BILL TO AUTHORISE THE ADHIBITING OF THE SIGN-MANUAL BY STAMP.

In consequence of the illness of his majesty, on the 24th of May a message was sent down to both houses of parliament, stating that his majesty found it inconvenient and painful to sign with his own hand those public documents which required the sign-manual, and requesting the parliament to provide means for the temporary discharge of that function of the crown without detriment to the public service. A bill, therefore, was immediately passed, allowing the sign-manual to be adhibited by a stamp. Before the stamp could be affixed, a memorandum, describing its nature and its objects, signed by three privy-councillors, was to be endorsed upon the document. The stamp was then to be affixed in the presence of his majesty, by some person whom his majesty should command to do so by word of mouth. The presence of certain high officers of state was likewise required to attest what had been done; and the party affixing the stamp was to adjoin to the royal signature the words, "In his majesty's presence, and by his majesty's command," and subscribe the same with his own name. The bill was limited in its duration to the present session.



DEATH OF THE KING, AND ACCESSION OF THE DUKE OF CLARENCE, WILLIAM IV.

About the end of May a favourable turn of the disorder of his majesty gave rise to a hope of his recovery. This feeling, however, was soon dispersed, for the chest became affected, the lungs completely decayed, blood was mingled with the expectoration, and general debility rapidly ensued. His end was evidently near; and a short time before it took place his physicians intimated to his majesty that all further endeavours to avert the stroke of death would be unavailing. He calmly answered, "God's will be done," and subsequently received the sacrament from the hands of the Bishop of Chichester. Soon after his voice became faint and low, and for several days his words were scarcely articulated; his sleep also was broken and disturbed. At length, on the night of the 25th of June, the angel of death once more approached the palace of the kings of England. He had slept little during the evening, and from eleven to three was in a restless slumber, opening his eyes occasionally when the cough caused great pain. At three o'clock his majesty beckoned to the page in waiting to alter his position, and the couch, constructed for the purpose, was gently raised, and the sufferer lifted to his chair. At that moment, however, a blood-vessel burst, and his attendants hastened to apply the usual stimulants, and to call in the physicians. The royal patient himself perceived that his dissolution was at hand, and exclaimed, "O God, I am dying!" then in a few seconds he added, in a whisper scarcely audible, "This is death!" and when the physicians entered the apartment George IV. had ceased to breathe.

The decease of the monarch had become so much an object of daily expectation, and for years he had lived so much retired from his people, that his death excited less sensation than commonly follows that of English monarchs. Moreover, George IV. was not one of the most popular monarchs in English history.

As soon as the decease of his majesty was known, his next brother, William Henry, Duke of Clarence, was proclaimed by the title of William IV. The new monarch in a short time rendered himself very popular by the plainness of his habits and manners, and by the condescension, or rather the familiarity of his intercourse with his people—qualities which rendered him more popular by a comparison with the secluded life of his predecessors. No immediate change took place in the government, for his majesty, after the usual oaths for the security of the church of Scotland, having signed the instruments requisite at the commencement of a new reign, re-appointed the judges and other great officers of the state to the places which had become vacant, and signified to the members of government that he desired to retain their services.



CONTINUATION

OF

THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND,

By E. H. Nolan



CHAPTER XL. (Continued)

{WILLIAM IV. 1830—1831}

Royal Message to Parliament..... Rupture between the Ministers and the Whigs..... Debates on the Question of Regency..... Prorogation and Dissolution of Parliament..... Formation of Earl Grey's Administration..... Death of Mr. Huskisson..... State of foreign Nations.



ROYAL MESSAGE TO PARLIAMENT—RUPTURE BETWEEN THE MINISTERS AND WHIGS-DEBATES ON THE QUESTION OF THE REGENCY.

On the 29th of June the new king sent down a message to parliament, in which he paid a tribute of respect to his deceased brother, and requested the commons to make temporary provision for the public service preparatory to the dissolution of parliament, which would speedily take place according to constitutional usage. An address, in answer to that part of the message relating to the death of the late monarch, was immediately moved by the Duke of Wellington in the upper, and by Sir Robert Peel in the lower house, in the terms of which all parties expressed their hearty concurrence. This harmony, however, did not long prevail. The Whigs had become uneasy because the session had passed away without bringing them into closer contact with ministers; and this uneasiness increased when they saw a new reign commencing, and a new parliament about to be chosen, without any invitation given, or hope held out to them. The time, they conceived, had arrived, when it became necessary, if they hoped to participate in the sweets of office, again to try their strength. They did this on the following day, when the remaining parts of the speech were taken into consideration. The king had recommended that parliament should make provision for carrying on the public service. The Whigs insisted that parliament should continue to sit until a bill be carried through, appointing a regency in case the new king should die before the new parliament could meet—the heir-presumptive, the infant of the late Duke of Kent, being a minor. Accordingly, the ministers having moved in both houses an address simply noting that they would make the temporary provision recommended in the royal message, Earl Grey in the lords, and Lord Althorp in the commons, moved as an amendment, that the consideration of the address should be postponed to the following day. They objected, generally, to the dissolution of parliament, when so many important bills were pending; and insisted more specifically on the necessity of providing for a possible demise of the crown during the interval which must elapse before a new parliament could assemble. They argued that the only inconvenience that could occur was that of sitting a month longer, and they asked why they should not sit, when so imperative a duty required it. The matter, at all events, was so important as to make it reasonable that parliament should have twenty-four hours more deliberation how to address the crown. Ministers replied, that the importance of the question, the difficulties which would arise in the course of it, and the caution with which every part of it must be considered, were the strongest possible reasons for not hurrying it through at the end of a session, when members of the lower house would be thinking much more of the elections for the next parliament than the business of the present. There was, moreover, no present necessity, they said, for this weighty arrangement, as there was no prospect of danger from the king's health. Earl Grey had himself said, it was urged, that his majesty's strong constitution and temperate habits gave promise of a long reign. While the inconvenience, then, was positive and present, the danger was imaginary and remote. It was in vain to say that the object was to gain twenty-four hours' deliberation. "If the motion is agreed to," said the Duke of Wellington, "it will be viewed as a complete defeat of ministers." Lord Grey declared that the bona fide intention of his motion was to obtain a day's delay, in the hope that the crown might thereby be induced to come forward itself with a recommendation to parliament to consider the question of the regency; and the Duke of Wellington remarked that he believed him. But his grace was right in suspecting that, whatever the mover's object might be, the result was to end in a trial of strength. The discussion, in truth, opened his eyes to the fact that all parties but his own were determined to oppose him: Lords Harrowby, Winchelsea, and Eldon, the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Londonderry, Earl Mansfield, and Lord Wharncliffe, one after another, stated their determination to vote for the amendment; even Lord Goderich himself expressed similar sentiments. On discovering this, ministers and their friends lost their temper, and railed against the "unnatural coalition" which, the said, was now shown to have taken place between parties opposed to each other in principle. Earl Grey, in reply, assured the house that he had never either felt or expressed confidence in the government. They had done well in carrying the Catholic Relief bill; they had received all the political and personal support he could give; and that support he could not but feel was of some benefit to the cause; but he claimed no gratitude for what he had done; and, on the other hand, he had none. As to general confidence in the present cabinet, he never entertained such an idea. His public declarations must be known to some of their lordships, and he was certain that, in private, he had often made the same statements. He had repeatedly expressed his belief of the incapacity of ministers, and therefore he could not have any confidence in them. On a division, ministers had a majority of one hundred against fifty-six; but the debate was a declaration of war; and it became evident that their scheme of government, by balancing and trimming their measures, so as to secure the aid of one section of those who trusted them not, against another, was now at an end.

In the house of commons, the language was still more vehement and bitter. The amendment was supported by Messrs. Brougham, Wynn, and Huskisson, Sir Charles Wetherell, and Lord John Russell. Sir Robert Peel had the mortification of receiving a lecture on the subject of consistency from Mr. Huskisson. On a division, the amendment was lost by a majority of one hundred and eighty-five against one hundred and thirty-nine.



PROROGATION AND DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament was prorogued by the king in person on the 28rd of July. In his speech he thanked both houses for their expressions of sympathy and affectionate attachment, conveyed to him on the demise of his lamented brother, and on his accession; and said that he ascended the throne with a deep sense of the sacred duties which devolved upon him, and with a humble and earnest prayer to Almighty God, that he would prosper his anxious endeavours to promote the happiness of a free and loyal people. His majesty referred to the Catholic Relief bill, expressing a hope that it would put an end to religious feuds; and declaring that he was determined to support the Protestant religion as by law established. On the next day parliament was dissolved by proclamation, and writs were ordered to be issued for the election of a new one, returnable on the 14th of September.



STATE OF PARTIES.

The session just closed had broken up the alliance which enabled ministers to retain office; and as this alliance, whilst it lasted, seemed to widen the breach between them and their ancient friends, they were destined, in the ensuing elections, to meet with a formidable opposition. To oust the ministry was the avowed object of the Whigs, and whoever professed the same object was their friend. The hostility of the Tories rested on different grounds from that of the Whigs, but it was equally formidable. The ministry, therefore, was forced to an election in face of the combined opposition of the two parties—by playing off one of which against the other it had flattered itself with being able to retain its power. Yet the opposition was not stated on any special ground. The manifestoes of the Whigs attacked it on the ground of incapacity; but in what they were incapable was not shown. The Duke of Wellington was said by them to be a domineering soldier, unfitted to conduct alone the government of the nation, yet determined to surround himself with men of mean capacity and dependent spirit, who would act as the unreflecting instruments of his will. Such were the views put forth by the Whigs, and though the offended Tories did not deliberately act in union with them, yet their influence operated in the same direction—namely, to overthrow the ministry. This general spirit of opposition suddenly gained an addition of strength by a revolution in France. The ministers of Charles X., discovering that the new elections increased the number of their opponents, broke through the fences of the constitution, with a determination to establish a species of Prussian government, in which the material interests of the people should dominate over those that are intellectual and political. A royal ordinance abolished the liberty of the press; cancelled the existing system of representation; and fashioned for the kingdom a new system of election, which would produce a chamber of deputies more subservient to the royal will. Paris rose in arms against these decrees, and the rabble overcame the troops. Charles X. and his descendants were then excluded from the throne by the deputies then in Paris, and the French crown was presented by them at the same time to the Duke of Orleans. This revolution in France was followed by another in Belgium, where a national congress declared Belgium an independent state, excluded the house of Orange from the throne, and set themselves about the election of a new king. These events were hailed in England by the Whigs with applause, as the dawning of a new and glorious era in the history of man. Public meetings were held to pass resolutions commending the spirit with which the Parisians had shaken off encroaching despotism, and deputations were sent to congratulate them on their triumph. The people of England were especially called on to remark how little they had to fear from military power, since the citizens of Paris and Brussels had been able to set it at defiance. It was also stated that they were clearly entitled to be heard in the government, since it was in their power to make the government what they chose. The excitement produced by these events, indeed, acted in the elections very unfavourably to ministers; and it had also the effect of bringing forward the question of parliamentary reform in a much more prominent and remarkable shape than it had yet assumed. The force of example was now added to the existing motives for change, and the notion of transferring the privileges of a corrupt borough to an unrepresented place, or giving the elective franchise to a populous town, was discarded. A wild and indiscriminating change was abroad. Meetings, petitions, and addresses were got up on every hand, advocating extensive alterations in our representative system, all of which, however vague and indeterminate in their respective conditions, tended to confer the elective rights on a much larger proportion of the people than had hitherto enjoyed them. Threats were even uttered that a refusal of these rights would lead to a general convulsion, in which the privileged orders might possibly be forced to yield more than was required. As a natural consequence of these menaces and demands, disturbances took place throughout the country. Lurking incendiaries wreaked their vengeance on property, the destruction of which only tended to aggravate the prevailing distress. Night after night they lighted up conflagrations, by which a large quantity of grain, and even of live stock, was consumed. Bands of men, also, still more daring than the incendiary, attacked machinery of all kinds, particularly thrashing machines, the use of which became so unpopular that insurance-offices refused a policy to those who kept them on their premises. The military force was increased in the disturbed counties, and a proclamation was issued, offering a reward of five hundred pounds for the conviction of an incendiary. A special commission, also, was ordered to proceed into those counties where the outrages were committed. The first offenders that were seized, being tried before county magistrates, met with lenity, from commiseration for their starving condition. But this only increased the evil; and, therefore, the government resolved to quell the riotous proceedings by the strong arm of the law. They were aided in this work by the yeomanry and fanners, who, mounting their horses and scouring the country, aided the civil officers in the discovery and apprehension of offenders.



MEETING OF THE NEW PARLIAMENT.

It was under these gloomy circumstances that, on the 26th of October, the new parliament met for the dispatch of business. The meeting of parliament found parties precisely as they had been at the dissolution, with this difference, that all the elements of opposition had acquired new vigour by the course of events, while new topics had sprung up, on which it would be forced to make a trial of strength. It appeared certain that the question of reform would speedily be brought forward; and the ministers may have hoped that such a discussion would restore to their ranks their former adherents. The session opened in reality on the 2nd of November, the intervening days being occupied in swearing in members, and in the reelection of Mr. Manners Sutton as speaker. The king attended on that day in person. In his speech his majesty alluded to the important events which had occurred on the continent; to the continuance of his diplomatic relations with the new French dynasty; to the endeavours he was making to restore tranquillity in the Netherlands; to the maintenance of those general treaties by which the political system of Europe had been established; and to the hope of renewing his diplomatic relations with Portugal, because the government of that country had determined to perform a great act of justice and humanity by the grant of a general amnesty. The remainder of his majesty's address referred to the estimates, the expiration of the civil list on the demise of his late brother, and his own dependence upon the generosity and loyalty of the house and the country.

The usual addresses were carried in both houses, though not without signs of opposition to ministers on the subjects of reform and retrenchment. Earl Grey, in allusion to that part of the address which spoke of the proceedings in Belgium as a revolt against an enlightened government, and expressed our determination to maintain in regard to it those general treaties by which the political system of Europe had been fixed, said, that all this sounded like threatened interference, while our principle should have been, as in the case of France, non-interference. He could not conceive why we should be bound by treaties to interfere between Holland and the Low Countries. We ought to learn wisdom from what had passed before our eyes; and when the spirit of liberty was breaking out all around, it was our duty to secure our own institutions by introducing into them a temperate reform. Unless we did so, he was persuaded that we must make up our minds to witness the destruction of the constitution. He had been a reformer all his life; but at no period had he been inclined to go further than he would be prepared to go now, if the opportunity offered. He did not found this on abstract right. It was said that every man who paid taxes, nay, that every man arrived at years of discretion, had a right to vote for representatives. He denied this. The right of the people was to have a good government, one calculated to secure their privileges and happiness; and if that was incompatible with universal suffrage, then the limitation, and not the extension, was the true right of the people. In reply to Earl Grey on this subject, the Duke of Wellington went beyond his usual prudence and reserve. He remarked:—"The noble earl has alluded to something in the shape of a parliamentary reform; but he has been candid enough to acknowledge that he is not prepared with any measure of reform. I have as little scruple to say, that his majesty's government is as totally unprepared as the noble lord. Nay, on my part I will go further, and say, that I have never read or heard of any measure, up to the present moment, which could in any degree satisfy my mind that the state of the representation could be improved, or be rendered more satisfactory to the country at large than at the present moment. I will not, however, at such an unseasonable time enter upon the subject, or excite discussion; but I shall not hesitate to declare unequivocally what are my sentiments upon it. I am fully convinced that the country possesses at the present moment a legislature which answers all the good purposes of legislation, and this to a greater degree than any legislature ever has answered in any country whatever. I will go further, and say, that the legislature and the system of representation possess the full and entire confidence of the country—deservedly possess that confidence; and the discussions in the legislature have a very great influence over the opinions of the country. I will go still further, and say, that if at the present moment I had imposed upon me the duty of forming a legislature for a country like this, in possession of great property of various descriptions, I do not mean to assert that I would form such a legislature as we possess now, for the nature of man is incapable of reaching it at once; but my great endeavour would be to form some description of the legislature which would produce the same results. The representation of the people at present contains a large body of the property of the country, in which the landed interest have a predominating influence. Under these circumstances I am not prepared to bring forward any measure of the description alluded to by the noble lord. I am not only not prepared to bring forward any measure of this nature, but I will at once declare that, as far as I am concerned, as long as I hold any station in the government of the country, I shall always feel it my duty to resist such measures when proposed by others."

In the house of commons Mr. Brougham did not wait even till the address was moved before he gave notice that, on the 16th, he would submit a distinct proposition for a change in the representation. Sir Robert Peel professed that he saw difficulties about the question which he was by no means prepared to encounter. He wished, nevertheless, to say nothing then which might prevent discussion hereafter, or interfere with its advance towards a satisfactory termination. These declarations of ministers spread widely the flames of discontent, which had already been kindled against government; and the consequences appeared in formidable combinations, both in and out of parliament, to embarrass ministers, and thwart their measures.



DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING THEIR MAJESTIES' VISIT TO LONDON.

The embarrassment to which ministers were exposed was greatly increased by a domestic occurrence. Some time before the meeting of parliament the king and queen had promised to honour the lord-mayor's feast at Guildhall with their presence: great preparations had been made by the citizens on the approach of that civic festival, and all London was on tip-toe expectation of the splendid procession. On the 7th of November, however, all their expectations were disappointed: the lord-mayor received a note from the home-secretary, stating that his majesty had resolved, by the persuasion of his ministry, to postpone his visit to a future opportunity, because, from information recently received, "there was reason to apprehend that, notwithstanding the devoted loyalty and affection borne to his majesty by the citizens of London, advantage would be taken of an occasion which must necessarily assemble a vast number of persons by night to create tumult and confusion, and thereby to endanger the property and lives of his majesty's subjects; and it would be a source of deep and lasting concern to their majesties were any calamity to occur on the occasion of their visit to the city of London." This announcement filled the metropolis with doubt and alarm. Men conceived that some atrocious conspiracy had come to light—that a new gunpowder-plot had been discovered—and that the crisis of the constitution and of the country had arrived. The funds fell three per cent.; and in the country every man expected that the next mail would bring intelligence that London was in a state of insurrection. All, however, remained calm; and ministers were naturally called upon to explain the grounds on which they had acted. It appeared that the principal foundation of their proceedings was a note from some person in private life, stating that he was apprehensive the Duke of Wellington would not be very favourably received. Mr. John Key, lord-mayor elect, wrote to his grace informing him that "in London, as well as in the country, there was a set of desperate characters," fond of every opportunity of producing confusion, and that, according to information received by him, some of these desperadoes intended to make an attack on his grace's person on his approach to the hall; and, therefore, suggesting that his grace should come strongly and sufficiently guarded. The Duke of Wellington stated in the house of lords, and Sir Robert Peel in the commons, that on receiving this letter it was considered an imperative duty to recommend to his majesty the postponement of his visit to a future occasion. "But, besides the letter of the lord-mayor elect to the Duke of Wellington," remarked Sir Robert, "information had been received that an attack was to be made on his house in the course of the night, when the police were at a distance, under the pretence of calling for lights to illuminate. Any such attack must be accompanied by riot; and the attempt to suppress such riot by force, when the streets were filled with women and children, must be accompanied by consequences which all of us must lament. That, however, is only one of the causes which I have for believing in the possibility of such an attempt at riot taking place. Every one is aware that there exists in the public mind considerable excitement against those authorities which have been appointed, under the sanction of the house, to maintain the public peace—I allude of course to the body which is known by the name of the new police." In the course of Saturday and Sunday the most industrious attempts were made in various quarters to inflame the public mind against the new police. Thousands of printed handbills were circulated for the purpose of inciting the people against that portion of the civil force which is entrusted with the preservation of the public tranquillity. These were not written papers drawn up by illiterate persons, and casually dropped in the streets, but printed handbills, not ill adapted to the mischievous purposes which they were intended to answer. After reading some of these missives, Sir Robert continued:—"Now, after hearing the inflammatory language of the bills, I call upon the house to consider how great the likelihood is that, after the police had returned to their ordinary duties in their respective portions of the town, a desperate attack would have been made upon them. If it were made, it would of course be resisted by the civil force; if the civil force were insufficient to repel it, military aid would be called in; and then on that night of general festivity and rejoicing, in the midst of crowds of unsuspecting men, women, and children, there might be resistance, and if resistance bloodshed, occasioned by the necessity of supporting civil authorities." In reply, Mr. Brougham observed that, so far as the statement made did not proceed on the unpopularity of the Duke of Wellington, it amounted simply to this—that it was a bad thing to have a large assembly on the 9th of November; and for this reason, that though nine hundred and ninety-nine men out of one thousand might be peaceable and loyally disposed, yet the odd units, the few who were riotously inclined, might put out the lights in the streets, might involve the town in darkness, and might afterwards commence a scene of riot and confusion which could not end without bloodshed. If this were any objection to his majesty's attendance at the civic festival, it was not an objection to which the course of events had suddenly given birth within the last two or three days. Every one must have known that such an event as the visit of his majesty to the city of London must, from its rarity, collect thousands, if not myriads, to witness it; so that any accident to which the metropolis was exposed at present, from the collection of a large mass of people together, must have been as palpable a month ago as at the present moment. In the course of his speech Mr. Brougham contrasted with severity the popularity of the king with the hostility exhibited towards the premier.



MAJORITY AGAINST MINISTERS FOR A SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE CIVIL LIST.

It was now obvious that the duke's administration had received a shock from which it could not recover. The opposition made a final and successful attack upon it on the 15th of November, when the chancellor of the exchequer stated to the house his arrangement for the civil list, which he proposed to raise to the annual sum of L970,000. They insisted that government in many of its departments was extravagant, and, above all, that the portion which was incurred on the personal account of the monarch ought to be kept apart from every other item. Sir Henry Parnell moved, "That a select committee be appointed to take into consideration the estimates and accounts, presented by command of his majesty, regarding the civil list." The debate on this proposition was brief. Messrs. Calcraft and Hemes, both members of government, opposed the motion, chiefly on the ground that it had never been customary to submit the civil list to a committee, and that retrenchment and simplification had been earned as far as was practicable or prudent. The motion was supported by Lord Althorp and Messrs. Bankes, Wynn, and Holme Sumner, three of which members would in other times have been loath to lend their votes to unseat a Tory ministry; and on a division there appeared a majority in its favour of two hundred and thirty-three against two hundred and four, thus defeating ministers. The consequence of this vote was that on the next day the Duke of Wellington in the lords, and Sir Robert Peel in the commons, announced that they had tendered, and his majesty had accepted, their resignations, and that they continued to hold their offices only until successors should be appointed. They afterwards declared that they came to the resolution not so much on account of the vote on the civil list as from anticipation of the result of a division on Mr. Brougham's proposition for reform, which stood for the day on which this announcement was made. But if the civil list question had not been deemed important enough to justify a resignation, the majority that decided it showed a settled and stern system of opposition, which must have convinced ministers that they could no longer rule the country. At the request of his friends, Mr. Brougham postponed his motion for reform till the 25th of November, professing to do so with reluctance, "because he could not possibly be affected by any change in administration." He pledged himself to bring forward his motion on the day appointed, whoever might be his majesty's ministers. He repeated the same declaration on a motion made by Sir M. W. Ridley to postpone the consideration of election petitions till after Christmas; but two days afterwards Mr. Brougham was gazetted as lord high chancellor of Great Britain with a peerage.



FORMATION OF EARL GREY'S ADMINISTRATION.

{WILLIAM IV. 1830—1831}

The Tories had lent their votes to displace the ministry, but they had formed no plan, and taken no steps, to ensure to themselves any share in the succession. Earl Grey was authorised by the king to form a new administration, of which he himself should be the head; and his lordship accepted the office on condition that he should have authority to make parliamentary reform a cabinet measure. The ministry was formed in about a week, and it consisted of Whigs, and of those who had been formerly adherents of Messrs. Canning and Huskisson, and who had held office with the leading members of the displaced administration. The greatest difficulty lay in managing Mr. Brougham, who had just declared that no change could affect him, by which it was found he meant that no change would bring him the offer of an office sufficiently high for his ambition. Earl Grey was afraid to leave him neglected or discontented in the lower house, and the honourable gentleman was determined not to sacrifice his importance in that home for any subordinate office. The negotiation ended in Mr. Brougham being made lord-chancellor—a striking instance of the most important judicial functions in the empire being entrusted, as the reward of merely political services, to a man who possessed splendid talents, but who was unprovided with judicial learning, and, above all, destitute of habits and capacity in judicial thinking. No man pitied the fate of Sir James Scarlett, but many thought the Irish chancellor, Sir Anthony Hart, who had stood impartially between contending parties, harshly treated in being made to resign for Lord Plunkett—the new premier considering it necessary to have an Irish chancellor whom he could fully trust and employ in Irish politics. The Duke of Richmond was the only leading member of the old Tory party who entered the new cabinet, and he became postmaster-general. The other members of government were as follows:—Lord Althorp was appointed to lead the house of commons as chancellor of the exchequer; the offices of home, foreign, and colonial secretaries were given respectively to Lords Melbourne, Palmerston, and Goderich; Sir James Graham was made first lord of the admiralty; Lord Lansdowne became president of the council, and Lord Durham privy seal; Messrs. Denman and Home were attorney and solicitors general; Lord Hill was commander-in-chief; Lord Auckland, president of the board of trade, and Mr. C. Grant, of the board of control; Lord Holland, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster; the Duke of Devonshire, lord chamberlain; the honourable Agar Ellis, chief commissioner of the woods and forests; Mr. E. Grant, judge-advocate; Lord John Eussell, paymaster of the forces; Mr. Poulett Thompson, vice-president of the board of trade and treasurer of the navy; Sir Edward Paget and Sir Robert Spencer, master and surveyor-general of the board of ordnance; Mr. C. W. Wynne, secretary at war; and Messrs. Ellice and Spring Rice appointed joint secretaries of the treasury. In Scotland there were no offices liable to change except those of the lord-advocate and the solicitor-general, the former of which was given to Mr. Jeffrey, and the latter to Mr. Cockbum, both of them long-tried friends of the lord-chancellor, and at the head of their profession. Ireland received, as its chief governor, the Marquis of Anglesea, with Mr. Stanley as secretary, Lord Plunkett as chancellor, and Mr. Pennefather, attorney-general. It was necessary that the new ministers, who had vacated their seats by taking office, should be reelected, and this afforded an opportunity to the radical party of showing their strength. Thus Mr. Stanley was defeated at Preston by the notorious democrat, Plenry Hunt. After the new ministry had secured seats, no business of importance was transacted during the remainder of the year, except the passing of a regency bill in conformity with the recommendation in the speech from the throne. This bill had been introduced into the house of lords on the day when the fate of the late cabinet was sealed in the commons. It provided that in the event of a posthumous child of the present queen, her majesty should be guardian and regent of the kingdom; and that if such an event did not occur, then the Duchess of Kent was to be guardian and regent during the minority of her daughter, the Princess Victoria, the heir-presumptive. The princess herself was not to marry while a minor without the consent of the king, or, if he died, without the consent of both houses of parliament; and the regency was to be at an end if the Duchess of Kent, while regent, married a foreigner. A select committee was appointed on the 9th of December to inquire what reduction could be made in the salaries and emoluments of offices held during the pleasure of the crown by members of either house of parliament, and to report their opinion and observations thereupon to the house. On the 23rd both houses adjourned to the 3rd of February—ministers declaring that a long adjournment was necessary, in order to enable them to prepare the different measures which they intended submitting to parliament, especially that plan of reform to which they had pledged themselves on accepting office, and by which alone they could hope to retain it.



DEATH OF MR. HUSKISSON.

Among the most interesting events of this year may be reckoned the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway. It was, however, attended by a lamentable catastrophe. Mr. Huskisson, as one of the members for Liverpool, accompanied the Duke of Wellington in the procession; and, neglecting the caution given to visitors against leaving the carriages, he was knocked down by one of the returning engines, and his leg was so dreadfully crushed, that amputation could not be performed. He died of that disorder called tetanus, which commonly occurs after extensive lacerated wounds. His character is recorded in the previous pages of this history.



STATE OF FOREIGN NATIONS.

The revolutions in France and Belgium have already been noticed. The spirit of insurrection displayed in these countries extended itself to Leipsic, Dresden, Hesse-Cassel, Hamburgh, Berne, Basle, and Poland. In this latter country, however, the insurrection did not arise from civil discord, or political machinations, but rather from the harsh and insulting proceedings of Duke Constantine, its viceroy. It was a light to guide and warm a noble people to attempt their national redemption from the hand of a foreign and tyrannical master. A contest took place in the streets of Warsaw, between the people and the Russian troops, and the latter were expelled the city. Subsequently the grand duke was obliged to retire from the frontier, but not till it had been represented to him that it was the universal wish of the nation that the constitution should be carried into complete execution; that the promise of Alexander should be fulfilled, of incorporating with Poland its ancient provinces now under the dominion of Russia; but that no demands pointed to the dethronement of the emperor as their king, in whose name all the changes lately made in the government had been effected. The Poles, however, being doubtful in what light Nicholas, Emperor of Eussia would regard their proceedings, prepared for resistance, should he be determined to treat them as rebels. General Klopicki was named commander-in-chief of the army, and he soon found himself at the head of a powerful force. All the Polish regiments joined the cause of the people; but, divided and mutilated as Poland was, it seemed a hopeless prospect for a portion of it to engage in a struggle with the gigantic power of Russia. Fears were also entertained—and they were too soon realised—that Austria and Prussia, in fear for their plunder, would be adverse to its cause. Notwithstanding, the Poles made themselves ready for the contest with stout hearts. To secure energy and promptitude in their measures, they invested Klopicki, after the manner of the Romans of old, with dictatorial power. But even in assuming this office, which was to endure till the chambers of the diet, which were convoked for the 18th of December, could be assembled, the dictator disclaimed any design on the part of Poland of throwing off its king, or of demanding anything more than to enjoy under that king, an independent national existence, with the free constitution which had been promised. "The Poles," said Klopicki, "know how to be faithful; and when all Europe abandoned him before whose victorious eagles the nations had prostrated themselves, the Polish battalions, firm in the hour of reverses, never ceased till the last moment to range themselves round the fallen conqueror. But in the present instance the power of evil had overstepped all bounds; it was impossible to convey the language of truth to the head of the state; flatterers, greedy of reward and prodigal of calumnies, gave us every day new chains instead of liberty. Never was insurrection more legitimate. No; the king himself will be forced to admit the justice of our cause, when he comes to know the extent to which he was abused." But what could the unhappy Poles have expected from the mercy of the haughty autocrat Nicholas? They sent two commissioners to St. Petersburg, in order to attempt to arrange some terms of compromise; but the emperor refused to listen to their representations, and issued proclamations in which he threatened to inflict on the Poles the most severe punishment for what he called "their horrid treason." The year closed with a storm thickly gathering over the unhappy country of Poland.

In Spain, Ferdinand deeply offended the Carlists by his abolition of the salique law in favour of the child, if it should be a female, with which his queen was pregnant, and thus gave rise to a war which long desolated the northern provinces of Spain, as well as to the quadripartite treaty, under which it was hoped that the country might enjoy the blessings of a constitutional government. When the infant was born, it proved to be a daughter, and the nation was called upon to proclaim Don Carlos immediately. A civil war commenced; but the Carlists were at the close of the year so far subdued as to leave the government in apparent security. In Portugal, Don Miguel, still cut off from direct communication with European sovereigns, except his brother of Spain, continued, by means of special commissions, to take vengeance on those of his subjects suspected of political delinquencies, and to supply his wants by the confiscation of their property. Blood had, it is true, ceased to flow; but a more terrible and lingering destruction was ensured to his victims by their deportation to servitude in the African settlements. In the beginning of the year about fifty persons, whose only offence was that of being suspected of being malcontents, were shipped off for Angola. These unhappy men, though of good families, and respectable characters, were chained up with the most abandoned ruffians, robbers, and assassins, and doomed to the same punishment. In the middle passage, they were even stowed away in the smallest compass possible, like the slaves of Africa, while the best places were assigned to the malefactors; magistrates, members of the cortes, and other reputable persons occupied the most deadly and pestilential berths. Out of respect for their former situation in life, and pity for their present sufferings, they were for some time spared the fatigues of hard labours; but the superintendent soon received orders to discontinue this lenity. Nor were the political prisoners confined in the dungeons at Lisbon much better treated. They could scarcely obtain trials, and when declared innocent, they could not gain their liberty. The treatment they received may be seen from a petition which those confined in the castle of St. Julian presented to Miguel against their jailer:—"The prisoners of the tower of St. Julian have been lodged in the worst cells, subterraneous, dark, exposed to rain and all weathers, and so damp that it has frequently been necessary to strew the ground with furze, to enable them to walk on it. They have occupied apartments only nine yards long and three yards wide; and these being crowded, the temperature has been raised to such a degree as to cause cutaneous eruptions, and other complaints. Among these sufferers are the Spanish bishop, Dr. Diego Munoiz Torrero, Doru. Ant. Pinho, and J. Ant. Cansado, these latter being already declared innocent by the commissioners. In one of these cells a complete inundation has occurred more than once, leaving a continual dampness, and causing a consequent deterioration of health. Besides this dreadful state, sir, the governor has ordered the windows to be closed, to shut out the few spans of light of the heavens, and the fresh air, the only remaining part of it being from the fissures of the door, whereto the prisoners apply in turn their mouths, to breathe particles of that air which the Almighty spreads so unsparingly to all animals and living beings. Another cell, called the principal one, from below, is also inhabited, and so dark that, let the sun be as brilliant as possible, six lights will not suffice to lighten it, being twenty steps below the surface of the ground. Such, sir, has been the habitations of your prisoners, not for the space of a few days, but for eighteen, twenty, and twenty-three months; whereas several other better cells are occupied by only three or four prisoners." The petition further stated that the food given to them was of the most revolting kind; and that those who were sick were thrust into solitary confinement, in dungeons without light, without water, food, or bed, and filled with vermin. But the heart of Miguel was steeled against this petition. It was in vain that complaints were poured into his ears; nor did the death of his mother, who had been blamed for much of this cruelty, and who this year was called to her account at the bar of an offended Maker, make any change in the proceedings of a disposition which her maxims had deadened to the voice of mercy. Earl Grey, on assuming the reins of government, very properly refused to make an alliance with such an infamous usurper; notwithstanding, he was blamed for this line of policy by the members of the late administration. Towards the close of the year, indeed, there were signs of a rupture between the two countries. Part of the Portuguese navy was employed in an attempt to blockade Terceira, where the regency, in the name of the young queen, was still ruling. Miguel made the non-success of these vessels a pretext for seizing some English ships; and threats from the government were resorted to before he would give up the pretended prizes to their owners. Then the usurper relinquished his prey, and war was averted.

The administration of Greece, during the present year, remained in the hands of Capo d'Istrias and his partisans. The allied powers, however, were occupied in attempting to make arrangements for the permanent settlement of its government. The crown was tendered by them to Prince John of Saxony, who declined it. Several candidates were then passed over in favour of the pretensions of Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg, and the sovereignty was unanimously offered to him; but, though he had been once anxious for the prize, he also finally rejected it. The causes of his rejection of it were these:—Early in the year the prince wrote to Capo d'Istrias to announce his acceptance of the sovereignty, and to communicate to the Greek community the efforts he had made, and was still making, to obtain from the allied sovereigns as many advantages as possible for the new state. The count, however, did not like the idea of relinquishing his power; and he transmitted letters and documents expatiating on a variety of objections to the arrangements of the allies, and on the dissatisfaction which they had produced throughout Greece. These letters and documents excited the apprehensions of the prince; and the horrors of an embarrassed administration, and of discontented, unruly subjects, prevailed over the glittering radiance of a crown. At the same time the illness of George IV., which was likely to terminate fatally, opened to him new prospects. The question, therefore, regarding the new boundaries of the kingdom, and the separation of Candia from its territory, formed a ready pretext for his rejection of the offer. The three allied courts endeavoured to change his determination; but their efforts were unsuccessful; he definitely declined the crown.

Before the revolution of July, the French government had sent a powerful fleet and army, under the command of General Bourmont, against the dey of Algiers. Bourmont was successful; the dey capitulated, and retired to Naples, leaving the head of the piratical states in the hands of the conquerors. The expedition was principally undertaken to obtain the glory of a military exploit which had baffled the most powerful nations of Europe, and of thus creating popularity for the despotic ministers of Charles X. But no exploit could raise them in the estimation of the people; monarch and statesmen alike were overthrown; and when the expatriated dey heard of the event, he exclaimed, "Allah! Allah! God is great, and the avenger of injustice."

In Belgium, where Prince Leopold finally obtained a crown, the progress of military events was interrupted by foreign interference. The kingdom of the Netherlands had been created by Great Britain, Austria, Russia, Prussia, and France, which powers held themselves bound to look after their work. Some of them wished to compel the Belgians to submit by force. The Rhenish provinces of Prussia were directly opposed to the infection of that spirit which had severed the United States; the Germanic confederation was already attacked by formal claims on Luxembourg; and the King of the Netherlands had appealed to the allied powers to preserve the throne which they had created. On the other hand, it was certain that the new government of France would favour the independence of Belgium, and its people would desire nothing more ardently than a pretext for war, which might terminate in the restoration of these provinces to her dominion. One party in Belgium, indeed, openly declared that her interests demanded a reunion with France; and that there was no doubt that she would receive the protection of that power in case any of the allies should attempt to preserve her connexion with Holland. To avoid war, therefore, the allies agreed to interpose their good offices; and as their first object was to stop hostilities, a protocol, signed at London on the 4th of November, bound all parties to negotiation rather than to have recourse to the sword. These negotiations involved many difficulties, and were counteracted by many conflicting interests; but their result, as will be seen, was the erection of Belgium into an independent kingdom.



CHAPTER XLI.

{WILLIAM IV. 1831—1832}

State of the Reform Question..... Meeting of Parliament..... Introduction of the Reform Bill..... Debate on the Motion that the Bill be read a Second Time, &c...... Motion of Adjournment pending the Ordnance Estimates carried against Ministers..... Prorogation and Dissolution of Parliament..... The Budget..... Proposed Change in Taxes, &c...... Arrangement of the Civil List..... General Election..... Meeting of Parliament: The Reform Question renewed in Parliament, and carried in the Commons..... Rejection of it by the Lords..... Consequences of its Rejection..... Financial Statements..... Prorogation of Parliament..... Coronation of William IV...... Opening of the New London Bridge..... Ravages of the Cholera..... Foreign Affairs..... Meeting of Parliament..... New Reform Bill..... State of Ireland



STATE OF THE REFORM QUESTION.

{A.D. 1831}

It has been seen that the ministry which succeeded that of the Duke of Wellington were pledged to apply themselves forthwith to what was termed the reform of the representation; that is, to strengthen and enlarge the democratic part of the constitution. While they were occupied in this work, the details of which were as yet unknown, meetings were held in all parts of the country, for the purpose of getting up petitions in support of their policy. The prayers of the petitions were various, and in many cases very indefinite. Thus one set of petitioners prayed that the right of suffrage should be equalised and extended; but whether they meant such an extension and equalisation as would convert the government into a democracy, or some more modified degree of change, did not appear. Others said that a real, substantial, and effectual reform in the representation of the people had become necessary; but what reform they actually wanted was all conjecture. Some petitions, however, plainly declared what species of reform the petitioners required. These demanded the annihilation of all influence on the part of the aristocracy in returning members of the house of commons; the shortening the duration of parliaments; the extension and equalisation of the elective franchise; and vote by ballot. Another set of petitions recommended a reform of property as well as of representation, actually demanding that the possessions of the church should be seized, and appropriated to "the necessities of the state." In other petitions, the petitioners, apparently at a loss to conceive what kind of reform was required, were satisfied with announcing that the country was ruined, and that it could only be restored by reform; at the same time gravely leaving it to his majesty's ministers to declare what change would best answer the purpose. But, besides petitions in favour of reform, permanent political associations had begun to be formed in different parts of the country, for the purpose of organising large numbers of individuals into one body, to act on the mind of the public, and to press the question upon government. These associations took the name of Political Unions; and they had a regular array of officers, with a council, which transacted the ordinary business. Their objects were to push on changes to any extent possible; to insist on whatever they chose to demand, as a right which could not justly be refused; to repress opposing opinions in their neighbourhood; and to make even the government feel that they existed in order to dictate, not to obey. The whole kingdom was indeed in a ferment; and not only the correction of abuses, but immediate relief from national calamities, was confidently expected by the multitude in a reform of parliament. It was to prove a balm for all their sufferings—the commencement of a golden era of prosperity.



MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament met, pursuant to adjournment, on the 3rd of February. Hitherto ministers had veiled in profound secrecy the plan of reform which they intended to produce. The question was introduced on this day by Earl Grey; but it was only to state that ministers had succeeded in framing a measure which would be effective, without exceeding the bounds of a just and well-advised moderation; that it had received the unanimous assent of the government, and that it would be introduced into the house of commons at an early period.



INTRODUCTION OF THE REFORM BILL.

The measure of reform concocted by ministers was brought forward on the 1st of March by Lord John Russell, to whom, though not a cabinet minister, it was entrusted, in consideration of his constant and strenuous exertions in this great question. His lordship commenced by stating, that he was about to propose what had been formed in the mind of Earl Grey himself. Ministers, he said, had discarded the notion of complying with violent and extravagant demands, and had framed a measure which would satisfy every reasonable man in the country. They wished to take their stand between two hostile parties; neither agreeing with those, on the one hand, who thought that no reform was necessary, nor with others who conceived that only one particular reform could be wholesome or satisfactory. His lordship then proceeded to detail the plan by which ministers proposed to satisfy a demand for reform which, as they themselves believed, could be no longer resisted. That plan had been framed so as to remove the reasonable complaints of the people, which complaints were principally directed, first, against nomination by individuals; secondly, against elections by corporations; and, thirdly, against electioneering expenses. As regards the first two grounds of complaint, the ministerial plan consisted, first, in disfranchisement, in whole or in part, of places which had hitherto sent members to parliament; secondly, of enfranchisement, in order to enable unrepresented places to elect members; and, thirdly, of an extension of the franchise, in order to increase the number of electors in those places which were to be allowed to retain, in whole, or in part, their existing privileges. The part of the plan which related to disfranchisement proceeded on a plain rule; namely, to disfranchise all boroughs whose population did not exceed a certain number. It was true, said Lord John Russell, it would be extremely difficult to ascertain the wealth, trade, extent, and population of a given number of places; but we have been governed by the population return of 1821, and we propose that every borough which at that date did not contain two thousand inhabitants should be deprived of the privilege of sending members to parliament. This, he explained, would disfranchise sixty boroughs, and get rid of one hundred and nineteen members. Disfranchisement was not to stop here. There were some boroughs which should be blotted out altogether, while others, although more flourishing in point of population, were too low to have any good title to retain their present privilege of sending two members to the house of commons. It was therefore proposed that all boroughs whose population exceeded, according to the census of 1821, two thousand, and yet was under four thousand, should only send one instead of two members. The number of these boroughs was forty-seven; and Weymouth, which had hitherto sent four members, was in future only to send two. Having proposed the disfranchisement of these places, amounting in the whole to one hundred and sixty-eight members, Lord John Russell explained the ministerial plan of enfranchisement. It was proposed that each of seven considerable towns should send two members, and twenty others one member each. Then twenty-seven of the largest counties, including Yorkshire, was in future to return four members instead of two, with this exception, that Yorkshire, already possessing four, was to return an additional member for each riding. The representation of London, likewise, was to be more than doubled; the Tower Hamlets, Finsbury, Lambeth, and Marylebone, were each to return two members. But the most important part of the new constitution was as follows:—The cities, boroughs, and counties which were to send members, and the number of members to be elected being ascertained, the existing right of franchise in them all was to be altered, and a new franchise introduced, extending equally to those which remained untouched, with the declared purpose of increasing the number of electors, and of having but one uniform election throughout the empire. The elective franchise was to be extended to all persons paying a rent of ten pounds per annum, whether they occupied the premises or not; copyholders, whose property was of the same yearly value, and all householders to an equal amount, were to be electors for counties; all holders of leases for twenty-one years, which had not been renewed within two years, were to have the privilege of voting in towns; and all leaseholders for twenty years of property worth fifty pounds per annum, were to vote for counties. Existing resident electors were not to be deprived of their right during their lifetime; but no non-resident elector was to be allowed to retain his franchise. Finally, no alteration was to be made in regard to the forty-shilling freeholders. The new constituency being thus formed, Lord John Russell explained the ministerial plan regarding the actual election. All voters were to be duly registered; and in order to diminish the expense of elections, as well as opportunities for bribery, drunkenness, and corruption, the duration of the poll was to be diminished; that for counties was to be taken simultaneously at different places. Such was the general outline of the reform bill, in so far as England was concerned. The only alteration in Wales, was to consist in adding unrepresented towns to those which already sent members: for instance, Holyhead was to be united with Beaumaris, and Bangor to Carnarvon. A new district of boroughs was to be erected, consisting of Swansea, Cambridge, Langhorn, and three other places, which should have the privilege of sending one member to parliament; the only additional one proposed to be added to the representation of Wales. In Scotland the existing county franchise, which depended on a mere feudal right of superiority over lauds belonging to others, was to be annihilated; the election of members for boroughs was to be taken from the town-councils, and vested in the citizens at large; and the new English franchise was to be introduced, both in counties and in boroughs. Every resident owner of land or houses worth ten pounds per annum, and every tenant under a written lease for nineteen years or upwards, paying fifty pounds a year, was to have a vote in county elections; and in towns the franchise was to attach to the occupancy of a dwelling-house, rented at ten pounds per annum. To some of the large towns, which hitherto had elected only in conjunction with others, as Glasgow and Aberdeen, separate or new members were to be conferred; while the Fife district of burghs was annihilated and thrown into the county; and some counties were conjoined. In the whole, Scotland was to have fifty members instead of forty-five. In Ireland the principal alterations were to be the introduction of the ten pounds' qualification; and that in towns the franchise should be taken out of the hands of the corporations, and given to the duly qualified citizens: Belfast was to return one member, and Limerick and Waterford two each, thus adding three to the existing members for Ireland. The general result of the whole measure, Lord John Russell said, would be to create a new constituency of about 500,000 persons; the increase in counties would be about 100,000; that in towns already represented, about 110,000; in new boroughs 50,000; in Scotland 60,000; and in Ireland, perhaps, 40,000. This numerous body, he said, was connected with property, and possessed a valuable stake in the country; and upon this body it would depend, if any future struggle should arise, to support parliament and the throne in carrying that struggle to a successful termination. The probability of this franchise, he continued, would be an inducement to good conduct; for when a man found that by being rated at a certain rent, and by paying rates, he became entitled to vote in the election of members of that house, he would feel an inducement to be careful, frugal, and punctual in all his dealings, to preserve his character amongst his neighbours, and the place which he might hold in society. This large increase of the constituency would provide for the political and moral improvement of the people. It was true, he said, that the arrangements which he had detailed would diminish the total number of members in the house; but that would not be a disadvantage. There would be an absolute diminution in the whole of sixty-two, which diminution was inflicted exclusively upon England; but it was the opinion of ministers that this reduction would enable the house to transact business more effectually and conveniently. After accounting for two omissions, which might be brought as charges against him—namely, that no provision was made for shortening the duration of parliaments, or for introducing the vote by ballot—his lordship concluded by requesting leave to bring in a bill to amend the representation of the people in England and Wales.

This motion brought on a debate which lasted seven nights, and elicited opinions from between seventy and eighty members. This debate would of itself form a volume, and therefore only a brief outline can be given of it in these pages. Sir Robert Inglis admitted that there was excitement and expectation among the people; but he argued that the origin of it was to be found in the events which had occurred in France and Belgium, and that, if government would oppose instead of fomenting it, it would soon pass away. Mr. Horace Twiss took the same view of the question. Lord Althorp denied the validity of the grounds of opposition relied upon by the previous speakers, and, in terms nearly identical with those used by Lord John Russell, advocated the measure. Mr. Hume declared that, radical reformer as he was, the plan proposed had exceeded his anticipations. Mr. Baring Wall and Lord Stormont used the usual arguments against the bill; Lord Newark trimmed between its opponents and supporters; and Mr. Macaulay advocated it on the strange grounds that, being opposed to universal suffrage and revolutionary measures, he felt constrained to adopt this proposal. Mr. Hunt, the radical member for Preston, and Lord Morpeth, strenuously supported the motion, and Sir Charles Wetherell most bitterly and vehemently denounced it. The baronet's speech was one of the most eccentric pieces of vituperative declamation ever delivered within the walls of parliament. He nicknamed the bill "Russell's purge!" which afforded much amusement to honourable and right honourable gentlemen on his side of the house, and was taken up out of doors, the party throughout the country using it as if it were expressive of something which ought to be considered very fatal to the measure. Mr. Hobhouse replied with smartness to Sir Charles, aptly quoting Hume's History of England for illustrations of his arguments. This speech was effective on the ministerial side. Mr. Baring made a heavy speech, which fell flatly on the house, and was replied to by Lord Palmerston, who, in a most statesmanlike oration, reviewed the whole question, defended the motives of ministers, and exposed the fallacy and folly of the arguments on the anti-ministerial, side. This speech produced a most damaging effect upon the opposition. Sir Robert Peel revived the hopes of the latter by one of his most studied speeches. It was, however, defective in temper, and although received with cheers by the opposition, failed to convince any one that reform was either the unjust or dangerous thing which he represented it. The speech was specious, sophistical and acrimonious; its effect upon the country was to strengthen the public prejudice against the anti-reformers. The Hon. Mr. Stanley, secretary for Ireland, made his reply to Sir Robert effective by illustrations drawn from the condition and wants of Ireland, its yearnings for freedom, and the restrictions which were laid upon the franchise. Mr. Croker made one of those speeches which proved nothing but the impolicy of the speaker. The bill was supported by Lords Dudley Stuart and Howick, Sir J. Johnston, and Messrs. Russell, Wood, Tennyson, and Long Wellesley. It was opposed by Colonels Sibthorp and Tyrrell, Sir George Clerk, Sir George Warrender, and Mr. William Peel, who merely repeated Sir Robert Peel in an ineffective manner. Mr. O'Connell delivered a persuasive and eloquent oration in favour of the immediate adoption of the bill, and intimated that there was danger of insurrection in Ireland if that country were left any longer without reform. Sir James Graham spoke well on the same side, especially in reply to certain unguarded statements of Mr. Croker. Lord John Russell replied, and the motion for leave to bring in the bill, as well as those for Scotland and Ireland, was not resisted. The bill itself was not brought in till the 14th a delay which gave occasion to some members of the opposition to express their surprise that a plan which ministers were stated to have so long carefully pondered and concocted, and which had already been amply discussed, should be in so incomplete a state as to be unfit to be presented to parliament. On the 14th, however, the bill, in which one or two alterations and corrections had been made, was brought in, and read a first time without opposition. It was not known why the opponents of the bill allowed the contest to terminate without a division, but it appears to have arisen from the fact that they did not form a combined body, and that they had no regular plan of party operations. Ministers subsequently admitted that if a division had taken place they would have been left in a minority; but the opposition reserved themselves for the second reading a stage at which, according to the forms of the house, the fate of the principle of a bill is usually decided.



DEBATE ON THE MOTION THAT THE BILL BE READ A SECOND TIME, ETC.

From the moment that the general outlines of the plan of reform proposed by ministers had been discussed in parliament, public excitement daily increased. The bill contained few of those changes for which violent reformers had long clamoured; yet these persons professed to receive it with joy. The secret of their conduct was easy to be understood; for though the bill gave less than they wished or demanded, it granted more than they had expected. They were told, moreover, by their leaders, whose hopes lay in the future, that as ministers had determined to go no further, all would be lost unless government were strenuously supported by those who conceived a change desirable. From these causes they agreed to forget the defects of the bill, and to be silent regarding the ballot, universal suffrage, and annual parliaments. The ministerial measure became their standard; "the bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill," became their watchword; and ministers were invested for a time with a species of infallibility. No part of their measure was wrong, and their conduct was not to be questioned. The manufacturers of petitions again set to work; and the same places which had petitioned a month before for much more, now prayed that the bill might pass untouched and unimpaired. Men, in fact, who had craved reduction of taxation and retrenchment of expenditure—who had desired a more democratic house of commons as the only means of securing those good objects, now conjured the house to enact a measure of which even its patrons declared that it would neither reduce taxation or expenses. The number of petitions was large, but the majority of the names attached to them were from the lowest classes of society, to whom ministers had declared no power could be given. But all this petitioning, though regular, constitutional, and powerful, did not promise to be effective. Ministers had threatened convulsions as the consequences of refusing the bill, and the reformers resolved to support them by opinions which indicated its approach, and exhibitions of mob force which might be used as its means. Language of an intimidating nature was constantly used at their assemblies, and in petitions, against all who should dare to oppose the bill, which intimidation served the purposes of the reformers in two ways: on the one hand, many who were averse to the violent changes proposed were driven into acquiescence from the apprehension that resistance would produce confusion; and on the other hand, those who would actively have resisted the change were overawed from any public expression of their sentiments. The menaces of the reformers were even accompanied with a display of the means of executing them. Everywhere the political unions boasted of the numbers they could bring into the field. Ten thousand men, said Colonel Evans at a reform meeting held in London, are ready to march hither from Beigate to support his majesty's ministers if they should be defeated; and the chairman of the Birmingham union openly declared that it could supply two armies, each of them as numerous and brave as that which had conquered at Waterloo, if the king and his ministers required them in the contest with the boroughmongers. Nor was the press idle in this critical state of affairs; that daily supplied the fuel by which the excitement was kept up, preaching, in some instances, doctrines subversive of all order and government. Individuals who distinguished themselves in opposing the change were attacked with every species of calumny that enmity could invent; the property of the church and the rights of the peerage were held out as illegally amassed treasures, which the people, in the exercise of their rights, would soon have the pleasure of pillaging; and pretended lists of the names of pensioners and placemen were circulated, in which were to be found the names of men who had never received one farthing from the purse of the state. Even parliament itself was the object of incessant and absurd attack, and privilege seemed no longer to exist.

Such was the state of the public mind when, on the 21st of March, the second reading of the bill was moved. The debate lasted only two days. It was commenced by Sir R. Vyvyan, one of the members for Cornwall, who moved that the bill should be read that day six months. He declared that the bill affected no interests of his own, but it was a measure full of danger to the institutions of the kingdom, and which, therefore, his conscience bound him to oppose. The motion was seconded by Mr. Cartwright, who stated that Mr. Hume had actually written to the radical reformers of Glasgow, entreating them not to say a word about the ballot. Mr. Sheil, an Irish agitator, repeated the usual arguments in favour of the bill, dwelling at great length on the disfranchisement of the Irish boroughs at the time of the union, and the later disfranchisement of the Irish forty-shilling freeholders, as justifying in principle everything that was now proposed. He treated as ridiculous the idea that the bill could be dangerous either to the crown or to the aristocracy. There was variance between the logic of the non-reformers and their sarcasms. The syllogisms were overthrown by their satire, and their arguments evaporated in their vituperation. This bill would wrench despotism from oligarchy, but it would not touch the legitimate influence of property, and birth, and station, and all the other circumstances which create a title to respect. It would take power from individuals, and give it to a class; it would cut off the secret and subterraneous conduit-pipes through which aristocratic influence was now conveyed to that house, and would make it flow in a broad, open, constitutional, and natural channel. Mr. Charles Grant followed on the same side. The solicitor-general said that the whole argument against the bill seemed to proceed on the assumption that there was something in the British constitution inconsistent with change, and that to make an alteration would be to effect its destruction. The history of this country, however, and its institutions, showed that there had been an almost uninterrupted series of conflicts between the principle of democracy and despotism, with alternations of success, and the inevitable consequences of that, a system of perpetual change. The present bill, therefore, was in every point of view in perfect harmony with the whole current of our legislation. In six years after the Revolution, he said, the triennial act was passed, distinctly admitting on the part of the legislature of that period that the Revolution was not a settlement to be permanently unchangeable. Neither was the triennial act itself treated with undeviating respect, for, in the year 1715, its repeal was sanctioned by some of the very men who had brought about the Revolution; then the septennial act was passed, and another great change effected in the constitution of parliament. Did any one at that period hold that the septennial bill was a revolutionary measure? So far from any such character being imputed to it, the measure had always been treated as one within the constitution of parliament to enact. Sir Edward Sugden complained that the solicitor-general had gone back to the bill of rights, instead of attempting to explain and justify this bill of wrongs. It was perfectly true that the septennial act did not spring from the Revolution; it was brought in by Whig ministers for the same purpose for which the present bill was brought in by Whig ministers—as the only means by which they could retain their places. Mr. Pendarvis warmly supported the bill; and Mr. Cavendish declared his intention of voting for it, although his constituents at Cambridge had petitioned against it; many of them, he said, were not hostile to the whole measure, but objected to the new qualification as being too low. Mr. Ward, on the other hand, opposed it in opposition to his constituents in the city of London, who had petitioned in favour of the bill. He had passed the earlier years of his life, he said, principally in two close boroughs; and among the representatives of those had been, during his remembrance, Messrs. Fox, Pitt, Canning, Perceval, the noble lord at present at the head of foreign affairs, and the Duke of Wellington. Such had been the representatives of those close boroughs, and he much doubted if by a reformed system more able members would be introduced into that house. Again, when he first entered that house he had looked at both sides to see who were the most influential members, and he saw on the ministerial side Messrs. Canning and Huskisson, and on the opposition side Mr. Tierney, Sir James Mackintosh, and the present lord-chancellor (then Mr. Brougham), all of whom had either been, or were at the present time, members for close boroughs. Such was the case, and it would be fortunate if large and populous places always found and returned men of such abilities. On the other hand, during his experience but three members had been called to account by that house in consequence of their conduct, and all these three members were the representatives of large and populous places. Mr. Calcraft, paymaster of the forces under the late administration, who had expressed his unqualified disapprobation of the bill, startled the house by declaring that he intended to vote for the second reading. At length the house divided on Sir B. Vyvyan's motion, when there appeared for the amendment three hundred and one against three hundred and two, thus leaving Lord John Eussell a majority of only one in an assembly of more than six hundred members. This division was, indeed, in substance, a defeat of ministers, although the mob celebrated it as a victory by illuminations, and by venting its vengeance on the houses of all who would not join in the triumph. Ministers, however, could not labour under such a delusion, although they still resolved to try their fortunes in a committee. That committee was delayed till the 18th of April, and in the meantime the bill was brought in for Ireland.

The bill for amending the representation of Ireland was brought in by Mr. Stanley, the Irish secretary, on the 24th of March. In explaining the bill, he said, in the first place, that the right of voting for comities would be left to freeholders, as they already stood; but that leaseholders of fifty pounds a year, under leases of twenty years, would be added to them. Clergymen likewise were to vote, if they were freeholders to the extent of fifty pounds; and householders who occupied a house let at the yearly rent of ten pounds per annum. The machinery of the bill was to be nearly the same with that proposed for England; and the necessary result of the measure would be to take the franchise out. of the hands of the corporations, who had hitherto monopolised it; and Mr. Stanley thought that no one could deny its propriety. The English bill, he said, in continuation, made no change in the election of the members for the universities; but an alteration was to be made in regard to the University of Dublin. In future it was to return two members instead of one; and the number of electors was to be increased by bringing back the right of voting to what it had originally been. At Oxford and Cambridge the masters of arts had always voted; but in Dublin, a subsequent charter having excluded scholars from receiving their stipendia after the expiry of the five years, it had been held by a forced construction that they lost their right to vote for the university-member after the same period, though they still continued to be scholars. The present bill would restore the original right, by extending their academic franchise to all persons who at any time had been scholars of the university, provided they placed their names on the books, as claimants of the right, within six months after the passing of the act. Mr. O'Connell admitted that the bill would prove a great boon to Ireland, and would produce an effective constituency; but there were parts of it which he hoped would be altered. In the first place, he thought that a greater number of members ought to be given to Ireland. He objected, likewise, to the arrangement concerning the university, because it still left to the franchise an exclusive character; no Roman Catholic could vote there, because he could not become a scholar of a Protestant university; scholarships, therefore, ought to be thrown open to all classes of the community. Nor did the Irish counties receive justice. Many counties in England, because their population extended to 200,000, were to receive two members each, while in Ireland there were twelve counties, with a population above that point, whose representation was not to be increased. In reply to the demand for opening the university-scholarships to Catholics, and making all masters of arts voters, the Irish solicitor-general announced that the charter did not allow it. At Oxford and Cambridge the charters gave the rights to the masters, but at Dublin it was only given to the fellows and scholars, and it was the principle of the bill to preserve vested rights and settled institutions, as far as could be done consistently with an efficient reform. Mr. Bankes, and Sir C. Wetherell, and Mr. Hardinge, argued, that the giving of additional members to Ireland, as well as Scotland, was unjust towards England, and inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the two legislative unions. They also complained of the effects which the bill would inevitably produce upon the Protestants of Ireland. If the bill passed, it would be impossible, they said, for an Irish Protestant to be returned to parliament, unless two-thirds of the Catholic population chose to vote for him. It would be a virtual exclusion of all Protestants from the representation of Ireland; not one would be elected unless he became an agitator, pledged himself to all that was demanded, and basely pandered to the passions and views of the Catholic electors. The chancellor of the exchequer, in reply to these objections, stated that the bill did not interfere with the unions, any more than the union with Ireland had violated the union with Scotland; and that as to the different circumstances in which Irish Protestants might find themselves, he and his colleagues entertained no apprehensions of their opponents being able successfully to raise against them a no-popery cry; the public mind was too enlightened to be affected by such idle clamours. The bill was allowed to be read a first time; and the second reading was fixed for the 18th of April.

When the house met, on the 12th of April, after the Easter recess, Lord John Eussell communicated certain alterations which it had been found necessary to make in the schedules of boroughs to be disfranchised, in consequence of inaccuracies discovered in the population returns of 1821, on which the whole plan had been founded. Lord John Russell also declared that, although ministers had not changed their opinion regarding the propriety of reducing the numbers of the house, and would try to carry that clause in the bill, still "they were not prepared to say that this was a question of such essential and vital importance, that, if the feelings of the house were strongly shown in a desire to keep up the present number, they might not be induced to relax their determination on that point. If it should appear to be the sense of the house that the whole number of six hundred and fifty-eight members should be retained, the government would not feel that they were altering a vital or essential part of the measure by agreeing to that proposition." On the following day Mr. Stanley, when adverting to the same topic, to prevent any misconception that ministers, though they might consent to retain the numbers, would leave them to the boroughs, stated, that they were determined to adhere in all circumstances to the disfranchisement of every borough whose population did not reach a particular standard, and the partial disfranchisement of every borough falling beneath a certain other standard; the number of members to be added should be given to such populous towns as might be considered in that event to have a fair claim to representation.

On the 18th of April, Lord John Russell moved that the house should resolve itself into a committee on the reform bill. In doing so he stated the alterations which had been recently made in it by ministers. According to his statement, it appeared that five boroughs had been transferred from schedule A to schedule B, and allowed to retain one member, and that seven of those in schedule B were allowed to retain their two members, in consequence of its having been ascertained that the population returns had not accurately represented the number of inhabitants. On the other hand members were to be added to the following counties: namely, Bucks, Berks, Cambridge, Dorset, Hereford, Hertford, Oxford, and Glamorgan. Members were also to be added to the following towns: namely, Oldham, Buly, Bochdale, Whitby, Wakefield, Salford, and Stoke-on-Trent: Halifax was restricted to the township, and to return only one member, the parish being twenty-five miles in extent. Sons of freemen entitled to the privilege of freemen, and apprentices having entered into indentures in the same manner, were to retain their franchise on taking out their freedom, being resident, and registered under the provisions of the bill. General Gaseoyne moved as an instruction to be given to the committee, "That it is the opinion of this house, that the total number of knights, citizens, and burgesses returned to parliament for that part of the United Kingdom called England and Wales, ought not to be diminished." This motion was designed to get rid of the bill altogether, and it produced a violent and contentious debate. Mr. Sadler, who seconded it, delivered a long, argumentative, and learned speech against the general principles of the whole plan of reform. He was followed by the chancellor of the exchequer, who declared that he was quite sure that the amendment was put with a view of destroying the bill. It was impossible to misunderstand it: it was the first of that series of motions by which it was intended to interfere with the progress of the committee, and which, if agreed to, would be fatal to the bill. The debate was adjourned till the next day. On that occasion, of the members who opposed it, some did not see how an agreement to the amendment could be considered hostile to the principle of the bill, even if it were carried; and not one, except ministers themselves, pretended it would be a good reason for abandoning the whole bill. Mr. Bulwer, for instance, thought that this question regarding the number of members would make no difference in the general character of the measure, and Mr. J. Campbell hoped that the bill would go on, though the amendment should be carried. Mr. Wynn, who had resigned office because he was opposed to the bill, also thought that this motion was not of much consequence one way or the other. Sir George Warrington, though opposed to the bill, would resist the amendment, on the idea that the effect of it would be, if the bill went on, to prevent the giving of additional members to Scotland. Sir George Clerk said, that he, also, would vote against it if he anticipated any such results; but he saw no reason that it should be so. Sir Robert Wilson, one of the most zealous of all the reformers, expressed great surprise at the view which ministers, after all that had passed, chose to take of this amendment. In voting for it he was not voting against increasing the representation of either Scotland or Ireland, nor did he believe that the fate of the bill depended in the slightest degree on the success or the failure of the present motion. Mr. Stanley, however, declared that this discussion would decide the fate of the bill. The amendment, he said, was concocted in a spirit of hostility to the bill, and brought forward to embarrass ministers. He warned those honourable members, who, while they professed themselves friendly to reform, supported this amendment, that it would decide the fate of the bill, and that by their votes on this occasion they would be judged by their constituents and by the country. In giving their votes, he added, they would either vote for or against the carrying of that question, for the carrying of which, if now lost, an opportunity so favourable might not soon again return, and that the result of that night's division would be, either to carry that great question, or to defeat the hopes of the people of this country. Sir James Graham, on the same side, remarked that he did not say if this amendment was carried, ministers would abandon the bill; but he did say, that if it should be, it would be a matter of very grave consideration, whether the bill would be so impugned, that they ought not to attempt to carry it through its other stages. General Gaseoyne expressed his surprise at being told that the motion he had made for keeping the sixty-two members was inconsistent with the essence and principles of the bill. If I understood the noble lord who brought in the bill, right, in a conversation which I had with him only yesterday, he distinctly admitted to me that my amendment would not touch the principle of the bill. Lord John Russell replied that the amendment now moved was a different one to that to which General Gaseoyne alluded: and thus ended this debate. On a division, the amendment was carried by two hundred and ninety-nine against two hundred and ninety-one, being a majority of eight against ministers.