat the Derby-Disraeli -reform bill, which Mr. Gladstone strenuously -opposed. The Conservatives, however, were -unable to hold their position, and when the -Ministry resigned, in December of 1868, Mr. -Gladstone succeeded Disraeli as Prime-Minister.</p> - -<p>And now began that remarkable series of -legislative enactments for which Mr. Gladstone’s -career will be remembered. In 1869 -was passed the Irish Church Disestablishment -Act; in 1870, the Irish Land Act; in the same -year, the Elementary Education Act; in 1871, -the Abolition of Purchase in the Army Act; in -1872, the Ballot Act; and in 1873, the Supreme -Court of Judicature Act. In 1873 the -country seemed disposed to call a halt. The -government was defeated on the Irish University -Education Bill; and, in consequence,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">283</span> -Mr. Gladstone tendered his resignation. The -Queen sent for Mr. Disraeli, but as the defeat -had been occasioned by a temporary union of -the Roman Catholics with the Conservatives, -Mr. Disraeli saw no hope of commanding a majority, -and therefore declined to attempt to form -a ministry. Mr. Gladstone was recalled, and reluctantly -consented to reconstruct a cabinet. -He was unwilling, however, to go forward in -any uncertainty, and accordingly, in January -of 1874, he surprised the country by announcing -an immediate dissolution of Parliament.</p> - -<p>The result of the ensuing canvass and election -was most disastrous to the Liberal party. The -returns, completed in February, showed that -351 out and out Conservatives had been -elected; while the Liberals, including the -Home Rulers, who, in fact, declined to identify -themselves with the party, numbered only 302. -Mr. Gladstone, of course, resigned at once, and -Mr. Disraeli, for a second time, was appointed -Prime-Minister in his place.</p> - -<p>During the next two years, Mr. Gladstone,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">284</span> -though retaining his seat, was not often seen in -the House of Commons. In January of 1875 -he announced his determination to retire from -the leadership of the Liberal party, and the -Marquis of Hartington was accordingly chosen -to act in his place. For a time he gave himself -up to authorship, and published a considerable -number of controversial articles on Church -and State. As Disraeli’s ministry, however, -became involved in the entanglement of Eastern -affairs, Gladstone was more and more drawn -back into something like his old parliamentary -activity. In 1879 was invited to become -the candidate for Mid-Lothian, and the canvass -that followed was perhaps the most remarkable -exhibition of energy and oratorical skill that -the history of British eloquence has to show. -He set out from Liverpool on November 24th, -and from that date, with the exception of two -days’ rest, till his return on December 9th, his -journey was a long succession of enthusiastic -receptions and unwearied speech-making in -condemnation of the Conservative government. -The addresses delivered in the course<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">285</span> -of this canvass were printed in all the leading -papers of the kingdom, and were subsequently -brought together in a volume. As a whole, -they form what is probably the most remarkable -series of political criticisms ever addressed -by one man to the people of his country. The -result was not only the election of Mr. Gladstone, -but also, when in the following spring a -general election took place, the triumphant return -of the Liberal party to power. While the -Conservatives had only 243 seats, the Liberals -had 349, and the Home Rulers, 60 in number, -were quite likely, in all general measures, -to ally themselves with their old friends.</p> - -<p>As Mr. Gladstone had for some years not -been at the nominal head of the Liberal party, -it was not certain what policy would be pursued. -The Marquis of Hartington was the -leader in the Lower House, and Earl Granville -in the Upper. Either of these might have been -called to the head of the ministry by constitutional -usage; but the natural primacy of Mr. -Gladstone was so universally acknowledged -that the Queen decided to hold a consultation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">286</span> -with the chiefs of the party. The conference -resulted in recommending the Queen to entrust -the forming of a cabinet to Mr. Gladstone; and -accordingly the great leader entered upon the -work of Prime-Minister for a second time in -April, 1880. It is a proof of his extraordinary -vigor that at the age of seventy-one he should -choose to superadd to the duties of First Lord -of the Treasury, those of Chancellor of the Exchequer, -a position which he continued to hold -till, in 1883, the multiplicity of his duties led -him to turn it over to Mr. Childers.</p> - -<p>His second administration will probably be -remembered for the disturbances in Ireland, -and the consequent Irish Land Act of 1881; -the Municipal Corporation Act of 1882; the -difficulties in Egypt in 1883 and 1884; and the -Extension of Suffrage Act, introduced in the -spring of 1884. His career as a whole may be -considered as perhaps the most remarkable illustration -of a system which, whatever its faults, -brings the most eminent men into power, and -gives them a wide field in which to exert their -continuous influence and power.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">287</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="WILLIAM_EWART_GLADSTONE2">WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">ON DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS;<br />DELIVERED -AT WEST CALDER,<br />NOVEMBER 27, 1879.</span></h2> -</div> - -<blockquote class="end"> - -<p>The following speech was the third of the series delivered -by Mr. Gladstone in the course of his Mid-Lothian canvass, -extending from November 24th to December 9th. These -assaults on the policy of Lord Beaconsfield had not a little to -do with the triumph of the Liberals and the return of Gladstone -to power in the following spring.</p></blockquote> - -<p class="sal"><span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen</span>:</p> - -<p>In addressing you to-day, as in addressing -like audiences assembled for a like purpose in -other places of the county, I am warmed by -the enthusiastic welcome which you have been -pleased in every quarter and in every form to -accord to me. I am, on the other hand, -daunted when I recollect, first of all, what -large demands I have to make on your patience; -and secondly, how inadequate are my -powers, and how inadequate almost any amount -of time you can grant me, to set forth worthily -the whole of the case which ought to be laid<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">288</span> -before you in connection with the coming -election.</p> - -<p>To-day, gentlemen, as I know that many -among you are interested in the land, and as -I feel that what is termed “agricultural distress” -is at the present moment a topic too -serious to be omitted from our consideration, -I shall say some words upon the subject of -that agricultural distress, and particularly, because -in connection with it there have arisen in -some quarters of the country proposals, which -have received a countenance far beyond their -deserts, to reverse or to compromise the work -which it took us one whole generation to -achieve, and to revert to the mischievous, -obstructive, and impoverishing system of protection.<a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">66</a> -Gentlemen, I speak of agricultural -distress as a matter now undoubtedly serious. -Let none of us withhold our sympathy from -the farmer, the cultivator of the soil, in the -struggle he has to undergo. His struggle is a -struggle of competition with the United States. -But I do not fully explain the case when I say -the United States. It is not with the entire -United States, it is with the Western portion of -these States—that portion remote from the seaboard; -and I wish in the first place, gentlemen,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">289</span> -to state to you all a fact of very great interest -and importance, as it seems to me, relating to -and defining the point at which the competition -of the Western States of America is most -severely felt. I have in my hand a letter -received recently from one well known, and -honorably known, in Scotland—Mr. Lyon Playfair, -who has recently been a traveller in the -United States, and who, as you well know, is -as well qualified as any man upon earth for -accurate and careful investigation.<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">67</a> The point, -gentlemen, at which the competition of the -Western States of America is most severely felt -is in the Eastern States of America. Whatever -be agricultural distress in Scotland, whatever it -be, where undoubtedly it is more felt, in England, -it is greater by much in the Eastern -States of America. In the States of New -England the soil has been to some extent -exhausted by careless methods of agriculture, -and these, gentlemen, are the greatest of all -the enemies with which the farmer has to -contend.</p> - -<p>But the foundation of the statement I make, -that the Eastern States of America are those -that most feel the competition of the West, is -to be found in facts,—in this fact above all,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">290</span> -that not only they are not in America, as we -are here, talking about the shortness of the -annual returns, and in some places having -much said on the subject of rents, and of -temporary remission or of permanent reduction. -That is not the state of things; they have -actually got to this point, that the capital -values of land, as tested by sales in the market, -have undergone an enormous diminution. Now -I will tell you something that actually happened, -on the authority of my friend Mr. Playfair. -I will tell you something that has happened -in one of the New England States,—not, -recollect, in a desert or a remote country,—in -an old cultivated country, and near one of the -towns of these States, a town that has the -honorable name of Wellesley.</p> - -<p>Mr. Playfair tells me this: Three weeks ago—that -is to say, about the first of this month, -so you will see my information is tolerably recent,—three -weeks ago a friend of Mr. Playfair -bought a farm near Wellesley for $33 an acre, for -£6 12<i>s.</i> an acre—agricultural land, remember, in -an old settled country. That is the present -condition of agricultural property in the old -States of New England. I think by the simple -recital of that fact I have tolerably well established<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">291</span> -my case, for you have not come in England, -and you have not come in Scotland, to the -point at which agricultural land is to be had—not -wild land, but improved and old cultivated -land,—is to be had for the price of £6 12<i>s.</i> an -acre. He mentions that this is by no means a -strange case, an isolated case, that it fairly -represented the average transactions that have -been going on; and he says that in that region -the ordinary price of agricultural land at the -present time is from $20 to $50 an acre, or from -£4 to £10. In New York the soil is better, and -the population is greater; but even in the State -of New York land ranges for agricultural purposes -from $50 to $100, that is to say, from -£10 to £20 an acre.</p> - -<p>I think those of you, gentlemen, who are -farmers will perhaps derive some comfort from -perceiving that if the pressure here is heavy the -pressure elsewhere and the pressure nearer to -the seat of this very abundant production is -greater and far greater still.</p> - -<p>It is most interesting to consider, however, -what this pressure is. There has been developed -in the astonishing progressive power of -the United States—there has been developed a -faculty of producing corn for the subsistence of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">292</span> -man, with a rapidity and to an extent unknown -in the experience of mankind. There is nothing -like it in history. Do not let us conceal, -gentlemen, from ourselves the fact; I shall not -stand the worse with any of you who are farmers -if I at once avow that this greater and comparatively -immense abundance of the prime -article of subsistence for mankind is a great -blessing vouchsafed by Providence to mankind. -In part I believe that the cheapness has been -increased by special causes. The lands from -which the great abundance of American wheat -comes are very thinly peopled as yet. They -will become more thickly peopled, and as they -become more thickly peopled a larger proportion -of their produce will be wanted for home -consumption and less of it will come to you, -and at a higher price. Again, if we are rightly -informed, the price of American wheat has -been unnaturally reduced by the extraordinary -depression, in recent times, of trade in America, -and especially of the mineral trades, upon which -many railroads are dependent in America, and -with which these railroads are connected in -America in a degree and manner that in this -country we know but little of. With a revival -of trade in America it is to be expected that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">293</span> -the freights of corn will increase, and all other -freights, because the employment of the railroads -will be a great deal more abundant, and -they will not be content to carry corn at nominal -rates. In some respects, therefore, you may -expect a mitigation of the pressure, but in -other respects it is likely to continue.</p> - -<p>Nay, the Prime-Minister is reported as having -not long ago said,—and he ought to have the -best information on this subject, nor am I going -to impeach in the main what he stated,—he -gave it to be understood that there was about -to be a development of corn production in -Canada which would entirely throw into the -shade this corn production in the United States. -Well, that certainly was very cold comfort, as -far as the British agriculturist is concerned, -because he did not say—he could not say—that -the corn production of the United States was -to fall off, but there was to be added an enormous -corn production from Manitoba,<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">68</a> the -great province which forms now a part of the -Canada Dominion. There is no doubt, I believe, -that it is a correct expectation that vast or very -large quantities of corn will proceed from that -province, and therefore we have to look forward -to a state of things in which, for a considerable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">294</span> -time to come, large quantities of wheat will be -forthcoming from America, probably larger -quantities, and perhaps frequently at lower -prices than those at which the corn-producing -and corn-exporting districts of Europe have -commonly been able to supply us. Now that -I believe to be, gentlemen, upon the whole, not -an unfair representation of the state of things.</p> - -<p>How are you to meet that state of things? -What are your fair claims? I will tell you. In -my opinion your fair claims are, in the main, -two. One is to be allowed to purchase every -article that you require in the cheapest market, -and have no needless burden laid upon any -thing that comes to you and can assist you in -the cultivation of your land. But that claim -has been conceded and fulfilled.</p> - -<p>I do not know whether there is an object, an -instrument, a tool of any kind, an auxiliary of -any kind, that you want for the business of the -farmer, which you do not buy at this moment -in the cheapest market. But beyond that, you -want to be relieved from every unjust and unnecessary -legislative restraint. I say every -unnecessary legislative restraint, because taxation, -gentlemen, is unfortunately a restraint -upon us all, but we cannot say that it is always<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">295</span> -unnecessary, and we cannot say that it is always -unjust. Yesterday I ventured to state—and I -will therefore not now return to the subject—a -number of matters connected with the state of -legislation in which it appears to me to be of -vital importance, both to the agricultural interest -and to the entire community, that the occupiers -and cultivators of the land of this country -should be relieved from restraints under the -operation of which they now suffer considerably. -Beyond those two great heads, gentlemen, what -you have to look to, I believe, is your own -energy, your own energy of thought and action, -and your care not to undertake to pay rents -greater than, in reasonable calculation, you -think you can afford. I am by no means sure, -though I speak subject to the correction of -higher authority,—I am by no means sure that -in Scotland within the last fifteen or twenty -years something of a speculative character has -not entered into rents, and particularly, perhaps, -into the rents of hill farms. I remember hearing -of the augmentations which were taking -place, I believe, all over Scotland—I verified -the fact in a number of counties—about twelve -or fourteen years ago, in the rents of hill farms, -which I confess impressed me with the idea<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">296</span> -that the high prices that were then ruling, -and ruling increasingly from year to year, for -meat and wool, were perhaps for once leading -the wary and shrewd Scottish agriculturist -a little beyond the mark in the rents he -undertook to pay. But it is not this only which -may press. It is, more broadly, in a serious -and manful struggle that you are engaged, in -which you will have to exert yourselves to the -uttermost, in which you will have a right to -claim every thing that the legislature can do -for you; and I hope it may perhaps possibly be -my privilege and honor to assist in procuring -for you some of those provisions of necessary -liberation from restraint; but beyond that, it -is your own energies, of thought and action, to -which you will have to trust.</p> - -<p>Now, gentlemen, having said thus much, my -next duty is to warn you against quack remedies, -against delusive remedies, against the quack remedies -that there are plenty of people found to -propose, not so much in Scotland as in England; -for, gentlemen, from Mid-Lothian at present -we are speaking to England as well as to Scotland. -Let me give a friendly warning from this -northern quarter to the agriculturist of England -not to be deluded by those who call themselves<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">297</span> -his friends in a degree of special and superior -excellence, and who have been too much given -to delude him in other times; not to be deluded -into hoping relief from sources from which it -can never come. Now, gentlemen, there are -three of these remedies. The first of them, -gentlemen, I will not call a quack remedy at -all, but I will speak of it notwithstanding in the -tone of rational and dispassionate discussion. -I am not now so much upon the controversial -portion of the land question—a field which, -Heaven knows, is wide enough—as I am upon -matters of deep and universal interest to us in -our economic and social condition. There are -some gentlemen, and there are persons for -whom I for one have very great respect, who -think that the difficulties of our agriculture may -be got over by a fundamental change in the -land-holding system of this country.</p> - -<p>I do not mean, now pray observe, a change -as to the law of entail and settlement, and all -those restraints which, I hope, were tolerably -well disposed of yesterday at Dalkeith<a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">69</a>; but I -mean those who think that if you can cut up -the land, or a large part of it, into a multitude -of small properties, that of itself will solve the -difficulty, and start everybody on a career of -prosperity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">298</span></p> - -<p>Now, gentlemen, to a proposal of that kind, -I, for one, am not going to object upon the -ground that it would be inconsistent with the -privileges of landed proprietors. In my opinion, -if it is known to be for the welfare of the community -at large, the legislature is perfectly -entitled to buy out the landed proprietors. It -is not intended probably to confiscate the property -of a landed proprietor more than the property -of any other man; but the state is perfectly -entitled, if it please, to buy out the landed -proprietors as it may think fit, for the purpose -of dividing the property into small lots. I -don’t wish to recommend it, because I will show -you the doubts that, to my mind, hang about -that proposal; but I admit that in principle no -objection can be taken. Those persons who -possess large portions of the spaces of the -earth are not altogether in the same position as -the possessors of mere personalty; that personalty -does not impose the same limitations upon -the action and industry of man, and upon the -well-being of the community, as does the possession -of land; and, therefore, I freely own -that compulsory expropriation is a thing which -for an adequate public object is in itself admissible -and so far sound in principle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">299</span></p> - -<p>Now, gentlemen, this idea about small proprietors, -however, is one which very large -bodies and parties in this country treat with -the utmost contempt; and they are accustomed -to point to France, and say: “Look at France.” -In France you have got 5,000,000—I am not -quite sure whether it is 5,000,000 or even more; -I do not wish to be beyond the mark in any -thing—you have 5,000,000 of small proprietors, -and you do not produce in France as many -bushels of wheat per acre as you do in England. -Well, now I am going to point out to you a -very remarkable fact with regard to the condition -of France. I will not say that France -produces—for I believe it does not produce—as -many bushels of wheat per acre as England -does, but I should like to know whether the -wheat of France is produced mainly upon the -small properties of France. I believe that the -wheat of France is produced mainly upon the -large properties of France, and I have not any -doubt that the large properties of England are, -upon the whole, better cultivated, and more -capital is put into the land than in the large -properties of France. But it is fair that justice -should be done to what is called the peasant -proprietary. Peasant proprietary is an excellent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">300</span> -thing, if it can be had, in many points of -view. It interests an enormous number of the -people in the soil of the country, and in the -stability of its institutions and its laws. But -now look at the effect that it has upon the -progressive value of the land—and I am going -to give you a very few figures which I will -endeavor to relieve from all complication, lest -I should unnecessarily weary you. But what -will you think when I tell you that the agricultural -value of France—the taxable income -derived from the land, and therefore the income -of the proprietors of that land—has advanced -during our lifetime far more rapidly than that -of England? When I say England I believe -the same thing is applicable to Scotland, certainly -to Ireland; but I shall take England for -my test, because the difference between England -and Scotland, though great, does not -touch the principle; and, because it so happens -that we have some means of illustration from -former times for England, which are not equally -applicable for all the three kingdoms.</p> - -<p>Here is the state of the case. I will not go -back any further than 1851. I might go back -much further; it would only strengthen my case. -But for 1851 I have a statement made by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">301</span> -French official authority of the agricultural income -of France, as well as the income of other -real property, viz., houses. In 1851 the agricultural -income of France was £76,000,000. It -was greater in 1851 than the whole income -from land and houses together had been in -1821. This is a tolerable evidence of progress; -but I will not enter into the detail of it, because -I have no means of dividing the two—the house -income and the land income—for the earlier -year, namely, 1821. In 1851 it was £76,000,000—the -agricultural income; and in 1864 it had -risen from £76,000,000 to £106,000,000. That -is to say, in the space of thirteen years the increase -of agricultural values in France—annual -values—was no less than forty per cent., or three -per cent. per annum. Now, I go to England. -Wishing to be quite accurate, I shall limit myself -to that with respect to which we have positive -figures. In England the agricultural income -in 1813–14 was £37,000,000; in 1842 it -was £42,000,000, and that year is the one I will -take as my starting-point. I have given you -the years 1851 to 1864 in France. I could only -give you those thirteen years with a certainty -that I was not misleading you, and I believe -I have kept within the mark. I believe I might -have put my case more strongly for France.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">302</span></p> - -<p>In 1842, then, the agricultural income of -England was £42,000,000; in 1876 it was £52,000,000—that -is to say, while the agricultural -income of France increased forty per cent. in -thirteen years, the agricultural income of England -increased twenty per cent. in thirty-four -years. The increase in France was three per -cent. per annum; the increase in England was -about one half or three fifths per cent. per annum. -Now, gentlemen, I wish this justice to -be done to a system where peasant proprietary -prevails. It is of great importance. And will -you allow me, you who are Scotch agriculturists, -to assure you that I speak to you not only with -the respect which is due from a candidate to a -constituency, but with the deference which is -due from a man knowing very little of agricultural -matters to those who know a great deal? -And there is one point at which the considerations -that I have been opening up, and this rapid -increase of the value of the soil in France, bear -upon our discussions. Let me try to explain it. -I believe myself that the operation of economic -laws is what in the main dictates the distribution -of landed property in this country. I -doubt if those economic laws will allow it to remain -cut up into a multitude of small properties<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">303</span> -like the small properties of France. As to -small holdings, I am one of those who attach -the utmost value to them. I say that in the -Lothians—I say that in the portion of the -country where almost beyond any other large -holdings prevail—in some parts of which large -holdings exclusively are to be found—I attach -the utmost value to them. But it is not on -that point I am going to dwell, for we have no -time for what is unnecessary. What I do wish -very respectfully to submit to you, gentlemen, -is this. When you see this vast increase of the -agricultural value of France, you know at once it -is perfectly certain that it has not been upon the -large properties of France, which, if any thing, -are inferior in cultivation to the large properties -of England. It has been upon those very -peasant-properties which some people are so -ready to decry. What do the peasant-properties -mean? They mean what, in France, is -called the small cultivation—that is to say, cultivation -of superior articles, pursued upon a -small scale—cultivation of flowers, cultivation -of trees and shrubs, cultivation of fruits of every -kind, and all that, in fact, which rises above the -ordinary character of farming produce, and -rather approaches the produce of the gardener.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">304</span></p> - -<p>Gentlemen, I cannot help having this belief, -that, among other means of meeting the difficulties -in which we may be placed, our destiny -is that a great deal more attention will have to -be given than heretofore by the agriculturalists -of England, and perhaps even by the agriculturalists -of Scotland, to the production of fruits, -of vegetables, of flowers, of all that variety of -objects which are sure to find a market in a -rich and wealthy country like this, but which -have hitherto been consigned almost exclusively -to garden production. You know that in -Scotland, in Aberdeenshire—and I am told also -in Perthshire—a great example of this kind has -been set in the cultivation of strawberries—the -cultivation of strawberries is carried on over -hundreds of acres at once. I am ashamed, -gentlemen, to go further into this matter, as if -I was attempting to instruct you. I am sure -you will take my hint as a respectful hint—I -am sure you will take it as a friendly hint. I do -not believe that the large properties of this -country, generally or universally, can or will be -broken up into small ones. I do not believe -that the land of this country will be owned, as -a general rule, by those who cultivate it. I -believe we shall continue to have, as we have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">305</span> -had, a class of landlords and a class of cultivators, -but I most earnestly desire to see—not -only to see the relations of those classes to -one another harmonious and sound, their interests -never brought into conflict; but I desire to -see both flourishing and prospering, and the -soil of my country producing, as far as may be, -under the influence of capital and skill, every -variety of product which may give an abundant -livelihood to those who live upon it. I say, -therefore, gentlemen, and I say it with all -respect, I hope for a good deal from the small -culture, the culture in use among the small -proprietors of France; but I do not look to a -fundamental change in the distribution of -landed property in this country as a remedy for -agricultural distress.</p> - -<p>But I go on to another remedy which is proposed, -and I do it with a great deal less of respect; -nay, I now come to the region of what -I have presumed to call quack remedies. There -is a quack remedy which is called Reciprocity, -and this quack remedy is under the special protection -of quack doctors, and among the quack -doctors, I am sorry to say, there appear to be -some in very high station indeed; and if I am -rightly informed, no less a person than her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">306</span> -Majesty’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs -has been moving about the country, and indicating -a very considerable expectation that possibly -by reciprocity agricultural distress will be -relieved.<a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">70</a> Let me test, gentlemen, the efficacy -of this quack remedy for your, in some places, -agricultural pressure, and generally distress—the -pressure that has been upon you, the struggle in -which you are engaged. Pray watch its operation; -pray note what is said by the advocates of -reciprocity. They always say, We are the soundest -and best free-traders. We recommend -reciprocity because it is the truly effectual -method of bringing about free trade. At -present America imposes enormous duties upon -our cotton goods and upon our iron goods. -Put reciprocity into play, and America will become -a free-trading country. Very well, gentlemen, -how would that operate upon you agriculturists -in particular? Why, it would operate -thus: If your condition is to be regretted in -certain particulars, and capable of amendment, -I beg you to cast an eye of sympathy upon the -condition of the American agriculturist. It -has been very well said, and very truly said,—though -it is a smart antithesis,—the American -agriculturist has got to buy every thing that he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">307</span> -wants at prices which are fixed in Washington -by the legislation of America, but he has got to -sell every thing that he produces at prices which -are fixed in Liverpool—fixed by the free competition -of the world. How would you like -that, gentlemen—to have protective prices to -pay for every thing that you use—for your -manures, for your animals, for your implements, -for all your farming stock, and at the same time -to have to sell what you produce in the free -and open market of the world? But bring -reciprocity into play, and then, if reciprocity -doctors are right, the Americans will remove all -their protective duties, and the American -farmer, instead of producing, as he does now, -under the disadvantage, and the heavy disadvantage, -of having to pay protective prices for -every thing that constitutes his farming stock, -will have all his tools, and implements, and -manures, and every thing else purchased in the -free, open market of the world at free-trade -prices. So he will be able to produce his corn -to compete with you even cheaper than he -does now. So much for reciprocity considered -as a cure for distress. I am not going to consider -it now in any other point of view.</p> - -<p>But, gentlemen, there are another set of men<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">308</span> -who are bolder still, and who are not for reciprocity; -who are not content with that milder -form of quackery, but who recommend a reversion, -pure and simple, to what I may fairly call, -I think, the exploded doctrine of protection. -And upon this, gentlemen, I think it necessary, -if you will allow me, to say to you a few words, -because it is a very serious matter, and it is all -the more serious because her Majesty’s government—I -do not scruple to say—are coquetting -with this subject in a way which is not right. -They are tampering with it; they are playing -with it. A protective speech was made in the -House of Commons, in a debate last year by -Mr. Chaplin, on the part of what is called “the -agricultural interest.” Mr. Chaplin did not use -the word protection, but what he did say was -this: he said he demanded that the malt tax -should be abolished, and the revenue supplied -by a tax upon foreign barley or some other foreign -commodity. Well, if he has a measure of -that kind in his pocket, I don’t ask him to affix -the word protection to it. I can do that for -myself. Not a word of rebuke, gentlemen, was -uttered to the doctrines of Mr. Chaplin. He -was complimented upon the ability of his speech -and the well-chosen terms of his motion. Some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">309</span> -of the members of her Majesty’s government—the -minor members of her Majesty’s government—the -humbler luminaries of that great -constellation—have been going about the country -and telling their farming constituents that -they think the time has come when a return to -protection might very wisely be tried. But, -gentlemen, what delusions have been practised -upon the unfortunate British farmer! When -we go back for twenty years, what is now called -the Tory party was never heard of as the Tory -party. It was always heard of as the party -of protection. As long as the chiefs of the -protective party were not in office, as long as -they were irresponsible, they recommended -themselves to the good-will of the farmer as -protectionists, and said they would set him up -and put his interests on a firm foundation -through protection. We brought them into -office in the year 1852. I gave with pleasure a -vote that assisted to bring them into office. I -thought bringing them into office was the only -way of putting their professions to the test. -They came into office, and before they had -been six months in office they had thrown protection -to the winds. And that is the way in -which the British farmer’s expectations are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">310</span> -treated by those who claim for themselves in -the special sense the designation of his friends.</p> - -<p>It is exactly the same with the malt tax. -Gentlemen, what is done with the malt tax? -The malt tax is held by them to be a great -grievance on the British farmer. Whenever a -Liberal government is in office, from time to -time they have a great muster from all parts of -the country to vote for the abolition of the -malt tax. But when a Tory government comes -into office, the abolition of the malt tax is totally -forgotten; and we have now had six years -of a Tory government without a word said, as -far as I can recollect,—and my friend in the -chair could correct me if I were wrong,—without -a motion made, or a vote taken, on the -subject of the malt tax. The malt tax, great -and important as it is, is small in reference to -protection. Gentlemen, it is a very serious -matter indeed if we ought to go back to protection, -because how did we come out of protection -to free trade? We came out of it by a -struggle which in its crisis threatened to convulse -the country, which occupied Parliaments, -upon which elections turned, which took up -twenty years of our legislative life, which broke -up parties. In a word, it effected a change so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">311</span> -serious, that if, after the manner in which we -effected that change, it be right that we should -go back upon our steps, then all I can say is, -that we must lose that which has ever been one -of the most honorable distinctions of British -legislation in the general estimation of the -world,—that British legislation, if it moves -slowly, always moves in one direction—that we -never go back upon our steps.</p> - -<p>But are we such children that, after spending -twenty years—as I may say from 1840 to 1860—in -breaking down the huge fabric of protection, -in 1879 we are seriously to set about building -it up again? If that be right, gentlemen, -let it be done, but it will involve on our part a -most humiliating confession. In my opinion it -is not right. Protection, however, let me point -out, now is asked for in two forms, and I am -next going to quote Lord Beaconsfield for the -purpose of expressing my concurrence with -him.</p> - -<p>Mostly, I am bound to say, as far as my -knowledge goes, protection has not been asked -for by the agricultural interest, certainly not by -the farmers of Scotland.</p> - -<p>It has been asked for by certain injudicious -cliques and classes of persons connected with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">312</span> -other industries—connected with some manufacturing -industries. They want to have duties -laid upon manufactures.</p> - -<p>But here Lord Beaconsfield said—and I cordially -agree with him—that he would be no -party to the institution of a system in which -protection was to be given to manufactures, -and to be refused to agriculture.</p> - -<p>That one-sided protection I deem to be totally -intolerable, and I reject it even at the -threshold as unworthy of a word of examination -or discussion.</p> - -<p>But let us go on to two-sided protection, and -see whether that is any better—that is to say, -protection in the shape of duties on manufactures, -and protection in the shape of duties upon -corn, duties upon meat, duties upon butter and -cheese and eggs, and every thing that can be -produced from the land. Now, gentlemen, in -order to see whether we can here find a remedy -for our difficulties, I prefer to speculation and -mere abstract argument the method of reverting -to experience. Experience will give us very distinct -lessons upon this matter. We have the -power, gentlemen, of going back to the time -when protection was in full and unchecked -force, and of examining the effect which it produced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">313</span> -upon the wealth of the country. How, -will you say, do I mean to test that wealth? I -mean to test that wealth by the exports of the -country, and I will tell you why, because your -prosperity depends upon the wealth of your customers—that -is to say, upon their capacity to -buy what you produce. And who are your customers? -Your customers are the industrial -population of the country, who produce what -we export and send all over the world. Consequently, -when exports increase, your customers -are doing a large business, are growing wealthy, -are putting money in their pockets, and are able -to take that money out of their pockets in -order to fill their stomachs with what you produce. -When, on the contrary, exports do not -increase, your customers are poor, your prices -go down, as you have felt within the last few -years, in the price of meat, for example, and in -other things, and your condition is proportionally -depressed. Now, gentlemen, down to the -year 1842 no profane hand had been laid upon -the august fabric of protection. For recollect -that the farmers’ friends always told us that it -was a very august fabric, and that if you pulled -it down it would involve the ruin of the country. -That, you remember, was the commonplace<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">314</span> -of every Tory speech delivered from a -country hustings to a farming constituency. -But before 1842 another agency had come into -force, which gave new life in a very considerable -degree to the industry of the country, and that -was the agency of railways, of improved communication, -which shortened distance and cheapened -transit, and effected in that way an enormous -economical gain and addition to the -wealth of the country. Therefore, in order to -see what we owe to our friend protection, I -won’t allow that friend to take credit for -what was done by railways in improving the -wealth of the country. I will go to the time -when I may say there were virtually no railways—that -is the time before 1830. Now, gentlemen, -here are the official facts which I shall lay -before you in the simplest form, and, remember, -using round numbers. I do that because, although -round numbers cannot be absolutely accurate, -they are easy for the memory to take -in, and they involve no material error, no falsification -of the case. In the year 1800, gentlemen, -the exports of British produce were thirty-nine -and a half millions sterling in value. The -population at that time,—no, I won’t speak of -the exact figure of the population, because I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">315</span> -have not got it for the three kingdoms.<a id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">71</a> In the -years 1826 to 1830,—that is, after a medium period -of eight-and-twenty years,—the average of -our exports for those five years, which had been -thirty-nine and a half millions in 1800, was thirty-seven -millions. It is fair to admit that in 1800 -the currency was somewhat less sound, and -therefore I am quite willing to admit that the -thirty-seven millions probably meant as much -in value as the thirty-nine and a half millions; -but substantially, gentlemen, the trade of the -country was stationary, practically stationary, -under protection. The condition of the people -grew, if possible, rather worse than better. The -wealth of the country was nearly stationary. -But now I show you what protection produced; -that it made no addition, it gave no onward -movement to the profits of those who are -your customers. But on these profits you depend; -because, under all circumstances, gentlemen, -this I think, nobody will dispute,—a -considerable portion of what the Englishman -or the Scotchman produces will, some way -or other, find its way down his throat.</p> - -<p>What has been the case, gentlemen, since we -cast off the superstition of protection, since we -discarded the imposture of protection? I will<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">316</span> -tell you what happened between 1830, when -there were no railways, and 1842, when no -change, no important change, had been made -as to protection, but when the railway system -was in operation, hardly in Scotland, but in -England to a very great extent, to a very considerable -extent upon the main lines of communication. -The exports which in 1830 had -been somewhere about £37,000,000, between -1840 and 1842 showed an average amount of -£50,000,000. That seems due, gentlemen, to -the agency of railways; and I wish you to bear -in mind the increasing benefit now derived from -that agency, in order that I may not claim any -undue credit for freedom of trade. From 1842, -gentlemen, onward, the successive stages of -free trade began; in 1842, in 1845, in 1846, in -1853, and again in 1860, the large measures -were carried which have completely reformed -your customs tariff, and reduced it from a taxation -of twelve hundred articles to a taxation -of, I think, less than twelve.</p> - -<p>Now, under the system of protection, the export -trade of the country, the wealth and the -power of the manufacturing and producing -classes to purchase your agricultural products, -did not increase at all. In the time when railways<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">317</span> -began to be in operation, but before free -trade, the exports of the country increased, as -I have shown you, by £13,000,000 in somewhere -about thirteen years—that is to say, -taking it roughly, at the rate of £1,000,000 a -year.</p> - -<p>But since 1842, and down to the present time, -we have had, along with railways, always increasing -their benefits,—we have had the successive -adoption of free-trade measures; and what -has been the state of the export business of the -country? It has risen in this degree, that that -which from 1840 to 1842 averaged £50,000,000, -from 1873 to 1878 averaged £218,000,000. Instead -of increasing, as it had done between 1830 -and 1842, when railways only were at work, at -the rate of £1,000,000 a year—instead of remaining -stagnant as it did when the country -was under protection pure and simple, with no -augmentation of the export trade to enlarge the -means of those who buy your products, the -total growth in a period of thirty-five years was -no less than £168,000,000, or, taking it roughly, -a growth in the export trade of the country to -the extent of between £4,000,000 and £5,000,000 -a year. But, gentlemen, you know the fact. -You know very well, that while restriction was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">318</span> -in force, you did not get the prices that you -have been getting for the last twenty years. -The price of wheat has been much the same as -it had been before. The price of oats is a better -price than was to be had on the average -of protective times. But the price, with the -exception of wheat, of almost every agricultural -commodity, the price of wool, the price of meat, -the price of cheese, the price of every thing that -the soil produces, has been largely increased in -a market free and open to the world; because, -while the artificial advantage which you got -through protection, as it was supposed to be an -advantage, was removed, you were brought -into that free and open market, and the energy -of free trade so enlarged the buying capacity of -your customers, that they were willing and able -to give you, and did give you, a great deal more -for your meat, your wool, and your products in -general, than you would ever have got under the -system of protection. Gentlemen, if that be -true—and it cannot, I believe, be impeached or -impugned—if that be true, I don’t think I need -further discuss the matter, especially when so -many other matters have to be discussed.</p> - -<p>I will therefore ask you again to cross the -seas with me. I see that the time is flying onward,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">319</span> -and, gentlemen, it is very hard upon you -to be so much vexed upon the subject of policy -abroad. You think generally, and I think, that -your domestic affairs are quite enough to call -for all your attention. There was a saying of -an ancient Greek orator, who, unfortunately, -very much undervalued what we generally call -the better portion of the community—namely, -women; he made a very disrespectful observation, -which I am going to quote, not for the -purpose of concurring with it, but for the purpose -of an illustration.</p> - -<p>Pericles, the great Athenian statesman, said -with regard to women, their greatest merit was -to be never heard of.</p> - -<p>Now, what Pericles untruly said of women, I -am very much disposed to say of foreign affairs—their -great merit would be to be never heard -of. Unfortunately, instead of being never -heard of, they are always heard of, and you -hear almost of nothing else; and I can’t promise -you, gentlemen, that you will be relieved -from this everlasting din, because the consequences -of an unwise meddling with foreign affairs -are consequences that will for some time -necessarily continue to trouble you, and that -will find their way to your pockets in the shape -of increased taxation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">320</span></p> - -<p>Gentlemen, with that apology I ask you -again to go with me beyond the seas. And as -I wish to do full justice, I will tell you what I -think to be the right principles of foreign policy; -and then, as far as your patience and my -strength will permit, I will, at any rate for a -short time, illustrate those right principles by -some of the departures from them that have -taken place of late years. I first give you, gentlemen, -what I think the right principles of -foreign policy.</p> - -<p>The first thing is to foster the strength of -the empire by just legislation and economy at -home, thereby producing two of the great elements -of national power—namely, wealth, -which is a physical element, and union and contentment, -which are moral elements,—and to -reserve the strength of the empire, to reserve -the expenditure of that strength, for great and -worthy occasions abroad. Here is my first -principle of foreign policy: good government -at home.</p> - -<p>My second principle of foreign policy is this: -that its aim ought to be to preserve to the -nations of the world—and especially, were it -but for shame, when we recollect the sacred -name we bear as Christians, especially to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">321</span> -Christian nations of the world—the blessings -of peace. That is my second principle.</p> - -<p>My third principle is this: Even, gentlemen, -when you do a good thing, you may do it in so -bad a way that you may entirely spoil the -beneficial effect; and if we were to make ourselves -the apostles of peace in the sense of conveying -to the minds of other nations that we -thought ourselves more entitled to an opinion -on that subject than they are, or to deny their -rights—well, very likely we should destroy the -whole value of our doctrines. In my opinion -the third sound principle is this: to strive to -cultivate and maintain, aye, to the very uttermost, -what is called the concert of Europe; to -keep the powers of Europe in union together. -And why? Because by keeping all in union -together you neutralize, and fetter, and bind -up the selfish aims of each. I am not here to -flatter either England or any of them. They -have selfish aims, as, unfortunately, we in late -years have too sadly shown that we too have -had selfish aims; but their common action is -fatal to selfish aims. Common action means -common objects; and the only objects for -which you can unite together the powers of -Europe are objects connected with the common<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">322</span> -good of them all. That, gentlemen, is my -third principle of foreign policy.</p> - -<p>My fourth principle is: that you should -avoid needless and entangling engagements. -You may boast about them, you may brag -about them, you may say you are procuring -consideration for the country. You may say -that an Englishman can now hold up his head -among the nations. You may say that he is -now not in the hands of a Liberal ministry, -who thought of nothing but pounds, shillings, -and pence. But what does all this come to, -gentlemen? It comes to this, that you are increasing -your engagements without increasing -your strength; and if you increase engagements -without increasing strength, you diminish -strength, you abolish strength; you really -reduce the empire and do not increase it. You -render it less capable of performing its duties; -you render it an inheritance less precious to -hand on to future generations.</p> - -<p>My fifth principle is this, gentlemen: to acknowledge -the equal rights of all nations. You -may sympathize with one nation more than another. -Nay, you must sympathize in certain -circumstances with one nation more than another. -You sympathize most with those nations,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">323</span> -as a rule, with which you have the closest -connection in language, in blood, and in religion, -or whose circumstances at the time seem -to give the strongest claim to sympathy. But -in point of right all are equal, and you have no -right to set up a system under which one of -them is to be placed under moral suspicion or -espionage, or to be made the constant subject -of invective. If you do that, but especially if -you claim for yourself a superiority, a pharisaical -superiority over the whole of them, then I -say you may talk about your patriotism if you -please, but you are a misjudging friend of your -country, and in undermining the basis of the esteem -and respect of other people for your -country you are in reality inflicting the severest -injury upon it. I have now given you, gentlemen, -five principles of foreign policy. Let me -give you a sixth, and then I have done.</p> - -<p>And that sixth is: that in my opinion foreign -policy, subject to all the limitations that I have -described, the foreign policy of England should -always be inspired by the love of freedom. -There should be a sympathy with freedom, a -desire to give it scope, founded not upon visionary -ideas, but upon the long experience of -many generations within the shores of this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">324</span> -happy isle, that in freedom you lay the firmest -foundations both of loyalty and order; the -firmest foundations for the development of -individual character, and the best provision -for the happiness of the nation at large. In -the foreign policy of this country the name -of Canning ever will be honored. The name -of Russell ever will be honored. The name of -Palmerston ever will be honored by those who -recollect the erection of the kingdom of Belgium, -and the union of the disjoined provinces -of Italy. It is that sympathy, not a sympathy -with disorder, but, on the contrary, founded -upon the deepest and most profound love of -order,—it is that sympathy which in my opinion -ought to be the very atmosphere in which -a foreign secretary of England ought to live -and to move.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, it is impossible for me to do -more to-day than to attempt very slight illustrations -of those principles. But in uttering -those principles, I have put myself in a position -in which no one is entitled to tell me—you will -hear me out in what I say—that I simply object -to the acts of others, and lay down no rules -of action myself, I am not only prepared to -show what are the rules of action which in my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">325</span> -judgment are the right rules, but I am prepared -to apply them, nor will I shrink from their application. -I will take, gentlemen, the name -which, most of all others, is associated with -suspicion, and with alarm, and with hatred in -the minds of many Englishmen. I will take -the name of Russia, and at once I will tell you -what I think about Russia, and how I am prepared -as a member of Parliament to proceed in -any thing that respects Russia. You have -heard me, gentlemen, denounced sometimes, I -believe, as a Russian spy, sometimes as a Russian -agent, sometimes as perhaps a Russian -fool, which is not so bad, but still not very desirable. -But, gentlemen, when you come to -evidence, the worst thing that I have ever seen -quoted out of any speech or writing of mine -about Russia is that I did one day say, or I believe -I wrote, these terrible words: I recommended -Englishmen to imitate Russia in her -good deeds. Was not that a terrible proposition? -I cannot recede from it. I think we -ought to imitate Russia in her good deeds, and -if the good deeds be few, I am sorry for it, but -I am not the less disposed on that account to -imitate them when they come. I will now tell -you what I think just about Russia.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">326</span></p> - -<p>I make it one of my charges against the foreign -policy of her Majesty’s government, that, -while they have completely estranged from this -country—let us not conceal the fact—the feelings -of a nation of eighty millions, for that is -the number of the subjects of the Russian -empire,—while they have contrived completely -to estrange the feelings of that nation, they -have aggrandized the power of Russia. They -have aggrandized the power of Russia in two -ways, which I will state with perfect distinctness. -They have augmented her territory. -Before the European powers met at Berlin, -Lord Salisbury met with Count Schouvaloff, -and Lord Salisbury agreed that, unless he could -convince Russia by his arguments in the open -Congress of Berlin, he would support the restoration -to the despotic power of Russia of that -country north of the Danube which at the moment -constituted a portion of the free state of -Roumania. Why, gentlemen, what had been -done by the Liberal government, which forsooth, -attended to nothing but pounds, shillings, -and pence? The Liberal government -had driven Russia back from the Danube. -Russia, which was a Danubian power before -the Crimean War, lost this position on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">327</span> -Danube by the Crimean War; and the Tory -government, which has been incensing and inflaming -you against Russia, yet nevertheless, by -binding itself beforehand to support, when the -judgment was taken, the restoration of that -country to Russia,<a id="FNanchor_72" href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">72</a> has aggrandized the power -of Russia.</p> - -<p>It further aggrandized the power of Russia -in Armenia; but I would not dwell upon that -matter if it were not for a very strange circumstance. -You know that an Armenian province -was given to Russia after the war, but about -that I own to you I have very much less feeling -of objection. I have objected from the first, -vehemently, and in every form, to the granting -of territory on the Danube to Russia, and -carrying back the population of a certain country -from a free state to a despotic state; but -with regard to the transfer of a certain portion -of the Armenian people from the government -of Turkey to the government of Russia. I -must own that I contemplate that transfer with -much greater equanimity. I have no fear myself -of the territorial extensions of Russia, in -Asia, no fear of them whatever. I think the -fears are no better than old women’s fears. -And I don’t wish to encourage her aggressive<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">328</span> -tendencies in Asia, or anywhere else. But I -admit it may be, and probably is, the case that -there is some benefit attending upon the transfer -of a portion of Armenia from Turkey to -Russia.</p> - -<p>But here is a very strange fact. You know -that that portion of Armenia includes the -port of Batoum. Lord Salisbury has lately -stated to the country that, by the Treaty of -Berlin, the port of Batoum is to be only a -commercial port. If the Treaty of Berlin -stated that it was to be only a commercial port, -which, of course, could not be made an arsenal, -that fact would be very important. But happily, -gentlemen, although treaties are concealed -from us nowadays as long and as often -as is possible, the Treaty of Berlin is an open instrument. -We can consult it for ourselves; -and when we consult the Treaty of Berlin, we -find it states that Batoum shall be essentially a -commercial port, but not that it shall be only a -commercial port. Why, gentlemen, Leith is -essentially a commercial port, but there is -nothing to prevent the people of this country, -if in their wisdom or their folly they should -think fit, from constituting Leith as a great -naval arsenal or fortification; and there is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">329</span> -nothing to prevent the Emperor of Russia, -while leaving to Batoum a character that -shall be essentially commercial, from joining -with that another character that is not in the -slightest degree excluded by the treaty, and -making it as much as he pleases a port of military -defence. Therefore, I challenge the assertion -of Lord Salisbury; and as Lord Salisbury is -fond of writing letters to the <cite>Times</cite> to bring -the Duke of Argyll to book, he perhaps will -be kind enough to write another letter to the -<cite>Times</cite>, and tell in what clause of the Treaty of -Berlin he finds it written that the port of Batoum -shall be only a commercial port. For the -present, I simply leave it on record that he has -misrepresented the Treaty of Berlin.</p> - -<p>With respect to Russia, I take two views of -the position of Russia. The position of Russia -in Central Asia I believe to be one that has, in -the main, been forced upon her against her will. -She has been compelled—and this is the impartial -opinion of the world,—she has been -compelled to extend her frontier southward in -Central Asia by causes in some degree analogous -to, but certainly more stringent and imperative -than, the causes which have commonly -led us to extend, in a far more important manner,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">330</span> -our frontier in India; and I think it, gentlemen, -much to the credit of the late government, -much to the honor of Lord Clarendon -and Lord Granville, that, when we were in -office, we made a covenant with Russia, in -which Russia bound herself to exercise no influence -or interference whatever in Afghanistan, -we, on the other hand, making known our -desire that Afghanistan should continue free -and independent. Both the powers acted with -uniform strictness and fidelity upon this engagement -until the day when we were removed -from office. But Russia, gentlemen, has another -position—her position in respect to Turkey; -and here it is that I have complained of -the government for aggrandizing the power of -Russia; it is on this point that I most complain.</p> - -<p>The policy of her Majesty’s government was -a policy of repelling and repudiating the Slavonic -populations of Turkey-in-Europe, and of -declining to make England the advocate for -their interests. Nay, more, she became in their -view the advocate of the interests opposed to -theirs. Indeed, she was rather the decided -advocate of Turkey; and now Turkey is full of -loud complaints—and complaints, I must say,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">331</span> -not unjust—that we allured her on to her ruin; -that we gave the Turks a right to believe that -we should support them; that our ambassadors, -Sir Henry Elliot and Sir Austin Layard, both -of them said we had most vital interests in -maintaining Turkey as it was, and consequently -the Turks thought if we had vital interests, we -should certainly defend them; and they were -thereby lured on into that ruinous, cruel, and -destructive war with Russia. But by our conduct -to the Slavonic populations we alienated -those populations from us. We made our -name odious among them. They had every -disposition to sympathize with us, every disposition -to confide in us. They are, as a people, -desirous of freedom, desirous of self-government, -with no aggressive views, but hating the -idea of being absorbed in a huge despotic -empire like Russia. But when they found that -we, and the other powers of Europe under our -unfortunate guidance, declined to become in -any manner their champions in defence of the -rights of life, of property, and of female honor,—when -they found that there was no call which -could find its way to the heart of England -through its government, or to the hearts of -other powers, and that Russia alone was disposed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">332</span> -to fight for them, why naturally they -said, Russia is our friend. We have done -every thing, gentlemen, in our power to drive -these populations into the arms of Russia. If -Russia has aggressive dispositions in the direction -of Turkey—and I think it probable that -she may have them,—it is we who have laid the -ground upon which Russia may make her -march to the south,—we who have taught the -Bulgarians, the Servians, the Roumanians, the -Montenegrins, that there is one power in Europe, -and only one, which is ready to support -in act and by the sword her professions of sympathy -with the oppressed populations of Turkey.<a id="FNanchor_73" href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">73</a> -That power is Russia, and how can you -blame these people if, in such circumstances, -they are disposed to say, Russia is our friend? -But why did we make them say it? Simply -because of the policy of the government, not -because of the wishes of the people of this -country. Gentlemen, this is the most dangerous -form of aggrandizing Russia. If Russia is -aggressive anywhere, if Russia is formidable -anywhere, it is by movements toward the -south, it is by schemes for acquiring command -of the Straits or of Constantinople; and there -is no way by which you can possibly so much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">333</span> -assist her in giving reality to these designs, as -by inducing and disposing the populations of -these provinces, who are now in virtual possession -of them, to look upon Russia as their -champion and their friend, to look upon England -as their disguised, perhaps, but yet real -and effective enemy.</p> - -<p>Why, now, gentlemen, I have said that I -think it not unreasonable either to believe, or -at any rate to admit it to be possible, that -Russia has aggressive designs in the east of -Europe. I do not mean immediate aggressive -designs. I do not believe that the Emperor of -Russia is a man of aggressive schemes or policy. -It is that, looking to that question in the long -run, looking at what has happened, and what -may happen in ten or twenty years, in one -generation, in two generations, it is highly -probable that in some circumstances Russia -may develop aggressive tendencies toward the -south.</p> - -<p>Perhaps you will say I am here guilty of -the same injustice to Russia that I have been -deprecating, because I say that we ought not -to adopt the method of condemning anybody -without cause, and setting up exceptional principles -in proscription of a particular nation.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">334</span> -Gentlemen, I will explain to you in a moment -the principle upon which I act, and the grounds -upon which I form my judgment. They are -simply these grounds: I look at the position of -Russia, the geographical position of Russia -relatively to Turkey. I look at the comparative -strength of the two empires; I look at the importance -of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus -as an exit and a channel for the military and -commercial marine of Russia to the Mediterranean; -and what I say to myself is this: If -the United Kingdom were in the same position -relatively to Turkey which Russia holds upon -the map of the globe, I feel quite sure that we -should be very apt indeed both to entertain and -to execute aggressive designs upon Turkey. -Gentlemen, I will go further, and will frankly -own to you that I believe if we, instead of -happily inhabiting this island, had been in the -possession of the Russian territory, and in the -circumstances of the Russian people, we should -most likely have eaten up Turkey long ago. -And consequently, in saying that Russia ought -to be vigilantly watched in that quarter, I am -only applying to her the rule which in parallel -circumstances I feel convinced ought to be -applied, and would be justly applied, to judgments -upon our own country.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">335</span></p> - -<p>Gentlemen, there is only one other point on -which I must still say a few words to you, -although there are a great many upon which I -have a great many words yet to say somewhere -or other.</p> - -<p>Of all the principles, gentlemen, of foreign -policy which I have enumerated, that to which -I attach the greatest value is the principle of -the equality of nations; because, without recognizing -that principle, there is no such thing as -public right, and without public international -right there is no instrument available for settling -the transactions of mankind except material -force. Consequently the principle of equality -among nations lies, in my opinion, at the very -basis and root of a Christian civilization, and -when that principle is compromised or abandoned, -with it must depart our hopes of tranquillity -and of progress for mankind.</p> - -<p>I am sorry to say, gentlemen, that I feel it -my absolute duty to make this charge against -the foreign policy under which we have lived -for the last two years, since the resignation of -Lord Derby.<a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">74</a> It has been a foreign policy, in -my opinion, wholly, or to a perilous extent, -unregardful of public right, and it has been -founded upon the basis of a false, I think an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">336</span> -arrogant and a dangerous, assumption, although -I do not question its being made conscientiously -and for what was believed the advantage of the -country,—an untrue, arrogant, and dangerous -assumption that we are entitled to assume for -ourselves some dignity, which we should also -be entitled to withhold from others, and to -claim on our own part authority to do things -which we would not permit to be done by -others. For example, when Russia was going -to the Congress at Berlin, we said: “Your -Treaty of San Stefano is of no value. It is an -act between you and Turkey; but the concerns -of Turkey by the Treaty of Paris are the concerns -of Europe at large. We insist upon it -that the whole of your Treaty of San Stefano -shall be submitted to the Congress at Berlin, -that they may judge how far to open it in each -and every one of its points, because the concerns -of Turkey are the common concerns of -the powers of Europe acting in concert.”</p> - -<p>Having asserted that principle to the world, -what did we do? These two things, gentlemen: -secretly, without the knowledge of Parliament, -without even the forms of official -procedure, Lord Salisbury met Count Schouvaloff -in London, and agreed with him upon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">337</span> -the terms on which the two powers together -should be bound in honor to one another to act -upon all the most important points when they -came before the Congress at Berlin. Having -alleged against Russia that she should not be -allowed to settle Turkish affairs with Turkey, -because they were but two powers, and these -affairs were the common affairs of Europe, and -of European interest, we then got Count Schouvaloff -into a private room, and on the part of -England and Russia, they being but two powers, -we settled a large number of the most important -of these affairs in utter contempt and -derogation of the very principle for which the -government had been contending for months -before, for which they had asked Parliament to -grant a sum of £6,000,000, for which they had -spent that £6,000,000 in needless and mischievous -armaments.<a id="FNanchor_75" href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">75</a> That which we would not allow -Russia to do with Turkey, because we pleaded -the rights of Europe, we ourselves did with -Russia, in contempt of the rights of Europe. -Nor was that all, gentlemen. That act was -done, I think, on one of the last days of May, -in the year 1878, and the document was published, -made known to the world, made known -to the Congress at Berlin, to its infinite astonishment,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">338</span> -unless I am very greatly misinformed.</p> - -<p>But that was not all. Nearly at the same -time we performed the same operation in another -quarter. We objected to a treaty between -Russia and Turkey as having no authority, -though that treaty was made in the light of -day—namely, to the Treaty of San Stefano; and -what did we do? We went not in the light of -day, but in the darkness of the night,—not in -the knowledge and cognizance of other powers, -all of whom would have had the faculty and -means of watching all along, and of preparing -and taking their own objections and shaping -their own policy,—not in the light of day, but in -the darkness of the night, we sent the ambassador -of England in Constantinople to the -minister of Turkey, and there he framed, even -while the Congress of Berlin was sitting to determine -these matters of common interest, he -framed that which is too famous, shall I say, or -rather too notorious, as the Anglo-Turkish -Convention.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, it is said, and said truly, that -truth beats fiction; that what happens in -fact from time to time is of a character so -daring, so strange, that if the novelist were -to imagine it and put it upon his pages, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">339</span> -whole world would reject it from its improbability. -And that is the case of the Anglo-Turkish -Convention. For who would have -believed it possible that we should assert before -the world the principle that Europe only could -deal with the affairs of the Turkish empire, -and should ask Parliament for six millions to -support us in asserting that principle, should -send ministers to Berlin who declared that unless -that principle was acted upon they would -go to war with the material that Parliament had -placed in their hands, and should at the same -time be concluding a separate agreement with -Turkey, under which those matters of European -jurisdiction were coolly transferred to English -jurisdiction; and the whole matter was sealed -with the worthless bribe of the possession and -administration of the island of Cyprus!<a id="FNanchor_76" href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">76</a> I said, -gentlemen, the worthless bribe of the island of -Cyprus, and that is the truth. It is worthless -for our purposes—not worthless in itself; an -island of resources, an island of natural capabilities, -provided they are allowed to develop -themselves in the course of circumstances, without -violent and unprincipled methods of action. -But Cyprus was not thought to be worthless -by those who accepted it as a bribe. On the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">340</span> -contrary, you were told that it was to secure the -road to India; you were told that it was to be the -site of an arsenal very cheaply made, and more -valuable than Malta; you were told that it was -to revive trade. And a multitude of companies -were formed, and sent agents and capital -to Cyprus, and some of them, I fear, grievously -burned their fingers there. I am not going to -dwell upon that now. What I have in view is -not the particular merits of Cyprus, but the -illustration that I have given you in the case of -the agreement of Lord Salisbury with Count -Schouvaloff, and in the case of the Anglo-Turkish -Convention, of the manner in which -we have asserted for ourselves a principle that -we had denied to others—namely, the principle -of overriding the European authority of the -Treaty of Paris, and taking the matters which -that treaty gave to Europe into our own separate -jurisdiction.</p> - -<p>Now, gentlemen, I am sorry to find that that -which I call the pharisaical assertion of our -own superiority has found its way alike into -the practice, and seemingly into the theories of -the government. I am not going to assert -any thing which is not known, but the Prime-Minister -has said that there is one day in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">341</span> -year—namely, the 9th of November, Lord -Mayor’s Day—on which the language of sense -and truth is to be heard amidst the surrounding -din of idle rumors generated and fledged in the -brains of irresponsible scribes. I do not agree, -gentlemen, in that panegyric upon the 9th of -November. I am much more apt to compare -the ninth of November—certainly a well-known -day in the year—but as to some of the speeches -that have lately been made upon it, I am very -much disposed to compare it with another day -in the year, well known to British tradition, -and that other day in the year is the first of -April. But, gentlemen, on that day the Prime-Minister, -speaking out,—I do not question for a -moment his own sincere opinion,—made what I -think one of the most unhappy and ominous -allusions ever made by a minister of this -country. He quoted certain words, easily rendered -as “Empire and Liberty”—words (he -said) of a Roman statesman, words descriptive -of the state of Rome—and he quoted them as -words which were capable of legitimate application -to the position and circumstances of -England.<a id="FNanchor_77" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">77</a> I join issue with the Prime-Minister -upon that subject, and I affirm that nothing -can be more fundamentally unsound, more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">342</span> -practically ruinous, than the establishment of -Roman analogies for the guidance of British -policy. What, gentlemen, was Rome? Rome -was indeed an imperial state, you may tell me,—I -know not, I cannot read the counsels of -Providence,—a state having a mission to subdue -the world, but a state whose very basis it was -to deny the equal rights, to proscribe the independent -existence of other nations. That, -gentlemen, was the Roman idea. It has been -partially and not ill described in three lines of a -translation from Virgil by our great poet Dryden, -which runs as follows:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“O Rome! ’tis thine alone with awful sway<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To rule mankind, and make the world obey,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Disposing peace and war thine own majestic way.”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>We are told to fall back upon this example. -No doubt the word “Empire” was qualified -with the word “Liberty.” But what did the -two words “Liberty” and “Empire” mean in -a Roman mouth? They meant simply this: -“Liberty for ourselves, Empire over the rest of -mankind.”</p> - -<p>I do not think, gentlemen, that this ministry, -or any other ministry, is going to place us in -the position of Rome. What I object to is the -revival of the idea. I care not how feebly, I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">343</span> -care not even how, from a philosophic or historical -point of view, how ridiculous the attempt -at this revival may be. I say it indicates an intention—I -say it indicates a frame of mind, and -the frame of mind, unfortunately, I find, has -been consistent with the policy of which I have -given you some illustrations—the policy of -denying to others the rights that we claim -ourselves. No doubt, gentlemen, Rome may -have had its work to do, and Rome did its -work. But modern times have brought a different -state of things. Modern times have established -a sisterhood of nations, equal, independent, -each of them built up under that legitimate -defence which public law affords to -every nation, living within its own borders, and -seeking to perform its own affairs; but if one -thing more than another has been detestable to -Europe, it has been the appearance upon the -stage from time to time of men who, even in -the times of the Christian civilization, have -been thought to aim at universal dominion. It -was this aggressive disposition on the part of -Louis XIV., King of France, that led your -forefathers, gentlemen, freely to spend their -blood and treasure in a cause not immediately -their own, and to struggle against the method<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">344</span> -of policy which, having Paris for its centre, -seemed to aim at an universal monarchy.<a id="FNanchor_78" href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">78</a></p> - -<p>It was the very same thing, a century and a -half later, which was the charge launched, and -justly launched, against Napoleon, that under -his dominion France was not content even with -her extended limits, but Germany, and Italy, -and Spain, apparently without any limit to -this pestilent and pernicious process, were to -be brought under the dominion or influence -of France, and national equality was to be -trampled under foot, and national rights denied. -For that reason, England in the struggle -almost exhausted herself, greatly impoverished -her people, brought upon herself, and Scotland -too, the consequences of a debt that nearly -crushed their energies, and poured forth their -best blood without limit, in order to resist and -put down these intolerable pretensions.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen, it is but in a pale and weak and -almost despicable miniature that such ideas are -now set up, but you will observe that the poison -lies—that the poison and the mischief lie—in -the principle and not the scale.</p> - -<p>It is the opposite principle which, I say, has -been compromised by the action of the ministry, -and which I call upon you, and upon any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">345</span> -who choose to hear my views, to vindicate -when the day of our election comes; I mean -the sound and the sacred principle that Christendom -is formed of a band of nations who are -united to one another in the bonds of right; -that they are without distinction of great and -small; there is an absolute equality between -them,—the same sacredness defends the narrow -limits of Belgium as attaches to the -extended frontiers of Russia, or Germany, or -France. I hold that he who by act or word -brings that principle into peril or disparagement, -however honest his intentions may be, -places himself in the position of one inflicting—I -won’t say intending to inflict—I ascribe -nothing of the sort—but inflicting injury upon -his own country, and endangering the peace -and all the most fundamental interests of Christian -society.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">347</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="footnotes"> -<h2 id="ILLUSTRATIVE_NOTES" class="nobreak p1">ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES.</h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 1</span></a>, <a href="#Page_48">p. 48</a>. -</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i14">Æolus sits upon his lofty tower<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And holds the sceptre, calming all their rage;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Else would they bear sea, earth, and heaven profound<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In rapid flight, and sweep them through the air.<br /></span> -</div> -<div class="attrib">—<cite>Virgil’s Æneid</cite>, book i., lines 56–59.</div> -</div></div> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 2</span></a>, <a href="#Page_73">p. 73</a>.—Only so much of London was represented as -was included in the territory of the Corporation—scarcely -more than one square mile in the heart of the metropolis. The -other portions of the city, Westminster, Southwark, Paddington, -Chelsea, etc., were subsequently enfranchised as individual -boroughs.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 3</span></a>, <a href="#Page_73">p. 73</a>.—The condition of representation in Scotland -before the passage of the Reform Bill was worse than that in -England. The county franchise consisted of what were -known as “superiorities,” which were bought and sold like -stocks in open market. The County of Argyll, for example, -with a population of 100,000 had only 115 electors, of whom -84 resided outside the county, and were known as “out -voters.” The city and borough franchise was vested in the -town-councillors, who constituted a close corporation, with the -right of electing their own successors. Edinburgh and Glasgow, -the two first cities in Scotland, elected their representatives -in this way, each having a constituency of thirty-three -persons. See May, “Con. Hist.,” Am. ed., i., 284.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 4</span></a>, <a href="#Page_81">p. 81</a>.—The revolution of 1830 resulted in a complete -change in political affairs both in Belgium and in France. -The restoration of the Bourbons and the doctrines of the Holy -Alliance led to the general policy of repression. This policy -culminated in July, 1830, with the publication of five ordinances -issued by Charles X. of France. These ordinances, -which were an audacious violation of the constitution, suspended -the liberty of the press, dissolved the newly elected -Chamber of Deputies, changed the system of election and reduced -the number of representatives, convoked the two Chambers, -and appointed a new Council of State from the extreme -Royalist party. The city was thrown into immediate revolt, -and within four days the royal palace was in the hands of the -mob. On the 2d of August the king was obliged to abdicate -in favor of Louis Philippe. The revolution outside of France -made itself felt chiefly in Belgium, where, as the result of a -violent struggle, the friends of liberal government succeeded -in adopting a constitution modelled after that of England.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">348</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 5</span></a>, <a href="#Page_86">p. 86</a>.—Sir Robert Peel, in his argument in opposition -to the bill, had urged that Pitt, Fox, Canning, Brougham, -and Macaulay himself had been brought into Parliament -from nomination boroughs.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 6</span></a>, <a href="#Page_87">p. 87</a>.—There were two memorable instances during -the short political experience of Socrates, to either of -which Macaulay may have referred. In B.C. 406 he was a -member of the Senate and one of the Prytanes, when he refused -to put an unconstitutional question to vote on the trial of -the six generals, though all of the other Prytanes were against -him. Amid great political uproar he persisted in holding out, -and thus prevented the required unanimity. The other instance -was his refusal to obey an unconstitutional order of the -Thirty Tyrants to arrest Leon the Salaminian. See Plato, -“Apol. Socr.,” c. 20; and Grote, “Hist. of Greece,” viii., 200.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 7</span></a>, <a href="#Page_88">p. 88</a>.—Reference is made to the repeal of the -Oath of Supremacy Act, by which, in 1829, Irish Roman -Catholics otherwise qualified were admitted to the rights of -franchise. In order to prevent too large an influx of new -voters into political power, the forty-shilling condition of -rating was raised to a ten-pound condition. Mr. O’Connell -was twice elected for Clare before he could be admitted to -Parliament.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">349</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 8</span></a>, <a href="#Page_91">p. 91</a>.—Sir Robert Peel, in the early part of his -career, had attached himself to the Tories, and had been -elected to the House by the University of Oxford, with the expectation -that he would be the successful champion of Toryism. -When the Irish question, under the lead of O’Connell, -first assumed formidable proportions, Peel was ardently opposed -to the project of emancipation. In the course of the -debate, however, his opposition weakened, and he finally, on -coming into the ministry, became the champion of the cause -which he formerly opposed. Macaulay possibly hoped to draw -him into a similar course on the Reform Bill,—at all events to -weaken the force of his opposition to it. He was not successful; -but, as we shall hereafter see, Sir Robert pursued a nearly -identical course in regard to the Corn Laws.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 9</span></a>, <a href="#Page_109">p. 109</a>.—On the 12th of March, in the preceding -year, Cobden had moved for a select committee to inquire into -the effects of protective duties on agricultural tenants and -laborers. His speech on the occasion is one of great importance, -and may be read with profit in connection with the -speech here given. As Cobden himself was a manufacturer, -and as the repeal sought was believed to be especially in the -interests of his class, the remark was made that this new argument -came “from a suspicious source.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 10</span></a>, <a href="#Page_112">p. 112</a>.—Mr. Villiars was one of the earliest to advocate -the abolition of the Corn Laws, and in 1839 was a -recognized leader. In 1841 he was given charge of the interests -of the movement in the House of Commons, where he annually -“brought forward his motion.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">350</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 11</span></a>, <a href="#Page_118">p. 118</a>.—Quotations in support of the positions -taken were here introduced from speeches of Mr. Pusey, Mr. -Hobbes, and Lord Stanley.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 12</span></a>, <a href="#Page_121">p. 121</a>.—It should not be forgotten by the reader -that the lands of England are very generally owned in large estates, -and that these are rented in portions to the farmers, who -usually pay a fixed rent to the landlords in money. Sometimes -the agreement is for a long term of years, taking the form of a -lease, but more frequently, as Cobden shows, it is simply an -agreement for a short term only, sometimes even for a single -year.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 13</span></a>, <a href="#Page_126">p. 126</a>.—Mr. Huskisson, in the distressing period -after the close of the Napoleonic wars, grew into almost universal -favor by the wisdom of his financial methods. In 1823 he -became President of the Board of Trade, and from that time -till he was killed at the opening of the railway between Liverpool -and Manchester in 1830, was the most eminent financial -authority in the kingdom. He was the successor of Pitt in the -advocacy of greater freedom of trade, and the advocate of -methods which it was now Cobden’s work to develop.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 14</span></a>, <a href="#Page_135">p. 135</a>.—In the debate of March 12, 1844, it had -been hinted that Mr. Cobden, a manufacturer, was in a position -to be benefited by such agricultural distress as his measures -were calculated to bring on. It was urged that by admitting -grain free, farmers would be ruined, laborers driven -out of employment, wages would be depressed, and manufacturers -would secure labor at a reduced price.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 15</span></a>, <a href="#Page_136">p. 136</a>.—This assertion was also made at the debate -a year before.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_15A" href="#FNanchor_15A" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 15</span><i>a</i></a>, <a href="#Page_143">p. 143</a>.—The passage referred to, in what can -hardly have been other than mere playfulness, is the following: -</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenæ;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Urunt Lethæo perfusa papavera somno.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p> -For a crop of flax burns the land, also of oats; also poppies -impregnated with Lethæan sleep.—Georgics, Lib. i., 77.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">351</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 16</span></a>, <a href="#Page_150">p. 150</a>.—At the time Cobden was speaking it was -the custom, whenever there was a “division,” for those in opposition -to the motion to go out into the “lobby,” and for -those favoring the motion to remain in the House. The official -count was then made by two sets of tellers. At the present -time, both the “Ayes” and “Noes” go into lobbies, the -“ayes” to the left of the speaker, the “noes” to the right.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 17</span></a>, <a href="#Page_150">p. 150</a>.—The repealing bill, it will be remembered, -finally passed the House of Lords June 26, 1846. It was not -the report, however, but what Sir Robert Peel called “the -cogency of events,” that hastened the final action.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 18</span></a>, <a href="#Page_161">p. 161</a>.—During the whole of Walpole’s career he -held the views here attributed to him. But his love of office -was greater than his love of peace. When, therefore, the nation -clamored for war with Spain, he declared war, though, as -Lord Mahon says: “No man had a clearer view of the impending -mischief and misery.” The same historian writes -that when the bells from every steeple in the city proclaimed -the satisfaction of the people over the declaration of war, Walpole -remarked: “They may ring the bells now; before long -they will be wringing their hands.” Walpole knew that the -country was utterly without preparation for war; and yet -rather than lose his place, he was willing to be the instrument -of immeasurable mischief and misery. When the disasters of -the war came on, the Opposition forced the responsibility of it -on the Prime-Minister, and drove him from power in 1742.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 19</span></a>, <a href="#Page_163">p. 163</a>.—The speech of Sir Robert Peel here referred -to was a part of a memorable debate in June, 1850, on -what is known as the “Don Pacifico Affair.” Don Pacifico was -a Jew born at Gibraltar (and therefore an English subject), -who settled in Athens. In a riot his house was assailed and its -furniture destroyed. His claim was presented to the English -officials, who at once demanded £500 damages for Don Pacifico. -After some delays the English brought a man-of-war -from Constantinople, blockaded the harbor of Athens, and declined -to allow any vessel to depart till the claim was settled. -The French and Russian governments were thrown into considerable -excitement, and the French ambassador left the English -court. A resolution of censure was introduced into the -House of Lords, and was carried by a majority of thirty-seven. -In the House of Commons, however, matters took a different -turn. Mr. Roebuck introduced a resolution of general approval -of the foreign policy of the government, intended, of -course, to give the government a better chance to escape the -downfall that seemed impending. Lord Palmerston, then -Minister for Foreign Affairs, defended the government in a -speech of extraordinary power, extending, as Mr. Gladstone -said, “from the dusk of one day till the dawn of the next.” -The opponents claimed that Don Pacifico should have sought -redress in the Greek courts, while Palmerston claimed that the -condition of the Greek courts was such as to make a judicial -appeal simply a mockery. The debate extended over four -nights, closing with the speech of Peel in opposition to the -government. The resolution of approval was carried by a -majority of forty-six. The Don Pacifico case was finally submitted -to French commissioners, by whom the amount of damages -was fixed. The speech of Peel was memorable for its -pacific and judicial tone, as well as for the fact that it was delivered -only a few hours before the accident from which he -died on the 2d of July. See Peel’s “Speeches,” vol. iv.; -Hansard’s “Debates” for 1850, and “Ann. Reg.,” xcii., -57–88; Phillimore, “Int. Law,” iii., 76.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">352</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 20</span></a>, <a href="#Page_167">p. 167</a>.—The important assertion here made can -hardly be successfully disputed, though there are many who -would be reluctant to admit its truth. The modern Tories, -with Disraeli at their head, have held that the reform of 1832 -tended still further to weaken the masses of the people. This -position, fully elaborated and defended in Disraeli’s “Defence -of the Constitution,” his “Life of Lord George Bentinck,” -and his speech introducing the Reform Bill of 1867, is touched -upon briefly also in the same orator’s speech on “Conservative -Principles” given below. The question is elaborately -considered in the first two chapters of Lecky’s “History of -England.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">353</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 21</span></a>, <a href="#Page_168">p. 168</a>.—This must be regarded as mere conjecture, -though stated as a fact. Even the formidable alliances against -Louis XIV. in the War of the Spanish Succession were not -able to prevent the French king from keeping his heir upon -the Spanish throne. If the Bourbons, in spite of the allied -armies with Marlborough at their head, were able to hold their -position, they would hardly have done less if England had not -interfered. To say that a union of the crowns “would have -been impossible in the nature of things,” is to presume that -the line of succession must have been just what it was. But -this, of course, could not have been foreseen. If a disturbance -of the balance of power ever justifies war, it did so in the case -of the War of the Spanish Succession.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 22</span></a>, <a href="#Page_168">p. 168</a>.—This statement is not quite correct. The -English Plenipotentiaries at Vienna were Lord Castelreagh -and Lord Wellington. Castelreagh died in 1822 and Wellington -in 1852; whereas the alliance between the governments of -England and France to prevent the aggressions of Russia did -not occur till August, 1853. On the 12th of August Lord -Aberdeen declared that the four great powers, England, France, -Austria, and Prussia, were acting cordially together; but on -the 20th of the same month Lord Clarendon announced that -an offensive alliance had been formed between England and -France. It was this alliance which made all further efforts in -behalf of peace hopeless. It was the opinion not only of Cobden -and Bright, but also of Disraeli and of the Tories generally, -that the act which made the war inevitable was the abandonment -of Austria and Prussia and the formation of this -alliance with France. Such is also the opinion of Mr. Kinglake. -See Hansard’s “Debates,” cxxix., 1424, 1768, and -1826; also Kinglake’s “Crimean War,” <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">passim</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">354</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 23</span></a>, <a href="#Page_169">p. 169</a>.—The so-called doctrine of the “balance of -power,” whatever may be said against it, has been generally -held by Europe ever since it was so energetically advocated by -Henry IV., of France, at the beginning of the seventeenth -century. The doctrine may be said to exercise the functions -of a general European police to prevent any inequitable disturbance -of territorial limits. It is difficult to see what but -that doctrine could have prevented France under Napoleon -from getting and holding two thirds of Europe; what would -have prevented Russia long since from destroying Turkey; -indeed what would prevent the strongest power from ultimately -absorbing the whole. It did not prevent the destruction -of Poland, partly because there was a general conviction -that Poland was hardly worth saving, and partly because the -partitioning powers were so strong as to make interference at -least a very costly operation. These facts are enough to show -that there is a very important other side to Mr. Bright’s attractive -doctrine of non-interference. The question is not -simply whether Europe has been made better, but also whether -she has not been prevented from being made worse.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 24</span></a>, <a href="#Page_171">p. 171</a>.—The orator might also have said that the -English people have very largely given up all <em>desire</em> that the -national debt should be paid off. It affords a convenient investment, -which restrains an undue inclination to speculation -and affords a steady and certain income to vast numbers of the -people. Its payment would create a disturbance which no -English minister would venture to advocate.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 25</span></a>, <a href="#Page_172">p. 172</a>.—This statement is undoubtedly true; and -yet it can hardly be denied that the course taken by England -in the Napoleonic wars added very greatly to the importance -of England as a power. A little later, Mr. Bright objects to -the policy pursued, because “it is impossible that we can -gain one single atom of advantage for this country.” His -opponents would claim that England has gained immense -advantages from the very influence she has acquired, and as -shown by the very examples given by the orator. They would -probably also say that no other class gained so much as the -manufacturers, the very class to which Mr. Bright belonged.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">355</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 26</span></a>, <a href="#Page_174">p. 174</a>.—The wit of this passage consists in its use -of the expression “out-door relief.” In England the poor -laws provide for two kinds of relief—that afforded in the work-houses -and that afforded to the poor in their own homes. The -latter is popularly known as “out-door relief.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 27</span></a>, <a href="#Page_175">p. 175</a>.—When the claim of Denmark to the -Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein came forward, in consequence -of the death of the last ducal peer, England decided that she -had no right to interfere, though the claims of Denmark were -earnestly pressed by the Crown Princess of England, a daughter -of the Danish king. The question was finally taken up -by Prussia, in opposition to the claims of Denmark, in a manner -that aroused the hostility of Austria, and brought on the -war of 1866 between Austria and Prussia.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 28</span></a>, <a href="#Page_176">p. 176</a>.—In 1830 the governments of Great Britain, -France, and Russia entered into a treaty, establishing and -guaranteeing the constitutional monarchy of Greece. This was -in effect acknowledging the independence of Greece from Turkey, -and guaranteeing to defend that independence. Mr. -Bright could hardly mean to be understood as objecting to -such a guarantee. A loan, furnished by the Rothschilds, of -£2,343,750 was also guaranteed by the three powers, each being -responsible for one third. As the Greek Government did -not pay, the guarantors were held responsible; and in 1866 the -amount that had been paid by England was £1,060,385. This, -of course, was held as a claim against Greece. In 1866 a -convention of the powers agreed that the Greek Government -should pay £12,000 a year till all is liquidated.—Martin’s -“Statesman’s Year-Book for 1873,” p. 285.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">356</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 29</span></a>, <a href="#Page_176">p. 176</a>.—“Animated by the desire of maintaining -the integrity and independence of the Ottoman empire as a -security for the peace of Europe,” is the avowal of the object -of the treaty of July 15, 1840, entered into at London by -all the powers except France. The occasion of it was the revolt -of Egypt under Mehemet Ali.—Phillimore, “Int. Law,” -i., 86.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 30</span></a>, <a href="#Page_177">p. 177</a>.—As indicated in <span class="smcap">Note 22</span>, the diplomatic -act which precipitated the Crimean War was the offensive alliance -of England and France against Russia. The cause of -this alliance was the attitude of Prussia, which at that time -was very weak, and was under the powerful influence of Russia. -After the practical withdrawal of Prussia from her treaty -obligations to protect Turkey, Austria decided not to venture -upon war without the coöperation of Prussia, unless her own -Danubian principalities should be threatened. The withdrawal -of Russia from the mouth of the Danube, and the -transfer of the seat of war to the Crimea, left Austria free to decline -to act with England and France. Some of the diplomatic -correspondence was spirited, though perhaps it is going -too far to call it either “offensive” or “insolent.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 31</span></a>, <a href="#Page_177">p. 177</a>.—It is an established principle of international -usage that no nation is obliged to accept or retain a foreign -minister that is offensive to it, and any nation has a -right to request the recall of a minister who is for any reason -offensive to it. In 1789 Jefferson requested the French Government -to recall Count de Moustier because he was “politically -and morally offensive.”—Trescott’s “Am. Dip. Hist.,” 34. -America requested the recall of Genet, and France in turn requested -the recall of Morris, in 1794, for political reasons.—Hildreth, -2d series, i., 477. America also requested the recall -of Poussin in 1849.—“Ammaire,” xl., 665. In 1872 the -Russian minister Catacazy engaged in writing political articles -for the <cite>New York Herald</cite> offensive to the government, and his -recall was requested. In 1809 the English Government was -requested to recall Minister Jackson from Washington, “for -questioning the word of the Government.” The case alluded -to by Mr. Bright was doubtless that of Sir John Crampton, -whose recall was requested in 1856, because he was found to -be enlisting troops in the United States for the Crimean War.—“Am. -Reg. for 1856,” 277; “Ex. Docs. Thirty-fourth Congress,” -107. In all these cases the request was acceded to -without delay. According to Phillimore, ii., 149: “It is in -the discretion of the receiving state to refuse the reception of -a certain diplomatic agent.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">357</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 32</span></a>, <a href="#Page_177">p. 177</a>.—This is a very immoderate statement, certainly -not justified by the facts. Everybody conceded that -“Don Pacifico” had a claim that was not “false.” The only -question in dispute was whether the claim ought not to have -been first presented to the Greek courts. See <a href="#Footnote_19">Note 19</a>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 33</span></a>, <a href="#Page_177">p. 177</a>.—In 1856 the conduct of the King of Naples -toward political offenders was so tyrannical as to be a scandal -to all Christendom. The governments of England and France -addressed a remonstrance to the government of Naples “upon -the general maladministration of justice in that country, and -upon the danger thereby accruing to the Italian peninsula especially, -and generally to the peace of Europe.” As the remonstrance -was rejected by the King of Naples, England and -France showed their condemnation of the internal policy of -the Neapolitan Government by withdrawing their ambassadors, -as under the law of nations they had a perfect right to do. -See Phillimore, ii., 148, and iii. Preface, ix.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 34</span></a>, <a href="#Page_177">p. 177</a>.—In 1856 Lord Dalhousie, Governor-General -of India, annexed the kingdom of Oude under the following -circumstances: The East India Company had bound -themselves by treaty “to defend the sovereigns of Oude against -foreign and domestic enemies, on condition that <em>the State should -be governed in such a manner as to render the lives and property -of its population safe</em>.” Lord Dalhousie found on investigation -that “while the Company performed their part of the contract, -the King of Oude so governed his dominions as to make his -rule a curse to his own people, and to all neighboring territories.” -McCarthy (“Hist. of Our Own Time,” Eng. ed., iii., -61), though an extreme Liberal in his sympathies, speaks of -Lord Dalhousie’s act as “not only justifiable, but actually inevitable.” -The act was only one of many causes of the Sepoy -rebellion. The language of the orator seems altogether extravagant -and unwarranted.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">358</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 35</span></a>, <a href="#Page_178">p. 178</a>.—The “Opium War” of 1839, and the -“Lorcha Arrow War” of 1856, are now generally and justly condemned. -But to say that “no man with a spark of morality in -his composition,” or “who cares any thing for the opinion of his -fellow-countrymen,” “has dared to justify that war,” is scarcely -less than an absurd and amusing exaggeration. The election -of 1856 turned expressly on the justification of Lord Palmerston -in the “Lorcha Arrow War,” and it was Bright’s opposition to -the war which caused his defeat at Birmingham, and obliged -him to take a seat for Manchester. The causes of both of -these wars are given with admirable spirit in McCarthy’s -“History of Our Own Time,” chapters viii. and ix. Cobden -also lost his seat for opposition to the war.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 36</span></a>, <a href="#Page_179">p. 179</a>.—At the conclusion of the Chinese War in -1858 there were some who desired a foothold in Japan. Lord -Elgin went to the Japanese capital and succeeded in negotiating -a treaty of “peace, friendship, and commerce,” the first -concluded by Japan with any Western power. This treaty, -signed Aug. 26, 1858, and ratified July 11, 1859, is given in -“Am. Reg.,” ci., 216, 268.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">359</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 37</span></a>, <a href="#Page_182">p. 182</a>.—This statement is very difficult to understand. -The exports of British produce have varied not very -greatly during the past twenty years. In 1873 the exports -amounted to £255,164,603. This amount declined with considerable -regularity till 1879, when it was £191,531,756. It -then began to increase, and in 1883 reached £241,461,162. -Martin, “Statesman’s Year-Book, for 1884,” 264. It seems -impossible to reconcile these figures with Mr. Bright’s statements, -unless he means <em>profit</em> instead of “trade.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 38</span></a>, <a href="#Page_182">p. 182</a>.—The facts do not justify this statement. -At the time of the Peace of Paris, in September, 1815, the -national debt of Great Britain was £900,436,845. In March -of 1855 it had been diminished to £808,518,448, £91,918,397 -having been paid off. The two years of the Crimean War increased -the debt by £30,399,995. But since March, 1857, the -decrease has been £82,541,924, leaving the debt March 31, -1883, £756,376,519, a diminution of £144,060,326 since 1815. -By a law of 1875 provision was made for the gradual extinction -of the debt by means of a sinking fund to be annually provided -for in the budget. In 1883 a bill passed providing still -further for a series of terminable annuities, by which, in the next -twenty years, £173,000,000 will be paid.—Martin, “Statesman’s -Year-Book, for 1884,” 230.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 39</span></a>, <a href="#Page_186">p. 186</a>.—This is not quite accurately stated. At -the time of the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">coup d’état</i> Lord Palmerston was Minister of -Foreign Affairs. He did indeed in a conversation with Count -Walewski, the French Ambassador at London, express his approval -of the course of the French Government, but so far -from speaking “ostensibly for the cabinet, for the sovereign, -and the English nation,” he offered simply his private opinion. -The English Government formally determined upon a course -of the strictest neutrality; and when it was found that Palmerston’s -approval had been sent by Walewski to France, the -message was not only disavowed, but Palmerston was summarily -dismissed. See McCarthy, ii., chap. xxii., 148–154, -Eng. ed. The <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">coup d’état</i> was in December, 1851; but there -was no alliance till August of 1853, long after the people of -France had given their sanction to the empire.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">360</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 40</span></a>, <a href="#Page_192">p. 192</a>.—This hardly accords with what the orator -said a few moments ago of India—“a vast country which we -do not know how to govern.” The East India Company’s -power was broken by the Sepoy rebellion, and the government -was transferred to the crown in 1858. The government -of Canada was made substantially what it now is, on the recommendation -of Lord Durham, in 1839.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 41</span></a>, <a href="#Page_195">p. 195</a>.—The aggregate number of paupers has -changed but slightly during the last twenty years. In 1874 -the total number in England and Wales was 829,281; in 1883, -799,296. But in Ireland the number has increased from 79,050 -in 1874 to 115,684 in 1883. In Scotland the number has -diminished from 111,996 in 1873, to 95,081 in 1882.—Martin, -“Statesman’s Year-Book, for 1884,” 253, 257, 261.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 42</span></a>, <a href="#Page_223">p. 223</a>.—The daily political duties of the Queen are -described somewhat in detail in Ewald’s “The Crown and its -Advisers,” where the influence of the crown is held to be much -greater than it has sometimes been supposed to be. In 1850 the -question was very fully considered by the government, and the -requirement of the Queen, that no important action should be -taken that had not first received her consideration and sanction, -was set forth in a “memorandum” written to the Prime-Minister. -Because of a violation of the principles set forth in -this memorandum, Lord Palmerston was dismissed in the following -year. The details of the controversy, which ended in -the more complete establishment of the constitutional principle, -are given in McCarthy, “History of Our Own Time,” -chap. xxii., Eng. ed., vol. ii., pp. 124–163.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 43</span></a>, <a href="#Page_224">p. 224</a>.—The ablest and most suggestive discussion -of this important topic is to be found in Bagehot’s volume on -“The English Constitution.” In the second chapter the -author, with characteristic ability, traces “how the actions of -a retired widow and an unemployed youth became of such -importance” to the English people.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">361</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 44</span></a>, <a href="#Page_224">p. 224</a>.—Reference is here made to Sir Charles -Dilke’s speech at Nottingham adverted to in the sketch of the -orator.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 45</span></a>, <a href="#Page_226">p. 226</a>.—The salaries of English ministers are -fixed not by Parliament but by the ministers themselves. This -subject was considered at length in 1831, and again in 1834, -when it was held in Parliament that the determination of salaries -of executive officers is an executive and not a legislative -function. The salaries, therefore, are fixed by the government, -and are included in the budget presented to the -Commons. The ministers, of course, act in full view of their -responsibility; but the estimates for salaries have never, except -in one instance, been modified. The salaries of ministers -in England are generally £5,000, though that of the Lord -Chancellor, who is at the head of the Department of Justice, -is £10,000. The salary of the President of the United States -was $25,000 until 1872, when it was fixed by Congress at -$50,000. On the salaries of English officials, see Todd, “Parliamentary -Government in England,” i., 396–420. Members -of Parliament, as such, receive no salaries whatever.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="fnanchor">46</a> <span class="smcap">Note 46</span>, 231.—In Bagehot’s “English Constitution,” chap. -iv., is a very brilliant and suggestive discussion of the several -political as well as social functions of the House of Lords. In -this chapter, p. 100, Eng. ed., is to be found a remarkable -letter of Lord Wellington to Lord Derby on “managing” the -House of Lords. Bagehot argues that a second or revising -chamber, to perform its work well, must have “independence,” -“leisure,” and “intelligence,” and that on the whole -these qualities are found in large measure in the House of -Lords. Though many of the lords are ignorant of political -affairs, the ignorant ones generally are so good as to remain -away from the House and leave matters in the hands of those -who are not ignorant.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">362</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 47</span></a>, <a href="#Page_232">p. 232</a>.—The question of raising persons to a life -peerage has often been considered in England. In 1856 Lord -Wensleydale was summoned “for and during the term of his -natural life,” in imitation of what had been done four hundred -years before; but the measure awakened violent opposition on -the part of the House of Lords, which held that the independence -of the House was thereby imperilled. The House decided -that although the crown had the right to create “life -peers,” such peers had no right to sit and vote in the House of -Peers. After this decision, Lord Wensleydale did not attempt -to take his seat, until shortly afterward he was created an hereditary -peer as Baron Parke.—Hansard clviii. 1457, 1469; -Todd, i. 368. In this same year a committee of the House of -Lords was appointed to further consider the question, and -reported recommending a statute “to confer life peerages upon -two persons who had served for five years as judges, and that -they should sit with the Lord Chancellor, as Judges of Appeal.” -A bill founded on this recommendation passed the Lords, but -was thrown out by the Commons. The principle was revived, -however, in the “Appellate Jurisdiction Act of 1876,” by which -provision was made for the constant presence in the House of -Lords of four “Lords of Appeal in Ordinary,” to rank as Barons. -They are selected from those who have held “high judicial -office” and their dignity “does not descend to their -heirs.”—Amos’ “Fifty Years of the English Constitution.” 19.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 48</span></a>, <a href="#Page_233">p. 233</a>.—This suggestion probably had its origin in -the organization of the Roman Senate, which was made up of -persons appointed for life from those who had been elected to -the higher offices in the state.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 49</span></a>, <a href="#Page_235">p. 235</a>.—The period referred to was that immediately -after 1832. The reformed parliament was strongly -Liberal, and several measures were proposed to alter the constitution -of the House of Lords. The headlong rate of the reformers -was checked by the accession of the opposite party in -1835; but O’Connell was still clamorous for reform of the -Lords, and in May of 1836 he introduced a resolution to make -the Upper House elective, but the motion was received with -universal derision.—Martineau, “Hist. of the Peace,” iii. 552.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">363</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 50</span></a>, <a href="#Page_238">p. 238</a>.—After the Reform Bill of 1832 was passed -it was soon evident that it would have to be supplemented. -Again and again attempts were made to carry a measure that -would extend the franchise on the same principles as those -acted on in 1832. But the nobility and the middle classes appeared -to have no further interest in reform. Meantime there -were others who had thought of reform in a different method. -As early as 1821 Lord Durham had proposed the establishment -of electoral districts, essentially according to the custom in -America. In 1859, when Derby and Disraeli were in power, -Disraeli introduced a bill enlarging the suffrage and essentially -modifying the methods of determining qualifications. But -this, too, failed. Another reform bill was introduced by -Palmerston’s government in 1860, and still another by Gladstone -in 1866. But all were unsuccessful till Mr. Disraeli’s -bill of 1867. This was founded on the principle that the franchise -should depend on permanency of interest, rather than -amount of tax paid.—McCarthy, iv., 94–117; Molesworth, iii., -303–347.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 51</span></a>, <a href="#Page_248">p. 248</a>.—On the question here raised, there is a -great variety of opinion, but the best authorities will accept -the statement of the orator as substantially correct. The -most careful consideration of the question has been presented -in “Six Centuries of Work and Wages,” by Professor Thorold -Rogers, who has devoted many years to the subject, and is unquestionably -the highest living authority. On p. 522 (Am. -ed.) he says: “Through nearly three centuries the condition -of the English laborer was that of plenty and hope; from perfectly -intelligible causes it sunk within a century to so low a -level as to make the workman practically helpless, and the -lowest point was reached just about the outbreak of the great -war between King and Parliament. From this time it gradually -improved, till in the first half of the eighteenth century, -though still far below the level of the fifteenth, it achieved -comparative plenty. Then it began to sink again, and the -workmen experienced the direst misery during the great continental -war. Latterly, almost within our own memory and -knowledge, it has experienced a slow and partial improvement, -the causes of which are to be found in the liberation of -industry from protective laws, in the adoption of certain principles -which restrained employment in some directions, and, -most of all, in the concession to laborers of the right, so long -denied, of forming labor partnerships.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">364</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 52</span></a>, <a href="#Page_257">p. 257</a>.—The rate of increase in the population of -Great Britain is such that there need be no especial alarm. In -1879, according to the official statistics, the number of births -in Great Britain and Ireland in excess of the deaths was 436,780, -while in France it was only 96,647. To every 10,000 -inhabitants in Great Britain the annual addition is 101, while -in France it is only 96. In Germany it is 115; in the United -States (largely through immigration, of course) it is 260. The -number of births per 1,000 in France is annually 26; in -Switzerland, 30; in Denmark, 31; in Belgium, 32; in England, -35; in Austria, 38; in Saxony, 40; and in Russia, 50.—Raoul -Frary, “Le National Peril”; also “Bradstreet’s” -for Oct. 27, 1883, on “Vital Statistics,” 259.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 53</span></a>, <a href="#Page_257">p. 257</a>.—The question most prominently before -the English people at the time of the fall of Disraeli’s government -in December of 1868 was the bill for disestablishing the -Irish Church. This was the real issue at the election in November, -and is what Disraeli called the policy of “violence.” -The local reference was doubtless to the fact that Mr. Gladstone -and Lord Hartington were both defeated in Lancashire -as candidates for the House of Commons. Gladstone, however, -accepted a seat for Greenwich.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">365</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 54</span></a>, <a href="#Page_258">p. 258</a>.—Lord Mayo, in consequence of his successful -administration of the affairs of Ireland, was appointed -by Disraeli’s Ministry Viceroy of India. He was assassinated -early in 1872. His administration was such as to win the admiration -of all discriminating men of all parties.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 55</span></a>, <a href="#Page_259">p. 259</a>.—When Mr. Gladstone came into power in -1868, one of his early measures was bill for the disendowment -of the Irish State Church. The controversy over the -measure was one of great earnestness, but it was finally carried -and went into effect January 1, 1871. This was followed -by the Irish Land Bill, which aimed to overthrow the doctrine -of the landlord’s absolute and unlimited rights, and to recognize -certain property of the tenant in the land. This doctrine -was carried still further in the Irish Land Bill of 1882.—McCarthy, -chap. lviii.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 56</span></a>, <a href="#Page_260">p. 260</a>.—This subject is well presented in McCarthy’s -chap. lix., “Reformation in a Flood.” For a list of the -most important of these measures, see the Introduction to Mr. -Gladstone.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 57</span></a>, <a href="#Page_263">p. 263</a>.—The “Captain” was a six-gun turret-ship, -which, with a crew of five hundred men, foundered at -sea on the 7th of September, 1870. The court of enquiry -found that the disaster was owing to faulty construction of the -vessel, which had been built “in deference to public opinion, -as expressed in Parliament and through other channels, and in -opposition to the views and opinions of the Controller of the -Navy.”—“Ann. Reg. for 1870,” 107, 119. The “Megara” -was an iron screw troop-ship that was run aground in a sinking -state at St. Paul’s, Ireland, June 19, 1871. The commissioners -of enquiry into the causes of the disaster reported -their “decided opinion that the state and condition of the -‘Megara’ was such that she ought never to have been selected -for the voyage.” After giving the details that led to their -conclusion, the commissioners said: “It is with reluctance -and pain that we express unfavorable opinions with respect to -the conduct of officers and the management of a great department.”—“Ann. -Reg. for 1881,” 96, and for 1882, 257, -260.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">366</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 58</span></a>, <a href="#Page_263">p. 263</a>.—This had been suggested by Mr. Lowe, -the Chancellor of the Exchequer.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 59</span></a>, <a href="#Page_266">p. 266</a>.—Mr. Cobden was of the same opinion. -In 1854 he said: “I look back with regret on the vote which -changed Lord Derby’s government; I regret the result of that -motion, for it has cost the country a hundred millions of treasure -and between thirty and forty thousand good lives.”—Morley’s -“Life of Cobden,” Eng. ed., ii., 151.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 60</span></a>, <a href="#Page_267">p. 267</a>.—During the Civil War Mr. Gladstone as -well as Lord Russell had inclined to favor the Southern cause -by a recognition of the Southern States. To this Mr. Disraeli -and Lord Stanley (the present Lord Derby) were strenuously -opposed. During Mr. Disraeli’s first administration Lord -Stanley was Secretary of State for Foreign affairs.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 61</span></a>, <a href="#Page_268">p. 268</a>.—This statement is not quite justified by -the facts. At the conclusion of the Civil War, intense feeling -of indignation pervaded the United States against Great -Britain, for three reasons: first, for a premature recognition -of the belligerency of the Southern States; secondly, for the -direct aid and supplies furnished the Southern States in British -ports; and thirdly, for allowing the fitting out of cruisers in -British ports to prey upon Northern commerce. The people -of the United States held that Great Britain through her government -had disregarded the obligations of neutrality imposed -upon her by the law of nations. The United States Government -remonstrated with the British Government, demanding -reparation for past wrong, and cessation from a continuance -of the wrong. But so long as Lord John Russell was in power -(through whose negligence or misjudgment the wrong had been -done) no progress was made toward a settlement. The Derby-Disraeli -government succeeded that of Russell in 1866, with -Lord Stanley as Minister of Foreign Affairs. About the end -of 1866 Lord Stanley, through Sir Frederick Bruce, offered to -submit the Alabama Claims to arbitration. To this Mr. -Seward assented “on condition that the whole controversy between -the two governments should be deferred.” Lord -Stanley asked for information as to what was meant by the -expression “the whole controversy,” but the answer was not -free from ambiguity, and was supposed to refer to damages for -“premature recognition of the Confederacy.” As Lord Stanley -had refused to submit this subject to arbitration, negotiations -were broken off. The matter rested till March 6, 1868, -when it was brought up in the House of Commons, and was -fully debated. This was followed by a debate March 20th in -the House of Lords, both in excellent spirit. It was in the -following November that negotiations were again opened with -a view to submitting the differences to arbitration. A preliminary -agreement was reached and signed November 10th, -by Lord Stanley and Mr. Johnson, the American minister. -It was not, however, acceptable to Mr. Seward, who telegraphed -November 26th: “Claims Convention unless amended -is useless.” In a long despatch of the same date sent by -mail the objections were duly pointed out, the most important -of which were in regard to Article IV. of the Protocol, and -were stated in these words: “While the Convention provides -that the United States claims and the British claims shall be -settled and determined by a majority of the Commissioners, -this Article IV. <em>requires entire unanimity of the Commissioners -for a derision upon any of the Alabama Claims</em>.” Other objections -were given, but this was the most important one why, -as Mr. Seward said, “the United States are obliged to disallow -this Article IV.” On November 28th Mr. Johnson had -an interview with Lord Stanley, when the latter said he had -received a despatch from the British minister at Washington, -which stated “that it was understood that all the cabinet disapprove -of it.” On the 5th of December Mr. Johnson wrote -to Mr. Seward that he just had an interview with Lord Stanley, -who “expressed no willingness to change the mode of appointing -the arbitrator who is to decide the question of the -liability of this government for the Alabama Claims.” In the -same letter Mr. Johnson announced the resignation of the Disraeli -government, and the necessity of postponing all further -negotiations. On the whole subject see “Diplomatic Correspondence,” -3d Sess., 40th Cong., vol. i., pp. 361–391. -Soon after the Gladstone-Clarendon government came into -power the subject was again taken up, and a Protocol was -agreed upon between Mr. Johnson and Lord Clarendon, providing -that “<em>all claims</em> should be submitted to arbitration.” -This treaty was submitted to the Senate of the United States, -and April 19, 1869, was rejected with but one dissenting voice. -The grounds of objection were that the Alabama Claims were -so obscured by minor matters that they would not receive due -attention. The Johnson-Clarendon treaty is given in the -“Diplomatic Correspondence” and in “Ann. Reg. for 1869,” -p. 282. The subject was not again renewed till the outbreak -of the Franco-German War, in regard to which see <a href="#Footnote_63">note 63</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">368</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 62</span></a>, <a href="#Page_270">p. 270</a>.—At the conclusion of the Crimean War -the great powers in the Treaty of Paris agreed to impose and -enforce the neutrality of the Black Sea. The waters and the -ports were “perpetually interdicted to the flag of war of either -of the powers possessing its coasts,” excepting certain small -armed vessels to act as a sort of maritime police. As was not -unnatural, Russia chafed under this interdiction. The Franco-German -War broke out in July of 1870. In October of that -year, when France and Germany were so occupied as scarcely -to be able to protest, Prince Gortschakoff addressed a circular -despatch to the European powers, stating that Russia no longer -recognized the obligations of the Treaty of 1856. This despatch -called forth a courteous but firm reply from Lord Granville, in -which the obligatory nature of the treaty was insisted upon. -It was feared that Prussia had secretly assented to the claims -now put forward by Russia, in compensation for grants made -to Prussia on the Baltic. Accordingly Mr. Odo Russell was -sent to the German head-quarters at Versailles to ascertain the -attitude of the Prussian Government. Count Bismarck assured -the English ambassador that Prussia had given no sanction -to the step, and proposed that the whole question should -be submitted to a conference of the powers, to be held at -London. This proposal of Prussia was assented to by England -and Russia, and the conference took place in January of -1871. The result was the neutralization of the Black Sea was -abrogated. The prediction of Beaconsfield, that “the entire -command of the Black Sea will soon be in the possession of -Russia,” has been amply justified by subsequent history.—“Ann. -Reg., 1870,” 109; 1871, 3–17.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">369</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 63</span></a>, <a href="#Page_271">p. 271</a>.—The Washington Treaty of June 17, 1871, -provided for referring five important questions in dispute to a -Committee of Arbitration, consisting of one member appointed -by the Queen of England, one by the President of the United -States, one by the King of Italy, one by the President of the -Swiss Confederation, and one by the Emperor of Brazil. The -sixth article of the treaty provided that the Arbitrators should -be guided in their decision of the “Alabama Claims” by -“three rules” which were given in the article, and which virtually -acknowledged the responsibility of England for allowing -the “Alabama” to be fitted up in a British port, and allowing -her to escape. The adoption of these “three rules” unquestionably -gave the United States great advantage and made, -it nearly certain that the case would be adjudicated in their -favor. But the opposition in England steadily held that the -“three rules” that were made the basis of the arbitration were -not justified by the requirements of international law. This -view has since been held by many prominent publicists, American -as well as European. The rules are of at least questionable -advantage, and have not been assented to by any other -powers than England and the United States. The result of -the arbitration, which was held at Geneva in 1871 and 1872, -was to award “the sum of $15,500,000 in gold as the indemnity -to be paid by Great Britain to the United States for the -satisfaction of all claims referred to the consideration of the -tribunal.” The treaty and the award are printed at length in -Cushing’s “Treaty of Washington,” pp. 257–280. What made -England willing to adopt the “three rules” for the sake of -speedily reaching a final settlement, was the condition of affairs -in Europe. In case England had become involved in -war, her commerce would have been at the mercy of American -privateers. But the treaty and the award were very unpopular -in England. Mr. McCarthy (iv., 347) says: “What -most of the English people saw was that England had been -compelled, in homely phrase, to ‘knuckle down’ to America.” -This unpopularity of the measure and the good use made of it -by Lord Beaconsfield had not a little to do with bringing on -the downfall of Gladstone’s government.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">370</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 64</span></a>, <a href="#Page_272">p. 272</a>.—Reference is here made to the so-called -“indirect claims” which the United States Government insisted -on having considered by the Arbitrators, but which the -English as strenuously refused to submit. The claim was in -substance that the “Alabama” and other cruisers had not only -directly destroyed much of our commerce, but had indirectly -prolonged the war, and that for this prolongation the United -States should be paid. Though this doctrine was presented -in the so-called “American Case,” which, as Beaconsfield -amusingly says, was translated into all languages and sent into -all European courts, it was not formally objected to until the -Arbitrators met at Geneva. The question there seemed likely -to bring arbitration abruptly to an end. But finally the Arbitrators, -in an informal manner, declared that “in case the indirect -claims <em>should</em> come before them, they should be obliged -to reject them,” whereupon the Americans said that all they -insisted on was a <em>decision</em>, not necessarily a decision in their -favor. The difficult question thus happily disposed of, other -matters were settled with substantial unanimity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">371</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 65</span></a>, <a href="#Page_275">p. 275</a>.—It is not difficult to understand the great -influence of passages like this in stirring the national feeling of -Great Britain. Lord Beaconsfield knew how to move the -British heart as no other modern statesman except Palmerston -has done.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 66</span></a>, <a href="#Page_288">p. 288</a>.—In 1879 the people of England were confronted -with problems which a long succession of good harvests -had caused them to forget. The failure of four successive -crops had brought about unexampled distress. The cry for -protection was revived, and in the spring of 1879 was brought -in various forms before Parliament. Lord Beaconsfield, the -Prime-Minister, in a succession of quite remarkable speeches, -took the ground that “the country had settled the question in -another generation,” and that the distress was not to be relieved -by a return to the former policy. Among other interesting -things shown by the Prime-Minister, was the fact that -the loss to the nation from bad harvests had been in four -years not less than about 80,000,000 pounds sterling.—Beaconsfield’s -“Speeches,” i., 327.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 67</span></a>, <a href="#Page_289">p. 289</a>.—Mr. Gladstone’s praise of Mr. Playfair’s -qualifications was not extravagant. Playfair first became eminent -as a chemist, having been a successful student under -Liebig at Giessen, and subsequently Professor of Chemistry -in the Royal Institution at Manchester and in the University -of Edinburgh. In 1844 he was appointed chairman -of a commission to examine into the sanitary condition -of English towns, and in 1851 was sent by the government -into the manufacturing districts to prepare a classification -of the various objects of industry. At the World’s Exposition -he was placed in charge of the department of jurors, -and so well did he perform his work that at the next World’s -Exposition, in 1862, he was entrusted with the selection of the -jurors, some six hundred in number, to be drawn from the -most eminent men of all countries. In 1874 he prepared the -elaborate scheme for the reorganization of the English civil -service, a work which he was well fitted to perform by reason -of his labors in 1873–4 as Postmaster-General. During his -visit to the United States he delivered an important address in -Boston on the civil service in England as compared with that -in the United States.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">372</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 68</span></a>, <a href="#Page_293">p. 293</a>.—The development of Manitoba has quite -justified the predictions of Beaconsfield, which Mr. Gladstone -seemed to make light of.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 69</span></a>, <a href="#Page_297">p. 297</a>.—In the second Mid-Lothian speech, Mr. -Gladstone had spoken at length on the tenure of land and the -land laws. Among other statements, he said concerning the -law of entail and settlement: “I believe that you view that -law with disapproval, as being itself one of the most serious -restraints upon the effective prosecution of the agriculture of -the country. Gentlemen, I need not dwell upon that matter. -I heartily agree with you on the point at issue. I am for the -alteration of that law. I disapprove of it on economic -grounds. I disapprove of it on social and moral grounds. -I disapprove of the relation which it creates between father -and son. I disapprove of the manner in which it makes provision -for the interests of children to be born. Was there ever -in the history of legislation a stranger expedient? * * * -The law of England is wiser than the Almighty; it improves -upon Divine Providence.”—Gladstone, “Speeches in Scotland,” -83.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">373</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_70" href="#FNanchor_70" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 70</span></a>, <a href="#Page_306">p. 306</a>.—In the preceding April, Lord Bateman -had moved in Parliament “That, this House fully recognizing -the benefits which would result to the community if a system of -free trade were universally adopted, it is expedient, in all future -commercial negotiations with other countries, to advocate a -policy of reciprocity between all inter-trading nations.” The -policy was opposed by Lord Beaconsfield, because, as he said, -he was convinced it was “a proposition which can lead to no -public benefit.” Lord Salisbury, the Secretary of State for -Foreign Affairs, in the course of the summer appeared to -favor it.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_71" href="#FNanchor_71" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 71</span></a>, <a href="#Page_315">p. 315</a>.—The first census of Great Britain was -taken in 1801, when the population was found to be as follows: -England, 8,331,434; Wales, 541,546; Scotland, 1,599,068; -army and navy, 470,598; total in Great Britain, 10,942,646. -The first census in Ireland was taken in 1813, but the returns -were so imperfect as to be valueless. In 1821 Ireland had a -population of 6,801,827.—Porter, “Progress of the Nation,” 8.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_72" href="#FNanchor_72" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 72</span></a>, <a href="#Page_327">p. 327</a>.—The events alluded to in this and in following -passages may be thus summarized. The war between -Russia and Turkey terminated in the treaty of San Stefano, -in the spring of 1878. Turkey had been overwhelmed by the -war, and was now practically reduced to a cipher by the treaty. -In the opinion of the English Government, Lord Beaconsfield -being then in power, the interests of England in the eastern -Mediterranean were imperilled by this aggrandizement of -Russia. Russia was required by the British Government to -submit the treaty of San Stefano to a European Congress. -This Russia at first declined to do, whereupon the English -Government at once moved an address requesting the Queen to -call out the Reserves. This vigorous measure was at once followed -by the still more decisive step of bringing up a division -of the British army in India to the island of Malta. The right -of the crown to employ Indian troops in European war was -questioned, and gave rise to animated debate; but the measure -was at least successful on diplomatic grounds. Russia at -once lowered her pretensions, and arrangements were soon -made for a General Congress at Berlin, in June of 1878, where -the interests of Great Britain were represented by Lord -Beaconsfield and Lord Salisbury. The result of the Congress -was a modification of the treaty of San Stefano, by which the -independence of Turkey was once more restored, and the dependent -provinces were put on a substantial footing. The outcome -was regarded as a great diplomatic triumph of Lord -Beaconsfield. The agreement between Lord Salisbury and -Count Schouvaloff is treated more fully later in the speech.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">374</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_73" href="#FNanchor_73" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 73</span></a>, <a href="#Page_332">p. 332</a>.—This statement, while substantially correct, -is a little misleading. The provinces alluded to were all -more or less dependent on Turkey, and England was at no time -quite willing to adopt a military policy in their defence. -Neither was any other government of Europe, excepting -Russia, and Russia was willing simply because it opened the -way for her own advance toward the south.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_74" href="#FNanchor_74" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 74</span></a>, <a href="#Page_335">p. 335</a>.—In 1877, Lord Derby had resigned the -post of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and had been -succeeded by Lord Salisbury.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_75" href="#FNanchor_75" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 75</span></a>, <a href="#Page_337">p. 337</a>.—The “needless and mischievous armaments” -were the calling out of the Reserves, and the bringing -to Malta of the Indian army. Mr. Gladstone’s adjectives can -only mean that in his opinion the Berlin Treaty was not -desirable, since without the military movements the treaty -would have been impossible. The statement of the orator as -to the agreement between Salisbury and Schouvaloff is not -quite correct. There was no pretence to making a treaty or -settling any question whatever, but simply an understanding as -to what England demanded, and what she desired to submit to -a Congress. After this conference, which Mr. Gladstone criticises -with so much severity, Count Schouvaloff went to St. -Petersburg, pausing at Berlin for an interview with Prince -Bismarck. At St. Petersburg he appears to have convinced -the Czar that nothing short of a submission of the question at -issue to a General Congress would satisfy England. Soon after -the Count’s return to London, the Prussian Government invited -the powers to a Congress at Berlin; and Russia not -only accepted the invitation, but agreed to submit to the -powers, all the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano. During -the whole of these negotiations English public opinion was -wrought up to the most intense excitement and anxiety. The -course of the government was assailed and defended with the -utmost vigor, everybody supposing, meanwhile, that peace or -war between the two great nations hung upon the issue. In -the “Ann. Reg. for 1878,” all the official papers are given, and -on pp. 40–64 is to be found an abstract of the discussions in -Parliament.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">375</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_76" href="#FNanchor_76" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 76</span></a>, <a href="#Page_339">p. 339</a>.—The reader perhaps hardly needs to be -reminded that the cases were not parallel. Russia had overwhelmed -her weak foe, and now proposed to dismember her -fallen enemy as a reward for her trouble. This was not only -in clear violation of the principles set down by the Treaty of -Paris in 1856, but also obnoxious to the traditional policy of -Great Britain, as held by Pitt. But neither international obligation -nor British usage offered any objection to a peaceful and -voluntary treaty between England and Turkey, by which for a -just consideration the one should cede a bit of territory to the -other.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_77" href="#FNanchor_77" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 77</span></a>, <a href="#Page_341">p. 341</a>.—On the 9th of November, 1879, Lord -Beaconsfield, at the Lord Mayor’s banquet, had expounded his -imperial policy, and in the course of his speech had used the -words “<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">imperium et libertas</i>.” The speech attracted great attention -as an authoritative exposition of the Prime-Minister’s -views on domestic and foreign affairs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">376</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_78" href="#FNanchor_78" class="fnanchor"><span class="smcap">Note 78</span></a>, <a href="#Page_344">p. 344</a>.—With this position Lord Beaconsfield -would probably have heartily agreed. He might even have -asked Mr. Gladstone, “Was it not to prevent just such aggrandizement -as you condemn that we objected to the Treaty of -San Stefano, and insisted upon a Congress?” More than -that, he might have asked: “How do you reconcile your plea -for the independence of the smaller states with your denunciation -of the Congress of Berlin, brought about by ‘needless -and mischievous armaments,’ by which alone the independence -of Turkey could be saved?” To these questions Mr. Gladstone -would probably have replied: “Yes; but you ought to have -accomplished all this by preventing the war between Russia -and Turkey in the beginning.” How Mr. Gladstone thought -this might have been done and ought to have been done he -pointed out in the first of the Mid-Lothian speeches, delivered -at Edinburgh.</p></div> -</div></div> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="transnote"> -<h2 id="Transcribers_Notes" class="nobreak p1">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> - -<p>Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant -preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.</p> - -<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced -quotation marks retained.</p> - -<p>Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained; occurrences -of inconsistent hyphenation have not been changed.</p> -</div></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Representative British Orations with -Introductions and Explanatory Notes,, by Charles Kendall Adams - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REPRESENTATIVE BRITISH ORATIONS, VOL 3 *** - -***** This file should be named 55491-h.htm or 55491-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/4/9/55491/ - -Produced by Larry B. 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