of the laws relating thereto. The report of the committee of the house of lords was presented on the 16th of February, and that of the commons on the 17th. The report stated that in different parts of Ireland resistance had been made to the payment of tithes, by means of organised, illegal, and in some instances armed combinations, which, if allowed to extend themselves successfully to other districts, would be applied to other objects, and ultimately subvert the dominion of the law, and endanger the peace and security of society. In many districts the report further stated, where resistance had been made to the payment of tithes, the clergy had been reduced to the greatest distress; and in order to obviate this, the committee recommended that his majesty should be empowered to advance to the incumbent, where tithes or compositions had been illegally withheld, or to his representatives, sums not exceeding the amount of the arrears due for the tithes of the year 1836, proportioned to the income of each, according to a scale diminishing as their incomes increased. It further recommended that as a security for repayment of the sums so advanced, his majesty should be empowered to levy, under the authority of a law to be passed for that purpose, the amount of arrears due for the tithes of the year 1831, without prejudice to the claims of the clergy for any arrear that might be due for a longer period. Where the arrears were due in a compounded parish, the sum to be advanced was to be regulated by the composition, and where there was no special agreement, by an average of the produce of the tithe for the years 1827, 1828, and 1829. As the crown was to become entitled to the arrears, it was recommended that the attorney-general should be empowered to sue for them, either by petition in chancery or exchequer, or by civil bill at the county quarter-session. On the tithe system, the committee stated that they had seen sufficient to satisfy them, "that with a view to serve both the interests of the church and the lasting welfare of Ireland, a permanent change of system will be required: that such a change, to be safe and satisfactory, must involve a complete extinction of tithes, including those belonging to lay impropriators, by commuting them for a charge upon land, or an exchange for or investment in land, so as effectually to secure the revenues of the church, so far as relates to tithes, and at the same time to remove all pecuniary collisions between the clergymen and the tithe-payer, which, at present, were unavoidable." On the 8th of March, the Marquis of Lansdowne in the upper house, and Mr. Stanley in the commons, moved resolutions adopting and embodying the recommendations of the report. In the lords no opposition was offered to them, but in the commons it did not pass so readily. Mr. Stanley said that as he intended to state the whole plan which government had in contemplation, with all its details, he should move for that purpose that the house should resolve itself into a committee on the report; a course which he deemed advisable, because it would put it into his power to give every explanation which might be required, and to take the opinion of the committee separately on each of the resolutions. This motion was sternly opposed by the Irish members. Mr. Brownlow led the attack, by maintaining that the report was too partial and imperfect to be made the subject of consideration in committee. He moved "that the debate be adjourned, until the committee had gone into a full inquiry into the subject of tithes, and the appropriation of church property in Ireland, and until the evidence and report of the committee came before parliament." In support of the amendment, Mr. Shiel said that the Irish members did not oppose the resolutions: they only said, "Wait for the final report, and do not decide on a document resting on one-sided evidence." Catholics, he said, had been excluded from the committee, and only one out of eighteen Catholic witnesses had been examined. Was this just, or fair dealing? It was as if a jury were desired to retire on the closing of the plaintiff's case. They find their verdict; judgment is given; and then the defendant was desired to proceed with her case. If the committee had confined themselves to the recommendation of assisting the clergy, the Irish members would not have complained; but while they came with a purse of gold for the church, they also came with a rod of iron for the people. Mr. Shiel proceeded next to discuss the plan which was supposed to be unknown, in doing which he discovered the true objection of the Irish members to it, namely, that the Protestant church of Ireland was still to be preserved. Other Irish members urged the same objections; and added, that if every thing else in the supposed plan were right, it was wrong to pay the arrears to the clergy, and then ask repayment by coercive measures. Lord Ebrington, who had been on the committee, and concurred in its report, now sided with the Irish members. Sir Robert Peel said that the discussion on the anticipated propositions was foreign to the question before the house. The question was, whether the propositions should be explained now, or after the house had gone into a committee. Pie thought that the latter was the course most conformable to the practice of the house; and by supporting a motion to that effect, no member pledged himself in the least to the proposition of the government. Lord Althorp and Mr. Stanley complained of the course the Irish members had taken in commenting on propositions of which they knew nothing; and on a division the amendment of the Irish members was lost by an overwhelming majority.

The committee was delayed till the 18th, on which day Mr. Stanley moved a series of resolutions similar to those which had been agreed to by the lords. The first of these resolutions was, "That it appears to the house that in several parts of Ireland, an organised and systematic opposition has been made to the payment of tithes, by which the law has been rendered unavailing, and many of the clergy of the established church have been reduced to great distress." Mr. Stanley entered at great length into the evidence which proved both parts of this resolution. It was quite clear from the evidence that a system of opposition had been established in Ireland to the payment of tithes, which could not be overcome by ordinary means. Every plan had been adopted by which the operations of the law might be traversed. Tithe-proctors and process-servants were violently assailed; impediments were interposed to prevent the seizure and sale of cattle; and, in a word, every system of determined and organised opposition was manifested that could be displayed by a whole population acting as one man against the payment of a claim legally due. Having proved the truth of the first resolution, Mr. Stanley proceeded to the second, which provided means of relief. It read thus:—"That, in order to afford relief to the distress, it is expedient that his majesty should be empowered, upon the application of the lord-lieutenant, or other chief governor or governors of Ireland, to direct that there be issued from the consolidated fund such sums as may be required for this purpose. That the sums so issued shall be distributed by the lord-lieutenant, or other chief governor or governors of Ireland, by and with the advice of the privy-council, in advances proportioned to the incomes of the incumbents of benefices wherein the tithes, or tithe composition lawfully due may have been withheld, according to a scale diminishing as the incomes of such incumbents increase." To this resolution Mr. Stanley said that he did not anticipate any objection, inasmuch as it was from no fault of the clergy that the resistance, and the consequent distress had arisen. He then proceeded to the third resolution, which provided for the reimbursement of the sums advanced:—"That, for the more effectual vindication of the authority of the law, and as a security for the repayment of the sums to be advanced, his majesty may be empowered to levy, under the authority of an act to be passed for this purpose, the amount of arrears for the tithes or tithe-composition of the whole or any part of the year 1831, without prejudice to the claims of the clergy for any arrear which may be due for a longer period; reserving, in the first instance, the amount of such advances, and paying over the remaining balance to the legal claimants." The last resolution pledged the house to an alteration of the existing tithe system on some principle of commutation, though Mr. Stanley said he was not prepared to state the nature of the change. Those who dissented from the resolutions consisted chiefly of the Irish members, and, singular enough, their opposition was chiefly confined to the last resolution. This was, it was said, to introduce a change of system, but it implied that the tithe was still to be a fund available to the established church. It was said to be unjust to demand extraordinary powers for the execution of a law acknowledged to be bad and mischievous, and that every renewed attempt to recover tithes by coercion would only hasten the ruin of the church establishment in Ireland. Some adjustment must be made by which the church property should be applied to the support of the three prominent sects in Ireland, instead of its being bestowed exclusively on one, which only comprehended about a third of the population. It was admitted at the same time that it was right to relieve the clergy who were suffering; but it was asserted that the resolutions held out no hope of any substantial amendment of the existing state of things. Mr. Shiel argued that the last resolution did not pledge the house not to appropriate church property as it might deem fit, and insinuated that this was what the ministry meant, though they could not venture to speak it out plainly. Sir Robert Peel supported the plan of the ministry, for, although hostile, he said, on general principles, to pledges that the house would do something at a future period, he thought that the interests of religion and the Protestant church required that the present case should be made an exception. As to the proposal to delay the question till the committee should have given a full report, he deemed it unnecessary and mischievous. If the spirit of combination was to be checked, it should be so at once; it would be true mercy to check it as soon as possible, for any delay would only add wings to its already rapid progress. The first resolution was agreed to finally without a division. On the second, Mr. Hunt divided the house, as he did not think the distress of the clergy in Ireland was such as to warrant money being taken out of the pockets of the people of this country for their relief. He was, however, only supported by eleven members, while eighty-six voted for the resolution. The third then passed without a division, and an amendment on the fourth was negatived without being put to the vote, so that the whole were carried. The bill was brought in to be read a second time on the 6th of April, when the Irish opposition pressed for a delay on the ground that it was inconsistent with sound policy to carry through this coercive measure before introducing the other measure for the change or extinction of tithes; that if the arrangements regarding the latter were complicated and required delay, that was the best reason for delaying the former, and that Mr. Stanley, the Irish secretary, ought to take advantage of the Easter recess, then approaching, to pay a visit to Ireland. Ministers resisted all delay, however, and the second reading was carried by a majority of one hundred and nineteen against twenty-one. It was read a third time, without much discussion, on the 16th of April; and in the house of lords, where the resolutions had been agreed to, the bill was passed without opposition.

The tithe-committees still continued their investigations, and on the 25th of June Mr. Stanley stated to the house of commons the measures which ministers intended to recommend for the final settlement of the questions connected with tithes. Three bills were to be introduced: the first, to make the composition act permanent and compulsory, and to render it at the same time more equitable and effective in some of its details; the second, constituting the bishop and beneficed clergy of each diocese into a corporation for the purpose of receiving the tithes for the whole body, and dividing them for their common benefit in the proportion to which the respective parties would be entitled: and the third, providing for a commutation of the tithe on the same principle as the land-tax redemption in England, or the redemption of quit-rents in Ireland—that is, that the party liable to the charge might redeem it, and the money thus paid for redemption would go to a fund as a provision for the clergy in the proportions to which they were at present entitled. Mr. Stanley explained the principles of these three bills at great length; but stated that it was not intended to carry all of them through the house at so late a period of the session. And this, he continued, was not necessary, as the first and second were independent of the third. He moved therefore for leave to bring in a bill for making the tithe-composition act compulsory, and the composition permanent, and another for establishing the ecclesiastical corporations. Subsequently the latter of these was delayed, and the composition bill only pressed on. The motion for this was opposed by Mr. J. Grattan, who moved as an amendment the following resolutions:—"That it is essential to the peace of Ireland that the system of tithes in that country should be extinguished, not in name only, but in substance, and unequivocally: That in coming to this resolution we recognise the rights of persons having vested interests, and declare that it is the duty of parliament to provide for those persons by making them a just compensation: That we also recognise the liability of property in Ireland to contribute to a fund for supporting and promoting religion and charity; but that such may and ought to be quite different in the mode of collection, and much lighter in effect than that raised by the system of tithes: That we are also of opinion that the mode of levying and the application of such fund and its distribution ought to be left to the decision of a reformed parliament." As the session was drawing near to a close, the opposition seemed to entertain hopes of rendering the measure abortive by mere opposition. Ministers were first compelled to adjourn the debate from the 3rd of July to the 10th, and on the 10th it was found necessary to adjourn it again to the 13th. On that day, after stern opposition from the Irish members, and especially Mr. O'Connell, who descanted in his usual strain on the "insulting contempt with which all Irish affairs were treated," a division took place on Mr. Grattan's resolutions, which were rejected by a large majority, and then the bill passed the second reading without opposition, and the house went into committee. Mr. Stanley in opening the ministerial propositions had adverted to the payment of church-cess and church-rates by Catholics, and expressed an opinion that they might be got rid of by a proper application of the first-fruits. Mr. Shiel moved that "the committee should be instructed to recite in the preamble of the bill, that the tithe composition should be extended, with the view to the levying of first-fruits according to their real value, and to such future appropriation of them to the purposes of religion, education, and charity, as, after making a due provision for the maintenance of the church, should to parliament seem proper." Mr. Shiel said that the preamble already set forth that the bill was to effect a commutation. The government, however, ought not to stop there: they had declared that they intended to relieve the people from the church-rate, by levying their first-fruits to their full extent, and it was their object to ascertain the full amount of tithes through Ireland in order to tax the church. The committee, also, had reported that the people ought to be relieved in this particular: wherefore then was it not set forth in the preamble? They should be embodied in the bill, and the legislature should give an earnest of their determination to rescue the Irish nation from the most odious imposition in the annals of ecclesiastical taxation, the erection of temples with which the people had no concern. Mr. Stanley, in reply, admitted that he agreed in the principle that the fund arising from the first-fruits should be made available for the repair and erection of churches. When asked, however, "Why not say in the preamble of this bill that there should be an abolition of church-cess and rates for the future?" he said he was not prepared to go to that extent. If he consented to the introduction of these words into the preamble, he should be doubtless told that church-rates were abolished, and that the people of Ireland so understood it. He did not wish, he said, to declare that to be the object of the bill which was not its object, however it might be likely to be effected by the passing of the bill. On a division Mr. Shiel's motion was rejected by seventy-nine to eighteen. The bill now proceeded without further delay, and was passed by the commons and the lords. On the second reading in the upper house the Duke of Wellington expressed a wish that it should pass unanimously, he believing it to be the commencement of a series of measures which had the pacification of Ireland for their object.



FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.

As the reform bill and the management of Ireland were the great business of this session, matters of trade did not occupy much attention in parliament. The chancellor of the exchequer made his financial statements on the 27th of July, when it appeared that in the quarter of the year ending on the 5th of January, there had been a deficiency of L700,000, making the revenue of that quarter fall short of the estimate by no less a sum than L1,200,000; ministers having calculated on a surplus of L500,000. The revenue in the year 1830, the chancellor of the exchequer said, was L50,056,616, while the expenditure was L47,142,943, leaving a surplus of L2,913,673. The expenditure of 1831 ending in 1832 was within L19,664 of that of 1830; but this equality did not proceed from an equality of votes in the two years, because in the latter year there arose, from the reduction of four per cents., a saving of L777,443. After entering into minute particulars of the receipts and expenditure, with the savings which government had effected, the chancellor of the exchequer said, that upon the whole there was a decrease of income in 1831, as compared with 1830, of L3,682,176. From this, if the surplus, which would have accrued if the income had been equal to the expenditure in that year, that was L2,933,319, were deducted, there would be an excess of expenditure in 1831 over the income amounting to L698,857. The state of the revenue, therefore, in the commencement of 1832, was, that instead of having a surplus of L2,913,673, as in the commencement of 1831, the expenditure of 1831 being L19,646 below that of 1830, there was a falling off to the amount he had already shown; and the real excess of expenditure over income in 1831 was the sum of L698,857. Lord Althorp attributed this deficiency chiefly to the reduction of taxation in 1830. The whole reduction of taxation in 1831 amounted to L4,780,000. From this, if L3,364,412 were deducted as the loss on customs and excise, there would be a balance of L1,414,588; a clear proof that the resources of the country had increased by nearly a million and a half in the consumption of articles not affected by taxation. He owned he had been too sanguine in the calculation he had made of increased consumption from reduced taxation, but it was satisfactory to observe that, notwithstanding the great reduction of taxation, the deficiency in the revenue had been so small. He felt it right to state, he continued, that the deficiency at the end of the year was increased in the April quarter, the amount in that quarter being L1,240,413. Finding this deficiency his majesty's ministers had endeavoured to meet it, not by an increase of taxation, but by a reduction of expenditure. They had lowered the estimates by more than L2,000,000, and had reduced official salaries and appointments to the utmost of their power. In two years, the reductions they had made in salaries and officers amounted to L334,353. Lord Althorp next entered into a statement of the gradual decrease of the surplus, and then proceeded to the estimates for the year ending-April, 1833. He calculated that the expenditure of the year ending April, 1833, would be L45,696,376, which would be L2,162,051 less than that for the year ending in April, 1832. He next proceeded to give a comparative estimate of the income as it was in April, 1832, and as he calculated it to be for 1833. From the various items he expected a total of L46,470,000; deduct from that L45,696,376, as the amount of expenditure, and it left a surplus for the year ending in April, 1833, of L773,624. Against this, however, was to be set the deficiency of 1832, amounting to L1,240,413, and take from that sum the surplus of L773,624 for 1833, and it would leave a deficiency on the two years of L466,789. Mr. Goulburn contended that, according to the noble lord's statement, there would be a deficiency at the end of the current year, on account of 1832, although in this year there was a surplus. After a few words from Sir Robert Peel, however, who questioned the reality of the reductions made by government, the financial arrangements were carried without opposition.



COMMITTEE ON THE CHARTER OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, ETC.

On the 27th of January the president of the board of control moved the appointment of a committee upon the affairs of the East India Company, and to inquire into the state of trade between Great Britain, the East Indies, and China. This was, in fact, only the reappointment of a committee which had sat during previous sessions; but the president hinted that as the charter would expire in April, 1834, and the East India Company had declined to make itself a party to the discussion, it would be necessary that the government should take a more direct management of the question, though without intimating its intentions, so as not to disappoint expectations. It would be necessary to carry this proposal into effect, he said, to have a considerable number of sub-committees, at least six or seven, each taking a separate branch of the inquiry. In the East India House, and in the board of control, the business was divided into six departments, each division having its separate functionaries; and he proposed, therefore, that there should be at least six sub-committees, each taking one of these departments. As it was necessary, he continued, to provide for the absence of members, and as five or six members would be necessary in each subcommittee, he should propose that there should be at least forty-eight or forty-nine in the committee. The present committee, he added, would have this advantage, that, the subject was not entirely new. A large mass of testimony had been obtained; and though the evidence had not been systematically collected, yet the materials were in preparation, and the committee would be supplied with them. In addition to this the board of control had for some time been preparing for the discussion, officers having been employed in classifying the evidence laid before both houses, and in separating the different branches of the evidence. The committee was appointed without opposition. Subsequently, the chancellor of the exchequer proposed the appointment of "a committee of secrecy, to inquire into, and report upon the expediency of renewing the charter of the Bank of England; and also on the existing system of banking by banks of issue in England and Wales." The circumstance which gave rise to this motion was the renewal of the charter with the Bank of England. As the occasion of a renewal of that charter had always been considered the proper time for an inquiry into the banking system, and had been looked forward to by the public as a proper season for taking the principles of the Bank of England into consideration, therefore the proposition was made. In making the proposal, the chancellor of the exchequer said that he trusted the house would agree in the propriety of making it a committee of secrecy, in order to prevent any discussions in that house upon the subject pending the inquiry; on such a question, involving the money transactions of the country, nothing could be more objectionable than these discussions. As to the questions which the committee would have to consider, they would have first to decide whether the charter should be renewed, and then, in case of renewal, whether any, and what exclusive privileges should be given to the Bank. Another question for their consideration would be the existing system of banking with reference to banks of issue; and they would likewise have to consider the Bank of England in its quality of banker to the state. It was not, however, intended that the committee should go into the question of the currency; it was to confine itself to banking, properly so called. But one exception to this would be found in the one-pound notes: it would be impossible to exclude that question from the consideration of the committee, if they should consider it was necessary to enter upon it. It was thought by some members that it would be better to restrict the committee from entering into that question, and by others that it would be better to delay the whole subject till a new parliament. In substance, in fact, it was so delayed, for, although a committee was appointed, it had made no report when parliament was prorogued and subsequently dissolved.



THE AFFAIRS OF THE WEST INDIES.

In the latter part of 1831, a violent hurricane had occasioned a great deal of injury in Barbadoes, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia. During this session ministers proposed, and parliament agreed, to grant his majesty L100,000 for the relief of the sufferers in those islands. Jamaica was soon after visited by a calamity of a different kind, though not less destructive. About the end of 1831, a formidable insurrection, which had been organised for some time, broke out among the slaves, particularly in the parishes of Trelawney, Portland, and St. James. The negroes on several estates began at first to refuse to go to their work, and then they assembled together in large bodies, and marched over the country, spreading devastation around them. The destruction which they caused was not confined to the whites; the houses and small settlements of free people of colour were attacked equally with the large plantations of the white inhabitants. It was found necessary on the 20th of December to proclaim martial law, and the militia of the different parishes was called out. Sir Willoughby Cotton also marched to Montego Bay, with between two and three hundred troops. Two engagements took place between the negroes and the militia, in both of which the former were routed. They again made head in some quarters; but at length the troops succeeded in dispersing them; and offers of pardon being issued to all but the ringleaders, the greater part of them returned to their masters. Of the ringleaders, some were shot after trial by courts-martial; and by the middle of January the danger was over, though some of the negroes still remained out, and martial law was not recalled. The insurrection was ascribed by the whites partly to the vague notions existing among the negroes by the orders in council intended to effect the amelioration of their condition, and partly to the arts or imprudence of sectarian missionaries. A belief had been produced among the former that their liberty had been granted by the king; and it was said that they had been encouraged in these ideas by some of the missionaries. This unfortunately gave rise to the work of retaliation. At Montego Bay. Falmouth, Lucia, and Savanna-la-Mer, the chapels of the Baptists were razed to the ground by the mob, probably at the instigation of the planters. A Baptist and Moravian missionary were arrested on the charge of exciting the insurrection, but nothing was found to criminate them. But apart from the effect which the orders in council might have had in misleading the negroes, they were regarded by the colonists as an unnecessary and mischievous interference with the rights of property, and even with their political privileges. The orders appointed slave-protectors to attend to the rights of negroes against their own masters, fixed the hours of labour, and contained various other regulations, all deemed useful, and intended to prepare the way for a general emancipation. These orders were considered in both sets of islands as dangerous incitements to turbulence among the negroes, and ruinous to the property of planters. There were discontent and irritation everywhere against the government at home; and in the colonies which had legislative assemblies it was plainly spoken out by resolutions and petitions. Nor were the proprietors at home silent on the occasion. On the 6th of April the West-India mercantile body of London presented a protest against the order in council to the secretary of state. This was followed by a public meeting of persons interested in the colonies, where it was resolved to petition the house of lords, praying, "That a full and impartial parliamentary inquiry should be instituted for the purposes of ascertaining the laws and usages of the colonies, the condition of the slaves, the improvements that had been made in that condition, and what further steps could be taken for the amelioration of that condition consistently with the best interests of the slaves themselves, and with the rights of private property." This petition was presented on the 17th of April, by the Earl of Harewood, and the prayer of their petition was granted. Mr. Buxton, on the 24th of May, made a motion on the other side of the question. He moved: "That a select committee be appointed to consider and report upon the measures expedient to be adopted for properly effecting the extinction of slavery throughout the British dominions at the earliest period compatible with the safety of all classes." Lord Althorp objected to this motion as too unqualified, and he wished Mr. Buxton to add the words, "in conformity with the resolutions of 15th of May, 1823." To this Mr. Buxton would not consent, and Lord Althorp then moved them as an amendment on the motion, and they were carried by a large majority. These measures were subsequently followed by pecuniary relief to those who had lost property. The sum of L100,000, which had been granted to the sufferers from the hurricane in Barbadoes, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia, was raised to L1,000.000, and extended to the sufferers in Jamaica by the insurrection. In addition to this, the sum of L58,000 was granted to be applied in giving aid in regard to the internal expenses to the crown colonies, which had adopted the orders in council, and had carried the same into effect.



PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

Parliament was prorogued by his majesty in person on the 16th of August. On the great question of the session his majesty remarked:—"The matters which you have had under consideration have been of the first importance; and the laws in particular which have been passed for the reforming the representation of the people have occupied, as was unavoidable, the greatest portion of your time and attention. In recommending this subject to your consideration, it was my object, by removing the just causes of complaint, to restore general confidence in the legislature, and to give additional security to the settled institutions of the state. This object will, I trust, be found to have been accomplished." Ireland was still in a disturbed state, on which his majesty remarked:—"I have still to lament the continuance of disturbances in Ireland, notwithstanding the vigilance and energy displayed by my government there, in the measures which it has taken to repress them. The laws which have been passed in conformity with my recommendation at the beginning of the session, with respect to the collection of tithes, are well calculated to lay the foundation of a new system, to the completion of which the attention of parliament, when it again assembles, will of course be directed. To this necessary work my best assistance will be given, by enforcing the execution of the laws, and by promoting the prosperity of a country blessed by Divine Providence with so many natural advantages. As conducive to this subject, I must express the satisfaction which I have felt at the measures adopted for extending generally to my people in that kingdom the benefits of education." At the close of his majesty's speech the lord-chancellor said, that it was his majesty's royal will and pleasure that parliament be prorogued to Tuesday the 16th of October next, to be then holden, and this parliament is accordingly prorogued to Tuesday the 16th day of October next.



GENERAL ELECTION.

{WILLIAM IV. 1832-1833}

After parliament was prorogued, the great objects of public attention were the registration of the new constituency under the reform bill, and other preparations for a general election, which was to follow as soon as the registration was completed. The registration, which was conducted very quietly, having been completed, parliament, which had been prorogued by commission on the 16th of October, was dissolved on the 3rd of December, and the first general election under the reform act took place. The writs were made returnable on the 29th of January, 1833. As regards the machinery of the act, it appeared to work more smoothly than had been anticipated. Generally speaking, in the most populous places, the polling was concluded within the two days allowed by the act. Less time and opportunity were allowed for bribery, and the disturbances which used to arise from drunkenness and profligacy in a great measure ceased. As regards the candidates which the machinery of the act produced, there was a great dislocation of old connexions and previous interests. There were three parties in the field: ministerial candidates; Tories, now called Conservatives; and the Radicals, who have been aptly termed "the apostles of pledges." The elections were generally in favour of the ministerial candidates, or at least of candidates who professed the same general views, and declared their adherence to a reforming ministry. This was natural, for in almost all the boroughs success depended on the newly created electors, who could scarcely refuse their votes to that party by whose means they had procured the right of voting. The Whigs were most successful in Scotland: out of fifty-three representatives elected in that portion of the empire, not more than twelve were Conservatives; nor could half that number be termed "apostles of pledges." In Ireland, however, the Whigs were not so successful. O'Connell had denounced the ministers, even while the reform bill was in progress, as acting with insult and injustice towards Ireland in the measure of change meted out to her; and the refusal to abolish the Protestant established church in Ireland had converted him and his adherents into declared enemies. All their energies, therefore, were employed to return members who would either drive ministers from the helm, or drive them to sacrifice the church, and repeal the union. The consequence of his agitation was, that, while Mr. O'Connell was himself elected for Dublin, he brought over with him when parliament met some half-dozen of his own immediate relations, besides various demagogical dependents, as the representatives of Ireland. O'Connell's manners and language on this occasion were violent in the extreme. In a letter "To the Reformers of Great Britain," he even ventured to put forth articles of impeachment against the ministers, and he went so far as to offer to coalesce with the Orangemen in order to defeat them. The result of his agitation was that, by his exertions and influence, coupled with that of the minor demagogues of Ireland, the number of Radicals, or "Repealers" was greatly increased.



RESIGNATION OF THE SPEAKER.

As the end of last session was approaching, Mr. Manners Sutton, who had filled the speaker's chair in six successive parliaments, announced his intended resignation. His chief reason appears to have been that the next parliament would consist of many new faces; and would be differently constituted to those in which he had presided. All parties, however, received his announcement with regret; and Lord Althorp moved, Mr. Goulburn seconded, and the house voted by acclamation the usual resolution of thanks in such cases. An address was also voted to the king, praying his majesty to confer some signal mark of his favour on the speaker; and this was carried into effect by granting to Mr. Sutton L4000 a-year, to be reduced one-half if he accepted office under the crown of equal value, and L3000 a-year to his son on his demise.



STATE OF IRELAND.

This year witnessed the disaffection of all parties in Ireland. Towards the conclusion of the preceding year a systematic opposition to tithes had been organised, and the repeal of the union had been openly advocated. Ministers, doubtless, conceived that the reform bill would conciliate both the agitators and their followers; but in this they were mistaken. The reform bill, indeed, gave rise to new sources of discontent. The Protestants lost all confidence therefrom in the government; and they very naturally felt inclined to have recourse, for means of defence, to the same instruments which the Catholics used against them. They were surrounded by Catholic bands, inclined to pillage and murder, and it was no wonder that they felt irritated by a measure which appeared to give licence to the lawless. A meeting of Protestant noblemen and gentlemen, held in Dublin, put forth a manifesto, enumerating the various grievances of which they thought themselves entitled to complain, and calling upon all their brethren to be vigilant and true to their own interests. The example of this assembly was followed in many parts of the country, and addresses were voted by numerous meetings to the king. In one of these addresses dissatisfaction and alarm was expressed at the spirit that appeared to influence the councils and direct the measures of the Irish government. Unconstitutional and mischievous associations, it was stated, had been suffered to be formed and continued, the efforts of which were directed to usurp the power of government, and destroy the civil and religious institutions of the country; and these associations, instead of being suppressed, were allowed to take place even in the metropolis, while the instigators of them were rewarded with favour and confidence. This address also expressed strong opinions on the reform bill. It would transfer, it was said, to the Catholics and Catholic clergy an overwhelming influence in the representation; that the boroughs, whose franchise was to be taken from the Protestant corporations and transferred to a larger constituency, had been incorporated for the express purpose of maintaining, by a Protestant constituency, the connexion between the two countries; and that the measure in progress could have no other effect than to vest the dominion of Ireland in the Catholics. On the other hand, the reform bill did not give satisfaction to the Catholics; it gave much, but it did not give all that they desired, or all that was necessary to the completion of their schemes. Their object was ascendancy. Popery could not retain its glories in Ireland, or the Protestant church be destroyed, so long as their fate depended on a Protestant parliament. The union must be repealed; and unless Ireland sent into the house of commons a large body of Catholic repealers, there was no chance of such a consummation. Hence it was that Mr. O'Connell attacked the Irish bill with such bitterness; it did not make a larger addition to the representatives of Ireland, and it did not sink the qualification to a scale sufficiently low to ensure the return of all repealers to the reformed parliament. These "defects of the bill," therefore, supplied the demagogues with new sources of agitation. The people were told that this pretended reform was an insult; that they had received only a small portion of the justice that was due to them; and that they must still offer unyielding opposition to a government which granted only a part of their demands.

Meanwhile the tithe question became & fruitful source of discontent and bloodshed. A petition was entrusted to Mr. O'Connell to the house of commons against the Protestant church, which, while it announced in plain language their own wishes, gave direct encouragement to violence and outrage. The different counties, in fact, from the agitation of the demagogues, presented one scene of growing lawlessness and crime. The king's speech was even made to foster this spirit of insubordination. It had recommended the consideration of the tithe question in parliament; and the Irish Catholics construed this into a condemnation of the tax. Looking upon the tithes, therefore, as already denounced by the king and the parliament, they thought they were justified in resisting the payment of them. Everyman refused to pay; and threats, arson, and murder, were directed against all who in any way connected themselves with the payment, or collection of tithes, whether as clergyman, proctor, policeman, or payer. Recourse was even had to intimidation by public proclamation; chapel doors were desecrated by placards threatening death and destruction to all who should pay tithes. Thus instructed at the very sanctuary where peace alone should have been taught, the ignorant and misguided peasantry everywhere committed acts of violence and outrage. The premises of the tithe-payer were reduced to ashes, and his cattle were houghed, or scattered over the country, or, as in Carlow, hunted over precipices. Moreover, scarcely a week elapsed in which a proctor, or a process-server, or a constable, or a tithe-payer, were not murdered. An archdeacon of Cashel was even murdered in broad daylight, while several persons who were ploughing in the field where the act was committed, either would not, or dared not interfere. Neither life nor property were safe; and in the beginning of February the Irish government found it necessary to have recourse to the peace-preservation act, and to proclaim certain baronies in the county of Tipperary to be in a state of disturbance. This, however, had no effect; large bodies of men everywhere openly defied the law, and roamed about the county, compelling landlords to sign obligations to reduce their rents, and to pay no tithes. They even compelled some farmers to give up their farms and their houses, and, in some instances, they committed the most atrocious cruelties. An end was put not only to the payment of tithe, but to the payment of rent; and the terror which prevailed on every hand acted as a shield to the offenders. In fact, it was considered a crime to be connected with any attempt to execute the law against the insurgents, and to betray any activity in preserving order was to become a marked man; such a man was sure of being made the victim of open violence, or secret assassination. Such an extensive combination had been entered into to resist the payment of tithes, and to protect all who might be implicated, that the ends of justice could not be attained. Jurors were in danger of losing property and life; and at Kilkenny the attorney-general even found it necessary to delay the trials.

Government, as the year advanced, filled the disturbed districts with troops and an augmented constabulary force; but no approach was made to the restoration of order. The magistrates of the county of Kilkenny made an unanimous application to the Irish government for stronger measures to meet the crisis; but the lord-lieutenant stated in his answer, that, from circumstances which had taken place, he had no expectation left of any appeal to the law under the existing excitement proving effectual. He sent, indeed, into that county three additional stipendiary magistrates, and one hundred additional policemen; but this was ineffectual: crime still prevailed, and resistance was successfully made to the payment of tithes. In the meantime, the agitators and their political unions, while they affected to deplore the perpetration of the outrages which were every day occurring, did not cease to address to their countrymen the same exciting language in which they had hitherto indulged, and to devise new schemes and combinations for open resistance to the law. It was quite evident, indeed, that they were at the bottom of all the mischief that was afloat. It is true, they did not recommend openly murder and arson, and that they preached passive resistance; but they called upon every man to refuse payment of tithes, and in that call was involved disobedience to the laws. Dublin was the seat of most of the mischief going forward. From thence the agitators continued to describe Ireland to its inhabitants as the slave of England, and to denounce the existence of tithe. The remedy of the tithe-owner was distraint; but in a few instances only could a sale be carried into effect, and the clergy were at length compelled to give up all attempts to enforce their rights, the more especially as the arrears, if the measures proposed by ministers were carried, would become debts due to government. Where-ever a sale was effected, all those connected with it were objects of vengeance. Thus, in Kildare, a farmer who had purchased some distrained cattle, was obliged to throw up his farm and leave the country. The opposition against the payment of tithe was directed against the government as well as the clergy. Its intention was to drive ministers, if possible, to recommend and enforce their abolition, by rendering the recovery of them impracticable. Anti-tithe meetings were held in every part of Ireland, and the greater part of the country was involved in one huge conspiracy. During the year government seemed to think it time to try whether the law could not reach the tumultuous assemblies of the conspirators. A circular was addressed to the Irish magistracy, directing them to disperse all meetings collected in such numbers as to produce alarm and endanger peace, as distinguished by banners, inscriptions, or emblems, which tended to disturbance, or to throw contumely on the law. This circular was denounced by Mr. O'Connell as illegal, though he advised that it should be obeyed. Several large meetings were dispersed by the military, headed by a magistrate; but where the meeting was strictly parochial, no opposition was offered to their proceedings. It was this spirit of lawlessness which gave rise to the Irish tithe-bill of this session. The passing of that bill neither mitigated the discord which everywhere prevailed, nor diminished the crimes which that discord produced. The people had been taught to demand as their right, and to expect as a concession, the annihilation of tithe; but they found that the crown, by the Irish tithe-bill, had become creditor instead of the clergymen. They had now, therefore, to struggle with the crown. Proceedings were adopted by the law-officers of government to enforce payment of arrears, and at the same time it was resolved to try the power of the law against the ringleaders of the "anti-tithe meetings." A great number of persons were apprehended on the charge of conspiracy, and of holding illegal assemblies. Some of these on their trials were convicted, and others, on the advice of O'Connell, pleaded guilty, and they were fined and imprisoned; but they were looked upon as martyrs, and the penalties which they were suffering were noted down as another unpardonable injury committed against Ireland by the English government and the Protestant church. The law, however, was not equally successful when directed against the more atrocious crimes of arson and murder, which had been committed in the southern counties. Life was not safe in those parts, and jurors and witnesses alike dreaded the execution of a duty which might involve a sentence of death upon themselves. Rather than attend, they paid the fine for absence; or if they attended, they were afraid to convict, even in the most atrocious cases. The law-officers were, in fact, compelled to give up the prosecutions in despair, and murder remained unavenged. In celebration of this triumph over law and justice, the county of Kilkenny blazed with bonfires, announcing to the world that the guilty had escaped punishment. As for the "acquitting jurors," they were greeted with the popular applause; and because they allowed murder to be committed with impunity, the peasantry hastened in crowds to their fields in harvest-time, and reaped their fields for nothing. Crime, therefore, prospered; and the tale of murder was repeatedly told in the newspapers of the day, while the perpetrators thereof escaped the punishment due to their crimes. Yet no lament was raised by the political guides of Ireland over murdered landholders and clergymen; it appeared to be, in their sight, a just revenge. At the same time a long wail of woe was heard throughout the country, if it happened that any of the resisting peasantry were killed by the military in the performance of their duties in securing the tithe. Four were thus killed in the county of Cork, and others wounded, the military being compelled to fire in self-defence; and Mr. O 'Connell immediately sent forth a letter to the reformers of Great Britain, invoking vengeance. And yet this man, who could deplore the fate of violators of the laws, could not find any cause for lament in the deaths of the many clergymen and laymen who had been slain by the infuriated peasantry. He could not find it in his heart to deplore the fact that the blood of peaceful, respectable, and virtuous citizens, had been shed on Irish ground; but he could palliate the conduct of their murderers, and by his agitation virtually sanction the foul crime.



STATE OF THE CONTINENT.

During this year Don Pedro carried his threat into execution, of attempting to recover the throne of Portugal from his brother by force of arms. He had been permitted to levy men, and to purchase vessels and shipments of arms and ammunition, both in England and France, and the naval part of the expedition was placed under the command of a British officer, who became a Portuguese admiral. The expedition sailed from the rendezvous, in the Azores, on the 27th of June, and it consisted of two frigates, three corvettes, three armed brigs, and four schooners, besides transports, and a number of gun-boats to cover the landing. The army on board, including British and French recruits, did not amount to ten thousand men, and it was scantily provided, both with cavalry and artillery. The invaders landed off Oporto on the 9th of July, without any opposition; and in the course of the day they took undisturbed possession of the city, the enemy having retired to the left bank of the Douro, and destroyed the bridge. The possession of this city was doubtless of great importance to Don Pedro; but it was far removed from the capital. He had hopes that the country would rise in his favour, and that the military would abandon his opponent. In these expectations, however, he was doomed to be disappointed. Don Miguel was enabled to concentrate his forces, and to organise the means of resistance; and at the close of the year, after some slight successes in engagements with the enemy, he was shut up in Oporto by the Miguelites, who bombarded the town, blockaded the Douro, and placed him in a very critical situation.

In the East a quarrel took place between the Sultan and Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, which threatened serious consequences to the Turkish empire, and occasioned such interference on the part of Russia as awakened the jealousy, and aroused the watchfulness of the other European powers. Ibrahim wrested Syria from the Porte, and the Ottoman empire was tottering to its fall, unless the European states should interfere to prevent it, or Russia should realize her long-cherished schemes of aggrandizement by taking the shores of the Bosphorus, which the Sultan was not able to defend, under her own protection. It was feared by the European powers that Russia would thus act; and toward the end of June, ministers dispatched the son-in-law of the premier on a special mission to Russia. Much confidence was placed by the public in the integrity and talents of Lord Durham, and an attempt was made to induce the ministers to embrace this opportunity of mitigating the cruel fate which hung over the unhappy Poles. Poland, however, was still doomed to be unbefriended. Russia was left to seek the annihilation of its existence as a separate nation at her pleasure. By an ukase this year, indeed, the emperor declared that Poland, with a separate administration, should become an integral part of the empire, "and its inhabitants form but one nation with the Russians, bound together by uniform and national sentiments." During this session, also, there was a debate on the subject of payments made to Russia without the authority of parliament. This question was connected with the financial affairs of the country, though it was treated more as a question of political party. It arose out of the treaty of 1814 for the incorporation of the Belgian provinces with Holland. By that treaty Great Britain had agreed to pay a certain share of a debt due to Russia by Holland, so long as Holland and Belgium were united. They had now been disjoined for nearly a year, and yet ministers had been making these payments without any new authority from parliament. The subject was brought forward by Mr. Herries, who entered at length on the subject, and contended that England had no right any longer to pay money to Russia: the Dutch had refused to pay any more, and ministers should not have done so without at least new powers from parliament. He moved three resolutions:—"That by the 55 Geo. III., for carrying into effect the convention between Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Russia, the treasury was empowered to issue sums to pay the interest and capital due by Holland to Russia, conformably with the provisions of the convention: That the payment of these sums was made to depend upon the non-separation of the kingdoms of Holland and Belgium; and that, as the kingdoms of Belgium and Holland had been separated, all payments made since that separation were unwarranted by act of parliament, and contrary to the treaty recognising the loan." Lord Althorp, in reply, said that the true question was, whether the country was not bound in honour to the continued payment of those sums. Looking at it only according to the strict letter of the treaty, we might not be bound; but he thought that by a careful examination of its spirit and provisions, it would be found that our honour was pledged to the payments, and that on no other consideration than that it was so pledged should we have interfered as we had done in the affairs of Holland and Belgium. He argued that the separation contemplated by the framers of the treaty was one produced by extreme force, and had nothing to say to any severance proceeding from internal causes. He argued further, that it was by giving Russia an interest in preventing the severance of Holland and Belgium, that this country concluded the treaty; and that, therefore, to that treaty we were equally pledged. That Holland had refused to pay was immaterial: if one pledged himself to the payment of a debt to which there was also a third party, it would be dishonourable to take advantage of that third party having refused to fulfil his engagement, as a legal reason for also refusing to fulfil your engagement. With respect to the resolutions, he had only to say, that, as the two first were merely declaratory of the fact, he should, as far as they were concerned, move the previous question; but as the third was a direct censure on ministers, he should meet it with a direct negative. Ministers had acted on the opinion of the attorney and solicitor-general, and they now defended that opinion. Lord John Russell also argued that it was the spirit and not the letter of the treaty which must be looked at, and that that spirit justified the payment. He complained that the resolutions were moved with a mere party view, and not from any love of economy or from any desire to maintain a constitutional principle. He complained also, that a motion should be made for censuring ministers, without calling for papers, and without any allusion to the circumstances which had occurred in 1830 and 1831, and on which the interpretation of the treaty might in a great degree depend. After some stinging comments upon this speech, Sir Robert Peel wound up the debate in one of his most plausible parliamentary addresses. He clearly confuted the main arguments which Lord Althorp used, and produced an effect unfavourable to ministers. When the house divided, the previous question was carried by a majority only of twenty; and government had but the narrow majority of twenty-four for the third resolution. Many of their adherents, including Mr. Hume, voted against them on this occasion; and even their secretary-at-war, Sir Henry Parnell, failed to attend to vote for them, for which conduct he lost his place, and was succeeded by Sir John Cam Hobhouse. The truth was, as it afterwards appeared, ministers had entered into a new convention with Russia, although that convention had not been ratified. Ministers laid this before parliament on the 27th of June; and on the 12th of July Lord Althorp moved the house to go into committee to consider of it, with the view that a bill should be brought in to enable his majesty to execute it. The convention provided for continuing the payments, and the opposition thought this a powerful argument in their favour; if a new convention was necessary, it was said, the former payments were made without authority. They moved the following amendment to Lord Alfhorp's motion:—"That it appears to this house that the payment made by the commissioners of the treasury on account of the interest due on the Russian loan in Holland, in January last, when the obligation and authority to make such payment had, according to the terms of the convention with Holland and Russia, and of the act of parliament founded thereon, ceased and determined, and also when a new convention with Russia, not then communicated to this house, had been entered into, recognising the necessity of recurring to parliament for power to continue such payments under the circumstances which had attended the separation which had taken place, was an application of the public money not warranted by law." Ministers still argued the question on the ground, whether this country was bound in good faith to continue the payments? if we were, they said, this convention was only to fulfil that duty. But the strongest argument in their favour was that adduced by Lord Althorp, which was to the effect, that, if his motion were lost, it would upset the ministry. As the reform bill was still pending, many voted for, who would have voted against them; and, on a division, the amendment was lost by forty-six—one hundred and ninety-seven voting for it, and two hundred and forty-three against it. During the progress of the bill, founded on the motion, Mr. A. Baring moved an address to the king, "praying his majesty to be graciously pleased to direct that there be laid before that house copies or extracts of any documents relating to the convention of the 19th of May, 1815, between Great Britain, Russia, and the Netherlands, explanatory of the spirit and objects of that convention;" but this motion was lost by a majority of thirty-six in favour of ministers. On this occasion Mr. Hume voted for them, although, he said, he knew they were in the wrong. He had come down to the house on the 12th of July, he said, with a firm determination to vote against them; but when he found by whom he was surrounded, he was unwilling to join them in driving ministers from office. He had changed his opinion, and would vote with the Whigs against the Tories, although he believed the Whigs were in the wrong. But the fact was, he was determined not to assist in turning out ministers until they had completed the great measure of reform. A great deal remained to be done, and he wanted to see a new election take place; he was determined, therefore, to support ministers. The conduct of Mr. Hume was followed generally by the liberal party, and this policy of the extreme sections of liberals alone preserved ministers in office. Another interesting subject was brought before the house by Mr. Lytton Bulwer, relating to the Germanic states. He moved for "an address to the king, requesting his majesty to exert his influence with the diet in opposition to the course which that body was then pursuing." In making this motion, Mr. Bulwer traced an outline of the political history of the Germanic confederacy, from its free government to its termination with the victories of Austerlitz and Jena, when the principle of aggrandizing the larger states at the expense of the smaller was first avowed and practised. He said that the defeat of Napoleon in his Russian campaign gave to Germany the opportunity of casting off a yoke which had been reluctantly borne. Russia and Prussia then appealed to her former free constitutions, the restoration of which was distinctly promised, when the Germanic states rose en masse; and the battle of Leipsic, with the downfall of the French power, speedily followed. By the second article of the congress of Vienna, he continued, the promises of Russia and Prussia were respected, and the rights of every class in the nation were solemnly guaranteed, the only state disagreeing being Wurtemburg. The late protocol of the diet, however, had for its object the rendering of the representative bodies of the several states useless, by relieving their despotic princes from every embarrassment which an efficient control by such assemblies might create, and to protect Austria and Prussia against the influential example of popular institutions. The sovereigns of these two states, he said, are willing to give just so much constitutional liberty to Germany as will not allow its writers to write, its professors to teach, its chambers to vote taxes, make speeches, or propose resolutions; whilst every state should be so inviolate, so independent, that, with or without the invitation of its sovereign, a deputation of Austrian or Prussian hussars may be sent to keep it in order! The question was, therefore, was it politic for England, under such circumstances, to interfere? Our situation, he said, rendered it incumbent on us to express an opinion, at least, in favour of the German people, or we must be thought to take part with their rulers. He could not recommend a foolish and hasty interference with foreign states, yet he could not consent that England should be a cipher in the political combinations of Europe, looking with indifference on the continent, as though no changes could affect her interests. And if there was any one thing more than another which immediately affected British interests, he thought it was the fate of Germany. Unite that country under a good government, and it would be at once a check on the aggrandisement of France and ambition of Russia. Mr. Bulwer concluded with his motion for the address; but Lord Palmerston dissented from his opinions, and was willing to believe that the government alluded to would not be so impolitic as to put down free constitutions. The motion was therefore negatived.

During this year Greece was involved in absolute anarchy. After the assassination of Capo d'Istrias it was left without a government, and although Augustine, brother of the murdered president, concocted a provisional government, and placed himself at the head, the refractory chiefs could not brook his authority, and began to act for themselves. A national assembly met at Argos in the middle of December, 1831; but it was not more successful in restoring obedience and tranquillity. Everywhere there was confusion and bloodshed, as in the days of the ancients. The national assembly of Argos was overthrown, and every chief ruled despotic in the small district which he was strong enough to occupy. In the meantime the courts of Britain, France, and Russia were occupied in selecting a king who might reduce the country to order more easily and effectually than they could do by protocols and despatches. Their choice fell on Otho, son of the King of Bavaria; and his majesty having accepted the crown on behalf of his son, the conditions were fixed by a treaty, concluded in May, between him and the sovereigns of England, France, and Russia. The territory to be comprehended in the new state was to be somewhat larger than when its sovereignty had been offered to Leopold; and the King of Bavaria was to send along with his son an army of 36,000 men, to be supported entirely at the expense of the country. It might have been expected that the Greeks would have been averse to the rule of a foreign monarch, attended by foreign troops, and professing a different religion to themselves. The assembly of Napoli, however, as soon as they had been informed of the conclusion of the treaty, dispatched an address to the King of Bavaria, praying him to hasten the arrival of their monarch. The address was followed by a deputation, which was received at Munich with marks of royal favour, and which had been commissioned to assure their future sovereign of their good will and ready submission to his rule. The young monarch quitted Munich for Greece on the 6th of December, proceeding by the way of Naples, Otranto, and Brindisi, to Corfu, where he was to be met by the army intended to support his newly-erected throne. He made his entrance into Napoli on the 5th of February, 1833; and the regency appointed for the duration of his minority—for he was a minor—replaced the provisional government.



CHAPTER XLIII.

{WILLIAM IV. 1832-1833}

Meeting of Parliament; Reelection of Mr. Manners Sutton as Speaker..... . Opening of the Reformed Parliament by the King in person..... Case of Mr. Pease..... Irish Coercion Bill..... Irish Church Bill..... Irish Tithe Bill..... Financial Statements..... Bank of England Charter renewed..... . East India Question..... Abolition of Slavery in the Colonies..... Factory Bill..... The Corn Laws..... Resolutions against Bribery, &c...... Bill to Remove the Civil Disabilities of Jews..... Prorogation of Parliament..... Foreign Affairs



MEETING OF PARLIAMENT—RE-ELECTION OF MR. MANNERS SUTTON AS SPEAKER.

{A.D. 1833}

The first reformed parliament was opened by commission on the 29th of January. The first business of the commons was to elect a speaker. Mr. Manners Sutton had not been advanced to the peerage, although such a mark of honour is usually bestowed on those who have filled the chair for so long a period, and with such distinguished applause. At the general election he had been returned one of the members for the university of Cambridge; and ministers having obtained his consent to put him in nomination, resolved to support his re-election as chairman. This intention was not concealed; and on the meeting of parliament Mr. Hume moved that Mr. Littleton, one of the members for Staffordshire, should take the chair. The Radicals, of whom Mr. Hume was one of the leaders, took this step on the score of Mr. Manners Sutton's politics, considering it a matter of the greatest importance that the speaker should concur generally in the political sentiments entertained by a majority of members. Mr. Hume's motion was seconded by Mr. O'Connell, who denounced the intention of government as "another instance of the paltry truckling of the present administration." On the other side, Lord Morpeth moved, and Sir Francis Burdett seconded the motion, that Mr. Manners Sutton should take the chair. In doing so, they insisted on the admitted fact of his superior qualification, as well as the candid and impartial conduct which he had observed during the late political struggles. Mr. Littleton himself requested Mr. Hume to withdraw his motion; but that gentleman declined to do so. Seeing the house universally in the favour of Mr. Manners Sutton, the Radicals now chiefly confined themselves to the question of the pension. The attorney and solicitor-general argued that there was no feasible ground for these objections, and asserted that he would have no claim to his retiring annuity. By act of parliament, any speaker was entitled to his salary till a successor was elected, and Mr. Manners Sutton, being thus entitled to his salary, he could have no claim for a pension. On a division, Mr. Manners Sutton was re-elected by a majority of two hundred and forty-one against thirty-one.



OPENING OF THE REFORMED PARLIAMENT BY THE KING IN PERSON.

The first session of the new parliament was opened by the king in person, on the 5th of February. His speech on this occasion took a comprehensive view of our foreign and domestic relations, in which the affairs of Holland, the approaching termination of the charters of the Bank and the East India Company, the temporalities of the church, and the state of Ireland, were prominently introduced.

In the house of lords the address was voted almost unanimously, a slight discussion only being elicited by the sentiments of Lord Aberdeen and the Duke of Wellington, against the foreign policy of government, and especially that regarding Portugal and Holland. Such harmony, however, did not exist in the commons. A part of the speech which pointed at the adoption of extraordinary measures to suppress insubordination, excited violent indignation among a large portion of the Irish members. Mr. O'Connell denounced the address as "bloody, brutal, and unconstitutional." He concluded by moving an amendment, that the house do now resolve itself into a committee of the whole house to consider of the address to his majesty. Mr. Stanley replied in a speech of caustic severity, which the agitators of Ireland have never forgotten or forgiven. He argued that coercion was necessary; that crime could not be put down in Ireland but by the strong arm of the law. Colonel Davis considered Mr. Stanley's speech as an insult to Ireland, and as proving that he was totally unfit for office. He was opposed to the repeal of the union; but unless justice were dealt out to Ireland by measures of relief being proposed, he would vote against the coercive policy contemplated by government. Mr. Roebuck expressed himself to the same effect: he would not join with ministers in doing what must produce a civil war in Ireland: if they did not take care, they would find the people rise up in such terrible array that they would not know where to turn. Lord Althorp declared that it was the intention of ministers to remove every grievance they possibly could; but, he asked, was it not a grievance that, in Ireland, life and property were not secure—that murder, burglary, and arson should exist in every part of that country? If it was their duty to remove grievances, ought they not to remove this grievance also? The debate was continued by adjournment on the three following days; the general strain of the arguments adduced coinciding with those expressed on the first day of the debate. The opposition to the address was chiefly conducted by Irish members, although they received likewise the support of Messrs. Hume, Cobbett, Bulwer, Tennyson, and Clay. Mr. Bulwer told ministers that the independent representatives of the people in that house, three hundred in number, were allied to no old party, and attached to no superstitious observance of Whig names; and that these members could not, night after night, hear grievances stated by the Irish members, which, received no other answers except demands for soldiery, without dropping off in serious defection from the ministerial majority. Mr. Tennyson said, that he had no doubt of the good intention of ministers; but he could not approve of their conduct in pressing the house to adopt the address. At the same time he could not support the amendment of Mr. O'Connell, and he therefore proposed another to this effect:—"That the house should declare its readiness to sanction such measures for restoring social order in Ireland, as might appear, on mature deliberation and inquiry, necessary, and to entrust his majesty's official servants with additional power for that purpose, and to employ its best energies to the putting an end to the disturbances which affect that country; that, while the house would give a willing ear and earnest attention to the complaints and petitions of the Irish people, with the view to promoting an efficient remedy, it was prepared to resist by every means in its power all lawless attempts to effect a repeal of the legislative union between the two countries." Mr. Macaulay taunted Mr. O'Connell with not having ventured to bring the question of repeal before the house. He asked, what was meant by the watch-word of repeal of the union between Great Britain and Ireland. If those who used it meant a complete separation, or a species of Hibernian republic, their conduct was both comprehensible and consistent; but if, as they asserted, they only meant two separate independent legislatures, under the same monarch, the motion was inconsistent with the first principles of the science of government. After having shown this inconsistency by a chain of conclusive reasoning, he said, that he admitted Ireland had grievances to remove; but, he asked, was he in the meantime to see the law outraged and despised by a misguided multitude? Talk of the distribution of church property in a country where no property was respected! and be told that to enforce the laws against the robber, the murderer, and the incendiary, was to drive an injured people into civil war! Did those who talked thus wildly recollect that sixty murders, or attempts at murder, and six hundred burglaries, or attempts at burglary, were committed in one county alone, in the space of a few weeks? This was worse than civil war. He would rather live in the midst of many civil wars he had read of, than in some parts of Ireland. Civil war had commenced, and if not checked, it would end in the ruin of the empire. Mr. Shiel, in reference to repeal, entrenched himself behind quotations from speeches delivered by Lord Grey at the time of the union, in which he predicted that it would only lead to distress, suspicion, and resentment, and that the people of Ireland would seek an opportunity of recovering rights which they would believe to have been wrested from them by force. The interest of the debate ended with Mr. Shiel's speech, although addresses were subsequently made by Mr. Grant, Mr. Hume, and Sir Robert Peel. On a division, Mr. O'Connell's amendment was lost by a majority of four hundred and twenty-eight against forty; and Mr. Tennyson's, by three hundred and ninety-three against sixty. On the bringing up of the report, Mr. Cobbett moved that the whole of the address should be rejected, and that another which he had concocted should be adopted. This crude amendment was negatived by an overwhelming majority: only twenty-three in a full house voted for it.



CASE OF MR. PEASE.

During the general election, the southern division of the county of Durham had returned Mr. Pease, a gentleman who belonged to the Society of Friends. On the 9th of February, when he appeared to be sworn in, as a Friend he refused to take an oath, but offered to give his solemn affirmation. He was desired by the speaker to withdraw, as no affirmation could be made without the sanction of the house. A committee was appointed, on the motion of Lord Althorp, to report what precedents were to be found on the journals, and what was the state of the law in regard to Friends being allowed to substitute affirmation for oath. The report of this committee was taken into consideration on the 14th, and its chairman, Mr. Wynn, moved that Mr. Pease was, on making his solemn affirmation, entitled to take his seat, without taking those oaths which were demanded from the other members of the house. Mr. Wynn stated, at great length, the reasons which induced him to make this motion, and the solicitor-general agreed in his views. It was quite clear, the latter said, that at the time of passing the 7th and 8th William III., Friends could not sit in parliament, having been excluded, along with all other dissenters, by the 30th Charles II.; but under the act of William they would have been admissible, if its provisions, as they ought to have been, had been construed liberally. At all events, the act of George II. removed every doubt: it was evident that the legislature, in passing that act, intended to put Friends on the same footing in England with all other dissenters, except Catholics; such being the case, the act ought to be construed in accordance with the intention of the legislature in passing it. The motion to allow Mr. Pease to make his solemn affirmation in place of the usual oath was agreed to unanimously.



IRISH COERCION BILL.

On the 15th of February, Earl Grey introduced into the house of lords a bill for the suppression of disturbances in Ireland. In doing so, his lordship related the evils which called for such a measure, clearly showing that it was necessary. In explaining the provisions by which ministers proposed to meet the evils, he said, that the bill combined many provisions of the several laws that had been passed both in the Irish and English parliament for the repression of such outrages as he had related, with such alterations as circumstances seemed to require. Provision was made for proclaiming districts in a state of disturbance; and it was provided that courts should be appointed in which offences connected with such districts were to be tried. It was also provided that persons prosecuted under this act should be obliged to plead forthwith, as in cases of felony, and not be permitted to delay their trial. By the bill the lord-lieutenant was to be empowered, on due information, to proclaim any district to be in a disturbed state. All persons were to be warned to abstain from seditious and illegal meetings; and no one was to be absent from their houses after sunset until sunrise, unless they could give good reason for their being abroad, under the penalty of being found guilty of a misdemeanour. Another provision was, that meetings for the purpose of petitioning parliament, or for discussing grievances, should not be held without giving ten days' notice to the lord-lieutenant, or without his sanction. It was further thought advisable that proclaimed districts should, to a certain extent, be subjected to martial law. Military courts were to be formed for the trial of all offences under this act, with power to pronounce sentence as definitively as any commission of oyer and terminer. The lord-lieutenant was to have the power for the appointment of courts-martial; and it was provided that courts-martial should not consist of more than nine gentlemen nor less than five. It was further provided, that no officer under twenty-one years of age, or who had held his commission for less than two years, should act on such courts-martial; and that the said courts-martial should not have the power of trying for any offence to which a felonious punishment was attached, except by special direction of the lord-lieutenant; and that, in that case, they should only pronounce sentence of transportation, either for seven years or for life. It was made imperative that a serjeant-at-law or a king's counsel should sit to assist in the judgment. A clause was likewise introduced to shield officers who had. acted on courts-martial under this act from future prosecution: any complaints made against them on account of their proceedings at any court-martial were to be inquired into by a court-martial to be called for that purpose. The bill further gave power to enter houses in search of arms; and persons refusing to produce them were subjected to punishment. It was also made a misdemeanour to disperse seditious papers in a proclaimed district; with a provision that, if the persons actually dispersing them gave up his employer, the former should be discharged. Finally, it was to be enacted, that when an individual arrested under this bill sued out a writ of habeas corpus within three calendar months after his arrest, it should be a sufficient return to the writ, that the person so detained was kept in custody on a charge of offence perpetrated in a proclaimed district; at the same time it was provided that every person arrested should be brought to trial within three calendar months, or should be discharged. This bill was carried in the lords without opposition; some slight amendments being adopted in the committee with reference to the constitution, the powers, and the mode of procedure of the courts-martial. The bill, however, had to encounter a stormy course in the commons. On its appearance there on the 22nd, the first reading was postponed till the 27th, and Mr. O'Connell gave notice that he would move a call of the house for that day, and would repeat the call whenever he perceived any relaxation of its effects, so long as the bill was before them. He taunted ministers with the delay, which he insinuated was interposed to their remedial measures, and reminded them there was another house of parliament through which they might find it impossible to carry redress of grievances, whatever was the unanimity with which it enacted measures of coercion: "a house where any proposal springing from malignant hatred of Ireland was sure to pass." Mr. Stanley denied that there was any necessity for remedial and repressive measures going on together; but at the same time he declared that if ministers found themselves unable to carry both they would resign office. On the 27th, the house having been called over, Lord Althorp moved the first reading of the bill. Ministers, he said, had waited to the last, to ascertain what order could be restored by the ordinary administration of the laws; and after relating at length the evils which afflicted Ireland—telling-many a tale of murder committed with impunity, even in broad daylight—he explained the provisions of the bill concocted to repress them. In conclusion, he asserted that the bill had no reference to the collection of tithes, as some had hinted, or any other individual purpose, except the maintenance of social order. The motion was met by an amendment from Mr. Tennyson, that the bill should be read a second time that day fortnight: his object being, as he stated, to give government an opportunity, whether in a select committee or otherwise, to