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 LIBRARY OF Vol. fll 
 _‘Ulinois Industrial University, 
 
 CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS. 
 
 26\64 
 
 4is-Books are not to be Taken! from the Library Room. Wa 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 
 
 FROM THE INVASION OF JULIUS CESAR TO THE END OF THE 
 REIGN OF GEORGE IL.» 
 
 BY HUME AND SMOLLETT. 
 
 WITH 
 
 THE CONTINUATION, 
 
 FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA. 
 
 BY THE REV. 7. 8. HUGHES, B.D. 
 
 LATE CANON OF PETERBOROUGH. 
 
 ALSO 
 
 COPIOUS NOTES, THE AUTHOR’S LAST CORRECTIONS, 
 IMPROVEMENTS, AND ENLARGEMENT. 
 
 Gith Historical Allustrations, Autographs, and Portruits. 
 ANEW EDITION. 
 
 Vout. XVII. 
 
 LONDON : GEORGE BELL, 186 FLEET STREET, 
 1855. 
 
” and in proportion as 
 
 «© Histories,’ says Lord Bacon, “make wise men: 
 their minds are influenced by a natural love of their country, so must they 
 
 feel a desire to become familiar with the most authentic account of its 
 crigin, its progress towards civilization, and the circumstances leading to 
 
 its present importance in the scale of nations. 
 
 LONDON : PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND. SONS, STAMFORD STREET 
 AND CHARING CROSS, 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 
 
 FROM THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA. 
 
 BY THE REY. T. 8. HUGHES, B.D. 
 
 LATE CANON OF PETERBOROUGH. 
 
 ALSO 
 COPIOUS NOTES, THE AUTHOR’S LAST CORRECTIONS, 
 IMPROVEMENTS, AND ENLARGEMESPS Se, 
 j/ 
 
 7 
 
 Glith Historical llnstrations, Autographs, wd Portraits. 
 
 AINEW EDITION. 
 
 Vou. VIL 
 
 LONDON: GEORGE BELL, 186 FLEET STREET. 
 1855. 
 
. 
 
 Sages: 
 Lat 
 
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 *@ 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH VOLUME, 
 OR THE 
 
 SEVENTH VOLUME OF HUGHES’S CONTINUATION, 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. Page 1. 
 
 Meeting of parliament—Debates on the treaties—State of lreland 
 —Royal marriages—Stagnation of trade, and high price of pro- 
 visions—Seditious assemblies in the metropolis—Expedition to 
 Algiers—Attack and surrender of that city—Honors conferred 
 on lord Exmouth—Discovery of the safety-lamp by sir Humphry 
 Davy—Encouragement of the fine arts—Meeting of parliament 
 —Attack made on the prince regent—Measures of economy— 
 Retirement of Mr. Abbott from the office of speaker—Reports 
 of -secret committees on the prevalence of sedition—Apprehen- 
 sion of suspected individuals—Suspension of the habeas corpus 
 act—Farther restrictions on public liberty—Committee on the 
 poor-laws —Disturbances at Manchester—Trials for high-treason 
 —Prosecution of Mr. Hone for the publication of political paro- 
 dies on the Litany—State.of political parties at this period— 
 Death of the princess Charlotte—New coinage—Opening of 
 Waterloo-bridge—Domestic events—Brief review of foreign go- 
 vernments. 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. Page 36. 
 
 Opening of parliament—‘Speech of the commissioners, &c.—Lord 
 Castlereagh’s motion for secret committees preparatory to a bill 
 of indemnity—Strenuously opposed, but carried—Reports of the 
 same—Indemnity bill carried—Grant of one million for the 
 building of churches—Bank restriction extended to July 5, 1819 
 —Negotiation with Spain to discontinue the slave-trade north of 
 the line—Royal marriages, &c.—Supplies—Alien act—Sir Samuel 
 
 26164 
 
sal CONTENTS. 
 
 Romilly’s attempt to repeal part of the act against privately 
 stealing in shops, &e.—Motion for a committee by Mr. Brougham 
 to inquire into the education of the poor—Dissolution of parlia- 
 ment—State of the manufacturers of Lancashire—General election 
 —Deaths of sir Samuel Romilly, lord Ellenborough, and queen 
 Charlotte—Ecclesiastical and judicial returns—Increase of for- 
 geries—Price of consols—Bankruptcies—Wager of battle—De- 
 termination to pull down Carlton-house, &e.—Congress of Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, evacuation of France by the allied forces, &¢.—Meeting 
 of new parliament—Duke of York appointed: guardian to his 
 majesty—Committee on the criminal code—Measures taken for the 
 resumption of cash payments—-Financial statements—Catholic 
 claims—Foreign enlistment act—Reversal of a bill of attainder 
 against lord Edward Fitzgerald—Slave-trade—Emigration— 
 Close of the session—General distress consequent on the altera- 
 tion of currency—Seditious assemblages— Meeting at Manchester: 
 its dispersion by the yeomanry cavalry attended with loss of life 
 —Trial, sentence, and imprisonment of Hunt and his accomplices 
 —Popular discontents—Meeting of parliament—Evidence on the 
 disaffected state of the manufacturing districts—Restrictions on 
 public liberty—Parliamentary reform—Cession of Parga to the 
 Turks—Continental politics—South American provinces— Public 
 improvements. 
 
 CHAPTER LX. Page 78. 
 
 Death of the duke of Kent and of George III.—Ascension of George 
 IV.—Declaration, &c.— His alarming illness—Message respecting 
 the dissolution of parliament, &c.—Mr. Hume’s embarrassing 
 question respecting the queen—The chancellor's speech—Thistle- 
 wood’s conspiracy—Trial and execution of the conspirators— 
 Popular discontent—Meetings at Huddersfield, Glasgow, &c.— 
 Elections—Meeting of parliament, &c.—Motion respecting the 
 borough of Grampound—Bills for amending our criminal code— 
 Failure of Mr. Brougham’s education bill—Motion for a com- 
 mittee on the corn laws carried— Motion for a committee respect- 
 ing free trade—Civil list and financial statement—Affairs of the 
 queen—Her arrival in England—-Proceedings against her in par- 
 liament, &c.—Her loss of popularity—Death of the duchess of 
 York—Return of captain Parry from the north seas—Revolu- 
 tions, &c. in foreign states. 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. Page 118. 
 
 Meeting of parliament—Contest between the queen’s friends and 
 ministers—Queen’s annuity bill—End of the contest— Extinction 
 of the queen’s popularity—Feeling in England against the prin- 
 ciples of the holy alliance—Committee voted on the catholic 
 claims, &c.—Motions for parliamentary reform—Disfranchise- 
 ment of Grampound—Report of the agricultural committee, &c. 
 —Measures to alter the navigation laws, and in favor of free 
 
CONTENTS. vil 
 
 trade—Mr. Hume—Supplies, &c.—Prorogation of parliament— 
 Death of Napoleon— Preparations for the coronation, &c.—Claim 
 preferred by the queen, and rejected—Her attempts to be present 
 at the coronation repulsed—Ceremony of the coronation, &c.— 
 Death of the queen—King’s visit to Ireland—Queen’s funeral— 
 King’s return—State of Irish government and of the country— 
 Recall of the lord lieutenant— King’s visit to Hanover—Founda- 
 tion of the Royal Society of Literature—State of Europe, parti- 
 cularly of Greece—Opening of parliament in 1822—Lord Wel- 
 lesley governor of Ireland; state of the country, enactments of 
 the legislature, &c.—Ravages of famine and disease in Ireland, 
 &c.—Conduct of various classes—Agricultural distress in Eng- 
 land—Admission of the Grenville party into the cabinet—Mr. 
 Peel made secretary of state—Mr. Canning designated as go- 
 vernor-general of India—His motion to restore Roman catholic 
 peers to their seats in parliament—Agricultural distress, and 
 appointment of a’committee—Bills founded on its report— 
 Financial bills—State of parties—Acts for the reduction of ex- 
 penditure forced on ministers, &c.—Mr. Western’s motion on the 
 currency— Relaxation of Peel’s bill—Statistical affairs—Reduc- 
 tion in the salt-tax and in that on malt, &c.—Relaxation in the 
 navigation and trade laws—Lord J. Russell’s plan for parlia- 
 mentary reform—Greek cause introduced into the house of 
 commons—Favored by the people—Prorogation of parliament— 
 The king’s visit to Scotland—Death of lord Londonderry, &¢.— 
 Prevalence of bad principles—Trials of Carlile, &c., for blasphe- 
 mous publications—Appointment of Mr. Canning as secretary 
 of state—Congress of Verona, &c.—Greek cause—Affairs of 
 Spain—Liberal views of Mr. Canning —Changes in the cabinet 
 —Caledonian canal—Grant to publish the early histories of 
 Britain. 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. Page 161. 
 
 State of the country at the beginning of 1823—Opening of the 
 session— Debates on Spain and the holy alliance—Afiairs of Spain 
 and restoration of Ferdinand VIJ.—Affairs of Portugal—Agri- 
 cultural and commercial interests—Free trade—The budget— 
 Affairs in Ireland—Catholic question—Fracas between Mr. 
 Brougham and Mr. Canning—-Motions to reform the criminal 
 law—Lord A. Hamilton’s motion to reform the state of Scotch 
 representation—Mr. Canning’s opinions on the subject of reform, 
 &c.—New London-bridge bill--Mr. Creevey’s motion respecting 
 the four and a half per cent. duty on the Leeward Islands—Ex- 
 penses of the coronation—Other instances of extravagant expen- 
 diture exposed_by Mr. Hume—The king’s donation of the'library 
 of George III. to the public—Irish tithe commutation bill—Dis- 
 senters’ marriage act thrown out—Prorogation of parliament— 
 State of the country—Appointment of consuls to the South 
 American colonies—Sentiments of Mr. Canning on this subject, 
 &c.—Extract from his speech at Plymouth—State of the country 
 at the beginning of 1824--Meeting of parliament—Attack on 
 
Vill CONTENTS. 
 
 ministers on account of the occupation of Spain, &¢.—Recogni- 
 tion of South American independence—Financial statement— 
 Repeal of taxes, bounties, &¢.—Steps towards a more unrestricted 
 system of*trade—Debates on the same—Alien bill, &.—State of 
 Ireland, catholic association, &c. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. Page 180. 
 
 Parliamentary discussions—State of the colonies—A ffairs of Spain 
 and Portugal—Death of Louis X VIII.—East Indian affairs un- 
 der lord Amherst’s presidency—-Case of Mr. Buckingham— 
 Burmese war—Peace concluded on terms favorable to the Bri- 
 tish government—Commercial treaty with the court of Ava— 
 The rajah of Bhurtpoor reinstated by lord Combermere—Arrival 
 of lord William Bentinck as governor-general. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. Page 219. 
 
 Meeting of parliament—Bill for the suppression of unlawful asso- 
 ciations in Ireland—Catholic relief bill—Its failure in the house 
 of lords—Speech of tae duke of York, and his great popularity 
 with the high-church party—Legal reforms—Increased salary of 
 the judges— Unitarian marriage-act—Act against combinations 
 among workmen—Free trade system—Corn laws—Financial 
 statements—Close of session—-Great commercial panic—Domes- 
 tic events—Review of foreign relations—Opening of the session 
 of 1826— Means adopted for the restoration of commercial confi- 
 dence—Modification of the corn laws—Debates on restrictions of 
 foreign manufactures—State of finances—Criminal code—State 
 of the colonies--Scotch representation—-Removal of attainders— 
 Dissolution of parliament—Dissentions in the cabinet--Violence 
 of parties at the general election—-Meeting of the new parliament 
 —Indemnity bill—Vigor of Mr. Canning’s policy in Portugal— 
 —Capture of Missolonghi—Opening of the Menai bridge— 
 Death of the duke of York—Duke of Wellington commander-in- 
 chief—Catholic quéstion—lIllness of lord Liverpool— Dissolution 
 of the cabinet—Appointment of Mr. Canning as premier. 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. Page 264. 
 
 Re-assembling of parliament—Explanations by the seceding mem- 
 bers of the cabinet—Formidable opposition to the ministry—A 
 portion of the whig party joins the administration— Rejection of 
 the new corn bill by the lords—Financial statements—Corrupt 
 boroughs—Improvement of the criminal code—Close of the ses- 
 sion—Death of Mr. Canning—His character—Lord Goderich 
 prime minister—Dissentions, and dissolution of the cabinet— 
 Duke of Wellington appointed premier—Review of foreign policy 
 —Treaty with France and Russia—Battle of Navarino—Meeting 
 of parliament— Dispute between the duke of Wellington and Mr. 
 
CONTENTS. ix 
 
 Huskisson—State of the finances—Grant to the family of Mr. 
 Canning—State of the currency—Budget—Repeal of the test and 
 _corporation acts—Catholic claims—Resignation of Mr. Huskisson 
 and other members of the cabinet—Prorogation of parliament— 
 War between Russia and Turkey—State of Portugal—Distur- 
 bances in Ireland—Recall of the marquis of Anglesey—Death 
 and character of the earl of Liverpool—Trial and execution of 
 Burke at Edinburgh—Opening of the London University and 
 St. Katharine Docks—Review of foreign policy. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. Page 306. 
 
 Agitations in Ireland—Election of Mr. O’Connell for Clare—Difii- 
 culties of the cabinet—Determination of the government to con- 
 cede the catholic claims—Opening of parliament—Suppression 
 of the catholic association—Rejection of Mr. Peel at Oxford— 
 Debates and passing of the emancipation bill—Disfranchisement 
 of the Irish forty-shilling freeholders—Financial statements— 
 Motion for parliamentary reform—Prorogation of parliament— 
 Affairs of the continent—Agricultural and commercial distress 
 —State of affairs in Ireland—Conflagration of York Minster— 
 Opening of new Fleet market and Post-office—New police— 
 Meetiny of parliament in 1830— Distress of the nation denied 
 by ministers—Speeches, &c., on occasion of the address—Mo- 
 tions fer inquiry, &’.— Debates on reductions and taxation, &c. 
 —Committee on East Indian company’s charter—Debate on 
 the currency—The budget—Beer bill—Reform of parliament— 
 Debates on subjects connected with it—Bill for amending the 
 law on libel—Alterations in courts of justice—Illness of the 
 king—Bill to authorise a stamp for the sign manual—Death 
 of George IV. ; 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 Portrait and Autograph of William IV. . . Frontispiece. 
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THE 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 
 
 ted 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 GEORGE III. (continvep.)—1816. 
 
 Meeting of parliament—Debates on the treaties—State of Ireland 
 —Royal marriages-—Stagnation of trade, and high price of pro- 
 visions—Seditious assemblies in the metropolis—Expedition to 
 Algiers—Attack and surrender of that city—Honors conferred 
 on lord Exmouth— Discovery of the safety-lamp by sir Humphry 
 Davy—Encouragement of the fine arts—Meeting of parliament 
 —Attack made.on the prince regent—Measures of economy— 
 Retirement of Mr. Abbott from the office of speaker—Reports 
 of secret committees on the prevalence of sedition—Apprehen- 
 sion of suspected individuals—Suspension of the habeas corpus 
 act—Farther restrictions on public liberty—Committee on the 
 poor-laws —Disturbances at Manchester—Trials for high-treason 
 —Prosecution of Mr. Hone for the publication of political paro- 
 dies on the Litany—State of political parties at this period— 
 ‘Death of the princess Charlotte—New coinage—Opening of 
 Waterloo-bridge—Domestic events—Brief review of foreign go- 
 vernments. 
 
 WHEN parliament met, in February, Mr. Brougham moved for 
 a copy of the treaty concluded at Paris, and designated by 
 the title of ‘the Holy Alliance. After citing an expression 
 of Voltaire, ‘that a colloquy of kings boded no good to 
 nations,’ he observed, that there was something so singular in 
 the wording of this document, as to warrant a considerable 
 degree of jealousy on the part of the house: nor could he 
 ENG. XVII. B 
 
2 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVI. 
 
 think it had a sole reference to spiritual objects; for the parti- 
 tion of Poland had been prefaced by language of a similar 
 nature ; and the proclamation of the empress Catharine, which 
 wound up that fatal tragedy, was couched in almost the same 
 words. Lord Castlereagh, having vindicated the good faith 
 and piety of the confederated sovereigns, refused to produce 
 the treaty ; for, although it had been communicated to our 
 regent in the first instance by the Russian emperor, and re- 
 ceived his royal highness’s approbation, it had not received his 
 signature; and the usage of parliament was against the pro- 
 duction of any treaty to which this country was not a party. 
 Whatever may be thought of such a confederacy ; whether, 
 as some suppose, it originated in sincere enthusiasm, or in the 
 sole desire of suppressing that popular principle which had 
 been called into action by the united sovereigns themselves 
 during their late contests with Napoleon, due credit must be 
 given to the prince for strict adherence to ‘ those forms of the 
 British constitution,’ which, according to his own statement, 
 prevented him from acceding to this alliance: a contrary line 
 of conduct would certainly have embarrassed his government 
 at a subsequent period, when measures were adopted by these 
 theocratic despots, which were adverse to its principles. 
 
 From an abstract of the net produce of revenue ending the 
 fifth of January, the amount appeared to be £66,443,802 ; 
 showing an excess of £1,013,821 over that-of the preceding 
 year: nevertheless, the chancellor of the exchequer announced 
 his intention of proposing a five per cent. income-tax; and 
 with a view of gaining over the multitude, he declared him- 
 self ready to exempt all incomes under £150, and farms 
 paying less than that sum in rent, from its operation: on this 
 reduced scale he calculated that the tax would produce 
 £6,000,000; but its continuance was not only deprecated by 
 petitions from the great towns of the empire, but by vehement 
 harangues in the house of commons, where it was shown that, 
 according to the original plan, more than half the impost had 
 been paid by incomes below the proposed point of exemption ; 
 so that, according to his proposed scale, a sum exceeding 
 £3,000,000 could scarcely be expected: Mr. Vansittart, how- 
 ever, persisted in his design ; but, on a division, was defeated by 
 a majority of 238 against 201. As the more opulent classes 
 chose this method of relieving themselves from a heavy pres- 
 sure, and rendered a loan indispensable, the minister resolved 
 on granting a boon to the lower orders which might at the 
 same time alleviate that distress under which agriculture was 
 
A.D. 1816. GEORGE III. 3 
 
 now laboring ; accordingly he declined to bring forward again 
 the war-tax on malt, which had been estimated to produce 
 * £2,000,000 per annum. The supplies for the year were 
 stated at £39,400,000, and the ways and means to meet them 
 as deficient about £2,500,000 : but so complicated and obscure 
 were the accounts, that Mr. J. P. Grant moved counter-reso- 
 lutions, proving, on his view of things, a deficiency of seven- 
 teen millions: a majority of the house, however, supported 
 the minister; and the sum required to meet the supplies was 
 procured from the directors of the Bank, who advanced 
 £3,000,000, at three per cent. interest, on condition of being 
 permitted to increase their capital by one-fourth. ‘The amount 
 of army estimates provoked along and vehement discussion : 
 opposition insisted that the maintenance of so large a standing 
 force as it was proposed to keep up was uncalled for by the 
 aspect of foreign affairs, while 1t was incompatible with the 
 distressed state of the nation: ministers, on the other hand,’ 
 alleged, that not only the situation of continental states, but 
 the large increase of our colonial dependencies, demanded a 
 proportional augmentation of our peace establishment ; and the 
 estimated number of 176,615 men, including 30,000 stationed 
 in France, was finally voted. After a violent debate on 
 similar grounds, a vote of 33,000 men for the navy was also 
 agreed to; but a decided expression of public opinion, out of 
 parliament, induced government to make various reductions in 
 both these services during the year. 
 The proposal of so large a force at this time as 25,000 men 
 for Ireland naturally excited surprise, and led to some animad- 
 version on the necessity of its employment. After all the 
 evils and abuses which had been extinguished, and the many 
 improvements introduced into that kingdom by the union, 
 it still exhibited a wretched scene of misery, turbulence, and 
 crime: much has been done, and much attempted, since the 
 times of which we are now treating, to remedy the disorders 
 of Ireland; but still, though gifted with every physical bless- 
 ing, that country is a prey to every moral curse; and Irish 
 misery still costs England countless sums to coerce her struggles 
 under that load of oppression which was heaped on her by 
 our ancestors. If any sin of the fathers is certain to be visited 
 on the children, it is that of misrule ; and the hardest part of 
 this dispensation is, that punishment commonly falls, not on 
 those who uphold, but who relax an oppressive system. The 
 grand evils which continue to afflict Ireland, arise, in the first 
 instance, from that munstrous plan of confiscation pursued by 
 
4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII. 
 
 our ancestors, which transferred so large a portion of the soil 
 to foreigners: these cannot be expected to reside on their 
 estates, which are therefore consigned to the hands of middle- 
 men, who grind the people without pity or remorse ;—in the 
 second instance, to that unfortunate method which was pursued 
 for the introduction of our reformed religion. Instead of mis- 
 sionaries, well skilled in their native tongue, being sent to con- 
 vince the inhabitants of the errors of their ancient faith, and 
 reconcile them to the new church, their rich endowments 
 were suddenly transferred to the protestant establishment, 
 many of whose teachers were appointed from the sole motive 
 of interest; most of them being bigoted Calvinists, whose 
 system was least of all attractive to the followers of Romanism, 
 and none acquainted with the language which alone their 
 parishioners could speak or understand with readiness; nor 
 was it even thought necessary to furnish them with a transla- 
 tion either of the liturgy or the Scriptures; ‘though,’ says 
 bishop Heber, ‘ they were compelled by a fine, rarely indeed 
 enforced, to attendance on a church service which was still 
 more unintelligible to them than their ancient mass-book, 
 without having the same associations to recommend it. Ac- 
 cordingly, while Wales, from an opposite line of treatment, 
 received the doctrines of the reformation with avidity, and 
 at an early period was become almost exclusively protestant ; 
 while the Norman isles have ever since been among the most 
 faithful adherents of the episcopal church, from the advantage 
 of French preachers and a French service-book ; Ireland, with 
 a people above most others docile and susceptible of new im- 
 pressions, has remained, through a great majority of her popu- 
 lation, in the possession of a creed discountenanced by the 
 state, and under the dominion of prejudices which, even to 
 the present moment, no effectual measures have been taken to 
 remove.’! Mr. Peel, who had lately commenced his political 
 career with the credit of superior talents and a well-exercised 
 intellect, was at this time secretary for Ireland; and he on 
 the present occasion proved, with convincing energy and 
 mournful truth, the necessity of so large a force as was pro- 
 posed for that country: unfortunately, however, for Ireland 
 and himself, this statesman, whose legislative infancy had been 
 cradled in tory prejudices, allied himself to the dominant 
 party ; and his strong anti-catholic policy neutralised or 
 counteracted the better spirit of his Irish administration. The 
 
 1 Life of Jeremy Taylor, vol. i. p. 1990. 
 
A.D. 1816. GEORGE III. 5 
 
 disturbances which distracted that country were ascribed by 
 Mr. Peel to a systematic violation of all laws: this, indeed; 
 was the case ; and while a systematic spirit of injustice per- 
 vaded those laws, nothing could put down the opposition, 
 except a revision of the laws themselves, or the introduction 
 of a military force: as the former remedy was at this time 
 rejected, the latter became necessary for the protection of life 
 and property. ‘The general routine of motions for inquiry 
 into the state of Ireland, and for the repeal of catholic disabi- 
 lities, were followed by their usual results ; but a measure of 
 some practical importance—the consolidation of the British 
 and Irish exchequers—was effected in the course of this 
 session: a bill also passed for the issue of a new silver coin- 
 age; and two others were introduced by lord Castlereagh, 
 to authorise and regulate the detention of Napoleon Bonaparte 
 in the island of St. Helena: Mr. Western took the lead in 
 drawing public attention to the growing distress of agricul- 
 turists, and to means for their future protection; but nothing 
 satisfactory could be obtained: the manufacturing and com- 
 mercial party in the house were strong; and, being firmly 
 convinced that they had an opposite interest to maintain, as if 
 all their profits and prosperity depended on cheap corn, they 
 were anxious that the supply of food for the people should 
 pass through their own ships and warehouses: indeed when- 
 ever our corn-laws shall be abrogated, the greatest danger 
 will arise from a different and worse species of monopolists 
 than agriculturists ; viz., free-trade merchants: the corn- 
 growers are obliged from want of capital to bring their pro- 
 duce to market—the corn-merchants from their abundance may 
 starve us into their own terms. Ministers seemed to be in 
 a state of doubt and vacillation on the subject; but it was 
 soon felt that no interests could prosper at the expense of 
 agriculture, with which so many complicated interests are 
 bound up; it was also felt that the British farmer, pressed by 
 so many public burthens, and obliged to cultivate his land at 
 a heavy expense, could not compete with the foreigner, who 
 paid little for labor, and less in taxes. 
 
 A message from the regent to both houses, on the four- 
 teenth of March, announced the marriage-contract of his 
 daughter, the princess Charlotte Augusta, with his serene 
 highness prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg ; and on the motion 
 of the chancellor of the exchequer, an annual sum of £60,000 
 was voted to that illustrious pair during their joint lives; the 
 whole to be continued to her royal highness if the prince 
 
6 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII. 
 
 should die first, and £50,000 to him if he should be the 
 survivor: £60,000 also were granted by way of outfit. This 
 munificence was not the act of a venal parliament; which, it 
 must be confessed, was ready enough to vote away the nation’s 
 money in order to gratify the whims and luxuries of royalty ; 
 but it may be considered as the spontaneous expression of love 
 and affection from a great and generous people. On the 
 second of May, the auspicious nuptials were celebrated, which 
 diffused throughout the country unqualified pleasure and satis- 
 faction; for the public felt a lively interest, not only in the 
 personal character of the princess, and her relation to the 
 state; but in the circumstances of her union with the object 
 of her own choice; a union in which political calculations 
 and diplomatic contracts for once had no place: nor was this 
 honest and honorable attachment of the nation to the royal 
 couple diminished by their deportment subsequent to their 
 marriage ; for, with an unaffected gracefulness and benignity, 
 they shared in the amusements, the occupations, and the devo- 
 tions of the people; while the example of domestic purity 
 which they promised to uphold was hailed by every friend 
 to the moral interests of society with joy and admiration. 
 
 Two months after the marriage of the princess Charlotte, 
 the long attachment of the duke of Glocester to his cousin, 
 the princess Mary, terminated also in a matrimonial union, 
 with the approbation of her brother: as this royal duke had 
 never launched into extravagant expenditure, he required no 
 pecuniary grant on the occasion, either for himself or for his 
 bride. Although the present period might be considered as 
 one of the happiest in the regent’s life (for the princess of 
 Wales was at a distance, the political safety of the country 
 had been wondrously achieved, he was virtually the reigning 
 sovereign, and his love of splendor was profusely gratified by 
 the ministry) ; yet even now he began to adopt those habits of 
 seclusion, which, in his latter years, withdrew him from the 
 eyes of the people, and estranged their affections from his 
 person: his visits were paid to few except the marquesses of 
 Conyngham and Hertford: his courts and public parties were 
 very infrequent: and his principal occupation lay in super- 
 intending the fashions of dress, or improvements and _ altera- 
 tions at his different places of residence. 
 
 The agreeable prospects, however, which arose out of these 
 royal marriages could not avert public attention from more 
 immediate causes of anxiety and alarm, arising from the in- 
 creasing pressure of national distress. As the year advanced, 
 
 Ee 
 
A.D, 1816. GEORGE ITI. 7 
 
 the calamities of a most inclement season and a deficient 
 harvest were added to a general stagnation of trade and com- 
 merce, in the absence of that monopoly of the foreign market 
 which war secured to this country: a sudden rise in the price 
 of all necessaries of life, combining with a reduction of wages 
 and a want of employment, produced great distress among the 
 poor, which vented itself in discontent and murmurs, and 
 finally in acts of outrageous violence: meanwhile, this increase 
 of public difficulties brought into action a host of demagogues, 
 who availed themselves of the people’s sufferings to dissemi- 
 nate among them inflammatory and seditious doctrines: the 
 reckless prodigality of government habituated to a war expen- 
 diture, and evidently averse to retrenchment; the corruption 
 and waste arising from sinecures, pensions, and other causes of 
 an improvident administration of public money ;—these were 
 made fertile themes of declamation by evil agitators ; the popu- 
 lace were plausibly taught to ascribe all their miseries to the 
 ’ dishonesty of their rulers; and a radical reform in the whole 
 system of our constitution was inculcated as the universal 
 remedy for distress, It was remarked with alarm, as a new 
 and ominous feature of the times, that political meetings for 
 petitions against abuses, and other ostensible purposes of re- 
 form, were eagerly attended by an immense concourse of the 
 lowest and most ignorant classes, who were harangued by 
 orators of their own, and violently excited, not only against 
 the government, but the higher orders of the community : the 
 constitutional opponents of the ministry, however, though - 
 disgusted by that resistance which was shown to measures of 
 retrenchment and economy, abstained from all participation in 
 scenes which threatened the most appalling consequences. 
 These avowedly political meetings were generally conducted 
 without any decided breaches of the peace; and the first dis- 
 position to open tumult arose more immediately from the 
 ressure of absolute want on the agricultural and manufacturing 
 ivred in some of the eastern counties particularly, acts of 
 serious violence were committed both by the artisans in towns, 
 and by the rural peasantry, who had been thrown out of 
 employment, and who thought themselves equally entitled to 
 blame the master manufacturers for want of work, and the 
 farmers for scarcity and high prices of food: nightly meetings 
 were held; threatening letters sent ; houses, barns, and stacks 
 fired; and in the isle of Ely, something like an organised 
 insurrection broke forth, which was not suppressed without the 
 exercise of force, and the execution of some principal offenders, 
 
8 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. | CH, LVIII. 
 
 In Staffordshire, where the stoppage of several great iron- 
 works had not only deprived the men employed in them of 
 pread, but had extended the suspension of trade to immense 
 collieries connected with that branch of business, the whole 
 laboring population were reduced to a state of starvation; but 
 though the colliers exhibited threatening symptoms of riot, 
 they were appeased, without bloodshed, by the temperate 
 interference of the magistracy ; while the wants of the sufferers 
 were extensively supplied by the contributions of private 
 benevolence: the patience indeed of the wretched workmen in 
 the iron trade, under the severest privations, was in general 
 most laudable ; though one casual riot arose among those at 
 the large establishment near Merthyr-Tydvil, in South Wales, 
 which was not suppressed without military force: the conduct 
 of the clothing manufacturers was less exemplary ; and at 
 Nottingham, in particular, the system of outrage in frame- 
 breaking, which had marked former periods of distress, was 
 now alarmingly renewed under circumstances of regular com- 
 bination. 
 
 The metropolis had continued, on the whole, tranquil until 
 near the close of this year ; when two meetings in Spa-fields, 
 convened by some mob-orators to petition the regent for reform 
 of abuses, attracted a vast concourse of the rabble, and led, on 
 the second occasion, to a riot attended with more apparent 
 danger than any which had occurred for many years. Henry 
 Hunt, the principal demagogue, though his language in 
 announcing to the mob the rejection of their petition was 
 sufficiently seditious and inflammatory, had the prudence to with- 
 draw, and thus avoid committing himself to the consequences 
 of his harangue ; but a band of his more desperate associates, 
 who had attended him with a tricolored flag, and other symbols 
 borrowed from the old revolutionary school, endeavoured, 
 under the conduct of a father and son, named Watson, to lead ° 
 the rabble into the city : the numbers who followed them were, 
 however, inconsiderable ; but on their march, they broke open 
 the shop of a gunsmith, on Snow-hill, to obtain arms; and the 
 younger Watson there shot a gentleman who offered some 
 remonstrance. Seizing all the arms they could find in that and 
 some other such dépdts, they proceeded in a kind of military 
 array, until they reached the Royal Exchange; when the lord 
 mayor and aldermen, after vainly exhorting them to disperse, 
 boldly secured several of the more audacious who had forced 
 themselves into the building, and caused the gates to be closed 
 against all others, ‘The mob now fired, though without effect, 
 
A.D. 1816. GEORGE III, 9 
 
 over the gates, on the magistrates; but a strong body of troops 
 having been quickly sent into the city, the rioters were finally 
 overpowered, and compelled to disperse: an example or two 
 was made of the ringleaders; but the greatest criminal, the 
 younger Watson, eluded all search, and effected his escape to 
 America: the vigilance of government however was now 
 excited; and after experience of the danger, every popular 
 meeting in the vicinity of the metropolis was properly watched, 
 without needless interference, by large military bodies and 
 special constables. 
 
 From the excitement produced by these domestic occurrences, 
 national attention was for a time diverted to an exploit of our 
 navy, even more glorious, on account of the cause in which it 
 was undertaken, than for the daring valor and brilliant success 
 by which it was distinguished. ‘To the great disgrace of 
 
 urope in general, but with greatest reproach, perhaps, to the 
 first of maritime powers, the piratical states of Barbary had 
 for ages been permitted to infest the commerce of the 
 Mediterranean, and carry off Christians to the most dreadful 
 slavery ; while no law gave them any protection from the 
 caprice and cruelty of masters, who hated and detested them for 
 the very faith which they professed :2 the fears indeed of these 
 barbarians had induced them, during the late war, to respect 
 the British flag; but a renewal of free commerce after the 
 peace tempted the three principal states of Tunis, Tripoli, and 
 Algiers to augment the number of their corsairs; and the 
 ferocious system of depredation, which was thus revived against 
 the vessels of nations allied with or protected by Great Britain, 
 rendered it imperative on the mistress of the ocean to vindicate 
 her honor: for this purpose, lord Exmouth, who then com- 
 manded in the Mediterranean, was instructed to demand 
 security from these piratical states for the commerce of our 
 Ionian islands ; to negotiate a peace for Naples and Sardinia ; 
 and, if possible, to obtain a general abolition of christian slavery.3 
 
 2 It was stated in the British house of commons, that ‘in one 
 case, fifty out of 300 prisoners died of ill-treatment at Algiers, on 
 the first day of their arrival ; the rest were kept in the most miser- 
 able condition, being allowed only a pound of bread a-day, and 
 subject to the lash from morning to night. No age, no sex was 
 spared. A Neapolitan lady of distinction, carried off with eight 
 children, six of whom survived, was seen by a British officer in the 
 thirteenth year of her captivity.’ 
 
 3 *Perhaps there is no instance on record of such detestable bi- 
 gotry, as that shown on this occasion by the head of the Roman 
 church, who is said to have declined the offer of lord Exmouth’s 
 
10 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII. 
 
 His lordship proceeded first to Algiers, where he obtained 
 partially the object of his mission, in the release of all Ionian 
 captives, and the ratification of a pacific treaty for Naples and 
 Sardinia; the former nation paying a ransom of 500 dollars, 
 and the latter 300 dollars a-head, for their redeemed slaves ; 
 but at Tunis and Tripoli, the demand was made and accepted, 
 for a total abolition of christian slavery. In the mean time, 
 he had received instructions to claim from Algiers the privilege 
 of selling and refitting privateers in this port; a privilege, 
 which had lately been granted by treaty to America: returning 
 therefore on this mission, he took the opportunity of pressing 
 on that state also the abolition of slavery ; but here he had a 
 more formidable power to deal with : his request was haughtily 
 refused : and when his lordship, together with his brother, sir 
 Israel Pellew, and Mr. M‘Donell, the British consyl, were 
 returning to the fleet, they were insulted by the populace, and 
 narrowly escaped assassination. As the admiral had made this 
 demand with very slight instructions from our admiralty, he 
 did not think himself justified in proceeding to extremities ; 
 especially as it was a common remark, that the obstructions to 
 navigation created by Barbary corsairs were advantageous to 
 British commerce: he therefore agreed that the dey should 
 appoint an envoy who might proceed first to Constantinople, 
 for the sanction of the Ottoman Porte, and thence to London 
 to treat on lord Exmouth’s proposal : his lordship then returned 
 with his fleet to England; nor did he reach its shores, before 
 accounts arrived which determined our government to wait no 
 longer the issue of negotiations, but at once to exact satisfaction 
 for the past, and security for the future: on the twenty-third 
 of May, the Algerines had displayed their revenge, and con- 
 tempt for our interference, by imprisoning the British vice- 
 consul, and barbarously murdering the crews of several Italian 
 vessels, under our flag, that were engaged in the coral fishery 
 at, Bona. 
 
 Having received intelligence of these outrages, ministers 
 nobly resolved to enforce obedience on the common enemies of 
 civilised society, who were now considered as having filled up 
 the measure of their iniquity and crimes: lord Exmouth, 
 therefore, received instructions to complete his work; and 
 whatever force he might think necessary was placed at his 
 disposal. 
 services, from difficulties arising out of religious scruples at con- 
 
 fiding a formal trust to a protestant. —Life of Lord Exmouth, 
 p. 293. 
 
A.p. 1816. GEORGE III. 11 
 
 The city of Algiers is built on the declivity of a hill, in a 
 triangular shape, with a base fronting the sea, rising directly 
 from the water, about a mile in length: the place is strongly 
 fortified with walls of immense thickness, mounted with heavy 
 guns; the sea-defences being particularly formidable: the 
 harbor is artificial, formed by a pier and mole; and all parts 
 around it were at this time covered with strong fortifications, 
 mounting no less than 220 guns; some in double, and others 
 in triple tiers; while the batteries on the wall, and at each 
 extremity of the town, were so numerous, as to bring near 500 
 pieces of artillery to bear on its maritime approaches : many 
 guns also in fortifications on the higher part of the city were 
 in situations which enabled them to fire with great effect on 
 assailants. Our lords of the admiralty were not a little sur- 
 prised, when it was proposed to attack these works with five 
 sail of the line, five frigates, four bomb-ketches, and five gun- 
 brigs; though several naval officers, who were consulted by 
 the board, considered them unassailable ; and Nelson himself, 
 in a conversation with captain Brisbane, had named twenty- 
 five ships of the line as a force requisite to attack them.4 
 Lord Exmouth, therefore, was again offered any number of 
 ships which he might think necessary ; but having long and 
 well considered the matter, and feeling satisfied that five ships 
 could destroy the fortifications on the mole as effectually as a 
 greater number, and with more safety to the assailants, he fully 
 explained his plans to the admiralty, marked the position 
 which each ship was to occupy, and was allowed to act on his. 
 own judgment: accordingly he set sail, on the twenty-fifth of 
 July, from Portsmouth, on board the Queen Charlotte, of 108 
 guns; with the Impregnable, of 104, bearing the flag of rear- 
 admiral Milne; the Superb, Minden, and Albion, of seventy- 
 four; the Leander, fifty; the Severn and Glasgow, forty ; 
 the Hebrus and Granicus, thirty-six; the Mutine and Pro- 
 metheus, sixteen; the Cordelia and Britomart, of ten; and the 
 Infernal, Hecla, Fury, and Beelzebub, bomb-vessels: when 
 he arrived on the ninth of August, at Gibraltar, he found 
 there a Dutch squadron of five frigates and a corvette, com- 
 manded by vice-admiral Von Capellan; who, on learning the 
 noble object of this expedition, solicited and obtained leave to 
 join it. 
 
 : On the thirteenth, each ship received a plan of the fortifica- 
 tions, with full instructions regarding the position she was to 
 
 4 Life of Lord Exmouth, p. 309. 
 
12 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LVI. ° 
 
 occupy: on the fourteenth, they set sail ; and on the sixteenth 
 within about 200 miles of their destination, they were joined 
 by the sloop Prometheus, direct from Algiers, bringing 
 information that. the Moors had not only completed all their 
 defences, but added new ones; that 40,000 troops had been 
 assembled, and janissaries called in from the most distant garri- 
 sons; while the whole naval force, consisting of four frigates, five 
 large corvettes, and thirty-seven gun-boats, were collected in 
 the harbor. In this vessel were the wife, daughter, and infant 
 child of Mr. M‘Donell, our consul: the two former had suc- 
 ceeded in getting off, disguised as midshipmen ; but the infant, 
 which had been concealed in a basket, cried as it passed the 
 gateway, and thus led to an arrest of all the party then on 
 shore: the child was sent off next morning by the dey; ‘a 
 solitary instance,’ said lord Exmouth, ‘of his humanity ;’ but 
 the consul was confined in irons at his house; and the surgeon, 
 three midshipmen, and fourteen seamen of the Prometheus, 
 were detained as prisoners.5 
 
 On the twenty-seventh, at daybreak, the combined fleets 
 came in sight of Algiers; and as the ships lay nearly becalmed, 
 a flag of truce was sent with the terms dictated by our govern- 
 ment, and a demand for the immediate liberation of the consul 
 and seamen: the boat carrying the flag was met outside the 
 mole by the captain of the port; who received the admiral’s 
 communication, and promised an answer in two hours: in the 
 mean time, a breeze had sprung up, and the fleet, standing into 
 the bay, lay to about a mile distant from the town; at two 
 o’clock, the boat was seen returning, with a signal that no 
 answer had been sent; on which, orders were given, and 
 every ship bore up to its appointed station. 
 
 The Queen Charlotte led the attack, and at half-past two, 
 anchored near the mole-head; her starboard broadside 
 flanking the batteries from thence to the lighthouse: the mole 
 was crowded with troops and other persons, many of whom 
 had climbed on the parapet to look at the ships; which being 
 observed by lord Exmouth, who stood on the poop, he 
 beckoned to them several times with his hand for the purpose 
 of inducing them to retire, but without any effect : as soon as 
 the ship was fairly placed, the crew gave three hearty cheers ; 
 and scareely had the sound of the last died away, when a gun 
 was fired from an upper tier of the eastern battery, followed 
 by a second and a third in quick succession; but the report of 
 
 5 Life of Lord Exmouth, p. 318.. 
 
A.n. 1816. GEORGE ITI. 13 
 
 this last was drowned in the thunder of the Queen Charlotte’s 
 broadside, which is stated to have swept off more than 500 
 men from the crowded mole: the admiral was immediately 
 followed by the Leander, which placed herself on his larboard 
 bow, at the entrance of the harbor; while the rest of the 
 British fleet passed on, and took their appointed stations ; the 
 Dutch, as it had been concerted, anchoring before the works to 
 the southward of the town: eastward of the lighthouse, at a 
 distance of 2000 yards, were placed the bomb-vessels, whence 
 shells were thrown with admirable precision by our marine 
 artillery ; while the flotilla of gun, rocket, and mortar boats, 
 directed by captain Mitchell, were distributed near the 
 openings between the line-of-battle ships, and at the entrance 
 to the mole: this disposition of our vessels, commanding the 
 strongest defences, while they were exposed to the weakest 
 part of their fire, gave great confidence both to officers and 
 men : all behaved admirably ; and it was not long before the 
 state of the enemy’s batteries exhibited proofs of the skill and 
 courage of their assailants. 
 
 Before the fight had become general, our flag-ship had de- 
 molished the fortifications on the mole: then, drawing her 
 broadside more to the northward, she soon brought down the 
 tower of the lighthouse: and gun after gun fell from the de- 
 molished batteries: the last of these was dismounted just as - 
 the artillerymen were in the act of discharging it; and an 
 Algerine chief was seen to spring on the ruins of the parapet, 
 shaking his scimitar with impotent rage, against the ship.® - 
 Not long after the attack had fairly commenced, the enemy’s 
 flotilla of gun-boats advanced with daring courage, under 
 cover of the smoke, to board our vessels; but as soon 
 as they were seen, a few guns, chiefly from the Leander, sent 
 thirty-three to the bottom: some time before this, lord Ex- 
 mouth despatched a message to his brave coadjutor, Von 
 Capellan, to express great satisfaction a# the direction and 
 effect of his fire on the southern batteries: which, by taking 
 their attention from the Queen Charlotte, enabled that ship to 
 command the mole, and all the enclosed vessels: at four 
 o’clock, when a general and heavy cannonade of more than an 
 hour had produced no signs of submission, his lordship deter- 
 mined to destroy the enemy’s ships: accordingly, the nearest 
 frigate was boarded, and fired so effectually with laboratory 
 torches, and a earcass-shell placed on the main-deck, that she 
 
 .6 Life of Lord Exmouth, p. 324. 
 
14 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII: 
 
 was enveloped in flames almost before the barge’s crew were 
 over her side: as, however, she burned from her moorings, 
 without communicating the conflagration to other ships, our 
 gun-boats, with the Queen Charlotte’s launch, threw carcass- 
 shells on the largest frigate, moored in the centre of the flotilla ; 
 when, notwithstanding all the enemy’s exertions, she was set 
 on fire; and soon communicated the flames, not only to sur- 
 rounding vessels, but to the store-houses and arsenal: at seven, 
 she came drifting from the harbor, and passed close to the 
 flag-ship, nearly involving her in the same destruction. 
 
 About sunset, a message was received from our rear- 
 admiral, requesting the presence of a frigate, to divert from 
 the Imnpregnable some portion of the terrible fire to which that 
 vessel was exposed, and which had already killed or wounded 
 150 of her crew; the Glasgow immediately weighed ; but the 
 wind had been lulled by the cannonade, and she could not ad- 
 vance to render the assistance required : then the Impregnable 
 received permission to haul off; but a British crew, animated 
 by such leaders as admiral Milne and captain Brace, would not 
 allow their ship so to go out of action: and she nobly kept 
 her station to the last. ‘Toward night, our fleet slackened its 
 fire, as the enemy’s guns became silenced; the ships also 
 began to feel a necessity of husbanding their ammunition ; for 
 they had already expended almost 218 tons of powder, and 
 50,000 shots, weighing more than 500 tons of iron; with 960 
 shells and rockets: under such a concentrated and well- 
 directed fire, the sea-defences of Algiers, and great part of the 
 town, lay—a shattered heap of ruins. 
 
 At a little before ten, the objects of the attack having been 
 effected, the Queen Charlotte’s bower cable was cut, and her 
 head hauled round to seaward: but she still continued to fire 
 her guns abaft the mainmast ; warps were run out to gain an 
 offing ; but many were cut by shot from batteries to the south- 
 ward, and from othérs on heights which the ship’s guns could 
 not reach: a very light air was felt about half-past ten, and 
 sail was made: but the vessel was not manageable, except by 
 aid of boats; and the only point gained, was that of keeping 
 her head from the land: at eleven, however, she began to 
 draw’ out from the batteries ; and in about half an hour more 
 she ceased to fire. The breeze now freshened ; a tremendous 
 thunder-storm came on, with torrents of rain; and heaven’s 
 own artillery seemed as if it was directed against the dwellings 
 
 7 Life of Lord Exmouth, p- 328. 
 
A.D. 1816. * GEORGE ITI. 15 
 
 of iniquity: in about three hours, the tempest ceased ; and 
 lord Exmouth collected in his cabin all the wounded that could 
 be safely moved, to join with him and his officers in thanks- 
 giving to the Almighty for their victory and preservation: in 
 no former action had the casualties been so great in proportion 
 to the force employed; though no single ship in the present 
 conflict suffered very severely, except ine Impregnable: the 
 British had 128 killed, and 690 wounded ; our Dutch allies 
 had thirteen in the first list, and fifty-two in the second ; while 
 the loss of the enemy was estimated at not much less than 
 7000. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth, at daybreak, lieutenant Burgess was 
 sent on shore with a flag of truce, carrying the same demands 
 as were made on the preceding morning: in the mean time, 
 the bomb-vessels took up their former position ; and it was the 
 opinion of all the consuls, that if our fire had been re-opened, 
 in two more hours it would have involved the whole city in 
 ruins: for the walls were already cracked, and the aqueducts 
 being broken up, the people were perishing for want of water: 
 soon, however, the captain of the port, accompanied by the 
 Swedish consul, came off, and informed lord Exmouth that all 
 his terms would be agreed to; even that most humiliating de- 
 mand of a public apology from the dey to the British consul, 
 in the presence of his own ministers and officers. Above 1200 
 slaves were embarked on the thirty-first; making, with those 
 before liberated through the address of lord Exmouth, more 
 than 3000 rescued from a life of torture. Having sent them 
 to their respective countries, and left a ship to receive some 
 individuals who had not yet come up from the interior, he 
 sailed on the third of September for England, where his ser- 
 vices were acknowleged in a manner worthy of his exalted 
 merit: he was advanced to the dignity of a viscount, and re- 
 ceived an honorable augmentation of his arms; the kings of 
 Holland, Spain, and Sardinia conferred on him their highest 
 orders of knighthood; the city of London voted him its 
 freedom, and a sword ornamented with diamonds, which was 
 presented by the lord mayor, at a banquet very appropriately 
 given by the ironmongers’ company, as trustees of an estate 
 left by a Mr. Bretton, for the ransom of christian slaves in 
 Barbary ; he received the freedom of the city of Oxford, with 
 the honorary degree of D.C.L. from that university ; also an 
 elegant gold medal, of which only four were struck, from the 
 prince regent ; while a society, lately established at Paris under 
 the auspices of sir Sidney Smith, for promoting the liberation 
 
 + 
 
16 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII. 
 
 of christian slaves, caused a medal to be executed in commemo- 
 ration of his victory. The promotion which followed was on 
 the usual scale : but lord Exmouth considered it so inadequate, 
 so unjust to the extraordinary merits of his junior officers, es- 
 pecially those in the flotilla, which had been commanded 
 chiefly by mates and midshipmen, that he never rested until 
 he had procured an extension of it from our unworthy admi- 
 ralty: he even submitted to their lordships a list of officers 
 whom he thought intitled to promotion, drawn up in a manner » 
 easy for reference, marking at once his discrimination of their 
 merits, and the warm interest which he took in their welfare: 
 it is not very satisfactory to add, that the half-measures taken 
 by the British government, which, ever since our Revolution, 
 has been proverbial for its ignorance of the manners, customs, 
 constitution, nay, even geographical situation of foreign 
 countries, failed in producing any permanent effect on a tribe 
 of desperadoes, whose very religion teaches them to laugh at 
 treaties made with christians. ‘The dey indeed soon paid the 
 penalty of his defeat; being strangled a few months after- 
 wards : but piracy again florished ; slavery was re-established ; 
 and Algiers luxuriated in its old system, until its barbarian 
 hordes dared to insult the majesty of France. 
 
 In the early part of this year, Mr. Canning, who was lately 
 returned from Portugal, to which: country he had been sent | 
 ambassador with an enormous salary, though there was neither 
 a sovereign nor a court to receive him, entered again into 
 office as president of the board of control: those, however, 
 who were anxious for his consistency of character, could not 
 contemplate without regret, his official ‘subordination to a 
 statesman whose policy differed from his own, and whom he 
 had publicly denounced as deficient in capacity for any station 
 of high responsibility: indeed, he soon felt himself in 
 trammels; and was at length constrained to dissolve a con- 
 nexion which he found incompatible with his honor. 
 
 If the glory of our navy was this year augmented by the 
 brilliant result of its expedition to Algiers, British science ob- 
 tained a triumph no less signal, but far more durable, in 
 sir Humphry Davy’s splendid discovery of the safety-lamp, 
 which has rescued thousands from a dreadful death in the #ub- 
 terranean chambers of the earth. From an analysis of the gas 
 from which such destructive effects had proceeded, he found it 
 to be carburetted hydrogen, which would not explode, it mixed 
 with less than six, or more than fourteen times its yolume of 
 atmospheric air; that neither red-hot charcoal, nor red-hot 
 
 ¥ 
 
A.D. 1816. GEORGE III. 17 
 
 iron, was capable of exploding it; and that the explosive 
 mixture could not be fired in tubes of one-seventh of an inch 
 in diameter, when they were opened in the atmosphere; while 
 metal tubes prevented explosion better than those of glass: on 
 these principles he proposed four lamps,—the safety-lamp, the 
 blowing-lamp, the piston-lamp, and the charcoal-lamp; the 
 first three of which are all extinguished, when the air within 
 becomes explosive: the efficaey of all these contrivances was 
 proved by experiment in real fire-damp ; but as the extinction 
 of the light in the three most important compelled the workmen 
 to quit their labor, sir Humphry felt that his invention was 
 not yet complete: he therefore continued his inquiries, and at 
 length perfected the lamp now used; in which the light, ex- 
 tinguished at the moment of danger, is raised within the wire 
 gauze into a brighter flame, enabling the miner to pursue his 
 work. Such briefly was the progress of this great invention ; 
 one of the finest examples known of experimental research ; 
 and one of the most valuable presents which science ever made 
 to man: its utility was everywhere recognised ; it was honored 
 by the medals of the royal society, by a magnificent service of 
 plate from the earl of Durham and other proprietors of col- 
 lieries, and by a beautiful silver-gilt vase from the emperor of 
 Russia, together with a letter expressing admiration of the im- 
 portant discovery. 
 
 In March, an expedition, fitted out for the purpose of 
 exploring the interior of Africa, sailed under the command of . 
 captain Tuckey ; but the pestilential climate proved fatal to 
 that distinguished officer and several of his companions. ‘The 
 year 1816 will be ever memorable to the lovers of art, from 
 the purchase made by parliament of those noble specimens of 
 sculpture which lord Elgin brought from Athens: a select 
 committee had been appointed by the house of commons to 
 consider the subject ; and after taking the opinion of the most 
 eminent artists and connoisseurs, all of whom classed these 
 marbles among the most exquisite remains of antiquity, they 
 recommended the sum of £35,000 to be paid as the price of 
 their acquisition. ‘These, together with the redievos discovered 
 by Mr. Cockerell at Phigalia, and which had previously been 
 purchased at the expense of £15,000, form a splendid school 
 of sculpture, as it existed in its best days; a noble study for 
 the creation and perfection of British artists: through a mean 
 spirit in our government, and bad management in its agents, 
 we lost those rare specimens which illustrate an intermediate 
 stage of the art, discovered by the above-mentioned gentleman 
 
 ENG, XVII. Cc 
 
18 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LVIII. 
 
 in the island of gina; and they went to adorn the magnificent 
 glyptothek of Munich. On the twenty-seventh of January, 
 this year, died at Bath the venerable admiral lord Hood, in 
 
 his ninety-second year; his younger brother, though senior 
 
 officer, lord Bridport, had departed this life before him in 
 1814, at the advanced age of eighty-seven. 
 
 At-the opening of parliament in 1817, the regent called 
 attention to the existing discontent, and to its causes, which 
 he lamented as not being of a nature to receive immediate 
 remedies: he adverted to the splendid success of our navy at 
 Algiers, and the consequent abolition of Christian slavery ; 
 praised the fortitude of our people in the trials which they 
 endured ; and, considering the great sources of national pros- 
 perity essentially unimpaired, expressed a confident expectation 
 that the native energies of this country would at no distant 
 period, surmount all the difficulties in which it was involved. 
 The annual estimates, he observed, had been formed with an 
 anxious desire to effect all reductions in our public establish- 
 ments consistent with safety and true policy ; but his royal 
 highness regretted that there had been a deficiency in the pro- 
 duce of last year’s revenue; though he trusted that this pro- 
 ceeded from temporary causes, and consoled himself in believing 
 that government would find it practicable to provide for the 
 public service without making any addition to the public bur- 
 dens. A lamentable comment on this speech quickly followed its 
 delivery ; for the prince, on his return from the house through 
 the Park, was assailed by a violent mob, distressed by sufferings, 
 and taught to believe that his royal highness was insensible to 
 their complaints: stones and other missiles were directed 
 against his carriage, the windows of which were broken by what 
 the attendants conceived to be bullets discharged from an air- 
 gun; but none were discovered, after the most diligent search. 
 This gross and criminal outrage was communicated to the peers 
 by lord Sidmouth ; when all consideration of public business was 
 deferred till the following day, and a conference held with the 
 commons, at which a joint address was drawn up, congratulating 
 the regent on his escape: a proclamation also was issued, 
 offering a reward of £1000 for the apprehension of the 
 offenders ; but these contrived to escape discovery. 
 
 Next evening, earl Grey moved an amendment to the address, 
 chiefly for the purpose of expressing an opinion that his royal 
 highness was under a delusion regarding the degree and pro- 
 bable duration of the pressure on our national resources ; which 
 was declared to be far more extensive in its operations, more 
 
 rit et 
 
A.D. 1817. GEORGE III. 19 
 
 severe in its effects, more deep and general in its causes, and 
 more difficult to be removed, than any which had prevailed at 
 the termination of former wars: to this declaration was added 
 a profession of regret, that the prince regent should not have 
 been sooner advised to adopt measures of rigid economy and 
 retrenchment, particularly with respect to our military esta- 
 blishments ; also a resolution that the house should go imme- 
 diately into a committee on the state of the nation. This 
 amendment was negatived without a division ; while a similar 
 one, previously moved in the commons, was rejected by 264 
 votes against 112: no long time, however, elapsed, before the 
 eyes of almost all were opened to the necessity of making large 
 retrenchments, and of reducing taxation. 
 
 On the third of February, a message was communicated to 
 both houses, announcing that the regent had ordered the pro- 
 duction of papers which contained an account of certain 
 meetings and combinations held in various parts of the country, 
 tending to disturb public tranquillity, to alienate affection from 
 his majesty’s person and government, and to overthrow the 
 whole frame of our laws and constitution: his royal highness 
 recommended these papers to the immediate consideration of 
 parliament; and they were accordingly referred by each house 
 to a secret committee. Another communication, different in 
 its nature, was made to the commons by lord Castlereagh on 
 the seventh of the same month, previously to his moving the 
 appointment of a committee of inquiry into the income and 
 expenditure of the state. His lordship said, that he had it 
 in command from the prince regent to announce, that, 
 sympathising with the sufferings of a generous people, he had 
 determined on a cession of £50,000 per annum from that part 
 of his income which was connected with his personal expenses, 
 as long as the present difficulties should continue: at the same 
 time, his lordship declared the intention of ministers to dispense 
 voluntarily with a tenth of their official incomes, while the 
 necessities of the state should require such a sacrifice: the 
 marquis Camden, one of the tellers of the exchequer, also 
 determined to relinquish the large profits of that sinecure 
 office ; retaining only £2500 per annum, the regulated income 
 of future tellers. It was thought that his lordship’s example 
 would have provoked other wealthy sinecurists and pensioners 
 to relieve the overburdened exchequer; but no such effects 
 proceeded from this splendid instance of generous patriotism ; 
 until, in the year 1836, lord Sidmouth signalised his old age 
 by the relinauishment of an official pension. On a reduced 
 
 * 
 
20 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVII. 
 
 scale, the expenditure for the year was estimated at less by 
 £6,500,000 than that preceding it; and a farther saving of 
 more than £1,000,000 was anticipated for 1818: the sum of 
 £500,000, in exchequer bills, for public works and fisheries in 
 Great Britain, as well as £250,000 out of the consolidated fund, 
 for similar purposes in Ireland, was voted, in April, as means 
 of alleviating the public distress. 
 
 The first report of the committee of inquiry, regarding the 
 abolition of sinecures, was made on the fifth of May ; when 
 Mr. Davies Gilbert stated, that in recommending the suppression 
 of certain offices, it was at the same time necessary that his 
 majesty should be enabled to reward meritorious persons, by the 
 power of granting pensions according to the duration of service 
 and the exertions of individuals: a bill, intitled ‘The Civil 
 Services Compensation Bill,’ was accordingly introduced, with 
 another for abolishing the offices of wardens and justices in 
 Eyre ; and these passed through both houses with little opposi- 
 tion. About this time too Mr. Canning exhibited extraordinary 
 powers of eloquence in vindicating his notorious embassy to 
 Lisbon, against a motion made by Mr. Lambton, which was 
 defeated by 270 votes against 96.8 At the end of May, Mr. 
 Abbott, finding his health unequal to his laborious duties, 
 resigned the high station of speaker, and was created lord 
 Colchester, with a pension of £4000 to himself and his imme- 
 ‘diate successor. He was of a sprightly, epigrammatic turn of 
 mind, and had distinguished himself, both at Westminster- 
 school and at Oxford, as a classical scholar: having cbtained 
 a seat in the house, he showed much intelligence and diligence 
 in its financial committees, and was taken into favor by Mr. 
 Pitt: he displayed great knowlege of parliamentary forms, 
 with equal firmness in putting them into force; and as he 
 possessed an extraordinary memory, with a calm discriminating 
 judgment, he made a very able and useful speaker; never 
 relaxing his attention, or departing from his dignity. Mr. 
 Charles Manners Sutton, eldest son of the archbishop of 
 
 8 ‘TJ am hardly recovered,’ says lord Dudley, ‘from my delight at 
 the splended victory Canning gained the other evening. It was 
 the greatest effect without exception, that I ever saw produced by 
 a speech in parliament; and is confessed to have been so even by 
 his enemies. I do not believe there is any instance on record of a 
 man having done so much by a single effort to redeem and raise his 
 character; the whole load of obloquy seems shaken off at once ; and 
 his prodigious abilities are now left free to carry him to his natural 
 elevation.’—Letters to the Bishop of Llandaff, p. 166. 
 
A.D. 1817. ) GEORGE III. | 21 
 
 Canterbury, was appointed to the vacant chair; so that, while 
 this gentleman stood at the head of British commoners, his 
 father presided over the spiritual peers ; one powerful relative, 
 lord Manners, was chancellor of Ireland, and another, the duke 
 of Rutland, was most conspicuous among our nobles for that 
 borough influence which gave to its possessors the means of 
 controlling government. What could be refused by ministers 
 to a family compact like this ? 
 
 Mr. Abbott’s elevation to the p€erage vacated a seat in the 
 commons for the university of Oxford ; and to this honor it was 
 known that Mr. Canning had long aspired: but the lord 
 chancellor, his brother lord Stowell, and other leading 
 opponents of the catholic claims connected with that seat of 
 learning, promptly urged their friends in Oxford to start Mr. 
 Peel as an antagonist, on the ground of resistance to those 
 claims: with such supporters and such a plea, as well as 
 abundant merits of his own, Mr. Peel’s election was easily 
 secured. . 
 
 Notwithstanding the expectation of coercive measures to be 
 adopted by administration, a multitude of the lower orders, 
 headed by Henry Hunt and his friends, met in Spa-fields on 
 the tenth of February, under the pretext of petitioning for 
 parliamentary reform; and a similar meeting was held three 
 days afterwards in Palace-yard: nothing remarkable, however, 
 occurred on either occasion. On the eighteenth of February, 
 in the house of lords, and on the following day in that of the 
 commons, the secret committees presented their reports: these 
 commenced, by stating their opinion that treasonable con- 
 spiracies had been formed in the metropolis and other parts of 
 our empire, which aimed at the total subversion of law and 
 government, as well as the indiscriminate plunder and division 
 of property: the various steps taken by seditious agitators 
 were diligently traced out in public and private meetings; in 
 the circulation of addresses ; in the purchase or manutacture 
 of arms, tricolored cockades, and banners ; in exertions made 
 to seduce the soldiers ; and in communications regularly held 
 between the conspirators of the metropolis and confederates in 
 other parts of the empire, with ap intent to effect a general 
 and simultaneous rising of the people: reference also was made 
 to the existence of societies, under the title of ‘Hampden 
 Clubs,’ ‘Spencean Philanthropists,’ and other factions, to 
 extend the plans of anarchy under the guise of constitutional 
 proceedings; also to the administration of secret oaths; to 
 extraordinary measures taken by conspirators for preventing a 
 
22 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII. 
 
 discovery of their plots; and to the dispersion of seditious, 
 blasphemous, and inflammatory publications, calculated to 
 destroy all moral and religious feelings, as well as to excite 
 hatred and contempt for existing institutions : finally, the com- 
 mittees expressed a decided opinion, that our civil power, as 
 t present constituted, was insufficient to preserve the peace 
 under such circumstances as had been stated. 
 
 Notwithstanding some vagueness of expression, as well as 
 some artifice and exaggeration in these reports ; notwithstand- 
 ing the efforts and even the success of public disturbers, in 
 throwing discredit on authorities, and ridicule on green-bags ; 
 it must be confessed, that the constitution was at this time 
 violated on the popular side; and that the security both of the 
 throne and of the altar was threatened by’ a lawless mob, 
 instigated by designing demagogues. ‘The celebrated acts, 
 which were subsequently passed by our legislature, however 
 they may appear to infringe on the liberty of the subject, were 
 effectual in saving this country from insurrectionary violence 
 and bloodshed, if not from the horrors of anarchy. 
 
 The first consequence of the above reports was the appre- 
 hension of four persons—the elder Watson, Preston, Hooper, 
 and Keene; who were committed to the Tower on a charge of 
 high treason: a reward of £500 was also offered for the appre- 
 hension of a man named ‘Lhistlewood, who fled from the 
 charge, but was soon taken and lodged with his associates. In 
 the upper house, lord Sidmouth moved for a suspension of the 
 habeas corpus act until the first of July next ensuing; when a 
 bill to that effect, with a protest by eighteen peers, on the 
 ground that our existing laws were adequate to the danger, 
 was passed, and ordered to the commons: it there went rapidly 
 through its different stages, and received the royal assent on 
 the fourth of March. Lord Castlereagh also gave notice of 
 farther measures to protect the country against the arts and 
 machinations of disaffected persons: these were an extension of 
 the act of 1795, for security of the king’s person, to that of 
 the regent—the revival of an act of the same year against 
 seditious meetings—a renewal of the act of 1795 against cor- 
 responding societies—and a re-enactment of that regarding the 
 seduction of soldiers and sailors from their allegiance. Nume- 
 rous petitions against these restrictions on public liberty, or 
 rather on public licentiousness, particularly against a suspension 
 of the habeas corpus, were presented to parliament: in each 
 house also, during every stage of their rapid progress, they 
 were opposed: but a large majority both of lords and com- 
 
A.D. 1817. GEORGE III. 23 
 
 mons participated in the alarm expressed by government: so 
 that all attempts at mitigation in the committee failed; and 
 the acts themselves received a legislative sanction. 
 
 The suspension of the habeas corpus act struck an unex- 
 pected blow against the hopes and plans of the apostles of 
 reform out of doors: in consequence of it, Mr. Cobbett, who, 
 in the most unequivocal terms, and in that language which he 
 could so well adapt to the taste and comprehension of the 
 people, had told the laboring classes that the remedy for 
 oppression and taxes lay in their own hands, deemed it prudent 
 to retire to America: he promised however to return, as soon 
 as England should be again under the protection of her con- 
 stitution; and, in the mean time, to transmit his Weekly 
 Register from the land of his exile: he had scarcely departed, 
 when several weekly publications started up, some of them 
 even more violent in language, and outrageous in doctrines, than 
 the Political Register had been; but far behind it in talent, 
 and in the power of exciting the populace to mischief. 
 
 When the peers assembled after their Easter recess, it was 
 ordered, on the motion of lord Grey, that a copy of a circular 
 letter recently addressed by the secretary for the home depart- 
 ment to the lord-lieutenants of counties, relative to seditious or 
 blasphemous publications, be laid before the house. In that 
 document, lord Sidmouth stated, that, as it was of the utmost 
 importance to prevent the circulation of such works, he had 
 consulted the law officers of the crown, to know whether a 
 person, found selling or publishing them, might be brought 
 immediately by warrant before a justice of the peace, to answer 
 for his conduct ; and their opinion was, that a magistrate might 
 not only issue his order for the apprehension of such an 
 offender, but hold him in bail to answer the charge: under 
 these circumstances, the attention of the lord-lieutenants was 
 earnestly called to the subject; and they were requested to 
 notify such opinion to the chairman of quarter sessions, in 
 order that magistrates might be led to act on it. When this 
 circular was produced, earl Grey addressed their lordships in a 
 speech replete with legal information ; in which he contended 
 against the principle, that a justice of the peace might be 
 called on by any common informer to decide what was or was 
 not a libel, and to commit or hold to bail, on his sole judgment, 
 the party accused: his lordship also asserted, that such a 
 specific intimation to magistrates, regarding the mode in which 
 they were to construe the law, even supposing that law itself 
 to be clear and undisputed, would have been a high offence 
 
24 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII. 
 
 against the constitution: the noble earl’s motion, which was 
 for the production of a case that had been submitted to the 
 law. officers, was strongly supported by lords Erskine and 
 Holland ; but opposed by lords Ellenborough and Eldon, who 
 were of opinion that the law had been correctly stated in the 
 circular, and who carried a majority of the house in their 
 favor: it was negatived on a division by seventy-five against 
 nineteen ; and a similar decision was given on the subject in 
 the house of commons, when introduced by sir Samuel Romilly. 
 On the third of June the lord chancellor affirmed, in opposition 
 to a motion of lord Holland, the right of the seeretary of state 
 to inhibit the visiting magistrates of any prison from visiting 
 prisoners confined there for state offences; and on the nine- 
 teenth, he defended the suspension of the habeas corpus act, 
 on plea of the imminent dangers to which the country was 
 exposed. With respect to spies also, he maintained that 
 government, knowing the existence of any plot, was bound to 
 employ such persons, if their aid was necessary to detect and 
 defeat it: the stimulating such persons to go farther was a 
 very different thing. ; 
 
 <\s the country still continued in a disturbed and alarming 
 state, messages were again sent to both houses from the regent, 
 on the third of June ; and the papers produced in consequence,‘ 
 were, as before, referred to secret committees. That of the 
 lords reported, on the twelfth, that after a full consideration 
 of statements laid before them, they were of opinion that the 
 spirit of tumult and insurrection, which gave rise to the bill 
 for suspending the habeas corpus act, had by no means subsided ; 
 and it was only through its operation, aided by vigilance in 
 the magistrates, and their communications with government, 
 that such spirit could be kept down; also that active prepara- 
 tions were still going on, with a view to subvert the constitu- 
 tion; and that a continuance of the said bill for six months 
 longer was absolutely necessary for the public security. A 
 report of the committee of the lower house traced out the for- 
 mation and history of several plots at Manchester: and in 
 Derbyshire; observing, that confidently as they relied on the 
 general loyalty and good disposition of his majesty’s subjects, 
 even in those districts*‘where the spirit of disafiection appeared 
 most strong, they could not but express their conviction, that 
 it was not yet safe to rest intirely for the preservation of tran- 
 quillity on the ordinary powers of the law. It was admitted, 
 in the reports, that evidence laid before the committees, had 
 been derived, to a large extent, from the depositions and com- 
 
A.D. 1817. GEORGE Ii. 25. 
 
 munications of individuals more or less implicated in the tran- 
 sactions under consideration, or of such as head insidiously 
 engaged in them with a view of giving information to govern- 
 ment: this employment of emissaries and spies, sent down 
 among a starving people in the guise of delegates, was vehe- 
 mently attacked as an atrocious system, stimulating and 
 - suborning crime for the very purpose of denouncing it: but 
 ministers strenuously defended the course which had been 
 taken; and a farther suspension of the habeas corpus act to 
 the first of March, 1818, was carried by a large majority. 
 
 One feature of the session was a committee on the poor laws, 
 which, after sitting for a considerable length of time, with 
 Mr. Sturges Bourne for its chairman, made a report in July. 
 Not much new light was thrown on the subject; for the object 
 of those who took on themselves, or were instructed by govern- 
 ment, to manage this committee, seemed to be that of neutral- 
 ising every topic as much as possible, and of keeping as near 
 to the shore as they could; ministers being embarrassed on the 
 subject, and anxious to avoid experiments: it seems however 
 extraordinary, that after this report no steps were immediately 
 taken to amend, at least, the law of settlement; which 
 abounded with evils that could not be denied: but there was a 
 feeling among many, that our poor laws were fundamentally so 
 impolitic and bad, that to soften their evils would be to delay 
 their final abolition: an event, to which they fondly and 
 absurdly looked. f 
 
 Another, and still more distinguishing feature, was the 
 speech, in which Mr. Brougham submitted to the commgns 
 four resolutions on the state of commerce; when he not only 
 exposed the false system on which parliament had long legis- 
 lated, but taught and enforced those principles of commercial 
 science, which, adopted as they were afterwards by the more 
 enlightened of our ministry, repealed the navigation laws, and 
 liberated trade. ‘The period,’ he said, ‘is now arrived, when, 
 the war being closed, and prodigious changes having taken 
 place throughout the world, it becomes absolutely necessary to 
 enter on a careful but fearless revision of our whole commercial 
 system; that we may be enabled safely, yet promptly, to 
 eradicate those faults which the lapse of time has occasioned or 
 displayed: to retrace our steps, where we shall find that they 
 have deviated from the line of true policy ; to adjust and accom- 
 modate our laws to the alteration of circumstances; to abandon 
 many prejudices, alike antiquated and senseless, unsuited to 
 the advanced age in which we live, and unworthy of that 
 
26 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII. 
 
 sound judgment which distinguishes this nation. Adverting to 
 the navigation law, he observed,—‘ whatever may been the 
 good policy of this law, I am quite clear that we have adhered 
 to its strict enactments for a century after the circumstances 
 which alone justified its adoption have ceased to exist.’ 
 
 Before the prorogation of parliament, which took place on 
 the twelfth of July, the financial state of the year seemed to 
 improve: the funds rose above twelve per cent.; corn was 
 sold at a good price; and money began to be plentiful both on 
 mortgage and on discount: the Bank of England also began to 
 pay voluntarily in cash; and the chancellor of the exchequer 
 expressed his opinion confidently, that nothing but some extra- 
 ordinary shock in the political or commercial system would 
 prevent the restriction of cash payments from being taken off 
 in July, 1818. 
 
 ‘The disturbances at Manchester, alluded to in the last report 
 of the secret committee of the commons, were of a very extra- 
 ordinary description: a large body of persons, calling them- 
 selves friends of parliamentary reform, and urged by the reso- 
 lution of despair, determined to proceed unarmed to London, 
 in order to set forth and explain their distress to the regent 
 in person; for which purpose each individual provided himself 
 with a blanket and a small stock of provisions: such crowds 
 however assembled on the appointed day at Manchester, that 
 the civil powers thought it expedient to call out military aid ; 
 when a party of dragoons, accompanied by the magistrates of 
 that district, appeared; and having surrounded a scaffold on 
 which stood the principal instigators of this design, seized and 
 carried them off: two men, named Johnson and Ogden, who 
 acted as leaders of the mob on former occasions, had been 
 arrested the preceding morning ; and the latter of these worth- 
 less persons subsequently acquired much notoriety from an 
 alliterative expression applied to him by Mr. Canning in refer- 
 ence to a bodily infirmity, under which he was laboring; and 
 which subjected that eminent statesman to some of the most 
 virulent and galling attacks that embittered his political career, 
 Though the crowd had been dispersed, a considerable number 
 set out on their mission to the metropolis; but not more than 
 500 proceeded as far as Macclesfield, where a troop of yeo- 
 manry had remained to provide against contingencies: nothing 
 could be more wretched than the appearance of these outcasts ; 
 some actually fainting through fatigue, and all without baggage 
 or any resources to sustain them on their march: they pene- 
 trated into Staffordshire; but there ended what has been 
 
A.D. 1817. GEORGE III. 27 
 
 quaintly termed the ‘Blanketteering Expedition.’ At this 
 time the general distress of the country, the alarm of ministers, 
 the disposition inherent in subalterns to abuse extraordinary 
 powers, as well as the profligate arts of spies and informers, 
 filled our jails with objects of suspicion or of crime: many 
 were released as arbitrarily as they had been committed ; while 
 the more prominent leaders were detained in custody, or sent 
 for greater security to the metropolis: such proceedings con- 
 tributed much to the exacerbation of parties ; acts of justice were 
 confounded, on one side, with acts of violence; while that 
 species of alarmists, who were glad to turn the fears of others 
 to party purposes, contended that nothing but the most coer- 
 cive measures could put down a revolutionary scheme which 
 was tending towards universal confusion. In the month of 
 June, several inmates of the Tower were arraigned on a charge 
 of high treason: the trial of Watson, which was taken first, 
 lasted some days, and was attended by the leading members of 
 Opposition: the prisoner was ably defended by Messrs. Copley 
 and Wetherell; and the principal witness for the crown was 
 an accomplice or spy, named Castles: he underwent direct and 
 cross examinations at great length, and deposed to acts of 
 unequivocal treason and conspiracy; but the infamy of his 
 character, as well as several improbabilities in his narrative, 
 deprived his testimony of credit, and the jury brought in a 
 verdict of ‘ Not guilty,’ amid the reiterated cheers of an im- 
 mense multitude, by which the very avenues to Westminster- 
 hall were filled: on the failure of this case, the others were . 
 abandoned, and the prisoners discharged. During this summer, 
 the turbulent disposition of our manufacturing classes exhibited 
 itself in several of the midland and northern counties ; when it 
 was thought expedient to appoint a special commission to sit 
 at Derby for the trial of offenders: the first four arraigned 
 were convicted ; nineteen others were allowed to plead guilty, 
 on the understanding that mercy would be extended to them; 
 and against twelve the attorney-general declined to call evi- 
 dence: twenty-three of these deluded men received sentence 
 of death; but three only, Brandreth, Ludlam, and Turner 
 suffered the extreme penalty of the law. ‘To the machinations 
 of a government spy, named Oliver, many of them ascribed 
 the criminal acts into which they had been led; and the 
 employment of such persons, whose interest led them to foment 
 the plots which they undertook to reveal, was generally con- 
 demned : the last of these ministerial efforts was the prosecu- 
 tion of Mr. Hone, for some political parodies of the Litany and 
 . 
 
28 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII¢ 
 
 other parts of our church service, as blasphemous libels. The 
 defendant acted as his own council; resting his plea chiefly on 
 the ground that such parodies were strictly political, and had 
 the negative sanction of uniform toleration ; and he cited a 
 very considerable number, which had appeared at different 
 periods, from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. On this 
 trial, which took place before Mr. justice Abbott, he was 
 acquitted ; but as there were two more indictments remaining, . 
 lord Ellenborough undertook to preside in the court, and inter- 
 dicted Hone from pursuing the same line of defence; since 
 blasphemy, like other offences, can derive no sanction or pro- 
 tection from previous impunity: it was supposed that the 
 greater experience and authority of the chief justice would 
 impose silence on the accused, and obtain a conviction from the 
 jury ; but a greater mistake was never made: Mr. Hone, in 
 the conflict that ensued, exhibited a union of self-possession, 
 energy, and readiness of argumentation, which have seldom 
 been surpassed in a court of justice: during a struggle of 
 many hours, he succeeded in bringing out portions of his 
 obnoxious defence, at one time by artifice, and at another by 
 clamor; while the overbearing authority of a judge, who was 
 generally thought, whether justly or unjustly, to have a strong 
 political bias, gained an easier admission for his vehement 
 appeals to a British jury : a second verdict of ‘ Not guilty,’ was 
 returned; and his lordship came to the charge next day ex- 
 hausted in spirits and depressed by illness: the contest, on his 
 part, now became more languid; and an appeal to the merciful 
 forbearance of the defendant was even heard from the bench: 
 a third verdict of acquittal ensued; and it was generally sup- 
 posed, that the already declining health of the lord chief justice 
 was seriously affected by the mortification of spirit which he 
 experienced at these remarkable trials. A large subscription, 
 supported by the names of several distinguished persons, was 
 set on foot to reimburse Mr. Hone for the expense, trouble, 
 and fatigue to which he had been subjected by so many prose- 
 cutions ; and it is satisfactory to add, that the patronage he 
 received, and the fame he acquired, appear to have infused a 
 better spirit into his moral character ; engaging him in literary 
 pursuits, and withdrawing him from that disgraceful career, 
 into which he had so recklessly plunged. 
 
 Foreigners, at this time, began to compare this nation to a 
 stately but strained vessel, which, after having weathered’ the 
 fury of a storm, sinks amid the heaving waves, before their 
 agitation can subside: little however did they know of that 
 
 ® 
 
A.D. 1817. GEORGE III. 29 
 
 vitality which is inherent in the British constitution, or of that 
 elasticity with which the sons of freedom can repair disasters : 
 little did they know of that numerous body of men existing in 
 this kingdom, possessed both of property and intelligence— 
 men placed between the extremes of power, ever liable to 
 exalt itself, and of ignorance, ever liable to be led astray— 
 who were so disposed, under the blessing of Providence, to 
 be the main safeguard of Britain’s grandeur and prosperity. 
 These troubles after a time subsided, to be succeeded by 
 others far more alarming in their aspect ; but none have been 
 able to sink the vessel of the state: one of the most striking 
 effects, however, produced by the distress incident to the times 
 of which we are treating, was a determination taken by the 
 people to search into its causes, with a view to more legitimate 
 modes of relief: thousands began to study the nature of our 
 constitution, who had never before thought on such a subject ; 
 and in proportion as knowlege increased, the outworks of pri- 
 vilege and prescription gave way; and the strongholds of 
 party were shaken by the increasing energy of constitutional 
 reformers. 
 
 In a country like Great Britain, a correct knowlege of the 
 state of its political parties, who during particular periods 
 take a regular share in the proceedings of parliament, is 
 essential to the right understanding of its history. The cir- 
 cumstances which raised the present ministry to power, and 
 reduced the numbers of opposition to insignificance, may be 
 summed up briefly in two particulars ;—the unexpected success 
 of the former in opposing Napoleon; and the want of pru- 
 dence in the latter, when political power was either in view, 
 or within their grasp: although ministers were confessedly 
 men of inferior talents, compared with the great statesmen of 
 former times; and stood at the helm of government in a period 
 of unparalleled difficulties, whether we regard political events, 
 or the state of our commerce and finahces,—they exhibited, 
 during those difficulties, great steadiness, and adhered to a line 
 of conduct which required perseverance rather than activity : 
 thus, allowing Bonaparte to destroy himself by his own mea- 
 sures, and holding themselves ready to take advantage of 
 his errors, they acquired much popularity, and retained it un- 
 broken till the events of this year considerably loosened their 
 hold on the affections of the people. No one of the cabinet 
 suffered in this respect more than lord Sidmouth, who, being 
 secretary of state for the home department, was supposed to 
 be more concerned in the suspension of the habeas corpus 
 
30 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII. 
 
 act, and subsequent measures of coercion, than any of his 
 colleagues: a strong suspicion also of lord Castlereagh’s prin- 
 ciples began to manifest itself; for it was thought that his 
 love of political freedom, and his attachment to the purity of 
 political principle, had not been strengthened by his long and 
 intimate connexion with continental potentates during the 
 latter period of the war: his conduct however was at least 
 uniform and consistent; but this could hardly be said ot 
 Mr. Canning, who joined an administration, for the chief 
 members of which he had expressed great contempt; while 
 his speeches in parliament, able and dexterous as they often 
 were, did not sufficiently impress his hearers with a conviction 
 that they proceeded from principle and feeling. 
 
 The opposition, however, was not in a state to take much 
 advantage of circumstances which lowered ministers in the 
 eyes of the people: they had once been in power, and twice 
 had it within their grasp; but at no period did they conduct 
 themselves in such a manner as to secure the confidence of 
 the sovereign or of the nation. Mr. Fox had lost some of his 
 popularity before he came into office in 1806, not so much by 
 his opposition to the French war, as by his reluctance to 
 rejoice in victories gained by British valor: but his union with 
 lord Grenville, and a notion that his easy temper would yield 
 too much to that nobleman’s politics, destroyed a more con- 
 siderable portion of it: on his death, lord Grenville’s influence 
 being much increased, the whig ministry became still less 
 popular ; nor did the cause of their quitting office obtain for 
 them that favor which they missed by omitting to pursue mea- 
 sures of economical and political reform, while in possession 
 of the cabinet. At the time of the regency in 1811, and 
 afterwards at the death of Mr. Perceval, they had an oppor- 
 tunity of coming into power; but they raised up so many 
 obstacles, that it seemed as if they were desirous of some 
 excuse to decline it? since the latter of those periods, the 
 triumphant termination of the war, contrary to their uniform 
 predictions, weakened their influence both in and out of par- 
 liament ; while death among their most eminent leaders, of 
 whom they had lost four? within the last two years, reduced 
 their ranks, comparatively, to a state of insignificance. 
 Mr. Tierney was their leader in the house of commons; but 
 lord Grey was the man upon whose character and influence 
 they chiefly relied. He spoke but seldom, reserving himself 
 
 ® Sheridan and Whitbread, Horner and Ponsonby. 
 
A.D. 1817. GEORGE II. 31 
 
 for important occasions; when he always spoke with great 
 effect: his style, however, unlike his general deportment, was 
 somewhat harsh and arrogant; whilst his high aristocratic 
 sentiments, and ostentatious display of attachment to ‘his 
 order,’ sometimes cast a shade of apparent insincerity over his 
 devotion to popular rights. 
 
 Ministers frequently reckoned on lord Grenville’s friends for 
 support, and still oftener on the religious party under Mr. Wil- 
 berforce ; though, on several important occasions, this latter 
 was conscientiously arrayed against them. A new and im- 
 portant class of men, which had lately sprung up in the house, 
 though classed with opposition, was disposed to go much far- 
 ther on points of innovation and reform: at the head of these 
 was Mr. Brougham ; and even his principles were carried out 
 to a still greater length by lord Cochrane and a few others, 
 much inferior in acuteness and political knowlege. The chief 
 distinction between the creed of the regular opposition and 
 that of the reformers, was this:—the former thought that the 
 machinery of government, as then constituted, was good, and 
 efficient for all useful purposes; the latter contended that this 
 machinery was so ill-constructed, and so much out of repair, 
 that no talents, skill, or attention could make it work well. 
 The opposition wished for retrenchment to a certain extent, 
 and for a change in some parts of our domestic and foreign 
 policy ; but they did not desire to touch, except slightly and 
 superficially, the house of commons as then constituted: the 
 reformers, on the other hand, wished to change the state of 
 representation materially, and at once; contending that from 
 such a house originated all the distress under which Great 
 Britain was laboring, and that infringement on liberty, which 
 was felt with indignation: they did not however proceed to 
 the length of universal suffrage and annual parliaments, ad- 
 vocated by lord Cochrane, and supported out of the house by 
 the veteran major Cartwright, Cobbett, and Hunt. These 
 contended, that all the evils under which the country lay— 
 excessive taxation, with its consequent poverty and misery— 
 extravagance in the expenditure of public money—in short, 
 every species of mal-adminstration, arose from a radical defect 
 in the very formation of the house of commons; maintain- 
 ing, that if its members were chosen annually, and by uni- 
 versal suffrage, they would be more intelligent, more pure, 
 and consequently better able and disposed to legislate solely 
 for the good of the nation. We may briefly observe, that 
 this opinion took for granted, first, that the great mass of our 
 
32 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LVUE, 
 
 people were so enlightened and pure, that they would select 
 men also of the most enlightened minds and pure principles 
 to be their representatives ; next, that of all great questions 
 brought before parliament, the people were adequate judges ; 
 for according to the projected plan of reform, the consti- 
 tuents were to instruct their members, and the latter on all 
 important points to follow those instructions: but we may 
 hope, rather than expect, to see the lower orders of a state 
 brought to such a degree of intelligence and integrity, as this 
 scheme requires. ‘The moderate reformers, however, conscious 
 that even their plans, to be effective, must rest on the found- 
 ation of a more liberal and enlightened education, applied 
 themselves earnestly to the great work of reforming the 
 peopie by such a system: men were encouraged to attend to 
 the cultivation of their understanding; by which they soon 
 began to perceive that they had a capacity above the grovel- 
 ling pursuits of sense: hence a desire of proceeding farther, 
 and of storing their minds with interesting and useful know- 
 lege, increased ; while the habit of reflecting more on their 
 best interests increased also: but as it would have been worse 
 than useless to have taught.the people to read, and implanted 
 in them a desire to learn, without giving them the means of 
 gratifying that desire in an innocent and_ beneficial manner, 
 great exertions were subsequently made in the establishment 
 of libraries, lectures, and other ‘institutions, suited to the 
 parties whom they were intended to benefit; and these led 
 ultimately to the publication of those numerous elementary 
 works for the general diffusion of useful knowlege, which 
 have brought the acquisition of it within the reach of all classes. 
 
 In the Christmas vacation that able judge in equity, sir 
 William Grant, retired from his office of master of the rolls; 
 being succeeded by sir Thomas Plumer, whose post of vice- 
 chancellor was occupied by the regent’s favorite, Mr. Leach ; 
 who on this occasion received the honor of knighthood. To- 
 ward the close of this year, public attention was diverted 
 from the conflicts of party and machinations of the disaffected, 
 to an event which was felt by the whole nation as a great 
 calamity :.the princess Charlotte, the idclised hope of a free 
 nation ; she, whose looks of health and smiles of joy had been 
 hailed with heart-felt satisfaction by her future subjects; ex- 
 pired on the sixth of November, after giving birth to a still- 
 born child. The death of this amiable princess was ascribed 
 to the indecision of her medical attendant: in a dreadful 
 state of exhaustion, produced by a long and severe labor, she 
 
A.D. 1817. GEORGE Ill. 33 
 
 was suffered to remain without the slightest stimulant, when 
 the strongest should have been administered ; in consequence 
 of which neglect, nature was unable to rally ; the royal suf- 
 ferer gradually declined; and the hopes of a great nation 
 merged in acute and lasting sorrow: brief however as were 
 her days, she cannot be said to have lived in vain, whose life 
 forcibly illustrated the union of happiness with virtue: the 
 day of her funeral, the eighteenth of November, was one of 
 general and unaffected mourning, not only in the metropolis, 
 but throughout the kingdom: it was a day of voluntary 
 humiliation, accompanied by a total cessation from business, 
 and sorrowful meditation on the instability of human joy. 
 
 On the thirteenth of February, the silver coinage, ordered 
 last year, was put into circulation: and so rapid was the ex- 
 change of the old for the new, that in a few days all was dis- 
 tributed without creating the least confusion: in July came 
 out a new coinage of gold pieces, called sovereigns, value 
 twenty shillings each, weighing five pennyweights, two grains, 
 and three-quarters. The anniversary of the battle of Waterloo 
 was this year distinguished by the opening of that magnificent 
 bridge over the Thames, which by a happy change of name!? 
 was converted into a national monument to the valor of our 
 army: the prince regent, and the duke of Wellington, with a 
 large concourse of nobility and gentry, graced the procession. 
 The total length of this structure, with its approaches, from 
 the Strand to St. George’s-fields, is 2890 feet; the length of 
 stonework from bank to bank being 1240: the breadth’ within 
 the balustrades is forty-two feet, divided on each side by a 
 footway of seven, leaving twenty-eight for the carriage road: 
 it has nine arches, each 120 feet in span; while its super- 
 structure, running parallel with the water-line, gives to it that 
 elegance and grandeur, which is not equalled by any work of 
 this description in Europe: the whole exterior is executed in 
 durable moor-stone from Cornwall; and the intire cost did not 
 fall short of £1,260,000. ‘Two dreadful accidents occurred 
 this year, which strikingly illustrate the necessity of prudence 
 both in the adoption and rejection of inventions: a small 
 steam-packet between Norwich and Yarmouth, using a high- 
 pressure engine, and endeavoring to increase its speed, was 
 blown up; when, out of twenty-two passengers, eight were 
 kiiled, and many seriously injured: ‘the other occurrence 
 took place at Harraton-colliery, near Durham, where an ob- 
 
 10 Tt was previously called ‘the Strand Bridge.’ 
 ENG. XVII. D 
 
34 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LVIII. 
 
 stinate man, disdaining to make use of Sir H. Davy’s admirable 
 invention, carried a lighted candle into the mine; when an 
 explosion took place, by which thirty-eight men and boys lost 
 their lives: so great was its force, that although the pit was 
 eighty-two fathoms deep, two bodies were blown from the 
 bottom into the open air, as if they had been projected from 
 an enormous piece of ordnance. 
 
 France was now relieved from one-fifth of the army which 
 occupied its territory. At the election of members for the 
 chambers, most unworthy arts were adopted by the ministry ; 
 but six of the eight elected for the department of Paris were 
 in the popular interests, and government was altogether in a 
 minority : notwithstanding the presence of a foreign force, it 
 was thought necessary to suspend the law for securing per- 
 sonal liberty, and to revive for a time the jurisdiction of pre- 
 votal courts for the sake of summary proceedings against 
 seditious persons. In Germany, great discontents manifested 
 themselves, especially among students at the universities : 
 those of Jena invited the rest to send deputies to the Warte- 
 burg, near Eisenach, for the purpose of celebrating the battle 
 of Leipsic, where they met in large numbers on the seven- 
 teenth of October: the professors and students present went 
 in solemn procession next day to the Warteburg, where an 
 harangue was delivered by one of them; who, after calling to 
 recollection the great day on which the sun of German freedom 
 rose, observed how little the result had answered those expect- 
 ations which the people were intitled to form; for no prince 
 had yet performed the promise publicly made, except him in 
 whose territories they were then solemnizing the festival: they 
 afterwards burned, at a kind of auto da fe, several obnoxious 
 works, as well as instruments and other monuments of old 
 German slavery; and, before they broke up, they pledged 
 themselves to each other, on the sacrament, that they would 
 conscientiously endeavor to carry into execution the obligations 
 which they had imposed on their consciences. In Prussia, a 
 strict censorship was exercised over all political publications ; 
 and the Rhenish Mercury, a journal which had obtained ex- 
 tensive circulation, was suppressed. ‘The states of Wurtem- 
 burg advanced their constitutional claims, to be confirmed by 
 their king ; but he refused to grant them, dissolved the assembly, 
 and took the administration of finances into his own hands. 
 In Austria, the pecuniary embarrassments of government were 
 very great; and in Spain also the finances were in a very dis- 
 tressed condition, which the want of cordiality between the 
 
A.D. 1817. GEORGE III. 35 
 
 governors and the governed was little calculated to relieve; 
 in Valencia, the people raised a cry of ‘the constitution ! 
 and were with difficulty reduced to submission ; while at Bar- 
 celona, a formidable conspiracy was detected: the fanatical 
 Ferdinand, in the mean time, signalised his catholic zeal by 
 prohibiting all books which impugned the authority of the 
 pope, or the holy tribunal of the inquisition. In South 
 America, the contest was protracted with various success ; but 
 the thread by which the authority of Spain was there held 
 became evidently more slender. In Brazil, the court evinced 
 little disposition to return to Europe ; and as Portugal thus 
 became degraded into the rank of a tributary state, a plan for 
 the establishment of an independent government was secretly 
 agitated : but it was soon discovered ; and, like those in Spain, 
 terminated fatally to its chief promoters. In North America, 
 Mr. Monroe succeeded Mr. Madison as president; and that 
 country rapidly recovered from the temporary pressure of war ; 
 destined, as it would seem, to run an extraordinary career of 
 republican fraud and violence, until it shall either be split 
 by domestic feuds into different states, or be forcibly coerced 
 by a combination of outraged and indignant nations. 
 
36 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. (OH, LIX, 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 GEORGE III. (continvep.)—1818. 
 
 Opening of parliament—Speech of the commissioners, &c.—Lord 
 Castlereagh’s motion for secret committees preparatory to a bill 
 of indemnity—Strenuously opposed, but carried—Reports of the 
 same—Indemnity bill carried—Grant of one million for the 
 building of churches—Bank restriction extended to July 5, 1819 
 —Negotiation with Spain to discontinue the slave trade north of 
 the line—Royal marriages, &c.—Supplies—Alien act—Sir Samuel 
 Romilly’s attempt to repeal part of the act against privately 
 stealing in shops, &e.—Motion for a committee by Mr. Brougham 
 to inquire into the education of the poor—Dissolution of parlia- 
 ment—State of the manufacturers of Lancashire—General election 
 —Deaths of sir Samuel Romilly, lord Ellenborough, and queen 
 Charlotte—Eeclesiastical and judicial returns—Increase of for- 
 geries—Price of consols—Bankruptcies—Wager of battle—De- 
 termination to pull down Carlton-house, &c.—Congress of Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, evacuation of France by the allied forces, &c.—Meeting 
 of new parliament—Duke of York appointed guardian to his 
 majesty —Committee on the criminal code— Measures taken for the 
 resumption of cash payments—Financial statements—Catholic 
 claims—Foreign enlistment act—Reversal of a bil of attainder 
 against lord Edward Fitzgerald—Slave-trade—Emigration— 
 Close of the session—General distress consequent on the altera- 
 tion of currency—Seditious assemblages— Meeting at Manchester : 
 its dispersion by the yeomanry cavalry attended with loss of life 
 —Trial, sentence, and imprisonment of Hunt and his accomplices 
 —~Popular discontents—Meeting of parliament—Evidence on the 
 disaffected state of the manufacturing districts—Restrictions on 
 public liberty—Parliamentary reform—Cession of Parga to the 
 ‘Turks—Continental politics—South American provinces— Public 
 improvements. 
 
 Tue sixth and last session of the existing parliament was 
 opened by commission on the twenty-seventh of January: the 
 speech was chiefly remarkable for that confident tone in 
 which ministers congratulated the nation and themselves on 
 the return of public prosperity and tranquillity ; and it con- 
 cluded with a recommendation that additional churches should 
 be built, ‘to meet the increased population of the country, 
 
 a 
 
A.D. 1818. GEORGE IT. 37 
 
 and to promote religious and moral habits in the people. 
 The address in the upper house was unanimously agreed to : 
 that in the commons also was carried without a division, but 
 not without animadversion from lord Althorp and sir Samuel 
 Romilly, who strongly deprecated the demoralizing system of 
 esptonnage, as well as the arbitrary imprisonment and tyran- 
 nical persecutions which had been lately carried on by 
 government. 
 
 On the fourth of February, lord Castlereagh, by royal 
 command, brought down to the house a bag of papers relating 
 to the internal state of the country, and proposed the appoint- 
 ment of a select committee for their examination ; but as this 
 was undertood to be a preliminary step to a general bill of 
 indemnity for every measure taken by ministers under the sus- 
 pension of the habeas corpus act, by which all persons whe 
 had been imprisoned and discharged without trial would be 
 debarred from legal remedies,—the motion for a committee 
 was strenuously resisted by the opposition, who contended 
 that a very different sort of inquiry was called for into the 
 conduct of administration: but though the green bag and its 
 contents elicited much lively sarcasm, especially from 
 Mr. Tierney, the committee prayed for was appointed, and 
 a similar one also in the upper house. On the twenty-third of 
 February, this latter made a report, relating chiefly to recent 
 disturbances in the counties of Nottingham, Derby, and York ; 
 to the progress of insurrection, and the check which it had 
 received by various arrests and trials ; as well as to the ne- 
 cessity which existed for continued vigilance against a spirit of 
 conspiracy, which was still active, particularly in the metro- 
 polis: this report proceeded to state that forty-four persons 
 had been arrested, under warrants from the secretary of state, 
 who had not been brought to trial, but that such arrests were 
 justified by circumstances ; and no warrant of detention ap- 
 peared to have been issued except in consequence of informa- 
 tion tendered on oath : the persons detained, but not prosecuted, 
 had been at different times discharged; and government 
 seemed to have exercised the powers with which it had been in- 
 vested with discretion and moderation. On the twenty-fifth, 
 the duke of Montrose brought in a bill of indemnity, founded 
 on this document, which was strongly defended by the lord 
 chancellor, as the legitimate sequel of last year’s bill for a 
 suspension of the habeas corpus ; and, after the rejection of 
 an amendment proposed by the marquis of Lansdowne, was 
 carried by a large majority. At its third reading, lord Eldon 
 
38 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LIX. 
 
 inveighed against the doctrine, that libels on the laws and 
 constitution ought to be left unpunished, lest the notice of 
 them should attract greater publicity ; and he applauded the 
 exertions made by the attorney-general, sir S. Shepherd, in 
 suppressing seditious and blasphemous publications. When 
 introduced into the house of commons on the tenth of March, 
 by the attorney-general, the bill was strongly opposed by sir 
 Samuel Romilly, who contended that it was improperly called 
 a bill of indemnity: the object of indemnity was only to 
 protect individuals against public prosecution, without inter- 
 fering with the rights of private persons; but the purport of 
 this bill was to annihilate such rights; to take away all legal 
 remedies from those who had suffered under an illegal and 
 arbitrary exercise of authority. Mr. Lambton, after some 
 forcible observations, moved an amendment, that it be read 
 again that day six months ; which, however, was rejected by 
 a majority of one hundred and ninety to sixty-four: it was 
 read a second time on the following day ; but the chief dis- 
 cussion took place on the order for committing it, when 
 several petitions, complaining of grievous oppression, were 
 presented to the house; though the allegations contained in 
 them were for the most part grossly exaggerated, distorted, or 
 false: the case chiefly relied on, and which was frequently 
 dressed up afterwards to awaken or keep alive indignation 
 against the tyranny of administration, was that of William 
 Ogden, which represented ‘that he was seventy-four years 
 old, with seventeen children ; that he had been confined nine 
 months under manacles thirty pounds in weight, which dis- 
 located his arm; and that, being subject to a distressing 
 complaint, he had cried out bitterly for assistance ; but no 
 one came to him for sixteen hours, during which time he 
 suffered the most excruciating torture.’ 
 
 Now it turned out that scarcely a syllable of this statement 
 was true: the man had expressed gratitude for the kind 
 treatment which he received during his confinement; having 
 been cured at the public expense, and with great humanity, of 
 an infirmity under which he had been laboring for twenty 
 years: Mr. Canning, having exposed the abominable false- 
 hoods which pervaded these documents, exclaimed in a tone . 
 of pardonable triumph, and without justly exposing himself to 
 any charge of inhumanity ;—‘the case of the revered and 
 ruptured Ogden may be a very fit one to be brought before 
 the Rupture Society ; but to ask for it the decision of par- 
 liament is a daring attempt on our credulity; yet this 
 
A.D. 1818 GEORGE III. 39 
 
 harmless pleasantry, which, so far from trifling with human 
 suffering, merely exposed its hypocritical assumption for a base 
 and malignant purpose, was magnified into a crime against 
 human nature, and an outrage on the feelings of the assembly 
 which it insulted; whilst an anonymous pamphlet, which 
 affected the style of Junius, concluded its invectives and 
 denunciations with the following threat :—‘if I should ever 
 be a prisoner of state; and, after being maimed by your 
 jailors, should be assaulted by your jokes,—I will put you to 
 death with the same deliberation as I now give you timely 
 warning: this is no idle, although it is a defensive menace: 
 nor is the resolution confined to one individual: edem trecenti 
 juravimus,’ 
 
 In answer to this attack, Mr. Canning, who was of a very 
 susceptible temperament, addressed a short and explicit note 
 to the anonymous author, through his publisher ; in which he 
 observed,—‘ To you, .sir, whoever you may be, I address 
 myself thus directly, for the purpose of expressing to you my 
 opinion, that you are a liar and a slanderer, and only want 
 courage to be an assassin. I have only to add, that no man 
 knows of my writing to you; and that I shall maintain the 
 same reserve so long as I have any expectation of hearing 
 from you in your own name:’ the writer, however, refused to 
 unmask himself; but sir Philip Francis, to whom the pamphlet, 
 on account of its style, had been attributed, voluntarily came 
 forward, and disclaimed, not only the authorship, but any 
 knowlege of the transaction. ‘Tlie indemnity bill was read a 
 third time on the thirteenth of May, and passed by a majority 
 of eighty-two votes against twenty-three. 
 
 According to the recommendation conveyed to parliament 
 by the commissioners, a sum of one million sterling was 
 granted this session, to be raised by exchequer bills, for the 
 purpose of supplying the want of churches, and chapels of 
 ease, where the increase of population rendered such accom- 
 modation necessary : a considerable sum was also raised by sub- 
 scription in furtherance of so important an object. Desirable 
 as it always must be to keep the places of worship for members 
 of our establishment on a par with the population, the equity 
 of a parliamentary grant for such a purpose may perhaps be 
 questioned : when various sects of professing christians com- 
 plain that they are taxed for the maintenance of our national 
 church, they may be met with an irresistible argument ;—that 
 the tithes and lands set apart for such a purpose are a tax on 
 no man: they were settled on the church centuries ago by 
 
40 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIX, 
 
 persons who had an unqualified right to give or bequeath 
 their property for this or any other lawful purpose: in fact, 
 instead of being a tax, they are an alleviation of taxation; they 
 are a boon to the people, since they provide for all ranks 
 convenient places of divine worship, at free cost, with mini- 
 sters qualified to promote it: nay, more; they place in every 
 parish a person, on whom it is incumbent to administer 
 comfort and consolation, both to the bodily and spiritual wants 
 of his poorer neighbors: but in the present day, when a sum 
 of money is voted by parliament for the augmentation of 
 churches, a portion of it is taken, against their will, from 
 many who dissent from the doctrines or discipline of our 
 establishment; it is not probable, therefore, that recourse will 
 be often had to such a method of remedying an acknowleged 
 evil: hence the necessity of encouraging that more legitimate 
 mode of private subscription, which, to the credit of our es- 
 tablishment and government, has been promoted by the 
 foundation of a church-building society, the funds of which 
 are augmented from time to time, by king’s letters addressed to 
 every officiating minister throughout the realm: of late years, 
 diocesan societies have sprung up in aid of the parent insti- 
 tution ; and a spirit has been awakened, which, with God’s 
 ‘blessing, bids fair to free our church from this source of 
 danger. 
 
 At an early period of the session, Mr. Grenfell inquired of 
 the chancellor of the exchequer, whether any occurrence was 
 likely to prevent the resumption of cash payments by the bank 
 in July ; observing, at the same time, that the public stood in 
 the situation of debtor to the bank for £3,000,000 advanced 
 without interest, and for £6,000,000 at an interest of four per 
 cent. ; but as the bank had secured possession of a balance of 
 public money deposited in their hands, which for the last 
 twelve years, had amounted on an average to £11,000,000, for 
 the repayment of these sums, he asked whether any arrange- 
 ment was made for discharging, or placing them on a better 
 footing. Mr. Vansittart, in reply, stated, that the bank had — 
 made ample preparation for resuming its payments in cash at 
 the time fixed by-parliament; but that pecuniary transactions 
 were going on with foreign powers, which might probably 
 require an extension of the restriction: with respect to the 
 loan of £6,000,000, he should, ere long, submit a proposal for 
 its repayment, allowing the country still to enjoy the benefit 
 of that on which no interest was paid. On a future day, in 
 submitting some propositions to a committee of the house, he 
 
A.D. 1818. GEORGE III. 41 
 
 observed, that in January, 1817, the bank had given notice of 
 its readiness to pay in specie outstanding notes of a particular 
 description, for which cash to the amount of about £1,000,000 
 might have been demanded; but a very inconsiderable sum 
 was called for. At that time gold bullion was reduced to 
 £3. 18s. 6d., and silver to 4s, 10d. the ounce: in October, 
 notice was given that the bank was ready to pay in cash all 
 notes dated prior to January, 1817; but the result was very 
 different, for upwards of two millions and a half were drawn 
 out, of which scarcely any portion remained in circulation : 
 this arose from large remittances to foreign countries conse 
 quent on the importation of corn, the residence of Englishmen 
 on the continent, and the negotiation of a loan in this country ~ 
 by France ; it now therefore became inexpedient for the bank 
 to resume cash payments; and the restriction was continued 
 till the fifth of July, 1819. The treaty with Spain, by which, 
 in consideration of a subsidy of £400,000, she consented to 
 abolish the slave-trade on all the coasts north of the line, 
 retaining however the privilege of continuing it indefinitely to 
 the south of that limit, received the sanction of parliament: 
 for each nation a right of search was stipulated ; but no deten- 
 tion of vessels was to take place, unless when slaves were found 
 actually on board. 
 
 The death of the princess Charlotte, and consequent failure 
 of a direct succession to the crown, seem to have induced 
 several members of the royal family to enter into the marriage 
 contract. Princess Elizabeth, the old queen’s favorite daughter, 
 had in the early part of this year been led to the altar by the 
 prince of Hesse Homberg: the duke of Clarence was now 
 united to a princess of Saxe Meiningen ; the duke of Kent to a 
 princess of Leiningen, sister of prince Leopold; and the duke 
 of Cambridge to a princess of Hesse. Suitable provisions for 
 the royal pairs were made by parliament, at the recommenda- 
 tion of the regent; but though ministers came to the house on 
 this occasion ready to propose most extravagant grants, the 
 strong observations addressed to lord Castlereagh by Mr. 
 Tierney and other members, induced the noble secretary to’ 
 modify his intended propositions: indeed, a motion made for 
 allowing the equitable sum of £10,000 per armum to the duke 
 of Clarence, was met by an amendment, which was carried, 
 limiting the grant to £6000, as well as to his royal brothers : 
 through a conciliatory appeal of his lordship, a like sum was 
 voted, as a provisionary reversion to the duchess of Cumber- . 
 land, after it had been refused, by a large majority, to her 
 
42 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LIX. 
 
 royal consort. During these discussions, Mr. Wilberforce 
 took occasion to inveigh against the royal marriage act, which 
 prevented the several branches of the august family on our 
 throne from entertaining the best of human feelings, and from 
 forming connexions, which might at once promote their happi- 
 ness and guarantee their virtue: it seemed to imply that they 
 could be rendered better political characters by being made 
 worse men ; which was a most mistaken notion, as well as im- 
 moral doctrine. Certainly the political evils of this act became 
 now apparent in its effects on the succession, when there 
 remained to the reigning monarch no legitimate descendant 
 either of the male or female branches, and the nation had in 
 prospect a broken lineage and a doubtful throne. 
 
 In May the lord chancellor introduced a bill, which passed 
 into a law, for amending the regency acts. Its objects, were 
 to increase the number of the queen’s council, and to dispense 
 with the necessity of an immediate meeting of parliament, in 
 case of her majesty’s death. ‘The same noble person opposed 
 sir R. Peel’s bill, for abridging the labor of children in cotton 
 factories, when brought into the upper house, ‘ confessing him- 
 self one of those who really thought that philanthropy had 
 not taken its right course in modern times.’ 
 
 The supplies of this year were estimated at £20,952,400 ; 
 to meet which, in addition to the ways and means, a three 
 and a half per cent. stock was created, to the amount of 
 £14,000,000 ; so that no new taxes were levied, nor any addi- 
 tions made to the old ones. The alien act was continued for 
 two years; it being considered necessary to keep out, as well 
 as to send out, of Great Britain, persons who might take ad- 
 vantage of the vicinity of France to excite a spirit hostile to 
 the security of this and other European governments. That 
 enlightenéd legislator, sir Samuel Romilly, introduced a bill to 
 do away with the capital part of the act respecting privately 
 stealing in shops, &c. ; setting forth in his preamble the maxim, 
 that extreme severity of punishment tends to procure indem- 
 nity for crime: the attorney-general, horror-struck at this 
 general principle, besought the house to expunge it; but the 
 authority of sir Samuel, who declared that the acts of modern 
 legislation recognised no principle whatsoever, while he wished 
 to pursue the reasonable course of setting forth in the preamble 
 that on which his bill was founded,—carried both through the 
 commons: but when this humane measure of sound policy was 
 presented to the lords for their concurrence, the cry against 
 innovation was reiterated from the woolsack: the bill was 
 
A.D. 1818. GEORGE III. 43 
 
 rejected, and a measure of great and salutary efficacy was post- 
 poned for many years, until it was taken up by a more fortu- 
 nate statesman. ‘The present was the sixth time that the house 
 of commons had agreed to abolish the punishment of death in 
 the case of stealing in shops and warehouses under a certain 
 amount; and for six times had lord Eldon’s resistless influence 
 with the lords succeeded in averting such improvement from 
 the laws of criminal justice: in like manner, he opposed the abo- 
 lition of capital punishment for the offence of stealing from the 
 person; but as that measure had been sanctioned by the legis- 
 lature, he drew the following conclusion from it in opposition 
 to the present bill, when it was first proposed :—‘ you have 
 already,’ said his lordship, ‘ committed enough of mischief by 
 the forty-eighth of George III.: for God’s sake take care 
 what you do! prosecutions are now twenty to one, compared 
 with what they were under the old state of the law: there isa 
 bounty given to crime, and crime accordingly increases.’ Who 
 would impute to a man of lord Eldon’s mild and benevolent 
 disposition a spirit of sanguinary and gratuitous severity ? but 
 it is worthy of remark, how the adoration of ‘things that be’ 
 can blind a vigorous intellect, when he was unable to perceive 
 that the number of prosecutions had increased, not that of 
 crimes: it was, in fact, one of the main objects of the bill to 
 induce men to prosecute ; and twenty would naturally be im- 
 pelled to seek for a mitigated penalty, when scarcely one would 
 demand the capital punishment; his lordship, however, clung 
 to an old system, with an obstinacy which wanted only a good 
 cause to become perfect heroism: eloquence and argument 
 might carry the outworks of his citadel, or even beat the 
 venerable cambric about his ears; but to terms he would not 
 listen. 
 
 Before the close of this session, Mr. Brougham succeeded in 
 his motion for a committee of inquiry respecting the education 
 of the poorer classes,—the first step toward that system of 
 popular instruction, in which this eminent person has effected 
 so much. Fourteen commissioners were to be appointed by 
 the crown, six of whom were to have no salaries : but the bill 
 underwent many alterations in its passage through the upper 
 house, where lord Eldon used all his influence against it, 
 declaring that it was a vexatious measure, calculated to deter 
 men of honor and character from undertaking the responsibility 
 of charitable trusts; and recommending the poor, with a sim- 
 plicity peculiar to himself, to seek a redress of grievances 
 against the rich in the court of chancery! in that court which, 
 
44 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. Ux. 
 
 second only to the evil of intestine war, facilitated the usurpa- 
 tion of property ; reduced widows and orphans to the necessity 
 of begging their bread; and, by its insuperable forms of delay, 
 racked the brain of manhood until insanity relieved the wrezched 
 suitor from the horrors of a judicial purgatory! ‘The com- 
 missioners to be appointed by this bill were limited to the in- 
 vestigation of charities connected with education: they were 
 precluded from investigating the state of education among the 
 poor generally ; and they were directed to traverse the country, 
 and to call witnesses before them, without possessing any 
 authority for enforcing attendance, or for demanding the pro- 
 duction of documents. Mr. Brougham observed, that the bill, 
 as it now stood, left every thing to the good-will of those who 
 had an interest at variance with the inquiry; yet good might 
 still arise from the exercise of powers possessed by the house 
 itself: the means to be used were, that the commissioners 
 should proceed and call witnesses; that they should report 
 occasionally to the house, end make returns of all persons re- 
 fusing to give information, or to produce documents, without 
 just cause of refusal; and the committee, which would be re- 
 appointed next session, might be empowered to call those indi- 
 viduals before them. 
 
 Parliament was dissolved, on the tenth of June, by the 
 regent in person; who, in concluding his speech, congratulated 
 both houses on the manifest improvement which had taken 
 place in the internal circumstances of the country, and which 
 promised to be steadily progressive: distress, however, though 
 mitigated, still prevailed; and the cotton-spinners, as well as 
 other classes of manufacturers in Lancashire, remained in a 
 state of organised opposition to their masters on the subject of 
 wages: from this cause several partial disturbances arose ; one 
 in particular at Burnley, and another at Stockport ; but through 
 the prompt exertions of the Manchester yeomanry, these 
 irruptions were suppressed without bloodshed: it is probable, 
 however, that considerable bitterness of feeling was mutually 
 excited between the yeomanry and the lower classes, which 
 subsequently burst forth with calamitous fury. A kind of - 
 diversion from present troubles was created by the general elec- 
 tion which took place this summer. Sir Samuel Romilly, the 
 enlightened statesman, the philosophic lawyer, and the eloquent 
 advocate of every noble and generous cause, was returned for 
 Westminster without personal solicitation, or any species of 
 patronage ; but he had not long been honored by this testi- 
 mony of public approbation, when, overcome by a domestic 
 
A.D. 1818. GEORGE II. 45 
 
 calamity, which unsettled his reason, he put a period to his 
 existence. About the same time, the nation suffered another 
 loss in one of the most eminent of its judicial functionaries, 
 when lord Ellenborough, who had for sixteen years presided 
 over the seat of crimina! justice, resigned that high situation ; 
 and quitted the scene of life on the thirteenth of December : 
 his advancement had been extremely rapid; but his early path 
 had been trodden with great care and diligence: to a bold and 
 manly address, a discriminating intellect, and a nervous elo- 
 quence, he added deep application, and patient study of his 
 profession ; while he possessed, in a high degree, that feeling 
 of superiority which is almost sure to command success: in 
 his court he was sometimes harsh and hasty, and his temper 
 was such as might have led many men of less capacity into 
 error; but the sight of his mind was so clear and quick, that 
 he penetrated a question and its solution, before many would 
 have comprehended the terms in which it was proposed. His 
 adversaries charged him with a strong inclination towards azbi- 
 trary principles; but the chief cause of such an imputation, 
 was that utter scorn of popular applause which he always ex- 
 hibited: another perhaps arose from his frequent visits at 
 Carlton-house, with the royal master of which he was on terms 
 of close intimacy. Mr. justice Abbott succeeded his lordship 
 on the bench, with increasing honor to himself, and advantage 
 to the public: the death, however, of a still more exalted per- 
 sonage this year remains to be recorded. In consequence of 
 the queen’s declining state of health, two amendments had 
 been made in the regency bill last session; the one empower- 
 ing her majesty to add six members to her council, resident at 
 Windsor, in the event of her own change of residence; the 
 other repealing a clause, which rendered a new parliament 
 necessary in ease of her demise: these amendments were 
 opportunely made ; for, after a lingering illness of six months, 
 borne with becoming fortitude and resignation, her majesty ex- 
 pired at Kew on the seventeenth of November, in the seventy- 
 fifth year of her age. The character of queen Charlotte would 
 scarcely require comment, had not the spirit of the times, par- 
 ticularly during the latter part of her life, cast on it much and 
 unmerited obloquy: the truth is, that her disposition was 
 formed rather to secure respect than to command affection ; 
 though her sense of decorum might border on austerity, and 
 her love of economy carry her a little beyond the bounds 
 of regal propriety ; yet proofs are not wanting of her readiness 
 to assist distress and to patronise merit: she possessed a strong 
 
46 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CH. Lik. 
 
 and sound judgment ; using her influence with much discretion, 
 and declining a too anxious or busy interference in affairs of 
 state; if we except very frequent and importunate requests for 
 the disposal of ministerial patronage :! as a wife and mother, 
 she was very exemplary ; and during the long period in which 
 she presided over the British court, she preserved it from the 
 contamination of vice, notwithstanding the dangers proceeding 
 from the licentious example of other European dynasties ; and 
 from that moral relaxation, which our own rising prosperity 
 was calculated to produce : her majesty’s remains were interred, 
 on the second of December, in the magnificent vault of St. 
 George’s chapel; prepared by him, whom a merciful Provi- 
 dence preserved from the knowlege of those ravages, which 
 death was making among the dearest objects of his affection. 
 
 During this year, returns were made to parliament respecting 
 our ecclesiastical establishment in England and Wales; when 
 the number of benefices was found to be 10,421, and that of 
 churches and chapels 11,743, for a population of 9,940,391 : 
 the glebe houses fit for residence amounted to 5417 ; the total 
 number of benefices not exceeding £100 per annum was 2274 ; 
 while those of £150 and under reached the number of 3503.2 
 In the present year, also, tables were made out for a considerable 
 number of years past, relating to prosecutions for forging on, 
 or passing forged notes of, the Bank of England: and the 
 result turned public attention strongly to the necessity of the 
 great remedy for this increasing evil, in the resumption of cash 
 payments : within the two years and two months immediately 
 preceding the twenty-fifth of February, there had been fifty-six 
 capital convictions on this account, and 288 prosecutions ; juries 
 also now began to show unwillingness to bring in a verdict of 
 guilty against parties accused: two at the Old Bailey, on the 
 fifth of December, acquitted the persons tried before them, 
 because the clerk of the bank refused to explain the marks 
 whence he believed the notes to be forged. 
 
 ! Lord chancellor Eldon in his correspondence complains much 
 of this interference with his rights of patronage. 
 
 2 One of the greatest evils of our establishment seems to be the 
 disproportion between the highest and lowest classes of its benefices: 
 this however is now receiving some alleviation from the wise regu- 
 lations of a church commission. In noticing the efforts making to 
 remedy this evil, it would be unjust to pass over the noble exertions 
 of bishop Blomfield in the metropolis; and the disinterested con- 
 duct of Dr. Monk, bishop of Glocester and Bristol, who has appro- 
 priated one-tenth of the gross revenue of his see to the augment- 
 ation of its small livings. 
 
A.v. 1818. GEORGE III. 47 
 
 The revenue of the country was this year less by £14,000,000 
 than its expenditure; yet the three per cent. consols rose as 
 high as 814, and closed in December at 79: the total number 
 of bankruptcies in 1818 was 1056, which was a decrease of 
 519 from that in 1817 ; and the amount of money deposited in 
 the savings-banks, up to the thirteenth of July, was £1,254,021. 
 This year, an extraordinary case of law was decided in the 
 court of king’s bench: Abraham Thornton had been tried at 
 Warwick assizes for the murder of Mary Ashford, and 
 acquitted ; circumstances however appeared so strong against 
 him, that the verdict was deemed unsatisfactory, and an appeal 
 against it was laid by William Ashford, brother of his supposed 
 victim: on this, a wager of battle was demanded by the 
 accused, who cast down his glove in open court, according to 
 ancient custom, defying the accuser to mortal combat: so 
 unusual a procedure determined the court to take time in con- 
 sidering the case; and on the sixteenth of April, it decided 
 that the law gave to the accused aright to his wager of battle ; 
 but the appellant, who was quite a youth, and very inferior in 
 bodily strength, declined the challenge, and the defendant was 
 discharged ; in the next session of parliament, however, a law 
 passed to repeal trial by battle, as well as appeals in the case 
 of murder. 
 
 While the regent was indulging his capricious taste in 
 architecture and upholstery at Carlton-house, aided by a council 
 of professional men and amateurs, the decease of her majesty 
 took place; and as Buckingham-house then became disposable, 
 it was determined to take down Carlton-house altogether, and 
 convert the queen’s mansion into a palace fit for the residence 
 of a British monarch: this resolution was important, from the 
 additional impulse given by it to architecture, which of all the 
 arts, has of late years been most encouraged in Great Britain ; 
 and from the consequent improvement of its now splendid 
 metropolis. The conclusion of this year was marked by the 
 accession of the duke of Wellington to the cabinet, which he 
 entered as master-general of the ordnance, on the retirement 
 of lord Mulgrave. 
 
 In order to complete the design of the allied sovereigns, as 
 far as could be done by outward forms, there was still wanting 
 a full and perfect reconciliation with France: after arrange- 
 ments, therefore, had been made for a discharge of those 
 pecuniary engagements into which she had entered, it was 
 notified to her ministry, by the congress sitting at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, that all military occupation of her territory would 
 
48 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIX, 
 
 cease; and the measure was carried into execution in October ; 
 when France was adopted into the alliance: at the same time, 
 a declaration of the principles actuating this great monarchical 
 confederacy was published ; which asserted that its object was 
 not directed towards any new political enterprises, nor intended 
 to disturb any relations already subsisting between powers, and 
 
 consecrated by various treaties still in force: in its steady and *. 
 
 peaceful course, it was said to’aim at nothing so much as the 
 preservation of tranquillity, while it engaged to observe strict 
 obedience to the maxims of popular right; since the constant 
 application of those maxims to a permanent state of peace 
 afforded the only effectual guarantee for the independence 
 of each separate power, and the security of the whole con- 
 federation. Professing fidelity to these principles, the allied 
 sovereigns undertook to observe them in the various conferences 
 which might from time to time be held, either between 
 themselves, or their respective ministers; promising that they 
 would never cease to labor in strengthening and perfecting 
 the work which they had so far completed; while they 
 solemnly acknowleged, that their duty toward God and their 
 subjects imposed on them the obligations of justice, unanimity, 
 and moderation. 
 
 If this declaration had confined itself to the real object of 
 alliance,—the preservation of peace in connexion with legiti- 
 macy,—it would, at least, have obtained credit for sincerity 
 and consistency ; but when it talked of the maxims of popular 
 right, as guiding the allied sovereigns, while they tolerated the 
 wicked conduct of the beloved Ferdinand, and that of every 
 other bigoted and tyrannical sovereign in Europe, it allowed 
 people to suppose that sinister motives and ambitious views 
 were concealed in the background. 
 
 The new parliament assembled on the fourteenth of January, 
 when Mr. Manners Sutton was re-elected speaker of the com- 
 mons without competition, and chief baron Richards took his 
 seat on the woolsack in consequence of the lord chancelior’s in- 
 disposition. Among other topics, the royal speech alluded to 
 the favorable state of our revenue, and to the improved aspect 
 of trade, commerce, and manufactures; while the public 
 income still fell short of the expenditure by £14,000,000 ; and 
 the most serious disturbances were fermenting in the very heart 
 of our manufacturing districts: mention also was made of an 
 extension of the commercial treaty now existing between this 
 nation and the United States, to a farther term of eight years. 
 Ministers were severely handled in the upper house by lord 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. 49 
 
 ‘Lansdowne, and in the lower by Mr. Macdonald; the latter 
 of whom treated as extravagant their representations of the 
 state of the country in the speech and address ; describing them 
 as distinguished by egregious political blunders, and great 
 military success; as unable to arrive at an opinion on such 
 leading questions of government, as the currency, the poor 
 laws, law reform, or the catholic question; and as sustained 
 only by the divisions of party, between the publie apathy on 
 one side and public disgust on the other: in both houses, how- 
 ever, the addresses were agreed to without a division. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth of February, lord Kenyon moved in the 
 house of lords for a committee to inquire into the condition of 
 factory children; when the chancellor, without opposing the 
 motion, ‘desired to have it known, that the over-working of 
 children was an offence indictable at common law. He saw no 
 reason why the master manufacturers and the master chimney- 
 sweepers. should be subjected to the operation of different 
 principles from those applied in other trades: if any measure 
 of this kind were tried, it ought to comprehend manufacturers 
 of all descriptions.’ The result was the statute 59 George III. 
 cap. 16, limiting the time of labour, in cotton mills and 
 factories, to twelve hours for persons under sixteen years of 
 age, and prohibiting the employment of children under nine. 
 
 As the queen’s demise rendered it necessary that a guardian 
 of his majesty’s person should be appointed, lord Liverpool 
 named the duke of York ; and the propriety of his nomination 
 was universally admitted: but a second proposition, that the’ 
 duke should receive a salary of £10,000 per annum out of the 
 public purse for the performance of this duty, was'met with 
 vehement opposition, and carried by only a small majority: a 
 proposal for paying this sum out of the privy purse was 
 indignantly opposed by lord Eldon ; who objected to the king’s 
 privy purse being made liable, like the property of a subject, 
 to his maintenance during lunacy ; for his majesty was intitled, 
 both in health and sickness, to a maintenance by the nation, 
 irrespectively of his privy purse: several debates subsequently 
 took place respecting the Windsor establishment, the expenses 
 of which excited much freedom of remark both in and out of 
 parliament ; it being represented as a mockery of national 
 distress, no less than of the melancholy visitation of the royal 
 personage himself; kept up for the purpose of ministering to 
 the prodigality of a prince ; and to the rapacity of courtiers. 
 
 The English character is far from being distinguished by a 
 tendeney to cruelty ; yet perhaps no nation ever sustained 
 
 ENG. XVII. E 
 
50 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIX.’ 
 greater reproach on that score from foreigners than our own, 
 chiefly through the severity of our laws, which enacted the 
 punishment of death for so large a catalogue of offences. But 
 to prove how little this reproach was merited, it may be suffi- 
 cient to state, that an evil of great magnitude had arisen from 
 the very merciful disposition of the nation, shown, not only 
 in its aversion to prosecute offences, but in the inclination of 
 juries to save offenders from the operation of a barbarous 
 system of criminal jurisprudence: thus crimes increased, in pro- 
 portion as men found they might commit them with impunity. 
 
 The state however of our criminal code had for some time 
 occupied the attention of parliament, under whose notice it 
 had frequently been brought by sir Samuel Romilly, one of 
 the few English lawyers who could ascend from petty details 
 to general principles, and combine a generous eloquence with 
 a practice of the law. Over this genuine philanthropist the 
 grave had unfortunately closed; but it is one of the glories 
 of Britain, that no great national scheme can be frustrated by 
 a single loss: the branches on each stem of her noble consti- 
 tution are numerous as well as healthy ;—Uno avulso, non de- 
 jictt alter Aureus: in the present instance, the enlightened 
 views disclosed by sir Samuel Romilly were followed up by 
 sir James Mackintosh; nor could the cause have fallen into 
 abler hands. A petition from the corporation of London, 
 complaining of an increase of crimes, and pointing out the 
 advantages likely to ensue from the commutation of capital 
 punishments for others less vindictive in their nature, was re- 
 ferred to a committee, appointed, on a motion of lord Castle- 
 reagh, for the examination of prison discipline : it was thought, 
 however, by persons best informed and most deeply interested 
 in the business, that, for due consideration of so extensive 
 and important a subject as our penal code, a distinct com- 
 mittee should be formed; and to that effect, sir James Mack- 
 intosh made a motion on the following day. After setting 
 forth a variety of observations and facts, illustrating the system 
 of subterfuge, which the extreme severity of our law in many 
 cases had produced among prosecutors, witnesses, and jurors, 
 with the consequent impunity of offenders and increase of 
 crime; he denied any intention of recommending a new 
 criminal code, or of abolishing a system admirable in its 
 principles, and interwoven with the habits of the people: 
 he did not even propose to lay aside capital punishment; 
 on the contrary, he regarded it as a part of that right of 
 self-defence with which societies are endowed: he held it to 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III, 51 
 
 be, like all other punishments, an evil when unnecessary ; 
 but capable, like them, of producing, when sparingly and judi- 
 ciously inflicted, a preponderance of good: he aimed not at 
 the establishment of any universal principle; his sole object 
 was, that the execution of the law should constitute the 
 majority, and its remission the minority of cases. Sir James 
 subsequently divided the cases connected with capital punish- 
 ment into three classes; those in which it was always, those 
 in which it was frequently, and those in which it was never 
 put in force: he proposed to leave, at present, the first and 
 second division untouched: the third, comprising no fewer 
 than one hundred and fifty different crimes, ought, he con- 
 ceived, to be expunged from the list, as a monument of 
 barbarous times, disgraceful to the character of a free and 
 enlightened nation. Lord Castlereagh complimented the mover 
 of this question on the candid and moderate spirit in which 
 he had brought it forward; nevertheless, his lordship persisted 
 in opposing, as unnecessary, the appointment of a separate 
 committee: other members, however, warmly supported the 
 motion, which was ultimately carried by 147 votes against 128 ; 
 and before the session closed, the committee, of which sir 
 James was chairman, having examined evidence, reported pro- 
 gress on this interesting subject of inquiry. 
 
 A period had now arrived, when it was impossible to defer 
 any longer a consideration of our national currency. In 1793, 
 a transfer of labor from the employments of peace to those of- 
 war caused a great derangement among the productive classes ; 
 and to another transition, from a state of war to one of peace, 
 was ascribed by the ruling powers of the day all the distress 
 which occurred in 1816: it is undeniable, that an abrupt 
 diversion of capital from its usual form of employment is 
 always attended with loss, and commonly with distress; but 
 other causes were in operation at the time, which must have 
 produced great distress if the war had continued: the tran- 
 sition from a state of war to peace undoubtedly added to the 
 distress ; but was hy no means the sole cause of it. 
 
 When, through agricultural depression, country notes were 
 extensively witadrawn from circulation, the Bank of England 
 was urgently pressed for an extended accommodation ; and, 
 being relieved from immediate apprehension of having to pay 
 in gold, it materially extended its issues: now, had war con- 
 tinued under these circumstances, it is very likely, that when 
 low prices had taken the superabundance of grain out of the 
 market, they would have advanced ; country bank notes might 
 
52 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. cu. ur. 
 
 again have been put out to as great an extent as before; the 
 currency might have been even more depreciated than in 1812; 
 and the mint standard of value might, in the end, have been 
 altered: in this way, it is possible that a continuance of the 
 war might have given rise to a measure which would have had 
 a beneficial effect in relieving the people from a part of the 
 burden of fixed money payments: but-it was considered that 
 peace rendered preparation necessary for returning, at no dis- 
 - tant period, to the old metallic standard of value, and for re- 
 pealing the bank restriction act: hence, not only did the Bank 
 of England begin to reduce the quantity of its paper in cireu- 
 lation, and to increase its stock of gold; but country bankers 
 were compelled to limit their issues, since they also would be 
 more liable to be called on to pay in gold: such considera- 
 tions, no doubt, induced a more cautious issue of notes; and 
 the quantity of the currency was kept down nearly to what it 
 would have been if the exports had been suffered to draw 
 gold from the commercial world to furnish a metallic currency 
 for Great Britain. The bill, commonly called ‘ Peel’s bill,’ 
 passed this year; and it caused such preparation to be made 
 as removed a depreciation of sixteen and a half per cent. 
 from the currency of 1816, and three or four percent. from that 
 of 1817 and 1818, and at last restored it to its old standard 
 value: any farther alterations in the value of the currency, 
 and of general money prices are attributable, not to Peel’s 
 bill, but to other causes, which would have had the same 
 powerful influence on the exchangeable value of gold if that 
 bill had not passed. Peel’s bill enacted, that the Bank of 
 England should be lable to pay its notes in gold in 1823; and 
 in the interim to pay them in gold bars at standard value, of 
 not less than sixty ounces weight: but the Bank, having 
 acquired a large stock of gold in 1821, commenced paying in 
 coin on the twenty-first of May that year; and thus termi- 
 nated the period, during which, under the sanction of law, our 
 currency was depreciated by an excessive issue of paper, 
 which increased its quantity beyond that which would have 
 been determined by the supply of gold. The celebrated bill, 
 however, above alluded to, being one of the most important 
 and most canvassed of all that are contained in our statutes, 
 demands a more circumstantial account of the manner in which 
 it was brought forward and carried. 
 
 A motion by Mr. Tierney, on the second of February, for a 
 committee to inquire into the etiects of the bank restriction 
 act, was met by an amendment from the chancellor of the 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. 53 
 
 exchequer, directing an investigation of the state of the Bank 
 of England, with reference to the expediency of its resumption 
 of cash payments at the appointed period ; such information to 
 be reported by the committee as might be disclosed without 
 igs to public interests. ‘The first report was brought up by 
 Mr. Peel on the fifth of April; and it represented, that the 
 bank, having been induced to pay in specie all notes issued 
 previous to 1817, had been drained of cash ‘to the amount of 
 more than £5,000,000; most of which had found its way to 
 the continent, where it had been recoined; and that, to pre- 
 vent this drain continuing, and to enable the bank to accumu- 
 late a larger store of bullion, with a view to the final resump- 
 tion of cash payments, it was expedient to restrain farther 
 payment of the notes alluded to in specie: a bill was accord- 
 ingly brought in; and the standing orders having been sus- 
 pended, it was passed through its different stages the same 
 evening. In the course of discussion, Mr. Manning, one of 
 the bank directors, attributed the drain on the bank, and the 
 efflux of our specie, to the French loan, as well as toa defi- 
 cient harvest; corn having been imported by us to the amount 
 of £10,000,000. Inthe upper house, lord Harrowby moved 
 a suspension of the standing orders, that the bill might pass 
 through all its stages at one sitting; which earl Grey and 
 others opposed at considerable length; contending, that, if 
 necessary, ministers would have done better by issuing an 
 order of council to suspend bank payments on their own re- 
 sponsibility : next day, however, the bill was read three times, 
 and passed: a similar measure was also carried for the protec- 
 tion of the Bank of Ireland. The second report was pre- 
 sented on the fifth of May; when two bills were passed, 
 founded on a plan recommended by the committee, for a 
 gradual return to cash payments; of which the principal pro- 
 visions were, that a definite period should be fixed for the ter- 
 ination of the restriction ; while preparatory measures should 
 be taken, with a view to facilitate. and ensure, on the arrival 
 of that period, payment of promissory notes of the Bank of 
 England in legal coin of the realm; that provision ought to 
 be made for the gradual repayment of £10,000,000 ; being 
 part of the sum due to the bank on account of advances for 
 the public service; that, from the first of February, 1820, the 
 bank shall be liable to deliver, on demand, gold of standard 
 fineness, having been assayed and stamped at the Mint; a 
 quantity of not less than sixty ounces being required in ex- 
 change for notes, at the rate of four pounds one shilling per 
 
54 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH: LIx. 
 
 ounce ; that, from the first of October, 1820, the bank shall 
 be liable to deliver gold at the rate of three pounds nineteen 
 shillings and sixpence per ounce ; and, from the first of May, 
 1821, at three pounds seventeen shillings and tenpence half- 
 penny; that the bank may, at any period between the first 
 of February and the first of October, 1820, undertake to de- 
 liver gold, as before mentioned, at any rate between the sums 
 of four pounds one shilling and three pounds nineteen shillings 
 and sixpence per ounce; and at any period between the first 
 of October, 1820, and the first of May, 1821, at any rate 
 between the sums of three pounds nineteen shillings and six- 
 pence and three pounds seventeen shillings and tenpence 
 halfpenny per ounce; but that, such intermediate rate having 
 been once fixed, it shall not be subsequently increased ; that 
 from the first of May, 1823, the bank shall pay its notes on 
 demand in the legal coin of this realm; and that it is ex- 
 pedient to repeal the laws prohibiting the melting or exporta- 
 tion of the coin. 
 
 Another select committee was appointed, on the motion of 
 lord Castlereagh, to inquire into the income and expenditure 
 of the country ; from which he anticipated a very favorable 
 result. The receipts for the year, ending on the fifth of 
 January, 1818, were £51,665,458, while those for the follow- 
 ing year were £54,620,000, showing a large increase on the 
 latter: but there were certain arrears of war-duties on malt and 
 property, which reduced the income of 1818 to £49,334,927; 
 while the arrears to January, 1819, amounted only to £566,639: 
 the expenditure was also less by about £650,000 than was ex- 
 pected: so that the result was, as his lordship said, ‘a total 
 surplus of £3,558,000, applicable to the reduction of our 
 national debt. If one million were allowed for the interest on - 
 the loan, there remained two millions and a half of surplus 
 revenue.” Mr. Tierney observed, that an old debt on the 
 sinking fund, of £8,300,000, which must be liquidated before 
 the surplus in question could be made available for the ex- 
 penses of the current year, had been altogether kept out of 
 view : the various taxes, taken together, exceeded £7,000,000 ; 
 but this was the extreme amount, applicable to the army, the 
 navy, the ordnance, and miscellaneous services: how then 
 could it be possible, he asked, that with an income of onl 
 £7 000,000, and an expenditure of £20,000,000, both ends 
 could be made to meet, and a surplus be left ? Would it not be 
 a gross delusion, to speak of the sinking fund as applicable 
 to the public service, while government was obliged to borrow 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. 55 
 
 £13,000,000 a-year to support it? The chancellor of the 
 exchequer observed, that this statement included certain par- 
 ticulars, which could not be admitted in making a fair com- 
 parison: by taking the whole charge of the consolidated fund 
 and the sinking fund, it had been shown that our expenditure 
 considerably exceeded our receipts: this must necessarily be 
 the case, after so many of the war-taxes had been abolished. 
 Parliament had thought fit to relieve the country from fifteen 
 millions in taxes, and thus unavoidably prevented the effect 
 which would have resulted from a redemption of the debt 
 by these fifteen millions annually: with respect to any plans 
 of finance for the present year, he should reserve to himself 
 the power of adopting that which the situation of public affairs 
 rendered most expedient. 
 
 On the thirtieth of March, and again on the twentieth of 
 May, Mr. M. A. Taylor renewed his motions on the subject 
 of delays in chancery. he first of these, which was for an 
 account of the total amount of the property of suitors in 1756, 
 and every tenth year down to 1818, was agreed to. ‘ Its ob- 
 ject (he said) was to show the great increase of business in 
 that court, and to lay a ground for providing means by which 
 the delays so complained of might be remedied.’ In his second 
 motion, which was in substance a proposal to separate the 
 jurisdiction in cases of bankruptcy from the great seal, he eulo- 
 gised the talents, wisdom, learning, and diligence of lord Eldon, 
 as well as the clearness, precision, and integrity of his judg- 
 ments; but averred that the duties of the court, as it then 
 subsisted, were too heavy to be discharged even by those great 
 faculties. This change, however, in the jurisdiction of the 
 great seal, was known to be most unpalatable to its holder, and 
 was rejected by a large majority. 
 
 On the third of June, Mr. Vansittart submitted a series of 
 financial resolutions; which stated that, through the removal 
 of certain taxes, the revenue of Great Britain was reduced by 
 £18,000,000; that the interest and charge of the funded and 
 unfunded debt of Ireland exceeded the whole revenue of that 
 country by £1,800,000: that it was necessary to provide by a 
 loan, or other means, for the service of the present year, the 
 sum of £13,000,000; which, deducted from the sinking fund 
 of £15,000,000, reduced it to only £2,000,000; and that, for 
 the purpose of raising this sinking fund to £5,000,000, it was 
 absolutely necessary to impose new taxes to the amount of 
 £3,000,000 annually: this sum parliament ultimately agreed 
 to raise by a considerable duty on foreign wool, and by smaller 
 
56 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. Lx... 
 
 duties on other articles, such as tobacco, tea, coffee, and cocoa- 
 nuts. ‘Two loans, of twelve millions each, were also raised ; 
 one of them supplied by the monied men, the other derived 
 from the sinking fund: out of these sums there was to be a 
 surplus, of which £5,000,000 were to be applied toward re- 
 payment of the debt due to the bank, as recommended by par- 
 liament previous to the resumption of cash payments; and 
 £5,597,000 to the reduction of the unfunded debt. In adopt- 
 ing this course, observed the Speaker, in his address to the 
 regent at the close of this session, ‘his majesty’s faithful 
 commons did not conceal from themselves that they were call- 
 ing on the nation for a great exertion; but well knowing that 
 honor, character, and independence have at all times been the 
 first and dearest objects of Englishmen, we felt assured that 
 there was no difficulty which the country would not encounter, 
 no pressure to which she could not cheerfully submit, in order 
 to maintain pure and unimpaired that which has never yet been 
 shaken or sullied—her public credit and good faith.’ After 
 numerous petitions had been presented to parliament, both for 
 and against the claims of Roman catholics, this great question 
 of internal policy was again brought before the commons by 
 Mr. Grattan, on the third of May. ‘The causes of disqualifica- 
 tion, he asserted, were of three kinds—the combination of the 
 catholics; the danger of a pretender; and the power of the 
 pope: he insisted, that not only all these causes had ceased, 
 but that the consequences annexed to them were no more ; and 
 he concluded by moving for a committeee of the whole house, 
 to take into consideration the laws by which oaths or declara- 
 tions are required to be taken or made as qualifications for the 
 enjoyment of office, or the exercise of civil functions, so far as 
 the same affect Roman catholics ; and whether it would be ex- 
 pedient to alter or modify the same. ‘This motion was lost, on 
 a division, by a majority of only two, in a very full house. On 
 the seventeenth, a corresponding proposition was submitted to 
 the peers by the earl of Donoughmore, who contended that the 
 state of the catholic question had been much altered: all anti- 
 christian principles and uncharitable surmises were disallowed 
 by its opponents; and the great objection was limited to an 
 arguable supremacy, which was supposed to be inherent in a 
 foreign state: if he were allowed to go into a committee, he 
 would first get rid of the declaration, and next dispose of the 
 oath of supremacy; when there would remain no vestige of 
 such tests, except the oath of abjuration, now of no practical 
 use, as it referred to a non-existent family. The bishop of 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. 57 
 
 Worcester opposed this motion, on the ground of danger to the 
 church and state; which danger, it was argued by the bishop 
 of Norwich, did not exist; and we ought to remember the pre- 
 cept of doing unto others as we would they should do unto us: 
 the bishop of Peterborough declared, that if the present were 
 merely a religious question, it should have his support; but it 
 was evident, the grand object of the catholics was political 
 power; while the earl of Liverpool denied that concession 
 would have the effect of allaying animosities in Ireland, or that 
 the interests of the great mass of its people would be promoted 
 by it in the smallest degree: the lord chancellor also strenu- 
 ously opposed the motion, chiefly for the oft-refuted reason, 
 that the Romanists could give no security by oath which would 
 reconcile the king’s supremacy in things temporal with the 
 pope’s supremacy in things ecclesiastical: on a division, the 
 motion was negatived by 147 against 106; and another effort, 
 in favor of this question, was made in the upper house by earl 
 Grey, but without effect. As the reduction of our army, at 
 the termination of the war, left a great number of officers ill 
 provided for and unemployed, many, and those principally 
 subalterns, went out to aid the common cause of independence 
 in South America: a remonstrance on this account, made by 
 the Spanish ambassador, occasioned the introduction of a bill, 
 by our attorney-general, to prohibit British subjects from en- 
 listing into a foreign service, or equipping vessels of war with- 
 out license. The first of these objects, he observed, had been 
 in some measure provided for by the statutes of George. II. 
 which: made it felony to enter into the service of any foreign 
 state: if neutrality, however, was to be observed, it was im- 
 portant that the penalty should be extended to the act of 
 serving unacknowleged as well as acknowleged powers ; part 
 of his intention therefore was to amend those statutes, by intro- 
 ducing, after the words ‘king, prince, state, potentate,’ the 
 words ‘colony, or district, which do assume the powers of a 
 government.’ Sir James Mackintosh warned the house that, 
 however this motion might be worded, and its real object con- 
 cealed, the bill ought to be entitled, ‘a bill for preventing 
 British subjects from lending their assistance to the South 
 American cause, or enlisting in the South American service.’ 
 He asserted, that the statutes of George II., cited as authority 
 on this occasion, were intended merely for the temporary pur- 
 pose of preventing the formation of jacobite armies organised 
 in France and Spain, against the peace and tranquillity of 
 England ; and he concluded by reprobating a measure, which 
 
58 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIX, 
 
 was virtually an enactment to repress the liberty of the South 
 Americans, and enable Spain to reimpose on them that yoke of 
 tyranny which they were unable to bear; which they had 
 nobly shaken off; and from which, he trusted, they would 
 finally and for ever be enabled to extricate themselves: but 
 lord Castlereagh contended that the proposed bill was neces- 
 sary to prevent our giving offence to Spain; whom that house 
 was too just and generous to oppress, because she was weak, 
 and her fortunes had declined. Was not, he asked, the pro- 
 clamation, which had been issued about eighteen months, 
 approved both in England and America, as perfectly just in the 
 principles of neutrality which it declared? Was it not, he also 
 asked, a breach of that proclamation, when not only individuals, 
 whom perhaps it might have been impossible to restrain; not 
 only officers, in small numbers, went out to join the insurrec- 
 tionary legions; but when there was a regular organisation of 
 troops; when regiments, regularly formed, left the British 
 shores; when ships of war were fitted out in English ports, 
 and transports chartered to carry thither arms and ammunition ? 
 In the subsequent stages of the bill, ministers candidly avowed 
 that this measure had been suggested by the stipulations of a 
 treaty made with Spain in 1814, and by the representations 
 which the ministers of Ferdinand VII. had considered them- 
 selves entitled by such stipulations to address to the British 
 government: such an admission excited some severe comments 
 on the character of Ferdinand ; the bill, however, was carried ; 
 but, though rigorous in its provisions, it was by no means 
 rigorously enforced. An act of grace, which was understood 
 to emanate from the regent himself, for reversing the attainder 
 of lord Edward Fitzgerald, was carried without opposition : 
 the attainder itself, as passed by the Irish parliament, was an 
 instance of contemptible servility to the ruling powers by that 
 corrupt assembly ; and the preamble of the present bill stated, 
 that his lordship had never been brought to trial ; and that the 
 act of attainder did not pass the Irish parliament till some 
 months after-his decease ; and that these were sufficient reasons 
 for mitigating the severity of a measure decreed in unhappy 
 and unfortunate times. 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce was heard this session complaining of the 
 reluctance which two great powers had shown towards all 
 arrangements necessary for carrying into effect the total aboli- 
 tion of the slave-trade: it grieved him to cast this reproach on 
 a great and high-minded people like the French; and he was 
 still more hurt to find that America was not free from blame. 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE ITI. 59 
 
 he trusted, however, that all nations would cordially unite in 
 their endeavors to civilise the inhabitants of Africa; and con- 
 cluded by moving an address entreating the regent to renew 
 his exertions for the attainment of an object of such general 
 interest: the address was agreed to unanimously ; and a similar 
 one was voted in the house of lords, on the motion of lord 
 Lansdowne. The sum of £50,000 was granted, on the motion 
 of the chancellor of the exchequer, for the purpose of enabling 
 
 overnment to divert the current of emigration from the United 
 
 tates to the Cape of Good Hope, as a colony to which it 
 might be more advantageously directed: it was proposed to 
 pay the expense of the passage, and to supply the emigrant 
 with means of exercising his industry on arriving at the destined 
 spot: a small advance of money was to be made by each settler 
 before his embarkation, to be repaid him in necessaries at the 
 Cape; so that, with the aid of government, he would have the 
 means of subsisting comfortably until he gathered his crops, 
 which, in that climate, were of rapid growth. ‘This session, in 
 which the house of commons had shown very considerabie re- 
 sistance to ministerial dictation, was closed on the thirteenth of 
 July by the regent personally ; who in his speech expressed a 
 confident expectation, that the measures which had been 
 adopted for the resumption of cash payments would be produc- 
 tive of the most beneficial consequences: he regretted the 
 necessity of additional taxation; anticipated many permanent 
 advantages from the efforts which had been made to meet our 
 financial difficulties; and in adverting to the seditious spirit 
 now abroad in our manufacturing districts, avowed a firm deter- 
 mination to employ the powers provided by law for its suppres- 
 sion. 
 
 Ministers, as we have seen, at the opening of the session, 
 indulged only in joyful anticipations of prosperity, without 
 contemplating the political and moral causes of evil working 
 around them. ‘Though the amount of government expenditure 
 had greatly decreased, the extent of parish relief to the poorer 
 classes indicated no improvement in their condition:4 though 
 the drains made by government were first lessened by a cessa- 
 tion or diminution of loans, the effect of this, in a rise of wages 
 
 4 The amount of government expenditure, in 1813, was 
 £109,054,125, or, allowing for the depreciation of the currency 
 twenty-two and a-half per-cent., £84,863,697 ; in 1819, it was only 
 £48,438,396 ; but in 1813, a sum equivalent to about 1,200,000, 
 quarters of wheat was sufficient for the relief of the poor; while, 
 
 _in 1819, a sum equal to more than 2,000,000 quarters was required. 
 
60 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIx. 
 
 to the same extent, was not immediately felt; it became 
 necessary, that the amount of wealth, which had been annually 
 taken by government in loans, should be left to be employed 
 as capital, in competition with the other existing capital ; and 
 that profit should thus be reduced, and wages made to rise ; 
 but this operation required time: it happened also, that, in 
 taking off taxes, a course was pursued which gave the least 
 immediate relief to the laboring part of the community ; for 
 instead of those taxes being dispensed with which pressed 
 immediately on them, the property tax was repealed; an 
 impost, which came not out of the pockets of laborers; and 
 from the repeal of which, relief would come most circuitously, 
 and at the most distant period: but there are other fixed pay- 
 ments, as well as those made to government, which the British 
 people had to pay ; such as annuities of various kinds, sums 
 engaged to be paid by lease for all sorts of houses, warehouses, 
 mills, &c., compositions for tithes, mortgages, and rents of 
 lands: as these were now to be exacted in a currency increased 
 in value by twenty per cent., additional produce to that value 
 would be taken from payers, and given to receivers: in what- 
 ever form payment might be made, this would be the effect ; 
 every payer would have to part with more goods, by twenty 
 per cent., in order to obtain the money necessary for his pay- 
 ment; and every receiver would, in the money which he 
 received, obtain the power of purchasing and consuming twenty 
 per cent. more of the produce of labor: now as the main 
 body of receivers are of the wealthy and unproductive, and the 
 payers generally of the poorer and productive classes, the 
 former would be gainers, and the latter losers, by this rise of 
 value in the currency: but a restoration of our currency to an 
 undepreciated state was not the only alteration which it under- 
 went at this time; gold was rising, from various causes, in its 
 exchangeable value; and its tendency to flow toward this 
 country was becoming weaker, or rather it began to ebb from 
 it; and if the currency had been intirely of gold at this period, 
 it would have flowed out, until prices had sunk to a much 
 lower level. The existence of paper-money, when that paper 
 was made liable to be paid in gold, did not, however, keep up 
 the quantity of currency materially above what it would have 
 been, if constituted of gold alone; as the paper was reduced to 
 the quantity which the gold would have equalled in the absence 
 of the paper; and as gold became scarce, paper was obliged 
 to be taken in, to preserve it at the same level as the gold: 
 hence, as there was a twofold reduction in the value of the 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. 61 
 
 currency during the progress of the war, first, from a fall in 
 exchangeable value of gold, and afterwards, from an excessive 
 issue of paper; so there was now a twofold rise in the 
 currency; first from a withdrawal of paper to an extent 
 sufficient to remove the depreciation arising from its excessive 
 issue ; and afterwards, sufficient to raise its value equal to the 
 rise in the exchangeable value of gold. 
 
 At this period, the rise of gold was considered equal to about 
 ten per cent.; when the whole sums of net wealth, paid by 
 the productive classes, would be increased to that extent; or 
 additional wealth to that amount taken from them.5 The 
 total net wealth furnished at this time was estimated 
 at £100,000,000; £50,000,000 to individual annuitauts, 
 £50,000,000 to the government; and if the rise in the value 
 of gold, which equalled ten per cent., be added to the increase 
 of twenty per cent. in the value of the currency consequent on 
 the removal of depreciation, the additional wealth taken from 
 the people equalled thirty per cent. on the total sum; that 
 is, £100,090,000 would command commodities equal to 
 £130,000,000 when the currency was at its lowest value ; 
 while the benefit obtained by laboring classes arose only from 
 areduction in the rate of profit, consequent on the repeal of 
 loans, and the cessation of the property tax. Nothing but the 
 increase of population, enabling the people to furnish the 
 required wealth with more ease, prevented still more calamitous 
 effects on their condition from the increased burdens imposed 
 upon them: but, on the other hand, the fall in the selling 
 prices of our exports, occasioned by the extension of manu- 
 factures at home, while rival establishments were appearing in 
 other countries,;—made it necessary that a larger portion of 
 British labor should be engaged in their production than when 
 they sold at higher prices: less labor was consequently left, to 
 produce annually at home all that mass of wealth, which 
 satisfies the demands of the net claimants, and enables the 
 whole community to subsist. 
 
 The foregoing statement, to which many other facts might 
 be added, is perhaps sufficient to account for the condition of 
 the laboring classes not improving immediately after the war. 
 In addition to such general causes of discontent, may be added 
 the coercive measures, necessarily, though perhaps in some 
 cases obnoxiously, put in force by government; while the 
 house of commons became more regarded as an instrument 
 
 5 For a certain time, indeed, some of this would be paid by the 
 capitalists; but it would finally be furnished by the laborers. 
 
62 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIX. 
 
 subservient to ministerial and aristocratical power, than as a 
 faithful representation of the people: in the mean time, 
 demagogues and low traffickers in infidelity and sedition sought 
 subsistence or notoriety in vile publications, by which the 
 passions of the multitude were inflamed, and their resentment 
 pointed against all ranks above them: the rural population, 
 being more thinly scattered, and more passive by habit and 
 education, was not so easily roused; but the manufacturing 
 laborers in the midland and northern districts, as well as in 
 various parts of Scotland, entered into secret combinations, and 
 called together assemblies, in which deliberative inquiries were 
 acutely made, and daringly avowed, on the subject of actual 
 grievances and natural rights. 
 
 Among these discantented artisans, a party, who denominated 
 themselves radical reformers, began to acquire much influence, 
 from the sedulity with which they propagated the notion, that 
 such a reform of parliament as would make its members truly 
 representatives of the people, would be the surest method of 
 putting an end to present and future sufferings: the most 
 notorious of these demagogues was Henry Hunt, a man without 
 much political knowlege, sagacity, or eloquence; but daring 
 in the cause which he had adopted, and shrewd in the topics 
 and vocabulary of the mob, with an appearance of honesty well 
 calculated to attach them to his person. 
 
 One of the first steps of this radical crew, was an applica- 
 tion to the magistrates of Manchester, to convoke a meeting 
 for the alleged purpose of petitioning against the corn bill ; 
 and in consequence of their refusal, it was summoned by an 
 anonymous advertisement. Hunt, who had been selected as 
 the hero of the day, was conducted, in a kind of triumphal 
 procession, to the place of meeting, where a strong remon- 
 strance to the prince regent was adopted; but the multitude 
 dispersed without tumult or disorder: this example was fol- 
 lowed at Glasgow, Leeds, Stockport, and other manufacturing 
 places ; but strong measures of precaution taken by local 
 authorities, had, in most instances, the effect of preserving 
 order and tranquillity: though there was a marked contrast 
 between the peaceable demeanor of the auditors, and the 
 inflammatory character of the language in which they were 
 addressed. On these occasions, the defect in the representation 
 of the people was pronounced to be the grand source of all 
 evils; for which, annual parliaments, universal suffrage, and 
 election by ballot were pointed out as the only remedies: at 
 one meeting, there was a discussion, whether the people had a 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. 63 
 
 right to destroy the Bank of England; and some hints were 
 thrown out respecting the expediency of a division of landed 
 property, and a recurrence to physical force: by some, how- 
 ever, it was contended, that these suggestions, which were 
 attended with no practical results, proceeded from spies; and 
 it is not improbable that the agents of government, whose 
 duty could not legitimately extend beyond the office of 
 observing and reporting the proceedings which took place, 
 might occasionally exceed their instructions: the most novel 
 and censurable feature in the system was the formation of 
 female societies for the promotion of reform; which bodies 
 entered into violent resolutions, and called on the wives and 
 daughters of manufacturers to promote such associations, for 
 the purpose of co-operating with the men, and instilling into 
 their children a deep-rooted hatred of tyrannical governors, 
 At Birmingham, where extensive distress among the working 
 classes had given greater currency to these new doctrines, the 
 radicals hazarded a bolder experiment than any which they 
 had before displayed: this was the election of a member, or, 
 as it was termed a ‘ legislatorial attorney,’ to represent that 
 great and populous town in the house of commons: at a 
 meeting held for this purpose, on the twelfth of July, the 
 managers stated, that the issue of a writ being compulsory, 
 they had not thought it necessary to wait for a mandate; but 
 that, in the exercise of their constitutional rights, and the duty 
 of good subjects, they should proceed to advise the sovereign 
 by their representative. Sir Charles Wolseley, who had pre- 
 viously declared his determination to claim his seat if he should 
 be elected, was put into nomination, and unanimously chosen 
 by an assemblage of 15,000 persons. Ministers and their 
 partisans for a time regarded this proceeding as a matter of 
 jest, instead of seeing in it a practical demonstration, that Bir- 
 mingham, and some other populous towns, ought to be repre- 
 sented in parliament. 
 
 A few days, however, after the reformers had got up this 
 scene, it was resolved, at a meeting in the great unrepresented 
 town of Leeds, that a similar election should take place, as 
 soon as an eligible member could be found: but government 
 at length interfered ; the legislatorial attorney of Birmingham 
 was arrested, on account of expressions used at Stockport, in 
 Cheshire; and an itinerant preacher, named Harrison, for a 
 similar offence at the same place, was taken into custody while 
 attending a reform meeting in London : on these charges they 
 were next year convicted, and sentenced to imprisonment. 
 
64 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIX. 
 
 The Smithfield meeting, at which Harrison was arrested, 
 took place on the twenty-first of July: some degree of alarm 
 was naturally felt by the citizens on such an occasion ;, and for 
 the purpose of preventing riot and disorder, extensive and 
 judicious precautions were taken both by the government and the 
 police: Hunt was elected to the chair; and several resolutions: 
 were carried, to the effect, that as the persons at present com- 
 posing the house of commons had not been fairly chosen, the 
 meeting could not consider themselves bound in equity by any 
 of their enactments, after the following January. When the 
 officers seized on Harrison, a few voices were heard proposing 
 resistance : when Hunt requested the multitude to let him go 
 quietly :—‘ If they apprehend me,’ said he, ‘I am ready with 
 bail, and will try the question: let me subpeena all here 
 present ; and then, although they may procure three villains 
 to swear away my. life, I shall not be afraid, having 50,000 
 witnesses to contradict them: if only thirty of you should 
 come day by day, the trial will last for three years!’ ‘The 
 remonstrance to the prince regent, which had been carried at 
 a meeting in Palace-yard on the eighth of September last year, 
 was again adopted, and numerous speeches followed; in the 
 course of which Hunt stated, that the penny subscription, 
 which had been started to promote the cause of reform, and 
 had been expected to create in one year a fund of £256,000, 
 amounted, at the expiration of ten months, only to four pounds, 
 fourteen shillings, and sixpence. This enormous assemblage 
 finally separated without any rioting or tumult. 
 
 On the third night following, an atrocious attempt was made 
 at Stockport to assassinate Birch, the deputy constable for that 
 township, by whose exertions both sir Charles Wolseley and 
 Harrison had been apprehended : vigorous measures for the dis- 
 covery of the offenders were immediately adopted ; and on the 
 thirtieth of July a proclamation was issued against seditious 
 assemblies. 
 
 The Manchester reformers, who had announced a meeting to 
 be held on the ninth of August for the election of a representa- 
 tive, as at Birmingham, were informed by the magistrates, that, 
 as the proposed object was unquestionably illegal, they would 
 not be permitted to assemble: in consequence of this determi- 
 nation, the design was relinquished, and notices were issued of 
 a meeting to be held on the sixteenth of August, avowedly for 
 the legal purpose of petitioning in favor of parliamentary 
 reform: an open space in the town, called St. Peter’s field, was 
 selected for the assembly ; and never on any previous occasion 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. 6 
 
 or 
 
 was so great a number of persons known to be present: some 
 hours before the proceedings were to commence, large bodies 
 began to march in from the adjoining towns and villages, form- 
 ing rows five deep, many of them armed with stout staves, and 
 preserving a kind of military order as well as regularity of step : 
 each company had its own flag and motto; while banners of 
 white silk preceded two clubs of female reformers ; the whole 
 numbers collected being estimated at 60,000. <A band of 
 special constables, stationed on the ground, disposed themselves 
 so as to form a line of communication from a_-house where the 
 magistrates were sitting, to the stage or platform erected for 
 Mr. Hunt, the chairman, and the orators who intended to 
 harangue the meeting; but soon after the business had been 
 opened, a body of yeomanry cavalry entered the ground at a 
 rapid pace, and advanced with drawn swords toward the stage ; 
 while their commanding officer called out to Hunt, who was 
 then speaking, and told him that he was their “prisoner. ‘The 
 chairman, after enjoining the people to be tranquil, and offering 
 to surrender himself to any civil officer who should exhibit his 
 warrant, was taken into custody by a constable, and. several 
 other persons were also apprehended: some of the ‘yeomanry 
 then cried out, ‘Have at their flags!’ on which, the troop 
 began to strike down the banners raised in various parts of the 
 field; and a scene of dreadful confusion arose: numbers were 
 trampled under the feet of men and horses; many persons, 
 even females, were cut by sabres; several were killed; and the 
 maimed and wounded amounted to between three and four 
 hundred : in a short time the ground was cleared of its former 
 occupants, and military patroles were stationed in the principal 
 streets of the town to preserve tranquillity. 
 
 Great difference of opinion afterwards prevailed on this sub- 
 ject; and perhaps the Manchester meeting is one of those 
 events, the various details of which will never be accurately 
 cleared up: whether the riot act was actually read or not isa 
 disputed point ; the reformers and their friends insisting that it 
 was not, the magistrates and their adherents contending that it 
 was: and certainly, if it was read, the affirmative of the propo- 
 sition would have been more easily established than its nega- 
 tive: the whole transaction appears not to have extended 
 beyond ten minutes; by which time the field was intirely 
 cleared of the populace, and occupied by different corps of in- 
 fantry and cavalry. Hunt and his colleagues, after a short 
 examination, were conducted to solitary cells on a charge of 
 high treason: the following day, notices were issued by the 
 
 ENG, XVII. F 
 
66 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIX. 
 
 magistrates, declaring the practice of military training, alleged 
 to have been carried on secretly for treasonable purposes, to be 
 illegal: public thanks were by the same authority returned to 
 the officers of the respective corps engaged in the attack ; and 
 on the arrival in London of a despatch from the local autho- 
 rities, a cabinet council was held, which, on ex parte and inte- 
 rested statements, rather precipitately directed official letters 
 of thanks to be forwarded to the magistrates for their prompt, 
 decisive, and efficient measures; as well as to all the military 
 engaged, for the support and assistance rendered by them to 
 the civil power. 
 
 For some days, the town of Manchester and its neighbor- 
 hood were in a state of constrained tranquillity, although some 
 farther disturbances, in which one or two lives were lost, had — 
 taken place. A numerous meeting, at the Crown and Anchor 
 tavern in London, passed a series of resolutions, strongly cen- 
 suring the conduct of the magistrates, as well as of the military, 
 and returning thanks to Hunt and his colleagues; as also a 
 resolution for raising a subscription to defray the expense of 
 defending the prisoners: in the same spirit, a meeting was 
 held in Smithfield; and a violent letter on the subject was ad- 
 dressed to the electors of Westminster by sir Francis Burdett, 
 for the writing of which he was afterwards tried, and convicted 
 as a libeller. 
 
 In pursuance of this letter, an immense multitude assembled 
 within the precincts of Palace-yard on the second of September, 
 for the purpose of declaring an opinion on the conduct of the 
 magistrates and yeomanry of Manchester: after speeches, 
 which occupied three hours in the delivery, by sir Francis 
 Burdett, and Mr. Hobhouse, his colleague in the representation 
 of Westminster, several violent resolutions were adopted, de- 
 claring the assemblage at Manchester a lawful meeting; that 
 the outrage then committed was an attempt to destroy by 
 sword the few remaining liberties of Englishmen ; and that this 
 was another lamentable consequence of the want of a real 
 representation. An address to the prince regent, founded on 
 these resolutions, was unanimously agreed to. 
 
 The circumstances of this case turned out to be such, that 
 government found it expedient to abandon the threatened trial 
 of Hunt and his associates for high treason; and those persons 
 were accordingly informed that they would be prosecuted for 
 a conspiracy only, which was a bailable offence; but Hunt re- 
 fused to give bail, even, as he said, to the amount of a single 
 farthing : nevertheless he was liberated by some of his friends ; 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. 67 
 
 and his return from Lancaster to Manchester had the appear- 
 ance of a triumphal procession; for he was attended by thou- 
 sands on horse, on foot, and in carriages, who hailed him with 
 shouts of applause, as the assertor of British freedom. 
 
 True bills were found by the Lancashire grand jury against 
 Hunt, Johnson, Moorhouse, and the other prisoners indicted 
 with them; all of whom availed themselves of their privilege 
 of traversing till the spring assizes of 1820; and instead of 
 Lancaster, the trial took place at York: after ten days’ dura- 
 tion, it closed on the tenth of April, when the jury declared 
 Hunt, Johnson, Knight, Healy, and Bamford, guilty of collect- 
 ing an assembly with unlawful banners, for the purpose of 
 moving and inciting the liege subjects of our sovereign lord the 
 king unto contempt and hatred of the government and consti- 
 tution of this realm, as by law established, and of attending at 
 the same: in the ensuing term they received sentence; Hunt 
 to be imprisoned in the jail of Ilchester two years and a half, 
 and then to find securities for his good behaviour during five 
 years; Johnson, Bamford, and Healy to be imprisoned one 
 year in Lincoln castle, and also to find sureties. 
 
 The reformers, notwithstanding the tragical result of their 
 meeting, still ventured to assemble as before at Leeds, Glas- 
 gow, and other places: the conduct of the Manchester magis- 
 trates and yeomanry became a prominent theme with their 
 orators; ensigns of mourning were exhibited ; horrible details 
 were given of the barbarous acts alleged to have been com- 
 mitted ; while the sufferers of the sixteenth of August were 
 eulogised as martyrs, and classed with Russell, Hampden, Sid- 
 ney, or other illustrious names of ancient times: rarely, how- 
 ever, where the local authorities abstained from interposition, 
 did any breach of the peace ensue; but at Paisley, where the 
 flags of the radicals were seized by the magistrates on their 
 return from the meeting, some riots occurred, which fortunately 
 were quelled without bloodshed. 
 
 The regular opposition, or whig party, throughout the king- 
 dom, seized with avidity on the solemn approval which had 
 been given by government, so hastily, to an illegal act of 
 power ; and the various meetings convened on this occasion were 
 numerously, and in some instances very respectably, attended : 
 a large and dangerous assemblage of the county of York was 
 sanctioned by the presence of earl Fitzwilliam, lord-lieutenant 
 of the west riding, as well as many other whig noblemen and 
 gentlemen, who, having delivered their sentiments in very 
 strong language, adopted a petition to the regent, calling loudly 
 
68 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CH, LIX. 
 
 for inquiry ; in consequence of which proceedings, the noble 
 earl was dismissed from his high office, since ministers chose 
 rather to be abused by their enemies than despised by their 
 friends. Meetings, however, were held in other places, and 
 petitions drawn up, some calling only for investigation, and 
 others adding strong censure on the administration: the corpo- 
 ration of London, having presented a very energetic address, 
 were severely rebuked by the regent, as prejudging the matter, 
 without having had an opportunity of understanding it; in 
 allusion to which, earl Grey subsequently in the house of peers 
 taxed ministers with having placed in his royal highness’s hands 
 ‘an impertinent and flippant answer,’ rebuking the city for pre- 
 judging the case, after they themselves had shamefully pre- 
 judged it by transmitting thanks so precipitately to the magis- 
 trates. . 
 
 To counteract these meetings, loyal addresses, and offers to 
 raise yeomanry corps, were zealously promoted by the friends 
 of administration ; whilst a large veteran battalion, under the 
 auspices of lord Sidmouth, was formed out of the Chelsea pen- 
 sioners. Parties at this time became bitterly exasperated 
 against each other; and as persons of property chiefly adhered 
 to the ministerial side of the question, the lower orders began 
 to entertain against their superiors that deeply-seated indigna- 
 tion which contributed much to the reform of our institutions. 
 ‘If the laws were really violated,’ said the regent, ‘by those 
 whose duty it was to assist in putting them into execution, the 
 tribunals of the country were open to afford redress :6 at Lan- 
 caster, however, a grand jury threw out every bill which had 
 been preferred against individuals by the sufferers on the six- 
 teenth of August; whilst, at Manchester, the authorities 
 showed a determination to carry matters with a high hand: no 
 depositions against the yeomanry, or police officers, by those 
 whom they had injured, were received; and the coroner 
 directed verdicts to be returned, on which no judicial proceed- 
 ings could be founded. 
 
 Amid the general ferment produced by these commotions, . 
 the meeting of parliament was impatiently expected by all 
 parties : it assembled on the twenty-third of November ; when 
 the regent, in his opening speech, expressed much regret at the 
 necessity for calling members together so early. After dilating 
 on the seditious spirit and insurrectionary acts of the manu- 
 facturing classes, he promised to lay before tliem all the infor- 
 
 6 Answer to city address. 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE II. 69 
 
 mation requisite to direct them in their deliberations; and 
 pressed on their attention the enactment of such regulations as 
 -might tend to suppress the evil. Anamendment to the address 
 was moved in the house of lords by earl Grey ; in which, whiie 
 ’ the necessity of checking practices dangerous to the constitu- 
 tion was fully admitted, a strong opinion was expressed of the 
 expediency of conciliation, and of inquiry into the transactions 
 at Manchester, in order to allay feelings to which they had 
 given birth, and to satisfy the people that the lives of his 
 majesty’s subjects could not be sacrificed with impunity. 
 
 Lord Sidmouth, feeling himself called on officially to reply, 
 declared, that never before had so much exaggeration, misre- 
 presentation, and falsehood gone forth concerning any public 
 event: the meeting, he would boldly assert, was both illegal 
 and treasonable; the magistrates would have acted not only 
 unwisely, but basely and unjustly, had they done otherwise 
 than they did; the letter of approbation was sanctioned by a 
 cabinet council ; and he, for his part, did not shrink from any 
 share of its responsibility: the danger with which we were 
 threatened was generally admitted; and its magnitude should 
 induce their lordships to unite in vigorous measures to avert it : 
 the most alarming feature in that danger was the conduct of 
 some persons, who encouraged the disaffected, by standing 
 between the government assailed and the party assailing it. 
 Lord Eldon also declared, that no such inquiry as that now 
 demanded could be granted consistently with the spirit of our 
 law. Considering that proceedings were in progress before the 
 legal tribunals, he was reluctant to deliver an opinion; but 
 when he read in his law-books that numbers constituted force, 
 force terror, and terror illegality, he felt that no man could 
 deny the Manchester meeting to have been an illegal cne: he 
 defended the government, and maintained that if the magis- 
 trates had erred at all, it was on the side of remissness rather 
 than undue rigor. The amendment was negatived by 159 votes 
 against 134. 
 
 In the house of commons, an amendment was moved by 
 Mr. Tierney, who drew a melancholy picture of the country, 
 affirming that the measures of ministers had brought it to the 
 brink of despair: he also stated, that the cause of parliamentary 
 reform had of late years been working its way among the 
 people ; the diffusion of education, sanctioned by parliament 
 itself, had compelled the house to submit to all criticisms on 
 its proceedings, which men felt justified by facts in making ; 
 and if government thought, that by passing new laws, raising 
 
70 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIX. 
 
 new troops, or encouraging loyal addresses, they could punt 
 down the awakened spirit of the people, they would find them- 
 selves grievously mistaken: he then adverted to the Man- 
 chester massacre, and urged very strenuously the necessity of 
 inquiry ; concluding by some very severe remarks on the 
 dismissal of earl Fitzwilliam. Lord Castlereagh, in reply, 
 declined following the honorable member through his remarks 
 on the state of the country ; because the only definite proposi- 
 tion offered, was one for inquiry into the transactions at 
 Manchester; respecting which he should next day lay a mass 
 of information before the house, and explain the measures con- 
 templated by government : his lordship justified the magistrates, 
 and supported the address; which, like that in the lords, was 
 carried by a large majority. 
 
 Next day, the promised documents respecting the state of 
 popular feeling were produced : they consisted partly in the 
 correspondence of official persons with the home secretary, and 
 partly in communications made by individuals whose names 
 were suppressed. Letters from the Manchester magistrates, 
 which had been received previously to the sixteenth of August, 
 expressed apprehensions that a formidable insurrection was in 
 contemplation; while they bore testimony to the alarming 
 distress of the manufacturing classes; and assigned hunger as 
 a natural inducement with the poor to adopt pernicious 
 doctrines, as projects for the amelioration of their sufferings. 
 It was stated in numerous depositions, that the practice of 
 secret training prevailed to a great extent among the reformers, 
 but merely with a view of enabling themselves to march in the 
 semblance of military array to their meetings; sticks being the 
 only weapons which had been employed. A communication 
 from lord Fitzwilliam on the state of the west riding of York- 
 shire, represented that the last reform meeting on Hunslet-moor 
 had been less numerously attended than previously; and he 
 intimated that the rage for such assemblies might be safely 
 left to die away of itself. Sir John Byng, military commander 
 of the district, stated, that simultaneous meetings were to have 
 been held at many neighboring towns, but the plan had been 
 frustrated by the disunion of the leaders. The distress and 
 discontent reigning in this quarter, where the manufacture of 
 pistols, pikes, and other weapons was reported to be going on 
 very extensively, formed the subject of some communications ; 
 . and similar representations from the south-west of Scotland, 
 where employment and wages had fallen off still more 
 deplorably, were affordeds by others. The grand jury of 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. 71 
 
 Cheshire also expressed the alarm which was felt for life and 
 property by the loyal part of his majesty’s subjects. 
 
 This body of evidence having been submitted to the two 
 houses, ministers proceeded to open their system of defensive 
 measures ; and as a preliminary step, the lord chancellor intro- 
 duced a bill, which he said he had long contemplated. It had 
 been usual with the courts to allow defendants, in cases of 
 information or indictment, to imparle or traverse; but as great 
 inconvenience had arisen from this practice, which sometimes 
 delayed trials to a very remote period, and as the ends of 
 justice might thus be defeated, this bill would take away from 
 a defendant the right of traversing ; allowing the court, how- 
 ever, to postpone the trial, on his showing sufficient reason for 
 delay. Karl Grey at once entered his protest against all the 
 measures which appeared to be in preparation, as calculated to 
 bring misery, if not ruin on the country : at the second reading, 
 earl Grosvenor contended, that while the attorney-general was 
 allowed to hold informations over the heads of defendants for 
 an indefinite time, to abolish the right of traverse was greatly. 
 enhancing the grievance: lord Erskine also opposed the bill, 
 as depriving the people of a great and important privilege ; 
 while the earl of Liverpool contended, that if their lordships 
 did not pass it, they had better at once declare that every 
 description of sedition and blasphemy should enjoy complete 
 toleration. Lord Holland recommended the equity of legislating 
 on both sides of the question, so as to prevent the delays which 
 occurred in prosecutions on ex officio informations, as well as: 
 in those of indictment ; and, in compliance with this suggestion, 
 the lord chancellor, at the third reading, proposed an addi- 
 tional clause, compelling the attorney-general to bring a defend- 
 ant to trial within a year, or to enter a noli prosequt. The bill, 
 thus amended, passed both houses without farther opposition. 
 
 The additional measures for the restriction of public diberty, 
 proposed by lord Sidmouth in the upper, and lord Castlereagh 
 in the lower house, were the following :—‘ An act to render 
 the publication of a blasphemous or seditious libel punishable, 
 on a second conviction, at the discretion of the court, by fine, 
 imprisonment, banishment, or transportation; to give power, 
 in eases of a second conviction, to seize the copies of any libel 
 in possession of the publisher ; a stamp duty, equal to that 
 paid by newspapers, on all publications containing less than a 
 given number of sheets ; with an obligation on all publishers 
 of such pieces to enter into recognizances for the payment of 
 such penalties as might in future be incurred by them.’ The 
 
[3 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIX. 
 
 press being thus restrained, seditious meetings were to be con- 
 trolled by the following provisions :—‘ That a requisition for 
 holding any meeting except those regularly called by a sheriff, 
 boroughreeve, or other magistrate, should be signed hy seven 
 householders ; and that it should be illegal for any persons, not 
 being inhabitants of the place in which such meeting was held, 
 to attend it; also, that magistrates should be empowered, 
 within certain limitations, to appoint the time and place of 
 meeting.’ To repel any danger which might arise from the 
 mustering of an 4allegal force, it was proposed to prohibit 
 military training, except under the authority of a magistrate or 
 lieutenant of a county ; and in the disturbed districts, to give 
 to magistrates a power of seizing any arms believed to be col-_ 
 lected for unlawful purposes, and also to apprehend and detain 
 persons so carrying arms. The only one of these bills which _ 
 passed without opposition, was that for the prevention of 
 secret military training: the bill for the seizure of arms, 
 which, under certain circumstances, and in particular districts, 
 authorised search in private dwellings by day or night, was 
 vehemently resisted both in the upper and lower house; whilst 
 a clause in the act concerning blasphemous and seditious libels, 
 which visited a second conviction by the punishment of trans- 
 portation, though it passed the lords, was withdrawn when 
 it came to the commons: but the penalty of banishment 
 previously unknown to the English law, was now introduced 
 into it: the seditious meeting bill in its progress, was subjected 
 to a modification, by which all meetings held in a room or 
 building were exempted from its operation ; several alterations 
 also were admitted into that which subjected small publications 
 to the newspaper stamp duty. Such were the celebrated ‘ six 
 acts,’ which ultimately passed, and which ministers deemed 
 necessary to coerce the turbulence of an irritated people: 
 despotic and dangerous as their spirit seemed to be, probably 
 nothing less would have been effectual; and after all, what 
 were they? acts of a free legislature, agreed to by a majority 
 of the people’s representatives; provisions, emanating from 
 the most glorious constitution on earth, to preserve that very 
 constitution for posterity! No counteracting violence was 
 here meditated ; no naked sword was placed in the hands of a 
 chief magistrate, ordered to prevent the republic from receiving 
 injury by imbruing his weapon in the blood of its citizens ; but 
 a few strict and severe enactments were made, to guard, as it 
 were, the majesty of the law; while the reign of that law was 
 still left free and undisturbed as ever. 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. va 
 
 On the following evening, the marquis of Lansdowne moved 
 for a select committee to inquire into the state of ‘the nation, 
 especially of the disturbed districts, where radicalism, as it was 
 called, prevailed in proportion to existing distress. That 
 distress, he thought, arose from the long war, which gave us 
 the carrying trade of the world ; creating a fixed capital, which 
 still existed, and filled the markets, while no vent could be 
 found. for their produce: it was also increased by our poor 
 laws, paper currency, and spirit of excessive speculation : 
 adverting to expedients which had been proposed for its 
 alleviation, such as temporary loans to encourage labor, he 
 thought there were two other points of a more extended nature, 
 well worthy of attention ; the one was to take off duties from 
 _ articles such as tea, the use of which had considerably decreased 
 in various districts, and which were much affected by the 
 smuggling trade ; the other was the establishment of favorable 
 commercial treaties, which government had not yet succeeded 
 in accomplishing : he alluded particularly to the timber trade 
 with Norway, which had been neglected, in order to enccurage 
 the growth of very inferior wood in Canada ; so that Norway 
 was prevented from taking many of our articles of commerce. 
 The marquis Wellesley deprecated all such inquiries, until the 
 passing of the bills necessary to curb that seditious spirit which 
 was so dangerous to our institutions: lord Erskine however 
 thought the existing laws were wholly sufficient for this pur- 
 pose, and that the country was by no means in so alarming a 
 condition as at the time of the state trials in 1794: he ridiculed 
 the evidence which appeared in the papers lately laid before 
 parliament, with a view to prove a treasonable or seditious 
 meeting at Manchester ; and contended that there was nothing 
 illegal in marching to a place of public concourse. Lord 
 Grenville could not be induced to consider the designs of the 
 reformers as originating in distress, which, he hoped, was only 
 temporary : such distress gave facilities to factious men, which 
 they would not otherwise possess ; but the root of the evil lay 
 much deeper: the promoters of the new system here, taking 
 the French revolution as their model, had deluged the country 
 with blasphemous publications ; and he considered the conduct 
 of the magistrates at Manchester as not only free from blame, 
 but worthy of great applause. ‘The motion was negatived by 
 a large majority. 
 
 Unfavorable as the times appeared to be for the discussion 
 of parliamentary reform, lord John Russell was not deterred 
 from calling the attention of the house of commons to our 
 
74 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIx. 
 
 unrepresented towns ; many of which had risen to vast import- 
 ance, while certain boroughs had sunk into decay, and become 
 unfit to enjoy the privilege of sending representatives to the 
 great council of the nation. He brought forward examples 
 from historical documents, to show that the principle of change 
 had often been acknowleged ; the right of suffrage having 
 been withdrawn from and conferred on various places. After 
 a full explanation of his views, he proposed several resolutions 
 in accordance with them, the last being for the disfranchise- 
 ment of Grampound, the corruption of which borough had 
 been already proved to the house: at the suggestion, however, 
 of lord Castlereagh, who appeared willing to concur in the 
 objects of the motion to a certain degree, lord John now with- 
 drew it, but after a few days brought in a bill for the disfran- 
 chisement of Grampound, and the transfer of its elective 
 privileges to some populous town. 
 
 Considerable excitement arose in the political circles from 
 the fulfilment of a convention concluded between Great Britain 
 and Turkey; by which the fortress of Parga, which remained 
 after the war under British protection, was ceded nominally to 
 the latter power, but, in fact, to its bitter and deceitful enemy, 
 Ali Pasha; who was at this very time, and had long been 
 considered a rebel against the Porte. ‘The Parghiotes were 
 the last of the christians in Epirus who had successfully resisted 
 his tyranny : in 1807, after the treaty of Tilsit had given the 
 Tonian isles to Napoleon, they had solicited and obtained a 
 French garrison from Corfu ; and in 1814, they had taken the 
 precaution of early placing themselves under British protection. 
 During the command of general Campbell, they enjoyed 
 security, and began to look forward with confidence to its con- 
 tinuance ; but under the despotic rule of sir T. Maitland, who, 
 after much intriguing with Ali Pasha, took a different view of 
 the question, they were ordered either to submit to the Albanian 
 despot, or to quit their country for ever: finding their fate 
 inevitable, and knowing the vindictive nature of their foe, they 
 chose the latter alternative, when an estimate was made of 
 their possessions, amounting, on a moderate calculation, to 
 £500,000 ; but the compensation which sir Thomas Maitland 
 chose to accept in their name, and in opposition to their re- 
 monstrances, was less than one-third of that sum: when this 
 circumstance, and the harshness with which all the decrees 
 against a brave but unfortunate people, are taken into con- 
 sideration, it cannot be matter of surprise that the whole 
 continent rang with exclamations against the policy of our 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE III. 75 
 
 government. When it was signified to the miserable Parghiotes 
 that the fated day of their expulsion was arrived, and that 
 numerous forces were near the frontier, ready to enter their 
 territory ; notice was given to the officer conducting the em- 
 barkation, that if a single Turk should pass the borders before 
 all had a fair opportunity of quitting their country, they would 
 put to death their wives and children, and defend themselves 
 against any force, British or Turkish, to the last extremity. 
 This was no idle menace; for the history of modern Greece 
 affords numerous instances of such self-devotion; and the 
 Parghiotes knew too well with what an insatiable thirst of 
 bleod the Albanian tiger was tormented: information of 
 their determination was sent to the lord high commissioner ; 
 and he instantly despatched some British officers to expostulate 
 with the people, who were discovered digging up the bones of 
 their ancestors, and burning or burying them in secret places, 
 to prevent their profanation by the Turks : still it was declared 
 that the meditated sacrifice would be perpetrated, unless the 
 adyance of the Albanians, who had already arrived close to the 
 frontier-line, could be stopped ; and means were then found to 
 effect this object. In the mean time, the Glasgow frigate 
 arrived: and the embarkation commenced, after the whole 
 people had solemnly knelt down to kiss, for the last time, the 
 land which gave them birth, and watered it with their tears: 
 some of them carried away a handful of the soil, to be a solace 
 in misfortune, or a memorial of wrongs endured, which might 
 stimulate their children to the recovery of their country; 
 others took, for the same purpose, a small portion of those 
 sacred ashes which had been once animated by the spirits of 
 their forefathers. When the bands of Ali Pasha reached the 
 walls, all was solitude and silence: the city, as it has been 
 observed, received its infidel garrison as Babylon or Palmyra 
 salutes the traveller in the desert: nothing breathed, nothing 
 moved; the houses were desolate; the nation was extinct ; 
 the bones of the dead were almost consumed to ashes; while 
 the only sign that living creatures had been there, was the 
 smoke slowly ascending from the funeral piles.7 
 
 The emperor of Russia, this year, prevailed on many of his 
 nobility to emancipate their vassals : he also ordered his soldiers 
 to be quartered on the peasantry, and directed them to instruct 
 each other in their respective avocations. With so much 
 policy had the Prussian monarch conducted himself in his 
 
 7 The reader is referred, for a minute, circumstantial, and, it is 
 hoped, impartial detail of this lamentable transaction, to the author’s 
 travels in Sicily, Greece, and Albania, vol. ii. 
 
76 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LIX. 
 
 alliances and treaties, that he obtained a large addition to the 
 number of his subjects: much discontent, however, was excited 
 among the most intelligent part of the Prussian population, 
 from the unwillingness shown by the sovereign to grant the 
 constitution which he had promised ; and many were banished 
 or imprisoned for boldly insisting on their civil rights. The 
 Austrian government was this year occupied in domestic 
 arrangements, and in promoting a pacific policy, chiefly with a 
 view to consolidate its dominions and influence in Italy. The 
 states of Germany still continued without their constitutions, 
 though some minor points were conceded to the people. The 
 king of Hanover abolished torture, and convoked a species of 
 parliament ; but no person was to be admitted to hear its 
 debates. In Spain, the despotism of the priesthood became 
 intolerable, and as Ferdinand grew more and more bloodthirsty, 
 he executed above fifty officers implicated with the patriotic 
 Lacy in the charge of insurrection: a new ministry was 
 appointed, and the members of the old one sent into exile: on 
 his second marriage, which took place this year, an amnesty 
 was published ; but it contained so many exceptions, that, 
 under the mask of moderation, it aggravated the outrageous 
 conduct of the monarch. In the kingdom of the Netherlands 
 attempts were made to curb the liberty of the press, which 
 exposed to the world much discordant feeling between the two 
 territorial branches of the realm. 
 
 At the beginning of this year, a new and popular ministry 
 had been appointed in France, with M. de Cazes at its head, 
 supported by the marshals of Napoleon’s creation; yet the 
 ultra-royalists contrived to carry a motion in the house of 
 peers, tending to destroy the freedom of elections: in the 
 chamber of deputies, however, motions of a similar nature 
 were rejected ; and to check such attempts in the other house, 
 the king added fifty new names to the peerage: disturbances, 
 supposed to be instigated by ultra-royalists, broke out in various 
 parts of the kingdom. 
 
 The greatest interest, however, attached itself to the affairs 
 of the new world: the consolidated republics of Buenos Ayres 
 and Chili were engaged in completing their internal organisa- 
 tion, and in preparing to invade Peru, where the prejudices of 
 education, the errors of ignorance, and the superstitions of 
 priestcraft still attached a strong party to the interests of Old 
 Spain. Lord Cochrane was appointed commander of the 
 Chilian navy ; and, as might be expected from the energy of 
 his character, acquired an undisturbed dominion over the South 
 Ameriean ocean, 
 
A.D. 1819. GEORGE Ii. 77 
 
 In the provinces bordering on the Caribbean seas, the 
 republican cause obtained more decisive success: Bolivar, the 
 Washington of South America, having marched his troops from 
 the Oronoko, through wildernesses and over mountains, sur- 
 prised the armies of the royalists in the rich provinces of New 
 Granada, whose capital Santa Fé Bogota, hoisted the standard 
 of liberty, proclaiming the union of New Granada with 
 Venezuela, under the general name of Columbia. A republican 
 constitution of these vast territories was afterwards pro- 
 mulgated, and an assembly of representatives opened by a 
 speech from Bolivar, the president and liberator ; which, as a 
 manual of political science, may vie with the celebrated docu- 
 ment that closed the political carcer of Washington. Morillo 
 and the armies from Old Spain, acted, during the latter part 
 of the year, intirely on the defensive: the reinforcements, 
 which had been collected at Cadiz, were put into vessels at 
 that port, but were soon afterwards disembarked on account of 
 a spirit of disaffection which appeared among them; so that 
 the beloved Ferdinand had now a certain prospect before him 
 of losing his transatlantic dominions. 
 
 Among the few domestic events of this year, the most 
 memorable one is the birth of that princess who now rules over 
 the affectionate and loyal people of Great Britain, on the 
 twenty-fourth of May. The metropolis acquired a con- 
 siderable addition of ornament and convenience from the 
 opening of the Burlington Arcade, and the noble iron-bridge 
 thrown over the Thames, to form anew communication between 
 the city and the borough of Southwark : in this case, however, 
 as in that of the magnificent bridge of Waterloo, the specula- 
 tion, which was intirely one of private individuals, turned out 
 a complete failure :8 in both instances, it was discovered, that 
 a large majority of the people preferred the indirect expense 
 arising from the loss of an hour’s time, and the waste of shoe- 
 leather, to the direct and positive tax of one penny ; a fact, 
 from which they whose business it is to tax the nation may take 
 a useful lesson. In this year, Mr, Telford began the construc- 
 tion of that magnificent suspension-bridge, which hangs over 
 Menai Strait; and Mr. Perkins, of Philadelphia, introduced 
 into this country a mode of engraving on softened steel, which, 
 when hardened, will multiply impressions to an almost inde- 
 finite extent. 
 
 8 The £100 shares of the latter, and the £50 shares of the former, 
 were soon to be purchased at the price of about £2 each. 
 
78 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 GEORGE IV.—1820. 
 
 Death of the duke of Kent and of George III.—Ascension of George 
 IV.—Declaration, &c.— His alarming illness—Message respecting 
 the dissolution of parliament, &c.—Mr. Hume’s embarrassing 
 question respecting the queen—The chancellor's speech—Thistle- 
 wood’s conspiracy—Trial and execution of the conspirators— 
 Popular discontent—Meetings at Huddersfield, Glasgow, &c.— 
 Elections—Meeting of parliament, &c.—Motion respecting the 
 borough of Grampound--Bills for amending our criminal code— 
 Failure of Mr. Brougham’s education bill—Motion for a com- 
 mittee on the corn laws carried— Motion for a committee respect- 
 ing free trade—Civil list and financial statement—A ffairs of the 
 queen—Her arrival in England—-Proceedings against her in par- 
 liament, &c.—Her loss of popularity—Death of the duchess of 
 York-—-Return of captain Parry from the north seas—Revolu- 
 tions, &«, in foreign states. 
 
 Tue protracted existence of the venerable monarch who had so 
 long swayed the British sceptre was now drawing to a close: 
 in November his health underwent a considerable change ; 
 and though for a time alarming symptoms were removed, yet 
 a general decay of the constitution ensued, which portended 
 dissolution at no distant period. On the twenty-first of 
 January died, after a short illness, the duke of Kent; leaving 
 behind him the character of a charitable, humane prince, and 
 an infant daughter, Alexandrina Victoria, who soon became 
 presumptive heiress to the British throne. Eight days had 
 scarcely elapsed before his venerable father expired, without 
 a struggle, on the twenty-ninth of January, in the eighty- 
 second year of his age, and the sixtieth of his reign: happily 
 for him, he was not, as sometimes happens to those who labor 
 under similar disorders, visited by a ray of returning reason, 
 which would only have served to make him conscious of the 
 desolation of his last moments: yet, though the latter part of 
 his life had been a blank, his people, over whom he so long 
 swayed a sceptre unstained by cruelty or crime, never lost 
 sight of him: their interest had not been wearied by his long 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IY. 79 
 
 seclusion, nor had their love expired in the flood of victories 
 that distinguished the regency: the influence of his character, 
 in preserving this nation from the contagion of French prin- 
 ciples, the steady progress which civil and religious liberty 
 had made under his auspices, the desire which he had ever 
 shown to improve the moral and intellectual condition of his 
 people, still lived in their memory, and taught them to feel, 
 when he descended into the grave, that a benefactor and a 
 father had departed. 
 
 The acquisition of the crown by George IV. effected nothing 
 more than a change in the title under which he had long 
 governed the empire. The glories of his regency had eclipsed 
 the splendor of preceding reigns; and his elevation, at an 
 epoch of great national distress, seemed to forebode only a 
 melancholy contrast between the foreign triumphs of his early 
 government and the domestic troubles by which they were 
 soon succeeded :. besides, to himself individually the assump- 
 tion of this new dignity was followed by perplexities of no 
 common magnitude: the results of an ill-judged marriage first 
 alienated from him the aflection of his people, who, with 
 natural sympathy for an injured and helpless female, never for- 
 gave his original neglect and subsequent hostility toward his 
 consort; but the period of his accession to the throne, when 
 he was induced to extend the limits of that hostility, gave her 
 an opportunity of retaliation, which she did not fail to exercise ; 
 and it was left to him to discover—/furens quid feemina possit. 
 
 The first public act of the new sovereign was to summon a 
 council, at which the credentials of office, having been surren- 
 dered by the officers of the crown, were immediately restored 
 to their former possessors ; and all the privy-councillors in at- 
 tendance being sworn members of the new board, took their 
 places accordingly : his majesty then made a declaration, in 
 which, after having feelingly alluded to the demise of his 
 father, and his own long exercise of the royal prerogative, he 
 observed, ‘that nothing but the support which he had received 
 from parliament and the country, in times most eventful, and 
 circumstances most arduous, could inspire him with that con- 
 fidence which his present situation demanded : he trusted, that 
 experience of the past might satisfy all classes of his people 
 that it would ever be his anxious endeavor to promote their 
 prosperity and happiness, as well as to maintain unimpaired the 
 religion, law and liberties of the kingdom.’ 
 
 At the humble request of the council, this declaration was 
 nade public; and on Monday, the thirty-first, the king was 
 
80 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 proclaimed, with the usual forms, under the portico of the 
 palace, and afterwards at Charing-cross, Temple-bar, and other 
 stations: on the same day, also, the members of parliament 
 were sworn in, when they immediately adjourned to the seven- 
 teenth of February: during this recess, however, distressing 
 reports arose concerning his majesty’s health, which had 
 suffered, not only from a rapid succession of domestic afflictions, 
 but from personal exposure to inclement weather at his procla- 
 mation, which took place before he had completely recovered 
 from a fit of the gout. A severe inflammation of the chest, the 
 same disease which had lately proved fatal to his brother, 
 created alarm among his medical attendants; but the melan- 
 choly foreboding, which originated from this seeming fatality, 
 was happily not realised: his majesty was declared out of 
 danger after little more than a week; but a considerable time 
 elapsed before his health was re-established ; so that, when the 
 obsequies of his royal father were celebrated, on the sixteenth 
 of February, at Windsor, amidst a concourse of the great and 
 noble of the land, the highest of them was not present; but 
 the duke of York sustained the character of chief mourner. 
 According to the principles of our constitution, the demise 
 of the crown is followed by a dissolution of parliament within 
 the next six months: when the two houses therefore assembled, 
 a royal message announced an immediate design of calling a 
 new parliament, and invited them to concur in the necessary 
 arrangements for carrying on the public service during the in- 
 terval. Loyal addresses, suitable to the occasion, were unani- 
 mously voted; and next day ministers obtained a pledge, that 
 the desired measures for the wants of government should be 
 adopted: when the requisite votes of money, however, were 
 proposed in the commons, Mr. Hume took occasion to intro- 
 duce a very embarrassing subject to their notice: by his 
 majesty’s command, in the necessary alteration of the form of 
 prayer for the royal family, the name of her, who was legally 
 become queen-consort, had been omitted ; and the honorable 
 member, having taunted ministers with their care to avoid allu- 
 sion to her case, now desired to know what provision, out of 
 the grant on the civil list, was intended for her support: as 
 princess of Wales, her former allowance had of course ceased 
 on the late king’s demise; and he asked, if she, as queen of 
 Great Britain, was to be left to wander in beggary through 
 foreign lands ; or whether parliament would méke a suitable 
 provision for the maintenance of her dignified station. Lord 
 Castlereagh endeavored to evade this delicate question, and 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 81 
 
 elude an acknowlegement of the queen’s title, by assuring the 
 house, that the exalted personage under consideration should 
 suffer no pecuniary difficulties: but Mr. Tierney, in reply, by 
 commenting on the omission of her majesty’s name from the 
 Liturgy, on the rumours in circulation regarding her, and on 
 the report of a commission sent abroad to collect evidence 
 against her character, strove to force ministers into a direct 
 consideration of the question; concluding by a declaration, that 
 he would not consent to vote one shilling of the public money 
 until they should either afford some explanation of the 
 charges against her majesty, or pronounce her title in that 
 house. 
 
 This speech was not more embarrassing to administration 
 than to the queen’s friends; especially to Mr. Brougham, her 
 legal adviser: accordingly he endeavored to waive the subject 
 intirely ; refusing to admit that her title and right as queen- 
 consort stood in need of any recognition by parliament; seeing 
 nothing to prevent an advance of money to her majesty from 
 the civil list, though her name should not be introduced; and 
 deprecating any allusion to charges of which he knew nothing, 
 but which, if they existed, the house might suppose, from her 
 majesty’s previous readiness to meet accusation, that she would 
 not be slow to repel : after renewed attempts therefore by Mr. 
 Tierney and others to provoke farther discussion, the vote was 
 suffered to pass without a division; and when ministers had 
 obtained the requisite authority for continuing the public pay- 
 ments, parliament was dissolved by commission on the twenty- 
 eighth of February. The lord chancellor, in his speech on this 
 occasion, after alluding to his majesty’s disappointment in being 
 prevented by indisposition from meeting them personally, for 
 the purpose of expressing his sense of their important services, 
 referred, in vindication of their late enactments, to a flagrant 
 and sanguinary conspiracy which had just been detected, and 
 which was sufficient to open the eyes of the most incredulous 
 to the present dangers of the country. 
 
 The conspiracy thus glanced at was one of the most despe- 
 rate that could have been conceived by bad men for the worst 
 of purposes; its object being to overturn the government, and 
 involve our national affairs in irremediable confusion, by an 
 assassination of all the cabinet ministers. ‘The chief leader in 
 this diabolical plot was the notorious Arthur Thistlewood, who 
 had once served as a subaltern officer in the West Indies; and, 
 after imbibing republican principles in America, had confirmed 
 them by a residence in France during the worst era of the reyo- 
 
 ENG. XVI. G 
 
82 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CA. Lz. 
 
 lution: as an aceomplice of the elder Watson, he had been 
 tried with that demagogue; and on his acquittal, he sent a 
 challenge to lord Sidmouth; for which offence he had been 
 sentenced to a fine and imprisonment: when liberated, he seems 
 to have cherished a deep-seated thirst of revenge, and to have 
 devoted his whole time to the accomplishment of that purpose ; 
 associating with the most depraved among the lowest classes, and 
 gathering round him a number of individuals as desperate and 
 reckless as himself. Of his immediate accomplices, the princi- 
 pal were Ings, a butcher; Davison, a creole; Brunt and Tidd, 
 shoe-makers: these, with a number of other desperadoes, de- 
 termined, after a series of meetings, that the distress under 
 which they were laboring was no longer to be endured, and 
 that delay was useless: accordingly they fixed on Wednesday, 
 the twenty-third of February, for the explosion of their design ; 
 and on the preceding Sunday made the following arrange- 
 ments :—forty or fifty of the gang were to devote themselves 
 to the task of assassinating his majesty’s ministers, under a 
 pledge of forfeiting their own lives in case of failure through 
 want of address or resolution; while other detachments were 
 simultaneously to seize on the field-pieces at the Artillery- 
 ground, and at the London Light-horse Station in Gray’s Inn- 
 lane: possessed of these, they were to occupy the Mansion- 
 house, as the palace of the provisional government: the bank 
 was to be attacked; and the metropolis to be fired at several 
 points. Similar meetings were held on Monday and Thursday ; 
 on which latter day, an accomplice, named Edwards, assured 
 Thistlewood, that a cabinet dinner would be given on the 
 morrow, at lord Harrowby’s house in Grosvenor-square; and 
 all doubts on the subject being removed by the announcement 
 of this entertainment in the public papers, the chief conspirator 
 exultingly observed,—‘ As there has not been a dinner for a 
 great length of time, there will no doubt be fourteen or sixteen 
 present ; and it will bea rare haul to despatch them altogether.’ 
 Pursuant to the plan of operations, it was agreed, that a single 
 conspirator should go with a note addressed to lord Harrowby ; 
 when, the outer door being opened, others should rush in; - 
 one party should then proceed to seize and bind the domestics, 
 while another effected an entrance into the room containing the 
 ministers, and perpetrated the horrid massacre; an injunction 
 having been laid on these murderers, that they should bring 
 away the heads of lords Castlereagh and Sidmouth as trophies 
 of their success. From lord Harrowby’s mansion, a few of the 
 number were to repair instantly to the barracks in King-street, 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 83 
 
 Portman-square, where, after firing the straw dépét, they were 
 to co-operate with the rest in executing the other parts of the 
 scheme already detailed: in the mean time, strict watch was 
 kept on the mansion in Grosvenor-square, in order to ascertain 
 whether any of the police or military entered it, or were con- 
 cealed in its vicinity: the whole day was consumed in prepa- 
 rations; arms and ammunition were provided, and proclama- 
 tions written, ready to be affixed to those edifices which were 
 devoted to the flames. During this awful period, the infatuated 
 wretches crept toward their place of rendezvous; and by six 
 o'clock all had assembled within a stable situated in an obscure 
 street, called Cato-street, near the Edgeware-read: this build- 
 ing, which they had lately hired, comprised two upper rooms, 
 with an ascent by a ladder; and in the largest of these, having 
 previously placed a sentinel below, the conspirators were seen, 
 by the glimmering light of one or two small candles, adjusting 
 their accoutrements, and exulting in the speedy prospect of a 
 bloody revenge. 
 
 Among the assassins was a pretended colleague, but in 
 reality a spy; the above-named Edwards, who had for some 
 time been in the pay of government, and had given regular in- 
 _ telligence to his employers of all matters connected with this 
 plot. Every precaution, therefore, was adopted by ministers 
 to lull suspicion : the apparent preparations for lord Harrowby’s 
 banquet were continued till eight o’clock in the evening; so 
 that the conspirators might be detected with arms in their 
 hands: to effect this, a party of police, under the direction of 
 Mr. Birnie, the magistrate, proceeded to the place of rendez- 
 vous, where it was intended that a detachment of the Cold-. 
 stream guards should be ready to support them. About eight 
 o’clock, the constables arrived, before the military; when, 
 having entered the building, and ascended the ladder, they 
 surprised the gang, on the very point of starting to execute 
 their detestable purpose: they were all ordered to surrender ; 
 and Smithers, an active police officer, rushing forward to secure 
 the ringleader, was pierced to the heart by his sword, and fell : 
 the lights were then extinguished, and the conflict became 
 general; while some of the gang dashed down the ladder, as 
 the officers grappled with them ; and others forced their way 
 out of a window in the back of the loft. At this juncture, 
 captain Frederic Fitzclurence, with a detachment of thirty 
 guards, came up, and secured one of the gang in the act of es- 
 caping, who presented a pistol; but its aim was averted by 
 serjeant Legge, whom it wounded in the discharge : the captain 
 
84 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CH. Lx. 
 
 then ordered his men to follow him into the stable; but his 
 entrance was opposed by a man of color, who aimed a blow at 
 him with a cutlass, which one of the soldiers warded off by his 
 musket: this ruffian also was secured; when the whole party 
 entered the stable, and mounted the loft, where five more 
 conspirators were captured: but darkness so favoured the 
 flight of these wretches, that nine only were taken. Thistle- 
 wood effected his escape that night; but, in consequence of a 
 reward of £1000 being offered for his apprehension, he was 
 seized next morning in bed ; and some others were apprehended 
 during the two following days: all these prisoners were com- 
 mitted to the Tower. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh of March, true bills, on a charge of 
 high treason, were returned against eleven of the conspirators : 
 on the seventeenth of the next month, Thistlewood was 
 arraigned, and, after a trial of three days, condemned, chiefly 
 on the testimony of Adams, one of the party who was allowed 
 to turn king’s evidence: Ings, Tidd, Brunt, and Davison also 
 were severally tried and convicted: the other six, being per- 
 mitted to withdraw their original plea, now confessed their 
 guilt; when five were sentenced to transportation for life ; and 
 the sixth, who appeared to have been ignorant of the purpose 
 of the meeting in Cato-street, received a free pardon. The 
 throng of spectators at the execution of the first five criminals 
 was immense ; and no little disgust was excited by the horrid 
 spectacle of their mangled and decapitated remains: the time 
 occupied in this business of hanging and mutilation was near 
 an hour and a quarter; during which period, regiments of 
 cavalry lined the adjacent streets; strong bodies of the mili- 
 tary being disposed in various parts of the metropolis, as they 
 had been during the trial. It is melancholy to relate that the 
 man of color was the only one of these criminals who mani- 
 fested any compunction, or religious penitence for his crimes : 
 Thistlewood and the other three died with great hardihood, 
 glorying in their design, regretting only its failure, and declaring 
 themselves martyrs to the prostituted name of liberty: so 
 odious indeed to the multitude was that melancholy transaction, 
 denominated the ‘ Manchester massacre,’ which at the bar they 
 professed it was their intention to avenge, that many who 
 witnessed the punishment could not refrain from indulging in 
 strong expressions of sympathy for the criminals. 
 
 This was a dreadful but an isolated crime ; nor was there any 
 reason for connecting it with the political commotions of the 
 preceding year, and casting such a stigma on the national 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 85 
 
 character ; though, no doubt, the general feeling of discontent, 
 now prevalent, was the foundation on which the conspirators 
 expected ultimate success: this discontent, with which the 
 manufacturing districts of the north had been long agitated, 
 broke out during the spring into several overt acts of rebellion, 
 so as to give alarming proofs,of the extension of popular 
 frenzy. In the west riding of Yorkshire, midnight training, 
 the collection of fire-arms, and the manufacture of pikes, had 
 continued through the winter; but when the appointed time 
 for a general insurrection arrived, two or three hundred mal- 
 contents only had assembled in arms near Huddersfield ; and 
 these fled in consternation at the rumored approach of a detach- 
 ment of cavalry, leaving behind them a green standard and a 
 number of pikes. 
 
 In Scotland, the efforts of the disaffected were more 
 alarming: at Glasgow, numbers of artisans, who were desirous 
 of pursuing their avocations apart from the noisy turmoil of 
 political convulsions, had been so repeatedly menaced by the © 
 favorers of riot and confusion, that they saw no hope of per- 
 severing in a peaceable line of conduct, without compromising 
 the safety of themselves and their families : this panic was still 
 farther increased on Sunday, the second of April, by a 
 treasonable proclamation posted on the city walls, and sup- 
 posed to emanate from ‘the committee for the formation of a 
 provisional government,’ recommending the master manu- 
 facturers to suspend employment till order should be restored 
 by the organisation alluded to: it farther enjoined all parties 
 to desist from business, and denounced as traitors any who 
 should attempt to resist the projected amelioration of the state. 
 In consequence of this inflammatory placard, the weavers and 
 colliers of Glasgow and Paisley declined to work on Monday; 
 when the example spread through various other branches of 
 trade : several cotton mills, which commenced their usual busi- 
 ness, were obliged to desist by threatening visits ; and the streets 
 were crowded with loitering artisans, all in a strange state of 
 idleness and expectation of the forthcoming mysterious revolu- 
 tion: as the promoters of it, however, did not appear, many 
 were inclined to ascribe the whole to political espionnage ; 
 especially as the people then congregated made no attempt to 
 disturb the public tranquillity ; seeming to be actuated more 
 by motives of curiosity, and dread of secret agitators, than by 
 any revolutionary zeal or desire of change. 
 
 Resistance however to authority did show itself on one 
 occasion ; when a private of the Stirling yeomanry, proceed- 
 
86 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 ing from Kilsyth to Falkirk, fell in with a radical crew, who 
 demanded his arms: refusing, however, to surrender them, 
 and escaping several shots, he returned to his former quarters 
 at Kilsyth; whence the commanding officer immediately 
 detached. a party of cavalry to scour the road, and clear it of 
 insurgents: these in the mean time had been considerably 
 reinforced ; and, having found arms as well as food in the 
 neighboring houses, posted themselves advantageously on a 
 rising ground at Bonnymuir; though they subsequently aban- 
 doned it on the approach of the cavalry, and sought the protec- 
 tion of a wall ; behind this, they opened a fire on their assailants, 
 from whose charge they were also defended by the boggy 
 nature of the ground: hence the soldiers were obliged to make 
 a circuitous approach to a gap, where readier means of access 
 appeared; which movement being perceived by the others, 
 they ran in haste to dispute the passage, but the greater part 
 hurried off to their respective homes; while of those who 
 made a show of resistance, many were severely wounded, and 
 nineteen captured. ‘The majority of those implicated in this 
 petty insurrection had arrived that morning from Glasgow, 
 expecting to find a large multitude of associates, drawn 
 according to a preconcerted plan from the neighboring dis- 
 tricts: their intention, as it appeared, was to seize on the 
 Carron iron-works ; equip themselves there with arms, espe- 
 cially with artillery; and thence institute a regular plan of 
 operations : but the judicious arrangements of the magistrates, 
 aided by the military, intirely frustrated their combinations ; 
 so that, instead of the four or five thousand expected to muster 
 at Bonnymuir, not a hundred came: all open rebellion, there- 
 fore, was crushed ; in a few days, the storm passed over ; and 
 tranquillity succeeded to this political commotion. <A special 
 commission ,being appointed to try the offenders, numerous - 
 convictions took place; but the royal clemency was extended 
 to all except three persons, one of them long known as a pro- 
 moter of sedition, and the other two captured in open conflict 
 with the cavalry: the behaviour of these delinquents at their 
 execution differed much from that of Thistlewood and his 
 coadjutors; for they exhibited a deep contrition for their 
 political guilt, and were sensibly affected by religious feelings. 
 
 Meanwhile, the elections, though in many cases marked by 
 strong party contests, proceeded without any acts of outrageous 
 violence; the opposition gained a very slight accession to its 
 numbers, and the new parliament appeared likely to take the 
 complexion of that which preceded it. On the twenty-first of 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 87 
 
 April, its members began to assemble, and were occupied in 
 taking the requisite oaths till the twenty-third; on which day 
 Mr. Manners Sutton was unanimously re-chosen speaker: on 
 the twenty-seventh, his majesty opened the. first session in 
 person, declaring in his speech, that he should follow his 
 father’s example in solicitude for the welfare of the nation; 
 that economy should be observed in the public expenditure ; 
 and that the regal dignity should be supported without any 
 additional burdens on the people: he expressed a determina- 
 tion to maintain public peace and tranquillity ; lamented the 
 pressure of distress, aggravated as it was by a spirit of sedition ; 
 and concluded with a hope, that the misguided multitude might 
 be brought back to a proper sense of their errors. The king 
 appeared on this occasion in good spirits, though not in strong 
 health: the crowds assembled were unprecedented ; and he 
 was loudly cheered, both in his progress to the house and on 
 his return; but the most anxious period of his reign was fast 
 approaching. 
 
 One of the first acts of the legislature referred to a subject 
 of vital importance to the constitution: proof having been 
 established of the venality and corruption prevailing in Gram- 
 pound, lord John Russell had brought forward a bill last 
 session for the purpose of disfranchising that borough, and 
 transferring its elective privilege to Leeds: he now resumed 
 the prosecution of this measure ; and all necessary preliminaries 
 being adjusted, a second reading was moved on the nineteenth 
 of May. Though scarcely any opposition manifested itself 
 against the merited punishment of a disreputable borough, in 
 which, as one of its corporate body observed, by way of pallia- 
 tion, ‘there might perhaps be two or three voters who had 
 taken no bribes ;’ yet, with regard to the disposal of its elective 
 privileges, much conflict of opinion arose: but before the house 
 could arrive at any decision on the subject, eventful circum- 
 stances occurred, which completely engrossed its attention, and 
 annihilated, as it were, all other interest. 
 
 The noble mover of the bill, however, feeling secure that 
 this vile borough would no longer disgrace the representation 
 of the country, triumphantly exclaimed :—‘ Alas, the glory of 
 Grampound is gone for ever! the electors will no more have 
 the pleasure of witnessing an honorable baronet sending, from 
 pure motives of charity, confidential agents to relieve their 
 distresses, and minister to their wants: no more shall they be 
 delighted with the gratifying spectacle of the merchants of 
 London contending for the honor of representing them in par- 
 
88 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, Lx. 
 
 liament: never again shall they have the satisfaction of almost 
 murdering those who had the hardihood to propound to them 
 the bribery oath!’ This mock lamentation was cheered by all 
 the friends of reform, and hailed as a favorable omen of the 
 general sense of the house on the subject. 
 
 At this period, sir James Mackintosh, who had already 
 devoted much of his time and profound knowlege of jurispru- 
 dence to the renewed plan for amending our criminal code, 
 moved for leave to bring in six bills, founded on the sugges- 
 tions of the committee appointed to consider that important 
 subject last session. ‘Three out of these six, after much and 
 lengthened discussion, especially in the upper house, finally 
 passed into laws: the first was, to repeal the act by which 
 ~ private stealing in shops, to the value of forty shillings, was 
 made punishable by death; but, on the suggestion of the lord 
 chancellor, that penalty was retained against those who should 
 so steal to an amount exceeding ten pounds: the second went 
 to repeal certain acts, which visited with capital punishment a 
 class of actions which could hardly be considered as constituting 
 moral guilt: by these, it had been rendered a capital crime 
 for an Egyptian to remain one year within the realm; so also 
 for notorious thieves to reside in Cumberland or Northumber- 
 land; and for any one to be found disguised in the Mint, or 
 injuring Westminster-bridge: the third bill repealed various 
 clauses in certain acts, which constituted the offences specified 
 in them capital; and which, by this amended act, would be 
 converted from capital into simple felonies. Of the offences 
 thus modified were the taking away any maid, wife, or widow, 
 for the sake of her fortune; the receiving of stolen goods; the 
 destroying of trees, breaking down banks of rivers, or wounding 
 cattle; the sending of threatening letters; and all capital 
 offences created by the marriage act and laws of bankruptcy : 
 to these several crimes, differing as they did in consequence, 
 was attached, as the law yet stood, the indiscriminate penalty 
 of death: this, however, with certain exceptions in special 
 cases, was now altered to transportation, imprisonment, or hard 
 labor, within the discretionary powers of the court: thus, the 
 statute-book of England was purified from many grievous 
 stains; several gross anomalies, offensive both to reason and to 
 justice, were rectified ; and unfading wreaths of civic glory 
 adorn the busts of Romilly and Mackintosh. A bill for 
 amending the marriage act, by giving validity retrospectively, 
 in certain cases of hardship, to marriages invalid by the existing 
 law, was read a second time in the lords, but was successfully 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 89 
 
 resisted, on the motion made for its re-commitment ; chiefly 
 through the arguments of the lord chancellor. 
 
 Mr. Brougham, having rendered an important service to his 
 country by efforts to establish a system for detecting and reme- 
 dying abuses in charitable funds and establishments, now 
 brought forward his celebrated plan for the education of the 
 poor: but this subject, embracing so much to interest the feel- 
 ings of society, and opening so large a field for discussion, was 
 not destined to obtain the concurrence of parties: though the 
 object in view was generally admitted to be desirable, many 
 were the obstacles in the way of its accomplishment, when 
 almost every class of men had some objection to offer; the 
 main difficulty, however, and that which is thought principally 
 to have determined its author to abandon it, arose from the 
 dissenters ; to whom it appeared, that some enactments of the 
 bill originated in imperfect information respecting that class of 
 persons ; and they thought it strange, that a liberal statesman 
 should have paid so little regard, not only to their numbers, 
 property, and intelligence, but to their moral and religious cha- 
 racter, as to subject the whole matter to the management of 
 the established clergy: the progress of this measure was 
 watched assiduously by the committee of the Protestant Society 
 for the Protection of Religious Liberty, which also sent a 
 deputation to confer with its author on those clauses which 
 were thought objectionable ; and the consequence was, that the 
 bill, after having been read for the first time on the eleventh 
 of July, was altogether abandoned. ‘This failure, however, 
 had no effect in damping Mr. Brougham’s ardor in the cause 
 of education: on the contrary, it served rather to give addi- 
 tional zeal to his endeavors in promoting the same benevolent 
 object by other and better-digested methods. 
 
 Another resolution of importance, moved by Mr. Holme 
 Sumner, was for a select committee to take into consideration 
 the agricultural state of the country: the table of the house 
 was loaded with petitions from all quarters, complaining of dis- 
 tress on this score ; and their general prayer was for additional 
 restrictions : previous efforts to maintain prices at an unnatural 
 height had all failed: the depression in the value of produce 
 still continued ; and the general cry of the agriculturists, eager 
 to avert from themselves an evil which was in fact inevitable, 
 was now for a high permanent duty in place of a limited pro- 
 hibition: such views, however, were not entertained with 
 similar complacency by the classes engaged in_ manufactures 
 and commerce; who, feeling equally the pressure of the 
 
90 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 times, anticipated no alleviation, but rather increased suffering, 
 from any measure, however plausible, which tended to raise 
 the price of corn. 
 
 Debates resulting from this motion of the honorable member 
 for Surrey occupied much time and attention: it was seconded 
 by Mr. Western, and supported by Mr. Gooch, both county 
 members, who repeated the statement, that without protection 
 our agriculturists were unable to compete with foreign growers ; 
 that the act of 1815 had afforded them little or no such pro- 
 tection ; and that some measures more effectual were indispen- 
 sable, though the speakers themselves declined to suggest 
 them. Mr. F. Robinson, then president of the board of trade, 
 deprecated the motion, as tending to excite hopes which could 
 not be fulfilled: he ridiculed the absurdity of imagining, that 
 any acts of legislation could alter the depression, while not 
 even the prohibition of imports had been able to raise prices to 
 the protected level ; and he blamed the unreasonable spirit and 
 latent objects of the agriculturists, who, in declining to name a 
 specific remedy, had either none to suggest, or only the 
 monstrous proposition, which had been already broached, 
 of a permanent duty of forty shillings: he was followed in the 
 debate by Messrs. Baring and Ricardo; the latter of whom, 
 celebrated for his profound knowlege of political economy, 
 entered into a luminous exposition of the principles of that 
 science, condemning all restrictions on the freedom of the corn 
 trade as injurious in their tendency. 
 
 After a lengthened discussion, however, the party belonging 
 to the landed interest in the house prevailed, and the motion 
 for a committee was carried; but next evening ministers col- 
 lected all their forces, and succeeded in neutralising its effect, 
 by proposing that its inquiries should be limited to the best 
 mode of ascertaining the weekly average of corn prices: this 
 indeed was denounced by the other party as a bare-faced trick 
 to annul the vote of the preceding night; but it passed by a 
 large majority, and every material alteration of the corn laws 
 was deferred for a season. ‘To all that were disinterested on 
 the subject, it seemed, that no immediate remedy for existing 
 evils could be devised; and that the only hope in this general 
 distress must arise from the lenient hand of time, and continu- 
 ance of peace; when a perseverance in rigid economy and 
 careful retrenchment might authorise a gradual diminution of 
 taxation, and an increase of foreign demand might carry off our 
 abundant supplies of merchandise: indeed, a commercial ques- 
 tion of still greater importance than that which had lately 
 
A.D. 1820. |. GEORGE IV. 91 
 
 occupied the house, was at this period introduced by petitions 
 from the cities of London and Glasgow, in favor of free trade. 
 The comparative stagnation of foreign commerce since the 
 peace, and the desire of giving a new impulse to its activity at 
 any risks, "had occasioned:a general repugnance among mercan- 
 tile men to that system of international restrictions, under 
 which our trade had formerly been supposed to florish with ex- 
 traordinary vigor: the general advantages of unrestricted com- 
 merce had for some time been recognised by political econo- 
 nomists; but the doctrine was little relished by British 
 merchants, so long as this country, by her maritime superiority 
 during seasons of war, had enjoyed a monopoly: it appeared 
 also, notwithstanding many strong arguments based on abstract 
 and philosophical principles, to be a doubtful point, which 
 could be resolved only by experience, whether a state, so 
 favored by maritime position and superior enterprise as to have 
 gained the carrying-trade of the world, can profit by admitting 
 others to a participation of its advantages; more especially 
 when the exertions of that state, which has acquired such a 
 superiority, are clogged by financial difficulties, from which 
 its rivals are comparatively free: whatever weight may be due 
 to these considerations, it is certain, that at this time the oppo- 
 site opinions had gained hold extensively, not only on political 
 economists, but on mercantile men themselves; and that they 
 were not discouraged by the leading members of administra- 
 tion. 
 
 The petition of the London merchants was presented to the 
 house of commons by Mr. A. Baring, one of the most eminent 
 men of their community both for wealth and intelligence, who 
 prefaced it with an able and well-digested speech ; the main 
 scope of which was to impress on the house the doctrine, that 
 freedom from restriction is calculated to give the utmost exten- 
 sion to foreign trade, as well as the best direction to capital 
 and industry ; while the maxim, of buying in the cheapest 
 market and selling in the dearest, which regulates an indi- 
 vidual merchant, is strictly applicable, as the best rule, to the 
 trade of the whole nation: no formal motion, however, on the 
 subject was entertained by the commons during this session ; 
 but in the house of lords the propriety of a change in our com- 
 mercial policy was formally suggested by lord Lansdowne on 
 the twenty-sixth of May. After an able speech, the leading 
 principles of which were directed to the abolition of all duties 
 absolutely prohibitory, to a relaxation of our navigation laws, 
 to the cultivation of trade with France, and to the opening of 
 
92 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 East Indian monopoly,—he concluded by moving for a select 
 committee of inquiry on the means of extending and securing 
 the foreign trade of this country. 
 
 This proposal elicited a remarkable speech from the earl of 
 Liverpool, in which his lordship, as head of the administration, 
 gave assent to the principles of free trade ; expressing his belief, 
 that it would have been better for the world if those principles 
 had always been acted on; and advising the recognition of 
 such exceptions only, as the actual policy of the world and ex- 
 isting laws of this country dictated: for instance, he defended 
 the continuance of protection to the British growers of corn, as 
 well as to persons engaged in the silk trade : the peculiar situa- 
 tion of Ireland also, in his opinion, demanded hesitation before 
 duties were removed from foreign linen, by which the chief 
 manufacture of that island was protected: but, with a general 
 caution on these and some other details, he gave his cordial 
 assent to the proposal for a committee; and the motion was 
 unanimously carried. 
 
 The civil list, after the rejection of a motion for inquiry 
 made by lord John Russell, was settled at £1,057,000; and 
 on the nineteenth of June the chancellor of the exchequer pro- 
 duced his financial statement. In the army estimates there 
 was an increase of £804,000, owing to the augmentation of 
 force required by the peculiar state of the country: the esti- 
 mate also of naval expenditure went beyond that of the pre- 
 ceding year by £150,000, being calculated at £5,586,000 ; 
 while the sum total for the service of the year, including the 
 interest of the debt, was estimated at £50,500,000. The ways 
 and means proposed to meet this enormous expenditure, were, 
 exclusive of permanent revenues, a continuation of the custo- 
 mary annual taxes, amounting to £3,000,000 sterling; the 
 sum of £2,500,000, from the produce of temporary excise 
 duties, which had remained in force since the war; £240,000 
 arising from the lottery ; £260,000 from old naval stores; ex- 
 chequer bills for £7,000,000, to be funded ; and £12,000,000, 
 taken from that sacred depository, the sinking fund. 
 
 All questions, however, financial, commercial, or political, 
 were at this period interrupted by the arrival of queen Caro- 
 line from Italy, whither she had retired from persecution by 
 the advice of Mr. Canning, in 1814. The whole cabinet, as 
 well as the king, was thrown into consternation by this event; 
 all preparations which had been made for his majesty’s corona- 
 tion were deferred ; and the public mind soon became engaged 
 by one exciting and engrossing topic, the mutual declaration of 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 93 
 
 war between George IV. and his consort: it is necessary, how- 
 ever, to a right understanding of this contest, that some pre- 
 vious movements should be detailed. : 
 
 While the high personage in question was occupied in tra- 
 velling, her name seldom appeared before the public, except 
 in casual extracts from some foreign journals: but though the 
 multitude seemed to be regardless almost of her existence, 
 subsequent disclosures showed that the conduct of her royal 
 highness had been strictly scrutinised, and inquiries instituted, 
 in order to ascertain, if possible, what credit was due to reports 
 which, if true, would fix the most degrading stigma on her 
 character; since she was charged with no less an offence than 
 that of living in open adultery with an Italian courier, named 
 Bergami, whom she had raised from that low station to the 
 first office in her household. Accordingly, our government 
 thought proper to send commissioners to several German and 
 Italian states, for the purpose of collecting evidence respecting 
 this conduct; but their reports were not divulged; nor were 
 any measures of publicity adopted, arising out of information 
 thus obtained. 
 
 In consequence, however, of such movements, it is supposed 
 that Mr. Brougham, the princess’s legal and confidential 
 adviser, made a proposal, in June, 1819, to lord Liverpool, 
 that the income of £35,000 per annum, at that time enjoyed 
 by her royal highness, but which was to expire on the demise 
 of George ILI., should be secured to her for life, provided she 
 consented to reside constantly abroad, without ever assuming 
 the rank and title of queen: this singular proposition was 
 stated at the time to be made without the authority, or even 
 knowlege of the princess; but the reply from government 
 signified, that no indisposition would be felt, at the proper 
 season, to give due attention to its terms, provided they re- 
 ceived the sanction of her royal highness. Thus the negotiation 
 terminated for the present: but when, by the accession of 
 George IV., his consort became de facto queen of Great 
 Britain, it then seemed necessary, that some line of conduct 
 should be taken regarding her, which might prevent disclo- 
 sures that were on all accounts to be deprecated: a compro- 
 mise, therefore, founded on Mr. Brougham’s former proposal, 
 was submitted to that gentleman, to be transmitted to the 
 princess; and in lieu of £35,000, it was now proposed that 
 she should receive £50,000 per annum, on condition of her 
 renouncing the royal title, and residing permanently out of 
 the realm: by some fatality, however, the document contain- 
 
94 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Sp. 2m: 
 
 ing this proposal was never communicated to the principal 
 ay! concerned ; while the great distance which separated 
 Mr. Brougham from his illustrious client offered an insuperable 
 bar to that prompt despatch which was desirable on so import- 
 ant an occasion, ‘The queen, who had been making an 
 excursion into the French dominions, returned to Tuscany in 
 the beginning of February, 1820; at which period no official 
 intelligence had reached her of the death of George III. ; so 
 that she became apprised of that event only by the public 
 journals, which also indicated the omission of her name in the 
 liturgy : toward the end of the same month, she visited Rome, 
 where she immediately assumed her royal title, and demanded 
 a guard of honor from the papal government: in reply to 
 which requisition, cardinal Gonsalvi stated, that having re- 
 ceived no official communication on this subject from the king 
 or his ministers, his holiness did not know that the queen of 
 England was in Rome, and consequently could not grant her a 
 guard of honor. 
 
 Incensed by this answer, her majesty drew up a narrative, 
 dated March 16, describing the various insults she had re- 
 ceived from foreign courts, particularly from that of Vienna, 
 and the representatives of the court of Hanover; by which 
 she had been driven to the necessity of selling her villa on the 
 lake of Como, and taking refuge in the Roman territory: she 
 also stated, that she had written to lords Liverpool and Castle- 
 reagh, demanding that her name should be inserted in the 
 liturgy, and orders given to British ambassadors, ministers, 
 and consuls to receive and acknowlege her as queen; also 
 that a palace should be prepared for her in England, her real 
 home, to which she intended immediately to repair: ‘I have 
 dismissed,’ she said, ‘my Italian court, retaining only a suffi- 
 cient number of persons to conduct me to England; and if 
 Buckingham-house, Marlborough-house, or any other palace is 
 refused me, I shall take a house in the country, till my friends 
 can find one for me in London.’ This doeument, together 
 with her letter to lord Liverpool, appeared in the English 
 newspapers about the middle of April, and their extensive cir- 
 culation excited a general notion that the queen was rapidly 
 proceeding toward this country: various reasons, however, 
 concurred, which induced her to prolong her sojourn at Rome ; 
 so that she did not arrive at Geneva till the ninth of May; 
 whence she despatched a letter to Mr. Brougham, requiring 
 his attendance, either there or at one of the French sea-ports. 
 In consequence of this communication, a consultation was held 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IY. 95 
 
 by Messrs. Brougham and Denman, aided by other friends of 
 the queen; the result of which was a humble request, that 
 her majesty would, without loss of time, repair to Calais, where 
 there was a ready communication with the shores of England ; 
 it being at that juncture impossible to foretel how often it 
 might be necessary for the queen’s law officers to have access 
 to, and consult her, respecting her views or wishes. 
 
 Pursuant to such advice, her majesty quitted Geneva, 
 directing Mr. Brougham to meet her, on the thirtieth of May, 
 at St. Omers; but during her route thither, she was joined by 
 lady Anne Hamilton, who had formerly belonged to her house- 
 hold; and by alderman Wood, one of the representatives of 
 the city of London, who at this time was a great favorite with 
 the working classes and lower orders of people. It appeared 
 afterwards, that, from the time of her quitting Great Britain, 
 she had been in correspondence with this gentleman; and his 
 advice, proceeding from a conviction that the rumors against 
 her were unfounded, and that her presence would occasion the 
 greatest possible embarrassment to government, was, that she 
 should come at once to England, ‘ He knew,’ says Mr. Cobbett, 
 ‘the disposition of the people with regard to her and with 
 regard to her husband; and her return was most anxiously 
 desired by every friend of popular rights.”! 
 
 Her majesty’s movements, which, prior to the appearance 
 of these friends on the scene, had been marked by tardiness 
 and vacillation, now became rapid and determined: on the 
 twentieth, she arrived at Villeneuve le Roi; whence she wrote 
 a letter full of angry denunciation to the duke of York, 
 another to lord Liverpool, declaratory of her intention to be in 
 London within five days, reiterating also her demand of a 
 palace; and a third to lord Melville, as head of the admiralty, 
 desiring that a royal yacht might be ready at Calais to convey 
 her to the British shores. This promptitude showed that her 
 majesty viewed her situation in an altered light; for the day 
 on which she now fixed for her entry into London was the 
 very next to that on which Mr. Brougham could, by any 
 possibility, meet her, according to her appointment, at St. 
 Omers: that gentleman, however, accompanied by lord 
 Hutchinson, a personal friend of the king, who was entrusted 
 with a confidential communication, sent forward a courier to 
 the place of rendezvous, and arrived himself on the third of 
 June: here, however, an intricate, and as yet unravelled piece 
 
 1 History of George IV. § 423, 
 
.] 
 
 96 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, Lx. 
 
 of diplomacy, disturbed all arrangements: ministers, having 
 determined, from the evidence in their possession, that the 
 queen never could be received in England with the honors 
 due to royalty, and being anxious to avert the necessity of 
 laying that evidence before the public eye, indulged to the 
 last moment a hope that she would agree to the terms of re- 
 main abroad, rather than risk the consequence of such a dis- 
 closure. 
 
 The communication which Mr. Brougham had been directed 
 to submit to her majesty on this subject in April was under- 
 stood by them as forming the basis of his negotiation, when- 
 ever he might have a personal interview with her; and the 
 task which lord Hutchinson had undertaken was considered as 
 wholly unnecessary in the event of a successful issue to the 
 proposition of the queen’s own advocate : all his lordship had to 
 do was, in the extreme case of a rejection by the queeen of the 
 ministerial overtures, to present himself before her majesty, in 
 virtue of his relations of friendly confidence both with herself 
 and the king; to impress on her mind the important resolve 
 which government had felt itself compelled to make; and to 
 convince her, that no other alternative remained, if she per- 
 sisted in her resolution of landing in Great Britain, than to 
 exhibit against her a publie charge of adultery. All hopes 
 however of success in this arrangement were frustrated by the 
 immediate introduction of lord Hutchinson to her majesty, 
 who was informed by Mr. Brougham, that his lordship was 
 entrusted with a message to her from the king: his situation 
 at this interview was peculiarly embarrassing ; and though it 
 lasted a considerable time, no conversation arose except on 
 topics foreign to its purpose: her majesty could hardly be 
 expected to begin such a subject, and his lordship could not 
 aflude to it himself; since his commission was not to com- 
 mence, until a complete failure of Mr. Brougham’s negotiations 
 should render it necessary. After this, a correspondence took 
 place ; and the queen demanded, through Mr. Brougham, that 
 lord Hutchinson should instantly submit his proposition in 
 writing: but his lordship, in reply, stated, that he had only 
 with him some scattered memoranda on scraps of paper, and 
 intimated a wish of communicating his message verbally: the 
 queen, however, in her answer, expressed much surprise that 
 he was not ready to state the terms of a proposition of which 
 he was the bearer; and, to give him an opportunity of arrang- 
 ing them, declared she would wait till five o’clock in the 
 evening : a few minutes before that time, his lordship made 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 97 
 
 his inauspicious attempt at mediation in a letter, the principal 
 terms of which where, that ministers proposed to settle 
 £50,000 per annum on her majesty for life, subject to such 
 conditions as the king might impose: those conditions, he 
 had reason to know, were, that she was not to assume the 
 style and title of queen of Great Britain, or any other title 
 attached to the royal family of England ; also that she was not 
 to reside in England, or even to visit that country: the con- 
 sequence of such visit would be an immediate message to par- 
 liament, and an end put to all compromise or negotiation: to 
 this letter, which concluded with the writer’s earnest supplica- 
 tion that her majesty would take the proposition it contained 
 into calm consideration, and not misinterpret the advice of one 
 who could have no motive in giving her fallacious council,— 
 an answer was instantly returned, indignantly rejecting the 
 aera as one that could not be listened to for a moment. 
 
 rd Hutchinson, who appears to have been wholly unpre- 
 pared for so peremptory a refusal, attempted to renew the 
 negotiation by a note to Mr. Brougham, intimating his desire 
 of sending a courier to England for new instructions; and 
 proposing to become the medium, through which any offer 
 might be conveyed to government: but her majesty, having 
 discharged her foreign suite, including her chamberlain and 
 supposed paramour, had left St. Omers before this note arrived : 
 so abruptly indeed had she quitted the hotel, that Mr. 
 Brougham himself was scarcely sensible of her leaving the 
 apartment, till he beheld her rapidly passing by in a carriage, 
 with alderman Wood and lady Anne Hamilton. Arriving 
 at Calais about half-past ten at night, she proceeded, without 
 waiting for her carriages, to the pier; and, though the tide 
 was out, insisted on being put on board the packet imme- 
 diately: this extreme haste she ascribed to her fear of the 
 French government, and the influence which her husband was 
 known to possess with the heads of it. Lord Uutchinson’s 
 Jast note, despatched after her by Mr. Brougham, found her 
 majesty on board; but neither its terms, nor his added suppli- 
 cation, could induce her to change her purpose: irritated by 
 studied insults abroad, incensed by threats of ministerial 
 vengeance, brooding over the treatment she had met with at 
 her husband’s hands, and, above all, assured of that popular 
 support which she expected would carry her through all diff- 
 culties or dangers, this infuriated woman reached the shores 
 of England on the sixth of June. Neither the king nor his 
 ministers contemplated her arrival: no orders had been sent to 
 
 ENG. XVII. H 
 
96 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 Dover ; and the commandant received her with a royal salute, 
 while the multitude met her on the beach with acclamations, 
 panners, and every sign of popular enthusiasm. Her progress 
 to London was like a triumphal procession; and at the metro- 
 polis, at least 200,000 persons, receiving her with shouts of 
 joy, would have conducted her at once to Carlton-house, had 
 she not beeu induced to go to Mr. Wood’s mansion in South 
 Anudley-street ; where she exhibited herself and the alderman 
 to the gaze of the assembled multitude. It was not that the 
 great, body of the people believed her wholly innocent of the 
 charges brought against her; ‘but,’ says one who well knew 
 their feelings, ‘ they, in their sense of justice, went back to the 
 time when she was in fact turned out of her husband’s house, 
 with a child in her arms, without blame of any sort having 
 been imputed to her: they compared what they had heard of 
 the wife with what they had seen of the husband; and they 
 came to their determination accordingly: as far as related to 
 the question of guilt or innocence, they cared not a straw ; but 
 they took a large view of the matter; they went over her 
 whole history ; they determined that she had been wronged, 
 and they resolved to uphold her.2 
 
 The queen’s arrival at Calais, on her road to England, had 
 been communicated to ministers by telegraph ; and their de- 
 liberations in council were held during several hours of the 
 night, as well as the whole morning of the sixth of June: the 
 result was, that the king was obliged to take the field against 
 
 a woman, whose 
 unconquerable will 
 And study of revenge, immortal hate, 
 And courage never to submit or yield, 
 
 interested the feelings of the people in her favor; while the 
 distress of the times and the arts of designing demagogues en- 
 gaged on her side all that base portion of the populace, which 
 is the chief instrument of confusion. 
 
 As parliament was now sitting, his majesty took the oppor- 
 tunity of going in state to the house of lords, that he might 
 give his royal assent to some bills; and when he had left the 
 house, lord Liverpool brought down a message, to be read from 
 the woolsack, with a communication of certain papers relative 
 
 2 Cobbett’s History of George IV. § 425. Thus, with regard to 
 the omission of her name in the Liturgy, when it was said, that she 
 was included in the general prayer, her counsel, Mr. Denman, 
 strikingly remarked, ‘that if it was included in any general prayer, 
 it was in that for ‘all who are desolate and oppressed.’ ’ 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 99 
 
 to the conduct of her majesty since her departure from the 
 kingdom, which he recommended to the immediate and serious 
 attention of their lordships. The papers referred to were laid 
 on the table, under seal, in a green bag; a similar message, 
 with a sealed bag, being presented to the house of commons 
 by lord Castlereagh: and both ministers announced their in- 
 tention of moving for an address to the king, and a reference 
 of the papers to a secret committee, on the following day: the 
 notification of lord Liverpool provoked no discussion among 
 the peers; but Mr. Grey Bennet, and several other members 
 of opposition in the commons, expressed themselves on the 
 subject in terms of great asperity. 
 
 The proceedings of both houses on the seventh were re- 
 garded with deep interest: lord Liverpool, having moved a 
 ceremonial address, containing no pledge or opinion, proposed 
 that the papers on the table should be submitted to a secret 
 committee of fifteen peers, to be appointed by ballot; having 
 for its object to inquire whether any and what course of pro- 
 ceeding, should be adopted. ‘The address was agreed to without 
 opposition, and the secret committee formed on the following 
 day ; when lords Erskine and Lansdowne, being among the 
 members appointed, thought proper to withdraw their names. 
 
 In the house of commons there was much more excitement : 
 when the time came for taking the king’s message into con- 
 sideration, the minister was anticipated by Mr. Brougham ; 
 who presented a communication from her majesty, setting forth 
 that she had returned to England for the purpose of maintain- 
 ing her innocence and rights; protesting against any secret 
 tribunal appointed by her accusers; complaining of insults 
 which she had received from foreign courts influenced by that 
 of Great Britain, as well as from our ambassadors,’ and other 
 diplomatic agents ; and concluding with an appeal to the justice 
 of the commons of England. After this document had been 
 read, and the cheers with which it was received had subsided, 
 lord Castlereagh rose, and declared that ministers were neither 
 persecutors nor prosecutors ; that the king’s communication 
 was most gracious; that the secret committee was only a pre- 
 liminary step to ascertain whether there was any case to proceed 
 with ; and that the conduct of an illustrious personage should 
 not be judged without open inquiry and evidence. The ap- 
 een of the committee was strongly resisted by Mr. 
 
 rougham; since he contended, that although not final, it 
 must deeply affect her majesty’s character; and he proceeded 
 to a minute examination of the proposals made to her through 
 
100 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 lord Hutchinson, which he reprobated in the severest terms. 
 Mr. Canning replied to this accusation, and vindicated the — 
 course taken by ministers; declaring that they had interposed 
 every possible expedient to prevent the present calamity ; and, 
 alluding to the propositions originating with Mr. Brougham in 
 1819, he declared fearlessly, that there was not one of the 
 . terms offered to her majesty, which had not its prototype in 
 the suggestions then made to government for the guidance of 
 its conduct : toward the conclusion of his speech, he lamented 
 the failure of negotiations at St. Omers, though he attached no 
 blame to the conduct of the honorable gentleman and the noble 
 lord: advice, no doubt, had been given to her majesty, which, 
 if it had not proceeded from bad intention, was not characterised 
 by absolute wisdom: that advice, however, by frustrating the 
 negotiation, had forced this appeal to parliament: finally, he 
 declared that he should take no farther share in these delibera- 
 tions: once more, however, he interfered, but with a tone of 
 respect and kindly feeling toward the queen; and when the 
 cabinet determined to proceed against her, he resigned his 
 office. After several other members had delivered their 
 opinions, Mr. Wilberforce rose to recommend an adjournment 
 of the debate; hoping that during such an interval, some mode 
 of compromise might be discovered, to prevent this disgusting 
 investigation, which was likely to be so injurious to the cha- 
 racter of royalty, as well as to the public morals. Lord 
 Castlereagh, though he anticipated little good from the pro- 
 posed delay, would not oppose this motion, as it marked the 
 spirit which pervaded the house; a spirit in unison with that 
 on which ministers themselves had acted: in consequence an 
 adjournment took place to the Friday following. 
 
 Nearly two days elapsed without any overture on either 
 side ; until the queen, yielding to the advice of friends, made 
 a communication to lord Liverpool, through Mr. Brougham ; 
 in which, deferring to the expressed opinion of the house of 
 commons, she declared herself ready to take into consideration 
 any arrangement consistent with her dignity and honor: his 
 lordship, in reply, referred her to the memorandum placed in 
 the hands of her own attorney-general ; and the queen declared, 
 that this document, which had been superseded by lord 
 Hutchinson’s proposition, was now submitted to her for the 
 first time: but, she added, the recognition of her rank and 
 privileges must form the basis of any arrangement. Ministers 
 felt and expressed surprise, that the memorandum had not 
 been sooner communicated to her: and declared, that any 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 101 
 
 proposition on the king’s part must have for its basis the queen’s 
 residence abroad: her majesty then declared, that her dignity 
 and honor being secured, she was willing to leave her cause in 
 the hands of any person or persons of high station and cha- 
 racter, whom both parties might select; their decision being, 
 of course, subject to the approbation of parliament ; this pro- 
 posal was accepted, with the single reservation, that any 
 arrangement should be subject to his majesty’s pleasure ; and, 
 in consequence, the duke of Wellington and lord Castlereagh 
 were appointed on behalf of the king; Messrs. Brougham and 
 Denman being nominated by the queen. Meanwhile, parlia- 
 ment was farther adjourned ; and the referees met, for the 
 first time, on the fifteenth of June, at lord Castlereagh’s house, 
 in St. James’s-square. The protocol, at this conference, set 
 forth, that ‘ the queen must not be understood to admit, nor 
 the king to retract, any position;’ with which insuperable 
 barrier before them, the negotiators finished as they began ; 
 for it was contended, in limine, on her majesty’s behalf, that 
 her name should be inserted in the liturgy ; but this was re- 
 fused.on behalf of the king: both parties were immoveable ; 
 and the conference was broken up. When this rupture of the 
 negotiation was reported to the house of commons on the nine- 
 teenth, Mr. Wilberforce gave notice that he had a motion for 
 the following day ; but when the time of making it arrived, he 
 requested and cbtained farther delay: though urged to state 
 the nature of his proposition, he carefully guarded the mys- 
 terious secret till the twenty-second, when it came out in two 
 resolutions, expressing regret at. the recent failure of negotia- 
 tions, and soliciting her majesty to gratify the house by con- 
 ceding a few points, not as shrinking from inquiry, but for the 
 sake of amicable arrangement: an amendment was ther. pro- 
 posed by lord Archibald Hamilton, the object of which was 
 the insertion of the queen’s name in the liturgy; when an 
 animated debate ensued, in which the speech of sir Francis 
 Burdett, in censure of ministers, produced an electrifying effect 
 on the house; and he sat down amid loud and universal cheer- 
 ing. Mr. Canning, rising to reply, began by stating, that, 
 however much provoked by the honorable baronet’s speech, he 
 should abstain, on this occasion, from entering the lists with 
 him: the conduct of administration was a question which the 
 house would soon have an opportunity of discussing ; and come 
 that question when it might, ministers, either as a body or as 
 individuals, would be fully prepared to meet it. It was not 
 from want of readiness that he now declined the contest: 
 
102 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. OH. Lx. 
 
 whatever might be the fate of this.night’s question, ample op- 
 portunities for justification would occur; and he would then 
 be quite ready to meet any opponent with arms, he hoped, of 
 as keen a temper as any that had been, or could be, wielded 
 against him ; with denial and defiance, with vindication and 
 retort, equal to those of the most boisterous accuser or noisy 
 cheerer, who raised his voice on the present occasion. This 
 specimen of magniloquent courage provoked a sarcastic retort 
 from Tierney ; who observed, that, ‘as the better part of valor 
 was discretion, he commended Mr. Canning’s prudence, in 
 postponing his defence of ministers till the effect of sir Francis’ 
 speech was done away: the very fact proved that it was un- 
 answerable :’ the best comment, indeed, on Mr. Canning’s 
 boast was, that he left'his friends to vindicate themselves, and 
 relieved himself from the necessity of redeeming his pledge by 
 the resignation of his office. Mr. Wilberforce’s motion, being 
 supported by ministers, was carried by a majority of 391 
 against 134. 
 
 At this time fears began to be entertained by a certain party, 
 who desired to retain the queen as an instrument to promote 
 their own designs, lest she should retire from the scene, and 
 avoid the troubles rising fast around her, by returning to the 
 continent : prudence and good policy would have dictated this 
 line of conduct ; but strenuous efforts were made to support 
 her spirits and encourage her resolution to stay : several eminent 
 characters were introduced to her society ; and among them 
 the celebrated Dr. Parr, who installed himself as domestic 
 chaplain, and wrote answers to various addressee which she re- 
 ceived: under the more covert agency of designing demago- 
 gues, every expedient was employed to instil into her mind a 
 notion that she was the idol of the people; while the passions 
 of the mob were inflamed, and their processions marshalled, in 
 order to promote thisscheme. A chief actor in the pantomime 
 was the noted political writer, William Cobbett, who addressed 
 several letters to her majesty on the subject, written in that 
 simple, clear, energetic style, which is so calculated to impose 
 on credulity. ‘It was feared,’ he said, ‘that she would go, 
 even on the dishonorable terms proposed : every effort that I 
 could make in public I made to prevent this; and I made every 
 effort in private also.’* In his very first communication with 
 her majesty, he observed, ‘that the offer made in her name to 
 quit this country, had filled the women’s eyes with tears, and 
 
 3 History of George IV. § 428. 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 103 
 
 the men’s hearts with a feeling which never before existed in 
 them with regard to her ;’ and he implored her to be convinced, 
 ‘that no terms, no conditions, no qualifications, could, in public 
 estimation, remove that impression which the consenting to 
 abandon her country must necessarily make; the fatal conse- 
 quences of which he could clearly forsee, but had not the heart 
 to describe.’ Fearful of the effect which Mr. Wilberforce’s 
 motion might produce, he wrote again to the queen, in terms 
 apparently of the most friendly regard ; pointing out the snare, 
 though feeling certain that ‘ her majesty had too much sagacity 
 not to perceive it.’ That gentleman’s address, he observed, 
 ‘was intended to place her in this dilemma; namely, to give 
 up to ministers, or to incur the ill-will of the commons; much 
 therefore would depend on the answer given to it;’ and he 
 presumed to advise, that ‘ this answer should explicitly reject 
 the advice offered by the address, in a manner calculated to 
 flatter rather than to wound the pride of the house ; also that 
 it should contain incidentally an expression of her fixed deter- 
 mination to remain at home—that word, so sweet to English 
 ears; and so electrifying, if it were to come from the pen of 
 her majesty.’ This letter, the writer stated, was not without 
 its effect ; for the queen was induced to decline the advice of 
 the commons; and the deputation, consisting of Messrs. Wil- 
 berforce, Bankes, Stuart Wortley, and sir Thomas Acland, 
 were, on their return, hissed and hooted by the populace: men 
 were appointed to carry green bags suspended to long poles, 
 before them; and their coachmen were compelled to go at a 
 funeral pace, in order that the deputies might have the benefit 
 of hearing the sentiments of the people. In her answer to an 
 address from the city of London, voted a short time afterwards 
 at a common council, she made the following declaration :—‘ In 
 the many deep sorrows and afflictions with which it has pleased 
 Providence to visit me, I have derived unspeakable consolation 
 from the zealous and constant attachment of this warm-hearted, 
 just, and generous people ; to live at home with, and to cherish 
 whom, will be the chief happiness of the remainder of my days.’ 
 ‘Thus,’ says the author above quoted, in a passage which ex- 
 hibits no bad specimen of his peculiar style, and of the art with 
 which he contrived to soften the dark shades of a malignant pur- 
 pose by lights of generous feeling and of honest sympathy, ‘thus 
 she was fixed; thus this grand point was decided, to the lace- 
 rating mortification of all sons and daughters of corruption, and 
 to the mortification of nobody more than to that of the legal ad- 
 visers of her majesty ; who were fairly beaten here, and beaten, 
 
104 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 too, by the man whom they hated more than they hated adders 
 and toads. I will not pretend that vindictive feeling had nothing 
 to do with my conduct on this occasion: I had been two years 
 in jail, and had paid a thousand pounds fine besides, for an act 
 which merited the applause and admiration of all good men ; 
 and this king had my thousand pounds in his pocket: I had 
 been driven across the Atlantic; { had been stripped of every 
 farthing I possessed in the world; I had been torn from my 
 farm, to earn which I had worked liked a horse for twenty 
 years ; I had been made a bankrupt, and was then in the rules 
 of the king’s bench, in consequence of these two houses, and 
 this king, having passed laws, to enable Sidmouth and Castle- 
 reagh to put me ina dungeon at their pleasure. I will not 
 pretend that the feeling created by these injuries had no effect 
 on my conduct here; and for what purpose has God placed re- 
 sentment in the breast of man, if it be not to prevent oppres- 
 sion, by showing those who possess power that they are not 
 always safe to exercise it in the doing of wrong ? How would 
 it be possible for justice long to continue in the world, if those 
 who have power were always safe from the resentment of the 
 oppressed? But, leaving this out of the question, what part 
 more friendly could I have acted toward this poor queen ? The 
 king had distinctly accused her in his message to the two 
 houses ; he had consented to her having a pension, and not to 
 prosecute her, if she would go away, and live out of the king- 
 dom. Where is there a human being who would not have 
 concluded that she was conscious of her guilt, if she had gone 
 away ? no matter on what terms; every one would have con- 
 cluded that she was conscious of guilt ; and that very people, 
 who sustained her with so much generosity and such matchless 
 resolution, would never have consented to her receiving one 
 farthing out of their earnings in the way of pension : therefore, 
 I was a faithful adviser of the queen, and at the same time 
 availed myself of her cause to further what I deemed the 
 political interests of the people.’ ‘ 
 
 The foregoing extracts have been quoted, because without 
 this key the conduct of this wretched queen cannot be justly 
 estimated: she had indeed legal advisers, on whom much 
 obloquy was thrown at the time, and probably with much 
 injustice; for, as in the case of a government, when a party 
 behind the throne counteracts the designs of administration ; so 
 in this unhappy affair responsible advisers were placed in the 
 foreground, while the influential persons stood out of view. 
 
 Every hope of conciliation being now at an end, the com- 
 
A.D. 1820, GEORGE IV, 105 
 
 _ mons, on the motion of lord Castlereagh, voted a farther 
 adjournment, in order to leave initiative proceedings to the 
 lords ; but the parliamentary discussions, as well as the publi- 
 cation of negotiations and conferences, with comments by par- 
 tisans on each side, turned the whole kingdom into one great 
 arena of disputation in the interest of which all other interests 
 appeared to merge. On the fourth of July, the secret com- 
 mittee made their report ; stating, ‘that the charges appeared 
 calculated so deeply to affect, not only the honor of the queen, 
 but the dignity of the crown, and the moral character of the 
 country, that in their opinion it was necessary they should 
 become the subject of a solemn inquiry, which might best be 
 effected in the course of a legislative proceeding.’ 
 
 Next day, lord Dacre, who, on the twenty-sixth of June, 
 had presented -a petition from the queen, protesting against 
 any secret inquiry, and requesting time to bring her witnesses 
 from abroad, as well as to be heard by counsel at the bar of 
 the house, presented another, in which she demanded to be 
 heard by counsel against the report: but the motion made for 
 this purpose was negatived; and, on the sixth of July, the 
 earl of Liverpool, in pursuance of the committee’s recommenda- 
 tion, brought in a bill of pains and penalties, or moved for an 
 act of parliament, according to precedents in former ages, 
 which might pronounce the queen guilty of adulterous inter- 
 course, degrade her from her exalted station, and dissolve the 
 marriage between her and the king. According to forms ob- 
 served in the house of lords, it was requisite that this bill 
 should be read a first time, as a preliminary step to the intro- 
 duction of evidence: this being done, a copy of it was sent to 
 her majesty through the hands of sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, usher 
 of the black rod; and the seventeenth of August was fixed for 
 a second reading, when the trial of her majesty may be said 
 actually to have commenced: on that day there appeared, in 
 support of the bill, sir R. Gifford and sir J. Copley, the king’s 
 attorney and solicitor-general; Sir C. Robinson, the king’s 
 advocate-general; Dr. Adams, a civilian; and Mr. Parke, an 
 outer barrister: on the part of the queen, appeared her 
 attorney-general, Mr. Brougham; her solicitor-general, Mr. 
 Denman ; Dr. Lushington, a civilian; with Messrs. Williams, 
 Tindal, and Wilde, outer barristers: Mr. Maule, solicitor to 
 the treasury, assisted by Mr. Powel, an attorney who had been 
 employed at Milan in collecting evidence, acted as agent for 
 the bill; and Mr. Vizard, as agent for the accused. 
 
 On the eleventh of July, the queen petitioned, and on the 
 
106 ‘ HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX: 
 
 fourteenth, lord Erskine moved, that she should be furnished 
 with a list of the times and places specified in the charges, as 
 well as of the witnesses to be brought against her: this advan- 
 tage, however, which she would have had in case of impeach- 
 ment, being opposed by the chancellor and other peers, was 
 now refused. If the slightest hopes of conciliation yet remained, 
 they were dispersed by the queen’s ‘ Letter to the King,’ 
 written under the influence of her secret advisers, recapitulat- 
 ing wrongs past and present, and attacking with infinite force 
 and bitterness both her husband and the parliament. ‘ Even,’ 
 she said, ‘on the slave-mart, the cries of, ‘O my mother! O 
 my child! have prevented a separation of the victims of 
 avarice ; but your advisers, more inhuman than slave-dealers, 
 remorselessly tore the mother from the child . . . your court 
 was the scene, not of polished manners and refined intercourse, 
 but of low intrigue and scurrility, in which spies, bacchanalian 
 talebearers, and foul conspirators swarmed.’ Speaking of the 
 house of lords, she says, ‘ to regard such a body as a court of 
 justice would be to calumniate that sacred name; and for me 
 to suppress the expression of my opinion, would be to lend 
 myself to my own destruction, as well as to an imposition on the 
 nation and the world. I protest against this species of trial: I 
 demand it in a court where the jurors are taken impartially 
 from among the people, and the proceedings are open and fair : 
 I will not, except compelled by force, submit to any sentence 
 _ not pronounced by a court of justice.’ 
 
 In the mean time, the address of the city of London was 
 followed by others from innumerable cities, towns, and villages 
 of the united kingdom. ‘The press and the people,’ it has 
 been truly said, ‘were not idle; nor was the queen herself 
 idle: she took a mansion at Hammersmith, on the banks of the 
 Thames, called Brandenburgh-house ; and thither processions 
 of one sort or other with addresses, went every day, except 
 Sundays; and sometimes four or five a day, each containing, 
 on an average, 20,000 people: she was soon obliged to appoint 
 certain days in the week for receiving them: the other days 
 she devoted to rides into different parts of the city and its 
 environs; so that, except during the hours of darkness, she 
 lived in an incessant noise and bustle. Her husband, the 
 sovereign, had some noise to endure also; but it was of a dif- 
 ferent description: in their processions, when they went to 
 address the queen, the populace generally stopped opposite 
 his palace ; and in shouts sufficient to have reached him if he 
 had been in the clouds, they made him acquainted with their 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 107 
 
 way of thinking, and their resolution with regard to him: 
 when he was obliged sometimes to go from London to the 
 cottage, or from the cottage to London, he took care to move 
 in the dark; but it was surprising with what accuracy the 
 people ascertained his intended movements, and how duly they 
 saluted him as he passed.4 While the lower stream of public 
 opinion was thus swelling to a torrent, on which the queen 
 was buoyed up; the opposite party were busily employed in 
 preparing for the approaching investigation; in aid of which 
 many witnesses, principally drawn from Italian states, were 
 rapidly arriving at different ports: one party of these, on land- 
 ing at Dover, were so roughly handled by the populace, that 
 they were re-conveyed back to Holland; whence they were 
 subsequently brought up the Thames to London: there all 
 were provided with a lodging in Cotton garden, a spot conti- 
 guous to the two houses of parliament, being under the protec- 
 tion of large bodies of military stationed in the neighborhood, 
 and of an armed vessel, carrying about sixteen guns, moored 
 in the river. 
 
 On the seventeenth of August, soon after nine in the 
 morning, the lords began to take their places; having had to 
 make their way through mobs of the most alarming kind, 
 which surrounded the two houses, and filled every street in 
 the vicinity : the judges were requested to assist at their deli- 
 beration ; and the names of the peers having been called over 
 at ten, lord Liverpool moved the order of the day for the 
 second reading of the bill of pains and penalties: the duke of 
 Leinster opposed this measure, and moved that the order 
 should be rescinded; on a division, however, the amendment 
 was negatived, and the earl of Liverpool then moved that 
 counsel be called in, and heard in support of the preamble of 
 the bill. 
 
 The earl of Caernarvon, in a very able speech, stated his 
 reasons for opposing the present measure; when a discussion 
 took place, questioning the propriety of the course about to be 
 pursued ; for it was thought by many, that the crime of which 
 the queen was accused amounted to high treason, and demanded 
 a different mode of trial: the doubts arising on this point 
 were submitted to the judges; who, having conferred together 
 in private, delivered their opinion in favor of the method 
 pursued by government: the act of a foreigner, it was said, 
 who owed no allegiance to the crown, could not amount to 
 
 4 See Cobbett’s History of George IV. § 438. 
 
108 - HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. Lx. 
 
 high treason; and unless there were a man who could be 
 legally charged with that crime, it could not be said that 
 treason had been committed. When counsel made their 
 appearance at the bar, Mr. Brougham obtained leave to state 
 his objections to the principle of the bill in its present state 
 of progress, which he did at great length, and with extraor- 
 dinary talent: indeed, the speeches of the advocates on both 
 sides of this exciting question may be perused as models of a 
 high order in their respective styles of forensic eloquence ; 
 but the great length to which they ran prohibits their inser- 
 tion in these pages, while a scanty epitome would be an act 
 of injustice toward their authors. Mr. Brougham, taking 
 advantage of the popular feeling that had been exhibited, 
 concluded with appealing to the sagacity and fears, as well as 
 to the honor of their lordships:—‘ true it is,’ he said, ‘ that 
 your committee has reported in favor of the bill, but that 
 cannot pledge the house ; and he is the greatest of all fools, 
 who consults his apparent consistency at the expense of his 
 absolute ruin: the sooner you retrace the steps into which 
 you may have been led at an unwary moment, the greater will 
 be the service you render to your country: if you decide that 
 this bill ought not to proceed, you will be the saviors of the 
 state.’ Mr. Denman followed on the same: side, with a 
 speech of great eloquence, during which he was interrupted 
 by a sudden movement around him, caused by the entrance 
 of her majesty, who came unexpectedly to witness the pro- 
 ceedings: after hearing her solicitor-general declare, that 
 whatever might be the consequences of that investigation, 
 whatever the sufferings inflicted on her majesty, he would 
 never withdraw from her that homage and respect which 
 were due to her high station, her superior mind, and those 
 resplendent virtues which had shone through her life of per- 
 secution ; that he would never pay to any other who might 
 usurp her place that respect and duty which belonged to 
 her,—the queen withdrew ; having been treated by the house 
 with every mark of respect. The speeches of her counsel 
 were answered with consummate ability by the king’s 
 attorney and solicitor-general ; and Mr. Brougham, in reply, 
 urged a variety of arguments in favor of his original pro- 
 position, and showed the impolicy of the principle contended 
 for by his opponents. 
 
 Public expectation was now at its height, when successive 
 attempts were made, on the nineteenth of August, by lords 
 King and Grey, to stop sll farther proceedings; but their 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 109 
 
 motions were negatived by immense majorities, and the 
 attorney-general was ordered by the lord chancellor to state 
 his case. This statement, which was very able, and detailed 
 very disgraceful scenes, occupied two days; making an im- 
 pression, not only on the house, but also on the public, which 
 required all the efforts of demagogues to counteract:5 the 
 close of it was drowned in the noise of drums, trumpets, and 
 tumultuous acclamations from the immense multitudes that 
 accompanied the queen to the house. Soon after her entrance, 
 the examination of witnesses commenced, which gave rise to 
 an extraordinary incident ; for her majesty, hearing the clerk 
 of the commons call the name of Theodore Majocchi, the 
 third witness, started from her seat with a loud but indistinct 
 cry ; rushed out of the house; and returned with great 
 speed to her own residence: this man had been one of her 
 domestic servants; and it must ever remain matter of con- 
 jecture, whether the exclamation was a consequence of her 
 conscious guilt taken by surprise, or of indignation at his 
 treacherous ingratitude. The examination of witnesses oc- 
 cupied uninterrupted attention to the sixth of September ; and 
 on the seventh, the solicitor-general, in a masterly manner, 
 summed up the evidence in support of the bill: on the 
 ninth, in consequence of an application from her majesty’s 
 counsel, an adjournment took place to the third of October, 
 when Mr. Brougham entered on the defence in a speech of 
 surpassing power: being followed in a train of impressive 
 eloquence by Mr. Williams, who adyerted to many prominent 
 points, sworn to in the prosecution, which he declared he 
 should be able to rebut by the clearest testimony : the exami- 
 nation of witnesses on behalf of the queen lasted from the 
 fifth of October to the twenty-fourth: when Mr. Denman 
 proceeded to sum up the evidence in a speech which lasted 
 two successive days, in which he took a retrospective view of 
 the whole proceedings, as contrasted in prosecution and de- 
 fence, interspersed with numerous illustrative remarks; but 
 
 5 €] was in Hertfordshire,’ says Cobbett, ‘ when this speech was 
 made: coming home, and finding what the impression had been, I 
 wrote and published an answer to it on the twenty-third of August : 
 of this answer more than 100,000 copies were sold: it was printed 
 and reprinted all over the kingdom, and it stayed the plague: it 
 gave a proper turn to the public mind, and even rendered harmless 
 all that could be said afterwards against the queen, even by the 
 eee ecpetal, who was the most able lawyer in the king- 
 
 om, 
 
110 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 with a fearlessness and license which reached the utmost limit 
 that could be claimed by an advocate: toward the conclusion, 
 he paid the following fine and classical compliment to his 
 great leader in the cause :—‘ We have fought,’ he said, ‘ the 
 battles of morality, Christianity, and civilised society through- 
 out the world; and, in the language of the dying warrior, I 
 may say :— 
 ‘In this glorious and well-foughten field 
 We kept together in our chivalry.’ 
 
 While he was achieving the immortal victory, and the illus- 
 trious triumph, protecting innocence and truth by the ada- 
 mantine shield of his prodigious eloquence; it has been my 
 lot to discharge only a few random arrows at the defeated 
 champions of this disgraceful cause: the house will believe 
 me, when I say, that 1 witnessed the display of his surprising 
 faculties with no other feelings than of sincere gratification 
 that the triumph was complete, and of admiration and delight 
 that the queen’s victory was accomplished.’ Dr. Lushington 
 followed, on the twenty-sixth of October, with a luminous 
 view of the case, aided by those high attainments in the 
 civil law for which he was so distinguished: the king’s 
 attorney and solicitor-general occupied four days in their 
 ingenious replies to the arguments of the queen’s counsel. 
 
 On the sixth of November, the peers closed a long and ear- 
 nest debate of five nights on the second reading of the bill; a 
 measure equivalent to the question of guilty or not guilty in 
 other courts; when the motion was carried by 123 voices 
 against 95, or by a majority of only 28; with protests from 
 many peers on various grounds, the principal of which was the 
 unsatisfactory proof of alleged adultery: a protest also from the 
 queen was read by lord Dacre, in which she not only made the 
 most solemn assertions of innocence, but observed, that ‘ unless 
 these unexampled proceedings should bring the bill before the 
 other house, she would make no reference whatever to the 
 treatment experienced by her during the last twenty-five years ;’ 
 an innuendo which could not fail to produce effect. 
 
 As soon as the bill was committed, the small preponderance 
 in its favour was diminished: for when the divorce clause 
 came under discussion, several peers, who considered the queen’s 
 guilt established by the evidence, and were willing to pass the 
 bill in all its other parts, declared their aversion, on religious 
 scruples, to vote for the divorce: the archbishop of York, in 
 particular, explained this as his ground for having voted against 
 
A.D. 1820. — GEORGE IV. 111 
 
 the second reading; while the bishop of Chester, and lord 
 Lauderdale, who had been in the majority on that occasion, 
 from an understanding that the divorce clause would be aban- 
 doned, now held the same objection ; and the earl of Harrowby, 
 though a cabinet minister, pursued a similar course; though 
 the lord chancellor strongly urged the necessity of persever- 
 ance. The archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishop of 
 London, defended divorce on scriptural authority; and the 
 latter is represented to have maintained, that, as the king, by 
 the constitution, could politically do no wrong, he could not 
 commit folly, much less crime ; and therefore could afford no 
 opening for recrimination: it was, however, very generally 
 felt, that his majesty, as a husband, had no claim to that 
 relief, which the ecclesiastical courts deny to any other indi- 
 vidual, who does not come before them ‘ with clean hands.’ 
 
 The partisans of the queen, headed by the noblest and 
 most skilful of her champions, earl Grey, were not slow in 
 seizing the advantage afforded by this difference of opinion 
 among her opponents: they now gave their strongest support 
 to the obnoxious clause; and the manceuvre was successful ; 
 for that clause was carried by a majority of one hundred and 
 twenty-nine to sixty-two; nine cabinet ministers being left in 
 the minority. With this encumbrance, the fate of the bill 
 itself hecame evident ; for on the tenth of November, it was 
 read a third time by the disheartening majority of one hundred 
 and eight to ninety-nine. ‘here was yet one question to be 
 put—‘ that this hill do now pass:’ and here the ministers 
 shrunk back: the queen petitioned to be heard by counsel 
 against that final step ; and lord Liverpool, in reply, declared, 
 that with so small a majority, in the actual state of public feel- 
 ing, he and his colleagues abandoned the bill; when a motion 
 was made that the question should be put off to that day six 
 months: this proposal was carried, though not without some 
 strong protests; and the commons, who had been held in 
 readiness for the reception of the bill by repeated adjourn- 
 ments, were now, as well as the peers, released by a proroga~ 
 tion of parliament to the twenty-third of January : thus ended, 
 in defeat and disgrace, the domestic war which George IV. 
 had for twenty-five years carried on against his consort. 
 
 On the necessity of these legal proceedings, under all the 
 features which the case latterly assumed, there can be little 
 doubt ; but the policy of that conduct which produced them, 
 and occasioned a question of individual vice to be mingled with 
 one of public principle, will always be severely discussed, as 
 
orn Se Ol eee ee) 
 
 112 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 well as the truth or falsehood of the allegations against the 
 queen herself. Whatever may be the verdict of posterity 
 concerning her actual guilt, it must be acknowledged that she 
 was a person of coarse mind and indelicate conduct; though, 
 in justice to her memory, it must be remarked, that much of 
 the evidence against her was tainted with corrupt practices 
 and downright perjury. Whether she was guilty or innocent, 
 the generous feelings of Englishmen, ever ready to espouse the 
 weaker side, were éxtensively enlisted in the cause of one whom 
 they regarded as an unprotected woman, oppressed by the 
 hatred of her husband, and exposed to the arts of those whom 
 they considered rather as the slaves of his tyrannical will than 
 than as the constitutional advisers of a limited monarch. 
 
 On the twenty-ninth of November her majesty, preceded by 
 a numerous cavalcade of gentlemen on horseback, led by sir 
 Robert Wilson, went in state to St. Paul’s to return public 
 thanks; on which occasion, the multitude which rallied round 
 the decorated banners borne in procession was so great as to 
 render it a matter of extreme difficulty for her carriage to ap- 
 proach the cathedral: the day however closed, contrary to 
 general expectation, without accident or riot. ‘l’o the general 
 illuminations, ringing of bells, and firing of cannon, with which 
 the queen’s victory had been celebrated at its announcement, 
 succeeded addresses of the lower orders, stimulated by a 
 democratical party, which still wished to retain her as the 
 instrument of their designs: these, however, became too 
 irksome to be long borne by the veriest slave to popularity ; 
 and a sort of order was issued in her name, that addresses 
 should be presented to her only on one fixed day of the week ; 
 meanwhile, a few of the aristocratical families in opposition, 
 showed her certain marks of attention; and as she no longer 
 required the assistance of a mob, she gradually withdrew 
 herself from the contaminating influence of its Jeaders: this 
 was the signal for their desertion of her cause; and the account 
 of it is thus described by a democrat of the first order :—‘ The 
 whig faction fiocked about her directly after the abandonment 
 of the bill; and her lawyers, who now called themselves her 
 constitutional advisers, belonged to that faction, which thought 
 to get possession of power by her instrumentality, she having 
 the people at her back: but the people, who hated this faction 
 more than the other, the moment they saw it about her, 
 troubled her with no more addresses; they suffered her to 
 remain very tranquil at Brandenburg-house ; the faction agi- 
 tated questions about her in parliament, concerning which the 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IY. 113 
 
 people cared not a straw: what she was doing soon became as 
 inditferent to them as what any other person of the royal 
 family was doing ; the people began again to occupy themselves 
 with the business of obtaining a parliamentary reform ; and 
 her way of life, and her final fate, soon became objects of 
 curiosity much more than of interest, with the people.’é 
 During the excitement occasioned by the above-mentioned 
 transactions, the duchess of York expired, on the sixth of 
 August, in the fifty-fourth year of her age; herself also a 
 forsaken wife, but one who exhibited a remarkable contrast to 
 the unhappy queen, by a steady cultivation of the retiring 
 virtues, and a devotion of her time to exercises of charity and 
 extensive benevolence: she was, at her own express desire, 
 privately interred in the village church of Weybridge, near to 
 Oatlands, where she died. On the sixteenth of June, the 
 public funeral of that eminent patriot, Mr. Henry Grattan, 
 took place at Westminster Abbey; and on the sixth of 
 November, captain Parry returned from his unsuccessful but 
 interesting voyage ; having reached the 113th degree of west 
 longitude, where he passed one winter in latitude 74, yet, 
 though he was at this time obliged to give up the object of his 
 expedition, his opinion remained favorable to the theory of a 
 north-west passage into the Pacific ; and he very soon prepared 
 to renew his attempts to discover it: the Astronomical Society 
 was founded this year, and the colossal head of Memnon, from 
 Egyptian Thebes, deposited in the British Museum. ; 
 Though the period which we have just been describing was 
 one of agitation and disturbance in Great Britain, it was tran- 
 quillity itself when compared with the state of affairs in many 
 other nations: the two great antagonist principles, in the south 
 of Europe, at this time commenced a struggle, the violence of 
 which was proportionate to the difficulty with which they had 
 been previously coerced. In Spain, Portugal, and Italy the 
 democratic spirit first broke out into open action: the tyranny 
 and misgovernment of Ferdinand VII. had long excited and 
 justified the indignation of all among his subjects who were 
 attached to the principles of freedom, or sensible of shame on 
 account of national disgrace: but the bigoted mass of the peo- 
 ple continued to be led by their priests, whose interest it was 
 to support the existing system’ of despotism: hence every 
 attempt to restore the constitution of 1812 proved abortive, 
 until a total ruin of the finances, added to the disasters of a 
 
 6 Cobbett’s History of George IV. § 454. 
 ENG. XVII. I 
 
114 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. GHLILX, 
 
 colonial war, infused a spirit of discontent into the army assem- 
 bled at Cadiz, which the court of Madrid could neither pay 
 nor embark: these circumstances enabled Riego and Quiroga 
 to effect that in which Porlier and Lacy had failed ; so that the 
 terrified and perfidious monarch was compelled to re-establish 
 the constitution which he had abrogated, and to recall the 
 Cortes, whose prominent members had been for years immured 
 within his dungeons. Alas! how great is the sum of human 
 misery, for which despots and continuators of old abuses have 
 to answer! not only are they chargeable with those evils under 
 which the miserable people groan, who are subject to their 
 tyrannical sway ; but with the disorders and desolating fury 
 which generally arise from reaction to that tyranny, when the 
 popular party gains an ascendency! A delusive plan of univer- 
 sal suffrage having thrown too much power into the hands of the 
 populace, the deputies sent to the Spanish Cortes were chiefly 
 men of strong democratic principles ; and there soon appeared 
 proofs, not only of the unsuitable nature of the constitution 
 itself to the spirit and wants of the nation, but of a lamentable 
 deficiency of political wisdom and justice in the majority of the 
 assembly: the nobles, and especially the priests, were hostile 
 to the revolution; yet, instead of conciliating these powerful 
 classes by admitting them to a fair share of legislative power, 
 the constitutionalists would suffer no change in the de- 
 mocratic features of the government ; and their first acts were 
 those of outrage on their political opponents. As the most 
 important rights of the sovereign were by the new consti- 
 tution transferred to the Cortes, these latter proceeded to 
 disgust the nobility by a law abrogating the old system ot 
 entails, and still more deeply to ineense the clergy by issuing 
 decrees for the immediate suppression of religious orders and 
 houses, and for the sale of their property: the ill effect of such 
 proceedings was soon manifested in various anti-constitutional 
 insurrections headed by the ejected monks, to whom the pea- 
 santry were blindly attached ; while the constitutionalists, hated 
 both by the king and the nobles, were themselves split into 
 parties, and the whole country became a prey to distraction 
 and misery. 
 
 Portugal had suffered under a despotism more odious in its 
 form even than that of Spain; for the continued preference 
 shown by the king for his colonial residence had occasioned: 
 the affairs of government to be committed to a vile and 
 obnoxious regency, which was chiefly supported in authority 
 by British officers of despotic principles, maintained in the 
 
A.D. 1820. GEORGE IV. 115 
 
 highest military commands. As this misruled country con- 
 tained a small but active party, zealous for constitutional 
 liberty, they were not slow in availing themselves of the 
 example of Spain, and the discontent reigning among all 
 classes of people, to effect a revolution: the flame of insurrec- 
 tion, beginning at Oporto, was quickly communicated to the 
 capital ; the regency submitted ; the British officers were dis- 
 missed ; and the constitution of their neighbors was unfortu- 
 nately taken as a model for that of Portugal. During the 
 discussions on this subject, field-marshal lord Beresford, that 
 most determined enemy of Portuguese liberty, arrived in the 
 Tagus from Rio Janeiro, and expressed an extreme desire to 
 land; but the public alarm excited by this visit was so great, 
 that it was deemed right, for the purpose of ensuring his 
 personal safety, as well as the tranquillity of the capital, to 
 refuse the request, and to hasten his lordship’s departure. 
 
 But what, it may here be asked, was the conduct of our 
 government toward these interesting countries, in which British 
 warriors had gained their brightest wreaths of glory, and whose 
 inhabitants had contributed so largely to a successful termina- 
 tion of the late war? Unfortunately, the constituent members 
 of our administration, as well as those by whom it was sup- 
 ported, had been brought up in high ‘aristocratic and tory 
 principles: the most influential among them had imbibed a 
 large portion of the spirit "of despotism by long and intimate 
 association with continental despots; others were so infected 
 by the fear of innovation in our own constitution, that any 
 movement towards it in other states, especially those of our 
 allies, was regarded with absolute horror: some had been so 
 hacknied in the common routine of a political career, that they 
 were rendered callous to the touch of human sympathy ; but, 
 more lamentable still, the great captain of the peninsular war 
 showed little interest in the regeneration of a people who had 
 fought under his victorious banner! No effort, therefore, had 
 been made by that government, which possessed the greatest 
 right of interference, to induce the ‘ absolute king’ to modify 
 his tyrannical acts, and to introduce a system of mode ate 
 reform into his administration: no assistance or advice was 
 given to the constitutionalists to preserve them from rash 
 innovations; no attempt made to direct them in a path 
 surrounded by perils; but, when they had involved themselves 
 in difficulties, and drawn down upon their cause the indignation 
 of despotic power, the British government not only received all 
 the denunciations of other courts without regret, but subse- 
 
116 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 quently saw, without offering any opposition, the old system of 
 absolute sway introduced into the peninsula, and put into 
 execution with the most rigorous severity: yet what streams 
 of blood might have been stopped, what anguish been prevented, 
 what a cost of treasure and life, since lavished by the natives 
 of this isle itself, been saved, had a spirit of humanity prevailed 
 in our tory cabinet! 
 
 Revolutionary doctrines, however, were not confined to the 
 peninsula beyond the Pyrenees; the contagion quickly spread 
 to that beyond the Alps also. In Naples, the establishment of 
 a constitutional government, eagerly desired by a large propor- 
 tion of the people, had been promised by the king at his re- 
 storation, but afterwards prohibited through the interposition 
 of Austria: and the feelings of indignation thence excited were 
 cherished by the Carbonari, a species of freemasons, whose 
 ancient fraternity was converted into a political association, for 
 the restoration of Italian freedom: the example of the Spanish 
 people, between whom and the Italians a political union of ages 
 had produced much corresponding sentiment, gave a sudden im- 
 pulse to the exertions of this confederacy, by whose influence 
 the Neapolitan army was gained to the cause ; and the alarming 
 spectacle was soon exhibited, of a military power prescribing 
 to the monarch a constitution formed after a foreign model. 
 The ramifications of the Carbonari, in a country so central, 
 and so politically situated as Italy, rendered it necessary for 
 the holy allies, either to remain quiet spectators of a general 
 Insurrection and probable extension of institutions adverse to 
 the purposes of their confederacy, or to anticipate these move- 
 ments by force of arms: accordingly, the sovereigns of Russia, 
 Austria, and Prussia met personally in congress at 'Troppau, 
 where they formally announced their resolution to crush the 
 Neapolitan revolution, and overthrow a constitution which it 
 was declared had been forced on the sovereign by violence: 
 their next step was to send a joint letter, inviting the king of 
 Naples to meet them in a new congress at Laybach, on the 
 frontiers of Italy ; with an assurance, that his presence would 
 best assist their anxious views for the welfare of himself as 
 well as of his subjects, and promote a conciliatory adjustment 
 between them: to this insidious proposal, although Austria 
 was already pouring her troops into Lombardy, the Neapolitan 
 parliament had the folly to consent ; and Ferdinand embarked 
 on board a British man-of-war for Leghorn, leaving a solemn 
 declaration of his determination to adhere to the fundamental 
 principles of the constitution, which he had sworn to maintain. 
 
A.D, 1820. GEORGE Iv. 117 
 
 The presence of a British fleet, for some time past, in the bay 
 of Naples, tended to corroborate what was formerly acknow- 
 leged ; that, although by the constitution of this country the 
 sovereign could not openly profess himself a member of the 
 Aoly alliance, he fully approved of its principles and purposes ; 
 the great mass, however, of the British people, though they 
 could not but observe much to lament and condemn in many 
 rash proceedings and democratic innovations among the con- 
 stitutionalists, yet sympathised strongly in the general justice 
 of their cause, and reprobated the declared resolutions of the 
 holy confederates. 
 
 This Neapolitan revolution was fellowed by sanguinary 
 commotions among the Sicilians; who naturally wished to 
 detach their country from its degrading dependence on Naples, 
 and to reform a system of government, whose base tendencies 
 and injurious oppressions are noted throughout Europe. The 
 Ottoman Porte also attacked its rebellious pasha of Joannina 
 this year; at the close of which, that atrocious tyrant was 
 closely blockaded in his fortress of Litaritza. France, though 
 not subject to political convulsions, was strongly agitated by 
 the deplorable assassination of the duc de Berri, youngest 
 nephew of Louis XVIII., and the only member of his family 
 who promised to continue a line of heirs to the throne. The 
 law of elections received an important alteration, which was 
 intended to give greater stability to the constitution, by neu- 
 tralising a portion of the democratic principle: while 258 
 members of the chamber, as originally constituted, were 
 returned by the electoral colleges, 172 additional deputies 
 were to be chosen by departmental colleges, composed of one- 
 fourth part of the electors; being such as paid the largest con- 
 tributions to the public service. 
 
118 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXxt. 
 
 CHAPTER LXI, 
 GEORGE IV. (contixvep.)—1821. 
 
 Meeting of parliament—Contest between the queen’s friends and 
 ministers—Queen’s annuity bill—End of the contest— Extinction 
 of the queen’s popularity—Feeling in England against the prin- 
 ciples of the holy alliance—Committee voted on the catholic 
 claims, &c.—Motions for parliamentary reform—Disfranchise- 
 ment of Grampound—Report of the agricultural committee, &c. 
 —Measures to alter the navigation laws, and in faver of free 
 trade—Mr. Hume—Supplies, &c.-—-Prorogation of parliament— 
 Death of Napoleon— Preparations for the coronation, &c.—Claim 
 preferred by the queen, and rejected—Hler attempts to be present 
 at the coronation repulsed—Ceremony of the coronation, &¢.— 
 Death of the queen—King’s visit to lreland—-Queen’s funeral— 
 King’s return—State of Irish government and of the country— 
 Recall of the lord lieutenant—King’s visit to Hanover—Founda- 
 tion of the Royal Society of Literature—State of Europe, parti- 
 cularly of Greece—Opening of parliament in 1822—Lord Wel- 
 lesley governor of Ireland; state of the country, enactments of 
 the legislature, &c.—Ravages of famine and disease in Ireland, 
 &c.—Conduct of various classes—Agricultural distress in Eng- 
 land—Admission of the Grenville party into the cabinet—Mr. 
 Peel made secretary of state—Mr. Canning designated as go- 
 vernor-general of India—His motion to restore Roman catholic 
 peers to their seats in parliament—Agricultural distress, and 
 appointment of a committee—Bills founded on its report— 
 Financial bills—State of parties—Acts for the reduction of ex- 
 penditure forced on ministers, &c.—Mr. Western’s motion on the 
 currency— Relaxation of Peel’s bill—Statistical affairs—Reduc- 
 tion in the salt-tax and in that on malt, &c.—Relaxation in the 
 navigation and trade laws—Lord J. Russell’s plan for parlia- 
 mentary reform—Greek cause introduced into the house of 
 commons—Favored by the people—Prorogation of parliament— 
 The king’s visit to Scotland—Death of lord Londonderry, &c. 
 Prevalence of bad principles—Trials of Carlile, &c., for blas- 
 phemous publications—Appointment of Mr. Canning as secre- 
 tary of state—Congress of Verona, &c.—Greek cause—A ffairs 
 of Spain—Liberal views of Mr. Canning—Changes in the cabi- 
 te ete Nye ope canal—Grant to publish the early histories of 
 
 ritain. 
 
 PARLIAMENT, having assembled on the twenty-third of January, 
 was opened by his majesty in person, with a speech character- 
 ised by the moderation of a crest-fallen man: in his references 
 to domestic concerns, he expressed satisfaction at decreasing 
 
A.D. 1821. GEORGE IV. 119 
 
 evils; and, in noticing foreign commotions, he stated, that his 
 great object would be to preserve the blessings of peace to his 
 people: he mentioned the queen, merely to suggest the settle- 
 ment of a provision for her, in lieu of that, which, as princess 
 of Wales, she lost at the demise of George III. si 
 Notwithstanding these pacific demonstrations, opposition in 
 each house prepared all its strength for a vigorous attempt to 
 eject the ministers ; who, it was imagined, had declined greatly 
 in public favor by the line of conduct which they had adopted 
 toward the queen: in pursuance of this scheme, the whigs.did 
 not disdain to co-operate with the radical party, her avowed 
 adherents ; and one of the results of this alliance was the pre- 
 sentation of numerous petitions, reprobating the late’ bill of 
 pains and penalties, praying for the restoration of her sy 
 name to the liturgy, and requesting the house to exeftits 
 utmost influence with the king to dismiss from his service thosé 
 whose pernicious advice had endangered the dignity of the 
 crown, and disturbed the tranquillity of the nation : the opposi- 
 tion leaders, however, had not taken into consideration that 
 alarm which had been produced among the supporters of esta- 
 blished order in the upper and middle classes, as soon as it 
 was seen that the queen had suffered her cause to be identified 
 with that of revolutionists ; nor had they sufficiently estimated 
 the sensible diminution of popular enthusiasm in her favor: 
 when therefore they commenced offensive operations, they 
 found themselves encountered and defeated by large majorities : 
 the experiment was made in the lower house, on the twenty- 
 sixth of January, by lord Archibald Hamilton, in a motion of 
 censure on ministers for the omission of her majesty’s name 
 in the liturgy ; being seconded by Mr. Hobhouse, one of the 
 members for Westminster ; while the legality, no less than the 
 justice of such an omission, was disputed by those eminent 
 lawyers, sir James Mackintosh, Mr. Scarlett, and Mr. Wetherell, 
 who fortified their arguments with much historical and antiqua- 
 rian research. In reply, the attorney and _solicitor-general 
 contended for the point of necessity, and also declared that it 
 was not illegal ; the former observing, that the act of uniformity 
 gave a power to omit as well as to alter or change: as was 
 evident from the fact, that the liturgy annexed to that act 
 contains a blank in the place of the name of queen; which, 
 without such vested power of addition or omission, could 
 never have been supplied. ‘The conduct of administration was 
 strenuously defended by lord Castlereagh, as an act of im- 
 perative duty: he regretted that the law on this point was not 
 
120 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 more clear; but as the case stood, if they had at first inserted 
 her majesty’s name in the liturgy, while such heavy charges 
 lay against her, and had been afterwards compelled to erase it 
 on account of the confirmation of those charges, they would 
 have been overwhelmed by the moral indignation of the coun- 
 try. ‘ But it was said,’ continued his lordship, ‘ that the queen 
 was proved innocent, and that her name should now be inserted 
 as a matter of course: the opinion of gentlemen opposite on 
 that point has not much weight with me, and I will tell them 
 why ; because their conviction was as strong before the evidence 
 was given as after. I will grant she was technically acquitted, 
 and may claim the possession of those privileges to which she 
 has strictly a legal right: but the insertion of her name in the 
 liturgy is not a matter of right: and when her character has 
 been so far affected by the evidence produced against her that 
 123 peers pronounced her guilty, the crown cannot be advised 
 to grant this or any other favor which depends on its pleasure 
 to be granted or withheld: toward the queen personally, I feel 
 compassion ; but since they who affect to be her friends have 
 renewed the discussion, be theirs the odium and the mischief 
 which must ensue: I cannot however be silent on her conduct ; 
 since she has been so infatuated as to deliver herself into the 
 hands of a party who, I believe, entertain designs dangerous to 
 public tranquillity and to the constitution ; nor can I honor her 
 more in a political than in a moral point of view; for has she 
 not, in her answers to addresses, reviled the king, degraded the 
 crown, and vilified both houses of parliament? But, thank 
 God! the country is coming to its senses; and if parliament 
 persists in its tone of dignified resolution, the efforts of that 
 party will end in despair. Your path of duty is plain: either 
 sustain the actual government in unimpaired honor and character, 
 or by a manly and tangible proceeding put an end to the 
 present cabinet.’ 
 
 Mr. Brougham, in reply to this speech, contended, that as 
 the queen had been acquitted, she must be treated as if she 
 had never been tried, or there was no justice left in England: 
 he wished that gentlemen who thought variously on one point 
 but agreed on others, would choose that on which they could 
 unite, not that on which they differed: most of them thought 
 the omission of the queen’s name illegal; some doubted its 
 illegality : all however were clear as to its being inexpedient 
 and ill-advised. Lord A. Hamilton’s motion was met by the 
 question of adjournment, which was carried by a majority of 
 101 votes in favor of ministers: a few days afterwards, on the 
 
A.D. 1821.. GEORGE IV. 121 
 
 proposition of lord Castlereagh, for a committee to take into 
 consideration a provision for the queen, Mr. Brougham brought 
 down a message from her majesty, declaring, in respectful but 
 positive terms, her unaltered determination to accept of no 
 settlement while her name was excluded from the liturgy: not 
 deterred however by this announcement, his lordship proposed 
 to the house a provision of £50,000 per annum, as originally 
 settled on her by the marriage treaty, and offered to her at 
 St. Omers: after some vehement debates, the vote passed with- 
 out a division, and a bill for this annuity was forwarded through 
 the usual stages. 
 
 Lord Tavistock, on the fifth of February, renewed the 
 attack, by a motion of direct censure on the whole proceedings 
 against her majesty, with an expressed intention of driving 
 ministers from power: he was seconded by Mr. Lambton, who 
 charged them with gross inconsistency and mismanagement ; 
 but, after two nights spent in violent debate, the majority in 
 favor of government was, on a division, increased to 146. The 
 third and last effort made in the queen’s cause was a motion 
 from Mr. W. Smith, on the thirteenth, for the restoration of 
 her name to the liturgy: Mr. Wilberforce, and some of his 
 friends, who had previously voted with ministers, were dis- 
 posed to concede this point, for the sake of allaying popular 
 irritation: on a division, therefore, the majority was not so 
 large; but it was decisively negatived ; and the question was 
 not resumed during this session, except as it offered means of 
 some desultory hostilities to the opponents of government. 
 In the mean time, the queen was soon reduced to the em- 
 barrassing alternative which her ill-judging counsellors had 
 prepared for her; either to be left destitute of any provision, 
 oer to accept the proposed settlement, after having aggravated 
 her humiliating situation by the affectation of a refusal: her 
 acceptance of the grant was necessary for her very existence ; 
 but the inconsistency of this determination with her imprudent 
 declaration extinguished all her influence over the public mind. 
 
 The question of illegality regarding the omission of the 
 queen’s name in the liturgy, having been disposed of in the 
 commons, was renewed in the house of lords, on the second 
 reading of a bill granting to her an annuity of £50,000; when 
 the chancellor defended the legality of that omission in the 
 most unqualified terms, professing that he had made himself 
 master of all the information attainable on the subject, to 
 which he had applied his utmost powers of research: the 
 excitement, however, occasioned by these proceedings relating 
 
122 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 to the queen, gave way to a more legitimate source of interest, 
 arising from those of the holy alliance ; whose manifesto, pub- 
 lished at Troppau, had excited feelings of indignation among 
 all the friends of constitutional liberty throughout Europe. 
 The intimate connexion which had long subsisted between our 
 government and the courts of this despotic association, as well 
 as the zeal with which ministers were accustomed to defend 
 the arbitrary government of continental sovereigns, and the 
 contempt which they too often displayed in debate for popular 
 rights, created a suspicion in the country, that they had some 
 secret connivance, if not participation, in the projects of the 
 great northern confederacy : nor was this impression removed 
 by a qualified protest against its principles of interference, 
 addressed by lord Castlereagh to our ministers at foreign 
 courts; since it was thought, that the British government, 
 although not called on to engage in a Quixotic defence of 
 revolutions, ought to have exhibited a hearty reprobation of 
 the tyrannical principles of the holy allies, as well as a positive 
 expression of dissent from the measures by which those prin- 
 ciples were carried into effect. 
 
 The consideration of foreign affairs was brought directly 
 before parliament by motions from lord Grey in the upper, 
 and sir James Mackintosh in the lower house; the ostensible 
 object of which, was the production of all communications 
 between his majesty’s government and foreign states, on the 
 concerns of Naples; but the real purpose was to elicit their 
 sentiments from ministers, by an expression of veliement in- 
 dignation against the confederates, and an exposition of the 
 unjust partiality shown toward them by our cabinet; which, 
 while it affected to condemn, had, in fact, justified their prin- 
 ciples, by refusing to acknowlege the constitutional government 
 of Naples. In his speech on this occasion, lord Grey adverted 
 strongly to a document which had appeared in a Hamburg 
 paper in December last, purporting to be a circular of the 
 allied powers: in this, no less a claim was set up than that of 
 general superintendence over European states, and the sup- 
 pression of all changes in their internal administration, if such 
 should seem hostile to what the holy alliance deemed legitimate 
 principles of government: those monarchs had, as it appeared 
 to him, assumed the censorship of Europe ; sitting in judgment 
 on the internal transactions of other states, and even taking 
 on themselves to summon before them an independent sovereign, 
 in order to pronounce sentence on a constitution which he had 
 given to his country; and threatening to enforce their judg- 
 
A.D. 1821. GEORGE IV. 123 
 
 ment by arms: this, he asserted, was to declare plainly, that 
 all changes of government, which did not square with their 
 ideas of propriety, were to be put down ;—a principle, unknown 
 before in the history of the world; than which nothing could 
 be more unjust, nothing more atrocious. Ministers, in their 
 defence, repeated the assurance, that our government was in 
 no respect a party to the league ; but the papers were refused, 
 and the motions negatived: still the debates were productive 
 of some good, since they conveyed to the world an expression 
 of British feeling against the union of continental despots ; and 
 obliged a cabinet, which was too much disposed to support its 
 policy, to loosen the bonds of their connexion. 
 
 When the declaration against Naples arrived, lord Lansdowne 
 brought the subject again before the peers, by moving an 
 address to his majesty for a remonstrance with the allied 
 powers ; but he was met by the pretext of a strict neutrality 
 adopted by Great Britain. In the mean time, the Austrian 
 army advanced: no measures, or at least only the most inefli- 
 cient, had been taken by the constitutional government of 
 Naples for the national defence: the troops left their ranks 
 and fled, before they came into contact with the invaders; the 
 wretched old king was re-established in all the privileges of 
 despotism ; and an Austrian army of occupation remained in 
 the country, to rivet those fetters which its pusillanimous 
 defenders may be said to have merited. At this crisis, the 
 flame of insurrection had burst out in Piedmont; Milan and 
 Venice were full of inflammable materials; and if the dastardly 
 Neapolitans had done their duty, the glorious peninsula might 
 perhaps have been delivered from foreign and domestic tyrants : 
 but the speedy and lamentable catastrophe at Naples paralysed 
 the efforts of braver men; and the ancient mistress of the 
 world was doomed to remain a mournful subject of lamentation 
 to the Italian Muses. 
 
 From the discussion of foreign oppression, parliament pro- 
 ceeded to a consideration of domestic grievances. The great 
 advocate of catholic emancipation, Henry Grattan, had departed 
 this life; but his mantle had descended on Mr. Plunkett, who 
 brought forward that question on the twenty-eighth of February, 
 prefacing it by an able and lucid speech, which elicited accla- 
 mations from all parties in the house: Mr. Peel appeared, on 
 this occasion, as chief opponent of the measure; but the 
 motion for a committee was carried by a majority of six votes : 
 accordingly, the house resolved itself into a committee on the 
 second of March; when six resolutions, proposed by Mr. 
 
124 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 Plunkett, were acceded to; and on these he framed two bills, 
 one repealing disabilities, and the other enacting securities for 
 the safety of the protestant succession to the crown, and of 
 the protestant church. Mr. Canning supported the measure 
 with great eloquence and fervor; declaring, that ‘we were in 
 the enjoyment of a peace, achieved in a great degree by 
 catholic arms, and cemented by catholic blood.’ ‘ For three 
 centuries,’ he observed, ‘ we had been erecting mounds, not to 
 assist or improve, but to thwart nature: we had raised them 
 high above the waters, where they have stood for many a 
 year, frowning proud defiance on all who attempted to cross 
 them: but in the course of ages, even they have been nearly 
 broken down; and the narrow isthmus, now formed by them, 
 stands between two seas: the fountains see each other, and 
 would fain meet. Shall we then fortify the mounds which 
 are now almost in ruins? or shall we leave them to moulder 
 away by time or accident? an event, which, though distant, 
 must happen, and which, when it does, will only confer a 
 thankless favor ; or shall we cut away at once the isthmus that 
 remains, and float on the mingling waves the ark of our com- 
 mon constitution ?’ 
 
 The two bills, when sent up to the house of lords, found its 
 atmosphere not quite so congenial to their existence: the con- 
 duct of the first was undertaken by lord Donoughmore, who 
 was strenuously opposed by the earl of Liverpool, and by the 
 chancellor ; who expressed his belief that it would be impos- 
 sible for the promoters of this measure to introduce any 
 modifications of it, so as to gain his acquiescence, though he 
 promised to bestow his best attention on the subject, before it 
 could be discussed at a second reading. Lord Grenville 
 answered the chancellor in a long and skilful speech; but the 
 fate of the measure was completely decided on the second 
 day’s debate by the memorable speech, or protest, which the 
 duke of York, presumptive heir to the throne, then delivered, 
 ‘Educated,’ said his royal highness, ‘in the principles of the 
 established church, the more I inquire, and the more I think, 
 the more I am persuaded that her interests are inseparable 
 from those of the constitution: I consider her as an integral 
 part of that constitution ; and I pray that she may long remain 
 so: at the same time, there is no man less an enemy to tolera- 
 tion than myself; but I distinguish between the allowance of 
 the free exercise of religion, and the granting of political 
 power.’ This speech, embodying the sentiments of his late 
 father, George III., carried the duke of York’s popularity 
 
a GEORGE Iv. 125 
 
 with the partisans of the high church to an extraordinary 
 height: it became, as it were, engraven on their hearts, and 
 was made the watchword of that party; while numerous 
 copies of it, printed in letters of gold, were disseminated 
 throughout the country. The bill was thrown out, after a 
 long discussion, in which many of the peers took a part, by 
 159 votes against 120: twenty-seven bishops voted on the 
 occasion, either personally or by proxy; but only two of the 
 number, Dr. Bathurst of Norwich, and Dr. King of Rochester, 
 were among the contents: the diminution of the usual majority 
 in the lords on this question was attributed to the character of 
 neutrality assumed by the cabinet, several leading members of 
 which in both houses were found among the strenuous adyo- 
 cates of emancipation; though their colleagues as zealously 
 resisted the abolition of existing restrictions. 
 
 While the peers were thus engaged, the commons were 
 occupied in a sweeping motion for parliamentary reform, in- 
 troduced by Mr. Lambton; who proposed to divide the king- 
 dom into elective districts, extend the franchise to all house- 
 holders, and limit the duration of parliaments to three years. 
 The result of the debate, which was adjourned to a second 
 evening, was a source of much merriment to the opposers of 
 this measure ; for, taking advantage of a thin house, and the 
 absence of its supporters, they pressed a division at an early 
 stage in the discussion ; and when the mover entered to hear 
 the debate, he was not a little surprised to find the question 
 already disposed of. Another plan, characterised by an ad- 
 mirable spirit of moderation and prudence, was proposed by 
 lord John Russell: this would have extended the right of 
 electing members to populous towns, then unrepresented in 
 parliament, and disfranchised every borough convicted here- 
 after of corruption: though supported by 124 voices, it was 
 thrown out by a majority of 155; many of whom probably 
 lived to regret the vote they gave that day. But though the ~ 
 rejection of every direct proposal for reform might, at first 
 sight, appear to indicate no advance in favor of this important 
 question; yet the increased strength of the minorities by 
 which some of its modifications were supported, marked a 
 growing conviction among men of moderate principles, that 
 some concession to public opinion was necessary. 
 
 One decided measure of practical reform effected this session, 
 was the disfranchisement of the corrupt borough of Grampound, 
 and the transfer of its privileges to the large and populous 
 county of York: the original purpose of lord John Russell, 
 
126 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 who moved this question, was to confer its elective rights on 
 the town of Leeds, and to invest the franchise in householders 
 paying a rent of ten pounds: but this qualification savored too 
 much of the democratic principle to satisfy a majority of the 
 commons; and the bill passed their house, with the right of 
 voting limited to renters of houses at twenty pounds per 
 annum: even such a modification did not content the aristo- 
 cratical jealousy of the peers ; and every effort was made by 
 lord Eldon and his party, unable as they were to glance into 
 futurity, to defeat the measure altogether: lord Liverpool, 
 however, effected a compromise, by proposing, as an amend- 
 ment, to substitute the county of York for one of its towns; 
 and the bill so altered, being returned to the commons, was 
 passed. Mr. M. A. Taylor again took the field this session, 
 on the subject of those arrears of business and delays in the 
 court of chancery and house of lords, whence so much misery 
 is produced; and his motion, negatived by only fifty-six 
 against fifty-two, showed the state of public opinion on this point, 
 
 A continuation of low prices produced general distress, 
 which was felt by no classes of the community so severely 
 as those engaged in agricultural pursuits: numerous petitions 
 on the subject having been presented at the beginning of this 
 session, a committee was granted on the motion of Mr. Gooch; 
 and its report was presented to the house on the eighteenth of 
 June: this stated, ‘that the complaints of the petitioners 
 were founded in fact; in so far as they represented, that at 
 the present price of corn, the returns to occupiers of arable 
 land, after allowing for the interest of investments, were by 
 no means adequate to the charges and outgoings: it also 
 acknowleged, that the committee, after a long and anxious 
 inquiry, had not been able to discover any means calculated 
 immediately to relieve the present pressure.’ 
 
 ‘So far,’ the report stated, ‘as the pressure arises from 
 superabundant harvests, it is beyond the application of any 
 ~ legislative provision ; so far as it is the result of the increased 
 value of money, it is not one peculiar to the farmer, but 
 extends to many other classes of society: that result, how- 
 ever, is the more severely felt by the tenant, in consequence 
 of its coincidence with an overstocked market; especially, if 
 he be farming with a borrowed capital, and under the en- 
 gagements of a lease; and it has hitherto been farther 
 aggravated by the comparative slowness, with which prices 
 generally, and particularly the price of labor, accommodate 
 themselves to a change in the value of money: from this last 
 
A.D. 1821. GEORGE IV. 127 
 
 circumstance, the departure from our ancient standard, in pro- 
 portion as it was prejudicial to all creditors of money, and 
 persons dependent on fixed incomes, was a benefit to the 
 active capital of the country ; and the same classes have been 
 oppositely affected by a return to that standard: the restora- 
 tion of it has also embarrassed the landowner, in proportion 
 - as his estate has been encumbered with mortgages, and other 
 fixed payments, assigned on it, during the depreciation of the 
 currency. The only alleviation for this evil is to be looked 
 for in such a gradual reduction of the rate of interest below 
 the legal maximum as may make such encumbrances a 
 lighter burden on the landed interests; which reduction, if 
 peace continues, there is every reason to hope for: the diffi- 
 culties, in which the alterations of our currency have in- 
 volved the farming, manufacturing, and trading interests of 
 the country must diminish, in proportion as contracts, prices, 
 and labor adjust themselves to the present value of money.’ 
 
 This report, when made public, extinguished all hopes 
 which had been entertained from the labors of the com- 
 mittee: the effects resulting from a suspension of cash pay- 
 ments, and an inundation of paper currency, in too many 
 instances nominal, and easily obtained by speculators, were 
 now becoming more and more evident; but no immediate 
 remedy could be applied, no relief contemplated, except from 
 the gradual progression of time, with economy and remission 
 of taxation: ministers, however, notwithstanding the oppo- 
 sition of those who attributed the existing low prices to the 
 influence of threatened changes in the currency, were firm 
 in their purpose of effecting the resumption of cash-pay- 
 ments; and the bank directors, renouncing all ideas of self- 
 interest, anticipated the period prescribed by law: they not 
 only voluntarily opened their golden stores to the holders of 
 their notes, but procured an act which hastened the removal 
 of restriction by one year, making it imperative on the bank 
 to pay all demands in cash, after the first of May, 1822. 
 
 The views of government on the question of free trade, 
 proclaimed during last session, were now more formally 
 developed in a series of resolutions, proposed by Mr. Wallace, 
 vice-president of the board of trade: his object was to pave 
 the way for a complete revisal of our navigation laws, and 
 the removal of those restrictions which forbade the free in- 
 terchange of commodities in foreign shipping; when, the 
 general sentiment of the house being favorable to the mea- 
 sures contemplated, leave was given, notwithstanding opposi- 
 
128 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 tion from particular interests, to introduce bills for their enact- 
 ment in the ensuing session. 
 
 In the debates on the estimates of expenditure, Mr. Hume 
 pursued a plan of sifting and disputing the required amount 
 of almost every item of supply ; and though he failed in all 
 direct efforts to effect any reduction of expense; yet his 
 system of perpetually harassing government forced ministers 
 themselves into a necessity of originating measures of retrench- 
 ment: sometimes he was even gladly appealed to by them, 
 when unable or unwilling to satisfy the cormorants that are 
 constantly hovering round the treasury benches; creatures, 
 whose lust of place and profit extinguishes all love of country 
 and principles of liberty. The total amount of supplies for 
 the year was £20,018,200; being less by above 1,000,000 
 than that for 1820: in aid of the ways and means, there 
 were taken from the sinking fund £13,000,000 ; and the sum 
 of £500,000 arose from the pecuniary indemnity paid by 
 France. A proposition to repeal the malt tax was success- 
 fully resisted ; but government, to prove its wish of relieving 
 the agriculturists in some degree, removed the duty from 
 horses employed in husbandry; when the labors of the 
 session being finished, parliament was prorogued by commis- 
 sion on the eleventh of July. é 
 
 This year the common lot of mortality overtook Napoleon 
 Bonaparte, who died in the lonely isle of St. Helena on the 
 fifth of May, and in the fifty-second year of his age: his 
 spirit departed from its corporeal frame in the midst of a 
 terrific storm of thunder and lightning; and it seemed as if 
 the awful sounds brought up the confused image of a battle 
 to the mind of the dying warrior; for his last broken words 
 were ‘téte darmée,’ ‘ fils,’ ‘ France!’ Ue was buried with 
 the military honors due to a general of the first rank, in a 
 grave fourteen feet deep; the lower part being chambered 
 to receive the coffin: over this a large stone was placed, and 
 the rest of the space was filled up with solid masonry fastened 
 by iron clamps: very soon after his funeral ceremonies, the 
 establishment, which had cost this country nearly half a mil- 
 lion per annum, was broken up; and counts Bertrand and 
 Montholon, with the rest of the late emperor’s faithful ad- 
 herents, returned to Europe: his will, bearing date the four- 
 teeth of April, 1821, was brought over to England, and 
 registered in the prerogative court of Canterbury, where it 
 may at any time be seen. ‘Thus termincted, in exile and in 
 prison, the most extraordinary life yet known to political 
 
A.D. 1821, 3 GEORGE IV. 129 
 
 history: the intelligence created very little sensation through- 
 out Europe; and this was one of the remarkable contrasts 
 in the chequered destiny of a man who once filled the 
 world with his fame; and who had originated, or carried on, 
 mighty transactions and revolutions, in which men of thought 
 can see the springs of still greater changes. 
 
 The king’s coronation had been originally fixed for the first 
 of August, in the year now past; but the appearance of his 
 consort put an end to that arrangement; and it had become 
 a question much debated, whether the ceremony would take 
 place in the present state of public feeling: but the pageantry 
 of a coronation was too agreeable to the taste of George IV. 
 to be declined ; and as no people on earth are more easily 
 worked on by the courtesy and condescension of their 
 superiors than the English, the king and his ministers knew 
 that there was no necessity for extraordinary exertions in 
 order to turn the popular stream in his favor: his majesty 
 therefore began to appear more frequently in public than his 
 general custom was at this time ; in particular, he visited the 
 principal theatres; where he was received with acclamations 
 so flattering, as almost to realise the assertion made by lord 
 Castlereagh at the close of the late trial;—‘that in six 
 months his majesty would be the most popular man within 
 -his dominions.” The sentiments of the people therefore 
 having been ascertained, a proclamation was issued, announc- 
 ing the king’s pleasure that his coronation should take place 
 on the nineteenth of July: this, however, was a sigual to | 
 bring the queen again into the field: ‘ war to the knife!’ was 
 the watchword of that determined and implacable woman. 
 
 In consequence of a memorial which she forwarded on the 
 twenty-fifth of June, preferring her claim to be crowned like 
 her royal predecessors, the case was argued, at the king’s 
 command, before his privy council: during two sittings, her 
 majesty’s rights were supported by Messrs. Brougham and 
 Denman, whose chief argument rested on the plea of long 
 and uniform practice. The king’s attorney-general admitted 
 that usage would be evidence of a right, unless it could be 
 shown that such usage originated and was continued by the 
 permission of another party : ‘ there was evident distinction,’ 
 he said, ‘between the coronation of a king, and that of a 
 queen; the former being accompanied by important political 
 acts, while the latter was a mere ceremony ; but even the 
 coronation of the king was not necessary to his possession of 
 the crown: that act emanated from himself, and he had the 
 
 ENG. XVII K 
 
130 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI, 
 
 sole direction of it: the right assumed by the queen-consort 
 was not once alluded to by any writer on our law and consti- 
 tution; and with respect to usage itself, the majority of 
 instances since the reign of Henry VIII. was against the 
 claim.’ He might have added, that no queen-consort, from 
 the time of William the Conqueror to the epoch just named, 
 had been crowned at the same time with her husband. In 
 fact, as lord Eldon observed, Mr. Brougham’s argument before 
 the privy council seemed, to most of its members, to prove 
 the very reverse of her majesty’s claim, as a right, demand- 
 ing to be crowned with the king, on the same day and at the 
 same place.! The solicitor-general followed in the same line 
 of argument: Mr. Brougham replied: and the council, at its 
 next sitting, unanimously rejected her majesty’s claim of right. 
 
 As soon as the queen received this decision through her 
 chamberlain, lord Hood, she wrote in her own name to lord 
 Sidmouth, stating her fixed determination to be present at 
 the ceremony, and demanding a suitable place to be provided 
 for her accommodation ; when his lordship returned for answer, 
 that it was not his majesty’s pleasure to comply with this 
 request, her application was renewed to the duke of Norfolk, 
 as earl-marshal of England ; and subsequently to lord Howard 
 of Effingham, to whom his grace had delegated the duties of 
 his office: as lord Howard was obliged to take the commands 
 of his majesty on this occasion, through the secretary of state, 
 the answer returned was of course unsatisfactory; and the 
 disappointed queen finally addressed a letter to the archbishop 
 of Canterbury, requesting his services to crown her majesty 
 alone, the following week, while the Abbey remained in a 
 state of preparation for that august ceremony, without the 
 necessity of any additional expense to the nation. To this 
 demand the following reply was instantly returned :-— 
 
 Lambeth Palace, July 15. 
 
 ‘The archbishop of Canterbury has the honor to acknow- 
 lege, with all humility, the receipt of her majesty’s commu- 
 nication: her majesty is undoubtedly aware that the arch- 
 bishop cannot stir a single step in the subject-matter of it 
 without the commands of the king.’ 
 
 Thus repulsed in her application to different authorities, 
 nothing remained for the queen but to prepare a protest ; which 
 was accordingly drawn up in the most pointed terms, and 
 which she determined to deliver personally into his majesty’s 
 hands on the day of his coronation. The publication of this 
 
 1 See his Life, vol. ii. p. 420. 
 
AD. 1822. GEORGE IV. 13) 
 
 document, as well as other acts, exhibiting her fixed resolution, 
 under all hazards and circumstances, to be present at the cere- 
 mony, occasioned expectations that its celebration would be 
 interrupted, if not prevented, by some popular commotion or 
 infraction of the public peace: accordingly, when the day for 
 this superb ceremony, which had not been witnessed for sixty 
 years, arrived, the respectable part of the community mustered 
 in very small numbers ; the immense booths, constructed at a 
 great expense by speculators for the acommodaticn of the public. 
 were almost deserted ; and places, for which, if no apprehen- 
 sions had existed, ten guineas would have been demanded, and 
 cheerfully given, fell to five shillings, and even to half-a-crown : 
 ministers, however, put in practice every possible precaution to 
 preserve tranquillity, and to bafHe the designs of their antago- 
 nist: they got up shows, balloons, fireworks, and all sorts of 
 entertainments to attract the populace from the vicinity of the 
 Abbey ; while, in case the people should stir in the queen’s 
 favor every disposable regiment was brought into, or near, 
 the metropolis on that day ; and the streets were so barricaded, 
 that none but soldiers on duty could move conveniently along 
 them: but there needed none of this warlike preparation ; so 
 much was popular enthusiasm in the queen’s cause abated. 
 
 On the preceding evening, the king slept at the speaker’s 
 house in Palace-yard ; and on the morning of the nineteenth, 
 while arrangements were making in Westminster-hall for the 
 grand procession, her majesty, faithful to her word, came down 
 to the scene of action in her state carriage, drawn by six bay 
 horses, followed by another carriage with her attendants ; and, 
 arriving at the outer gates of the hall, she claimed a right to be 
 present at the ceremony: being, however, very unceremoni- 
 ously excluded, she attempted to gain admission at several 
 doors of the Abbey, but without any better success: some of 
 the people then pointed out to her majesty an opening to the 
 platform, which she ascended; and, walking thence to Old 
 Palace-yard, entered first the passage to Cotton-garden, and 
 subsequently advanced along the covered way to Poets’-corner: 
 at this last door lord Hood desired admission; but the door- 
 keepers drew across the entrance, and requested to see the 
 tickets: his lordship then said, ‘I present to you your queen ; 
 surely it is not necessary for her to havea ticket :’ but one of the 
 attendants replied, that he did not know the queen, and prohi- 
 bited her majesty from entering. Lord Hood produced his 
 own ticket, but was informed that it would only admit one 
 person: her majesty, therefore, finding every effort to obtain 
 
132 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. cH. LXI. 
 
 admission ineffectual, returned to her carriage, and proceeded 
 through Whitehall, Pall Mall, and St. James’s-street, to her 
 own residence, attended by a concourse of rabble, whose cheers 
 and acclamations saluted her ears for the last time: on her 
 arrival at home, she also addressed her last letter to the king 
 through lord Sidmouth, requesting that he would be pleased to 
 give an early answer to the demand which she had made to the 
 archbishop of Canterbury ; and trusting, ‘ that, after the public 
 insult she had received, he would grant her just right of being 
 crowned on the following Monday.’ To this, lord Sidmouth 
 replied, that he was commanded to acquaint her majesty, that, 
 in accordance with the decision of the privy council against the 
 right of queens-consort to be crowned at any time, the king did 
 not think proper to give orders for her majesty’s coronation. 
 During the period in which the abuve transactions took place 
 without the hall, considerable anxiety was manifested by the 
 illustrious assemblage within, as the mingled uproar of applause 
 and disapprobation reached their ears: happily however this 
 was at an end before the procession was marshalled; and at 
 eleven o’clock, the splendid train set out in the usual order: 
 the anthem of ‘O Lord, grant the king a long life,’ being sung 
 in parts, in succession with the performance of his majesty’s 
 band, the sound of trumpets, and the beat of drums, until it 
 arrived at the Abbey. This display of the most magnificent 
 among the old pomps of England has been commemorated by 
 a celebrated master of description,? who has declared, ‘that a 
 ceremony more august and imposing in all its parts, or more 
 calculated to make the deepest impression both on the eye and 
 on the feelings, cannot be conceived.’ Pitying those who, 
 ‘being unable to detect a peg on which to hang a laugh, sneer 
 coldly at this solemn festival, and are rather disposed to dwell 
 on the expense which attends it, than on the generous feelings 
 which it ought to awaken,’ he very justly observes, ‘that the 
 expense, so far as it is national or personal, goes directly and 
 instantly to the encouragement of the British manufacturer and 
 mechanic; that it operates as a tax on wealth and consideration, 
 for the benefit of poverty and industry ; a tax, willingly paid 
 by the one class ; and not less acceptable to the other, because 
 it adds a happy holiday to the monotony of a life of labor.’ 
 Notwithstanding this great authority, however, it may con- 
 fidently be predicted, that no coronation will again be attempted 
 in this kingdom, on the same scale, and in the same style, as 
 that of George IV. ‘Times change, and we must change with 
 2 Sir Walter Scott, in his Letter on the Coronation, 
 
A.D. 1821. GEORGE IV. 133 
 
 them, notwithstanding the pain which this may cause to the 
 lovers of antiquity ; mere gaudy processions have had their 
 day ; the seasons for which they were suited, when intellectual 
 and refined amusements were unknown, have passed away, and 
 vain ceremonies must vanish in their train. hen sir Walter 
 Scott, within the sacred walls of the Abbey, witnessed with 
 those heartfelt emotions, which he has so eloquently described, 
 the voluntary and solemn interchange of vows betwixt the king 
 and his assembled people, while he called on God to witness 
 his resolution to maintain their laws and privileges, and they to 
 bear witness that they accepted him as their liege sovereign, 
 we can readily enter into his feelings, and applaud the scene: 
 also we acknowlege the justness of his description, when he 
 calls lord Londonderry, in the magnificent robes of the garter, 
 with his cap and high plume, his fine face and majestic person, 
 an adequate representative of the order of Edward III.: ina 
 similar spirit, we allow that the duke of Wellington, with all 
 his laurels, moved and looked as one deserving the baton, which 
 was never grasped by a worthier hand: but when majesty 
 itself came tottering along the platform between the Abbey and 
 the hall, scarcely able to support the glittering diadem that 
 formed a melancholy contrast with his faded and enfeebled 
 frame ; when the high-spirited representative of the grand order 
 of England, and the immortal conqueror of Napoleon, marching 
 amidst a motley crew of antique maskers, paraded their ribbons 
 and their laurels, their stars, garters, and plumes, before a 
 gaping crowd, of what has been humorously termed ‘the great 
 unwashed ;’ it was then extensively felt that a downward step 
 had been taken ‘ from the sublime to the ridiculous ;’ and why 
 so ?—because there was a want of unison between the parties. 
 In ancient times, these decorated figures in procession would 
 have been regarded with silent awe, or accompanied with 
 murmurs of respectful and sincere applause: in the present 
 instance, they were received with laughter; and the highest 
 nobles of our land became subjected to the gibes and jeers of 
 apprentice boys, and the lowest of the mob.3 On a subse- 
 quent occasion, better taste was shown: the procession which 
 accompanied William IV. to the Abbey, was a military array : 
 
 3 These absurd pageantries are worthy only of contempt; but 
 how shall we designate that base act of adulation committed by the 
 University of Oxford, dispensing with a whole term of academical 
 residence in honor of George the Fourth’s accession to the crown ! 
 remitting to her students so large a portion of their course of studies ; 
 as if those studies were a punishment inflicted on her sons! 
 
134 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 the fine and affecting part of the ceremony was preserved : the 
 trumpery was discarded. 
 
 The ill-fated queen, who had placed her last stake on the 
 hazard of a day, and, having totally failed in her object, had 
 incurred derision even from the populace, sank under this 
 deep humiliation: she was soon afterwards attacked with an 
 obstruction of the bowels, which, in her state of mind and 
 body, brought on mortification, and terminated fatally the 
 seventh of August: but even in death, the unconquerable will 
 and ruling passion still remained: she ordered that her remains 
 should not be left in England, but carried to her native land ; 
 -and that the inscription on her tomb should be,—‘ Here lies 
 Caroline of Brunswick, the injured queen of England.’ 
 
 Before the unexpected event of her majesty’s decease took 
 place, the king had made arrangements to visit Ireland, and it 
 was not thought proper to interrupt them: on Saturday, the 
 eleventh of August, his majesty embarked on board the 
 Lightning steam-packet, and on the following afternoon disem- 
 barked at Howth : being quickly recognised, he was welcomed 
 by the warm-hearted inhabitants—who for so many years had 
 never seen a king on their shore in the garb of peace—with a 
 delirium of joy: nor was the homage he received less grati- 
 fying to the monarch because it was unthinking and abject : 
 he cordially acknowledged the greeting of the multitude, 
 shaking hands with many, and appearing to enjoy the humor 
 of the moment in the absence of etiquette, The populace 
 escorted him to the steps of the vice-regal lodge, whence he 
 addressed them in very energetic language :—‘ this,’ said his 
 majesty, ‘is one of the happiest days of my life: I have long 
 wished to visit you: my heart has always been Irish: from 
 the day it first beat, I have Joved Ireland ; and this day has 
 shown me that I am beloved by my Irish subjects: rank, 
 station, honors, are nothing; but to feel that I live in the 
 hearts of my Irish subjects, is to me the most exalted happi- 
 ness.’ The public authorities were presented at a private 
 levee on the fifteenth; and the great seemed to participate in 
 the rapture of the lower orders, on the arrival of a sovereign 
 whose affubility delighted them: the most extravagant hopes 
 of national and individual benefit from this visit were enter- 
 tained by all ranks ; while the more sage and politic counsellors 
 who accompanied their sovereign, began to feel much anxiety, 
 and to exert peculiar vigilance, lest his feelings should hurry 
 him into expressions which discretion might lament. The 
 king’s public entry into Dublin occurred on the seventeenth, 
 
A.D. 1821. GEORGE 1V. 135 
 
 when his majesty wore the riband of the order of St. Patrick, 
 and took possession of the castle for the remainder of his stay : 
 on the twenty-third, he dined with the lord mayor; but his 
 chief, if not only private visit, was to Slane castle, the residence 
 of lord Conyngham: in the course of the evening which he 
 spent there, despatches were received, announcing the riots at 
 the funeral procession of the queen; and he is said to have 
 expressed, in somewhat contemptuous terms, his dissatisfaction 
 at the want of arrangement and energy on the part of ministers ; 
 between whom and his majesty a want of cordiality had for 
 some time existed ; owing, as was supposed, to the intrigues 
 of the marchioness of Conyngham in favor of the whig party. 
 The following are the circumstances which led to the present 
 disapprobation : her majesty’s body, according to her will, was 
 to be carried to Brunswick for interment; and the first stage, 
 toward Harwich, where it was to cross the sea, was to Romford 
 in Essex : now the road to that place from Brandenburg-house 
 led through the heart of the capital, by her husband’s palace, 
 and St. Paul’s cathedral: ministers, therefore, in their anxiety 
 to prevent the corpse from proceeding in such a direction, 
 endeavoured to force it up a narrow street or lane, so that it 
 might reach the northern outskirts of London, and thus get into 
 the Romford road, without occasioning any popular commotion ; 
 to effect which, a sufficient number of troops was placed at 
 the command of those who had the conduct of this affair: but 
 the people, by tearing up the pavement, making trenches in 
 the road, and blocking up all other avenues, actually obliged 
 the funeral procession to take the forbidden route: a conflict 
 at the upper gate of Hyde-park took place between the mili- 
 tary and the people, when two of the latter were shot dead by 
 the soldiers; the procession moved on, and the contest was 
 renewed ; but the mob eventually triumphed ; and the hearse, 
 after having been driven up and down various streets like an 
 artillery-waggon, with ‘the most unseemly velocity, was forced 
 into the city, where the lord mayor and other authorities joined 
 the procession ; the shops being closed, and the bells of the 
 different churches tolling. In the course of the affray, sir 
 Robert Wilson remonstrated with some soldiers and an officer 
 on duty ; and his humane but unmilitary interference subse- 
 quently deprived him of his commission: the directing civil 
 magistrate, also, who consulted humanity in preference to his 
 orders, and for the prevention of bloodshed yielded to the 
 desire of the multitude, was dismissed from his office. Such 
 were the commotions, and such the cause of them, in the 
 
136 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI, 
 
 British metropolis, while the king was enjoying the pleasures 
 of Irish conviviality, and acquiring an ascendency over party- 
 spirit in that ill-used and misgoverned country : this, if he had 
 resolved at once to adopt a liberal and decisive policy, might 
 have preserved his image stamped as a benefactor on the very 
 heart of the nation: but contenting himself with a proclamation 
 exhorting the people to concord, and with a reiteration of the 
 plaudits which had greeted his arrival, George IV. departed 
 on the seventh of September, and, disembarking on the thir- 
 teenth at Milford Haven, proceeded immediately to London. 
 
 At this time lord Talbot was chief governor of Ireland; a 
 nobleman much esteemed for his private character, but with 
 no recommendation for so high an office beyond his known 
 sentiments, favorable to an exclusive protestant ascendency : 
 his secretary was Mr. Charles Grant, a man of deep religious 
 feeling, liberal principles, and fine talents; whose appoint- 
 ment seemed a pledge to the great majority of the people for 
 a concession of privileges: but a government, administered on 
 this miserable system of counteraction, was peculiarly inap- 
 plicable to Ireland, and soon produced its natural effects in 
 that distracted country: all expectations formed from the 
 king’s visit were fatally disappointed; the excitement of the 
 period soon subsided; and the sanguine people, experiencing 
 no immediate good from his majesty’s presence, agreed to 
 attribute many of their existing evils to that cause. Poverty 
 and misery awakened discontent and lawless violence: flames 
 were kindled, and the most diabolical outrages perpetrated ; 
 while religious discord inflamed the wounds of political ani- 
 mosity : executions, imprisonments, and a military occupation 
 of several counties were unavailing to repress tumults, or to 
 prevent the dreadful conflagrations and sanguinary struggles 
 to which they gave origin: the lord-lieutenant was recalled ; 
 a special commission was sent into the disturbed districts ; and 
 exemplary punishments were employed to terrify those whom 
 authority could not restrain. 
 
 His majesty had scarcely returned from Ireland before he 
 encountered the fatigues of another expedition. Having em- 
 barked, on the twentieth of September, at Gravesend, he 
 landed at Calais; and, travelling through Lisle, Brussels, 
 Osnaburg, and Nieuburg, entered the capital of his Hanoverian 
 dominions on the eleventh of October, under a salute of 
 101 guns: accompanied by his royal brothers, the dukes of 
 Cumberland and Cambridge, he spent ten days in that ancient 
 city, where he accommodated himself strictly to the manners 
 
A.D. 1821, GEORGE IV. 137 
 
 of the people, speaking German, and wearing the Guelphic 
 order ; reviewing the military, and receiving civic deputations ; 
 visiting the university of Gottingen, and joining in a grand 
 hunting party at Diester. Having undergone the ceremony 
 of another coronation, he departed from this portion of his 
 dominions, leaving behind him lively impressions of his private 
 affability and condescension, where he had publicly established 
 for himself the proudest of all titles—that of a patriot king. 
 We must not omit to mention a striking instance of his 
 majesty’s liberality and attention to the interests of learning, 
 which he this year exhibited in the foundation of the Royal 
 Society of Literature ; not only conferring on that institution 
 the distinction of a charter, but the more solid advantage of 
 £1000 per annum for pensions to ten honorary members: 
 premiums also were founded for the encouragement of com- 
 positions in prose and verse; and the society, whose records 
 already contain a large mass of valuable information, boasts 
 many of the most illustrious names in the literary world among 
 its associates and contributors. : 
 Though the members of the holy alliance had totally sup- 
 pressed Neapolitan revolutions, the new order of things con- 
 tinued in Spain, because the royal confederates were unable to 
 reach the seat of the disease, and stifle its progress, without 
 the active co-operation of France, and the sufferance of Great 
 Britain: the system itself, however, had but little claim to 
 respect, being neither a monarchy nor a republic; and the 
 consequence of so defective a state of administration soon 
 became visible. In May, the Cortes of Portugal opened their 
 session; and in July, the king, returning from Brazil, accepted, 
 and swore to maintain, the constitution: in essential points 
 the plan of government coincided with that of Spain; but in 
 some particulars it circumscribed the royal authority still more. 
 In northern Europe, the Russian autocrat, bent on extending 
 his power, and not content with the large territories which he 
 possessed in two quarters of the world, determined to push 
 forward his dominions into a third. By an ukase of September 
 the sixteenth, Russia appropriated to herself the north-west 
 coast of America, from Beering’s Straits to 51° north latitude, 
 and the Kurile isles, as far as Urup, 45° north latitude; pro- 
 hibiting foreign navigation in the vicinity, as well as on the 
 coast. But the most important feature in foreign politics was 
 the insurrection in Greece, the first step to independence in 
 that interesting state; which, if properly settled and enlarged, 
 might be made as important a barrier to Europe against the 
 
138 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 advance of Russian hordes, as unhappy Poland once offered 
 against the Turks. 
 
 For ages past, the miserable Greeks, trodden under foot by 
 their merciless oppressors, had looked up to European states, 
 but looked in vain, for liberty: at length, after many instances 
 of delusive hopes held out, which only plunged them deeper 
 into calamity, they made the important discovery, that they 
 who would be free, themselves must strike the blow: accord- 
 ingly, at the conclusion of the late war, this energetic nation, 
 which expected that the congress of Vienna would work a 
 change in its affairs, finding these hopes disappointed, resolved 
 to take measures for emancipating itself: in consequence, a 
 secret society,'called the Heteria, the origin of which is in- 
 volved in considerable mystery, assumed a more decidedly 
 political character, extending its ramifications through the 
 various districts of European Turkey: it soon included men of 
 the greatest note in all those quarters; but was embraced by 
 no persons with greater enthusiasm than by Greek soldiers of’ 
 fortune, in the pay of England, France, and Russia; who, 
 when disbanded, bore with extreme impatience a renewed 
 subjection to Turkish despotism, and were ready to throw 
 themselves into the arms of any party which spoke to them of 
 vengeance. Reflecting on the Greek character, we should 
 wonder how this extensive conspiracy could have remained so 
 long concealed, did we not know that the stupidity of the 
 Moslems in such matters was fully equal to the levity of their 
 helots: nevertheless, the projects of the Hetzrists were several 
 times in great peril; and never more so than in the summer of 
 1818; when, not only their secret, but the whole plan of the 
 Greek revolution was revealed to captain W. H. Smyth, R.N.,¢ 
 
 4 See Marshal’s Naval Biography, vol. v. p. 154. It would be 
 wrong to pass over the name of this distinguished officer without 
 setting forth his example as an encouragement for others to honor- 
 able and persevering exertions in their profession. Captain Smyth, 
 who had passed through a most laborious and brilliant career during 
 the late war, was left, at its close, a lieutenant, without interest or 
 any other prospect of advancement, except in the resources of a 
 vigorous, intelligent mind, highly adapted to scientific pursuits ; 
 knowing therefore how imperfect were the surveys which had 
 hitherto been made of the coasts of the Mediterranean, he procured 
 a Sicilian gun-boat, and carried on very extensive hydrographical 
 operations, connecting Barbary, Sicily, and Italy, intirely on his 
 own means, and without any official instructions. His labors how- 
 ever did not escape notice; and when submitted to the Admiralty, 
 created such admiration, that before the close of 1815 he was ad- 
 vanced to the rank of commander ; and it was determined to engrave 
 
A.D. 1821. GEORGE IV. 139 
 
 who considered himself in duty bound to disclose it to our 
 government, through sir Thomas Maitland, then governor of 
 the Ionian islands: they escaped, however, this, as well as 
 other imminent dangers; and, fortunately for the Greeks, their 
 cause excited a favorable interest in some of the cabinets, and 
 in all the nations of Europe, which preserved them from such 
 interference as had been exhibited at Naples, and was pre- 
 paring against Spain: their only virulent opponents were the 
 Castlereagh party in England, and the cabinet of Vienna; but 
 the former was soon paralysed by the death of its leader, and 
 the expression of public feeling ; though ‘the Austrians,’ as I 
 have elsewhere observed, ‘ appear, throughout the whole con- 
 test, both publicly and privately, to have done all in their 
 power to increase the evils of suffering christians, to stifle the 
 spirit of liberty in its birth, and to amalgamate their own 
 cause with that of ruthless Mussulmen, impalers of mankind.5 
 As the disturbed state of Ireland was now the most prominent 
 object of public interest, it formed the principal topic of his 
 majesty’s speech at the opening of parliament, on the fifth of 
 February. Ona principle of political conciliation, the marquis 
 Wellesiey had already been appointed lord-lieutenant of that 
 country ; and the attorney-general Saurin, the champion of the 
 Orange party, was removed to make way for Mr. Plunkett, 
 that eloquent advocate of catholic emancipation. From the 
 high character of the chief governor, great expectations were 
 formed ; but the evils of the old system were too firmly. rooted 
 in the soil to be suddenly eradicated: the plan of counteraction 
 was still suffered to exist in the appointment of Mr. Goulburn, 
 as Irish secretary ; and while the disabilities of so large a ma- 
 jority of the population remained, all endeavors to conciliate 
 
 the most important portion of his surveys: accordingly, his Atlas 
 of Sicily, with an accompanying memoir, has been published, and 
 extensively circulated, not only in England, but in most other 
 European nations. Captain Smyth subsequently accompanied lord 
 Exmouth to Algiers, and was engaged in curious researches on the 
 northern shores of Africa, relating to their antiquities, as well as 
 to subjects of a political nature: he was also much employed by sir 
 Thomas Maitland and sir Frederick Adam in the affairs of the 
 Tonian islands; and returned home with an honorable fame, which 
 he has increased by continued exertions in the cause of science, as 
 well as of his peculiar profession ; building an observatory at his 
 own house in Bedford, and making observations which have esta- 
 blished his character as one of the first practical astronomers of the 
 age. He was made post-captain in 1824, and is president of the 
 Astronomical Society. 
 
 5 Travels in Sicily, Greece, and Albania, 8vo. edit. vol. ii. p. 299. 
 
140 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI, 
 
 and impartially control both parties, only irritated that which 
 government had usually favored, without satisfying the expec- 
 tations of the other. ‘To repress the spirit of lawless outrage, 
 which was desolating this unhappy portion of the empire, the 
 marquis of Londonderry, who had succeeded to the title at his 
 father’s death, introduced and carried two bills for arming the 
 Irish administration with additional powers ;—the insurrection 
 act, and the suspension of the habeas corpus : several members 
 of opposition, among whom lord Lansdowne, sir John Newport, 
 and Mr. Hume were conspicuous, attempted, during the session, 
 to induce parliament to inquire into the state of Ireland, but 
 without success ; and, notwithstanding the new powers granted 
 to the executive arm, and the energy with which they were 
 exerted, dreadful scenes of nocturnal outrage continued un- 
 abated, until the districts in which they chiefly occurred were 
 visited by the still more frightful scourges of famine and 
 disease. 
 
 In the preceding year, the potatoe crop, on which the Irish 
 peasantry almost wholly depended, had been very deficient ; 
 and this’ deficiency began to be severely felt after the disturbed 
 state of the country had suspended the operations of industry, 
 and deprived the working people of employment: while corn, 
 therefore, and the better sorts of food were plentiful, the poorer 
 classes were unable to procure sustenance of any kind, and 
 were literally starving in the midst of abundance: the aggra- 
 vated horrors of this misery soon produced a fever of the typhus 
 kind, which, spreading rapidly among the wretched cabins of 
 the country, carried off their inhabitants by thousands. The 
 conduct of government was prompt and benevolent : £500,000 
 were instantly placed at the disposal of lord Wellesley, to be 
 dispensed in charitable relief, or in employing the people on 
 works of public utility: a still more effectual aid was supplied 
 by the generosity of the British nation ; subscriptions for the 
 relief of their suffering brethren in Ireland being opened in al- 
 most every town, and collections made in churches and other 
 places of public worship: under the management of a central 
 committee in London, these contributions of christian charity 
 were applied extensively to the relief of those who must other- 
 wise have perished. Among the numerous instances of inde- 
 fatigable exertion exhibited by the superior classes in Ireland, 
 that of the archbishop of Tuam was above all praise ; the con- 
 duct of the primate also was noble; but the scanty contribu- 
 tions of the great absentee landbolders occasioned great and 
 merited animadversion at the time, and was brought forward 
 
A.D. 1822. GEORGE IV. 141 
 
 as no contemptible argument for establishing a system of poor 
 laws, suited to the condition of the Irish people. 
 
 At the commencement of this year, the commerce and 
 manufactures of Great Britain manifested a visible improve- 
 ment; but the continued distress of the agriculturists, whose 
 interests appeared to be still farther depressed by an unex- 
 ampled fall in prices through seasons of abundant produce, led 
 to some modifications in the state of political parties : at many 
 county meetings previous to the present session of parliament, 
 both landholders and farmers had loudly expressed their com- 
 plaints ; and the country gentlemen generally took such a part 
 in this question, by uniting with whigs and reformers in a call 
 for retrenchment and remission of taxation, that the treasury 
 bench began to feel alarm: this drove them to the expedient 
 of strengthening their ranks by opening the doors of office to 
 the Grenville party ; which, though not united with the whigs, 
 was generally opposed to ministers: nor did it require much 
 tact or delicacy to throw the bait before those eager aspirants 
 after place and pension :® As lord Grenville, the political head 
 of the party, had retired from public life, the marquis of Buck- 
 ingham was gratified by a ducal coronet; and Mr. Charles 
 Wynne was made president of the board of control: but a far 
 greater accession of strength, because of talent, was gained in 
 the exchange of lord Sidmouth for Mr. Peel, as secretary of 
 state for the home department: his lordship however was per- 
 mitted to retain his seat in the cabinet, shut for the present 
 against Mr. Canning, whose part in the late proceedings re- 
 specting the queen had created feelings of resentment in the 
 king’s mind ; and whose general principles of policy were the 
 aversion of him who held the king’s conscience in his keeping: 
 but the eminent services, rendered by this gentleman to the 
 East India company, as president of the board of control, and 
 the high opinion which they entertained of his character, in- 
 duced them to confer on him the appointment of governor- 
 general: the regret however which Mr. Canning felt at losing 
 the opportunity to serve his country in the manner most grati- 
 fying to himself, and in a station better suited to the display of 
 his talents and principles, was scarcely soothed even by the 
 brilliant prospect of fame and fortune held out to him in 
 another hemisphere, where the destinies of eighty millions of 
 
 6 ¢ All articles,’ said lord Holland on this occasion, ‘are to be 
 had at low prices, except Grenvilles.” Their accession was looked 
 upon with a jealous eye by the ministerial section attached to the 
 lord chancellor, whose anti-catholic fears were much excited. 
 
142 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 human beings would depend on his administration : even to the 
 last; he continued in a disturbed state of mind on this subject ; 
 and the vacillation of his feelings was strikingly erie ina 
 farewell speech to his constituents at Liverpool. ishing 
 perhaps to give éclat to his departure from the scene of his 
 glory, he, on the thirtieth of April, moved in the house of 
 commons for leave to bring ina bill for restoring the right of 
 sitting and voting in parliament to Roman catholic peers :7 his 
 speech on this occasion was a splendid combination of genius 
 and taste ; and hard as was the task for one who had spoken 
 so often and so well on this subject, to find new sources of 
 eloquence, the accomplished orator did not yield to the 
 difficulty of his situation : seizing happily on the ceremony of 
 the late coronation, he asked ;—‘ Do you imagine it never oc- 
 curred to the representatives of Europe then contemplating 
 this imposing spectacle, that it never occurred to the ambas- 
 sadors of catholic Austria, of catholic France, or of states more 
 bigoted, if there be any more bigoted, to the catholic religion, 
 to reflect, that the moment this solemn ceremony was over, the 
 duke of Norfolk would become disseized of the exercise of his 
 privileges among his fellow peers ? stripped of his robes of 
 office, which were to be laid aside, and hung up, until the dis- 
 tant (be it a very distant !) day, when the coronation of a suc- 
 cessor to his present most gracious sovereign should again call 
 him forth to assist at a similar solemnisation ? Thus, after being 
 exhibited to the peers and people of England, to the represen- 
 tatives of princes and nations of the world,—the duke of Nor- 
 folk, highest in rauk among our peers—the lord Clifford, and 
 other like him, representing a long line of illustrious and 
 heroic ancestors,—appeared as if they had been called forth 
 and furnished for the occasion, like the lustres and banners 
 that flamed and glittered in the scene; and were to be, like 
 them, thrown by as useless and temporary formalities: they 
 might indeed bend the knee, and kiss the hand; they might 
 bear the train, or rear the canopy; they might perform the 
 offices assigned by Roman pride to their barbarian forefathers, 
 —Purpurea tollant aulea Britanni: but with the pageantry 
 of the hour, their importance faded away : as their distinction 
 vanished, their humiliation returned ; and he who headed the 
 procession of peers to-day, could not sit among them, as their 
 equal on the morrow.’ 
 
 7 Lord Eldon, on this occasion, observed upon Canning’s plea— 
 
 that the peers should be first restored, because they were last ex- 
 cluded—‘ the papist king was the last excluded.’ 
 
A.D. 1821. GEORGE IV. 143 
 
 He was strongly opposed by Mr. Peel; who professed him- 
 self unable to see any reason for exempting Roman catholic 
 peers from political restrictions, to which a whole community, 
 gets the same religious tenets, were by law subject. 
 Mr. Wetherell was against partial concessions: if this bill 
 passed, commoners would naturally expect to be admitted next 
 year into parliament, without restrictions; he would rather 
 deal with the measure zn toto than in this mutilated form; it 
 however passed the commons by a majority of five, but was 
 rejected on the second reading in the upper house ; where it 
 was introduced by the duke of Portland, and vigorously opposed 
 by the lord chancellor, who declared that this bill demanded 
 nothing more nor less than unlimited concession to the Roman 
 catholics. ‘Give them this,’ said he, ‘and you can hereafter 
 resist nothing which you ought to resist.’ 
 
 As the small corps of Grenvillites, which had joined their 
 ranks, could not support ministers if deserted by the country 
 gentlemen, it became necessary to take steps for conciliating 
 the landed interests, which were at this time pressed on their 
 notice by frequent petitions to both houses: when Mr, 
 Brougham, therefore, in order to try the temper of parties, 
 moved, early in the session, that it was the duty of the house 
 to relieve agricultural distress by a reduction of taxes, lord 
 Londonderry met this covert attack on ministers with an 
 assurance that they intended to propose measures for that pur- 
 pose; and as by this pledge he prevailed on the country 
 gentlemen to afford him their usual support, the motion was 
 negatived. Aware that the cause of distress was not to be 
 remedied by legislative enactments, but feeling the necessity 
 of throwing out a tub to the whale, his lordship soon afterwards 
 proposed the re-appointment of the agricultural committee ; 
 and, on receiving its report, submitted to the house a plan of 
 relief; the principal heads of which were, a repeal of the 
 annual malt duty, and a loan of £1,000.000 in exchequer bills 
 to the landed interest, on the security of warehoused corn; it 
 was also enacted, that, when wheat should reach the price of 
 eighty shillings a quarter, at which foreign produce became 
 importable under the existing law, a new scale of duties should 
 be brought into permanent operation. The chancellor of the 
 exchequer, at the same time, brought forward two financial 
 operations : the first was a reduction of the navy five per cents. 
 to stock carrying only four per cent.; the holders having the 
 option of being paid off at par, or of accepting the lower 
 rate of interest, with a small increase of capital as a bonus; 
 
144 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI 
 
 £140,000,000 of stock were thus commuted, which effected a 
 saving to the public of more than £1,200,000 per annum: the 
 second was a plan to diminish the present charge for naval and 
 military half-pay and civil pensions, known in financial jargon 
 under the name of the dead weight; by extending it in the 
 form of annuities over a period of forty-five years, instead of 
 allowing it to be gradually extinguished through the death of 
 annuitants. The whole project was like the expedient of a 
 ‘spendthrift, to obtain a little present relief at a ruinous but 
 future cost; and it could only be effected by inducing some 
 great monied corporation to contract for payment of the amount 
 of pensions until their gradual expiration, for a certain fixed 
 annuity: the scheme appeared fallacious to many members, 
 and unintelligible to others ; nevertheless, it was passed by the 
 house: but the great capitalists were not so readily convinced ; 
 the chancellor of the exchequer was obliged to re-model his 
 plan; and the arrangement was completed in the following 
 year by a bargain with the Bank of England. 
 
 When the estimates of expenditure for the year came under 
 consideration, ministers felt themselves obliged to yield in many 
 instances to the expressed wishes of the house: early in this 
 session, the opposition had been defeated by a small majority 
 of four only, in a motion to repeal the salt duty; and being 
 now encouraged by the co-operation of many among the landed 
 proprietors, they commenced a series of attacks on the cabinet, 
 and forced several of its outposts: thus, a motion by sir M. W. 
 Ridley, for the reduction of two out of seven lords of the admi- 
 ralty, was carried against ministers by a large majority ; and a 
 second defeat was inflicted on them by lord Normanby, who 
 proposed an address to the throne for dismissing one of the 
 two postmasters-general. Encouraged by this success, the 
 opposition now determined to assail one of the strongest works 
 in the citadel of corruption, the diplomatic expenditure of the 
 country: here, however, lord Londonderry took his stand ; 
 declaring, that if the house persisted in going into a committee 
 on that subject, it-would be the signal for breaking up the 
 administration: this menace had the desired effect of dividing 
 the enemy’s forces; the country gentlemen, though anxious 
 for retrenchment, and irritated against ministers, were not 
 willing to push their antagonists into office: so that the motions 
 for inquiry were rejected by very large majorities. 
 
 In the present unexampled state of -agricultural distress, 
 Mr. Western brought forward a motion on the subject of our 
 currency, the alteration of which he assigned as the chief cause 
 
A.D. 1822. GEORGE IV. 145 
 
 of the calamity; since it operated injuriously on all classes 
 except the fundholder and annuitant, and by its ruinous effects 
 on priyate contracts, as well as public payments, was calculated 
 to endanger property of every description: he felt surprised 
 that the country had so long viewed with indifference an 
 advance of ten, fifteen, or twenty per cent. on our unparalleled 
 taxation ; most of which, as wel! as a large proportion-of the 
 debt, had arisen under a depreciated currengy$ and he con- 
 cluded, by moving for a committee to inquire into. the effect 
 which the act of 1819, for resumption of cash payments by the 
 bank, had produced on our manufacturmg and commercial 
 interests. After Mr. Huskisson had replied at considerable 
 length to the honorable member’s propositions, and insisted 
 particularly on the danger of taking so flucthating an article as 
 corn fora standard of the circulating medium }she:moved as an 
 amendment, ‘that this house will not in any “way alter the 
 standard of gold and silver; the debate was then adjourned 
 to the following day, when Mr. Grey Bennet argued in favor 
 of the motion, hoping that the principle of an equitable adjust- 
 ment might be discovered. Mr. Ricardo trusted, that no step 
 would be taken to affect the existing law concerning cash pay- 
 ments: he admitted that great difficulties had resulted from 
 the efforts made to return to sound principles,.and he was not 
 sorry that they had arisen ; they would prevent that house from 
 again having recourse to measures which so seriously affected 
 the currency: after several other members had delivered their 
 opinions on this important topic, Mr. secretary Peel rose, and 
 said, ‘that he would not enter on the discussion of abstract 
 subjects : from the reasonings of gentlemen, down to the speech 
 of the honorable member for Westminster, he was at a loss to 
 guess the objects of the committee: the honorable baronet 
 fairly stated, that the real object of the motion was to repeal 
 the bill of 1819: he had declared, that the aim of the honor- 
 able gentleman (Mr. Western) was to establish a new standard 
 of value, and to reduce the value of one pound to fourteen 
 shillings; but the house, he hoped, would pause before they 
 adopted a proposition for reducing the value of our currency 
 by one-third. An honorable gentleman had talked of esta- 
 blishing and securing the foundations of public prosperity ; but 
 what would be the consequence to-morrow, if that night they 
 adopted his proposition ? men of common sense would buy up 
 every guinea in the country; the whole of our mercantile 
 transactions would be disturbed, and all private contracts be 
 open to inquiry and defeat. Seven or eight years had already 
 ENG, XVII. L 
 
146 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 elapsed since the house pledged itself to return to the ancient 
 standard of value: in 1814, the house came to a resolution, 
 that the Bank of England ought to return to cash payments : 
 in 1816, when his right honorable friend proposed a resolution 
 on the subject, the late Mr. Horner would not consent, until 
 an express declaration was made, that the legislature would see 
 that cash payments should soon be resumed ; and his proposi- 
 tion was accordingly adopted: but the restriction was continued, 
 to enable the bank to resume cash payments with greater con- 
 venience ; so that since 1814, the country was accommodating 
 itself to this new state of things; and after having accomplished 
 that object, the house was told that the intent of the honorable 
 gentleman’s motion was, to reduce the value of money from 
 twenty to fourteen shillings. With respect to the situation of 
 the public creditor, he had been paid in a depreciated currency : 
 the public creditor lent his money in 1798 and 1800, on the 
 understanding, that when the bank restriction should expire, 
 he would be intitled to his demand in the ancient standard of 
 value; if the house, therefore, were to come to any adjustment 
 of the nature proposed, undoubtedly the creditor would have 
 a right, and would demand the full payment of his debt. It 
 should be recollected, that a great number of persons held 
 debentures who were not the original purchasers, but had 
 bought them for a full and valuable consideration: could the 
 government turn round to those persons, and say :—the original 
 holder gave for this debenture only eighty pounds; you gave 
 ninety-five pounds; but we will not pay you more than eighty 
 pounds? He (Mr. Peel) would say, that if the house were 
 to proceed on this principle, there would be an end for ever to 
 the very idea of national faith ;—that faith, which had carried 
 us through every difficulty, and which constituted the pride, 
 the glory, and the support of this country.’ 
 
 But although parliament wisely determined not to interfere 
 with our currency, the fall of prices at this time became so 
 alarming to all classes who suffered by the ruin of agricul- 
 turists, and bankruptcies in consequence became so numerous, 
 that ministers felt obliged to relax in their grand measure, and 
 give the nation a little more breathing time to recover itself. 
 Peel’s bill had provided, that the issue of one or two pound 
 notes, whether by the Bank of England, or by provincial firms, 
 should cease in May 1823; a precaution necessary to guard 
 the bank against a constant drain of its gold for exportation ; 
 and which it never could have supplied, if every private banker 
 had been permitted to circulate small notes at pleasure, and 
 
A.D. 1822. GEORGE IV. 147 
 
 lower the value of the currency: ministers, however, had come 
 to the resolution of repealing that part of the bill of 1819, 
 which confined the issue of small notes to the period of 1823 ; 
 and an act in consequence was introduced into parliament and 
 carried this session, by which the privilege of issuing such notes 
 was extended for ten years more, till January 1833.8 The 
 bank had good reason for complaining of this measure; since 
 it8 directors had accumulated a very large stock of gold, and 
 now found the treasure thrown on their hands, and of little use, 
 except to be disposed of at a less price than it cost: but with 
 the above-mentioned change, symptoms of returning prosperity 
 appeared in the nation: country bankers now increased their 
 issues of paper; and, as farmers obtained a higher price for 
 their produce, rents advanced, trade profited by the home 
 market, and the whole country, before the period of 1825, had 
 assumed so smiling, though illusory an appearance, that the 
 chancellor of the exchequer, at the opening of his budget, took 
 occasion to congratulate the house on that extraordinary degree 
 of prosperity before them, to which he could see no assignable 
 limit: the interesting and important nature however of this 
 subject demands a little more space for its investigation. 
 During the late war, reduction in the value of money 
 greatly altered the contract between landlord and tenant, to 
 _the advantage of the latter; and this advantage happened to 
 be progressive: holders of land came to be considered as the 
 most prosperous class in the community, and the natural con- 
 sequence was a keen competition for land at advanced rents ; 
 it having been found advantageous for a tenant to agree to 
 pay a rent beyond the rate of the time, because the alteration 
 in the value of currency secured him from loss. ‘Thus rents 
 were raised ; until, in 1814, they were calculated to average 
 one pound per acre, on forty millions of acres, in Great 
 Britain: at the same time, these forty millions of rent would 
 command no more of the common commodities of life than 
 twenty millions would have done in 1793, supposing the 
 currency reduced fifty per cent. in value: in this period, 
 therefore, the rise was almost nominal; and the advance of 
 nominal rent only compensated landlords for a reduction in 
 the value of the currency, and the additional taxes which 
 they had to pay. But, after this period, the tide of value 
 began to turn: the cause of depreciation was removed, and 
 gold began to regain an exchangeable value in this country, 
 1 Subsequently an act passed, limiting the period to April, 
 29. 
 
148 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 05s OB Ob 6 
 
 nearer to an equality with that which it had in other Euro- 
 pean nations; and if rents had fallen in amount as money 
 rose in value, the productive part of the community would 
 have felt no injurious effects from the alterations in rent, 
 since only the same quantities of wealth would have been 
 taken from them. Rents, however, did not fall, but remained 
 at, or nearly at, the same nominal value; while those sums 
 represented much larger quantities of wealth. 
 
 A principal cause of this was the tenacity with which 
 tenants adhered to farms, through ignorance of the real 
 nature of their situation. Farming had been so profitable 
 an occupation, that men clung to it, in the natural hope 
 that it would become so again: of the causes which had 
 reduced the value of money, or of those which were then 
 raising it, the farmers, as a body, knew nothing: they kept 
 their ground therefore as well as they could ; and by a general 
 concurrence, as it were, rents, once paid in a currency of 
 low value were retained in a higher. The removal of the 
 depreciation took place when the farmers retained much of 
 the large profit made during a previous period; and they 
 were therefore better able to bear that blow: the rise in the 
 value of gold was more gradual, and gave them more time 
 to adjust themselves to their reduced condition ; their ability 
 to pay their laborers became of course reduced also; their 
 ingenuity was exercised in paring down wages to the lowest 
 possible rate; and more laborers fell into the ranks of pau- 
 perism: thus the farmers, the poor laborers, and the parish 
 officers, struggled on under increasing difficulties ; the prices 
 of articles consumed by paupers declined; but the sums 
 necessary to give them relief continued equally large. 
 
 The burden of tithes too increased at the same time; for 
 they now became much more than a tenth of the returns 
 for the profit of capital, and the wages of labor employed on 
 the land: they became a tenth of the crop, when that crop 
 was enhanced in value by the high rent; and they com- 
 manded in the market a sixth, if not a fifth, of the labor and 
 capital value: from the produce of an acre, which would sell 
 for eighty shillings, twenty shillings would be paid for rent, 
 and eight for tithes; but this eight shillings would be, not 
 one-tenth of the wages and profits, but a sixth and a half 
 part; since eight shillings tithe is the sixth and a half part 
 of fifty-two shillings the sum left for wages and profit after 
 paying the rent and tithe: from this fifty-two shillings, must 
 also be deducted enough to procure seed for the next year, 
 
A.D. 1822. GEORGE IV. 149 
 
 and to keep up the farming stock, &c.; so that the tithe 
 might be stated at about one-fifth of the wages and profit : 
 hence this burden began to cause more complaint than 
 formerly; for it was more felt: while cultivators suffer under 
 heavy taxes and high rents, the burden of tithe is greatly 
 increased by them; hence the popular discontent at this 
 impost, and the benefit, or rather necessity, of a system of 
 commutation for the sake of the clergy themselves: but the 
 effects did not rest with the agricultural class: neither capital 
 nor labor willingly remain struggling with difficulties if they 
 can escape from them; and while the manufacturing and com- 
 mercial classes were in a better condition, capital and labor 
 would be, to a greater or less extent, passing from agricul- 
 ture to manufactures and commerce ; and this would continue 
 till competition had reduced all those classes nearly te a level ; 
 when this result took place, it was found that, although the 
 price of landed produce was low, compared with what it had 
 been in a currency of lower value; yet it was high, com- 
 pared with the prices of manufactures: reduction in the 
 quantity, and increase in the value, of money, caused prices 
 generally to fall; but they fell less in landed produce than in 
 manufactures, because it was loaded with heavy taxes, in high 
 rent and tithe; the farmer consequently sold his produce 
 high as compared with manufactures, for the same reason as 
 the maltster sold his malt at a higher price than the barley- 
 grower sold his grain: both parties, having to pay taxes, in 
 addition to the common cost in the profit and wages of the 
 time, as established by competition, were obliged to charge 
 the taxes in the price of their respective articles. The manu- 
 facturers complained loudly of this, and demanded a free 
 trade in corn; but the landed proprietors had a predomi- 
 nating influence in the legislature; and the distress which 
 the farmers had really experienced, was made a pretext to 
 compel all classes to purchase produce from the highly rented 
 and tithed lands of Great Britain. 
 
 A great stimulus with landholders to retain high rents was 
 the circumstance of their being all burdened with taxes; and 
 a large majority of them under obligation to pay fixed an- 
 nuities or interest for money on mortgage and other securities 
 borrowed in a currency of low value: men so circumstanced, 
 with large definite sums to pay, must keep up their rentals, 
 or the incumbrances will sweep away their property ; a case 
 which at this period frequently occurred: it should also be 
 recollected, that the difierent parties concerned were not 
 
150 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 aware of any alteration having taken place in the value of the 
 money paid and received; for they had their attention fixed 
 merely on the market price of corn. Landlords, as well as 
 tenants, wished only for high prices; and the common lan- 
 guage of the latter was,—‘ We mind not the amount of rent, 
 let us only have high prices restored:’ to accomplish this 
 point, various expedients were recommended: corn-laws, 
 paper money, and a different system of banking were pro- 
 posed, and, to a greater or less extent, adopted ; but without 
 accomplishing the desired object: it now cost more labor or 
 goods to obtain a given quantity of gold: and therefore more 
 labor or goods would exchange for that quantity of gold: if 
 paper money was forced intv circulation to excess, the 
 quantity of currency became more than our command over 
 the gold in the great market of the world would sustain, and 
 gold separated itself from the paper; paper sank in value 
 below gold, and was returned on its issuers; and thus it was 
 again raised to a level with gold: or a part of the gold left 
 the country; the currency remained that quantity which was 
 determined by the reduced command over gold; and a low 
 range of money prices was established accordingly. 
 
 From 1821 to 1824 Bank of England notes in circulation 
 were reduced by more than £4,000,000 sterling; but as the 
 bank was known to have issued much more than that sum in 
 coin, no reduction, as far as it was concerned, had been made 
 in the whole quantity of currency: if a part of the coin so 
 issued left the country, this showed that, from some cause or 
 other, our quantity of currency was greater than could be 
 supported by the degree of command we had over the gold 
 market of the world; and therefore the quantity was reduced 
 by gold flowing out. 
 
 Peel’s bill, by making the Bank of England liable to pay 
 its notes in gold, obliged it, and consequently all other banks, 
 to keep the amount of their issues within the natural amount 
 of the currency: thus it prevented depreciation, and a rise 
 of prices consequent on that depreciation: this was the 
 extent of its effects as far as respected prices ; and any farther 
 alterations in them are attributable to other causes. When 
 the price of wheat this year fell lower than it had been since 
 the commencement of the late war, the causes to which it 
 might be attributed were similar to those that were in opera- 
 tion in 1814 and 1815; namely, the great extent of land 
 cultivated, an abundance of produce, and a withdrawal of the 
 accommodation of country bank notes: it was one of the 
 
A.D. 1822. GEORGE IV. © 151 
 
 oscillations of that state of things which at one time produced 
 cheap gold and a cheaper paper currency ; high money prices, 
 with very high farming profits; and, as a consequence, 
 country bank notes in abundance during agricultural pros- 
 perity, which fed the farmer when he was in a state of re- 
 pletion, but withheld supplies from him when in want: this 
 accordingly was a period of severe distress to agriculturists. 
 
 The manufacturing classes were, for the time, benefited by 
 the low price of landed produce; for though the wages of 
 inferior workmen decreased, they did not fall in proportion to 
 provisions: but by the year 1824 this advantage was lost, as 
 the wages paid for weaving gave no greater command over 
 food than in 1820. Within this period, the quantity of 
 manufactures was greatly increased ;9 but such increase was 
 not attended with a corresponding advantage to individuals 
 or to the country, since the foreign consumer obtained the 
 articles at a cheaper rate: an extension of manufactures, in 
 a national and ordinary way, by improvement in the modes of 
 production, and through increased demand, may offer a fair 
 subject of exultation; but if that extension be stimulated, 
 and pushed farther on, by reducing agricultural laborers to a 
 state of wretchedness, and driving them to take refuge in 
 manufacturing districts, there to work at low wages, it may 
 turn out an alarming evil. 
 
 The sum expended at this period for the relief of the poor 
 indicated anything but improvement in the condition of the 
 laborers: even if the increase of population be taken into 
 the account, that expended in 1821, when wheat was fifty- 
 four shillings and five pence per quarter, was £6,358,708 ; 
 while in 1813, when wheat was 120 shillings, it was only 
 £6,294,584; the sum raised in 1821 being equivalent to 
 double the quantity of wheat then, that the sum raised in 
 1813 was to wheat of that period; and in 1822 the propor- 
 tion was still greater. 
 
 In the mean time, the rate of profit on capital was falling, 
 as it had continued to fall, since the war; which the prices of 
 the public funds plainly indicated: the three per cent. consols, 
 which in 1815 stood at fifty-eight, reached eighty in 1823, 
 and ninety-four in the following year; and this alteration in 
 the rate of interest corresponded with an alteration in the 
 rate of profit, first experienced in the circulating, and finally 
 
 9 In 1820 above 125,000,000 of pounds of raw cotton were used ; 
 in 1822, above 144,000,000 ; and in 1824, above 174,000,000. 
 
152 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 in the whole, capital of the country: under favorable circum- 
 stances, this decline in the rate of profit would have been 
 accompanied by a rise of wages; but under existing circum- 
 stances, unfavorable causes counteracted that advantage: yet 
 though it did not cause a positive rise in wages, it kept them 
 higher than they would otherwise have been: if high profit 
 had been added to the other baneful influences which kept 
 down wages, the laboring classes would have been in a 
 dreadful condition: the fall in the rate of profit was a con- 
 sequence of the over-abundance of capital: when the loan- 
 system, with its unproductive expenditure, ceased, wealth was 
 left in the hands of its accumulators ; to make a profitable use 
 of it, they must either employ it themselves as capital, or place 
 it for that purpose in the hands of others: capital thus became 
 more plentiful in the various departments of production; and 
 the competition of capitalists lowered the rate of the profit 
 that could be obtained for its use. 
 
 Ministers were too prudent to disregard the temper shown 
 by the house in their recent defeats, when the financial 
 arrangements for the year were completed: after having 
 wisely resisted the abolition of the salt tax, they now announced 
 an intention of lowering it from fifteen to two shillings a 
 bushel, although no impost was less severely felt, and no 
 article was more widely diffused throughout the community : 
 two circumstances which ought peculiarly to recommend a 
 tax :10 beside the annual duty on malt, the additional tax on 
 leather, with that on windows and hearths in Ireland, was 
 also remitted ; and by these means a reduction of taxation was 
 effected to the amount of about £3,500,000. 
 
 Among other important proceedings may be noticed the 
 passing of several bills to relax our navigation laws, and 
 promote the system of free trade: the times of monopoly, 
 prohibitions, and the many vexations connected with them, 
 were now rapidly passsing by; and it was seen, that the 
 future greatness of England could not be maintained by 
 worn-out ineffective institutions. The loudest outery against 
 this relaxation was raised by the ship-owners, who affirmed, 
 that a repeal of the ancient navigation laws would enable 
 other states to outstrip our own, and prepare our ruin; as if 
 the ship, which is but the means of commerce, was to be 
 regarded as the end: it is however satisfactory to find that 
 
 10 Wherever this article was wanted extensively for the purpose 
 of trade or husbandry, a drawback had been properly allowed. 
 
A.D. 1822. GEORGE IV. 153 
 
 time has shown the vanity of these predictions; for the 
 relaxation of duties, by which we have been brought nearer 
 to free trade, far from increasing foreign competition, and 
 diminishing British production, has led to results exactly the 
 reverse—the decrease of foreign importation, and the increase 
 of our domestic manufactures, attended by an augmented im- 
 portation of the raw material. 
 
 Lord John Russell did not suffer this session to elapse 
 without calling attention, in a very long and able speech, to 
 the important question of parliamentary reform; the chief 
 feature in his plan being a proposed addition of 100 members 
 to the house of commons, to be returned by the counties and 
 larger towns; a suitable curtailment being effected, by divest- 
 ing the smaller boroughs of half the privileges which they 
 enjoyed. Such was the scheme, which, if adopted, might 
 have long deferred the more comprehensive plan which 
 finally was carried: but his lordship’s moderate proposal was 
 met by strenuous opposition, especially from Mr. Canning, 
 who dwelt at great length on the difference between this and 
 Mr. Pitt’s plan; which latter, indeed, as if it had been 
 intended only to delude, avoided all coercion; and treating a 
 sacred trust as private property, proposed the establishment of 
 a large fund to purchase boroughs from their proprietors! 
 The honorable gentleman, having gone through his round of 
 arguments in favor of that system which he found to ‘ work 
 so well,’ urged the house to oppose every introduction of 
 visionary schemes ; and asserted, that a search after abstract 
 perfection in government is not an object of reasonable pursuit, 
 because it is not one of possible attainment. ‘I conjure the 
 noble lord,’ he said, ‘to pause before he again presses his plan 
 on the country: if, however, he shall persevere, and if his 
 perseverance shall be successful, and if the results of that 
 success be such as I cannot help apprehending ;—his be the 
 triumph, to have precipitated those results; mine be the 
 consolation, that to the utmost, and the latest of my power, I 
 have opposed them.’ On a division, ayes were 164, noes 
 269 ; and this decreasing majority was received with loud and 
 repeated cheers by the opposition : the proposal of a general 
 resolution by Mr. Brougham, on the influence of the crown, 
 which was introduced with the same ultimate views of reform, 
 and supported by one of the ablest speeches ever delivered 
 in the house, was rejected by a majority of 216 against 101. 
 
 During this session, the contest now raging between the 
 Greeks and their inhuman oppressors came under the notice 
 
154 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 of parliament. The fierce Mussulmen in their indignation 
 at the revolt and successes of those whom they had been 
 accustomed to regard with ineffable contempt, had committed 
 the most atrocious cruelties: not content with hanging the 
 Greek patriarch and several bishops in their pontifical robes, 
 and ravaging with diabolical fury the beautiful isle of Scio, 
 they had barbarously put to death the hostages placed in their 
 hands by its wretched inhabitants. The sensations of horror 
 produced by this latter event caused Mr. W. Smith to put a 
 question on the subject to lord Londonderry, in the house of 
 commons, regarding connivance, or at least neglect of remon- 
 strance on the part of our diplomatic agents ; when the answer 
 of the noble secretary, who made very slight of the proceeding, 
 ‘believing that a calamity had occurred, in which ten or 
 twelve hostages had been executed, and which he justified on 
 the plea of barbarities committed by the other party,’ pro- 
 duced a severe remonstrance from sir James Mackintosh, who 
 inquired, ‘ if despatches had been received from our ambassador 
 at the Ottoman Porte, from which it could be ascertained 
 whether any of those persons who had been murdered by the 
 barbarous tyrants of Constantinople had been under the pro- 
 tection of the British minister, lord Strangford; or had 
 surrendered themselves to the Turks, under any pledge, 
 promise, or assurance of safety from that nobleman? He 
 took this opportunity of asking the noble marquis, whether it 
 was mentioned in any of his recent despatches, that the 
 markets of Smyrna and Constantinople were filled with 
 amiable Greek ladies and children, offered to the caprices of 
 barbarous Mahometan voluptuaries ? He also asked, whether 
 ministers could afford the nation any account of the new slave 
 trade, recently established in the East, for amiable and ac- 
 complished christian females, by a government which was 
 encouraged and supported by the administration of this free 
 and enlightened country ?’ 
 
 The answer of our secretary to these interrogatories was in 
 the highest degree unsatisfactory: he now ‘believed that 
 eighty or ninety individuals had recently been executed; but 
 that they could not be considered at all under the protection 
 of the British government, or in such a situation as to require 
 our interference on that ground.’ The principles of the holy 
 alliance itself seemed now about to be prostituted in the 
 defence of atrocities, of which the annals of the world scarcely 
 afford a parallel: the spirit of the British people, however, 
 revolted against the mean and dastardly spirit manifested by 
 
A.D, 1822. GEORGE IV, 155 
 
 their rulers: addresses were circulated by individuals ; public 
 meetings were held; and subscriptions raised to support the 
 Greeks in their noble conflict: the flame spread among other 
 European nations; so that reluctant kings and potentates 
 were kept within the line of duty by their subjects, until the 
 great cause of humanity, civilization, and christianity triumphed 
 over oppression, tyranny, and injustice. 
 
 Many questions of minor importance were keenly debated 
 in both houses this session, which the limits of this work 
 oblige us to pass over :11 so numerous indeed were the subjects 
 that claimed attention from the legislature, and protracted its 
 discussions, that the prorogation of parliament did not take 
 place till the sixth of August: on the tenth, his majesty em- 
 barked at Greenwich, for the purpose of visiting Scotland ; 
 and landed on the eighteenth at Leith, where he was 
 welcomed by immense multitudes, who accompanied him to 
 the ancient city of Scottish kings: there was less of wild joy 
 and noisy ebullition in their reception of the monarch than he 
 experienced last year in his Irish expedition; but the 
 principles of veneration and attachment, among a people 
 whose feudal ties had not very long been broken, were not 
 less hearty and sincere: a love of country, self-respect, and 
 religious feelings are generally observable in that submission 
 which the Scotch nation pays to the higher powers. The 
 royal cortege was escorted into the magnificent capital of the 
 north by cavalry and infantry, highlanders, and gentlemen 
 archers of the royal guard; and was interesting from the 
 variety of costume adopted on this occasion : the king declared, 
 that the beauty of the scenery, the splendor of the display, 
 and the cordiality of his welcome, affected him more than any 
 thing else in the course of his life: he passed the night at 
 Dalkeith, the seat of the duke of Buccleugh; and the next 
 day held a levée at the palace of Holyrood-house, restored 
 again to its ancient dignity; on which occasion he wore the 
 
 11 Animportant one, however, was the repeal of what was called 
 the retrospective clause in the Marriage Act Amendment Biil; 
 which by setting up a great number of marriages, otherwise invalid, 
 tended to annul certain rights of property, which the invalidity of 
 those marriages had already let in: this repeal was supported by 
 lords Ellenboroagh and Westmoreland, but opposed vehemently by 
 lord Stowell, and the chancellor; the latter of whom in the warmth 
 of his indignation, exclaimed—‘ this repeal is a legal robbery; so 
 help me God!’ The session did not pass without an attack by Mr. 
 M, A. Taylor on the administration of the court of chancery. 
 
156 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 highland costume; and at a court held on the twentieth, his 
 majesty received the homage of 3000 loyal subjects. He was 
 entertained at a splendid feast in the parliament-house, given 
 by the lord provost, at which sir Walter Scott officiated as 
 croupier: after his majesty’s health had been drunk with 
 great enthusiasm, he returned thanks in a dignified manner, 
 and concluded with proposing the health of sir William 
 Arbuthnot, baronet, and the corporation of Edinburgh. 
 When the king named the lord provost by a title which he 
 thus conferred, the magistrate knelt and kissed the royal 
 hand, held out at the moment; and the incident was loudly 
 applauded by the company : his majesty afterwards gave as a 
 toast—‘ Health to its chieftains and clans! and God bless the 
 land of cakes!’ Few monarchs have been so successful in 
 uniting hilarity and dignity in meetings with their subjects as _ 
 George IV.; nor are the personal qualifications of a sovereign, 
 in this respect, of small importance to the welfare and 
 happiness of a nation: it was unfortunate, both for himself 
 and his subjects, that the king generally adopted so strict a 
 system of seclusion. On the twenty-ninth, his majesty 
 departed by a different route, and in his way paid a visit to 
 the gallant earl of Hopetoun; at whose house he conferred 
 the honor of knighthood on Raeburn, the celebrated portrait- 
 painter: a fair wind brought the royal squadron to Greenwich 
 on the first of September, where the monarch landed amidst 
 immense crowds of Britons, whose hearts require but little 
 sympathy shown toward their feelings, their wants, and 
 pleasures, to keep them steady in attachment to the throne. 
 Two days only elapsed after George IV. had embarked on 
 this excursion, when an event took place which caused an 
 important change in the cabinet; leading ultimately to the 
 adoption of a line of policy more generous, more favorable to 
 the cause of general liberty, and therefore more agreeable to 
 the spirit of the British constitution, than that which our 
 government had for some time pursued : this was the death of 
 the marquis of Londonderry, who, in a fit of mental aberration, 
 supposed to have originated from the harassing labors of the 
 late session, as well as from many mortifying reflections cast 
 on his political character, put a period to his existence with 
 his own hand, at North Cray, in Kent: the coroner’s jury 
 brought in a verdict of insanity ; and his lordship’s remains 
 were interred in Westminster Abbey. Asa statesman and 
 minister, this country had but little cause to lament his loss, 
 or respect his memory ; yet the melancholy end of a nobleman, 
 
A.D. 1822. GEORGE IV. 157 
 
 whose private character was adorned with many amiable and 
 gencrous qualities, excited deep commiseration and regret 
 among all whose feelings were not maddened by political 
 exasperation: the shouts of exultation uttered by the populace, 
 while his coffin was removed from the hearse into the sacred 
 edifice, was a sad proof of the prevalence of those principles, 
 which the apostles of infidelity and sedition were at this time 
 busily engaged in propagating ; and which demanded all that 
 vigilance of government, all that counteraction from the 
 virtuous and well-instructed portion of society which they 
 soon received. Carlile, the notorious editor of blasphemous 
 publications, had been tried in the court of king’s bench, and 
 was suffering the penalty of his offences in Dorchester jail : 
 but in July this year, a woman, named Susannah Wright, was 
 brought before the same tribunal, and found guilty of con- 
 tinuing the publication of this man’s blasphemies, composed 
 since his imprisonment: the defendant, who was smartly 
 dressed, and surrounded by four or five more females, read a 
 long address to the jury, in which she proclaimed her utter 
 disbelief in Christianity, or any other religion ; professing her 
 readiness to suffer in the cause of Mr. Carflile, whose principles 
 she admired, and of whose doctrines she was a willing propa- 
 gator. These, and other trials of a similar description about 
 the same period, provoked a considerable discussion respecting 
 the equity and expediency of subjecting such offenders to legal 
 penalties; and the religion so protected by acts and statutes, 
 which make it penal to revile its fundamental doctrines, was 
 termed by its opponents ‘the religion of the magistrate.’ 
 Much need not be said on this topic: it is the duty of the 
 magistrate to protect the christian religion; because the 
 founders of our constitution, knowing that no political institu- 
 tions can stand without the basis of religious sanctions, have 
 recognized christianity, as affording the best of all; and by an 
 ecclesiastical establishment, declared it part of the law of the 
 land: with respect to the expediency of punishing those who 
 vilify its doctrines—though religion may have nothing to fear 
 from the infidel and blasphemer, yet it ought to be protected 
 from contumely and insult, even for the sake of the people 
 themselves, who are too prone to despise what they see vilified 
 and degraded by others. 
 
 The difficulty of finding a successor to lord Londonderry, 
 especially as leader of the ministerial party in the house of 
 commons, was so great as to subdue at length the resentment 
 of the king toward Mr. Canning, as well as the aversion enter- 
 
158 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXI. 
 
 tained by the lord chancellor, and his party in the cabinet, for 
 that superiority of talent and liberality of principle, which 
 recommended him to the people at large: moreover, lord 
 Liverpool, who had been connected with him from early life, 
 and knew the value of his extraordinary faculties, was resolute 
 in deinanding his re-admission into the cabinet: just therefore 
 as the newly-appointed governor of India was preparing to set 
 sail, he was invited to take the high office of secretary for 
 foreign affairs, where he could, with more satisfaction to himself, 
 maintain the dignity and extend the glory of his country. By 
 the decease of his predecessor, the greatest impediment to 
 liberal principles at home, and to a just as well as generous 
 policy abroad, was removed ; and though the change was not 
 immediately perceptible, yet the master spirit was set at work ; 
 the power which had been accustomed to paralyse its efforts 
 was no more: and with the accession of Canning to the British 
 cabinet, a new epoch was about to commence in the general 
 system of government. 
 
 When this new appointment was made, the duke of Welling- 
 ton was deputed to take that place which the late lord 
 Londonderry would have occupied at the great congress of 
 Verona. The ostensible object of this assembly was merely 
 to put a period to the Austrian occupation of Naples and 
 Piedmont ; but the continental sovereigns had other and more 
 important views, extending to the eastern as well as to the 
 western extremity of Europe; for a considerable period, the 
 Greek population, both of the continent and of the islands, 
 had been in open revolt against their barbarian oppressors ; 
 and the contest, marked as it was by dreadful atrocities, con- 
 tinued without any apparent prospect of termination. The 
 majority of the people in all christian states, with a numerous 
 party even among the higher powers, urged by religious and 
 political sympathies, or excited \by the illusions of classical 
 enthusiasm, earnestly desired the emancipation of an interesting 
 people, boasting to be descendants of the noblest race of 
 antiquity : among these, Russia, from the identity of her church 
 with that of the Greeks, from the hatred which her people have 
 always borne to the crescent, and from the ambitious views 
 which her sovereigns for the last century have entertained 
 regarding the dismemberment of Turkey, might have been 
 expected to espouse the cause of the insurgents : but it happened 
 at this juncture, that every prepossession inherited or formed by 
 the Russian autocrat was superseded by his fear of revolutionary 
 movements ; so that he not only refused to countenance the 
 
A.D. 1822. GEORGE IV. 159 
 
 Greek cause, but visited its active partisans among his subjects 
 with marks of severe displeasure: not only did he cast aside 
 ancient animosity, and all views of profiting by the various 
 causes of dispute with the Ottoman government, which had been 
 studiously kept open ; but himself originated an overture to the 
 principal European states to interpose their mediation: under 
 such circumstances, the representatives of the great powers at 
 Verona, who were all interested in preventing the farther 
 aggrandisement of Russia at the expense of Turkey, found 
 little difficulty in averting the threatened war between those two 
 empires, except what proceeded from the blind obstinacy of the 
 Porte itself; with respect to the Greek insurgents, the congress 
 refused even to admit an envoy from their nation. 
 
 The most active measures, however, of this assembly were 
 directed towards Spain: the ultra-royalist faction which had 
 szately obtained a supremacy in French councils, was secretly 
 engaged in plans for the revival of absolute power in that 
 country, which were studiously veiled from Great Britain by 
 the most perfidious denials of any hostile intention. Taking 
 advantage of a pestilent fever which broke out in Catalonia, the 
 French government had drawn a sanatory cordon round the 
 Spanish frontiers; under pretext of which, every possible 
 encouragement was given to the absolute party in Spain, and 
 a furious civil war excited in its northern provinces, where the 
 
 easantry were particularly hostile to their new constitution. 
 
 oward the close of the present year, the rebel ‘army of the 
 faith,’ as it was termed, was defeated by the celebrated Mina ; 
 when its broken remains, together with the self-constituted 
 regency, found open protection within the French frontiers: the 
 Bourbon government now began to complain of petty infractions 
 of territory, caused by its own acts; and the sanatory cordon, 
 increased by numbers, became gradually converted into an army 
 of observation. 
 
 In these circumstances, the cabinet of the Tujlleries directed 
 its representative at Verona to demand categorically of the 
 other powers, whether they would support its armed interposi- 
 tion in the affairs of Spain; when the British government, 
 totally unprepared for such a proposal, instructed their ambas~ 
 sador not only to decline a participation in any measure of that 
 kind, but to renew in the strongest terms their former protestation 
 against the principle of such interference : the proposition how- 
 ever was readily accepted by the despots; and Spain was 
 ordered, by notes from the four powers of Austria, Russia, 
 Prussia, and France, to alter her constitutional system, unless 
 
160 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. ») POR Tats 
 
 she chose to abide by the consequences of a refusal: our 
 ministers could only endeavor to avert this aggression by 
 negotiations: while the French government, amusing them 
 until its preparations were complete, finally directed the march 
 of a large army under the hero D’Angouléme, to act in concert 
 with the ‘army of the faith,’ and restore Ferdinand VII. to the 
 plenitude of arbitrary power. 
 
 ‘The report of such an interference, and the insolent language 
 held by the holy alliance, excited much indignation in this 
 country ; but no share of it now fell on our ministers ; who, far 
 from participating in the despotic league, were generally 
 . acknowleged to have used every practicable effort to counteract 
 its designs: numerous reasons existed to check that disposition 
 for war, which sympathy for the Spanish constitutionalists, or 
 abhorrence of the conduct of their enemies, tended to excite; ° 
 and the nation contentedly relied on the liberal principles 
 which appeared to predominate in the British cabinet. 
 
 While the well-known sentiments of Mr. Canning on national 
 law, and his patriotic zeal for the fame of Great Britain, thus 
 inspired his countrymen with confidence in his honorable 
 direction of foreign affairs, it was his aim, at the same time to 
 heal the intestine wounds of this nation: liberating himself 
 from the thraldom of antiquated precedents, and availing him- 
 self of advantages from late experience, and the progress of 
 political knowledge, he resolved no longer to stem the tide of 
 public opinion, arrest improvement, and chain down the 
 intellect of the age; which indeed would soon have risen 
 against him like a hundred-handed giant. In the prosecution 
 of his liberal views, he was encouraged and assisted by the 
 official promotion of Mr. Robinson and Mr. Huskisson; the 
 latter of whom was made president of the board of trade, while 
 the former was advanced to the dignity of chancellor of the 
 exchequer; Mr. Nicholas Vansittart taking refuge from the 
 jeers of modern financiers in the house of peers, under the title 
 of lord Bexley. Before we close the annals of this year, it 
 may be remarked, that they were distinguished by the opening, 
 in November, of the Caledonian canal, after a labor of twenty 
 years, and an expenditure of £900,000 on that stupendous 
 work, which opens a communication between the eastern and 
 western seas, and enables vessels to avoid the dangerous 
 navigation of the Pentland-frith, or the channel: a parlia- 
 mentary grant also was made for the important design of 
 publishing the early histories of Great Britain. 
 
.D. 1823, GEORGE IY. 161 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 GEORGE IV. (contrnvep.)—1823. 
 
 tate of the country at the beginning of 1823—Opening of the 
 session— Debates on Spain and the holy alliance—A flairs of Spain 
 and restoration of Ferdinand VII.—Affairs of Portugal—Agri- 
 cultural and commercial interests—Free trade-—-The budget— 
 Affairs in Ireland—Catholic question--Fracas between Mr. 
 Brougham and Mr. Canning--Motions to-reform the criminal 
 law--Lord A. Hamilton’s motion to reform the state of Scotch 
 representation—Mr. Canning’s opinions on the subject of reform, 
 &c.—New London-bridge bill--Mr. Creevey’s motion respecting 
 the four and a half per cent. duty on the Leeward Islands—Ex- 
 penses of the coronation—Other instances of extravagant expen- 
 diture exposed by Mr. Hume—The king’s donation of the library 
 of George ILI. to the public—Irish tithe commutation bill-—Dis- 
 senters’ marriage act thrown out—Prorogation of parliament— 
 State of the country—-Appointment of consuls to the South 
 American colonies--Sentiments of Mr. Canning on this subject, 
 &c.—Extract from his speech at Plymouth--State of the country 
 at the beginning of 1824--Meeting of parliament--Attack on 
 ministers on account of the occupation of Spain, &c.—Recogni- 
 tion of South American independence—-Financial statement— 
 Repeal of taxes, bounties, &c.—Steps towards a more unrestricted 
 system of trade—Debates on the same—Alien bill, &.—State of 
 Treland, catholic association, &c. 
 
 \t the opening of this year, the country presented a more 
 avorable aspect than it had assumed for some time past: com- 
 nerce and manufactures continued to improve ; and the distress 
 f farmers was somewhat mitigated, though landed proprietors 
 rere still clamorous for relief. Many petitions on this subject 
 vere voted at county meetings; the most remarkable of which 
 vas held at Norwich, on the third of January, where a petition 
 n unison with the views of the opposition was proposed and 
 avorably received ; but Mr. Cobbett, by way of amendment, 
 resented an address, elaborately, though briefly drawn up ; 
 he principal propositions of which were, the reformation of a 
 orrupt parliament; an appropriation of church property to 
 he service of the state; and an equitable adjustment, with 
 egard, not only to the public debt, but to all debts and con- 
 racts between man and man: this amendment was carried by 
 cclamation. 
 
 The session was opened on the fourth of February by com- 
 
 ENG, XVII. M 
 
162 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. OH, LX, 
 
 mission, with a speech that elicited general approbation ; 
 particularly that part of it which expressed his miajesty’s 
 determination that he would be no party to those proceedings 
 at Verona which sanctioned the interference of ioreigners 
 with the internal affairs of Spain; and that he would use 
 his earnest endeavors and good offices to prevent the 
 calamity of war between that country and France. Mr. Can- 
 ning, having vacated his seat for Liverpool,! had not yet 
 returned to parliament; but an energetie philippic, pro- 
 nounced by Mr. Brougham against meditated aggressions of 
 the holy alliance, electrified the house: being, however, felt in 
 Spain, it produced an injurious effect on the constitutionalists, 
 by the fatal confidence with which it inspired them. Even in 
 our house of peers a spirit favorable to the liberal cause now 
 manifested itself; and this, added to unanimity of public senti- 
 ment, inspired the party in opposition with hopes of a triumph 
 over their opponents: lord Ellenborough, therefore, on the 
 twenty-fourth of April, made a motion for an address to his 
 majesty, expressing, in high terms, a condemnation of the con- 
 duct of France and the other allied powers, as well as of the 
 British cabinet, in requiring Spain to alter her constitution at 
 their dictation : after a long debate, however, it appeared, that 
 our ministers had used every practicable effort to prevent an 
 attack on Spain; and had acted the part of sincere friends in 
 advising her to modify a constitution, which, being strongly 
 democratic, was very inimical to the principles of true liberty. 
 The motion was rejected by an immense majority; and a 
 similar one, introduced into the lower house by Mr. Macdonald, 
 was similarly disposed of, after a debate which lasted three 
 nights. Mr. Canning, in a brilliant and argumentative 
 harangue, produced so powerful a conviction that everything 
 had been done which duty and sound policy required in our 
 late transactions with Spain and the allied powers, that Mr. 
 Brougham became anxious to save his party from exposure to 
 defeat by avoiding a division: in this artifice, however, he was 
 foiled by his antagonist, who insisted on the question being 
 put; amd as opposition members tried to escape, by quitting 
 the house, their opponents obliged the speaker, according to 
 its rules, to declare the numbers; when the result gave to 
 ministers an overwhelming majority of 372 against 20. 
 
 1 Considering the duties imposed on him by the representation 
 of that important town incompatible with those of his office, he 
 resigned it, and was elected member for Harwich; his friend, 
 Mr. Huskisson, succeeding him for Liverpool. 
 
A.D. 1823, GEORGE IV. 163 
 
 No regular motion was again made on this subject; and all 
 things in Spain favored the cause of the holy allies. Though 
 public feeling in Great Britain was roused to indignation by 
 the perfidious conduct of the French government, yet it must 
 be said, that public judgment was averse to our entering into 
 a war, for the preservation of a constitution not worth pre- 
 serving, and unsupported by the great mass of the people. 
 The hero, therefore, of the Trocadero, at the head of ‘a large 
 army, supported by the intire resources of an undistracted 
 monarchy, and with the confederated powers of Europe in 
 reserve, found no great difficulty in triumphing over a cause, 
 which was not only opposed by all the bigotry of the Spanish 
 nation, but betrayed by the very troops and leaders who had 
 sworn to uphold it: ina single, and almost bloodless campaign, 
 despotism was restored, together with Ferdinand VII.; who, 
 having been released by the constitutionalists from swrvedllance 
 at Cadiz, exhibited the gratitude of a Bourbon, by innumerable 
 sentences of death, imprisonment, and exile, which followed his 
 restoration. ‘The advance of the French army into Spain was 
 a signal of revolt for the Portuguese royalists, headed by the 
 queen and her second son, Don Miguel: by their intrigues, 
 the inconstant soldiery, ignorant of the object of either party, 
 were excited to destroy that slight frame-work of a constitution 
 which they had raised, and to replace arbitrary power in the 
 hands of the king. : :; 
 
 The distress of our landed interests had been discussed in 
 the house of commons early this session ; and subsequently on 
 a proposition of Mr. Whitmore for reducing the import price 
 of grain two shillings a year, until it should fall to sixty 
 shillings. The motion was negatived; but a disposition was 
 manifested by government to open the trade in corn: the 
 foreign trade committee was at the same time reappointed, and 
 farther steps were taken to free commerce from restrictions : 
 in prosecuting this more liberal line of policy, ministers acted 
 cautiously and prudently; for they knew that the restrictive 
 system involved so many interests and prejudices, and had 
 taken such deep root in many minds, that it must be gradually 
 relaxed: even where it could be abandoned safely and with- 
 out delay, it was difficult to persuade men to give it up. 
 
 On the twenty-first of February, the new chancellor of the 
 exchequer brought forward his budget ; and, discarding the 
 old scheme of financial shifts and mystification, put the house 
 in possession of his views with a candor and simplicity of state- 
 ment that elicited much applause even from the opponents of 
 
164 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXII. 
 
 government: the total revenue of the year was estimated at 
 £57 ,096,988; and the expenditure, including the interest of 
 the debt, at £49,852,786 ; leaving a clear surplus of above 
 £7,000,000: thence he proposed to relieve the burdens of the 
 country by a repeal of assessed taxes to the amount of 
 £2,006,000, retaining the other £5,000,000 toward the liqui- 
 dation of the national debt. In this arrangement, rejecting 
 what he considered the delusion of a larger nominal sinking- 
 fund, which in fact had generally been appropriated to different 
 purposes, he swept away the cumbrous machinery which sup- 
 ported it ; and, by placing the financial system of the country 
 on a more intelligible foundation, obtained much applause, 
 and carried his estimates for the year with very slight opposition. 
 
 No small portion of the session was wasted in discussing the 
 daring insolence exhibited by agents of the ascendant party in 
 Dublin. The government of lord Wellesley was too impartial 
 and enlightened to escape abuse from the Orange faction: he 
 had prohibited them from dressing up the statue of king 
 William in College-green; a ceremony which perpetuated 
 animosity, and frequently led to riot and bloodshed; the 
 Orangemen, however, took fire at this interference with their 
 insulting display of superiority ; and when his lordship, on the 
 fourteenth of December, visited the theatre, some wretches 
 threw a bottle at him from the gallery. Three persons were 
 taken into custody; and the attorney-general indicted them 
 for a misdemeanor, instead of a capital offence : bills of indict- 
 ment were found against two only by the grand jury ; and as 
 two persons cannot commit a riot, the finding was nugatory : 
 Mr. Plunkett then filed an ew officio information against these 
 persons, whom, on evidence received, he believed guilty; but 
 the petty jury could not agree in their verdict, and the prisoners 
 were discharged: the matter was subjected to much tedious 
 investigation in parliament, which tended at all events to show 
 the daring manner in which juries were packed, and the name 
 of justice was abused in Ireland. 
 
 On the seventeenth of April a motion for a committee on 
 the catholic claims was made by Mr. Plunkett, but lost; the 
 question of adjournment being carried by 313 voices against 
 111. The previous discussion was remarkable for an attack 
 on Canning, fiercer than the susceptible temperament of that 
 gentleman could bear with patience. Mr. Tierney, who had 
 declared that ministers deserted the question of catholic eman- 
 cipation, was followed in the debate by Mr. Brougham ; and 
 he, after praising the single, manly, and upright conduct of 
 
A.D. 1823. GEORGE IV. 165 
 
 Mr. Peel, who had never swerved from his opinions, and who 
 had not taken office on a secret understanding to abandon the 
 question in substance, while he continued to sustain it in words, 
 contrasted this conduct with the supposed delinquency of 
 Mr. Canning; who, ‘when the point was, whether he should 
 submit to a sentence of transportation to India, or be con- 
 demned to hard labor at home; when his fate, in fact, depended 
 on lord chancellor Eldon, and his own sentiments on the 
 catholic question, had exhibited such a specimen of monstrous 
 truckling for office as the whole history of political tergiver- 
 sation could scarcely furnish.’ At this moment, Canning, who 
 for some time had labored to control his emotions, and sat with 
 his eye fixed on the member that was speaking, suddenly 
 started up, and interrupted him by exclaiming—‘I rise to say, 
 it is false!’ A deep silence for a few seconds ensued ; after 
 which, the speaker called on the right honorable secretary to 
 retract an expression which any individual of his high rank 
 and office must know to be a complete violation of the rules 
 and orders of the house: Mr. Canning, however, though sorry 
 to have used a word which violated decorum, declared, that he 
 would not for any consideration retract the sentiment ; and this 
 he repeated in answer to farther remonstrances from the speaker, 
 who called on the chancellor of the exchequer, and the house 
 generally, to support him in his authority. As Brougham 
 would not explain till Canning had retracted, Mr. Bankes 
 moved that both members be taken into custody by the serjeant- 
 at-arms: at last, sir Robert Wilson ingeniously extricated ali 
 parties by the suggestion of an hypothetical and mutual expla- 
 nation; Mr. Bankes withdrew his motion; and the right 
 honorable and learned gentlemen declared they would discard 
 the subject from their minds. 
 
 On the twenty-first of May, sir James Mackintosh renewed 
 his praiseworthy efforts to reform our criminal code, in a series 
 of resolutions ; the first of which went to take away the punish-~ 
 ment of death in cases of larceny committed in shops and 
 dwelling-houses, and on navigable rivers. ‘Though these were 
 resisted and negatived by the house, four bills were afterwards 
 brought in by Mr. Peel on the same subject ; which fell short 
 indeed of the reforms contemplated by sir James, but still were 
 important steps in a rational reform of our criminal law: by 
 them government was enabled to employ male convicts in hard 
 labor ; and judges were relieved from the obligation of passing 
 sentence of death on certain malefactors, except in case of 
 murder. On the twenty-seventh, Mr. Lennard obtained leave 
 
166 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIl. 
 
 to bring in a bill, abolishing the old and barbarous law, which 
 sentenced the corpse of one guilty of felo-de-se to be buried at 
 two cross-roads, with a stake driven through it; leaving the 
 burial to be performed in private, without the ceremonies of 
 dur church. 
 
 On the second of June, lord Archibald Hamilton brought 
 under consideration the state of representation in Scotch 
 counties ; particularly inviting the attention of Mr. Canning 
 to this important question, as one with which he had not yet 
 grappled ; and as perfectly different in its nature from that of 
 any question about reform in England, where representation 
 was founded on property and population: neither the one nor 
 the other was necessarily its basis in Scotland ; for in the 
 counties it was not founded on property, and in the burghs it 
 was not founded on population. ‘In Engle said his lord- 
 ship, ‘the object of all laws on this subject, was to correct 
 abuses which had crept in, and to enforce the rights of electors ; 
 but he would show that the defects of the system in Scotland 
 did not rest in the abuses, but in the very nature of the law: 
 for this assertion he had the authority of lord chancellor 
 Thurlow, who declared, that the evil was fundamental, and 
 such as the legislature alone could remedy; for the right of 
 election might rest intirely in the hands of those who had no 
 earthly stake in the country.’ After a very able exposition of | 
 the case, he proposed five resolutions, the latter of which went 
 to pledge the house to take this subject into its serious con- 
 sideration during the next session, with a view to effect some 
 extension of the number of votes, and to establish some connexion 
 between the elective franchise and the landed property of the 
 country: the motion was ably seconded by Mr. Maxwell, and 
 supported by sir George Clerk, Mr. Kennedy, sir James 
 Mackintosh, lord Milton, and others; but being opposed by 
 lord Binning and the lord advocate,2 was negatived without a 
 division, after the previous question had been carried by 152 
 against 117 voices. ; 
 
 The noble mover failed in securing the approbation of Mr. 
 Canning ; since that gentleman, with all his liberality on other 
 subjects, would never listen to any arguments which might 
 open the door to parliamentary reform: on this question, he 
 always conceded what was undeniable in fact, and clear to 
 
 2 An officer, who for a great length of time seemed as if he was 
 appointed to be the defender of all abuses, and to take a part exactly 
 opposite to that assigned to the Roman consul; in short, to see— 
 We quid ‘ commodi’ caperet respublica, 
 
A.D. 1823. GEORGE IV. 167 
 
 unprejudiced minds ; never, like many of his colleagues, with 
 over-ardent zeal putting falsehood and truth on a level, without 
 conscience or discrimination ; but taking his stand on some 
 specious and tenable objection: thus, instead of asserting that 
 the system was perfect and pure, he granted that many evils 
 complained of actually existed ; yet he asserted, that it worked 
 well, and its evils were far less than those which would result 
 from the application of a remedy. If Great Britain could have 
 been always sure of possessing an enlightened minister at its 
 helm, his reasons would have held good : indeed, this principle 
 might be carried out to much greater extent; for a despotism 
 would be the best of governments, if it were always possible to 
 secure the best of men for the despot. In the mean time, the 
 great question of parliamentary reform was progressive, and the 
 very obstinacy of Mr. Canning inclined many to favor it; since 
 no public man ever existed in whose character flaws were more 
 diligently scanned, or exaggerated by political enmity; and 
 multitudes, blind to his good qualities, were taught to believe 
 that ‘the system worked well’ for the gratification of his 
 rapacity and ambition. 
 
 On the sixth of June, Mr. Brogden brought up the report of 
 a bill, by which the sum of £150,000 was to be advanced by 
 government, towards the construction of New London-bridge : 
 to Mr. Hume’s objection against this advance in the shape of a 
 gift, it was satisfactorily alleged by alderman Wood, that the 
 work was one of great national utility, and not intended ex- 
 clusively for the benefit of the city ; that the money was to be 
 paid by instalments, extending over a term of seven years ; and 
 that the corporation was ready to contribute all in their power 
 on this occasion; to give up nearly £200,000 that was in their 
 hands, and to raise £400,000 more on mortgage: Mr. Ricardo 
 agreed with his friend Mr. Hume; but the report was received, 
 and the resolution for the proposed advance carried. On the 
 ninth, Mr. Creevey called attention to a very heavy grievance, 
 under which the Leeward Islands labored, by what was called 
 the four and half per cent. duty : having read petitions from 
 five of these islands appealing to the liberality and justice of 
 parliament, and setting forth their present calamitous circum- 
 stances, with their utter inability to bear such a tax, on account 
 of the great depreciation of West India produce, he proposed 
 the abolition of an impost, on which were saddled many pensions 
 granted to our aristocratic families: he thought it hard on these 
 islands, that they should be burdened with the maintenance of 
 so many ladies and gentlemen of condition in England: he was 
 
168 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Cy Dxs, 
 
 the last man to urge any interference with private arrangements 
 of the royal family; but the king had given pensions to two 
 of his sisters at the expense of the unfortunate Leeward Islands : 
 he meant nothing offensive; but he could not understand on 
 what principle such annuities had been granted; or why these 
 islands were singled out for the honor of contributing to the 
 subsistence of the duke of Glocester and the prince of Hesse 
 Homburg: then came five pensions of £500 each to the Misses 
 Fitzclarence from the same source: there were also gentlemen 
 high in office—one whom he saw in his place, and one whom 
 he did not see—who condescendingly allowed the Leeward 
 Islands to make provision for their families ;—an honor, of 
 which they were by no means desirous, and a principle to which 
 he decidedly objected: right honorable gentlemen could not 
 say they were ignorant of the colonies; for their own acts 
 proved their knowlege of the fact: they could support the 
 colonies, and urge their distress, willingly enough in a par- 
 ticular way : they could tax East India sugar, and the consumer 
 of West India sugar in England; but it never occurred to them 
 to abate the tax out of which their own pensions were derived. 
 The object of the resolution with which Mr. Creevey concluded, 
 was to obtain a pledge from the house, to remove this grievance 
 from the Leeward Islands, and this scandal from the mother 
 country. He was answered by Mr. Canning, who had been 
 designated in his speech; and who objected to the motion, as 
 affecting the right of the crown to this particular branch of 
 revenue, and also its right of appropriating the same in any 
 manner deemed suitable by his majesty’s government: though 
 he acknowleged the great distress under which the Leeward 
 Islands were then suffering, and wished that the fund could be 
 so modified as to meet the circumstances of that distress; yet 
 he deprecated every notion of placing it at the arbitrary disposal 
 of parliament, under whose sanction it had so long existed in 
 its present state: indeed, he argued, no vote of that house 
 existed to support the honorable gentleman’s argument ; Mr. 
 Burke himself, in his most sanguine efforts to effect a financial 
 reform, had never entertained a doubt respecting the subject 
 of this fund; but left it, as he found it, at the disposal of the 
 crown. With respect to his own case, alluded to by the mover 
 of this question, he observed ; ‘ it was true, that many years ago 
 he had held an office; on retiring from which, by uniform 
 practice sanctioned by law, he became entitled to a pension of 
 £1200 per annum; but he waived his claim to that annuity ; 
 and it was true, that such right was afterwards commuted for 
 
A.D. 18228, GEORGE IV. ie 169 
 
 a pension of half the amount, for a person who had direct claims 
 on him for protection ; he remembered also, with satisfaction, 
 that this choice was thought at the time a considerable sacrifice 
 on his part: it was certainly open to parliament to deliberate 
 on particular instances in the disposal of this fund; and he 
 would not complain of the manner in which the honorable 
 gentleman had exerted his right in the present instance; yet 
 he well knew that he (Mr. Canning) could, if he chose, have 
 taunted him with the names of persons in the same situation, 
 and connected with parties whom the honorable gentleman 
 highly respected: that mode however was too invidious to 
 follow: the house had a right to examine into supposed abuses 
 as to the application of this, as well as any other branch of the 
 revenue; but he must say, the honorable gentleman did not 
 seem to have made out any case which called for censure.’ The 
 house agreed with Mr. Canning: and, rejecting Mr. Creevey’s 
 resolutions by a majority of 103 to 57 voices, gave an accele- 
 rated velocity to the cause of parliamentary reform. 
 
 Nor did this increased velocity seem likely to be retarded 
 ' when the expenses of the late coronation came before the 
 commons; and called forth many severe animadversions from 
 Mr. Hume, not only on the length of time which had elapsed 
 before they were laid on the table, but on the enormous extent 
 to which they ran. The chancellor of the exchequer had pro- 
 mised that they should not exceed £100,000; but they now 
 turned out to be £238,000; the surplus having been taken 
 from the French indemnities! Estimates so totally at varianee 
 with the expenses could only be characterised as a folly and a 
 farce: some of the items of this sum were especially noticed ; 
 for instance, the sum of £111,000 to decorate Westminster- 
 abbey and hall; £27,700 paid to the master of his majesty’s 
 robes, on account of those habiliments ; and £3000 granted to 
 sir George Naylor towards the expenses of publishing an 
 account of the ceremony. Of what service, said Mr. Hume, 
 was it to attempt the relief of public burdens, by cutting down 
 inferior clerks, and inflicting distress on other individuals, when 
 such sums as these were expended for such purposes? He also 
 reproached the ministry with bad faith, who had called for so 
 small a sum as had been originally mentioned, and afterwards 
 proposed a vote to the amount of £238,000: well knowing, 
 that if the latter sum had been originally asked for, it would 
 not have been granted: he also accused the chancellor of the 
 exchequer and his colleagues of violating public faith, by taking 
 money to which they had no right; subtracting £138,000 
 
170 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXII. 
 
 from the sum paid by France for indemnities to this country, 
 and which ought to have been appropriated to the ways and 
 
 neans: the honorable gentleman thought the house would 
 fail in its duty to the public, if it did not instantly call for an 
 examination into the profligate extravagance of this job; and 
 he concluded with proposing a committee for such purpose ; 
 but more especially to inquire, by what authority the sum of 
 £138,000, had been applied to the coronation expenses without 
 previous sanction from the house. 
 
 On Mr. Hume’s amendment being put, the chancellor of the 
 exchequer rose ; and, under pretence of being taken by surprise, 
 made a miserable reply : however, it satisfied his audience, and 
 the amendment was negatived by a majority of 110 to 65. The 
 house next went into committee; and the sum of £160,000 
 was proposed towards defraying the civil contingencies of ° 
 1823: this gave Mr. Hume an opportunity of bringing forward 
 many other items in the extravagant system of expenditure 
 now pursued ; particularly, the sum of £5327 for furniture in 
 the royal yacht, £504 for plate in the Rolls-chapel, and £1329 
 for the standards of the three regiments of foot guards: he also 
 drew attention to charges made on account of foreign ambas- 
 sadors ; though, in a diplomatic point of view, this country 
 was worse served than any other in Europe; everything being 
 done at the head-quarters of our allies; while our government 
 was kept in such ignorance, that its envoys might be as well 
 retained at home. ‘The honorable member, in the absence of 
 returns, which the secretary for foreign affairs refused to 
 produce, referred to the comparative statement of expenses for 
 the diplomatic services of 1792 and 1820 :— 
 
 Total amount of salaries and annual 1792. 1820. 
 
 allowances : : ; - £83,463 £149,778 
 
 Outfit and equipage ‘ ; : 8,000 13,191 
 Extraordinary and incidental expenses, 
 
 charges, &c. - ° . : 5,985 35,092 
 
 Pensions to retired ministers ‘ 11,486 54,204 
 
 £101,734 252,265 
 
 101,734 
 
 £150,531 
 
 ‘ And this difference,’ said Mr. Hume, ‘ exists, although Poland 
 and Brussels, the Hans Towns, Genoa, Cologne, Hesse Cassel, 
 and Venice form each an item in the account of 1792, and not 
 in that of 1820; as they have been expunged from the list of 
 independent states ; while the only additional countries included 
 in that of 1820 are Wurtemburg and Brazil, with £2000 for 
 
A.D. 1823. GEORGE IV. 171 
 
 Persia. After commenting on the distinction between that part 
 of the civil list appropriated to special purposes of government, 
 and the other part applicable to the expenses of the king’s 
 household ; and contending, on the authority of Mr. Fox and 
 sir Fletcher Norton, that the former was under the control of 
 parliament,—-the honorable gentleman concluded by moving 
 for a reduction of £52,799 from the present vote of £160,090 : 
 Mr. Canning, however, was ready to defend this expenditure ; 
 the house was satisfied; and Mr. Hume’s amendment was 
 rejected by seventy votes against sixteen. 
 
 As our attention has been called to so many cases of mini- 
 sterial profusion, several of which arose from a desire to indulge 
 his majesty’s love of splendor, justice requires that we should 
 notice a noble instance of royal munificence, calculated not 
 only to benefit the present age, but to extend its advantages to 
 remote generations. By a letter addressed to lord Liverpool, 
 in January, the king signified his intention of presenting to the 
 British nation that valuable library which had been collected 
 by his father, for the purpose (according to his own expressions) 
 of ‘advancing the literature of his country, while he paid a just 
 tribute to the memory of a parent, whose life was adorned with 
 every public and private virtue.’ This letter, together with 
 certain resolutions of the trustees of the British Museum on 
 the subject, having been laid before the commons, was referred 
 to a select committee ; which, on the sixteenth of April, made 
 its report. After noticing the great value and extent of the 
 library, consisting of more than 65,000 volumes, besides a 
 numerous collection of geographical and topographical works ; 
 the committee expressed an opinion, that the greatest benefit 
 would accrue to the public, if his majesty’s magnificent dona- 
 tion were placed under care of the trustees of the British 
 Museum; and if a building were raised for its reception, 
 forming part of a general design for an edifice calculated to 
 contain the several collections of that institution: the committee, 
 in conclusion, recommended that successive grants should be 
 made to effect the purposes above specified ; in consequence of 
 which the house voted a sum of £40,000 to commence the 
 work; and the foundation of the new structure, on a plan 
 prepared by Mr. Smirke, and approved by the lords of the 
 treasury, was laid this year. ‘The noble room intended for the 
 royal library was completed in 1827, and in the following 
 summer received this valuable collection; a splendid monu- 
 ment of the good taste and patriotic spirit of George IV. 
 
 During the present session, a very beneficial act was passed 
 
172 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXII. 
 
 for the commutation of tithes in Ireland; also one to remedy 
 the imperfection of an act passed in 1800, for enabling the king 
 and his successors to dispose of private property, but which 
 had been so worded as to leave them without the power to 
 dispose of lands belonging to them before their accession. In 
 the house of commons, Mr. John Williams brought forward 
 the first of those motions respecting the court of chancery, 
 directly inculpating ‘the conduct of its head officer: it was 
 keenly debated for two nights, and then negatived by 174 
 votes against 89. A motion, made by lord Lansdowne, for the 
 second reading of the dissenters’ marriage bill, which might 
 enable them to have the marriage ceremony performed in their 
 own chapels, was warmly supported by lords Ellenborough, Cal- 
 thorpe, and Liverpool; but though the principle of the bill was 
 supported by the archbishop of Canterbury, it was vehemently . 
 opposed by the lord chancellor, as containing principles incon- 
 sistent with the predominancy of the established church, and 
 was thrown out by a majority of twenty-seven against twenty- 
 one: subsequent proceedings in parliament were not marked 
 by any character of peculiar importance ; except the appoint- 
 ment of a deputy speaker in the house of lords, for the purpose 
 of enabling their lordships to dispatch more business in the 
 matter of appeals: lord Gifford obtained this high and respon- 
 sible office, in which he gave much satisfaction, and enabled 
 the lord chancellor to devote a greater portion of his time to 
 the duties of his own court. It may also be observed that an 
 act was passed, though with a strong protest from the duke of 
 Newcastle and lord Abingdon, enabling the duke of Norfolk, 
 though a Romanist, to execute his high office of earl marshal, 
 on taking the oath of allegiance, without that of supremacy, or 
 the declaration against transubstantiation; and the session, 
 which was on the whole very laborious, but more harmonious 
 than any other since the peace, was closed by commission on 
 the nineteenth of July. 
 
 Throughout the remainder of the year, our internal pros- 
 perity appeared to advance, and public confidence in govern- 
 ment increased: this feeling was mainly attributable to an 
 altered tone in the administration, which was ascribed to the 
 ascendancy of Mr. Canning over the cabinet ; while the general 
 popularity of that minister was increased by the whole tenor 
 of his measures. One of the most decided of these, and most 
 advantageous to Great Britain, was the appointment of British 
 consuls to the chief commercial places in the revolted colonies 
 of Spain, as soon as the mother country fell again under the 
 
A.D. 1823. GEORGE IV. 173 
 
 ? 
 
 despotism of its tyrannical monarch ; and this virtual recogni- 
 tion of South American independence was accompanied by a 
 spirited declaration to the pertidious cabinet of M. Villele; which 
 -was plainly told, that although Great Britain, faithful to her 
 principles of neutrality, would not oppose the attempts of Spain 
 to recover her colonies, the interference of any third power 
 would be met by force. Though British feelings, irritated as 
 they were by the treachery of France and the arrogance of its 
 holy allies, had been suppressed by the consideration that war 
 would grievously interrupt public industry and improvement, 
 yet our minister was anxious to make it known, that there was 
 a limit to forbearance ; and though the ultimate object of this 
 country was the peace of Europe, yet it was not to be supposed 
 that she either feared or was unprepared for war: these senti- 
 ments he expressed in one of his happiest effusions, when 
 returning thanks for the freedom of the borough of Plymouth, 
 conferred on him during a visit to that grand receptacle of the 
 British navy which afforded him so beautiful and appropriate 
 an illustration of his subject. ‘Our present repose,’ he 
 observed, ‘is no more a proof of our inability to act, than the 
 state of inertness and inactivity, in which I have seen those 
 mighty masses that float in the waters above your town, is a 
 proof that they are devoid of strength, and incapable of being 
 fitted for action: you well know, gentlemen, how soon one of 
 those stupendous masses, now reposing on their shadows in 
 perfect stillness, how soon on any call of patriotism or neces- 
 sity, it would assume the likeness of an animated thing, instinct 
 with life and motion; how soon it would ruffle, as it were, its 
 swelling plumage; how quickly it would put forth all its 
 beauty and bravery, collect its scattered elements of strength, 
 and awake its dormant thunder. As is one of these magnificent 
 machines, when springing from inaction into a display of its 
 might, such is England herself, while apparently passive and 
 motionless, she silently concentrates the power to be put forth 
 on an adequate occasion: but God forbid that that occasion 
 should arise! After a war sustained for nearly a quarter of a 
 century, sometimes single-handed, and with «ll Europe arrayed 
 at times against her, or at her side, England needs a period of 
 tranquillity, and may enjoy it without fear of misconstruction : 
 long may we be enabled, gentlemen, to improve the blessings 
 of our present situation ; to cultivate the arts of peace; to give 
 to commerce, now reviving, greater extension, with new 
 spheres of employment; and to confirm the prosperity now 
 generally diffused throughout this island.’ 
 
174 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX1I. 
 
 The year 1824 shone still more auspiciously than its prede- 
 cessor On our commerce and manufactures; which appeared to 
 receive a new impulse from the more enlarged and secure open- 
 ing of the South American market: even agriculture felt the 
 influence of this amelioration; and in all other branches of in- 
 dustry prices began to rise; the complaints of landowners were 
 faint or unheard ; and the produce of our revenue exceeded the 
 most sanguine expectations. This revival of prosperity, with 
 an abundance of capital accumulated in the late war, but shut 
 up during a long stagnancy of the markets, gave a dangerous 
 activity to enterprise, and generated that spirit of hasty specu- 
 lation, which appeared in the memorable era of joint-stock 
 schemes: enormous sums of money were now expended in 
 digging for gold in South America; and such was the rage for 
 speculation, that shares even of unexplored mines rose twelve ° 
 hundred per cent.; soon alas! to fall below their original cost: 
 the disastrous consequences, however, of this extraordinary 
 mania were as yet neither felt nor foreseen; and when parlia- 
 ment met on the third of February, congratulations expressed 
 by the commissioners, in the name of his majesty, on the pros- 
 perous state of the country, were echoed back in the addresses 
 of both houses. So generally popular and unexceptionable 
 had been the measures of government, that opposition found 
 little to attack in our internal policy ; the continued occupation 
 of Spain therefore by French troops, and the expediency of 
 completely recognising her revolted colonies, formed for a time, 
 the chief objects of discussion. Lord Lansdowne, deploring 
 the fate of the peninsula, regretted that ministers had not 
 remonstrated with more energy; and thought that a greater 
 advance should have been made toward our complete recogni- 
 tion of South American independence. Mr. Brougham, in the 
 lower house, attacked the general tyranny and particular 
 cruelties of the Austrians in one peninsula, and of Ferdinand 
 in the other, with a strong battery of invective; and, in 
 allusion to the impotent efforts made by this country to ward 
 off the blow from the constitutionalists, observed, ‘ that Eng- 
 land was bound over in recognisances of £800,000,000 to keep 
 the peace.’ Our foreign policy regarding Spain was subse- 
 quently discussed on motions made by lord John Russell and 
 lord Nugent; but it was vindicated by Mr. Canning, who 
 showed that the conduct of Great Britain had been regulated 
 by a due regard for her own interests and dignity, as well as 
 by an honorable attention to the just principles of international 
 law; and that while we preserved peace, so necessary under 
 
A.D. 1823. GEORGE IV. 173 
 
 present circumstances, we had, by bold and open remonstrances, 
 paralysed schemes which the holy allies had formed, for 
 extending their system of interference from the home govern- 
 ment of Spain to the internal condition of her colonies. These 
 explanations were so generally satisfactory, that, except in the 
 ease of lord Lansdowne’s motion, the question was not pressed 
 te a division: the propriety of admitting the South American 
 colonies into the rank of independent powers, was, in fact, only 
 a consideration of time; and before the middle of this year, 
 our cabinet determined on the recognition of Mexico, Columbia, 
 and Buenos Ayres; with which states treaties of amity and 
 commerce were concluded. 
 
 Thus, the power so long exercised with injustice and 
 partiality by Spain over her colonies vanished for ever ; what- 
 ever forms the political relations of these states with the mother 
 country may assume their independence became, at all events, 
 established. ‘ But,’ as professor Heeren rightly observes, 
 ‘they have their most dangerous enemy in themselves. Who, 
 indeed, would ensure to them solidity and permanence ? for, 
 though we see republican institutions springing up almost every- 
 where in this continent, how can such subsist, even in the 
 most favorable event, among nations where color determines 
 caste, and military commanders prescribe laws? and how can 
 the universally-proclaimed freedom of the press be compatible | 
 with their hierarchy ?’3 The learned writer might have gone 
 a step farther, and asked, how any political liberty can subsist 
 with that ambitious hierarchy, alienated as it is from national 
 and domestic ties, or with that exclusive and intolerant support 
 of the Roman church, which these states have interwoven in 
 the very frame-work of their constitutions? What party, 
 when freedom was introduced into Spain and Italy, was so 
 much on the alert to oppose it, as the popish clergy ? They 
 exerted every nerve to prevail on Austria and I’rance to attack 
 the new institutions: in both countries, the common soldiers 
 and the people, under the dominion of the priests, refused to 
 fight; and the invaders overran them in a single campaign, 
 almost without the necessity of striking a blow. 
 
 From the statement of the chancellor of the exchequer, it 
 appeared that the public revenue continued to improve: not- 
 withstanding the remission of taxes, it had last year produced 
 £57,672,999 ; leaving a clear balance of £1,710,985 over the 
 expenditure, beside the established sinking fund of five 
 millions. A part of this surplus he proposed to employ in 
 
 8 Vol. ii. p. 381. 
 
176 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXII. 
 
 granting half a million for the erection ot new churches ; of 
 £300,000 for the gradual renovation and improvement of 
 Windsor-castle, that majestic seat of British monarchs; also 
 of £60,000 for the purchase of the Angerstein pictures, in 
 furtherance of a laudable design to establish a national gallery 
 for the fine arts. These acts of liberality were rendered 
 more easy by the unexpected repayment of £2,500,000 by 
 Austria, for loans advanced by our government during the 
 late war: it was, in fact, a small dividend on the debt due to 
 this country ; but, though it did not satisfy the expectations 
 of some gentlemen in the house, it was rightly characterised 
 by Mr. Canning as ‘a god-send,’ and was dispersed accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 In his financial calculations for the present year, Mr. 
 Robinson anticipated a continued surplus; on the strength of — 
 which, he proposed a farther repeal of taxes to the amount 
 of more than a million; and as an auxiliary measure, he 
 suggested the discontinuance of certain bounties on fisheries 
 and manufactures, which were no longer necessary: an 
 extension also of the scheme for reducing the interest on our 
 national debt was a prominent feature in his arrangement: 
 thus, he proposed to convert the old four per cent. stock, 
 amounting to £75,000,000, into a new fund, bearing interest 
 at three and a half per cent. ; giving the holders of course the 
 option of being paid off at par, or of acceding to the new 
 plan; which was more profitable to the country than that of 
 last year, since no bonus was given or required ; and therefore 
 the nominal amount of the debt was not increased. ‘This 
 arrangement, by which an annual saving of £875,000 was 
 effected, met with the approbation of parliament, and was 
 carried into execution with great facility. 
 
 Steps were taken this session toward a more unrestricted 
 system of trade: one important measure consisted in a repeal 
 of what were still left of protecting duties between Ireland 
 and Great Britain; and this at the demand of the Irish 
 themselves, taught by experience how unavailing those fiscal ” 
 barriers had been to improve their trade. Enactments also 
 were passed, tending to withdraw British manufacturers from 
 the protection of laws which prohibited the importation of 
 foreign silks into this realm: the plan adopted was, to lower 
 the import duties on raw and thrown silk, to repeal bounties 
 on the exportation of this manufacture, and to substitute a 
 duty of thirty per cent. on foreign silks, instead of prohibiting 
 their importation. ‘he first part of this plan was generally 
 
A.D. 1824, GEORGE IV. 177 
 
 approved ; the second was received with indifference ; but the 
 third met with great opposition from the trade; and counsel 
 were heard against it at the bar of the house. The principles 
 on which ministers proceeded were.ably expounded by Mr. 
 Huskisson, who illustrated the importance of liberating 
 commerce from all unnecessary restrictions, by tracing the 
 progress of the cotton trade: he asked whether, if restrictions 
 had not been removed from that manufacture, Great Britain 
 could ever have made the gigantic exertions which dis- 
 tinguished her in the last war? ‘Does not,’ he said, ‘the 
 number of persons employed in it, to the amount of 1,200,000, 
 whose wants are supplied in return for their labor, afford 
 more real encouragment to agriculture, than any regulations 
 made to force up artificial prices? It is to the growth of 
 wealth, and the progress of industry that this country must 
 look, both for relief from present burdens, and for the means 
 of making fresh exertions whenever they may be demanded : 
 but it is not in the power of any artificial measures to give that 
 real relief to agriculture, or to any other kind of occupation, 
 which can only flow from increasing activity, and constant in- 
 dustry among the people: the most remarkable feature in the 
 history of the cotton manufacture is the impetus which it has 
 given to invention and discovery, and the ingenuity which it 
 has called into action: the effect of this has been to produce 
 the article at the lowest possible rate; and we find that a 
 greater number of persons have been employed to direct the 
 machinery, in proportion as the maufacturer has had the 
 prospect of fresh resources. But what is the situation of the 
 silk-trade under the prohibitory system, which some consider 
 its greatest advantage? Why, the monopoly has produced, 
 what it is always sure to produce, a total indifference to im- 
 provement: that useful zeal, which gives life to industry, 
 which fosters ingenuity, and which in manufacturing concerns 
 promotes a desire to produce the article in its most economical 
 form, has been completely extinguished ;.and in this branch 
 we are left far behind our neighbors: if the same system had 
 been continued with respect to the cotton manufacture, it 
 would have been at this moment as subordinate in extent to 
 the woollen, as it is junior to it in its introduction into this 
 country.’ 
 
 Mr. Huskisson proceeded to notice the unpleasant effects of 
 prohibitory duties, in the power they give to the commonest 
 ruffian in the street of snatching from a person of any rank an 
 article suspected to be of foreign manufacture: he pointed out 
 
 ENG, XVIL N 
 
178 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXII. 
 
 their injurious effects in the promotion of smuggling, and in 
 the breaches of the law to which they led so many persons : 
 he also showed, from the confession of those who petitioned 
 against the proposed regulations, that a duty of thirty per 
 cent. would be quite sufficient to protect our own manufactures : 
 indeed, a deputation from Manchester had declared, that, 
 under such a duty, they could meet the French in any country 
 of the world. ‘I am perfectly aware,’ he observed, ‘ that 
 the proposed alteration must affect particular interests; but in 
 every change there will be partial interests that must suffer 
 for a time; and all that parliament can do, all indeed that is 
 its duty to do, is to deal with them as tenderly as possible: 
 there are also persons not remiss in opposing this measure, 
 who have created a strong feeling out of doors against it; I 
 mean all those who, under the prohibitory system, have 
 benéfited by smuggling: they are naturally afraid that their 
 trade will suffer ; and that if there be no prohibition, no lady 
 will fancy a French article when she can get an English one.’ 
 
 Mr. Baring, one of the enlightened advocates of free trade, 
 being probably influenced by the prejudices of his constituents 
 at Taunton, resisted this measure as a hazardous experiment : 
 the French, he urged, had an advantage over us in silk, in 
 machinery, and in cheapness of labor ; yet the mode taken by 
 the chancellor of the exchequer to oppose such advantages, 
 was to open the English market to French silks. After 
 dilating on these topics, he was answered by Mr. Wallace, 
 who contended, that a high duty on the raw material was the 
 principal reason why we had been inferior to others in this 
 manufacture: but we now possessed great advantages in our 
 Indian silk; and if the trade were thrown open, we might 
 even supply French markets with that article: the silk of 
 india was cheaper than that of Italy; and if there were no. 
 duty on it, and no prohibition, England would be the mart for 
 the raw material, as well as for the manufacture: if it were 
 true that we had reared a considerable trade under a large 
 duty, why should we despair of extending it when that duty 
 was abolished? Notwithstanding the opposition of partial 
 interests, this ministerial scheme met with general support from 
 both sides of the house, and was carried without difficulty. 
 After various fluctuations, occasioned chiefly by the peculiar 
 nature of the times; and after innumerable petitions, signed 
 by multitudes in the various districts of the silk manufacture, 
 predicting utter extirpation to the trade, and ruin to all engaged 
 in it, we have the satisfaction of seeing the admirable effects 
 
A.D, 1824. GEORGE IV. 179 
 
 resulting from a firm resistance made against ignorant and 
 senseless clamor: the British silk trade is increased tenfold 
 since those predictions were uttered; and the articles manu- 
 factured, though lower in price, are equal in beauty to the 
 once coveted productions of the French or Indian loom. 
 Among other important measures of relaxation carried by 
 ministers, was the immediate removal of all unequal restric- 
 tions in the import and export trade of wool, with a gradual 
 approach to the same system in linen manufactures. 
 
 The renewal of the alien bill was resisted with unusual 
 energy, especially by Mr. Hobhouse and sir James Mackintosh : 
 the act indeed was carried; but the mildness with which it 
 was put into operation, doubtless proceeded in a great degree, 
 from the rigid scrutiny to which it was subjected by these and 
 other spirited individuals: the abuses of the church in Ireland, 
 and of the court of chancery in England ; 4 led to vehement 
 discussions, but to no legislative enactment. 
 
 Much attention was given to the state of the sister island 
 in both houses; each of which appointed a committee of 
 inquiry into its general condition. ‘The close of this year, 
 however, saw the establishment of a political engine of extra- 
 ordinary power, in the Catholic Association ; the energies of 
 which were subsequently wielded with so much effect by 
 Mr. O’Connell, a barrister of eminence, who soon became the 
 acknowleged leader of the disaffected party, and encouraged 
 them to effect by union and agitation what had been denied 
 to remonstrances and entreaties: probably, at first, neither 
 the government nor the association itself was aware of the 
 extent to which its formidable powers could be carried: but 
 it soon extended its correspondence, and appointed regular 
 agents for every Roman Catholic parish in the kingdom ; 
 when, having ascertained the influence which it possessed 
 over a great majority of the Irish people, it proceeded to levy 
 a large revenue under the denomination of a catholic rent, 
 and to usurp the functions both of legislative and executive 
 authority. During the year now described three men, cele- 
 brated in the annals of their country, departed this life; lord 
 Keith, the earl St. Vincent, and lord Erskine: the latter of 
 whom, it is grievous to say, sullied the brightness of his high 
 reputation by the eccentricities of his latter days. 
 
 4 ‘Mr. Williams,’ says lord Eldon, ‘ made his attack last night, 
 as savage as the Dey of Algiers, with whom we are gone to war.’-~ 
 Lite, vol. ii. p. 488. 
 
180 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LXIII. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 GEORGE IV. (contixvep.)—1824. 
 
 Parliamentary discussions—State of the colonies—A ffairs of Spain 
 and Portugal— Death of Louis X VIII.--East Indian affairs un- 
 der lord Amherst’s presidency—Case of Mr. Buckingham— 
 Burmese war—Peace concluded on terms favorable to the Bri- 
 tish government—Commercial treaty with the court of Ava— 
 The rajah of Bhurtpoor rainstated by lord Combermere—Arrival 
 of lord William Bentinck as governor-general. 
 
 An instance of apparent severity and injustice was brought 
 before the commons by Mr. Brougham, and occasioned much 
 discussion both within and without the house. During the 
 preceding session, the agitation of measures in behalf of our 
 negro population in the colonies was followed by some. lament- 
 able consequences, which seemed to result from the rash 
 enthusiasm of the advocates for an immediate abolition of 
 slavery: not aware of the difficulties with which the British 
 government had to contend, and not content to await the 
 influence of time and instruction in preparing the slave popula- 
 tion to profit by an improved condition, these well-meaning, 
 but inconsiderate persons, had pressed on parliament the con- 
 sideration of a subject which could scarcely be discussed with- 
 out danger; and Mr. Buxton, on the fifteenth of May, 1823, 
 after a speech very inflammatory in its tendency, moved, that 
 a state of slavery is repugnant to the principles of the British 
 constitution as well as the christian religion, and ought to be 
 gradually abolished throughout the British colonies. Mr. 
 Canning, in deprecating the agitation of this question, explained 
 the measures in progress for bettering the condition of slaves, 
 and obtained, for a time, the acquiescence of the house in the 
 prudence of government: but the dreaded mischief had been 
 done; the ignorant negroes had been led to believe that their 
 freedom, granted by parliament, was withheld by the colonial 
 assemblies ; which delusion caused not only an insurrection in 
 Demerara, but irritation, violence, and disorder throughout all the 
 other colonies. ‘The assemblies, it is true, rejected every recom- 
 
A.D. 1824, GEORGE IV. 181 
 
 mendation for improving the condition of slaves, and were at 
 open war, especially in the chief island, Jamaica, with the 
 local government ; but it must at the same time be confessed, 
 that a party of ignorant and fanatical missionaries excited the 
 negro population so as to alarm the fears and inflame the 
 passions of the colonists. In this state of general feeling, a 
 missionary, named Smith, was tried by martial, law on a charge 
 of stimulating the negroes to revolt in Demerara; being guilty, 
 at least, of concealing a knowlege of their intended rising from 
 the colonial authorities: this man was condemned to death; 
 but, his case being sent to England for the consideration of the 
 privy council, he died in prison before a pardon, which was 
 extended to him, could arrive. While the colonists, however, 
 were indignant at this remission of the sentence, and at the 
 little anxiety shown, as they thought, by government for their 
 lives and property, the abolition party, joined by the regular 
 opposition in parliament, loudly denounced the court-martial 
 held on Smith as illegal, and his sentence as unjust: Mr. 
 Brougham’s motion to this effect was supported by 146 votes; 
 and it was with great difficulty that ministers, assisted by Mr. 
 Canning’s eloquent sophistry, could procure a small majority 
 to acquit his judges: the plans of government, however, for 
 ameliorating the condition of the slaves, which generally com- 
 bined benevolence with caution, strongly recommended them- 
 selves to all rational advocates of freedom: these, as stated by 
 lord Bathurst and Mr. Canning, consisted chiefly in abolishing 
 the habitual use of the lash, and its application to females; in 
 regulating the punishment of refractory slaves; in preventing 
 the separate sale of husband, wife, and children ; in protecting 
 the property of slaves, admitting their evidence, and facilitating 
 their manumission; also in providing for them religious 
 instruction, and a regular ecclesiastical establishment, with two 
 bishops at its head, one presiding over Jamaica, and the other 
 over the Leeward Islands. 
 
 While our settlements at the Cape of Good Hope were 
 extending themselves toward the interior of the country, and 
 increasing in commercial prosperity, the quiet of the colon 
 was disturbed by the unpopularity of its governor, lord Charles 
 Somerset. Though the vexations complained of were ex- 
 aggerated, and the complaints sometimes unreasonable, yet 
 enough remained to show that his lordship was deficient in that 
 candor and liberality of spirit which will prevent a public 
 officer from carrying feelings of resentment and partiality into 
 the affairs of administration: his high birth and connexions, 
 
182 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. Lx, 
 
 however, secured him from animadversions in the proper 
 quarter. Among all the constituents of good government no 
 one is more admirable than an aristocracy founded upon birth : 
 most unwisely therefore does a ministry act, which, by screen- 
 ing the faults of any member in this body, contributes to bring 
 odium upon the whole. Another part of the great African 
 continent was at this time a scene of more tragical events ; for 
 the administrators of the small British settlements on the Gold 
 Coast, having imprudently taken part in the quarrels of the 
 natives, and violated the terms of a treaty concluded some years 
 before with the powerful king of the Ashantees, were attacked 
 by a large army of warlike and well-appointed troops under the 
 command of that monarch. Sir Charles Macarthy, governor 
 of Sierra Leone, having advanced against them with a few 
 Europeans, aided by some thousands of barbarian allies, much 
 inferior both in courage and means to his antagonists, was 
 defeated with a dreadful carnage, especially of his British 
 followers, and the loss of his own life: this lamentable cata- 
 strophe excited alarm for the safety of our principal settlements 
 at Cape Coast Castle; but the Thetis frigate having oppor- 
 tunely arrived with a few troops, and the garrison being 
 strengthened by a small body of auxiliaries from Acra, the 
 enemy were repulsed, and compelled: to raise the siege which 
 they had laid to the fort: colonel Sutherland afterwards over- 
 threw them in several other engagements; and these defeats, 
 together with famine and disease, put an end to their desultory 
 hostilities. 
 
 Our North American colonies were now in the enjoyment 
 of great commercial and agricultural prosperity ; which, how- 
 ever, in the case of Lower Canada, began to be interrupted by 
 dissentions not unlikely to produce important consequences. 
 On the fourth of March, the house of assembly voted an address 
 to the king, in which they represented very strongly, that as 
 the members of the church of England. constituted only a 
 minority of the population, the clergy of the church of 
 Scotland, as well as the ministers of dissenters, had an equitable 
 claim to participate in the revenues set apart for religious 
 instruction. Serious disputes also had arisen between the 
 house of assembly on the one hand, and the legislative council, 
 with the governor at its head, on the other: part of the re- 
 venue of this province was raised under the authority of the 
 British parliament, and appropriated to the civil expenses ; 
 while another portion of it had been appropriated by acts of 
 the provincial parliament: the house of assembly persevered 
 
A.D. 1824. GEORGE IV, 183 
 
 in claiming an unlimited right to dispose of the whole; in 
 which pretension it was resisted by the governor and legislative 
 ‘council: the consequence was, that the supplies were refused, 
 and the different branches of legislature separated in very bad 
 humor with each other. Amid the many schemes of specula- 
 tion by joint-stock companies, which the apparent prosperity 
 of the nation, and the abundance of unemployed capital, 
 brought out this year, was one called the Canada company, 
 which had the approbation of our colonial department, and the 
 sanction of a royal charter: lands were to be granted by the 
 crown, at a fixed price, to this association, which was to employ 
 its funds in establishing and assisting settlers: whether the 
 scheme might answer to the speculators or not, there seemed 
 no reasoa to doubt but that the colony would benefit by the 
 diffusion of a large capital among its inhabitants, as well as by 
 the employment of skilful and experienced men. 
 
 From the continent of Australia the most pleasing prospects 
 continued to be unfolded: the British settlements in New 
 South Wales and Van Dieman’s Land prospered, because the 
 number of free laborers increased, and the stream of emigration 
 began to set toward that quarter: within a few years, the 
 population had more than doubled itself; and important 
 returning cargoes, especially of wool, began to remunerate the 
 mother country for its expenditure; while a brisk trade was 
 thence carried on with India and the remotest regions of the 
 world: the chain of mountains also in the rear had been sur- 
 mounted, and roads over them constructed; spacious and 
 fertile plains, intersected with rivers, invited agriculturists ; 
 and the town of Bathurst had been made a starting point for 
 explorers of the interior. On the Society Islands christianity 
 was victorious; the Sandwich Isles, so shamefully treated 
 afterwards by French aggression, under Louis Philippe, and 
 Guizot,! resembled a British colony ; and the New Zealanders, 
 carrying on an increasing traffic with New South Wales, began 
 to eat potatoes instead of human flesh. ‘ All these things,’ 
 says Heeren, ‘are elements of a new order of things; elements 
 of one grand, universal, political system, growing out of the 
 narrow colonial system of Europe.’ # 
 
 While the energies of Spain were chained down by absolute 
 
 1 When such men sacrifice the principles of honor, justice, and 
 humanity, to curry favor with the basest portion of the people, and 
 the vilest part of the press, it is enough to make us doubt the very 
 existence of public virtue. 
 
 2 Vol. ii. p, 399, 
 
184 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXill. 
 
 power, events of. an extraordinary nature occurred in Portugal : 
 the constitutional government in that country had scarcely 
 been established, before it was overturned by the troops under 
 Don Miguel; but now that worthy scion of a degenerate stock 
 made an attempt to dethrone his own parent. In May this 
 year, the king’s palace at Lisbon was surrounded by the troops 
 in garrison; his majesty’s servants were denied access to his 
 person; and his ministers were even thrown into prison: the 
 diplomatic body, including the pope’s nuncio, then interfered, 
 and procured some degree of liberty to the king; but this was 
 thought so imperfect and insecure, that, following the advice 
 of the French ambassador, his majesty took refuge on board a 
 British ship of war in the Tagus; and was thus enabled to 
 assert his dignity, and re-establish his authority. With respect 
 to the author of these outrages on regal and parental authority, 
 his confiding father considered him as having been misled by 
 by evil counsellors, and generously carried his youthful indis- 
 cretions to the account of involuntary faults: he was, however, 
 recommended to visit foreign courts, in order to gain some 
 experience of the world; and when the course of his peregri- 
 nations brought this accomplished traveller to that of Great 
 Britain, he was loaded with honors and caresses; being 
 received by the dominant political party in this country as a 
 mirror for princes, the very representative of all prewax chevaliers: 
 after such a reception, he was dismissed to improve the 
 Braganza breed by marrying his own niece,3 with the hearty 
 benedictions of British courtiers. 
 
 On the sixteenth of August, died Louis XVIIL., after a long 
 and painful illness borne with much patience and christian 
 resignation ; for this monarch was firm in his religious prin- 
 ciples, though by no means a bigot; as a proof of which it is 
 asserted that no ecclesiastic attended the procession at his 
 funeral: his departure was evidently calculated to renew in 
 France scenes similar to those which occurred in England after 
 the decease of Charles II. ; for the brother of Louis was as great 
 a bigot in religion as the brother of Charles; and the bigotry 
 of both impelled them to acts of the most tyrannical com- 
 plexion: the chief obstacle, during the late reign, to the com- 
 pletion of the French constitution, lay in what was termed the 
 occult government, organised and directed by the presumptive 
 heir to the throne, and his partisans; promoted by priests and 
 
 3 Donna Maria da Gloria, however, escaped this distinguished 
 
 honor of marrying her uncle; and, like our own lamented princess 
 tharlotte, showed a will of her own in these matters. 
 
A.D. 1824. GEORGE IV. 185 
 
 jesuits, grasping at wealth and spiritual domination, perverting 
 every stream of public justice, disturbing the harmonies of 
 family connexions, and thus poisoning the fount of social 
 happiness: there was scarcely a town or village in France, to 
 which ramifications of this diabolical confederacy did not 
 extend, or where it had not its secret committee ; trom among 
 the memvers of which it forced yovernment to choose the 
 agents of authority: all men of good sentiments, as they were 
 termed, that is, all who were slavish in politics and super- 
 stitious in religion, belonged to this class; of which, while 
 many were sincere, more were hypocrites, who assumed a 
 mask, in order to gratify their ambition and cupidity: the 
 existence of such a faction, and the protection it enjoyed, 
 exposed the good faith of the late king to suspicion, whilst it 
 terrified the friends of the charter, and exasperated the fierce 
 democratical party, which fortunately was not extinguished in 
 France: they soon drove his successor from the thorne. 
 
 The serious war which broke out this year in the east, 
 between our company and the Burmese sovereign, naturally 
 recalls us to a consideration of Indian affairs since the retire- 
 ment of the marquis of Hastings. The governor appointed to 
 succeed that wise and patriotic statesman was lord Amherst ; 
 who, being chiefly known as an unsuccessful ambassador to the 
 court of Pekin, had to encounter all the evils of invidious and 
 disadvantageous comparison. At the period of lord Hastings’s 
 departure in the beginning of 1823, our Indian territories 
 were in a state of profound peace; and until his successor 
 should arrive, Mr. Adam, senior member of the council, 
 assumed the reins of government: during the short period of 
 this gentleman’s administration, the case of Mr. Buckingham 
 occurred, which has so often brought the question of a free 
 press in India before the British public. That gentleman 
 had been established some years at Calcutta, where he set up 
 a newspaper, which obtained very extensive circulation ; but 
 this was expressly contrary to regulations of the British 
 government in India: during the administration of lord 
 Cornwallis, a Mr. Hickey had attempted to publish un- 
 restrained opinions on matters of administration: and his 
 journal had been suppressed by the noble marquis: he com- 
 plained bitterly of what he considered a wanton act of 
 tyranny: and was advised by the governor, if he thought 
 himself aggrieved, to seek his remedy in a court of law; but 
 as he could prove no malice or illegal exercise of authority, 
 he well knew that he would obtain no redress, and therefore 
 
186 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX. 
 
 abstained from the attempt. After that period, articles were 
 occasionally published, more perhaps from inadvertency than 
 design, which called for censure; and some cases of this 
 nature led to an order of lord Wellesley, that the proof sheets 
 of newspapers should be inspected by the secretary of govern- 
 ment; a measure which had the decided approbation of that 
 eminent statesman, sir John Malcolm: in allusion to it, he 
 observed,—‘ that so far as European society alone was con- 
 cerned, he could not say that the existence of a free press 
 would immediately endanger our Indian empire: he was 
 satisfied, however, that it would excite dissentions, cherish 
 insubordination, and produce evils a hundred times greater 
 than any good it could effect; but its operation on the 
 European part of the community was a very small part of this 
 question :’4 accordingly, he proceeded to point out its 
 injurious effects among a rapidly increasing portion of the 
 population termed half-caste, sons of European fathers and 
 native mothers, existing in an infant state of society, for the 
 advancement of which no hopes can be entertained except 
 through the adoption of gradual measures for their instruction : 
 but these, in his opinion, would be frustrated by the esta- 
 blishment of a free press, irritating that impatience and discon- 
 tent which they still feel at their condition, though much has 
 been already done to improve it: both these classes, however, 
 as he observed, sink into comparative insignificance, when we 
 contemplate the effects of a free press on a native population 
 of 80,000,000. That population is separated into two great 
 divisions, Mahometans and Hindoos: the higher ranks of the 
 former, who, before us, were masters of almost all India, 
 naturally remain discontented with our power: yet they bear 
 but a small proportion to the latter, who possess this striking 
 feature in their condition ; that all their religious and civil 
 classes are not only educated, but as prompt and skilful in 
 intrigue as in business: from their intellectual superiority, 
 they have always influenced and directed their more numerous 
 and ignorant countrymen; but these instructed classes, 
 especially the Brahmins, who have already lost consideration, 
 wealth, and power, by our assumption of the government, 
 fear, and justly fear, lest their degradation should be _ pro- 
 gressive: they are, at the same time, great adepts in spreading 
 discontent, and exciting sedition or rebellion, by awakening the 
 fears, alarming the superstition, or rousing the pride of those 
 whom they address; and whenever the time appears favor- 
 4 Speech at a general court of proprietors, July 9, 1824. 
 
A.D, 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 187 
 
 able, they foster and keep up a spirit of hostility against us, 
 by means of circular letters and proclamations dispersed with 
 incredible celerity over the country, portraying the English as 
 usurpers, of a low caste; as tyrants, who have sought India 
 with the sole view of robbing the natives, while they subvert 
 their usages and destroy their religion: in particular, they 
 appeal to the native troops, earnestly exhorting them, on 
 various occasions, to rise and murder their tyrants. Can it 
 then be supposed that their aversion and hostility to our sway 
 would be abated by the representations of an unlicensed press ? 
 Would it be wise or politic to put such means into the hands 
 of those who would use it for our destruction ? 
 
 Unmoved, however, by any such views as these, Mr. Buck- 
 ingham followed up a long course of aggression by hazarding 
 some severe strictures on the measures of government, par- 
 ticularly in its transactions with the kingdom of Oude; and 
 though he was aware of Mr. Adam’s sentiments, and knew his 
 resolution, he chose to try his strength with a new governor ; 
 supposing that such an one would be adverse to interfere in a 
 case where he was, or might be thought to be, personally 
 interested. ‘ But,’ observes sir J. Malcolm, ‘ he showed little 
 discernment in his appreciation of the character of him with 
 whom he had to deal; a man whom no personal consideration 
 could induce to evade a public duty. Mr. Adam, vested 
 with the highest authority in India, was forced by this 
 conduct to appear in contest with Mr. Buckingham, the self- 
 created champion of British liberty; while not only the 
 European community, but the natives also, were anxiously 
 looking at their trial of strength. Was the issue of such a 
 contest to be left doubtful for a moment?’ Mr. Adam then, 
 being determined to check the evil by a signal punishment, 
 interdicted this great offender from pursuing his avocations, 
 and sent him back to England: his banishment was followed 
 by strict regulations of the press; and as lord Amherst, when 
 he arrived at the seat of government, was determined to 
 pursue rigorously the policy commenced by Mr. Adam, a 
 breach of those regulations was met by the exile of Mr. Arnot 
 also, who had been left by Mr. Buckingham to conduct the 
 business of his journal. A subsequent instance of disrespect 
 shown to authority, was punished by a withdrawal of his 
 license from the Aten Journal ; and for some time after 
 this period, the public press manifested a spirit of decorum, 
 with which no great fault could be found: an occasional 
 letter from the chief secretary, pointing out the danger of a 
 
188 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 contrary line of conduct, restrained the editors who had 
 diverged into it, from proceeding too far. 
 
 The increasing liberality, however, of the times induced the 
 court of proprietors at home to relax the rigorous observance 
 of this system: a compensation was given to Mr. Arnot; and 
 the Indian government saw those, whom in the strict observ- 
 ance of duty it had felt obliged to punish, patronised and 
 rewarded: acts which it had adopted from the best motives 
 were annulled in the most peremptory manner; and every- 
 thing began to indicate a wish on the part of the honorable 
 court to comply with popular clamor, and allow the discussion 
 of public affairs through the press to be as free in India as in 
 England: this led to regulations, the consequences of which 
 are very problematical ; but the administration of lord Amherst 
 was distinguished by events more generally interesting, though 
 perhaps in the end not more important: the principal of these 
 was the Burmese war, the causes and origin of which first 
 demand our notice. 
 
 The fierce and warlike nature of the Burmans, had con- 
 stantly urged them on to conquests; and the atrocious 
 cruelties which they were accustomed to exercise throughout 
 the provinces subdued by their arms, induced the natives to 
 take refuge, in great numbers, within the British territories. 
 ‘So early,’ says sir John Malcolm, ‘as in the government of 
 lord Teignmouth, a Burmese general advanced into the 
 province of Chittagong in pursuit of-three criminals, and a 
 force was sent to repel this violation of territory ; but hostilities 
 were prevented by his waiting on the English officer who 
 commanded it, explaining his instructions,*and pleading his 
 motives: on his retiring the criminals were made over to 
 him ; when two were put to death by the most cruel tortures 
 and the other again effected his escape. Subsequently to this 
 occurrence, a tribe, called Mughs, in the province of Arracan, 
 exasperated by intolerable oppression, passed over to our 
 territories in such crowds as to cause alarm; and orders were 
 sent to prohibit others from crossing the frontier: these 
 commands, however, were but partially enforced; and when 
 the miserable fugitives themselves were directed to withdraw, 
 the reply of their leader was ;—‘ We will not return to the 
 Arracan country: if you choose to slaughter us here, we are 
 ready to die; and if by force you drive us away, we will go 
 and dwell in the jungles of the great mountains, which afford 
 shelter to the wild beasts.’’ 
 
 About the close of 1798, no less a number than 10,000 
 
A.D. 1823-28. GEORGE IV, 189 
 
 Mughs rushed over the frontiers in a state of extreme agony 
 and distress; and this swarm was followed by another, still 
 greater; so that policy became enlisted on the side of 
 humanity, in granting them at least a temporary asylum; and 
 it was resolved to settle them on some extensive tracts of 
 waste land in the province of Chittagong: moreover, as 
 numbers were perishing by famine, government supplied them 
 with food, and materials for constructing huts under the 
 direction of captain Cox, who had been previously employed 
 in a mission to the court of Ava. The Burmese authorities 
 soon despatched an army of about 4000 men after these 
 emigrants, which followed them into Chittagong; and, — 
 fortifying itself in the woods by means of a stockade, carried 
 on for several weeks a petty warfare with our troops: to their 
 threatening demands, however, that the runaways should be 
 delivered up, it was replied, that no negotiation could be 
 listened to before the Burmese troops should retire from our 
 borders: after this, they repelled an attack of sepoys, but 
 subsequently retreated within their own dominions; and 
 lieutenant Hill was then sent to the governor of Arracan, for 
 the purpose of attempting an amicable adjustment. At this 
 period, captain Cox arrived, and found the strangers perishing 
 in vast numbers; as many as twenty children dying daily: 
 with a desire therefore of terminating such calamities, he 
 recommended our government to settle them on a desert tract 
 between the Ramoo river and the Naaf, where they might 
 become a useful and industrious colony, instead of being dis- 
 persed, and impelled to lead a vagabond life: this plan was 
 followed ; and the principal settlement was named, after the 
 projector, Cox’s Bazaar. The Burmese monarch now des- 
 patched an embassy to lord Wellesley ; who dismissed the 
 envoy with explanations and satisfactory assurances of the 
 friendly disposition of our government; declaring that the 
 governor-general was ready at all times to deliver up acknow- 
 ledged criminals, and to permit every one who desired it to 
 return to his own country: at the same time, a proclamation 
 was issued, forbidding any future immigrations into the British 
 territory. 
 
 In 1800, however, the viceroy of Arracan peremptorily 
 demanded an unconditional surrender of the Mughs, with 
 menaces of invasion if refused. ‘The governor-general would 
 have felt himself justified in resorting to arms on the occasion 
 of this insult; but imagining that the Arracan chief might have 
 acted without authority, he despatched lieutenant-colonel 
 
190 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIITI. 
 
 Symes to the court of Ava, in 1802, to obtain correct informa- 
 tion; while he sent a respectable force under lieutenant-colonel 
 Fenwick to protect the frontier of Chittagong. Colonel Symes, 
 on his arrival, received a general assurance of friendly senti- 
 ments from the Burmese government ; and the question of the 
 emigrants was not stirred for several years ; but when captain 
 Canning was at Ava, in 1809, he discovered that the king had 
 long entertained a design of conquering the provinces of 
 Chittagong and Dacca. 
 
 In the year 1811 we began to experience evil consequences 
 from the establishment of the Mugh colony on the borders of 
 their native country; by which means a restless desire of 
 recovering their ancient rights and homes was kept alive in the 
 hearts of that people. Some bold adventurers among them, 
 under a daring chief, called Kingberring, commenced predatory 
 attacks on the country of Arracan, which caused the Burmese 
 troops to enter our territories, and gave rise to much complaint 
 and recrimination. In 1813, a mission was sent to Calcutta 
 from the viceroy of Pegu, professedly for the purpose of pur- 
 chasing some sacred works of the Hindoos; but its chief, 
 instead of buying books, spent his time in secret intrigues, 
 hostile to our government: another officer belonging to the 
 Burmese sovereign solicited permission to visit Delhi, under a 
 similar pretext; but it being discovered that his real object 
 was to raise a conspiracy among the native powers for the 
 expulsion of the English, he was not allowed to proceed. In 
 1813, extensive rumors were afloat respecting active prepara- 
 tions for invasion ; and in September, lord Minto, by a menacing 
 proclamation, endeavored to restrain the incursions of King- 
 berring and his desperate followers. Deputies, who had been 
 sent from Pegu, to procure a surrender of the Mugh insurgents, 
 delayed their departure till lord Hastings arrived, to whom 
 they renewed their application, but without success: nor could 
 they understand our motives; or believe that the cause of 
 humanity made us hesitate to deliver up offenders to the 
 tortures prepared for them: lord Hastings, however, though 
 he refused to give up some insurgent chiefs, whom he had 
 taken and imprisoned, endeavored by other acts to convince the 
 Burmese government of our anxiety to suppress every species 
 of depredation on the Arracan territory; and whenever free- 
 booters fled for refuge to the forests, the Burmese were permitted 
 to pursue them: but this did not satisfy the rajah of Aracan, 
 who even went so far as to imprison an agent sent to him by 
 Mr. Pechell, the chief magistrate at Chittagong. In the 
 
A.p. 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 191 
 
 beginning of 1815, Kingberring died; and it was hoped that 
 this event might aid our efforts in repressing the excesses of 
 his countrymen: but as these failed, a letter was sent in April, 
 1816, from the rajah of Ramere, governor of the Burmese 
 frontier provinces, peremptorily demanding a surrender of all 
 the Mugh emigrants, with threats of immediate hostilities in 
 case of refusal: the letter was brought by the rajah’s son, who 
 haughtily declared that he must have ‘an answer, not argu- 
 ments.’ Mr. Pechell, having transmitted this document to 
 Calentta, was ordered to reply in a conciliatory but firm tone ; 
 and to discover, if possible, what was the object of the court of 
 Ava, in reviving this question concerning the Mughs: the 
 governor, at the same time, addressed a letter to the viceroy of 
 Pegu, observing, that the British government could not, with- 
 out violating the principles of justice, deliver up a multitude 
 which had sought its protection, some of whom had resided 
 thirty years within our borders ; but that no prohibition existed 
 against the voluntary return of that people to their country. 
 The viceroy was assured, that the death of Kingberring, the 
 captivity of his principal associates, and the return of the 
 Mughs to the peaceful pursuits of industry, rendered a renewal 
 of disturbances very improbable; but that even increased 
 ‘vigilance should be used on our part to restrain them: ‘the 
 enlightened mind,’ it was said, ‘ of his Burmese majesty would 
 perceive the inutility of agitating a question, the farther dis- 
 cussion of which cculd lead to no results advantageous to 
 either state.’ 
 
 Soon afterwards, when Charipo, a notorious offender, had 
 committed a daring robbery in the Burmese dominions, Mr. 
 Pechell recommended that he should be given up, together 
 with some of his most guilty associates, as the only method of 
 deterring others from similar depredations: nevertheless, it 
 was determined in council, that this could not be suffered ; 
 though a judge of circuit was sent to aid Mr. Pechell in trying 
 the offenders; and his official opinion was, that the utmost 
 punishment that could be inflicted on their ringleader, was an 
 imprisonment of fourteen years. 
 
 The authorities in England had not been indifferent to these 
 transactions, but expressed a hearty approbation of the conduct 
 of their officers. In a letter to the supreme government, from 
 the court of directors, dated January 6, 1815, the following 
 passage occurred :—‘ We earnestly hope that you have not 
 been driven to the necessity of delivering up Kingberring ; 
 because we observe that every Mugh who is suspected of being 
 
192 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 his partisan is put to death; and that a whole village, con- 
 taining about 2500 souls, was massacred on this account, when 
 neither men, women, nor children were spared. If, for the 
 sake of avoiding hostilities with the king of Ava, you have 
 been compelled to adopt such a measure, we trust that King- 
 berring has been the sole person given up, and that none of 
 his infatuated followers were included in the surrender.’ Also, 
 in another letter of the nineteenth of May, it was said :—*‘ It 
 pleases us to observe, that the magistrate was cautioned to 
 avoid language that might be interpreted into a promise on the 
 part of our government to deliver up the principal insurgents 
 to the Burmese.’ Subsequent communications, however, 
 evincing the incorrigible conduct of the Mughs, and the 
 serious results to which their aggressions might lead, effected a 
 change in the sentiments of the court. 
 
 In 1818, the son of the rajah of Ramere arrived on a second 
 mission at Chittagong, and expressed an anxious desire of pro 
 ceeding to Calcutta with a letter to the governor-general, which. 
 his father had written under the express orders of the Burmese 
 king, and of which he gave Mr. Pechell an authenticated copy. 
 The sum of its contents may be thus stated :—‘ The countries 
 of Chittagong and Dacca, Moorshedabad and Cassimbazar, do 
 not belong to India: those countries are ours: the British 
 government is faithless: this was not formerly the case. It is 
 not your right to receive the revenues of those countries : it is 
 proper that you should pay them to us: if you do not, we will 
 destroy your country.’ 
 
 The rajah of Ramere had in all probability counselled his 
 Burmese majesty to wage war with our government, and that 
 monarch thought the present period favorable to his views: it 
 was also known that he held secret correspondence with the 
 Mahrattas, and was prepared to assist them and the Pindarries 
 by invading the frontier of Bengal: but before the mission 
 could reach its destination, lord Hastings had triumphed over 
 those predatory hordes ; and the Burmese troops had sustained 
 serious reverses in a conflict with the people of Siam: the 
 course therefore adopted by his lordship, was to treat this 
 communication as a gross forgery, and to send back the letter 
 as a document fabricated in the august name of ‘ the king of 
 ali the elephants:’ thus he escaped the necessity of noticing 
 an insolent menace, to the great satisfaction of the Burmese 
 sovereign himself. ; 
 
 Nothing was done to irritate the court of Ava during the 
 administration of lord Hastings; nor did any serious incursions - 
 
A.D. 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 193 
 
 of the Mugh emigrants take place after the death of King- 
 berring ; yet the tone of communications made by the Burmese 
 government and officers became more and more insolent ; while 
 our evident desire to avoid a rupture seemed only to provoke 
 them to hostilities. ‘This feeling on their part arose from a 
 gross miscalculation of our resources as well as their own; and 
 it is impossible to read official details of the correspondence, 
 without a conviction, that the crisis which afterwards occurred, 
 could not, under any circumstances, have been much longer 
 deferred. 
 
 In June, 1819, Minderajee-praw, the Burmese monarch, 
 terminated a long and prosperous reign of thirty-seven years ; 
 and the state paper, announcing his death, declared, ‘ that the 
 immortal king had gone up to amuse himself in the celestial 
 regions.’ He was succeeded by a grandson; who, having 
 been solemnly crowned on the second of November, at Ava, 
 proceeded immediately to reduce under subjection the province 
 of Cassay; by which conquest the Burmese frontiers were 
 pushed forward to the eastern boundary of Bengal, Dinapore, 
 the Sylhet hills, and ridges of Cachar: nor was it long before 
 this close contact with our Indian empire led to fresh disputes. 
 In 1822, a large body of the persecuted people of Assam 
 emigrated into our territory ; and as in the case of the Arra- 
 canese, were pursued by a formidable force sent to reclaim 
 them: but the assurance that these refugees should be strictly 
 kept from exercising any act of hostility, satisfied the Burmese 
 commander for the present ; while the attention of the monarch 
 was wholly occupied with the reduction of Siam, the favorite 
 object of his predecessors on the throne. In order to effect 
 the final overthrow of that state, an effort was made to obtain 
 the concurrence of the king of Cochin China; but whatever 
 may have been the plans of attack, the relative frontiers 
 remained unaltered, when the eventful contest broke out be- 
 tween the British government and the Burmese empire.® After 
 vious petty acts of animosity, a body of the enemy, in 
 September, 1823, took forcible possession of the island of 
 
 5 The extent of this empire is reckoned by Malte Brun to be 
 about 1050 geographical miles in length, and 600 in breadth, con- 
 taining probably 194,000 square miles. The population, the numbers 
 of which are variously and vaguely estimated, consists of,—1]. The 
 proper Burmans of the Irrawaddy; 2. The Talain or Peguans; 3, 
 The Siamese of the conquered provinces; 4. The Kiayn of the 
 western mountains; 5. The Arracanese of the coast; 6. The 
 Karayn, a tribe of cultivators ; 7. The Cassayers, or Kathee people; 
 beside several tribes in the mountains and on the frontiers. 
 
 ENG, XVII, ° 
 
194 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 Shapuree; but the invaders were expelled, and an explanation 
 was demanded: their next act of hostility was the advance of 
 2000 men, for the purpose of restoring the deposed rajah of 
 Cachar, who had sought refuge within the Burmese dominions : 
 Ghumbur Sing, his successor, was supported by the British ; 
 and the country had been for some time under our protection. 
 These acts, therefore, together with the contemptuous silence 
 preserved by the court of Ava against every remonstrance on 
 the subject, were the ostensible causes of the war; and early 
 in this year, (1824,) orders were given for equipping a force of 
 5000 or 6000 men, at the presidencies of Fort William and 
 St. George, under the respective orders of brigadier-general 
 M‘Creagh, and brigadier-general Macbean: the two divisions 
 were directed to assemble at Port Cornwallis, in the Great 
 Andaman island; whence the combined forces, under major- 
 general sir Archibald Campbell, were to proceed to attack 
 Rangoon, the principal sea-port of the Burmese. The naval 
 force attached to this expedition, consisted of the Liffey, of 
 fifty guns, commodore Grant; Slaney, twenty, captain C. 
 Mitchell; Larne, twenty, captain F. Marryat; and Sophie, 
 eighteen, captain G. F. Ryves; four of the honorable com- 
 pany’s cruisers, under captain H. Hardy, with various brigs, 
 schooners, and other small craft, manned by Lascars ; twenty 
 row-boats, each carrying an eighteen-pounder at the bow, 
 under the command of Mr. W. Lindquist, of the Bengal pilot 
 service; and the Diana steam vessel, the first ever seen in 
 India, which had been purchased by the supreme government 
 at the particular request of captain Marryat. The total num- 
 ber of fighting men embarked at Calcutta and Madras was 
 8071; 4077 being British troops. On the fifth of May this 
 expedition put to sea; when a part of the force was detached 
 under general M‘Creagh against the island of Cheduba, and 
 another under major Wahab against Negrais: the rest of the 
 fleet, on the eleventh of May, led by the Liffey and Larne, 
 sailed up the Rangoon river, without any pilots on boamd; 
 and, in a few hours, anchored off the town. As the place was 
 utterly unprepared for resistance, its governor, after a cannonade 
 from the principal battery, which was quickly silenced by the 
 Liffey, directed the whole mass of inhabitants to be driven into 
 the inmost recesses of the jungle, regardless of the inevitable 
 misery attendant on so barbarous a measure: the wretched 
 mud houses of the city were abandoned to the invaders, while 
 everything that could serve for provision was removed far 
 beyond their reach; and the few British merchants and 
 
A.D. 1823-28. . GEORGE IV. 195 
 
 American missionaries resident at the place, who had been 
 placed in strict confinement, and threatened with death, were 
 marched in fetters a few miles into the country, and lodged 
 near the great pagoda ;® but these were soon delivered by the 
 advanced guard of the British army. The greatest distress 
 was experienced by our troops from this system, constantly 
 pursued, of driving away the inhabitants, and leaving the whole 
 country destitute of provisions. 
 
 Our army came unprovided with sufficient equipment for 
 advancing by land or by water; for it was imagined that the 
 capture of Rangoon, or at least of that and the enemy’s other 
 maritime possessions, would induce the king to accept the 
 moderate demands of our government; or, at all events, that 
 the country would afford sufficient water transport to enable a 
 considerable corps to proceed up the Irrawaddy ; especially as 
 the co-operation of the people of Pegu, a conquered tribe 
 governed by despotic and mercenary chiefs, was confidently 
 relied on: but it soon appeared that we had been deceived by 
 erroneous accounts: that we had to expect decided hostility 
 from both Burmese and Peguans ; that the boatmen of the great 
 river, being in a peculiar manner devoted to their monarch, 
 had removed every vessel that could be serviceable, while we 
 had brought very few in our train. Such were the situation and 
 prospects of our army at the commencement of the rainy season ; 
 the longest that is experienced in any part of India, and during 
 which no troops can remain in the field twenty-four hours 
 together: it was also kept in constant alarm by nightly irrup- 
 tions of the enemy into its lines ; without having any means of 
 transporting a single gun, and without a hope of inducing the 
 wretched inhabitants, who had been driven into the jungles, to 
 return into the town: the chief command, however, had been 
 given to an officer of great ability and zeal, who was ably 
 seconded both in the military and naval department : in such a 
 case, what are the obstacles which a British army will not 
 surmount ? 
 
 The court of Ava had been for many months preparing, not 
 
 6 This magnificent building, called the Shoedagon, stands at the 
 summit of an abrupt eminence, about two miles and a half from 
 Rangoon. ‘The conical hill itself is seventy-five feet above the 
 road: the area on its top is upwards of two acres, in the centre of 
 which space the pagoda is erected ; in shape resembling an inverted 
 speaking trumpet, 338 feet in height, surmounted by a cap made 
 of brass, forty-five feet high: the whole being richly gilt.—See 
 Snodgrass’s History of the Burmese War, p. 15, 
 
196 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 only for arupture with our government, but even for offensive 
 operations: the invasion, however, of its own territories, 
 especiaily of the distant coasts of Pegu and Tenasserim, was 
 overlooked in its warlike plans ; and when his Burmese majesty 
 was told that such a thing was likely to occur, he replied, in 
 the true Eastern style ;—‘ As to Rangoon, I will take such 
 measures as shall prevent the English from even disturbing the 
 women cooking their rice:’7 as soon, therefore, as our actual 
 disembarkation became known, no time was lost in making 
 vigorous preparations for our expulsion; every village and 
 town within 300 miles of the seat of war being obliged to send 
 its complement of armed men, under their respective chiefs ; 
 while the Irrawaddy was covered with fleets of warriors from 
 all the towns on its banks, proceeding to the general rendezvous 
 of the grand army. 
 
 The first conflict took place on the sixteenth of May ; when 
 captain R. Birch, with the grenadier company of his majesty’s 
 thirty-eighth regiment, embarked on board the Liffey’s boats, 
 commanded by lieutenant James Wilkinson, for the purpose 
 of dislodging the enemy from the village of Kemmendine, a 
 war-boat station three miles above Rangoon ; and although the 
 impenetrable jungle and other obstacles prevented the complete 
 success of this little band, yet they gallantly stormed several 
 strong stockades, one of which was defended by 400 men, who 
 were quickly driven out at the point of the bayonet, leaving 
 behind them sixty dead. ‘The enemy,’ says captain Richards, 
 ‘were well armed, a great proportion having muskets; and a 
 small field-piece was taken in the stockade. I must do them 
 the justice to say, that they fought with great spirit; many of 
 them receiving our charge bravely on their spears.’ In this 
 contest, lieutenant T. Kerr and one private were killed, and 
 nine wounded ; while lieutenant Wilkinson, R.N., received a 
 ball through his thigh, and eight or nine of. his crew were 
 wounded. On the thirty-first, captain Marryat succeeded to 
 the chief command of the naval force, as commodore Grant 
 retired, on account of ill health, to Pulo Penang, where he died 
 in July following. 
 
 Towards the end of May, the enemy had become more 
 daring, as their numbers increased ; and gradually approaching 
 the British position, began to throw up stockades § in the jungle, 
 within hearing of our advanced posts: in the formation and 
 
 7 Snodgrass, p. 25. 
 
 8 Strong enclosures formed of the trunks of trees, mounted with 
 cannon, and pierced for musketry: in the interior they often dig 
 
A.D. 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 197 
 
 defence of this kind of fortification the Burmese are instructed 
 and trained from early youth; and they display in it so much 
 skill and judgment, that for many years their wars have been a 
 regular series of conquests. 
 
 Their approaches met with every possible encouragement 
 from the British commander; who, being unable to attempt 
 any distant operation, was anxious to come into close contact 
 with his antagonists. On the morning of the twenty-eighth, 
 an advanced corps being stockaded within little more than 
 musket-shot distance from our piquets, sir Archibald Campbell, 
 taking four companies of Europeans, and 400 native infantry, 
 with two field-pieces, moved out to reconnoitre: his advance- 
 guard soon came on the first stockade thrown across the path ; 
 but the work being incomplete, its defenders retired, after 
 exchanging a few shots. ‘The column, continuing its march, 
 found at every turn of the road breastworks and half-finished 
 stockades hastily abandoned, since this early visit was not 
 anticipated: a progress of about five miles brought our troops 
 to a narrow wooden bridge over a morass, where the enemy 
 was beginning to form: this had just been forced by the fire of 
 artillery, when one of those tremendous storms, which usher in 
 the south-west monsoon, came on ; and as the field-pieces could 
 be dragged no farther, our general left them in charge of the 
 native infantry, and advanced, with his European troops, 
 through the tempest. The enemy soon appeared in large 
 bodies ; and their chiefs, on horseback, were seen forming their 
 men to defend a gorge in front; while this small body of 
 Europeans continued to advance, by échellon of companies, 
 against a force of 4000 or 5000 men: our left flank, which 
 moved close to the jungle, found some villages defended in 
 front by two stockades, whence proceeded shouts of defiance 
 from men confident in themselves and in the strength of their 
 position : they at once commenced a heavy fire on our leading 
 companies ; and these, unable to return it, owing to the wet 
 state of their muskets, instantly resolved to close with their 
 opponents; the right company being directed to keep its line 
 firm on the plain, while the other three rushed impetuously on 
 the works: those, being of alow description, not exceeding 
 eight feet in height, were soon forced; and the very numbers 
 of the enemy, by creating disorder, increased their destruction. 
 The conflict was fierce and sanguinary: each stockade having 
 only one or two narrow ways of egress, its defenders, when 
 
 holes, into which the defenders retire; so that a work full of men 
 appears to be deserted. 
 
198 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 driven from the ramparts, soon became an unmanageable mass ; 
 and being rendered desperate by repeated volleys, they were 
 seen, with spear or musket couched, and heads lowered to a 
 butting position, blindly charging on our bayonets; for until 
 they had been taught by severe retaliation to treat with mercy 
 those whom the fortune of war threw into their power, the 
 Burmese neither gave nor expected quarter; continuing to fight 
 with the utmost fury long after all hope of success or escape 
 had vanished: nor did it remain optional with our men to spare 
 the lives of an enemy, from whose barbarous mode of warfare 
 death alone afforded safety; the experiment was often tried, 
 but tried in vain: humanity might prompt a British soldier to 
 pass a fallen or a vanquished foe ; but when he found his 
 forbearance rewarded by a shot, or the spear’s point, as soon as 
 his back was turned, self-preservation taught him the necessity 
 of more decisive measures. 
 
 During the attack on these two stockades, the Burmese 
 general in the plain made no movement for their defence, 
 probably supposing that we had a larger force intentionally kept 
 out of sight; but as soon as our troops were seen in possession 
 of the works, the whole line, with a horrid yell, began to 
 advance, until checked by the company which had been left, 
 and by the appearance of the troops which had carried the 
 works moving forward to receive these new opponents: our 
 killed and wounded were then carried from the field, and the 
 little band marched back unmolested to their quarters: after 
 this action, an attempt at negotiation, or rather at deception, 
 was tried by the enemy, while they were occupied in erecting 
 fortifications. A large body had taken post at Kemmendine, 
 the station for war-boats, three miles up the river, with 
 elevated ground and forests in its rear: this also was attacked 
 by our troops, assisted by the naval force; and several strong 
 stockades were carried with great gallantry : some days of quiet 
 then ensued: but all the towns and villages continued to be 
 deserted: the herds were swept from the plain, and the boats 
 from the rivers, whilst every man beyond our posts was in arms 
 against us. Before the end of June, the enemy recovered from 
 their panic ; and, having received large reinforcements, advanced 
 again under Sykia Wongee, third minister of state; when the 
 jungles seemed to be animated by living masses; and their 
 noisy preparations formed a remarkable contrast with the 
 stillness and quiet of the British lines; our force, much 
 diminished through sickness and death, was recruited by the © 
 eighty-ninth British regiment from Madras, and the junction of 
 
A.D. 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 199 
 
 detachments that had been sent to the capture of Cheduba and 
 Negrais ; which places soon fell into our hands. 
 
 In the beginning of July, a battle took place round the great 
 a to the disadvantage nf the Burmese, and Sykia 
 
 ongee was recalled in disgrace; but his successor, Soomba 
 Wongee, the second minister, though he fought with determined 
 bravery, and placed his troops in the strongest possible 
 stockades, lost his life, as well as 800 men in the fortifica- 
 tions ; while the jungles and villages around were filled with 
 unhappy wretches left there to perish. Soon afterwards, the 
 rains were at their height, and the adjacent lands almost wholly 
 under water: in the mean time an expedition was sent to the 
 eastward, under colonel Miles; when ‘T'avoy surrendered, 
 Mergui was taken by storm, and the whole coast of Tenasserim 
 gladly accepted British protection. 
 
 To inspire confidence in the people after their recent defeats, 
 and to keep the officers strictly to their duty, the princes of 
 Tonghoo and Irrawaddy, brothers of the king, were ordered 
 down from Ava; when the first of these established his head- 
 - quarters at Pegu; and the latter at Donoobew, on the river, 
 about sixty miles from Rangoon ; where fortifications had been 
 thrown up with great care, to form a post of reserve, and a 
 dépdot for the army. ‘The princes came, accompanied by 
 numerous astrologers, as well as by a corps called the king’s 
 invulnerables, men curiously tattooed, and accustomed to 
 exhibit the war-dance of defiance, and expose themselves to 
 the hottest fire of an enemy, that they might inspire courage 
 in the rest. A few skirmishes took place occasionally ; but 
 several weeks elapsed before the astrologers could mark out a 
 propitious day for attacking our position: at length, the night 
 of the thirtieth of August was fixed on, when the invulnerables 
 promised to assault and carry the great pagoda, that the princes 
 and grandees might celebrate the grand annual festival in that 
 sacred place: accordingly, on the night in question, they 
 advanced in a compact body, armed with swords and muskets, 
 uttering clamorous imprecations against the impious strangers ; 
 being guided by a few glimmering lanterns, toward the 
 northern gateway: at length, the darkness was broken by 
 vivid flashes from our guns; showers of grape-shot, and suc- 
 cessive volleys of musketry, fell among the invulnerables, 
 making such havoc in their dense masses, that, no longer 
 endeavouring to support their character, they fled from the 
 scene of action, and sought safety in the neighboring jungle. 
 
 The time was now arrived when the defeats and disasters of * 
 
200 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Cli. LXIII. 
 
 the Burmese army could be no longer concealed, and when 
 it was necessary to repair the loss of honor which it had 
 sustained. In this emergency, his majesty had recourse to the 
 most celebrated of all his generals; one to whom the empire 
 was indebted for some of its most valuable acquisitions ; and 
 who had proceeded, before our expedition reached Rangoon, 
 to take the command of an Arracan army, destined for the 
 invasion of Bengal; nor had he neglected to provide golden 
 fetters, in which the governor-general of India might be led 
 captive to Ava. ‘This officer, called Maha Bandoola, on his 
 arrival in Arracan, quickly commenced offénsive operations ; 
 and, having pushed his forces as far as Ramoo, surrounded 
 a detachment, consisting of five companies of the twenty-third 
 native infantry, three of the thirtieth, and some provincials, 
 with the Mugh levy, and artillery; when he overwhelmed 
 and routed the whole force. The highest alarm was excited 
 in Bengal by this victory ; the peasants fled in dismay from 
 their villages; and the native merchants of Calcutta were 
 with difficulty persuaded to remain with their families and 
 property under the protection of Fort William; the enemy, 
 however, did not advance beyond Ramoo; but employed 
 themselves in erecting stockades, which Bandoola intended as 
 the basis of his future operations, at the return of the cool 
 season. The defeats, however, of the Burmese army in the 
 vicinity of Rangoon, and the reduction of Martaban, Mergui, 
 and ‘lanasserim, induced his sovereign to recall him for the 
 defence of the golden empire: thus the inhabitants of Bengal 
 were relieved from their anxiety ; the war was transferred to 
 the central provinces of Burmah ; and the grand struggle took 
 place on the banks ofthe mighty Irrawaddy. 
 
 Soon after the retreat of Bandoola, the state of British India 
 became alarming from another source. ‘The company’s native 
 troops had generally imbibed a superstitious terror of the 
 Burmese ; and several regiments, stationed at Barrackpore, 
 covering their aversion for the service under various pretexts 
 of grievances, refused to march, and broke out into open 
 mutiny ; it was, however, subdued by the promptitude of sir 
 Edward Paget, who placed himself at the head of two British 
 regiments and a company of artillery ; with which, after some 
 fruitless endeavors to recall the mutineers to their duty, he 
 attacked and dispersed them, when drawn up in line, under a 
 declared resolution of opposing force to force. Considerable 
 numbers of these misguided men fell by the discharges of 
 artillery ; but of those taken, twelve only were executed; 
 
a 
 
 A.D, 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 201 
 
 the sentence of the rest being commuted for hard labor in 
 irons during fourteen years: nothing less could have averted the 
 danger of an example, which threatened to shake our Indian 
 empire to its foundation. 
 
 The arrival of Maha Bandoola at Ava, where the highest 
 honors and chief military command were conferred on him, 
 was speedily communicated to the crest-fallen levies in front of 
 the British station; where his name not only restored con- 
 fidence, but acted as a spell to draw the reluctant people 
 round his banners: in the mean time, whilst a large fleet of 
 war-boats, with a train of artillery, was preparing to fall 
 down the river, and orders were issued for detachments to 
 join Bandoola on his progress, the endemic fever of the rainy 
 season, and a severe dysentery were thinning the British 
 ranks, and filling their hospitals: in this situation, it was 
 happily determined to move the sufferers to Mergui and 
 ‘Tavoy, where the salubrity of the climate effected wonders. 
 ‘Men,’ says major Snodgrass, ‘ who had for months remained 
 ina most debilitated state at Rangoon, rapidly recovered on 
 arriving at Mergui, and were soon restored in full health 
 and vigor to their duty.’ Negotiations were now entered 
 into with the Siamese government: but though feuds and 
 enmity had ever existed between them and the Burmese 
 state, the Siamese had suffered too much from their foes, and 
 were too strongly convinced of our impotence against the 
 dreaded Burmans, to join us in active hostilities. 
 
 On the eleventh of September, the Arachne was reported 
 off the bar: captain Marryat, with only twenty-seven of his 
 original ship’s company on board, was then dropping down 
 from Rangoon; but he delayed two days, in order to give 
 captain Chads every information in his power. ‘The important 
 command held by captain Marryat under such peculiar 
 circumstances had been exercised in a manner most creditable 
 to that officer; who did not give over his charge to captain 
 Ryves, until the enemy had been decidedly repulsed ; so that 
 sir Archibald Campbell officially stated his conviction, that 
 two sloops, the Sophie and Satellite, were sufficient to protect 
 the shipping: he was promoted into the Tees by captain Coe, 
 when that officer, who had lately arrived, assumed the command 
 of the Liffey; and captain Chads was now invested with the 
 chief direction of the naval force attached to the expedition. 
 
 In the early part of November, the rains having ceased, the 
 health of our army became re-established; the cool season 
 had set in; and a forward movement was anticipated with joy 
 
202 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 by the troops; but before this could take place, the whole 
 military force of Ava, now advancing on Rangoon, was to be 
 disposed of: seasonable reinforcements, however, were sent 
 from Calcutta; and a regiment of cavalry, a troop of horse- 
 artillery, and a rocket corps were ordered to join. The 
 Burmese army, the largest and best equipped that had ever 
 been sent into the field, consisted of 35,000 musketeers, great 
 numbers of whom were armed with jingals, a small but 
 annoying piece, carrying a ball from six to twelve ounces in 
 weight, and mounted on a carriage, which two men could 
 easily move about: the Cassay horse amounted to 700 ; and a 
 considerable body of men were attached to the guns ; the rest 
 of the force, making a sum total of 60,000 men, being armed 
 with short swords and long spears, which by the great 
 physical strength of the Burmese are rendered very formidable 
 weapons : but the army would not have been thought complete 
 without the addition of some corps of invulnerables; who, 
 being amply provided with charms, spells, and opium, 
 afforded in the ensuing operations great amusement to our 
 soldiers, by their dances of defiance, committing all sorts of 
 extravagances, with a prodigal exposure of their lives.9 
 
 At length, this congregated force assembled, on the 
 thirtieth of November, in the extensive forest of Rangoon, 
 fronting the great Shoedagon pagoda ; and its line, extending 
 from the river above Kemmendine in a semicircular direction 
 toward Ptizendown, was to be discerned by volumes of smoke 
 rising from the different bivouacs: during the following night, 
 the low hum of voices, proceeding from this encampment, 
 suddenly ceased; and was succeeded by the distant but 
 gradually increasing sounds of a multitude in slow and 
 stealthy movement through the woods: our commanders soon 
 became aware that the enemy’s masses had approached to the 
 very edge of the jungle, within musket-shot of the pagoda, 
 ready to rush from their cover at break of day. In the 
 morning a number of war-boats had been observed by the 
 Teignmouth stealing down the river; and in the evening, 
 they came forward with fire-rafts; which induced captain 
 Goodridge to slip and pass the point in order to avoid them: 
 this left the post open at a furious attack by land and water ; 
 but it was nobly defended by the garrison, under major Yates, 
 consisting of the twenty-sixth Madras native infantry, and a 
 mere handful of Europeans, supported on the river by a small 
 naval force. 
 
 ® See Snodgrass, p. 96. 
 
A.D. 1823-28, GEORGE IV. | 203 
 
 The morning of the first of December had _ scarcely 
 dawned, when hostilities commenced with a heavy fire of 
 musketry and cannon at Kemmendine, where the Teignmouth 
 was again unfortunately driven from her station by fire-rafts ; 
 * and our troops, at the great pagoda, could distinctly hear the 
 yells and shouts of the infuriated assailants, occasionally 
 returned by hearty cheers from the British seamen, as they 
 poured their heavy broadsides into the resolute and persevering 
 masses: when the firing ceased, and the thick canopy of 
 smoke dispersed, the masts of our vessels were seen at their 
 old station off the fort. In the course of the forenoon, 
 Burmese columns appeared on the west side of the river, 
 marching in five or six divisions, under numerous cniefs, 
 whose gilt chattahs, or umbrellas, glittered in the sun; and 
 when they reached the bank opposite to Rangoon, they began 
 to erect stockades and batteries for the destruction of our 
 shipping: later in the day several heavy columns were seen 
 issuing out of the forest, with flags and banners, about a mile 
 from the eastern face of the pagoda; and different corps, 
 successively taking up their positions along a sloping woody 
 ridge, formed the left of the line; the*centre of which ex- 
 tended from the pagoda to Kemmendine: thus the British 
 forces were nearly surrounded. When this presumptuous 
 position was occupied, a singular kind of operation com- 
 menced ; for the troops, laying aside their arms, began to pl 
 their intrenching tools with such activity and skill, that in 
 about two hours their whole line had disappeared, and could 
 only be traced by a mound of new earth gradually increasing 
 in height: behind such a parapet, the moving masses which 
 so lately attracted attention, had sunk into the ground, as by 
 enchantment; and the existence of these subterranean legions 
 could hardly have been credited, but for the occasional 
 movement of a chief, with his gilt chattah, superintending the 
 works: they were, however, soon taught the danger of such 
 manceuvres before a British army; for a detachment forced 
 their intrenchments, coming on them almost unperceived ; 
 and haying driven the whole line from cover, retired un- 
 molested from the numerous bodies that were now forming on 
 all sides. : 
 
 The trenches were discovered to be a succession of holes, 
 capable of receiving two men each, and excavated so as to 
 shelter their occupants from the weather, as well as from the 
 fire of an enemy : every hole contained also a sufficient supply 
 of riee, water, and even fuel, for its inmates ; while under the 
 
204 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 excavated bank, a bed of straw or of brushwood was prepared, 
 on which one man could sleep, while the other kept watch. 
 In the course of the evening, the Burmese re-occupied their 
 trenches, which they protected by a strong corps: during the 
 day, repeated attacks on Kemmendine had been made and 
 repulsed, chiefly through the gallant conduct of captain 
 Chads, his officers, and the crews of vessels, who lent every 
 possible assistance to our troops; but it was not till darkness 
 had set in, that the last desperate effort was made against that 
 post: already had the wearied soldiers laid themselves down 
 to rest, when suddenly the whole heavens were illuminated by 
 the blaze of several tremendous fire-rafts, floating with an ebb 
 tide down the river, amidst incessant peals of cannon and 
 musketry, and followed by war-boats eager to take advantage 
 of the confusion that might ensue: the skill and intrepidity, 
 however, of British seamen defeated all these contrivances ; 
 for, entering their boats, they grappled the flaming rafts, and 
 conducted them past the shipping, or ran them ashore: on the 
 land side, also, the enemy were defeated with a heavy loss in 
 the most resolute attempt as yet made to reach the interior of 
 our station. ; 
 
 At daylight, on the second, the Burmese were observed 
 still busy in every part of their line; and they soon intrenched 
 themselves within musket-shot of the northern face of the 
 great pagoda: as their fire could now be brought to bear on 
 the very barracks of our soldiers, it became necessary to 
 dislodge them from particular points ; and however bold they 
 appeared under cover, it was found that at the decisive charge 
 they quailed before the courage of European troops. The 
 series of attacks and combats, manifesting great spirit in the 
 enemy’s soldiers, and considerable skill in their general, 
 lasted seven days: the left wing of their amy, though defeated 
 with much slaughter, merely retreated on their right; and the 
 struggle was renewed until that division also was routed with 
 a loss of 5000 men, and an immense store of artillery: still 
 undismayed, 25,000 men, the remnant of this vast army 
 rallied, and intrenched themselves within four miles of the 
 great pagoda, at the village of Kokeen, with ‘a judgment,’ as 
 sir A. Campbell observes, ‘that would have done credit to 
 engineers of the most civilized and warlike nation.’ From this 
 post, however, they were driven, after several brilliant 
 exploits, in which the operations of our army were powerfully 
 seconded by the flotilla. 
 
 Not satisfied with military manceuvres, the Burmese now 
 
A.D. 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 205 
 
 had recourse to negotiations of the most treacherous and 
 deceitful nature; priding themselves on the success of a lie, 
 and not showing the slightest symptoms of shame at detection 
 and exposure : besides, as an immense number of inhabitants 
 had returned to Rangoon, they introduced incendiaries into 
 that town, who lighted up a conflagration which destroyed 
 more than one-fourth of the place, and was only extinguished 
 by extraordinary efforts: during the whole of this time, our 
 vessels and their boats were occupied in destroying terrific fire- 
 rafts; which, in general, were about 100 feet square, composed 
 of dried wood, piled up with oil, turpentine, gunpowder, and 
 other combustibles. In January, 1825, the Burmese generalis- 
 simo was found to have stationed himself at Donoobew, about 
 fifty miles up the river; where, having drawn to his army all 
 the resources of Pegu, he prepared himself to sustain an attack : 
 it was now determined by the British commander to advance 
 into the interior of the empire, though his invading force was 
 still small, and his Siamese allies were not yet inclined to take 
 an active part in operations: on the thirteenth of February, 
 sir Archibald joined the camp at Mienza, passing through 
 forests lined for many miles by formidable stockades, where 
 the enemy had lain during the inclement season: along the 
 whole line of march, our army found the country deserted, and 
 the villages destroyed; their inhabitants being most cruelly 
 treated by the Burmese chiefs. On the twenty-sixth, his 
 majesty’s ship, Alligator, arrived at Rangoon; and captain 
 Chads, who had been hitherto acting on his own responsibility, 
 was superseded in his command by captain Alexander. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth, our troops arrived at Soomza, after 
 marching fourteen miles through a magnificent forest, where 
 most of the trees, in point of size and straightness, would have 
 made mainmasts for the largest ships: the governor of this 
 place had retired from his post; but being apprehensive of 
 punishment for not opposing us with more resolution, he sent 
 several messages, expressing his anxiety to come in and place 
 himself under British protection: watched, however, as he was 
 by numerous spies, and wandering about in constant fear for his 
 life, he could find no opportunity of eluding the vigilance of 
 his guards. One of these vile assassins at last came up to the 
 unhappy man with a pretended letter of forgiveness from the 
 prince of Irrawaddy ; and while his victim was in the act of 
 reading it, severed his head from his body.1° 
 
 In the mean time Donoobew was attacked by a division 
 
 10 Snodgrass, p. 149, 
 
206 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXII. 
 
 under brigadier-general Cotton, and its outworks were carried 
 in gallant style ; ‘but the main work was discovered to be too 
 strong to risk a farther advance, and our troops were for a 
 time withdrawn. By the eighteenth of March, general 
 Campbell had performed an arduous task; crossing the 
 Irrawaddy to the west bank, with his whole force, in a few 
 canoes of the country: by making roads, and other labors, he 
 reached Donoobew on the twenty-fifth, and found there his old 
 adversary, Maha Bandoola, at the head of 15,000 veterans, 
 with fortifications well mounted and manned; while a numerous 
 cavalry hovered on the British flanks, and everything about 
 the stockades betokened order and confidence. On the second 
 of April, the British camp was pitched before these extensive 
 works ; and a heavy fire, which the enemy had kept up all the 
 morning, intirely ceased: but there was something in this calm 
 which foreboded a coming storm; accordingly, about ten o’clock, 
 when the moon was fast verging toward the horizon, a sharp 
 sound of musketry, mingled with war cries, roused our sleeping 
 camp; and the wearied soldiers, mechanically seizing their 
 muskets, instantly formed a line: this was scarcely done, when 
 the opposing columns advanced impetuously with an intention 
 of turning our right; at the same time keeping up a distant 
 fire against the left and centre. On their outflanking the right, 
 our two extreme regiments changed front, and, by a constant 
 discharge of musketry, checked every attack ; so that the assail- 
 ants returned in hopeless silence to their irritated commander, 
 to receive the general reward of failure on such occasions, 
 
 After various petty actions, by river as well as by land, the 
 mortar-batteries and rockets began their work of destruction on 
 the first of April ; and on the second, at daybreak, the breach- 
 ing batteries opened, when two Lascars, who had been left 
 prisoners in the fort, came running out to inform our com- 
 mander that Bandoola had been killed the day before by a 
 rocket, and that no intreaties of the other chiefs could prevail 
 on the garrison to remain; but the whole had dispersed and 
 fled the preceding night: this information was found quite 
 correct ; for the enemy had retired with so much secresy and 
 haste, that not a gun was removed; and even a large dépét of 
 grain was left uninjured. During the whole of these opera- 
 tions, very effective service was rendered by the navy; which 
 assisted in forcing stockades, capturing formidable war-boats, 
 and conveying troops to the best places of attack: both 
 captains, Alexander and Chads, merited and received high 
 praise for their exertions from the commander-in-chief. 
 
A.D. 1823-38. GEORGE IV. 207 
 
 After the dispersion of Bandoola’s forces, Prome was con- 
 sidered the only point where the invading army could be 
 stopped; and there the utmost energies of local authorities 
 were employed in fortifying the place and organising a force. 
 New generals were called out, and a numerous artillery was on 
 its way from Ava, to occupy the summits of the surrounding 
 hills ; in a word, the whole disposable force of the empire was 
 concentrating itself at a spot, memorable for many sanguinary 
 battles fought there with the people of Pegu: all these pre- 
 parations, however, were wholly disconcerted by the rapid 
 movement of our army,-which, at daylight on the twenty-filth, 
 found itself under the ridge of hills that cover Prome to the 
 south; each being stockaded to its very summit: but the 
 fortifications were unoccupied; the enemy had evacuated 
 every post; and our leading column, pushing on to the city, 
 found it in a conflagration: every exertion, however, was 
 immediately made to extinguish the flames, which were at 
 length got under, after numerous habitations had been 
 destroyed. If some negotiations which the deceitful chiefs 
 entered into with our commander had occasioned a delay of 
 only two days, according to their wishes, Prome would not 
 have been taken without an immense sacrifice of lives. The 
 troops which accompanied the prince of Irrawaddy in his 
 flight burned and laid waste every village in their route, 
 driving thousands of helpless people from their houses to the 
 woods: this now became the plan of warfare; and-even 
 Russia, in her memorable resistance to the French armies, did 
 not offer to invading hosts such a scene of desolation: neither 
 man nor beast escaped the retiring columns; and heaps of 
 ashes, with groups of howling dogs, alone indicated the spots 
 where villages and towns had stood. While these important 
 movements occurred, a series of brilliant and sharply contested 
 actions had put the British in possession of Arracan: from 
 Cachar also and Assam the Burmese were totally expelled ; 
 and thus terminated the second campaign of this bloody and 
 devastating war. Prome, where our army took up its quarters 
 for the rainy season, is 120 miles from Rangoon, but still 
 distant 250 from Ava: cantonments were there prepared for 
 the troops, and the inhabitants invited by every encouragement 
 to revisit their habitations; so that the poor wretches now 
 came from all quarters, in a starving condition: a dépdt was 
 then formed, large fleets of canoes were constructed, carts and 
 cattle for the transport of commissariat stores were provided, 
 and due preparations made for the ensuing campaign: nor was 
 
208 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 the Burmese court and its infatuated monarch idle; for his bad 
 advisers prevailed, and all the overtures of our general were 
 treated with contempt: troops were now levied in every part 
 of the kingdom; even large bounties, a thing unheard of 
 before, were given; and the tributary Shan tribes, bordering 
 on China, were called on to furnish their contingent force: 
 1500 men of this nation, headed by their chobwas, or chiefs, 
 arrived in full hope of sharing the plunder of the conquered 
 invaders; so that before the end of September, a disposable 
 army of 70,000 men was ready to act against the different 
 columns which threatened an advance against the capital. On 
 the twenty-second of September, sir James Brisbane, who had 
 been appointed to succeed commodore Grant in command of 
 his majesty’s Indian squadron, arrived at Prome, bringing with 
 him the boats and seamen of the Boadicea frigate to augment 
 our flotilla; the command of which he entrusted to that active 
 and intelligent officer, captain Chads: previous to the final 
 struggle, commissioners met to discuss terms of pacification ; 
 but where there was no honesty on one side, and no want of 
 penetration on the other, all proposals failed. A line of de- 
 marcation had been settled, and an armistice agreed on; but 
 the Burmese troops soon began to transgress both the one and 
 the other; and our terms being haughtily rejected, they 
 prepared to engage us, by advancing on Prome in three 
 divisions: the right, under Sudda Woon, consisting of 15,000 
 men, having crossed the Irrawaddy, moved along its western 
 bank, intending to intercept us in the rear; the centre, of 
 about 30,000, commanded by the Kee Wongee, or head 
 minister, advanced along the eastern side with numerous war- 
 boats and stores; while the left, also 15,000 strong, under 
 Maha Nemiow, a famous old general, who had the chief 
 direction of the army, moved by a route about ten miles 
 distant from the river, and separated from it by an extensive 
 forest. In addition to these corps, there was a reserve of 
 10,000 men, commanded by the king’s half-brother, prince 
 Memiaboo, occupying a strongly-fortified post at Melloone ; 
 also another force was ready to oppose any movement from 
 Arracan ; and Sykia Wongee still carried on a desultory war- 
 fare in the vicinity of Pegu, threatening also Rangoon. ‘The 
 effective British force to contend with these formidable enemies, 
 consisted only of 5000 men, beside a garrison to maintain 
 Prome; and of these only 3000 were Europeans: but some 
 native regiments were opposed to Sykia Wongee, and others 
 were in garrison at Rangoon. 
 
A.D. 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 209 
 
 In the first engagement between our advanced guard and 
 Maha Nemiow’s division, the British suffered severely ; their 
 commander, colonel M‘Dowall, was slain; and the troops 
 were obliged to retreat. Encouraged by this success, the old 
 general marched directly on Prome, but with great caution; 
 stockading his troops at every mile of his advance, while a 
 corresponding movement was made by the other divisions ; and 
 the central corps wes now distinctly observed from our quarters, 
 fortifying the heights of Napadee, above the river, about five 
 miles distant: seeing little prospect of a speedy crisis in the 
 cautious tactics of his adversary, sir A. Campbell resolved at 
 once to become the assailant. 
 
 The corps of Maha Nemiow had for some days been station- 
 ary close to Prome, strengthening its position, and observing 
 the utmost vigilance: about 8000 of his men were Shans, 
 whose confidence had not yet been shaken by contact with our 
 troops; and in addition to a numerous list of chobwas and 
 petty princes, these levies were accompanied by three young 
 and beautiful women of high rank, believed by their supersti- 
 tious countrymen to be endowed with the gift of prophecy, and 
 to possess the miraculous power of turning aside musket balls; 
 these Amazons, dressed in warlike apparel, rode among the 
 troops, inspiring them with an ardent desire to meet a foe, 
 known to them as yet only by the deceitful account of their 
 Burmese masters.!! 
 
 On the thirtieth of November, arrangements were made to 
 attack the enemy’s forces next morning ; commodore sir James 
 Brisbane, with the flotilla, being directed to cannonade their 
 posts on both sides of the river at daylight; while a body of 
 native infantry should make a feigned attack on their centre, 
 as the columns were marching out for the real attack on their 
 left at Simbike : for this purpose our principal force was formed 
 into two columns; one, under brigadier-general Cotton, march- 
 ing by the direct road; while the other, led by the commander- 
 in-chief, crossed the Nawine river, and moved along its right 
 bank, to come round on the Burmese rear, and to cut off all 
 retreat. Our troops had scarcely commenced their march, 
 when a furious and well-directed cannonade on the river com- 
 pletely deceived the enemy, drew off his piquets, and left his 
 position open to assault: the advance of general Cotton’s 
 column was opposed by a succession of stockades thrown across 
 an open space in the centre of the jungle, having the Nawine 
 river in the rear, a thick wood on either flank, and assailable 
 
 11 Snodgrass, p. 231. 
 ENG, XVI. P 
 
210 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXII. 
 
 only in front, where the assailants were exposed to cross fires 
 from the zigzag formation of the works: our troops, however, 
 moved on with their usual intrepidity ; while the Shans, en- 
 couraged by the presence of their veteran commander, who 
 was carried from place to place in a gilded litter, cheered also 
 by the exhortations and gallant bearing of their Amazons, 
 offered a brave resistance: but no sooner was a lodgment made 
 in their crowded works, than, unable to stop the progress of 
 the assailants, or to stand against the volleys of musketry, they 
 fell into utter dismay and confusion. Horses and men ran 
 wildly from side to side, trying to avoid the murderous fire ; 
 parties were employed to break an outlet from their own en- 
 closures; while the gray-headed chobwas set a splendid ex- 
 ample of valor to their followers, singly maintaining the contest 
 sword in hand, refusing quarter, and attacking all who ap- 
 proached even with the most humane intentions. Maha 
 Nemiow himself fell bravely fighting ; and his body, together 
 with his sword, his Wongee’s chain, and other insignia, were 
 found among the slain: one of the fair Amazons also received ° 
 a bullet in her breast ; and being recognised, was carried to a 
 cottage in the rear, where she expired. In the mean time, sir 
 A. Campbell’s column, pushing rapidly on, met the flying foe 
 in the rear, and opened a deadly fire from our horse artillery : 
 another of the Shan ladies was here observed retreating on 
 horseback with her defeated troops; but before she could gain 
 the opposite bank of the Nawine river, a Shrapnel shell ex- 
 ploded over her head; when, falling from her horse, she was 
 carried off by her attendants.!2 
 
 The British commander was now enabled to attack the 
 enemy’s centre before the defeat of their left wing was generally 
 known: in this operation he was completely successful; being 
 greatly assisted by our flotilla, which, during the attack, rapidly 
 passed the works, and captured all the boats and stores brought 
 down for the enemy’s troops. The division of Sadda Woon, 
 protected by the intervention of the Irrawaddy, now alone re- 
 mained ; but this was attacked by a party conveyed across the 
 stream by ships; its stockades were forced ; and the whole 
 corps, broken up and dispersed, fled in all directions through 
 the woods. 
 
 It was now determined to advance on Ava; and nothing was 
 wanting in the troops, or forgotten by their leader, to ensure 
 success ; but the enemy did not even yet despair : the stockades 
 at Meaday had been made as strong as art could make them; 
 
 12 Snodgrass, p. 236, 
 
A.D. 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 211 
 
 and at Melloone, on the west bank of the Irrawaddy, the re- 
 serve under prince Memiaboo was augmented to 15,000 men ; 
 while its defences were represented as a chief-d’ceuvré of Bur- 
 mese fortification. On the ninth of December, our first division, 
 with the commander-in-chief, began its march; and on the 
 nineteenth arrived at Meaday ; ‘ where,’ says major Snodgrass, 
 ‘a dreadful scene of misery and death awaited them: within 
 and around the stockades, the ground was strewed with dead 
 and dying, the victims of wounds, disease and want: here and 
 there a small white pagoda marked the spot where some man 
 of rank was interred; while numerous new-made graves de- 
 noted, that what was seen was only a small remnant of their 
 dead which the hurried departure of the enemy had left un- 
 buried. The beach and neighboring jungles were filled with 
 dogs and yultures ; whose growling and screams, in addition to 
 the pestilential smell of the place, rendered our situation far 
 from pleasant: but as if this scene of death was not sufficient, 
 fresh horrors were added to it by the sanguinary leaders of the 
 unfortunate Burmese: several gibbets were found erected about 
 the stockades, each hearing the mouldering remains of three or 
 four crucified victims; thus cruelly put to death, for perhaps 
 no greater crime than that of wandering from their post in 
 search of food; or at the worst, of following the example set 
 by their chiefs in flying from the foe: for fifty miles up the 
 river, and all along the road by which the enemy retired, 
 similar horrors presented themselves ; and on some of the places 
 of encampment, our soldiers could not find a place for their 
 tents without first removing dead bodies to a distance.’ On 
 the twenty-first, our little army moved toward Melloone; a 
 handful of men in the heart of an immense empire! pushing 
 boldly on to its capital, nearly 300 miles distant, without a 
 hope of farther reinforcement! On the twenty-sixth, a flag of 
 truce was sent in, with notice that a commissioner, named 
 Kolein Menghie, had arrived, with full powers to conclude a 
 treaty of peace: this led to a discussion, but without effect ; 
 for the most glaring falsehoods were hazarded by this new 
 envoy: our troops having been carried across the Irrawaddy 
 under the protection of captain Chads, an attack was made on 
 the boasted fortifications of Melloone; their defenders were 
 driven in utter confusion from the place; and Memiabool’s 
 treasure, to the amount of 40,000 rupees, with all his stud, 
 fell into our hands. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth of January, 1826, the army again moved 
 forward, and on the thirty-first was met by Dr. Price, an 
 
212 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 American missionary, and assistant-surgeon Sandford, who had 
 been made prisoners some months before ; both having given 
 their parole of honor to return to the capital, whether success- 
 ful or not in their mission: these gentlemen brought proposals 
 for a short truce, which was readily granted ; and they retired 
 in full hopes that they should be sent back to ratify terms of 
 peace: these however proved fallacious; as 40,000 men had 
 still been collected, by high bounties, by grants of important 
 privileges, and by earnest appeals to his people from a monarch 
 tottering on his throne. This force, which was styled Gong- 
 to-doo, or ‘ Retrievers of the king’s glory,’ was placed under 
 the command of a savage warrior, called Nee-Woon-Breen, 
 which has been variously translated, ‘ Prince of Darkness,’ 
 ‘King of Hell,’ and ‘ Prince of the Setting Sun.73 On the 
 eighth, when our army was within a day’s march of Pagahm- 
 mew, its doubts were wholly removed respecting the certainty 
 of another contest; and next day, as its columns, in number 
 only about 2000, debouched from the forests into the open 
 country, they discovered the Burmese drawn up in an inverted 
 crescent. Undismayed by the strength or position of the 
 enemy, our commander pushed boldly at their centre, which 
 was soon overthrown ; no time was given them to rally in their 
 works, whither they were closely pursued, and again routed 
 with great slaughter: hundreds perished by jumping into the 
 river ; the whole army was dispersed on the spot ; and the un- 
 fortunate Nee-Woon-Breen had no sooner reached the capital, 
 than he was cruelly put to death by order of the king; being 
 trodden under foot by elephants taught to prolong the tortures 
 of a criminal. The road to Ava now lay completely open: 
 our troops continued to advance, and arrived within forty-five 
 miles of the capital: there was no longer time for disguise, 
 deceit, or treachery: on the evening of the twenty-fourth of 
 February, therefore, Mr. Price, with two ministers of state, 
 arrived at our camp near Yandaboo, to announce that the king 
 and court would submit to terms: the treaty was then a second 
 time settled, and finally signed; the government engaging to 
 furnish boats for the conveyance of a great part of our force to 
 Rangoon: thus was the war brought to a close; and a small 
 band, composed of British warriors and their Indian fellow- 
 subjects, stood as conquerors in the centre of the great Burmese 
 empire! Alexander’s Persian conquest itself was hardly to be 
 compared with this, A latent feeling however of disappoint- 
 ment pervaded our troops: though all felt proud in having 
 
 93 Snodgrass, p. 279. 
 
A.D. 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 213 
 
 compelled a stubborn foe to sign a peace glorious to themselves 
 and their country, yet they were now within three marches of 
 the despot’s capital, the source whence the war and all its 
 lengthened miseries had sprung; and it was hardly to be ex- 
 pected that the victorious soldier should turn his back on the 
 ‘golden city,’ the riches of which he had expected to share, 
 without a sensation of regret: nor was the aspect which the 
 region itself here assumed less inviting; for the country from 
 Pagahm-mew to Ava is most beautiful: ‘ extensive plains,’ 
 says major Snodgrass, ‘ of the finest land, watered by the lrra- 
 waddy, are interspersed with evergreen woods, just large enough 
 to give beauty and variety to the scenery ; and the banks of 
 the river are so thickly studded with villages, pagodas, temples, 
 monasteries, and other handsome buildings, as to afford, under 
 one coup d’ceil, all the charms of a richly-varied landscape, 
 with the more sterling beauties of a populous and fertile terri- 
 tory.’ The acceptance of terms, however, on our part was 
 politic: every sacrifice which the king and people were dis- 
 posed to make, was intended to preserve the ‘ golden city’ from 
 violation: that once subdued, the court would probably have 
 fled to some distant part of its extensive empire, leaving the 
 conquerors in a position from which necessity would soon have 
 compelled them to retire ; with the probable sacrifice of all the 
 objects for which we had been contending, and with the ruin- 
 ous expenses of the war on our own shoulders. The following is 
 an epitome of the articles of peace, concluded, on the one hand, 
 by sir A. Campbell, T. C. Robertson, Esq., and captain Chads, 
 R.N., British commissioners; and by Mengyee-Maha-men- 
 hlah-kyanten Wongee, lord of Lay-Kaing, and Mengyee 
 Maha-men-hlah-thu-hah-thoo-Atwen-woon, lord of the reve- 
 nue, on the part of his Burmese majesty. 
 
 The four provinces of Arracan, and the provinces of Mergui, 
 Tavoy, and Zea to be ceded in perpetuity to the honorable 
 company ; the Burmese government engaging to pay one crore 
 of rupees by instalments: the provinces or kingdoms of Assam, 
 Cachar, Zeatung, and Munnipore to be placed under princes 
 named by the British government; residents, with an escort 
 of fifty men, being appointed at each court: British ships to 
 be admitted into Burmese ports, to land their cargoes free of 
 duty, not to unship their rudders, or land their guns ; Burmese 
 ships having the same privileges in British ports: no person 
 to be molested for their opinions or conduct during the war ; 
 and the Siamese nation to be included in the treaty. Dated - 
 June 3, 1826. 
 
214 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 Each power commenced this war ignorant of the resources 
 of its adversary ; but never was a monarch so deceived as his 
 Burmese majesty, or one who required more convincing proofs 
 of error and mistake: not satisfied with so many signal defeats, 
 and undismayed by the steady advance of his foes into the 
 heart of his empire, the king and his ministers stubbornly re- 
 fused to yield, and to accept of what must be termed lenient 
 conditions froma victorious army. But this singular obstinacy 
 arose from their own nature and practice: a Burmese monarch 
 has never been known to make war but for the sake of con- 
 quest ; and no instance is recorded of one of their race having 
 relinquished a single acre which he could retain: judging from 
 themselves, they concluded that such also was our policy; and 
 could not credit our offer of giving up so valuable a territory, 
 on their acquiescence in the terms proposed: negotiations 
 therefore had no effect until backed by severe punishment : 
 and thus the sovereign permitted his country to be overwhelmed 
 by a calamity, from the effects of which it may require half a 
 century to recover, rather than listen to accommodation. The 
 provinces ceded to Great Britain are likely to receive great 
 advantages: the new settlement of Amherst-town, on the 
 Saluan river, in the gulf of Martaban, particularly, is well 
 situated as a mart for the Siamese, the Burmese, and even for 
 the Chinese: the whole of these districts, now thinly peopled, 
 will soon become populous; for the inhabitants of Pegu, and 
 even of Ava, already acquainted with the difference between 
 their own arbitrary laws and our more liberal institutions, will 
 fly from oppression to the ceded territory, where security of 
 property and encouragement of industry will soon convert those 
 ill-governed districts into the finest countries of the East. Nor 
 is it likely that our Indian possessions will be again disturbed 
 by the restless and vindictive court of Ava: the cession of 
 Arracan amply secures that side of our empire from interfer- 
 ence; while the Burmese monarch cannot be ignorant, that, 
 should he again offend, we can, by marching a force across the 
 mountains, appear on the Irrawaddy in eight or ten days; and 
 before his capital in a month: the ‘ king of all the elephants,’ 
 therefore, though he may intrigue and endeavor to deceive us, 
 will not trouble our government with another war, till the 
 memory of the last is worn out of the remembrance of himself 
 and of his people. 
 
 Soon after the conclusion of this contest, our Indian govern- 
 ment sent an embassy to Ava, at the head of which was Mr. J. 
 Crawford, who finally settled several points relative to the 
 
A.D. 1823-28, GEORGE IV. 215 
 
 frontiers, and concluded a treaty of commerce very favorable 
 to the company. The conduct of sir A. Campbell advanced 
 his character for enterprise and prudence, as well as military 
 talent and valor, to high and deserved renown: in the year 
 1831, he was created a baronet, and proceeded to New Bruns- 
 wick as lieutenant-governor of that province: he was also 
 presented with a splendid gold medal by the court of directors, 
 to mark their sense of the distinguished skill and gallantry 
 with which he conducted the Burmese campaign, and led his 
 brave comrades in arms to victory. 
 
 We must not omit to observe, that throughout these events, 
 the exertions of the Madras government, under its illustrious 
 governor, were admirable. One-half of the army was sent 
 abroad, either to Rangoon, Chittagong, or Calcutta; yet with 
 the remaining forces sir Thomas Munro contrived to preserve 
 in his province perfect order, which was never interrupted for 
 a moment: to his suggestions also, many of the wisest measures 
 adopted in this war were owing; while not a few, which might 
 have led to disastrous results, were at his remonstrances aban- 
 doned: it is due, however, to lord Amherst to state, that he 
 exhibited great firmness, as well as talent, under very trying 
 circumstances ; not the least of his excellences being a total 
 absence of that vanity which too often prompts men in power 
 to reject the wise counsels of their inferiors. 
 
 Contemporaneously with the brilliant exploits above men- 
 tioned, a very important service was rendered to our Indian 
 empire by the gallant commander-in-chief, lord Combermere : 
 the object of his interposition was to protect a native prince 
 against an usurper; but on the good or ill success of that 
 interposition, as it is well known, depended the peace of India, 
 or the invasion of our power by a formidable league of native 
 princes. The late rajah of Bhurtpoor had died in strict alliance 
 with our government; and, by the terms of the treaty, each 
 party was bound to assist the other against all enemies: appre- 
 hensive, however, of the consequences that might ensue after 
 his death, the rajah, during his life-time, had announced his 
 son, Bulwurt Singh, as his successor, and included him in the 
 treaty of alliance: but when his decease took place, his 
 nephew, Doorjun Sal, having gained a party in the army, 
 raised a successful revolt, obtained possession of Bhurtpoor, 
 and seated himself on the musnud. ‘The expelled prince then 
 applied for aid to sir David Ochterlony, the company’s resi- 
 dent at Delhi; and that officer embraced his cause; but his 
 conduct in so doing was disavowed by lord Amherst, who 
 
216 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LXIII. 
 
 showed a strong disposition to proceed on the absurd principle 
 of non-interference: farther information, however, induced him 
 to change this intention; and lord Combermere was sent with 
 an army to expel the usurper. 
 
 Having taken the field with 25,000 European and native 
 troops, his lordship directed his first attempt against Bhurtpoor 
 itself, a fortress of immense strength, celebrated for its success- 
 ful resistance to the force employed against it by lord Lake, in 
 1805, and considered by the natives as impregnable. 
 
 The fortifications of this place were such, that one might 
 have supposed them to have been erected in those days of 
 unlimited command over life and labor which produced the 
 pyramids: the wall was of mud, sixty feet in thickness, and of 
 great height, with a very wide and deep ditch: the citadel 
 stood at the eastern extremity, occupying a situation that 
 appeared higher than the town, defended by higher walls, and 
 by a wet ditch of great width and depth: the circumference 
 of the whole was about seven miles; and the walls in all that 
 extent were flanked with bastions at short intervals, on which 
 were mounted an immense number of guns. Before this mag- 
 nificent fortress our forces appeared on the tenth of December, 
 1825, with a parc of more than 100 pieces of artillery : during 
 the night, the enemy had cut the embankment of a lake, for 
 the purpose of filling the ditch; a measure of precaution 
 which had been found very serviceable in 1805; but our 
 troops now arrived in time to repair the breach, before sufficient 
 water had flowed into the fosse to render it impassable; a few 
 days were then spent in reconnoitring the works, and fixing on 
 the best points of attack, until the whole battering train should 
 arrive: desirous, however, of saving women and children from 
 the effects of the terrible bombardment which he knew to be 
 at hand, lord Combermere addressed a letter to Doorjun Sal, 
 requesting him to send out that inoffensive portion of the 
 inhabitants, and promising them safe conduct: an evasive 
 answer was at first returned, and the request was repeated : 
 but in the true spirit of an Indian tyrant, the usurper ulti- 
 mately refused his consent. On the twenty-third of December, 
 therefore, everything being in readiness, the besiegers com- 
 menced their first parallel, under a very heavy fire, at the 
 distance of about 800 yards from the north-east angle of the 
 works: on the following morning, three batteries opened on 
 the town, and continued, with several others afterwards erected, 
 so vigorous a fire to the end of the month, that scarcely a roof 
 was left uninjured: such, however, was the depth and tenacity 
 
A.D. 1823-28. GEORGE IV. 217 
 
 of the mud-walls, that cannon-shot had very little effect on 
 them; so that on the third of January, 1826, miners were 
 employed ; but their first attempt failed, and a second was met 
 by a counter-mine, when our men were driven away before 
 they had advanced many feet; on the fourteenth also, a mine 
 under one of the bastions, being lighted too hastily, failed of 
 its effect, and occasioned some delay: his lordship, however, 
 directed two others to be driven under the same bastion, which 
 were fired on the sixteenth, and, with the aid of a day’s can- 
 nonade, effected such a breach, that the result of the enterprise 
 appeared no longer doubtful. Early in the morning of the 
 eighteenth, the troops destined for the assault established 
 themselves in the advanced trenches, unperceived by the 
 enemy; and the explosion of a mine, loaded with 12,000 
 pounds of powder, under the north-east angle, was to be the 
 signal of attack: at eight o’clock, this subterranean chamber 
 of death was fired, and the effect was terrific: the ground 
 trembled, as if agitated by an earthquake; and after it had 
 heaved up with several convulsive throes, out burst the volcano : 
 the whole of the salient angle, and a stone cavalier in its rear, 
 were lifted into the air, which for some time was in total dark- 
 ness: at length, the clouds of dust rolled away like billows in 
 a storm; and the proud bastion, with 300 men, were seen pre- 
 cipitated below. Immediately, the two grand divisions of our 
 army. rushed up to the breaches, opposed by the besieged with 
 all their implements of war, and their sabres fiashing in the 
 morning sun; but the foremost were soon laid low by British 
 bayonets; and the rest giving way, were chased along the 
 ramparts: whenever they came to a gun which they could 
 move, they turned it against their pursuers, but were imme- 
 diately bayoneted, and the gun was upset: in two hours, the 
 whole rampart, though bravely defended, was in.our possession ; 
 and early in the afternoon the citadel surrendered. Brigadier- 
 general Sleigh, commanding the cavalry, made such a disposi- 
 tion of his troops, that he succeeded in capturing Doorjun Sal, 
 who, with his wife, two sons, and 160 chosen horsemen, 
 attempted to escape. The garrison consisted of 36,000 troops, 
 of all arms, near 10,000 of whom are said to have fallen during 
 the siege: our loss was about 1200 men; many of whom were 
 killed by the explosion of the great mine, from which the 
 commander-in-chief himself had a narrow escape; two sepoys 
 being destroyed by the descending masses within a few feet of 
 his lordship. 
 
 The fortifications of Bhurtpoor were now demolished by 
 
218 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIII. 
 
 orders from government: the principal bastions were blown up 
 on the sixth of February ; and it was left for the rains to com- 
 plete the ruin: all the other fortresses in the rajah’s dominions 
 surrendered ; the rightful prince was reinstated in his authority ; 
 and the inhabitants returned to their abodes and to their alle- 
 giance. For this brilliant achievement, which preserved the 
 tranquillity of our Indian empire, lord Combermere was raised 
 to the rank of viscount, and afterwards made colonel of the 
 first regiment of life guards: the governor-general, on account 
 of the success of the Bhurtpoor siege and the Burmese war, 
 was raised to the dignities of viscount Holmsdale, and earl 
 Amherst of Arracan. 
 
 Little more remains to be said of lord Amherst’s administra- 
 tion: in 1827, his lordship, attended by lady Amherst, made 
 an extensive voyage of inspection up the Ganges, receiving 
 homage and entertainments from tributary rajahs, princes, and 
 kings: he returned to Calcutta early in the ensuing year, and 
 on the eighth of March embarked for England. At the Cape 
 of Good Hope, where he landed, he met his successor, lord 
 William Bentinck, who carried with him to India the character 
 of an enlightened statesman and energetic officer ; the measures, 
 however, which have been adopted under his government for 
 unshackling the press, afford much matter for argument and 
 speculation: whether a free press, though incompatible with an 
 evil despotism, be compatible with a despotic government 
 under its mildest and most equitable form, still remains to be 
 proved: the experiment is in progress, and we may hope at 
 least that it will be justified by success. 
 
A.D. 1825. GEORGE IV. 219 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 GEORGE IV. (contrnvep.)—1825. 
 
 Meeting of parliament—Bill for the suppression of unlawful asso- 
 ciations in Ireland—Catholic relief bill—Its failure in the house 
 of lords—Speech of the duke of York, and his great popularity 
 with the high-church party—Legal reforms—Increased salary 
 of the judges—Unitarian marriage-act—Act against combina- 
 tions among workmen—Free trade system—Corn laws— Finan- 
 cial statements—Close of session—Great commercial panic— 
 Domestic events—Review of foreign relations—Opening of the 
 session of 1826—Means adopted for the restoration’ cf commer- 
 cial confidence—Modification of the corn laws—Debates on re- 
 strictions of foreign manufactures—State of finances—Criminal 
 code—State of the colonies—Scotch representation—Removal 
 of attainders—Dissolution of parliament—Dissentions in the 
 cabinet—-Violence of parties at the general election—Meeting 
 of the new parliament—Indemnity bill—Vigor of Mr. Canning’s 
 policy in Portugal—Capture of Missolonghi—Opening of the 
 Menai bridge—Death of the duke of York—Duke of Wellington 
 commander-in-chief—Catholic question—lIlIness of lord Liver- 
 pool—Dissolution of the cabinet—Appointment of Mr. Canning 
 as premier. 
 
 Tue sixth session of the existing parliament was opened by 
 commission on the third of February, when the speech took a 
 pleasing view of all our affairs, foreign and domestic, except 
 those relating to Ireland, which have never yet given unalloyed 
 satisfaction to any administration. The spirit developed in the 
 proceedings of the catholic association could not fail to excite 
 alarm in ministers; but as they were conscious that public 
 opinion would not permit the enactment of a partial law against 
 that body, while Orange societies were tolerated in all their 
 violence, a bill was introduced by Mr. Goulburn, ‘to amend 
 the acts relating to unlawful associations in Ireland.’ To 
 resist this measure, opposition put forth all its strength ; which 
 produced an earnest debate, extended by adjournment through 
 four nights: the chief interest imparted to it lay in Mr. 
 Canning’s eloquent vindication of himself against the insinua- 
 tions. of those who considered him estranged from the catholic 
 
220 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 cause. After reviewing the various incidents of his publie life, 
 he observed ;—‘ I have thus shown, that in 1812 I refused 
 office rather than enter into an administration pledged against 
 the catholic question: I did this at a time when office would 
 have been dearer to me than at any other period of my political 
 career; when I would have given ten years of life for two of 
 office; not on account of any sordid or selfish purpose of 
 aggrandisement, but for other and higher views. Nor is this 
 the only sacrifice I have made to the catholic cause: from the 
 earliest dawn of my public life, aye, from the first visions of 
 youthful ambition,—that ambition was directed to one object, 
 before which all others vanished comparatively into insigni- 
 ficance: that object far beyond all the blandishments of power, 
 beyond all the rewards and favors of the crown, was to re- 
 present in this house the university at which I was educated. 
 I had a fair chance of accomplishing it, when the catholic 
 question crossed my path: I was warned, fairly and kindly 
 warned, that my adoption of that cause would blast my pro- 
 spect: I adhered to the catholic cause, and forfeited all my 
 long-cherished hopes and expectations; yet I am told that I 
 have made no sacrifice! that I have postponed the cause of the 
 catholics to views and interests of my own!’ Mr. Canning 
 then, in a high tone of feeling and language, congratulated 
 Mr. Peel, who had attained to that academical distinction which 
 he himself had coveted so eagerly ; little dreaming when he 
 prayed that it might ‘ long prove a source of reciprocal pride 
 to their parent university, and her representative,’ how near 
 the time was at hand, when even this champion of protestant 
 ascendency would be rejected by his Alma Mater as one of the 
 most reprobate of her sons! Mr. Goulburn’s bill was finally 
 carried by large majorities ; but the catholic association, though 
 it yielded to legal authority, and became defunct, was soon 
 resuscitated under a different form: ostensibly regulating itself 
 according to the late act, it disclaimed all religious exclusions, 
 oaths, powers of acting in redress of grievances, and corre- 
 spondence with dependent societies: thus evading the recent 
 enactments, and concealing its intentions under the mask of 
 charitable purposes, it pursued its original designs with impunity. 
 So little was the question of emancipation considered to be 
 involved in this concerning the association, that many of its 
 warmest advocates voted in favor of the late act: indeed, after 
 it had passed, the friends of emancipation determined to put 
 forth still stronger efforts; accordingly sir Francis Burdett 
 brought forward a plan, in which the principal bill for the 
 
A.D. 1825. GEORGE IV. 221 
 
 removal of civil disabilities was accompanied by two others, in 
 derision termed ‘its wings ;’ of these, one proposed to enact a 
 state provision for the Roman catholic clergy, the other to raise 
 the Irish franchise from forty shillings to ten pounds; the 
 former being meant as a security to the state, the latter as a 
 protection to Irish protestants against the overwhelming ma- 
 jority of catholics at elections: the principal bill passed the 
 commons with majorities increasing in its several stages; but 
 its ultimate fate was clearly foreseen before it reached the lords ; 
 for on the twenty-fifth of April, between the second and third 
 readings in the lower house, the duke of York took occasion, 
 in presenting a petition against it from the dean and chapter of 
 Windsor, to utter his memorable speech, asserting—that the 
 concession of the catholic claims was repugnant not only to the 
 king’s coronation oath, but to the principles of our constitution ; 
 and declaring that, ‘to the last moment of his life, whatever 
 might be his situation, he would oppose them, so help him 
 God.’ Such a declaration from the heir presumptive to the 
 throne, was viewed by one party as a very unconstitutional pro- 
 ceeding ; but by the other it was extolled, as the most manly, 
 patriotic, and noble expression of sentiment that could be 
 delivered at a critical moment: it was accordingly printed in 
 letters of gold; was hung up in the houses of zealous 
 protestants ; and became the very watchword of the party: 
 being supposed also to express the sentiments of the reigning 
 sovereign,! it exercised a strong influence on the votes of those 
 who were expectants of court favor; so that when the emanci- 
 pation bill was brought up to the peers, it was thrown out by 
 a majority of 178 to 130. The ‘ wings,’ after this failure, were 
 of course abandoned; and as popular feeling repudiated the 
 principle on which they rested, Mr. O’Connell, who in the first 
 instance had consented to force a state annuity on the Romish 
 priesthood, and to disfranchise the forty shilling freeholders, 
 made a public recantation of his errors, and ‘ asked pardon of 
 God and his country.’ The committee on the general condition 
 of Ireland, which was re-appointed by the lords at the opening 
 of the session, made its report ; and the evidence produced of the 
 misery existing in that misgoverned and unfortunate country, 
 plainly showed that it could not long remain in such a state. 
 None of those great questions of constitutional law, which, 
 
 1 This supposition was quite correct. On the 23rd of May, lord 
 Eldon writes thus to his daughter—‘ I saw the king yesterday, who 
 is much better, and not a little relieved in point of anxiety by the 
 vote on the catholic question.’—Life of Lord Eldon, vol, ii. p. 554. 
 
222 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV, 
 
 in times of distress, were represented as involving the very 
 existence of the state, came under discussion this year: parlia- 
 mentary reform, with its kindred topics, was also lett unnoticed ; 
 while the legislature attended more to changes in the admi- 
 nistration of justice, and of those laws which affect the civil 
 relations between man and man: above all, improvement was 
 sought in the court of chancery, a tribunal, superior to all 
 others in the practical efficacy of its operations, in the com- 
 prehensive extent of its range, and in the enlarged principles 
 on which it acts. The courts of common law may be called 
 excellent within their own sphere; but if their doctrines and 
 forms were not modified by equitable jurisdiction, they would 
 in many instances cease to be instruments of justice: they look 
 only at so much of a transaction as falls within their arbitrary 
 definitions: though there may be circumstances, not com- 
 prehended in such definitions, which intirely alter its nature, 
 yet a court of Jaw cannot look at them; and it deals with the 
 matter in hand, as if that little portion of it, which is included 
 in a legal definition, embraced all particulars of the case: even 
 where a court of law is by its principles permitted to view the 
 whole of an action, it is often incapable, by reason of its forms, 
 to do essential justice; as might be instanced in matters of 
 accounts, the easiest of all subjects submitted to a court of 
 equity, but which can hardly ever be settled in any other; and 
 are generally referred to arbitration: on the contrary, nothing 
 is too complex for the court of chancery, the duty of which is 
 to deal with human transactions as it finds them ; not substitut- 
 ing for realities narrow definitions, but examining all their 
 details, and judging of them by the application of a system 
 of principles built up through successive ages of talent and 
 laborious improvement: besides, the court of chancery exercises 
 functions very different from the mere determination of litigated 
 rights, particularly in the guardianship of property, where, 
 from the mode in which it is often limited in a refined state of 
 society, partial interests come successively into existence 
 throughout a long period, before there exists an absolute 
 owner: from the vast variety, therefore, and complicated 
 nature of the transactions with which this court deals, as well as 
 from the enlarged principles on which it acts, it would be 
 surprising if there were not parts in its machinery requiring 
 improvement; and if any set of men, from pure motives, and 
 with adequate knowlege of the subject, had devoted themselves 
 to the task of ascertaining what alterations might be advantage- 
 ously and prudently made in the forms and practice of equitable 
 
A.D. 1825. GEORGE IV. 223 
 
 jurisdiction, they would have merited the highest applause as 
 public benefactors: the subject, however, unhappily fell into 
 the hands of Nist prius lawyers, who were not well acquainted 
 with its details, and who from motives of political hostility 
 seemed to make it an engine for assailing the character of the 
 lord chancellor. In legal knowledge and sagacity, in patient 
 investigation and impartial adjudication, probably no man 
 superior to lord Eldon ever held the great seal of England ; 
 but the very nature of his mind,—particularly, that large and 
 comprehensive perception of analogies, which he eminently 
 possessed, led him into habits of hesitation, doubt, and indeci- 
 sion, which delayed proceedings in his court, until the miserable 
 suitors were too often driven utterly to despair: also the life 
 he had led from early youth, addicted solely to legal studies, 
 and abstracted from the ameliorating influence of general society, 
 caused him to adhere pertinaciously to existing institutions, 
 and to oppose the introduction of innovation into any system 
 with which he was connected: never did his prejudices relax 
 so far as to suffer, without a shock, the approach of a correct- 
 ing hand even to abuses which he had himself in his earlier 
 days denounced: the bankrupt laws he had declared to be the 
 disgrace of our country ; ‘little more than a stock in trade for 
 commissioners, assignees, and solicitors:’ the complicated 
 procedure of his own court had also fallen under his severest 
 reprehension ; but he suffered these and all other abuses to 
 florish, without ever suggesting, or even tolerating, a remedy : 
 those who praise him, very deservedly, for his many estimable 
 qualities and virtues, his talents and industry, his wisdom and 
 learning, would find it difficult to point out a triumph over 
 abuses achieved by his great and splendid faculties. As his 
 legal prejudices were even surpassed by those which fettered 
 him on all questions of international policy or domestic admi- 
 nistration ; and as he was thought, in his distribution of profes- 
 sional honors and emoluments, to overlook those whose political 
 opinions were obnoxious to him; he drew on himself attacks 
 from disappointed men, whose irritated feelings led them to 
 wound the judge through the court over which he presided : 
 hence, it can be no matter of surprise that they were .found 
 ignorant in the very practices which they denounced, or unable 
 to provide suitable remedies when invited to propose them. A 
 commission of inquiry, which had been appointed last year, 
 and had not yet made its report, produced no suspension of 
 hostilities ; but on the contrary, became in its turn a theme of 
 severe abuse, 
 
224 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 Two discussions on the subject took place this session; the 
 first introduced by Mr. J. Williams, who, in presenting some 
 petitions complaining of particular proceedings in chancery, 
 delivered a long and sarcastic speech, in which he attacked the 
 whole law of England; while that of real property, of which 
 however he declared himself ignorant, was the object of his 
 peculiar animadversion. On the seventh of June, sir Francis 
 Burdett brought the subject again under discussion, by moving, 
 that the evidence taken by the commission, instituted to inves- 
 tigate the practice of the court of chancery, be printed. Mr. 
 Peel opposed the motion, because to print such evidence, with- 
 out any accompanying report, was contrary to the practice of 
 the house; and even if it were printed, the session was too 
 far advanced for the introduction of any measure relating to 
 it: during the discussion which ensued, sir M. W. Ridley 
 seriously deprecated the attacks made night after night. on the 
 lord chancellor, who, he was persuaded, stood very high in 
 the estimation of the British people: Mr. Brougham, however, 
 did not profit by advice; but quitting that commendable spirit 
 of moderation which he had for some time pursued, broke 
 forth into a vehement attack on lord Gifford, deputy speaker 
 of the house of lords, who had been distinguished by the 
 patronage of the chancellor: the motion was rejected by a 
 majority of 154 to 73: nevertheless it appears that an order 
 moved by sir F. Burdett was placed on the journals of the 
 commons, June the thirtieth; ‘that there be laid before that 
 house a list of all causes which have been heard by the lord 
 chancellor during the last eighteen years, wherein judgment 
 has not yet been given, specifying the time when heard; com- 
 prising all petitions in cases of bankruptcy already heard but 
 not decided.’ This order was passed without a word of observ- 
 ation; and occasioned so much annoyance to Lord Eldon that 
 he was with some difficulty prevailed on to continue in office, 
 lord Liverpool assuring him that the motion would drop with 
 the session, and must be renewed to be of any force: 
 
 The chancellor of the exchequer at this time brought 
 forward a measure for augmenting the salaries of the judges ; 
 which, while it provided that fees should no longer form a 
 part of their emoluments, prohibited the sale of those offices 
 which the chiefs of the respective courts had been allowed so 
 to dispose of: at first, it was proposed to grant the puisne 
 judges £6000 a year; but the scheme ultimately adopted gave 
 to the chief justices of the king’s bench and common pleas 
 
 2 Life of Lord Eldon, vol. ii. p, 564. 
 
A.D. 1825. GEORGE IV, © 225 
 
 respectively £10,000 and £8000; to the chief baron of the 
 court of exchequer £7000; and to each of the other judges 
 £5500; while the retiring pensions of all were increased: the 
 whole of this arrangement met with very illiberal opposition ; 
 for how few men bring so much talent, and give up so much 
 time, to the public service! how few sacrifice so largely the 
 profits of a lucrative profession, as the judges of our land! The 
 unitarian marriage act, though supported by the archbishop of 
 Canterbury, the bishop of Lichfield, and lord Liverpool, being 
 opposed by the lord chancellor, was again rejected; so also 
 was lord Holland’s motion for the second reading of a bill for 
 altering the law of attainder and corruption of blood, both the 
 principle and the imperfection of its details appearing objec- 
 tionable to that high legal officer: a similar fate attended Mr. 
 serjeant Onslow’s bill for the repeal of our usury laws; though 
 Mr. C. Wynne stated, that not only himself, but the chancellor 
 of the exchequer, the president of the board of trade, and 
 most of the cabinet ministers, were favorable to their aboli- 
 tion. 
 
 Many mischievous effects having arisen from the passing of 
 an act proposed by Mr. Hume, which repealed both the 
 statute and common law against combinations among workmen, 
 Mr. Huskisson called attention to this subject, and detailed 
 some painful reports regarding it, which had been forwarded 
 to the home secretary: as a general principle, he admitted, 
 that every man had an inherent right to carry his own labor to 
 the best market, since labor was the poor man’s capital; but, 
 on the other hand, he as strenuously contended for the perfect 
 freedom of those who gave employment to that labor; whose 
 property, machinery, and capital ought equally to be pro- 
 tected: having shown the very injurious operation of the 
 present system, he moved for a select committee, whose report 
 soon led to a repeal of the act. ' 
 
 It had long been matter of doubt, whether the restraints 
 which confined the trade of our colonies to the mother country, 
 subject to regulations made solely with a view to the advantage 
 of the latter, were not, in fact, injurious to both; and some 
 steps in relaxation of the system had been already taken ; but 
 at this time, Mr. Huskisson undertook the responsibility of 
 bringing the whole subject before the legislature, braving the 
 clamors of those whose prejudices might remain unsubdued by 
 the foree of his statements, and the nature of his facts. The 
 alterations which he proposed in our colonial system, were 
 explained in a very elaborate speech on the twenty-third of 
 
 ENG. XVII Q 
 
226 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV.- 
 
 March; when, by entering into historical details, he proved 
 that all those articles of manufacture which had been most 
 fostered, had most languished ; that excessive duties made the 
 smuggler’s fortune, while the manufacturer was disappointed, 
 and the exchequer defrauded; that the apprehension which 
 guarded our fabrics with high duties was unfounded ; and that 
 the true policy of the state, as well as the advantage of indivi- 
 duals, would be consulted, by reducing those duties sufficiently 
 to countervail whatever might be imposed on raw material 
 used in the different manufactories. Having first shown the 
 very ungrateful return made to this country by the United 
 States of America, which had been allowed to trade with our 
 colonies in their own vessels, he proposed to open the colonial 
 ports to all friendly powers, on the same principle, though 
 with some modifications, as that on which they now traded 
 with Jersey or Ireland: he was also anxious to encourage our 
 own commerce, and that of our colonies, with the countries ot 
 South America, by extending to certain colonial ports the 
 benefits and regulations of the warehousing or bonding system : 
 another boon, intended for the colonies and their trade, was 
 the abolition of large fees levied in almost all their ports, for 
 the benefit of public officers: he also recommended two alter- 
 ations of a local and specific nature; one lowering the duty on 
 sugar, imported from the Mauritius, to the same rate as that 
 from the West Indies; the other admitting, at all times, an 
 importation of corn from Canada, on payment of a fixed and 
 moderate duty. The resolutions embodying these propositions 
 were unanimously adopted, with one trifling exception; the 
 bill, permitting importation of corn from Canada at a duty of 
 five shillings being limited in its operation to a period of two 
 years. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth, Mr. Huskisson brought forward the 
 other parts of his scheme for promoting commerce, by a dimi- 
 nution of duties imposed with a view to protection rather than 
 to revenue, and for affording relief to our shipping and naviga- 
 tion interests. He began by proposing a reduction of duties 
 on the cotton and woollen trade, as well as those on manufac- 
 tured linen, which in some cases rose as high as 180 per cent. ; 
 but which he proposed to lower to ten, fifteen, and twenty-five 
 per cent. respectively: he next adverted to foreign paper, 
 books, and glass, which were almost prohibited by excessive 
 duties ; also to metallic substances, particularly iron, copper, 
 zinc, and lead: he then proceeded to consider how far it was 
 possible to reduce certain imposts on raw materials, which 
 
A.D. 1825. GEORGE IV. . 227 
 
 interfered with the success of our capitalists, who were obliged 
 to use them in their manufactures ; instancing the cases of 
 articles employed in dyeing, as well as oil expressed both from 
 olives and from rape seed: the duty on this latter he wished 
 to take off altogether, and thus enable the manufacturer to 
 supply the farmer with cake, instead of compelling him to 
 procure it at a large cost in the foreign market: he also pro- 
 peed to reduce the duty on all foreign wool, imported at a 
 ower price than a shilling the pound, to one halfpenny. He 
 concluded with some measures tending to relieve the commerce 
 and navigation of this country: there was already a bill on the 
 table to do away with quarantine duties, which the committee 
 on foreign trade had equitably proposed to lay on the commu-~ 
 nity at large: farther measures which he contemplated were, 
 the abolition of all fees on commerce with our colonies; and 
 the removal of duty payable on the transfer of any share in a 
 ship, or of a whole ship, from one person to another. There 
 was still another mode in which the shipping interest might be 
 benefited ; and that consisted in a reduction of stamps for 
 bonds, required from exporters of certain goods to be delivered 
 at certain places, from forty shillings to four shillings: he 
 would also apply the same principle to custom-house debentures, 
 or documents given by way of security, to those who were 
 intitled to drawbacks: as conducive to the same end, he pro- 
 posed an improvement in the lax system of our consular -esta- 
 blishments ; granting, instead of fees, a regular salary to their 
 superintending officers. ‘Though several members expressed an 
 apprehension that such extensive changes in our commercial 
 system might be injurious, Mr. Huskisson’s propositions were 
 generally commended by parliament, and by the country at 
 large: the resolutions in which they became embodied were 
 adopted without a dissentient voice; and were afterwards 
 carried into execution by bills framed accordingly. Connected 
 with these changes was the surrender of its charter by the 
 Levant company, established in the reign of James I., and 
 endowed with very considerable privileges. 
 
 In May, the secretary for foreign affairs laid on the table of 
 the house of commons three important state papers: the first 
 was a treaty of commerce with the independent states of the 
 Rio de la Plata; the second was a treaty concluded with 
 Russia by Mr. Stratford Canning, during his mission to St. 
 Petersburgh, in which that rising diplomatist had settled, in a 
 satisfactory manner, disputed claims existing between the two 
 countries, with regard to territories on the north-west coast of 
 
228 . HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIy. 
 
 America, as well as to certain rights of trade and navigation in 
 the Pacific Ocean: the third was a treaty between Great 
 Britain and Sweden, having for its object an abolition of the 
 slave trade, as carried on by the subjects, or under the flag, of 
 either nation. The effectual measure of visitation and deten- 
 tion—-a measure proudly, meanly, and pertinaciously resisted by 
 France—was with a frank and manly policy aeceded to by 
 Sweden; so that the cruisers of either power, under certain 
 limitations, were permitted to stop, and bring in for adjudica- 
 tion, slave vessels trading under their respective flags: these 
 limitations, indeed, restricted the exercise of the right to a 
 small number of vessels on both sides, and in many other 
 particulars guarded cautiously against the abuse of it: but as 
 this right could not exist at all, in time of peace, except by 
 virtue of a treaty, Mr. Canning, in obtaining the recognition 
 of so important a principle, rendered great service to the cause 
 of humanity. 
 
 The fluctuations of price in the corn market, and the distress 
 attendant on them, since the period when the averages that 
 were to regulate importation had been fixed, brought this 
 complex question again before parliament: Mr. Huskisson 
 declared himself favorable to a revision of.the whole subject ; 
 he never had supposed that the former law could be perma- 
 nent ; for the policy of it must necessarily be viewed in relation 
 to changes in the growth and price of corn abroad, as well as 
 at home: it was also to be considered, that when we excluded 
 grain, other nations would retaliate by excluding manufactures— 
 a state of things, not to be desired by a country so essentially 
 manufacturing and commercial as Great Britain: at the same 
 time, in legislating on the admission of foreign corn, it was fit 
 that the landed interest should not be overlooked: when it 
 was said that our manufactures were no longer protected, and 
 that corn therefore should be free, the argument was not appli- 
 cable; because the latter was grown cheaper abroad, the 
 former were produced cheaper at home, and therefore not 
 subject, like the other, to be brought down by unrestrained 
 importation. ‘Fhe motion for a committee on the corn laws, 
 proposed by Mr. Whitmore, was not carried. 
 
 As our finances continued to improve, and the surplus ex- 
 ceeded by nearly £1,000,000 the estimate of the preceding 
 year, taxes were lowered on various articles, directly and 
 
 indirectly, to the amount of £1,500,000: the relief, with one 
 
 exception,—a. diminution of duties on ardent spirits,—was 
 judiciously applied: the imposts reduced were on hemp, 
 
A.D. 1825. GEORGE TV. 229 
 
 coffee, wines, British spirits and rum, cider, and those articles 
 in the assessed taxes which pressed particularly on the lower 
 classes of society: after these arrangements, Mr. Robinson 
 still calculated the gross revenue of the current year at 
 £56,444,375, and the expenditure, including the interest of 
 the debt, with the sinking fund, at rather more than 
 £56,000,000: his speech on this occasion was eloquent, and 
 his anticipations sanguine; and though some parties were 
 dissatisfied, because there was not a greater diminution of direct 
 taxation, others because greater relief was not given to West 
 Indian interests, and some because the duties on tobacco were 
 not lowered ; yet altogether his financial statements and pro- 
 posals were-received with approbation, and his estimates for 
 the year voted with little opposition: the session, therefore, 
 was brought to a very harmonious conclusion; and on the 
 sixth of July, parliament was prorogued by commission, 
 under the appearance of extraordinary prosperity ; but the 
 illusion was soon to be dissipated, and all the golden prospects 
 of the chancellor.of the exchequer to vanish like a dream. 
 
 The causes of this sudden and unexpected reverse of 
 fortune are now to be investigated. The vast abundance of 
 capital, and consequent low rate of profit, during the last 
 three years, had greatly promoted the increase of manufactures 
 for exportation ; and as country banks continued in full opera- 
 tion, this apparent prosperity of manufactures attracted to 
 them much capital; whilst a system of credit was generated 
 which caused a still farther extension: ‘speculation at the same 
 time added its impulse to this system; until, in the course of 
 the present year, paper money, of various kinds, thrown into 
 circulation, increased the quantity of currency beyond what 
 the causes determining our supply of gold could sustain: the 
 exchanges turned against us; the currency became de- 
 preciated ; and gold began to flow out of the country. The 
 Bank of England, finding that the demand for gold diminished 
 its stock of coin, contracted its issue of notes; and in this way, 
 if thestate of trade had been good, the currency might have 
 been reduced sufficiently to restore the exchanges to par, 
 leaving us with our natural quantity: but the reduction in 
 quantity took place first among those who had pushed their 
 credit to the utmost: these parties were consequently rendered 
 incapable of meeting their engagements, and became bank- 
 rupts: speculation, or over-trading, being very general, the 
 ‘failure of some alarmed others; those who had given credit 
 pressed their debtors for payment; goods were sacrificed to 
 
230 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 make it; prices came down, alarm increased, and ruin seemed 
 impending over all. At this time the three per cent. consols 
 fell from eighty-two to seventy-five ; and, so difficult was it to 
 get money which would be received, that interest was given, 
 in some instances, for temporary loans, at a rate equal to fifty 
 per cent. per annum: country bank notes were extensively 
 driven from circulation ; and the directors of the bank, being 
 in better credit, put out a large additional amount; yet they 
 were nearly drained of coin; and, if their stock had been quite 
 exhausted, a new restriction must have taken place, or the 
 whole mass of Bank of England notes would have been, as it 
 were, annihilated: in that case, as coin could not have been 
 procured immediately, we should have been reduced to a 
 state of barter. On the authority of Mr. Huskisson, it is 
 stated, that a run on the bank for another forty-eight hours 
 would have actually brought us to that alarming condition. 
 
 These evil effects arose out of the system, which allowed 
 companies, or individuals, to create paper money to any 
 extent, and push it into circulation; the only check being 
 their liability to pay their paper in gold; a check, which the 
 events of this period showed to be no adequate security 
 against an almost annihilation of the common instrument of 
 exchange. Neither the amount of taxes, nor the high rate of 
 rent, nor low rate of profit, had any necessary connection 
 with this extraordinary derangement of commercial affairs ; 
 but it resulted from speculation, aided by a vicious system of 
 makirig paper money, which improperly increased the quantity 
 of currency, drove gold out of the country, and then caused a 
 general demand for it in exchange for paper, which demand 
 could not be met: the consequence was, an almost general 
 breaking up of those who depended on this paper, and an 
 approach to the annihilation of paper money. 
 
 Joint-stock stock companies, in whose schemes a sum of 
 more than £17,500,000 had been subscribed, and which, in 
 the plenitude of their imaginary power, would have contracted 
 to throw a bridge across the channel, or make a tunnel to 
 the antipodes, came for the most part into the gazette, without 
 a solvent subscriber, or an available shilling; and, toward the 
 end of the year, several London banks stopped payment : 
 the agitation in the city became extreme; and, at length, a 
 general alarm, or, as it was termed, a panic ensued: all 
 hastened to draw their money from the bankers, thus forward- 
 ing the very catastrophe which they dreaded; and more than’ 
 seventy country banks either totally failed, or were compelled 
 
A.D. 1825, GEORGE IV. 231 
 
 to suspend their payments, before the consternation had 
 subsided: this violent stoppage of all ordinary channels of 
 credit, and the consequent cessation of business, exercised a 
 strong reaction on the trading and manufacturing interests ; 
 so that the year 1825 closed in more alarming convulsions of 
 the mercantile world than this nation had ever witnessed. 
 Both the government and the bank came with laudable 
 promptitude to the relief of the public: an extraordinary 
 coinage of gold was expedited; a new issue of one and two 
 pound notes was poured into the country to supply the 
 deficiency of circulation caused by provincial failures ; and 
 commercial meetings were encouraged to pass resolutions for 
 the support of national credit; by which means the progress 
 of alarm was checked, and public confidence in some degree 
 restored. 
 
 In March this year, Mr. Brunel commenced his extra- 
 ordinary undertaking to construct a tunnel under the Thames 
 at Rotherhithe, a work which more than all others, executed 
 in this country, attracts the attention of foreigners; and on the 
 fifteenth of June the first stone of the new London Bridge was 
 laid by John Garratt, esq., lord mayor, in the presence of the 
 duke of York, attended by Mr. John Rennie, its eminent 
 architect. The failures of so many companies put a short stop 
 to the general scheme for improvements in London, though 
 several were projected: last year, the plan of Macadamising 
 the principal streets and squares commenced ; but it was now 
 found, that where there was a heavy and constant draught, 
 such a system was not practicable. This year, a second grand 
 festival was held in York cathedral, when the receipts 
 amounted to the immense sum of £20,200, and the ex- 
 penditure to £11,000:3 but of the surplus, £6000 was 
 destined for the erection of a grand concert room, and the 
 remainder was distributed among the city and county 
 hospitals. One of the most extraordinary instances of ac- 
 cumulation ever known was made public in the accounts of the 
 Equitable Life Assurance Company ; for its vested capital, in 
 the month of June, was as follows :— 
 
 Three per cents. ; ° : ° . £9,650,000 
 
 Three and a half ditto ‘ ‘ . F 430,000 
 On mortgage : . ° : ° 952,000 
 
 £11,032,000 
 
 3 At the first meeting of this kind the sum collected was £16,174, 
 the expenditure was £8809, and £7200 was given to the charities, 
 
232 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 Of this immense property, no less than £8,718,108 had 
 accumulated in the period between December, 1804, and 
 June, 1825. On the sixteenth of August, the first steam- 
 vessel to India, the Enterprise, captain Johnston, R.N., left 
 Falmouth, reaching the Cape on the thirteenth of October, 
 and arriving at Bengal on the ninth of December: also a new 
 expedition started on a scheme of discovery in Africa, under 
 captain Clapperton. Its enterprising leader died at Soccatoo 
 in April, 1827; but his papers were preserved by his faithful 
 attendant, Richard Lander; who, with his brother, had after- 
 wards the glory of solving the long doubtful problem respect- 
 ing the course of the Niger. 
 
 In March, a grand entertainment was given to the duke of 
 Wellington by noblemen and gentlemen connected with the 
 commerce of our metropolis, for the purpose of presenting his 
 grace with a magnificent vase, of the value of 1100 guineas, in 
 testimony of his transcendent services ; ‘not (as the inscription 
 remarked) in the presumptuous hope of extending the glory of 
 a name which is imperishable, but to testify their admiration 
 of the last and greatest of his achievements, the battle of 
 Waterloo.’ The duke, in returning thanks for this noble 
 present, without undervaluing the conduct of himself, his 
 officers, and gallant men, attributed the great success of that 
 battle, and of the war, chiefly to the indomitable spirit of the 
 country : with regard to the great victory which was so splen- 
 didly noticed, he very justly characterised it as one, ‘that had 
 produced consequences unheard of as the result of any 
 event in ancient or modern times; relieving mankind from 
 every apprehension of a return to that horrible, revolting, and 
 degrading tyranny, which had been imposed on almost all the 
 world, but which the people of this country had happily 
 escaped.” 
 
 Among the events which took place this year on the con- 
 tinent, that which seemed pregnant with the most important 
 consequences was the death of that amiable man and excellent 
 sovereign, the emperor Alexander; for it appeared capable 
 not only of putting in jeopardy the tranquillity of his empire, 
 but of changing the whole course of its foreign policy: the 
 event, however, was not felt beyond the limits of Russia. 
 The grand duke Constantine, a brutal man, who had renounced 
 bis right of inheritance on occasion of his marriage with a Polish 
 lady, adhered to his pledge; and though a conspiracy ex- 
 ploded at St. Petersburg, under pretence of forcing the crown 
 upon him, it was defeated by the grand duke Nicholas, who 
 
A.D. 1825. GEORGE IV. 233 
 
 succeeded to the throne, professing a determination to pursue 
 steadily that course of policy which had been adopted by his 
 predecessor. France was occupied in the coronation of its 
 bigoted and infatuated monarch, who soon proved the truth 
 of Napoleon’s expression concerning him and his race, ‘ that 
 they had learned nothing, and had forgotten nothing, in their 
 adversity.” His coronation at Rheims, on the twenty-ninth of 
 May, exhibited a degree of grandeur and parade rivalling that 
 of Napoleon at Paris: but what a difference in the attendants 
 on those memorable scenes! In one instance the sun shone 
 upon the eagles of the empire; upon glittering cuirasses and 
 polished helmets, the bright array of those bold men who 
 aimed at establishing French dominion over the prostrate 
 nations of the world: in the other were seen the banners of 
 the church ; and gold-embroidered robes covering the bended 
 forms of saint-like figures, who meditated in their secret hearts 
 the establishment of a spiritual tyranny over France itself, in 
 comparison with which that of Robespierre himself might have 
 been accounted a blessing! ‘The British envoys sent to this 
 gorgeous ceremony were the duke of Northumberland, lord 
 Granville, and sir George Naylor, who invested, though he 
 could not ennoble, Charles X. with the order of the garter. 
 Sweden, Denmark, ‘and Germany remained without much 
 alteration of circumstances, except that some members of the 
 holy alliance, who had nearly renounced all intercourse with 
 Wirtemberg, as not being sufficiently friendly to their principles, 
 renewed their diplomatic relations with that power: Russia 
 and Austria again sent ambassadors to Stutgard, professing to 
 have forgiven the king’s lapse of judgment in favoring the 
 principles of constitutional government. Unhappy Spain was 
 not only dishonored by the presence of foreign troops, but 
 distracted by all the miseries of factions, revolts, and changes 
 of administration; nor were there many of its cities, whose 
 prisons were not filled with persons implicated in, or suspected 
 of rebellion: at this period, however, the king seemed, by 
 comparison, to have assumed a new character, and to appear 
 as a protector of the liberal party: the prisoners, on the 
 present occasion, were ultra-royalists, monks, and priests, who, 
 thirsting for the blood of constitutionalists, gave out that ‘ the 
 beloved Ferdinand’ himself was a freemason; and that the 
 object of all good Spaniards should be to place on the throne 
 the infant Don Carlos, whose excellent principles and sincere 
 catholicism were well known. In Portugal, principally 
 throngh the influence of the British and French ambassadors, 
 
934 | HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIv. 
 
 the king was induced to recognise the independence of Brazil ; 
 the sovereignty of which he ceded to his eldest son, Don 
 Pedro: after this preliminary step, the proffered mediation 
 of Great Britain between the two states was accepted; and 
 sir Charles Stuart visited Rio Janeiro to negotiate a treaty 
 between the mother country and the new transatlantic empire: 
 the interior state, however, of Brazil was much disturbed by 
 the tyrannical and imprudent conduct of its new emperor; and 
 war also commenced between Brazil and the republic of 
 Buenos Ayres. In Italy all was tranquil, and the Austrian 
 government proceeded in its usual routine; kind and paternal 
 as long as its subjects yielded implicit obedience to its 
 dictates, and totally discarded politics from their imagination. 
 With regard to the papal states, the administration of Leo XII. 
 was distinguished by a superior degree of bigotry; and in 
 Naples, the old king, who died on the fourth of January, was 
 succeeded by his present majesty; when many persons, who 
 had been exiled on account of their share in the Neapolitan 
 revolution, received permission to return. The relations 
 between Turkey and Russia still continued in a very ambiguous 
 and critical state; though no steps were taken toward 
 hostilities on either side. During the winter, the Greeks had 
 been more occupied by internal dissentions than by efforts to 
 meet their barbarous foes; who, on the contrary, had made 
 all possible preparations for a vigorous campaign: the most 
 important feature in this was the Egyptian expedition under 
 Ibrahim Pasha, step-son to Mahomet Ali, pasha of Egypt; 
 who, having landed in the Morea, with a formidable force, 
 trained by European discipline, soon reduced the city of 
 Navarino: in western Greece, the Turks invested Missolonghi 
 where lord Byron, the zealous and disinterested advocate of 
 the Greek cause, died last year. In the United States, 
 Mr. John Quincy Adams was chosen president, against three 
 competitors, by the legislative body, on whom the election 
 devolved; no candidate having had the requisite majority of 
 suffrages among the electors deputed by the States. In South 
 America, the various republics were proceeding to consolidate 
 their power ; though Chili was much disturbed, and Paraguay 
 had fallen under the despotic tyranny of Dr. Francia. 
 
 The commercial affairs of Great Britain were still in a very 
 unsettled state, when parliament assembled in the beginning of 
 February ; and the first attention of both houses was naturally 
 directed to existing difficulties, though the greater part of 
 them could receive no remedy but through the lenient hand of 
 
A.D. 1826. GEORGE IV. 235 
 
 time: the hazard of their recurrence, however, might be 
 lessened ; accordingly, the house of commons, in pursuance 
 of a recommendation in the speech, to protect public and 
 private interests against sudden fluctuations by placing the 
 currency on a firm foundation, resolved itself into a committee 
 on the bank charter; when a proposition for prohibiting the 
 issue of notes below the value of £5, and withdrawing those in 
 circulation after a period of three years, was brought forward 
 by the chancellor of the exchequer; and being supported by 
 Mr. Brougham, though opposed by Mr. Baring, was carried 
 by a majority of 232 to 89. This resolution to extinguish 
 small notes in England (for the measure did not extend to 
 Scotland) was followed by two other bills affecting our 
 currency: the first of these, in opposition to what was thought 
 an unjust monopoly of the Bank of England, permitted the 
 number of partners in each country bank to be unlimited ;4 the 
 second, as a compensation to the bank for such a concession, 
 extended its exclusive privileges to a circle round the metro- 
 polis, with a radius of sixty-five miles; and authorised the 
 directors to establish branch banks in different parts of the 
 country. While these measures were in progress, the public 
 distress appeared but little diminished, and there seemed to be 
 a general expectation that government would alleviate it by an 
 issue of exchequer bills: ministers, however, had the firmness 
 and prudence to abstain from any short-sighted and injurious 
 palliatives; though they guaranteed the bank to an extent of 
 two millions for the purchase of exchequer bills in the money 
 market: the bank itself came to a resolution of lending three 
 millions on direct or collateral security ; but the whole of this 
 was. not applied for; and the very knowlege that such loans 
 were attainable, had a considerable effect in restoring confidence 
 among the commercial classes. What indeed can destroy the 
 elasticity of a country which possesses such resources as Great 
 Britain, while she is true to herself? Commerce, feeling 
 itself unshackled, soon repaired its losses, discovering new 
 powers, and new provinces; forcing its way not only through 
 European nations, where the ingratitude of those who had 
 reeovered their thrones by our assistance repaid us by raising 
 barriers against our trade; but penetrating the most barbarous 
 regions of the earth, while it laid open the mysterious Niger 
 and the distant Irrawaddy to our ships: China lay in the back- 
 ground: yet even she was destined to succumb hereafter to 
 the irresistible spirit of commerce. 
 4 Previous to this time, it could not exceed six, 
 
236 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. Ch. ‘LxIv. 
 
 The corn laws were again agitated, and a committee was 
 moved for by Mr. Whitmore, to take them into consideration. 
 Mr. Huskisson, on being referred to more particularly, as 
 having in the preceding session pledged himself to a revision 
 of these enactments, maintained that the pledge was qualified ; 
 that the present was not a fit time for such an undertaking, 
 though he had every reason to suppose that during next year 
 this subject might with propriety be brought before the house ; 
 in which case, he was most anxious to give it a serious and 
 dispassionate consideration: but though the arrangement of 
 our corn laws thus remained unsettled, it was found necessary, 
 before the end of the session, to introduce two bills for 
 modifying their strict operation. There was at present but 
 little diminution of public distress ; and its continued pressure 
 led to a series of disgraceful riots in Lancashire, where the 
 vengeance of the mob was furiously directed against machinery, 
 especially power looms, under a notion that these were the 
 great cause of their want of employment. The people acted 
 from ignorance; but this ignorance had been stimulated by a 
 state of suffering approaching almost to starvation, which no 
 local subscriptions could relieve: as therefore, in the ports of 
 Hull, Liverpool, and some others, there were about three 
 thousand quarters of bonded wheat, it was supposed that the 
 liberation of this might diminish the extent of suffering, while 
 it would have no material effect on the agricultural interests : 
 Mr. Canning therefore brought forward a proposition to allow 
 bonded corn to come into the market. Again, as it was im- 
 possible to foretell the result of the ensuing harvest, (and from 
 the general aspect of the crops fears were entertained on this 
 point,) it was also proposed, as a measure of precaution, to vest 
 in government, during the recess, a power of permitting foreign 
 grain to be imported, on payment of a fixed duty. Both 
 measures were carried, after a strong opposition: but in the 
 second case, the quantity of corn admissible, instead of being 
 indefinite, was limited to 500,000 quarters; and the period to 
 two months from the opening of the ports. 
 
 In 1824, the legislature had begun to act on the principles 
 of free trade, by taking off those restrictions which intirely 
 prohibited the importation of foreign silks; and to the bill 
 which permitted their admission with an ad valorem duty of 
 thirty per cent., and which was now about to come into opera- 
 tion, a large portion both of masters and workmen referred the 
 present depression of the trade, rather than to causes which 
 did not come so readily within general comprehension: many 
 
A.D. 1826. GEORGH IV. 237 
 
 manufacturers also limited their orders until the effect of this 
 untried system should be somewhat known; while more joined 
 in the outcry raised against it: the truth is, little opposition 
 was made to the measure when it passed ; and if other circum- 
 stances, which that measure in no way effected, had not 
 created distress, it never would have been decried: a great 
 decay, however, of the trade having taken place, nothing was 
 easier than to ascribe it to the impossibility of our meeting 
 foreign competitors in the market, loaded as we were with 
 taxation and burdens of various kinds: accordingly, numerous 
 petitions were presented from the districts in which silk manu- 
 factures were carried on, praying for a repeal, or at least for a 
 . modification, of the enactment of 1824. On the twenty-third 
 of February, Mr. Ellice, one of the members for Coventry, 
 moved that these petitions should be referred to a select com- 
 mittee ; and the motion led to a debate, which, by adjournment, 
 continued two evenings: on this occasion, Mr. Huskisson was 
 driven to vindicate the leading part he had taken in the measure 
 referred to; a task, which he executed with eminent ability 
 and success, being ably seconded by Mr. Canning: who, in a 
 speech, interesting not only for its talent, but for the just and 
 generous praise bestowed on his friend,-gave utterance to the 
 feelings of vexation and disgust which he and Mr. Huskisson 
 had to endure from the enemies of reason and philosophy; ‘a 
 sect, small in numbers, and powerless in might’; who thought 
 that all advances toward improvement were retrogradations 
 toward jacobinism: these persons,’ he said, ‘seem to imagine, 
 that under no possible circumstances can an honest man 
 endeavor to keep his country on a line with the progress of 
 political knowlege, and to adapt its course to the varying cir- 
 cumstances of the world: such an attempt is branded as an 
 indication of mischievous intentions, as evidence of a design to 
 sap the very foundations of the country’s greatness.’ ‘The fol- 
 lowing passage, however, deserves particular observation, as 
 tending to unmask a set of hypocritical patriots, who strive to 
 maintain their selfish views and miserable prejudices under the 
 shelter of a great name, while they either egregiously misre- 
 present or completely misunderstand the character of him who 
 bore it. ‘It is singular,’ said Mr. Canning, ‘to remark, how 
 ready some people are to admire in a great man the exception, 
 rather than the rule of his conduct: such perverseness is like 
 the idolatry of barbarous nations, who can see the noonday 
 splendor of the sun without emotion; but when he is eclipsed, 
 come forward with hymns and cymbals to adore him: thus, 
 
238 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 there are those who venerate Mr. Pitt less in the brightness of 
 his meridian glory, than under his partial obscurations ; who 
 gaze on him with the fondest admiration when he has ceased to 
 shine.’ Pitt, indeed, was a true philosopher, and no stubborn 
 follower of antiquated precedents. Who can imagine, that, if 
 he had lived, experience would not have corrected many of his 
 views; while the improved state of the world opened his eyes 
 to glorious visions of the future? Mr. Canning, in one of his 
 later speeches, declared that, in applying philosophy to politics, 
 he only carried into effect Pitt’s own declarations. 
 
 Soon afterwards, Mr. Huskisson was obliged to enter on a 
 defence of the late policy pursued respecting the shipping 
 interest and navigation laws: on which occasion, nothing 
 could be more clear or comprehensive than his exposition of 
 the principles on which the former system was founded, of the 
 changes which had since occurred, and of the consequent 
 necessity of our conformity to those altered circumstances: the 
 whole of our colonial and foreign commerce passed under his 
 review, from the first enactment of the navigation law (12 
 Charles II.), to the present period: he proved the necessity, 
 as well as policy, of the various innovations which had from 
 time to time been made on its principle, more especially since 
 the close of the first American war; and to support his state- 
 ment, he concluded by moving for a variety of returns relative 
 to shipping, tonnage, and men, employed in the merchant 
 service, from the year 1814 to 1825 inclusive. 
 
 On the eighteenth of April, a petition presented to the 
 house of commons from a person confined for a contempt of 
 the court of chancery, was made an opportunity for attacking 
 that court and its head. Mr. Hume declared that the greatest 
 curse which ever fell on any nation was to have such a court, 
 and a judge who perpetuated such a system: and similar 
 language was held on the twenty-first, when the petition of 
 another complainant was presented. In the mean time the 
 chancery commissioners had produced their report, and sir 
 John Copley, then attorney-general, addressed his mind so 
 promptly to the subject, that by the eighteenth of May he had 
 digested a plan, which he opened to the house of commons in 
 a lucid speech, introductory to a bill for regulating the practice 
 of the court: but owing to the lateness of the season, and 
 some other considerations which impeded its progress, this 
 measure was deferred to the following session. Meanwhile 
 ministers set themselves earnestly to work in promoting the 
 objects of the commission, and provided pecuniary means for 
 
A.D. 1826. GEORGE IV. 239 
 
 carrying them into effect, from what is called the suitors’ 
 fund. 
 
 All this meditated disarrangement of his court and system, 
 as well as his favorable inclination toward lord Gifford, would 
 have induced lord Eldon to resign his office, had not the death 
 of that amiable and excellent person, whom he contemplated 
 as his probable successor, intervened in the beginning of 
 September. 
 
 Though the financial statement of the chancellor of the 
 exchequer partook of that favorable character which it had 
 sustained for the last three years, he admitted that it would be 
 unsafe to frame his estimates without allowing for some loss in 
 various branches of revenue, consequent on the present state of 
 public embarrassment ; but, after all deductions, he could not 
 reckon the probable produce of the year before him at less 
 than £57,000,000, while he calculated the whole expenditure 
 at 56,328,421. In his speech on this occasion, he enumerated 
 the various taxes reduced since 1816, which amounted to the 
 enormous sum of £27,522,000; yet this, far from diminishing 
 the various sources of revenue, had rather infused into them 
 new energy, and justified his most sanguine expectations: such 
 a declaration, which held out much happier prospects than 
 could have been anticipated, was received by the house with 
 general satisfaction; and the necessary supplies for the year 
 were voted, though not without considerable opposition from 
 Mr. Hume, Mr. Maberly, and some other members, regarding 
 both the management of the national debt, and the amount of 
 the army, navy, and civil estimates. 
 
 Mr. Peel, at this-period, applied the powers of his clear and 
 dispassionate mind to the simplification and improvement of 
 our criminal code; purifying it of many barbarous enactments 
 and absurd technicalities, introduced when society differed 
 widely from its present state. An important bill, for amending 
 the law of felony, as well as the administration of criminal 
 justice, was now carried; but another for consolidating and 
 amending the laws relative to larceny, and giving to judges a 
 power of awarding costs to prosecutors in cases of misdemeanor, 
 was, on account of the multiplicity of its details, left for con- 
 sideration to another session: one clause, which Mr. Lamb 
 endeavored to introduce into the bill, was contested by great 
 names and with much ability on both sides; this was a pro- 
 posal, which had been already more than once rejected, for 
 allowing counsel to prisoners: the attorney-general, while he 
 admitted that the opinion of the bar, respecting its merits, was 
 
240 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 divided, felt convinced that its effeets would be injurious to the 
 prisoner as well as to justice ; for instead of a simple statement 
 and calm examination of facts, we should have all the zeal and 
 struggle for victory, which were usually seen in civil cases: 
 besides, counsel for the prosecution would always have the 
 benefit of reply whenever a witness was called for the accused 
 person; which might more than counterbalance any favorable 
 effect of evidence: again, if the address of the prisoner’s 
 counsel promised to be efficient, the judge would in many cases 
 be compelled to animadvert on it; in doing which he might 
 unconsciously pass the exact boundary that ought to circum- 
 scribe his remarks: then the impression would probably go 
 forth, that the verdict of the jury had been elicited by those 
 remarks ; and the judge, instead of being, as now, counsel for 
 the prisoner, would be almost compelled to become an advocate 
 against him. On the other side, the absurdity of permitting 
 counsel to start and multiply frivolous and visionary objections 
 to the form and phraseology of an indictment, while they were 
 prohibited from intermeddling with the merits and evidence of 
 their client’s case, was placed in a strong light by Mr. H. 
 Twiss: he also displayed the hardship under which a prisoner 
 lay, who, wishing to address the jury on the facts of a case, 
 must do it with his own lips, under all the disadvantages of 
 natural disability, physical impediments, or accidents of his 
 situation; while the very incompetency to do himself justice 
 would be aggravated by a knowlege of the serious consequences 
 attendant on his failure. ‘ As to the fiction of the judge being 
 his counsel,’ said Mr. Twiss, ‘it would ‘in most cases be found 
 that he was counsel against the prisoner, and for the prosecutor. 
 Whence came the only instructions which the judge received 
 in any of these cases? from the deposition of witnesses for the 
 prosecution: and sir Robert Atkyns, in his notes on lord Russell’s 
 trial, had said,—‘I well know by experience what sort of 
 counsel judges usually be for a prisoner.’ Usually, indeed, the 
 jury understand the judge’s charge as having a tendency to pro- 
 tect the prisoner from wrong; but in that respect, he becomes 
 counsel for the prosecution: barely fair play is not enough for 
 a man, who has for his antagonist a skilful and practised 
 advocate.’ Mr. Peel admitted that the arguments and opinions 
 on this point were nearly balanced; but since his own expe- 
 rience, and the knowlege acquired from his official situation, 
 led him to think that justice was most satisfactorily administered 
 under the present system, he felt unwilling to risk any change. 
 In the early part of this session, the house was occupied by a 
 
A.D. 1826. GEORGE IV. 241 
 
 ease which Mr. Denman had brought before it in the preceding 
 year, relating to an act of great oppression exhibited by Mr. 
 Kenrick, one of the Welsh judges, and a magistrate of Surrey : 
 evidence on the charge was entered into; and Mr. Denman 
 moved, that, as Mr. Kenrick had shown himself an unfit 
 person to exercise the judicial functions, an address be pre- 
 sented to his majesty, praying him to remove that gentleman 
 from the office of judge of the great session of Wales. The 
 manner in which this question was treated by the ministerial 
 part of the house, and in which it was negatived without a 
 division, was no bad argument, in the mind of many unpre- 
 judiced persons, in favor of parliamentary reform. 
 
 In the course of this session, cases of great cruelty and 
 injustice, exercised by owners, magistrates, and judicial courts, 
 against the slaves in our colonies, were brought before parlia- 
 ment, and eloquently exposed by Mr. Denman, Mr. Brougham, 
 lord Suffield, and others. Instead of the less dilatory methods 
 proposed by these gentlemen for the extinction of slavery, 
 delay and remedial measures were suggested by lord Liverpool 
 and Mr. Canning; the latter of whom declared, that if imme- 
 diate and hasty steps were taken, our West Indian possessions 
 would be abandoned to a state of savage desolation, of which 
 wild speculators had not the slightest notion: at the same time, 
 he was obliged to confess, that in most of our colonies, the 
 exhortations sent by government for ameliorating the condition 
 of their slaves, had been treated with intolerable neglect and 
 contempt: the previous question, moved by sir T. Acland, 
 was carried by a large majority ; and thus the colonial legisla- 
 tures were still allowed to show how far they were ready, by 
 timely concessions and purposes of good faith, to avert a direct 
 interference of the mother country in their internal regulations. 
 The session did not pass off without some attempts at a reform 
 of the house of commons made by lord John Russell, in a bill 
 to prevent bribery at elections; by Mr. Abercromby, who 
 wished to amend the representation of Edinburgh ; and by sir 
 J. Newport, to disfranchise non-resident freemen in Ireland. 
 Mr. Abercromby’s motion was strongly opposed by Mr, 
 Dundas and sir G. Clerk, sitting members for the town and 
 county of Edinburgh; as well as by Mr. Canning, who con- 
 sidered it as intended to undermine those barriers which 
 resisted the inroads of a more wide and sweeping innovation: 
 nor was the unexampled prosperity of Edinburgh, and the con- 
 tentment which pervaded its population, forgotten to be brought 
 forward, as a convincing proof of the excellence of the old 
 
 ENG. XVII. R 
 
242 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 system. Mr. Canning, after expatiating on advantages connected 
 with the Scotch representation, observed, that his objection to 
 the present motion was its application, as a single instance of 
 reform in a borough, to the general question: it was not usual, 
 he said, to make an attack on a single borough by an allegation 
 of prevailing abuses; but it was quite new to institute a charge 
 against it because its elective franchise was not proportionate 
 to its actual population: this principle, if once admitted, would 
 let in the general question of reform, and lead to endless 
 squabbles: he concluded, however, with an extraordinary 
 expression of his hopes, that the motion would be repeated 
 annually for the innocent gratification of the noble lord 
 (J. Russell) and those who advocated it; little thinking how 
 near that gratification was, and how ample, if not innocent, it 
 would be! 
 
 Before parliament broke up, measures were taken for the 
 restoration of five Scotch peerages forfeited by rebellion in the 
 last century: the only person who expressed disapprobation 
 regarding these acts of grace was lord Milton; and he avowed, 
 that his opposition was founded not on personal grounds, but 
 on political considerations alone: why should not a bill be 
 brought in for the restoration of titles against all acts of 
 attainder passed under the present and preceding dynasties ? 
 why make a selection of forfeitures incurred for treason, not 
 against the crown, but against the liberties of the subject ? 
 He lamented that he had not stated his objections when these 
 bills first made their appearance in the house. 
 
 This sixth and short session was prorogued by commission 
 on the thirty-first of May; and on the second of June parlia- 
 ment was dissolved. Parties in it had chiefly followed the 
 divisions of the cabinet: the principal of these, under the 
 influence of the lord chancellor, supported every abuse from a 
 dread of change; the minority, at the head of which was Mr. 
 Canning, declared itself favorable to all practicable improve- 
 ments; while the premier held a middle course between them, 
 agreeing with the first in little else except his repugnance to 
 catholic emancipation, but tempering the ardor of the other by 
 his habitual caution; commanding, however, the respect of 
 both, by his character ‘for moderation and integrity. Each 
 party was held in check by the parliamentary strength of its 
 opponents: the whigs, hopeless of place, were reduced to a 
 necessity of forwarding their principles through the acts of one 
 portion of the cabinet, while the tories naturally supported the 
 other; so that the marks of ancient opposition became almost 
 
A.D. 1826. GEORGE IV. 243 
 
 obliterated, and the only violence exhibited was in the conduct 
 of a small party of radicals; but the people themselves, forget- 
 ting in a great degree political differences, contributed to 
 render this era memorable in our annals. Under such circum- 
 stances, the dissolution of parliament did not portend many 
 political changes: the elections were carried on with less 
 animosity than usual; the chief topics on which candidates 
 were tested, being the corn laws and the catholic question. 
 In England, the duke of York’s speech, and the violence 
 exhibited in Ireland, had created a strong feeling against the 
 Roman catholics; but in the latter country, their association 
 had re-appeared under a different form; and, being aided by 
 efforts of the priests, who identified themselves with the lay 
 agitators, it procured the return of a large majority, pledged to 
 support the claims of their papistical constituents. ‘The hostile 
 feelings of the two parties were terribly excited by this con- 
 flict: the peasantry, under the spiritual influence of their 
 pastors, generally voted for candidates favorable to emancipa~ 
 tion, against their own landlords; many of whom, in return, 
 exercising their right of ejectment, spread misery and indigna- 
 tion far and wide throughout the country: the result of a 
 strongly contested election dispossessed the Beresford family 
 of a seat for the county of Waterford; and this circumstance 
 diffused a joy over Ireland, which almost consoled the sufferers 
 for all their calamities. 
 
 The meeting of parliament, which took place on the four- 
 teenth of November, was hastened by the necessity of obtaining 
 its sanctiou for a measure, which the state of the harvest had 
 forced on government: toward the end of August, an evident 
 deficiency in the crops caused the prices of grain to rise above 
 the importation limit ; but the averages could not be taken, or 
 foreign corn legally brought to market, before the fifteenth of 
 November: ministers, therefore, in this emergency, admitted 
 it on their own responsibility, by an order of council, on the 
 first of September: hence the necessity of a bill of indemnity ; 
 which was passed without opposition: about the same time, 
 ministers announced their intention of revising the corn laws, 
 but not before the Christmas recess. ‘The only other measure 
 of importance which occupied attention before that period was 
 one which eminently signalised Mr. Canning’s policy ; and ex- 
 hibited signs of that promptitude and vigor, both in counsel 
 and execution, which once distinguished the immortal Chatham. 
 The state of Portugal, including an attempt made by the exe- 
 crable Miguel against his father’s liberty, if not against his 
 
244 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 life, and the acknowlegement of Brazilian independence by 
 John VI., under the advice and influence of Great Britain, has 
 been already detailed: during all this time, the French minister 
 at Lisbon, supported by the queen and her faction, labored in- 
 cessantly to deprive England of its ancient ascendency in the 
 Portuguese councils ; attempting even to occupy the country 
 with French troops drawn from Spain: but he was foiled by 
 the vigor of our government, and the presence of our ships in 
 the Tagus. In the spring of the present year, John VI. died, 
 having appointed his daughter, the infant Isabella Maria, 
 regent, in the name of his eldest son Don Pedro: he however 
 being, by the Brazilian constitution, obliged to make his elec- 
 tion between the two crowns, abdicated that of Portugal in 
 favor of his eldest daughter ; but, wishing to prevent a disputed 
 suecession, and encouraging the incestuous example which had 
 so long disgraced his family, he directed that she should espouse, 
 and share the throne with her uncle Don Miguel: at the same 
 time, to secure the attachment of the liberal party in Portugal, 
 while he conciliated the opposing faction, he re-modelled the 
 ancient institutions of that country into a constitutional or re- 
 presentative form of government; and of this instrument, the 
 British envoy, sir Charles Stuart, was induced to become the 
 bearer, on his return from the Brazilian court. ‘This proceeding 
 indeed of our ambassador was publicly characterised by Mr. 
 Canning as an unauthorised interference; but it was difficult 
 to persuade the world that the new constitution was not framed 
 and promulgated in concert with our government: in Portugal, 
 it was received by the liberals with great joy; but by the 
 absolute party with a virulent hostility, which prompted them 
 to conspire for its overthrow, in order that their favorite, Don 
 Miguel, might ascend the throne: in this design they were 
 openly encouraged by the queen dowager, and covertly by 
 France, that secret promoter of plots and intrigues in all coun- 
 tries where her ambassadors, her consuls, her military or civil 
 officers, her merchants or private citizens reside: hence several 
 Portuguese regiments were persuaded to desert into Spain, 
 where they proclaimed Miguel, and swore allegiance to him as 
 king of Portugal: nor was this proceeding viewed with any 
 displeasure by the Spanish monarch, who was very unwilling 
 to see liberal institutions established in the vicinity of his 
 realm: the rebels, therefore, were not only sheltered within 
 his territories, but supplied and equipped by his means for the 
 invasion of their own country; and though, in answer to re- 
 monstrances made by the Portuguese regency and the British 
 
A.D. 1826. GEORGE IY. 245 
 
 government on this point, he disavowed and condemned the 
 acts of his officers on the frontier ; yet the local authorities so 
 systematically persevered in the same course as to leave no 
 doubt that they acted by instructions from the court of Madrid. 
 With such assistance, the ‘ absolute party’ became so formida- 
 ble, that the existing government, as well as the constitutional 
 cause, was in imminent danger ; and M. de Palmelia, Portuguese 
 ambassador in London, applied to our government for military 
 aid, on the faith of ancient treaties: accordingly, on the 
 eleventh of December, ministers brought down a message from 
 the king, recounting the hostile and faithless conduct of Spain, 
 and requesting that parliament would enable his majesty to 
 fulfil his obligations toward the oldest of his allies. ‘The pro- 
 posal for an address to the throne on this occasion produced 
 from Mr. Canning a speech, which may be classed among the 
 finest efforts of that distinguished orator: in it he not only 
 vindicated our interference in affairs of the peninsula, but fully 
 developed the principles of his foreign policy: disclaiming 
 every purpose of interfering in the internal dissentions of Por- 
 tugal, or influencing the settlement of her domestic institutions, 
 he considered England as merely called on to defend her from 
 invasion organised by foreign aid: after going over the provi- 
 sions of subsisting treaties to prove this position, he called at- 
 tention to the present relative state of Portugal and Spain; 
 declaring, that the vote he asked was for the defence of one 
 country, not for aggression against the other: there was still a 
 road open to Spain for retraction and redress; and this would 
 be most readily promoted by the presence of a British army on 
 the territory of ourally. Mr. Canning next went into a detail 
 of events relative to the acquisition of her new constitution by 
 Portugal; disclaiming all interference on our part, and ex- 
 plaining the circumstance of its being brought over from Brazil 
 by sir C. Stuart. ‘ With respect to the character of that con- 
 stitution,’ he observed, ‘I do not think it right to offer at 
 present any public opinion; my own I have privately ; but, 
 as an English minister, all 1 wish to say is, may God prosper 
 the attempt made by Portugal to obtain constitutional liberty ; 
 and may that nation be as fit to receive and cherish it, as on 
 other occasions she is capable of discharging her duties among 
 European nations!’ This sentiment was received: by the house 
 with long and continued cheers; after which, he detailed the 
 aggressions of Spain, as well as her motives; expressing an 
 earnest. hope that, on hearing of the step we were about to 
 take, that power would act in such a manner as to render hos- 
 
246 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CH. LXIV. 
 
 tilities unnecessary: he had set out by declaring, that nothing 
 short of vindicating our national honor could make him endure 
 a thought of war; but he begged now to be understood, not as 
 dreading war in a good cause, from any distrust of our strength 
 and resources: it was on very different grounds that he dreaded 
 it; it was because he knew that this country possessed a power 
 to push any war, in which she might engage, to consequences, 
 at the bare notion of which he shuddered: our position at this 
 time was not merely one of neutrality between contending 
 nations, but between adverse principles; it was a position, 
 which alone preserved that balance of power which was ne- 
 cessary for the welfare and safety of Europe. ‘ Nearly four 
 years of experience,’ said Mr. Canning, ‘have confirmed that 
 opinion ; and itis to be feared, that the next contest in Europe, 
 if it should extend beyond the narrow limits of Portugal and 
 Spain, will be a war of the most tremendous nature, because it 
 will be a war of conflicting opinions ; and although this coun- 
 try may enter into it with a desire to mitigate and control its 
 horrors, yet she cannot help seeing under her banners all those 
 who are restless and dissatisfied, with or without cause, in 
 every nation with which she may be placed at variance. ‘The 
 consciousness of this fact, the knowlege that we possess such a 
 tremendous power, forces me to feel as I now feel: but it is 
 one thing to have a giant’s strength, and another to use it like a 
 giant: the consciousness that we have this power keeps us 
 safe: our business is not to seek opportunities of displaying it ; 
 but so to keep it, that hereafter the world may see we knew 
 its proper use, while we shrunk from converting the umpire 
 into the oppressor— 
 Celsa sedet AXolus arce, 
 
 Sceptra tenens; mollitque animos, et temperat iras: 
 
 Ni faciat, maria, ac terras, ceelumque profundum 
 
 Quippe ferant rapidi secum, verrantque per auras. 
 
 The consequences of letting loose those passions which are 
 chained up may be such as will lead to a scene of desolation 
 which no one can contemplate without horror; and such as I 
 could never lie easy on my couch if I was conscious of having 
 by one hour precipitated. I would bear much, and forbear 
 long; I would almost put up with any thing that did not 
 touch our national faith and national honor, rather than let 
 slip the furies of war, when we know not whom they may reach, 
 and where the devastation may end: such is the love of peace 
 which the British government acknowleges, and such the duty 
 of peace which the circumstances of the world inculcate. In 
 
A.D. 1826. GEORGE IV. 247 
 
 obedience to this conviction, and with the hope of avoiding ex- 
 tremities, I will push no farther the topics of this part of the 
 address: let us defend Portugal, whoever may be the assailants, 
 because it is a work of duty; and let us end where that duty 
 ends: we go to Portugal, not to rule, not to dictate, not to 
 prescribe laws: we go only to plant there the standard of 
 England ; and where that standard is planted, foreign dominion 
 shall not come.’ 
 
 The effect of this speech on the house can hardly be de- 
 scribed: even Mr. Brougham was charmed into unqualified 
 admiration ; and in supporting the motion, declared, ‘ that the 
 burdens of the country, however oppressive, would be borne 
 cheerfully through the impending struggle, if war should be 
 the Sean for now we were governed on wise, liberal, and 
 truly English principles. He thought the Portuguese consti- 
 tution worthy of that distinguished statesman’s patronage, who 
 had the present management of our foreign affairs: the subject 
 had inspired his eloquence with a degree of fervor unprece- 
 dented in effect ; even (and he could not rank it higher) be- 
 yond that right honorable gentleman’s former most eloquent 
 orations. He felt, that with the strong and impregnable prin- 
 ciples now acted on by our government, no burdens would 
 hinder us, if the day of trial should come, from coping with a 
 world in arms: but the day of trial would not come; the 
 knowlege that these principles were acted on would be a 
 security against it.’ 
 
 Nothing could be more just than these observations; and 
 the result was exactly what had been anticipated; if such 
 principles had been extensively acted on at an earlier period, 
 and the determination of England had been more pointedly 
 declared in favor of constitutional governments, against the 
 bigotry, the contempt of popular rights, and the tyranny dis- 
 played by despots, probably much human suffering, and much 
 diplomatic confusion, would have been prevented: but such 
 principles unhappily did not florish in the Castlereagh school 
 of politics. 
 
 It was fortunate for Mr. Canning’s fame that his motion was 
 combated, and an amendment proposed ; for he thus became 
 engaged ina reply, which even surpassed the eloquence of his 
 preceding speech. Sir Robert Wilson and Mr, Baring, though 
 they supported the address, had strongly censured government 
 for allowing France to usurp and retain the occupation of 
 Spain: in answer to this, Mr. Canning explained, that when 
 the French army entered Spain, we might, if we chose, have 
 
248 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LXIV. 
 
 visited that measure by a war; but such a war would not, in 
 these days, have been the proper method of restoring the 
 balance of power, which varies as civilisation advances, and 
 new nations spring up: to take.a leaf from the book of Euro- 
 pean policy in the times of William III. or of Anne, for sup- 
 porting that balance now, would be to disregard the march ot 
 events, and to regulate our policy by a confusion of facts. ‘ I 
 admit,’ he said, ‘that the entrance of a French army into 
 Spain was a measure of disparagement to Great Britain—was 
 a severe blow to the feelings of this country. One of the 
 modes of redress lay in a direct attack on France, through a 
 war on the Spanish soil; the other was to make the possession 
 of Spain itself harmless in rival hands—to make it worse than 
 harmless; to make it injurious to the possessor: this latter 
 mode I have adopted. Do you think that, for the disparage- 
 ment to England, we have not been compensated? Do you 
 think that, for the blockade of Cadiz, England has not received 
 a full recompense? I looked at Spain by another name than 
 Spain: I looked on that power as Spain and the Indies; and 
 so looking at the Indies, I have there called a new world into 
 existence, and regulated the balance of power; thus redeem- 
 ing the movement of France, and leaving her own act on her, 
 unmitigated and unredressed ; so that she could now thankfully 
 get rid of her responsibility, and shake off a burden too heavy 
 to be borne without complaint. France would now be glad if 
 England would assist her in dispensing with this burden; and 
 the only way of riveting France to the possession of Spair, 
 would be to make that possession a point of honor. I repeat 
 it, the object of the present expedition is not war, but to take 
 the last chance of peace: if England does not go promptly to 
 the aid of Portugal, Portugal will be trampled on, England 
 will be disgraced, and then war will come; come too in the train 
 of degradation: if we wait until Spain have courage to ripen 
 her secret machinations into open hostility, we shall have war ; 
 shall have the war of pacificators ; aud who can tell when that 
 war shall end ?” 
 
 Never perhaps did political eloquence obtain a greater triumph 
 than on this occasion: everybody, but Mr. Banks and Mr. 
 Hume, appeared touched by the sacred flame; and when the 
 latter gentleman’s amendment was put, it received the support 
 of only three or four members ;_ after which the original question 
 was carried with that number of dissentients. On the same 
 night, a similar address in the upper house was moved by lord 
 Bathurst, and seconded by lord Holland ; when even the duke 
 
A.D. 1826. GEORGE IV. 249 
 
 of Wellington, though he lamented the necessity of interference, 
 and endeavoured to screen his beloved Ferdinand..behind the 
 perfidious character of political servants, captains-general, and 
 inferior ministers, was obliged to confess that a casus federis 
 existed, which justified the interposition of our troops; while 
 he still hoped that war would be prevented, and trusted for 
 that happy result to the cordial assistande which we might 
 expect from France ! %\ 
 
 The general sentiment of the country se¢onded that unani- 
 mity which prevailed in parliament respectingso important a 
 measure; and the prompt decision of goverment quickly 
 effected the purpose intended. There was not ‘asmoment’s 
 delay: the news which made known the imminent perilof our 
 ancient ally arrived on the eighth; the king’s message was 
 brought to the house on the eleventh ; the discussion took place 
 next day; early on the fourteenth, 5000 troops, under the 
 command of sir William Clinton, began their march towards 
 the coast; the very winds of heaven seemed to favor the 
 righteous cause; and our first detachment appeared in the 
 Tagus on the twenty-fifth. The treachery and dissimulation 
 of Ferdinand instantly gave way to his fears, while the French 
 government recalled the diplomatic instrument of its intrigues ; 
 and the independence of Portugal, with its constitution, was 
 for a time preserved: but the movement ofa British army 
 produced not effects half so extensive or permanent as the 
 speech of a British minister. Notwithstanding the penal pro- 
 hibitions with which continental powers are accustomed to 
 intrench themselves against our press, that speech found its 
 way over all the countries of Europe, and into the utmost 
 recesses of despotism; alarming the agents and abettors of 
 tyranny, while it gave encouragement to those who were still 
 engaged in liberating their necks from the yoke of slavery: 
 from that time, not only the heart of the British nation, but the 
 hope of the liberal portion of Europe, was attached to Mr. 
 Canning’s ministry ; and though the principles of his generous 
 policy were obscured for a time under less liberal and less 
 - enlightened administrations, yet their influence is still felt, and 
 awes in some degree the despots of the old, as well as the 
 democrats of the new world. But though sentiments in favor 
 of Mr. Canning were making rapid progress both at home and 
 abroad, that minister himself soon experienced the fatal effects 
 of his popularity : the line of separation which existed between 
 him and a powerful section of the cabinet, who regarded his 
 warmth and eloquence as a fatal demonstration of liberalism, 
 
250 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 was now widened; while his personal assumption of superiority 
 in the house, no less than his open patronage of papular prin- 
 ciples, exasperated that jealous spirit with which he was 
 regarded by the high tories: nor did the language held by this 
 minister, regarding Spain and her colonies, as well as France, 
 fail to rouse the anger of those despotic sovereigns, who had 
 east their fetters round the liberties of the continent, and who 
 began to see with alarm that revolution which was taking place 
 in the public mind of Great Britain on this subject. 
 
 In the eastern part of Europe, the prospects of the Greeks 
 were gloomy, though their perseverance gained for them 
 respect among other nations. ‘The sultan, having accommodated 
 his differences with Russia, proceeded to dissolve the corps of 
 janissaries, to introduce European discipline into his armies, 
 and to reorganize the decaying system of Ottoman government : 
 in the mean time, Missolonghi, the key of western Greece, had 
 fallen before the murderous assaults of Ibrahim Pasha; and 
 the national assembly made an affecting appeal to the patriotism 
 of their nation, as well as to the generous feelings of European 
 states. ‘The interference of governments was a task of great 
 delicacy and difficulty; but in every christian country, the 
 melancholy fate of Missolonghi, and the depressed condition of 
 Greece under Ibrahim Pasha and his barbarous Egyptians, 
 produced liberal contributions: nor was it found difficult to 
 negotiate loans among speculators, who became anxious to draw 
 profit even from the distress of suffering patriots: of these 
 resources, a considerable portion was spent in steam vessels and 
 other ships, which never left the countries in which they were 
 built; and in large eontributions to greedy contractors, who 
 disgusted every honest mind by the enormous rapacity which 
 they disguised under the mask of general philanthropy. 
 
 The only event in our domestic annals which requires notice, 
 was the opening of the suspension bridge over the Menai Strait 
 on the thirtieth of January. This stupendous structure, pro- 
 jected by Mr. Telford, for the convenience of communication 
 between Great Britain and Ireland, is, in the extreme length of 
 its chains, from their fastenings in the rocks, about 1600 feet; ~ 
 and the height of the road-way from high-water line is 100: it 
 has two carriage roads, with an intermediate footpath ; and a 
 very ingenious method is employed to counteract the expansion 
 and contraction of the iron. The suspending power is calculated 
 at 2016 tons, and the weight to be suspended is 342 tons, 
 leaving a disposable power of 1674 tons: this bridge stands 
 among the most surprising efforts of art in Europe. 
 
"A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 251 
 
 Parliament resumed its sittings on the eighth of February ; 
 another incident having occurred, during its recess, tending 
 still farther to promote the ascendency which Mr. Canning had 
 acquired. ‘The duke of York, whose health had been for more 
 than half a year in a state of unequal though alarming danger, 
 expired on the fifth of January; and by the decease of this 
 prince, whose frank and amiable disposition, together with his 
 great services to our army, induced the nation to overlook the 
 irregularities of his private life, the duke of Clarence became 
 presumptive heir to the crown; when ministers took that 
 opportunity of proposing an increase of £3000 per annum to 
 his income, as well as £6000 as a jointure to his consort; and 
 this motion, though strongly opposed by Mr. Hume and others, 
 on the plea that no additional expenses were entailed on his 
 royal highness, was carried by an overwhelming majority. ‘To 
 have placed any other person at the head of our army, as 
 commander-in-chief, except him who had so often led it on to 
 victory, would not only have outraged the feeling of the nation, 
 but even lowered the British character in the estimation of the 
 world: accordingly, the duke of Wellington assumed that high 
 rank with the approbation of all parties; this approbation, 
 however, was not generally extended to his retention of a seat 
 in the cabinet ; since there were many who traced that strict 
 impartiality which had pervaded the duke of York’s adminis- 
 tration, in a great degree, to his freedom from ministerial 
 connexions. 
 
 At the funeral of his royal highness, which was attended 
 by the cabinet ministers, Mr. Canning caught a severe cold ; 
 and thus laid the foundation of that disease which soon after- 
 wards terminated his valuable life: he was unable to attend the 
 opening of parliament ; and up to the fifteenth of February his 
 state was considered dangerous; from the sixteenth, his health 
 rapidly improved ; but on the day following, an event occurred 
 which, connected with the foreign secretary’s illness, threw the 
 cabinet into a state of great embarrassment: this was the sudden 
 and alarming indisposition of lord Liverpool, who was seized 
 with a fit of paralysis; from the effects of which he never 
 recovered, though the government continued to go on for a 
 short time nominally under his guidance. As soon as the nature 
 of this attack was known, Mr. Peel set off to Brighton to consult 
 the king ; but Mr. Canniug, though resident at that place, was 
 too unwell to join his colleague: before he could reach town, 
 the other members of administration had held frequent meetings, 
 where a strong disinclination was manifested to act under the 
 
252 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIv. 
 
 right honorable gentleman, if his majesty, in accordance with 
 public expectation, should place him at the head of affairs. On 
 the twenty-second, Mr. Canning was reported to be convales- 
 cent, and had an audience of the king: on Tuesday, the twenty- 
 seventh, he came to town; and on the first of March, he 
 appeared in the house, and moved for a committee on the corn 
 laws, which had been twiced postponed on his account. As 
 expounder of the plan digested by lord Liverpool, Mr. Canning, 
 after a speech of great length and perspicuity, proposed a scale 
 of duties, varying in proportion to the average price of grain 
 throughout the kingdom: sixty shillings per quarter being 
 taken for wheat, as the point from which the grower was 
 intitled to the protection of a high duty, twenty shillings was 
 proposed for that purpose: if the price fell below sixty shillings, 
 the duty was to increase in a duplicate ratio; if the price rose 
 above that point, it was gradually to decrease, until at seventy 
 shillings importation was to be perfectly free. No vote was 
 taken on the resolutions when first introduced ; and the debate 
 was delayed for a week, that every semblance of precipitation 
 regarding so important a measure might be avoided: on the 
 eighth of March, when its discussion was resumed, the plan did 
 not appear to please the zealots of any party: the landed 
 interests desired a higher scale of duties; the manufacturing 
 classes a lower; while many speculators would willingly have 
 operated upon the currency, instead of corn: after frequent 
 debates, however, on its details, and several divisions, the 
 ministerial scheme passed the house of commons by large 
 majorities. Certainly few schemes of legislation seem to have 
 been more ingeniously adapted to the purposes required than 
 that of the ‘sliding scale ;’ which, indicating by its fluctuation 
 the exact difference between those two essential elements of the 
 corn market, supply and demand, impartially regulates prices, 
 protecting the agriculturist against the speculator, the importer 
 against the agriculturist, and th® consumer against a combina- 
 tion of the other two. Let the harvest be deficient, and even 
 before it is gathered, foreign corn at a nominal duty comes into 
 the market: let crops be abundant, and the grower is secured 
 against that competition from abroad, which would rob him of 
 all advantage, and disable him from supporting those burthens 
 which are thrown more peculiarly upon cultivators of the land. 
 
 In this session the attacks on lord Eldon were led by 
 Mr. D. W. Harvey, a speaker of extraordinary eloquence: on 
 the fifth of April this gentleman moved for returns of the 
 business set down before, and disposed of by, the chancellor, 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 253 
 
 in equity, bankruptcy, and the house of lords; the object 
 being to fix on him the responsibility of all arrears: but the 
 motion was negatived by 132 votes against 66. Meanwhile 
 sir John Copley,. the new master of the rolls, had obtained 
 leave to introduce a bill, with the sanction of the chancellor 
 himself, founded on the measure of 1826; and obviating some 
 of its practical difficulties : this bill, however, had not proceeded 
 far when it became obvious, from the state of lord Liverpool’s 
 health, that the responsibility of reforming the practice of the 
 court of chancery must devolve on a new administration. 
 Circumstances at this time seemed peculiarly favorable to 
 the claims of the Roman catholics; for two of their chief 
 opponents, the duke of York and lord Liverpool, were removed 
 by death and illness; while the influence of Mr. Canning pre- 
 ponderated, in the cabinet: sir Francis Burdett therefore was 
 charged with their petition; and his speech on this occasion 
 opened a debate in the lower house, which lasted two nights, 
 giving full scope to the talents of its principal orators. The 
 grand argument relied on both by the favorers and the op- 
 posers of emancipation, was the interpretation of the treaty of 
 Limerick ; and Mr. Peel, whose speech made a deep impression 
 on the house, contended, that political privileges were never 
 contemplated by either of the parties to that treaty, which 
 merely secured to the Roman catholics free exercise of their 
 religion, independent of political power: with regard to the 
 general question, he confessed that he distrusted the Romanists, 
 on whose religious faith a scheme of political power was 
 founded ; and that he could not contemplate the doctrines of 
 confession, absolution, and indulgences, without a strong 
 suspicion that they were maintained for the purpose of con- 
 firming the influence which man exercises on man; nor was it 
 of any consequence that authority be called spiritual, if it prac- 
 tically influences us in our social conduct. Few things he 
 thought more improbable, than the notion that a removal of 
 present disabilities would be a consummation of the wishes 
 and efforts of the papists: if they gained power, they would 
 naturally wish to better the condition of their religious system, 
 to extend its influence over the country, and draw it into closer 
 connexion with government: the consequence of this would 
 be, to bring the catholic and protestant religions into collision 
 im such a manner as might entail destruction on the latter: 
 and what ter evil could be conceived than the confusion 
 which must prevail for ages during the conflict? But though 
 he believed that an admission of the catholic claims would 
 
254 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 endanger our constitution, yet if we were satisfied that it would 
 restore tranquillity to Ireland, he would sacrifice his apprehen- 
 sions of the ultimate result to the attainment of that immense 
 present benefit : this however he could not make up his mind 
 to believe. If the friends of emancipation proposed, after 
 having carried their point, to make the religion of the great 
 majority the religion of the state, and open to them all its 
 high offices, he could understand how such a line of policy 
 might appease and tranquillise the catholics; but this they 
 disavowed : yet, if they proposed to maintain the protestant 
 establishment as that of the state, there would still exist a 
 barrier which the catholics would endeavor to remove. After 
 animadverting on the unjustifiable extent to which the inter- 
 ference of catholic priests had been carried during the late 
 elections, on the neglect shown by their prelates in restraining 
 them, and on the extraordinary asperity of Dr. Doyle’s publi- 
 cations, Mr. Peel concluded, with expressing the pain he felt 
 in differing from those persons, for whom personally he enter- 
 tained a cordial respect, and with whom on almost every other 
 topic he fully agreed: the influence of some great names, he 
 said, had lately been lost to the cause which he supported ; 
 but he had never adopted his opinions on it from deference 
 either to high station or to high ability; still less with a view 
 to favor or personal aggrandisement. 
 
 Sir John Copley, master of the rolls, whose zeal in the pro- 
 testant cause had gained him a seat in the house for the 
 university of Cambridge, turned into the tide of his own 
 eloquence copious streams from a pamphlet which Dr. 
 Philpotts,5 one of the cleverest writers of the day, had 
 addressed to Mr. Canning ; and of which the question of secu- 
 rities occupied a large portion. The whole matter, according 
 to his opinion, was one of expediency ; and if the concessions 
 asked for could be granted with safety to the civil liberties and 
 religious faith of protestants, he admitted that the catholics 
 were intitled to them: with regard, however, to securities on 
 these points, he denied that any such had been, or could be, 
 offered : while he instanced several departed statesmen, whom 
 he termed ‘a constellation of genius, knowlege, and political 
 ability,’ with Mr. Pitt at their head, who had declared in deci- 
 sive terms their determination not to grant emancipation with- 
 out special and efficient securities: he even instanced the 
 authority of the present secretary for foreign ys himself, 
 and of the Irish attorney-general, as having uttered sentiments 
 
 5 Now bishop of Exeter. 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 255 
 
 to this effect; that it could not be granted, unless adequate 
 securities were given to protect the country against the danger 
 of foreign interference. 
 
 Mr. Plunkett, the attorney-general for Ireland, who imme- 
 diately answered this speech, observed, that here was a new 
 doctrine taken up by the opponents of catholic emancipation,— 
 that of preparing concession by exaction of securities, and 
 declaring at the same time that no securities which could be 
 given would be efficient; and he asserted, that Mr. Pitt was 
 very unjustly placed at the head of such a school: he also 
 contrasted with it the conduct of lord Liverpool, who had 
 defeated the catholic bill passed by the commons in 1825, 
 when brought into the upper house; not, however, on the 
 ground of inefficient securities ; since he had distinctly stated, 
 that if he could discard his objections against the principle of 
 the measure, he should not care a straw about securities ; nay, 
 that he could in half an hour frame a clause which would 
 leave them free from all objection. Mr. Canning, who closed 
 the debate, and who had been most pointedly alluded to 
 throughout sir John Copley’s speech, after disposing of its 
 argument, ironically vindicated himself for not having concerted 
 a measure of securities with the pope of Rome; because we 
 had not the same facilities which other courts possessed, like 
 those of Prussia, Saxony, and the Netherlands. ‘ He happened 
 to have seen in some popular tracts, that to correspond with 
 the pope was high treason; therefore when his holiness 
 addressed a complimentary note to our present gracious king, 
 he, as secretary of state, took the opinion of the great law 
 officers on the subject of an answer; and they declared, that if 
 he did reply to the pope’s letter, he would incur the penalties 
 of a premunire. Here Mr. Canning read, amid shouts of 
 laughter, the opinion alluded to, signed ‘R. Gifford and John 
 Copley ;’ on which, the master of the rolls observed, that the 
 honorable gentleman had been reading a private and confidential 
 communication. Mr. Canning then continued: ‘It was true, 
 he had madethis application in confidence; but he had a 
 right to acquaint the house with it, when he saw occasion: he, 
 being an ignorant person, looked into Burn’s Justice; and 
 there he found that the penalties attached to a premunire, 
 were attainder, forfeiture of goods, incapacity to bring an action, 
 and liability to be slain by any one with impunity: as this 
 was a matter touching life and fortune, he could not be ex- 
 pected, after having acquired such knowlege, to go to the pope 
 of Rome; and yet to the pope they must go, if they would 
 
256 HISTORY GF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 have any security.’ The master of the rolls again rose to say 
 that the opinion was private, and the disclosure a breach of 
 confidence ; but Mr. Canning maintained, that it was official, 
 and that he had a right to use it; though the circumstance had 
 been unthought of by him, from the period at which it occurred, 
 to a very recent time: but he had seen elsewhere an impeach- 
 ment on his honor and honesty ; he had read in print® an ac- 
 cusation, that he had abandoned all securities: the attack 
 therefore was not unexpected ; though the quarter whence it 
 now proceeded was the last from which he could have foreseen 
 it. In this speech Mr. Canning aiso defended the memory of 
 Pitt ; declaring, it was the fixed intention of that great minister 
 to carry the catholic question ; to the truth of which assertion 
 he was ready to depose before any tribunal: he avowed his 
 opinion, that the cause had lost ground, in the house, as well 
 as in the country ; but he was convinced, that all unfavorable 
 impressions must give way to the effect of repeated discussions ; 
 since that which right reason, humanity, and justice loudly 
 demanded, could not fail to find an echo in the breasts of 
 Englishmen. ‘The present anticipations of Mr. Canning proved 
 correct ; for the motion was lost by only four voices in one of 
 the fullest houses known; the ayes being 272, and the 
 noes 276. 
 
 In consequence of this result, the‘ order of the day in the 
 house of lords for taking into consideration the catholic peti- 
 tion was discharged, on the motion of lord Lansdowne; ‘ who 
 feared to increase, in the present state of Irish feeling, the 
 disastrous conviction, that a majority of both houses in parlia- 
 ment was opposed to a consideration of the claims of their 
 catholic brethren.’ This feeling however in Ireland did not 
 lead to language more menacing or vindictive than that which 
 had been used before the discussion: a general meeting of 
 Romanists in Dublin, after expressing ‘ the regret and awful fore- 
 bodings’ with which they viewed the vote of the commons,—a 
 vote, which rejected the prayers ‘ of seven millions of oppressed, 
 injured, and discontented subjects,-—exhorted the people to 
 cultivate peace, and wait calmly the course of events, in the 
 hope that Britain would repent and relax, ‘ before the catholics 
 were driven to despair.’ With much less sense and moderation, 
 a non-intercourse act was talked of, like that which the discon- 
 tented colonists of America had put into execution ; but a plan 
 to deprive Ireland of her market for linen, grain, and provi- 
 sions, found very few partisans: a scheme of open and inve- 
 
 6 He alluded to the pamphlet of Dr. Philpotis. 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. Wie 
 
 terate hostility against the established church, proposed by 
 other public organs of the party, met with more supporters : 
 ‘against that church,’ it was said, ‘must all their energies be 
 directed ; for that church has sworn eternal enmity to the 
 catholics ; and they must register a vow against it in heaven ;’ 
 _the repeal of the union also became a favorite subject of agita- 
 tion; and a notion that the Romanists had been induced to 
 accede to it by the prospect of emancipation, found supporters 
 even in the house of commons. Mr. M. Fitzgerald went so 
 far as to give notice of a motion, recommending the adoption 
 of measures to carry into effect ‘the policy of the union:’ 
 Mr. Spring Rice also gave notice of a motion for inquiry into 
 the character of the Irish government: events, however, soon 
 occurred, which occasioned the withdrawal of these motions, 
 by convincing the principals concerned in the question that, by 
 temporary repose, they were more likely to obtain their object. 
 _ The health of lord Liverpool was now in a hopeless state, 
 but no step was taken to supply his place as premier till the 
 twenty-eighth of March, on which day Mr. Canning was sum- 
 moned by the king to Windsor. It was well known that 
 dissentions existed in the cabinet; and that serious difficulties 
 were created by a large portion of it, with the lord chancellor 
 at its head, hostile in the highest degree to that gentleman ; 
 while a majority in the house of commons, as well as of the 
 people at large, decidedly called on him to take up the mantle 
 of Pitt, and direct the councils of Great Britain: the difficul- 
 ties of forming an efficient ministry were very great, but pre- 
 cisely calculated to give play to motives of personal considera- 
 tion, and enable an ambitious statesman to attain his object.? 
 Mr. Canning had been called to this interview merely in his 
 capacity of privy counsellor, to assist his sovereign in re-con- 
 structing the cabinet; and the advice which he first proffered, 
 though it bore an appearance of great disinterestedness and 
 self-denial, was in fact utterly impracticable; for it recom- 
 
 7 Writing on this subject to his daughter, lord Eldon observes, 
 ‘this (lord Liverpool’s attack) is a most tremendous blow, under 
 present circumstances, and its effects on individuals must be import- 
 ant. Heaven knows who will succeed him. Peel went down to 
 Brighton, to inform the king of the event, and is not yet returned. 
 If other things made it certain that he would otherwise succeed 
 him, I should suppose Canning’s health would not let him undertake 
 the labor of the situation: but ambition wiil attempt anything.’— 
 vol. ii. p.583. Soon afterwards he says, ‘I think—who could have 
 thought it? that Mr. Canning will have his own way. I guess that 
 I, Wellington, Peel, Bathurst, Westmoreland, &c. will be out.’ 
 
 ENG, XVII. qe" 
 
258 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV. 
 
 mended, that a ministry should be formed, unanimous in the 
 rejection of catholic emancipation ; to forward which arrange- 
 ment, he professed his own willingness to retire from office : 
 those, however, on whom it would have thrown the responsi- 
 bility of government saw the state of inefficiency and embar- 
 rassment in which this proposition tended to involve them, 
 and instantly rejected it. His majesty accordingly proposed 
 that the plan of administration should remain unchanged ; some 
 anti-catholic peer being appointed premier, to prevent such 
 increase of adherents to the catholic cause as a minister of that 
 rank, being its known advocate, would necessarily promote ; 
 and also to tranquillise those members who felt unwilling to 
 act under any one of their own number, that had been with 
 them a subordinate in office: to this arrangement, however, 
 which would have excluded Mr. Canning from the grand 
 object of his ambition, he decidedly objected ; declaring, that 
 he would never degrade himself by forming part of an adminis- 
 tration which considered a person entertaining his views on 
 the catholic question as disqualified to fill the highest office in 
 the state. ‘This resolution, certainly not reconcilable with his 
 practical conduct since 1822, amounted to a declaration, that 
 he would accede to no arrangement which did not place him, 
 or a statesman of his own school, at the head of affairs; and as 
 he could not conceive that the party opposed to his views were 
 less sincere in principle than himself, an inflexible adherence 
 to such a determination put an end to every rational prospect 
 of keeping the cabinet together: on this principle, Mr. Can- 
 ning in effect declared, that his services could only be secured 
 by the highest office ; for even if he had consented that another 
 of his party should be the ostensible head of the cabinet, (and 
 he seems at one time to have thought of Mr. Robinson) he 
 himself, like lord Chatham on a former occasion, would have 
 had the real power. It was perfectly natural that he should 
 be unwilling to resign so splendid a prize now within his grasp, 
 and act under men of less imposing talents and attainments ; 
 but it is no less true that this resolution was the cause which 
 broke up the Liverpool administration. He also knew that 
 this would drive from him one of his most able and influential 
 colleagues; for when he mentioned the subject to Mr. Peel, 
 on the twenty-ninth of March, that gentleman declared, with- 
 out reserve, that a sense of duty would render resignation 
 imperative on him, in the event of Mr. Canning, with his 
 known sentiments on the subject of catholic emancipation, 
 being called to the head of the ministry. 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 259 
 
 The latter part of February, as well as the whole of March, 
 was spent in attempts to overcome these various difficulties ; 
 while opposition, both in parliament and from the press, aided 
 the cause of the foreign secretary: for they felt assured that 
 Mr. Canning must, if appointed premier, fill up from their 
 ranks the void occasioned by the resignation of his colleagues : 
 the delay, however, which had taken place impelled Mr. 
 Tierney, who was aware of existing dissentions, and desirous 
 of hastening their explosion, to oppose the vote of supply on 
 the thirtieth, under pretext that there was no administration 
 responsible for its expenditure: this attempt, though it was 
 defeated on a division, had some effect in hastening a settle- 
 ment; and, on the second of April, a cabinet meeting took 
 place, when the discussions lasted several hours: next day, 
 sir I’, Lethbridge gave notice for a humble address to the king, 
 ‘praying him, in his formation of a ministry, to take into 
 serious consideration the importance of its unanimity on 
 questions affecting the vital interests of the empire:’ this 
 proposal excited much derision in the house, and was aban- 
 doned by its author; but an audience of his majesty was 
 claimed by the duke of Rutland; who, as it was confidently 
 asserted, had been authorised by certain peers to lay before 
 him respectfully their determination not to support Mr. Can- 
 ning, if, in the exercise of his royal prerogative, he should 
 make that gentleman prime minister: it was said also, that 
 several meetings took place between the foreign secretary and 
 the duke of Wellington, with the professed object of removing 
 from the mind of the former any notion of hostility against 
 him in the breast of his grace and of his friends ; but in reality 
 to draw from Mr. Canning, during the course of long con- 
 ferences, some expression of a wish, ‘that the duke should 
 take the government:’ also it was reported, that when this 
 scheme failed, Mr. Peel’ was commissioned, by command of 
 his majesty, to see Mr. Canning, for the purpose of naming 
 one, ‘whose appointment would solve all difficulties ;’—the 
 duke of Wellington. ‘This bold plunge, however,’ says an 
 acute historian,? ‘proved as fruitless as the experimental 
 manceuyre: the foreign secretary peremptorily objected to a 
 military premier; and on the following day, his majesty com- 
 manded him to propose a plan for re-constructing the adminis- 
 tration ;’ although the offer was said to have been accompanied 
 with a proviso, to please the heads of a certain party,—that 
 
 8 See Mr. Stapleton’s supplementary volume. 
 9 Wallace’s History of George IV. vol. iii. p. 301, 
 
260 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIv. 
 
 the new minister should abandon all right of recommendation 
 to church preferment: this, however, was resolutely refused ; 
 for Mr. Canning well knew that the general voice of the 
 nation must prevail; and his anticipations were confirmed by 
 an unconditional surrender of the office into his hands. 
 
 A correspondence now took place between the new premier 
 and Wellington; which, after commencing with terms of old 
 atiection and esteem, concluded with the coldest expressions of 
 formal politeness: the duke, on the receipt of the secretary’s 
 first note, assuring him that he had been instructed by the 
 king to form a new ministry, and soliciting his grace’s co- 
 operation, pretended not to know who was to be at the head 
 of that ministry; and, in answer to Mr. Canning’s natural 
 expression of surprise, very laconically declined to become a 
 methber. This correspondence was laid before the king; and 
 the duke, having sent in his resignation under feelings of con- 
 siderable irritation, received a communication to the following 
 effect from his majesty, who, from the moment when he 
 surrendered the government into Mr. Canning’s hands, per- 
 sisted in supporting that gentleman with the most commendable 
 integrity and good faith:—‘The king receives the duke of 
 Wellington’s resignation with the same sentiments of regret, 
 which his grace professes to feel in tendering it.’ 
 
 The premier, anxious to retain as many of his former col- 
 leagues as possible, solicited their adherence to an administra- 
 tion constructed on principles which lord Liverpool had so 
 long sanctioned; but Mr. Peel, adhering to his previous 
 declaration, that with Mr. Canning, or any other friend to 
 catholic emancipation as prime minister, the principles of lord 
 Liverpool’s cabinet could not be supported, determined to 
 decline office: lord Eldon stated, that, on account of his 
 advanced age, resignation had long been his wish, and he 
 required only four months to wind up the business of his court ; 
 but the answer of a few others was not so decisive. It was 
 now the eleventh of April; and, as parliament would adjourn 
 on the twelfth, it became necessary to communicate some 
 arrangement to the house of commons: accordingly, Mr. Can- 
 ning, on the morning of the twelfth, attended his majesty, 
 who had already ‘received resignations from the duke of 
 Wellington, lord Westmoreland, lord Bexley, and Mr. Peel ; 
 nor had the audience lasted long, before those of lords Eldon 
 and Bathurst also were sent in: if this had been intended for 
 intimidation, the plot would have been laid in vain, for the 
 king instantly confirmed the appointment; which was an- 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 261 
 
 nounced in the house of commons on the same evening by 
 Mr. C. Wynne, amid deafening shouts of applause: nor was 
 the joy of the country less, or less clearly manifested; for 
 Mr. Canning was at this period in the zenith of his popularity : 
 his early errors were forgotten in his recent exhibition of 
 spirited, manly, and enlightened sentiments; and his faults, 
 which were ascribed to the prejudices of party, and even to 
 his necessities, were all forgiven: his advance to high station 
 by personal qualities and abilities, rather than by the patronage 
 of an oligarchy, whose aim was to control the sovereign as 
 well as the people, peculiarly gratified the latter; while from 
 his liberal domestic policy, and the European fame which he 
 had acquired, they anticipated a worthy successor of that 
 great minister, who may be called the parent of reform; a 
 minister, who, if he had not been interrupted in his progress 
 by the French war, and cut off by the too early stroke of 
 death, would probably have been the greatest innovator 
 recorded in our annals: for, as Mr, Canning, in one of his 
 later speeches, asserted, in applying philosophy to politics, he 
 merely carried into effect Mr. Pitt’s declarations. 
 
 Of the old cabinet, there now remained only lord Harrowby, 
 with Messrs. Huskisson, Robinson, and C. Wynne; for lord 
 Melville, to the consternation of all Scotland, resigned on the 
 evening of the twelfth; avowing, with a remarkable spirit of 
 candor, the instinct by which he was led—a doubt respecting 
 the stability of the new arrangements: this, however, as it 
 was the last vacancy made, was the first supplied; for Mr. 
 Canning next morning revived the dignity of lord high admiral 
 of England!° in the person of the heir presumptive to the 
 throne ; and the duke of Clarence’s acceptance of office created 
 no little dismay among those who had just thrown off the coil : 
 so striking a sign of the times was thought not to have been 
 lost on lord Bexley, who immediately retracted his resignation ; 
 neither did sir John Copley, like poor lord Melville, require 
 any securities against the claims of competitors ; but he gladly 
 accepted the great seal, with the title of lord Lyndhurst: lord 
 Anglesey succeeded the duke of Wellington as master-general 
 of the ordnance, with a seat in the cabinet; earl Dudley, Mr. 
 Sturges Bourne, and Mr. Robinson, now created lord Goderich, 
 
 ‘10 Tt had lain dormant 127 years, since the time of Thomas earl 
 of Pembroke, who succeeded prince George of Denmark, the hus- 
 band of queen Anne: on the present occasion, instead of the usual 
 board of junior lords, a council of four members was appointed to 
 assist the lord high admiral, 
 
262 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXIV, 
 
 were nominated respectively as secretaries for the foreign, 
 home, and colonial departments; lords Bexley and Palmerston, 
 with Messrs. Huskisson and Wynne, retained their situations ; 
 the duke of Devonshire was made lord chamberlain; the duke 
 of Portland, privy seal; and lord Harrowby, president of the 
 council: sir John Leach, sir Antony Hart, and sir James 
 Scarlett became respectively master of the rolls, vice-chancellor, 
 and attorney-general: the premier himself occupied, like Mr. 
 Pitt, the two offices of first lord of the treasury and chancellor 
 of the exchequer. To supply several places, a negotiation had 
 been opened with the marquis of Lansdowne; but though no 
 official appointments at present resulted from it, his lordship, 
 with sir Francis Burdett and a large body of the whigs, 
 proffered their unofficial support to Mr. Canning’s administra- 
 tion: the king’s firmness, however, was a tower of strength to 
 his minister. ‘Thus was effected the formation of a govern- 
 ment under a premier favorable to the concession of the claims 
 of the Roman catholics: but it was so formed on the express 
 condition, that the question of those claims should be an open 
 one ; that is, one upon which ministers vote, not unitedly as a 
 cabinet, but each individually according to his own inclination. 
 
 The length of time which elapsed before his majesty’s decision 
 was made, arose from a natural reluctance to part with men 
 whom he had so long admitted into his councils, and honored 
 with his confidence ; but when their own conduct put an end 
 to such scruples, and the dictatorial pretensions which they 
 advanced became personally offensive, he was driven to act on 
 his own feelings of dignity and independence, which happily 
 coincided with the wishes of his people: nothing could have 
 been more fortunate than such a crisis, occurring, as it did, 
 like many others that have been noticed in this history, exactly 
 at the proper time: a large uncompromising body of men, who 
 stuck like leeches to the state, for the purpose of sucking its 
 blood, were thus shaken off: so long, indeed, had they held 
 office, that they had begun to consider their places as a species 
 of property, and to resent any interference with them as an 
 injury or an insult; nor was a measure of reform or public 
 utility to be entertained for a moment, which might possibly 
 militate against the prejudices, or curtail the emoluments of 
 any of the party. Neither ought we to pass unnoticed the 
 unexpected union now effected between some of the leading 
 tories and the leading whigs; a union which lord Mansfield 
 characterised by a very apposite quotation from the Anti- 
 Jacobin ;—‘ a sudden thought strikes me* let us swear eternal 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 268 
 
 friendship ;? but still it was a union productive of very import- 
 ant results. On the twenty-seventh of April, the new ministry 
 was gazetted; and on the thirtieth, his majesty held a court, 
 at which lords Eldon, Westmoreland, and Bathurst, as well as 
 Mr. Peel, severally had audiences to resign their seals of 
 office ; the duke of Wellington being the only seceder who did 
 not attend formally for that purpose: the new ministers also 
 kissed hands on their appointments ; and Messrs. Scarlett and 
 Hart received the honor of knighthood. Mr. Canning, on 
 going to and returning from the palace, was loudly cheered by 
 an assemblage far more numerous and respectable than is 
 generally met with on such occasions: next day, he had to 
 encounter in parliament one of the most virulent oppositions 
 that ever assailed a minister of the crown. ‘The premiership,’ 
 says Dr. Croly, ‘had for twelve years been a bed of slumber: 
 it now fell into the hands of one, who made it a bed of feverish: 
 anxiety and bitter wakefulness—George Canning, the first 
 debater, the most dexterous politician, and the happiest wit of 
 the house ; the most perplexed, unhappy, and disappointed of 
 ministers.”11 : 
 
 il History of George IV. p. 472. 
 
264 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CH. LXV. 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 GEORGE IV. (continvep.)—1827. 
 
 Re-assembling of parliament—Explanations by the seceding mem- 
 bers of the cabinet—Formidable opposition to the ministry— A 
 ‘portion of the whig party joins the administration —Rejection of 
 the new corn bill by the lords—Financial statements—Corrupt 
 boroughs— Improvement of the criminal code—Close of the ses- 
 sion—Death of Mr. Canning—His character—Lord Goderich 
 
 rime minister—Dissentions, and dissolution of the cabinet— 
 Pike of Wellington appointed premier—Review of foreign policy 
 —Treaty with France and Russia—Battle of Navarino—Meeting 
 of parliament—Dispute between the duke of Wellington and 
 Mr. Huskisson—State of the finances—Grant to the family of 
 Mr. Canning—-State of the currency—Budget—Repeal of the 
 test and corporation acts—Catholic claims—Resignation of Mr. 
 Huskisson and other members of the cabinet—Prorogation of 
 parliament—War between Russia and Turkey—State of Por- 
 tugal--Disturbances in Ireland—Recall of the marquis of Angle- 
 sey—Death and character of the earl of Liverpool—Trial and 
 execution of Burke at Edinburgh—Opening of the London Uni- 
 versity and St. Katharine Docks—Review of foreign policy. 
 
 Tue house of commons re-assembled on the first of May; but 
 so much time had been lost through the dissolution of the old 
 administration, and the hostility of parties now occasioned so 
 much more to be consumed, that very little public business was 
 completed during the session: Mr. Peel took an early oppor- 
 tunity to state the reasons for the late secession ; disclaiming at 
 the same time all intention of opposing the new government, and 
 carrying himself free from every appearance of a factious spirit. 
 ‘I retired from office,’ he said, ‘ because, from the first moment 
 of my public life, I have taken an active and decided part on a 
 great and vital question,—that of extending political privileges 
 to the Roman catholics: for eighteen years I have constantly 
 offered an uncompromising, but I hope a temperate, fair, and 
 constitutional resistance to every proposition for granting to 
 them any farther concessions. My opposition is founded on 
 principle: I think the continuance of those bars, which prevent 
 the acquisition of political power by the catholics, necessary 
 for the maintenance of our constitution, and for the interests of 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 265 
 
 our established church: it is not merely, that my honorable 
 friend differs in opinion from me on this important question: 
 but the change in administration occasions the transfer of all 
 that influence and power which belongs to the office of a 
 prime minister, into the hands of one who will use it for the 
 purpose of forwarding an object which I have always resisted : 
 it is not a transfer of that influence and power from one 
 ordinary man to another ordinary man; but from the most able 
 opponent of the catholic claims to their most zealous and 
 eloquent advocate.” Mr. Peel then proceeded to justify the 
 course taken by his late colleagues, who had also resigned 
 office, as affording ‘a splendid example of disinterested con- 
 duct to all public men:’ he vindicated them from the charge 
 of acting in concert, or’ in a spirit of cabal; declaring that he 
 himself had never held any communication with the lord 
 chancellor, respecting the-course he intended to pursue; 
 neither did he know his lordship’s intentions: the same, he 
 believed, might be asserted of every other member of the late 
 cabinet. 
 
 This speech was received with loud cheers, and elicited 
 much applause from Mr. Brougham, who at the same time 
 declared his determination to support the liberal policy of Mr. 
 Canning’s administration, against any attempts of his late 
 colleagues, and present opponents, to drive him from the 
 helm.! The minister himself then rose to explain the course 
 of his own proceedings in a luminous and well-digested 
 harangue. ‘The house,’ he said, ‘greatly mistakes my situa- 
 tion, if they believe it to be one of gratified ambition: from the 
 beginning of the discussions on the catholic claims, I felt that 
 the separation of my honorable friend and myself was inevit- 
 able, and not far remote: would to God I could now persuade 
 myself that his retirement will be but for a short time! Had 
 the necessity which has made the retreat of one of us inevit- 
 able been left in my hands, my decision would have been for 
 my own resignation, and against that of my right honorable 
 friend: my first object was, to quit office; my next, to remain 
 
 1 Having lost the office of attorney-general to the queen at her 
 death, he now receiveda silk gown and a patent of precedence from 
 the new ministry, whom he supported in the house of commons. 
 Having long been a fierce assailant of lord Kldon—he ascribed his 
 long detention from that distinction to his lordship’s influence ; but, 
 he afterwards became convinced that this was not the case, and 
 made the amende honorable to the chancellor. His disappointment 
 arose from the king’s indignation at his speeches made during the 
 queen’s trial.—See Life of Lord Eldon, vol. iii. p. 2. 
 
266 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LXV. 
 
 in it, with all my old colleagues, exactly on the same terms as 
 usual regarding this very catholic question.’ He then detailed 
 the circumstances which preceded his appointment. ‘If,’ said 
 he, ‘I had submitted in my person, as an advocate of the 
 catholic claims, to the principle of exclusion, I should have 
 dishonored myself: such a submission would have been a badge 
 of helotism; an indelible disgrace to my political life.’ Mr. - 
 Dawson, a brother-in-law of Mr. Peel, having vehemently 
 attacked the union of the whigs with Mr. Canning’s party, 
 their disinterested support was ably defended by sir Francis 
 Burdett, as likely to promote enlightened principles of govern- 
 ment both at home and abroad; more especially the cause of 
 religious liberty. 
 
 The house of lords met on the following day; and when an 
 opportunity was given to the ex-ministers of explaining their 
 conduct, lord Eldon began by declaring that the accusation 
 made against him of having attempted an unconstitutional dic- 
 tation to his sovereign, was a base and scandalous falsehood : 
 his opinion was, and always had been, that if the catholic 
 claims were conceded, the religious liberties of this country 
 were at an end; and that, with its religious liberties, would 
 perish its civil freedom: holding such opinions, it was impos- 
 sible that he could give in to what must be the views of the 
 new minister, whether those views were to be carried into 
 immediate execution, or suspended for the better securing of 
 his purpose. Could he honestly retain office under an admini- 
 stration formed on principles so hostile to hisown? He could 
 not allow that the new cabinet had been formed on the 
 principles of lord Liverpool, who had been as zealous, honest, 
 and candid in opposing the catholic claims, as he had no doubt 
 the premier was in supporting them. As to the mode of his 
 resignation, he wholly disclaimed the imputation of having 
 concerted it with Mr. Peel, though he professed for that gentle- 
 man sentiments of high regard and esteem.2 _ 
 
 2 Mr. Canning himself, in a speech made in the house of com- 
 mons, May 3rd, vindicated his great opponent on this point. ‘It 
 was bare justice,’ he said, ‘to lord Eldon to say, that his conduct 
 was that of a man of the highest feelings of honor; and that 
 throughout, it had been above all exception.’ When this veteran 
 and really honest lawyer resigned the high office which he had held 
 longer than any chancellor in the annals of our history, the king 
 fell upon his neck and wept: at his departure, his majesty placed 
 in his hand a small key, saying, ‘he hoped that he would find at 
 home a token not only of his present regard, but of that which he 
 must feel to the latest hour of his life.’ This gift of the sovereign 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 267 
 
 As the duke of Wellington’s retirement, not only from 
 administration, but from the command of the army, which was 
 not a cabinet office, seemed to indicate a more decided hostility 
 than that of other seceders, it excited proportionally a greater 
 degree of interest: on both points his grace entered into a full 
 explanation of his conduct and the motives of it. After 
 ‘ adverting to abuse poured on him from a press, which, if not 
 in the pay, was under the direct influence of government, he 
 ig site to notice the correspondence between himself and 
 
 r. Canning ; complaining that he had not only been left with 
 less information, but treated with less respect and deference 
 than his colleagues: he (the duke of Wellington) was not 
 requested to come and receive explanations concerning evident 
 omissions in the letter first sent to him, nor was he referred to 
 any person for information on those points; although, as he 
 afterwards learned, his colleagues had been invited to go to 
 the minister, and receive any explanations which they might 
 require—or the minister himself had gone to them for such a 
 purpose : still he determined that no pique of this kind should 
 stop an amicable communication ; and in that spirit he carried 
 on the correspondence; in that spirit he wished to contrive 
 means of continuing in his majesty’s councils: but when he 
 found that the right honorable gentleman himself was to be 
 at the head of attairs, he considered whether he could con- 
 sistently with his avowed principles join the new administra- 
 tion ; and finding it to be impossible, he felt obliged to decline 
 office. With regard to the question which he had put to Mr. 
 Canning on this point, and which was said to have given 
 offence :—‘ Those,’ said his grace, ‘who formed part of lord 
 Liverpool’s cabinet knew well what it was to which they 
 pledged themselves; for they knew that his lordship was con- 
 scientiously opposed to all changes in the existing form of 
 government: but those who coalesce with the right honorable 
 gentleman, can have no idea how far this coalition may carry 
 
 was a beautiful tankard of silver gilt, having an accession medal 
 of the king embodied inits lid, and bearing a very flattering in- 
 scription. His lordship feeling some delicacy in accepting this 
 present apart from his colleagues, consulted them on the subject ; 
 and their answer was, ‘ You must accept the tankard, and provide 
 wine for us to drink out of it.’ A very gratifying address was pre- 
 sented to the ex-chancellor, by the masters in chancery, expressing 
 their grateful sense of his kindness to them throughout the very 
 long period in which he had held the great seal, and bearing testi- 
 mony to his great learning and unsullied integrity.—See his Life, 
 by Mr. H. Twiss, vol. ii. 
 
268 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 them: the new minister is the most able, active, and zealous 
 partisan of changes with which the country is at present 
 threatened: the principles of the noble earl were principles 
 by which any man might safely abide; the principles of the 
 right honorable gentleman fluctuate every day.’ Who could 
 have supposed, that, within the short space of two years, the 
 duke of Wellington’s cabinet would have repealed the test acts, 
 and granted catholic emancipation; whilst its leader declared 
 that an adherence to lord Liverpool’s principles would intro- 
 duce all the horrors of civil war into the realm? But until 
 governments take a more active part in forming public senti- 
 ment, and leading public opinion, they must ever be subjected 
 to these mortifications: if statesmen rely too much on mere 
 executive duties, on the formation or strengthening of parties, 
 and on the preservation of old institutions, under circumstances 
 and times totally different from those in which such institutions 
 were established, the current of public intelligence will run 
 rapidly by them, and force the most violent changes on the 
 administration, with which they ought to have originated. 
 Before the duke concluded this part of his explanation, he 
 adverted to the motives which had been imputed to him, of 
 resigning office because he was not made prime minister him- 
 self; on which occasion was heard his memorable declaration, 
 —‘that he not only felt himself unwished for, but actually 
 disqualified for any such station; that to have accepted it in 
 place of the military office which he already held, would have 
 argued him mad, or worse than mad.’ With regard, however, 
 to his recent resignation even of that military post, his grace 
 observed,—‘ that, although not a cabinet office, it was one 
 which placed its possessor in a constant and confidential rela- 
 tion with the king and his government: with the prime minister 
 the commander-in-chief is in communication every day ; he has 
 not a control even over the army, the chief direction of which 
 is placed in that minister’s hands: at the same time, the 
 premier himself cannot withdraw any part of the army from 
 a foreign station without consulting the commander-in-chief ; 
 he cannot make up his budget, or introduce any reform into 
 the organisation of the army, without seeking his opinion. 
 No political sentiments, however, would have prevented him 
 from retaining his office under ordinary circumstances; but 
 from the tone and tenor of the communications he had 
 received from his majesty, from the nature of the invitation 
 given to him by the right honorable gentleman in his first 
 letter, and from the contents of the last which he had received 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 269 
 
 from Mr. Canning by his majesty’s command, he saw that he 
 could not remain with credit to himself or advantage to the 
 country: his line of conduct had not been hastily adopted, 
 though he had been most wantonly and unjustly abused.’ 
 
 The other seceding peers justified their retirement generally 
 on the same ground of political principle which had been taken 
 by the duke of Wellington; except that lords Melville and 
 Bathurst expressed an opinion that with the chasm left by the 
 secession of such men as the duke of Wellington, lord Eldon, 
 and Mr. Peel, no administration could be formed with sufficient 
 stability and capacity for governing the country: lord Bexley 
 assigned his resignation to the fear of not being allowed 
 freedom of opinion regarding a vital question ; and justified his 
 resumption of office, by the discovery that he had been in 
 error on that point: all the noble lords, however, expressly 
 disclaimed any idea of concert or confederacy in their plans ; 
 though the coincidence was suspicious, and they acknowleged 
 its singularity. 
 
 Viscount Goderich, who had the task of defending the new 
 administration in the upper house, declared, that so far from 
 casting any imputation of conspiracy and cabal on his former 
 colleagues, he verily believed, that if there had been more 
 communication among them, much of the mischief and disorder 
 which had occurred might have been prevented. If the 
 government, as at present constituted, was not altogether satis- 
 factory, that was not the fault of him or of his honorable and 
 noble friends: the object of Mr. Canning had been to keep the 
 elements of the late ministry together; but they had fallen 
 away without any fault of his: was he then in such a case, to 
 say to his majesty,—‘ I will run away also, and leave you in 
 such a predicament as no sovereign was ever placed in before ?’ 
 
 As the chief strength of the seceders lay in the house of 
 lords, the desultory warfare that ensued was principally con- 
 fined to that region. ‘The marquis of Lansdowne defended the 
 junction of his party with the new ministry, as not occasioned 
 by any sudden impulse, but by the identity which existed 
 between its principles, and the spirit of those measures which 
 government had been for some time pursuing in our foreign 
 and domestic policy: he admitted to their full extent the 
 reasons which noble Jords had given for their own resignations, 
 and the manner in which they had accounted for so remarkable 
 a coincidence ; but he could not help expressing surprise that 
 government had been able to go on so long; having been con- 
 ducted, as it now appeared, by ministers who did not think 
 
270 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 proper to communicate with each other on the most important 
 question by which they could be interested. 
 
 Other noble lords spoke with less decorum, and indulged in 
 more personalities than the principal parties concerned : among 
 these, lords Mansfield, Winchelsea, and Ellenborough were 
 especially distinguished, though their hostility to ministers 
 rested on distinct grounds ; for lord Ellenborough, as a friend 
 to catholic emancipation, thought their appointment was 
 fraught with fatal injury to that question: nothing, he said, 
 had advanced the catholic claims so much as discussion; yet 
 now all discussion was to be abandoned. ‘The other two peers 
 expressed a determination of testing the principles of the new 
 cabinet at once; and gave early notice of motions on the 
 catholic question, as well as on the state of the nation; neither 
 of these, however, was brought to a hearing; and the retired 
 ministers exhibited as little concert when out of office as they 
 had displayed in their resignation: no systematic opposition 
 was organised ; no regular plan of tactics pursued: no leader 
 of eminence selected: Mr. Peel kept studiously aloof from 
 the inconvenience of being placed in such a situation; and 
 the task of administering castigation to ministers fell prin- 
 cipally on sir Thomas Lethbridge, who was unfortunately 
 deficient in fluency of speech. Frequent interrogations were 
 put to Mr. Canning, with a view of drawing out from him 
 what was supposed to be the secret history of his adminis- 
 tration; but he at last positively refused to give any answer, 
 unless the matters aimed at were regularly brought forward 
 by motion: there was consequently much vituperation, but 
 very little elucidation of facts. 
 
 The same desultory system of hostility was pursued in the 
 house of lords; but there the condemnation of the coalition 
 was more loudly and vehemently expressed. The duke of 
 Newcastle, in presenting a petition against the corn laws, 
 called on every honest man and friend to the country to 
 assist in expelling from office ‘the most profligate minister 
 that ever was in power.’ Lord Londonderry declared, that 
 ‘when he looked at the building which had been erected, he 
 found it divested of all its main pillars, and constructed merely 
 of a sort of rubbish: the artificer had shown great dexterity in 
 forming it; nor could he have found out such a mass of 
 rubbish in any other quarter, composed as it was of the two 
 parties: he had made a dexterous effort to un-whig a portion 
 of the whigs, and to un-tory a part of the tories.’ Lord 
 Goderich acknowleged the compliment paid to himself; but 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. — 971 
 
 Jord King, in a happier mood, retorted on the noble marquis, 
 by informing him, ‘that every person practically acquainted 
 with building, understands by the term rubbish, that portion 
 of the materials which is sent away.’ The most powerful 
 assistance, however, on the side of the seceders, was found, 
 where they little expected it, in lord Grey ; who, determining 
 ‘to stand by his order,’ formally announced his want of con- 
 fidence in the new ministry: though he gave to the members 
 of his party, coalescing with that ministry, credit for dis- 
 interestedness, he could see nothing in it which called for his 
 support: it was said to be formed on the principle of lord 
 Liverpool’s administration ; but that consisted in an exclusion 
 of the catholic question : was this then, he asked, the principle 
 of the British government ? Was the catholic question to be 
 prohibited as a cabinet measure? If so, his determination 
 was taken. The whole political career of the new premier 
 was then reviewed by his lordship, who expressed himself 
 opposed to every part of it; and Mr. Canning’s noted declara- 
 tion of calling into existence the republics of the new world 
 was attacked with considerable severity. But he was said to 
 be a friend to civil and religious liberty : true, he supported 
 catholic emancipation, and at the same time proclaimed his 
 opposition to a repeal of the test and corporation acts: he 
 would not dwell on his known opposition to parliamentary 
 reform ; for that question, it must be admitted, had not been 
 so uniformly supported, nor had it public opinion so strongly 
 in its favor, as that any one should make it a sine qua non in 
 joining an administration: but he could not conceal from 
 himself the fact, that within a few years, numerous laws had 
 been passed hostile to civil liberty, every one of which had 
 received the right honorable gentleman’s assent ; and unless he 
 could retrace his steps, and erase some that still remained in 
 the statute-book, no confidence ought to be reposed in him as 
 a friend to civil liberty. Nothing could be farther from his 
 (lord Grey’s) intention, than to combine with the opponents of 
 government, from whom he differed, on most questions, as 
 widely as the poles were asunder ; neither could he join those 
 who supported it: the only course therefore left to him was, 
 to pursue the same principles which he had professed through 
 life; and when he found the measures of ministers agreeing 
 with those principles, to give them his support; when 
 repugnant, to meet them with his opposition. ‘ This,’ says 
 Mr. Wallace, ‘ was an unexpected and serious blow; for it 
 shook public confidence in the new arrangements: it was such 
 
272 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 a blow, as lord Chatham, by a deliberate formal declaration of 
 the same kind, gave to the first Rockingham administration. 
 The two cases had a striking resemblance: both ministries 
 were partial conquests over an exclusive and vicious system of 
 government ; both had to contend with a court oligarchy, and 
 an adverse bias in the mind of the sovereign; in both cases 
 there was a present compromise of principles with a view to 
 their future triumph; while a certain analogy of public station ~ 
 and personal character warranted the supposition, that lord 
 Grey, like lord Chatham, was influenced by personal ambition 
 and impatient pride: the effect, however, was chiefly felt by 
 his own party, the whig allies of Mr. Canning: the uncom- 
 promising consistency, high ground, and stately solitude of 
 lord Grey, gave a seeming air of littleness and desertion to 
 those who had left his side to group themselves behind the new 
 minister.’ 3 
 Soon after Mr. Canning’s elevation, the king’s declaration 
 to the archbishop of Canterbury and bishop of London, ‘ that 
 he was opposed as firmly as his father had been to the pre- 
 tensions of the papists,’ was made public to a meeting of 
 prelates at Lambeth palace, and announced in the house of 
 lords: it became evident therefore that this was a measure not 
 to be forced. Repeal of the test and corporation acts was 
 another subject, with a compromise of which the whigs were 
 reproached; but neither was this urgent: so that every 
 question, which could have brought any party in this coalition 
 “to the test, and discovered how far they were inclined to com- 
 promise their opinions on matters concerning which great 
 difference was known to exist among them, was avoided: and 
 under such circumstances, some of them took office, near the 
 close of the session, when the minister became more firmly 
 seated: thus lord Lansdowne was appointed secretary for the 
 home department; lord Carlisle, privy seal; and Mr. Tierney, 
 master of the mint. The whigs, in fact, being too weak to 
 carry the measures which they most anxiously desired, deter- 
 mined to wait their time, until the power of that minister, who 
 had loosened the bands of tory domination, should be con- 
 solidated; it was therefore thought prudent to drop all 
 questions which might bring his strength to a test too rude: - 
 they never professed to abandon catholic emancipation, the 
 repeal of the test and corporation acts, or parliamentary 
 reform: it was only to secure ultimate success for those 
 
 8 History of George IY. vol. iii. p. 309. 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 273 
 
 ‘measures, that they resolved not to press them immediately, 
 while they supported a premier who, in some respects, was 
 opposed to them. ‘This appeared the only method of breaking 
 up that immense power which the tory party had acquired, 
 and of introducing eventually what they considered improve- 
 ments in our social system: their policy was marked out by 
 the peculiarity of their situation. 7 
 
 The opposition also now received a more regular form and 
 abler direction; when Mr. Peel, laying aside the tone of 
 moderation and urbanity which he had previously assumed, 
 gave indications of a decidedly hostile spirit; on which 
 occasion, Mr. Canning declared, that ‘he rejoiced to see the 
 standard openly raised; since he always preferred direct hos- 
 tility to hollow professions or pretended neutrality ;’ and the 
 cheers with which this declaration was received showed 
 the progress of liberal opinions among the commons of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 In the house of lords, however, where the tories were 
 more numerous and more adroit, the new corn bill, which had 
 been sent up before the recess, furnished them with an oppor- 
 tunity of triumph. Although this measure had originated in 
 the late cabinet, and came recommended by the approbation of 
 lord Liverpool, an amendment was moved by the duke of 
 Wellington, for which he professed to have the sanction of 
 Mr. Huskisson, prohibiting the removal of foreign corn from 
 bond until the price of wheat should have reached. sixty-six 
 shillings a quarter :4 and this proposal, though completely at 
 variance with the principle of the bill, which provided for the 
 admission of corn at all times on payment of a duty proportion- 
 ate to the averaged market price, was supported by the high 
 tory party, as well as by many peers, who preferred their own 
 interests as landowners to any considerations of commercial 
 policy; so that ministers were left in a minority of 122 to 
 133; and the bill, when returned to the commons thus 
 shackled, was eventually rejected: but as some expedient 
 became necessary to prevent a recurrence of that alarm which 
 had arisen last year, on account of scarcity, a temporary bill 
 was prepared, and suffered to pass both houses, permitting the 
 
 4 A misunderstanding and long correspondence on this subject 
 arose between the duke and Mr. Huskisson; the latter of whom 
 declared, that the consent given by him applied only to corn already 
 in bond, or that might be in bond, when the law came into opera- 
 tion; a permanent restriction, like that contained in the amend- 
 ment, never having been contemplated by him. 
 
 ENG. XVII. T 
 
274 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 release of foreign corn from bond, on the same scale of duties 
 as that proposed by the measure just abandoned. 
 
 On the first of June, Mr. Canning brought forward the 
 statement of supplies, &c., in his new character as minister of 
 finance. The public accounts, though presenting few novel 
 features, were prepared and explained with a degree of ability 
 and candor which secured the confidence of the house and of 
 the country: by a review of income and expenditure during 
 the last four years, it appeared, that on an expenditure 
 of £230,000,000, including the annual sinking fund of 
 £5,000,000, there was an apparent deficiency of £1,265,687 ; 
 but against this was to be placed the amount of advances from 
 the exchequer, either in loans to carry on public works, or for 
 beneficial purchases, which the public had in possession as 
 available securities for repayment: the amount of excess in the 
 advances for the four years was near £2,000,000; so that 
 in fact there remained, as a real surplus of income beyond 
 expenditure, something more than £1,100,000. The minister 
 having suggested the propriety of providing for this temporary 
 deficiency by an issue of exchequer bills, his proposal was 
 readily admitted ; and the supplies for the year, amounting to 
 £57,500,000, including the sinking fund, were voted without 
 opposition. 
 
 As is usual in the first session of a new parliament, the 
 reports of election committees disclosed scenes of gross 
 corruption. Colonel Maberly and Mr. Sykes brought before 
 the house samples of this from the boroughs of Northampton 
 and Leicester, where enormous sums, abstracted from corpora- 
 tion funds, had been expended in defraying the expenses of 
 candidates; But such an application of public money was 
 defended by Mr. Peel, and motions for,committees of inquiry 
 were negatived by considerable majorities: two boroughs, 
 however, appeared so pre-eminent in dishonesty, that the 
 most determined advocates of the old system could not wholly 
 ward off retributive justice. A petition had been put in against 
 the return for Penryn; and though corrupt practices could 
 not be traced to the sitting members, yet such enormities were 
 disclosed, that Mr. Legh Keck, chairman of the committee, 
 was impelled by a sense of duty to bring forward certain 
 resolutions, in which he was supported by the whole house, 
 with the exception of the sitting members; and even they 
 rather asserted their own personal purity, than denied the 
 actual existence of the alleged corruption. Mr. Keck’s 
 motion was accordingly assented to; and a bill was brought in 
 
A.D. 1827, GEORGE IV. 275 
 
 for the more effectual prevention of bribery and corruption in 
 that borough, which had received some very severe rebukes 
 in the years 1807 and 1819. A difference of opinion pre- 
 vailed regarding the remedy to be applied, or the punishment 
 inflicted : Mr. Keck himself proposed, not the defranchisement 
 of the borough, but merely an extension of its elective 
 franchise to the adjoining hundreds; while lord John Russell 
 wished the example of disfranchisement set in the case of 
 Grampound to be followed up, and the elective privileges of 
 Penryn transferred to some populous and unrepresented town : 
 he therefore moved, as an amendment, ‘that the borough be 
 excluded hereafter from returning burgesses to serve in par- 
 liament:’ the original motion was supported by the ministry ; 
 for Mr. Canning himself thought a verdict of guilty must be 
 given, although sufficient guilt had not been proved to warrant 
 extreme punishment: the amendment, however, supported by 
 lord Althorp, lord Milton, Mr. Brougham, and others, who 
 declared that merey to Penryn would be extreme injustice to 
 every other disfranchised borough, and that a transfer of its 
 privileges to the adjoining hundreds would merely bestow 
 them on a few wealthy individuals, was carried by a majority 
 of 124 to 69. 
 
 With regard to East Retford, the election had been declared 
 void, on evidence of general and notorious bribery ; the house 
 accordingly resolved, that no writ should issue until that evi- 
 dence had been taken into consideration: the result was, that 
 leave was given for a bill of disfranchisement ; and, as Man- 
 chester was generally looked to as a recipient of the forfeited 
 privileges of Penryn, so Birmingham was contemplated as the 
 place to which those of East Retford might be transferred: the 
 session however closed before any efficient proceedings took 
 place with regard to either of these boroughs; yet the facts 
 elicited by investigation disclosed a scene of extensive corrup- 
 tion; and the conduct of that tory party which favored the 
 old system, and which, by screening or palliating such corrup- 
 tion, prevented the transfer of their forfeited privileges to 
 towns which had a strong claim to parliamentary representa- 
 tion, brought the question of reform in the house of commons 
 almost to a close. Nothing can be more unjust’ toward the 
 whigs than to accuse them of precipitating that measure, or of 
 designing to introduce into the constitution changes so exten- 
 sive as those which ultimately were effected: their constant 
 aim and their reiterated efforts were to reform parliament 
 gradually; to punish known instances of corruption; and 
 
276 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 gradually to extend the elective franchise, until it comprehended 
 a larger portion of our population, and satisfied those whose 
 voice could be no longer stifled: but their opponents constantly 
 met them with all the obstacles and prejudices which arise 
 from self-interest, as well as a mistaken view of the constitu- 
 tion: and perhaps there never was a doctrine which did more 
 injury to the cause of its professors than that which converted 
 the elective franchise, a sacred trust given to a portion of the 
 community for the benefit of all, and which in its origin was 
 thought a burden rather than a privilege, into a species of . 
 private property, convertible to the direct profit of those in 
 whom it was invested, to be dealt with as tenderly, and paid 
 
 for as punctually, as the land which descends to a person from 
 
 his ancestors. ‘The pernicious effects and special deformity of 
 this doctrine, when carried out to its full extent, were perceived 
 
 in many of those Augean stables, which were subsequently 
 
 swept out by the besom of municipal reform. 
 
 Mr. Peel, though he had resigned office, still proceeded 
 with his unostentatious improvements of the criminal code; 
 and five acts passed, which consolidated into one body the 
 whole law regarding offences against property, purified from 
 an incredible quantity of ancient rubbish, and advantageously 
 simplified in all its arrangements. ‘The first of these five acts 
 repealed about 137 different statutes, wholly or in part, com- 
 mencing with the charter de foresta of Henry III.: the second 
 removed doctrines, which had been hitherto an encumbrance 
 to the statute-book, or laid down general rules applicable to 
 the whole criminal code: it intirely abolished the benefit of 
 clergy in cases of felony ; appointed certain punishments for 
 offences to which no special statute affixed any particular 
 penalty ; relieved the discharged prisoner from severe official 
 expenses ; and purified our law from a load of obscure verbi- 
 age: the third contained the law of offences against property 
 in its new and simplified form; bringing the various species of 
 crime into one view; assigning to each its plain description, 
 with its precise punishment; and removing distinctions which 
 had often given origin to embarrassing doubts: it abolished the 
 distinction between grand and petty larceny ; defined clearly 
 the crime of burglary ; while it cleared away many subtilties 
 regarding ‘ possession,’ and the ‘ conversion of possession,’ in 
 the law of embezzlement, as well as in the wire-drawn dis- 
 tinctions of larceny and fraud; it also mitigated the rigor of 
 the penal law, while it recognised four classes of punishments, 
 in the first of which only was that of death; those crimes 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 277 
 
 being plainly set forth to which each was applicable: the fourth 
 of this series of statutes comprised offences which consist, not 
 in feloniously appropriating the property of another, but in 
 maliciously injuring it; and while it reserved capital punish- 
 ment for arson, for the demolition of buildings or machinery 
 by rioters, for showing false lights to a vessel, &c., it left other 
 kinds of injury to be repaid by transportation or imprisonment : 
 altogether, the number of capital offences was considerably 
 diminished ; in many cases also a summary mode of procedure 
 was introduced, to save various petty offenders, or supposed 
 offenders, from long imprisonment, before the charges against 
 them could be brought before a grand jury: the last statute 
 regulated the redress to be sought from the hundred by persons 
 whose property had been injured during riots, and laid down 
 the mode of applying for such remuneration. 
 
 The close of this session, on the second of July, was soon 
 followed by a public calamity, which again dismembered the 
 government, and disappointed all those hopes which the genius 
 and enlightened principles of Mr, Canning had raised in the 
 British nation. Parliament had no sooner separated than this 
 able minister issued orders to the heads of different depart- 
 ments, that they should transmit to him accurate and detailed 
 accounts of the expenses connected with their several esta- 
 blishments, with a view to the reduction of our national burdens : 
 on the fifteenth of July he became seriously indisposed ; but 
 after a few days of rest, he determined to resume his official 
 duties, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his medical attend- 
 ants: on the twenty-fifth, he retired, for change of air, to the 
 beautiful seat of the duke of Devonshire at Chiswick ; but the 
 fatigues and cares of office, with the desertion and bitter hos- 
 tility of his late colleagues, acting on a frame naturally irritable, 
 and enfeebled by recent illness, hastened his dissolution, just 
 when the ebullition of that hostility was contributing to elicit 
 his genuine constitutional principles. His disease terminated 
 in a severe inflammation of the bowels; and, after suffering 
 excruciating tortures, he breathed his last, on the eighth of 
 August, in the same room where his great predecessor, Charles 
 James Fox, expired: he was buried in Westminster Abbey, at 
 the foot of Pitt’s grave; and his funeral, though private, was 
 attended by a large concourse of noble and estimable person- 
 ages, among whom there was scarcely one to whom the illus- 
 trious deceased was not endeared by the ties of relationship, or 
 by the recollections of friendship and kindness. 
 
 ~The public character of Mr. Canning was clearly seen in 
 
278 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV: 
 
 the altered policy of our govrnement, both foreign and domestic, 
 during his connexion with the Liverpool administration: his 
 ambition, like that of Chatham, to whom as a minister and 
 statesman he bore the nearest resemblance, became lofty and 
 imperious, but directed to noble ends; to the glory of his own 
 country, and the advancement, through her greatness, of other 
 nations: his anxiety was, that all should benefit, not only by 
 her commercial prosperity, but by the blessings of her consti- 
 tution ; and when he was constrained to wield her thunders, it 
 was only to check the spirit of despotic tyranny, and to keep 
 Great Britain in her natural sphere, as protectress of those who 
 aspired to freedom. He exhibited a splendid contrast to cer- 
 tain characters that succeeded him; who, having entered on 
 public life as the advocates of liberal and patriotic sentiments, 
 degenerated into bigoted defenders of antiquated opinions, and 
 selfish supporters of intolerable abuses: Mr. Canning, on the 
 contrary, though party introduced him into the senate, and tory 
 principles, as well as a subtle and intriguing spirit, long secured 
 to hima place in administration, gradually imbibed, and became 
 insensibly influenced by, the free spirit of our noble constitu- 
 tion; until at length, enlightened by experience, he cast off 
 the trammels of that oligarchy with which early ambition had 
 associated him, but to which he owed no natural allegiance: 
 being determined to uphold the noble fabric reared by our 
 forefathers, he contemplated with horror any attempt to en- 
 danger its foundation, or to alter its character; but when he 
 found that the principles which he once professed began to 
 threaten its safety, he abandoned them as far as he thought 
 expedient ; and, conciliating his political opponents without 
 submitting to their dictation, he availed himself of their assist- 
 ance to carry on his measures of regeneration. England re- 
 gretted in him the most accomplished orator that the en- 
 lightened spirit of the age had yet produced ; and the liberal 
 portion of Europe mourned over the loss of his moral influence, 
 as a calamity to the world at large: the effects of his death 
 were almost immediately felt in the affairs of Portugal, and 
 the settlement of those great political interests, which were in- 
 volved in the independence of Greece, and the impending 
 rupture between Russia and the Porte: the administration, 
 however, which Mr. Canning had formed, resolved that they 
 would attempt to conduct the government without any other 
 change, except that distribution of offices which his lamented 
 death made necessary: lord Goderich therefore became first 
 lord of the treasury ; being succeeded by Mr. Huskisson, as 
 
A.D. 1827, GEORGE IV. 279 
 
 head of the colonial department ; while the duke of Wellington, 
 heedless of public opinion, which knew not how to reconcile 
 his resumption of office with the declaration that personal 
 pique had no influence on his resignation, yielded to the 
 earnest request of his sovereign, and accepted the command of 
 the army, but without a seat in the cabinet. The place of 
 chancellor of the exchequer was still vacant ; and was under- 
 stood to have been declined by Messrs. Huskisson and 'Tier- 
 ney, because they wished for the appointment of lord Althorp ; 
 but the nomination of Mr. Herries, a treasury clerk, brought 
 up in the Vansittart school, and in the decided interest of the 
 tories, took all the whig members of the cabinet by surprise. 
 Lord Lansdowne, understanding that this selection was made 
 at the dictation of the king, tendered his resignation: on being 
 assured, however, that the recommendation came from lord 
 Goderich himself, and being graciously requested by his ma- 
 jesty, who was anxious to avoid the fatigue of new arrange- 
 ments, not to precipitate a dissolution of the present ministry, 
 his lordship consented to retain office; but though he wished 
 to strengthen his own party by introducing lord Holland into 
 the administration, this suggestion was overruled. 
 
 It soon became manifest that the cabinet had lost, with its 
 great leader, all those preservative qualities which it once 
 possessed ; and lord Goderich, a man of unquestionable integrity, 
 who, like the Roman emperor, would have been thought worthy 
 of power had he not obtained it, showed himself lamentably 
 deficient in that energy, judgment, and firm resolution, which 
 was wanted to keep together the discordant elements of his 
 administration: this plainly appeared, when he proposed to 
 redeem a pledge given by his predecessor, to appoint a com- 
 mittee for the investigation and reform of our finances, in the 
 ensuing session, As it became necessary to fix on a chairman 
 for this important measure, Mr. “Tierney, the most active 
 memberin the whig section of the cabinet, proposed lord Althorp, 
 as a man whose honor and independence were unimpeachable : 
 lord Goderich expressed no objection; but, observing that the 
 appointment principally concerned the house of commons, 
 referred Mr, Tierney to Mr. Huskisson, its ministerial leader ; 
 and no objection having been made in that quarter, lord Althorp 
 was applied to, and his consent obtained: the subject, however, 
 by some oversight or intention, had not been mentioned to 
 Mr. Herries, who, as chancellor of the exchequer, was more 
 immediately concerned in the proposed investigation ; and who 
 naturally felt himself entitled to have the initiative in affairs 
 
280 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 connected with his own department: but it was only on the 
 twenty-eighth of November, that Mr Herries, calling at the 
 colonial office, accidentally saw a list of the committee and its 
 chairman, drawn out by Mr. Tierney: on the subject being 
 discussed, the chancellor of the exchequer was thought to have 
 acquiesced in the appointment; but subsequently, speaking in 
 his place, he denied this to have been the case; declaring that, 
 with unfeigned respect for the private character of lord Althorp, 
 he objected to his nomination as chairman of the finance com- 
 mittee: at all events, not more than twenty-four hours elapsed 
 before he saw lord Goderich, and informed him, that, after 
 maturely considering lord Althorp’s political views, and decided 
 opinions on finance, he must resign office, if it were determined 
 to persevere in the appointment: on the other hand, the 
 retention of Mr. Huskisson, who considered himself pledged to 
 lord Althorp, became involved in the question, and occasioned 
 no little annoyance to the premier: about the same time also, 
 news of the victory of Navarino came to embarrass still farther 
 this distracted ministry ; so that lord Goderich, wearied with 
 his situation, and estranged, as it was said, from ambition by 
 the loss of an only child, determined to resign: accordingly, 
 on the eighth of January, he went down to Windsor, laid his 
 difficulties before the king, and dissolved an administration, to 
 which his majesty declared he would have been true if its 
 members had been true to themselves, 
 
 After some unsuccessful attempts to supply lord Goderich’s 
 place, the duke of Wellington was commissioned to reconstruct 
 the cabinet ; and, with the exception of lord Eldon, who was 
 at length invalided, the Liverpool party was recalled to the 
 sweets of office. His grace himself, relinquishing the post 
 of commander-in-chief to lord Hill, presided over the treasury ; 
 Mr. Peel succeeded lord. Lansdowne in the home depart- 
 ment; and lords Bathurst and Ellenborough became re- 
 spectively president of the council, and keeper of the privy 
 seal; viscount Melville and the earl of Aberdeen were made 
 president of the board of control, and chancellor of the duchy 
 of Lancaster; while lord Lyndhurst as chancellor, Mr. Hus- 
 kisson and earl Dudley as colonial and foreign secretaries, lord 
 Palmerston as secretary at war, and Mr. C. Grant as pre- 
 sident of the board of trade, all retained their seats in the 
 present arrangement: Mr. Goulburn succeeded Mr. Herries 
 as finance minister ; but the removal of this latter gentleman 
 to the mastership of the mint was considered by the whigs as 
 a proof that he had undertaken his former office from other 
 
A.D. 1827, GEORGE IV. 281 
 
 motives than qualification or choice: all circumstances how- 
 ever considered, that party had much more reason to com- 
 plain of their own colleague, Mr. Tierney: the friends of the 
 late minister, especially Mr. Huskisson, lost character with 
 the public by thus clinging to place; as did Mr. Scarlett 
 for casting aside his whig principles to obtain it;5 but the 
 duke of Wellington, who had taken office, notwithstanding his 
 own declaration of aversion and incapacity, soon showed that 
 the latter disqualification at least was visionary. 
 
 While the Goderich administration was tottering»to“its fall, 
 the foreign policy bequeathed to it by MatCanning occa- 
 sioned difficulties, with which his feeble siccessors were in- 
 competent to contend. In the present complicated relations 
 subsisting between European states, it is always difficult, and 
 often impossible, to unravel the thread \of general. politics : 
 but as far as regards the interference of christian powers in 
 the affairs of Greece, under Mr. Canning’s auspices, the 
 common cause of humanity seems to have had:more influence 
 than usual on diplomatic counsels: not only the commerce of 
 the Levant was destroyed by the present state of warfare, but 
 all christendom was scandalised by the atrocious cruelties 
 which the Turks exercised on those whom they designated as 
 rebels against their authority: such a state of things could 
 not be suffered any longer to exist; yet it is doubtful how 
 far the sympathy of British, and especially of French, states- 
 men would have carried them, had they not received inti- 
 mation, that the emperor Nicholas was preparing to step in 
 at the very crisis when the horrors inseparable from a re- 
 conquest of Greece would have sanctified his ambition in the 
 eyes of Europe. Teased by importunity, and desirous of 
 abridging unpleasant discussions, the Reis Effendi put into 
 writing the ultimatum of the Porte, and sent it on the tenth 
 of June to all the christian fegations: this paper, though 
 obscured by an oriental prolixity of style, contained much 
 acute reasoning, which could hardly be refuted on the 
 common principles of diplomacy, while it announced the 
 
 5 “Poor Wetherell, says lord Eldon (Life, vol. iii. 27), ‘who 
 gallantly resigned the office of attorney-general as a sacrifice to his 
 principles and friends, and who, if he had kept it, would have had 
 a high law office, is sacrificed to Scarlett, who is a whig, and who 
 has been in violent opposition to all the administrations of which I 
 have been a member.’ The sop however now thrown to this poli- 
 tical Cerberus, stified all his barking against tory corruptions ; into 
 which he soon plunged with the desperate energies of a renegade. 
 
989 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LEXY. 
 
 sultan’s firm resolution to prevent that irreparable breach in 
 his European dominion which the acknowlegement of Grecian 
 independence would produce; so that the only option left 
 to mediating powers, was that of desisting from their project, 
 or supporting it by an armed force: accordingly, on the 
 reception in London of this Turkish note, the celebrated 
 treaty of the sixth of July, 1827, was signed by the pleni- 
 potentiaries of Great Britain, France, and Russia. It con- 
 tained only one stipulation that was not embodied in the 
 protocol of St. Petersburg; namely, that the Greeks should 
 become possessors of the landed property situated in their own 
 islands and mainland, on the condition of indemnifying its 
 Mussulman proprietors: an additional article provided, that 
 if, within the term of one month, the Ottoman Porte did not 
 accept their intervention, the high contracting powers would 
 establish commercial relations with Greece, and order the 
 admirals commanding their naval forces to impose an armistice 
 on the belligerents. Instructions, drawn up by common 
 consent, authorised those commanders to prevent the trans- 
 mission of troops and supplies from Turkey or Egypt to 
 Greece; but enjoined them studiously to avoid hostilities, 
 unless the Turks should try to force a passage: at the same 
 time, while despatches were sent to the ambassadors at 
 Constantinople, and to the Greek government, colonel Caradoc 
 set out on a mission to Alexandria, for the purpose of per- 
 suading the pasha to withdraw his Egyptian army. As it 
 was arranged that a eombined fleet should give effect to 
 these resolutions, two line-of-battle ships were sent from this 
 country to reinforce sir Edward Codrington, whose flag was 
 hoisted on board the Asia of eighty-four guns: the French 
 government sent into the same seas four ships of the line; 
 and admiral Siniavin arrived at Spithead with a Russian 
 squadron of eight sail of the line and eight frigates; but his 
 force being out of proportion to that of England or France, 
 half of it returned to Cronstadt, and rear admiral count 
 Heyden carried the remainder to join the confederates. 
 History scarcely records a public act more generally ap- 
 plauded throughout the civilised world than the treaty of 
 the sixth of July; but it was urged in vain by the christian 
 ambassadors on the divan, as well as by the allied admirals 
 on the Turkish commanders: the Reif Effendi would not 
 deign to receive any such communication; and when ‘a copy 
 was left on his sofa, he pertinaciously refused to answer it, 
 or to admit any explanations: the Russian minister now 
 
A.D. 1827. GEORGE IV. 283 
 
 proposed to starve the divan into compliance by a joint 
 blockade of the Bosphorus and Hellespont; when the French 
 minister stated the ready concurrence of his court: but lord 
 Dudley, as if to show how feeble hands can mar the projects 
 of combined wisdom and moderation, objected, on the part of 
 England, to such a step, as too violent ; and this objection led 
 to the quick destruction of the Turkish navy: had Mr. Can- 
 ning fortunately lived, he would no doubt have adapted his 
 ulterior measures to the exigency of circumstances; and 
 would probably have acquiesced in prince Lieven’s sugges- 
 tion, as the surest means of stifling the flames of war. In the 
 mean time, the Turks could not comprehend what secret spell 
 it was which linked France and England with that great 
 northern power, to whose schemes of aggrandisement they had 
 been constantly opposed; and thus, while three of the four 
 cabinets were agitated with doubt and apprehension, they 
 were suddenly startled in this state of suspense by ominous 
 sounds proceeding from the bay of Navarino. 
 
 In that harbor, celebrated for one of the most remarkable 
 incidents in ancient history, the Turkish and Egyptian fleets 
 were blockaded by the combined squadrons of England, France, 
 and Russia, under the chief command of sir Edward Codring- 
 ton. ‘The Greeks had readily accepted an armistice under the 
 treaty ; while Ebrahim Pasha not only refused its terms, but 
 aggravated all those miseries of war which the unhappy country 
 had experienced at his hands; burning whole villages, after he 
 had massacred their inhabitants; and cutting down vineyards 
 and olive-trees, in which the principal riches of the nation 
 consisted: irritated by such conduct, the allied admirals 
 determined to enforce the armistice on this marauder; but if 
 they thought the presence even of their formidable armament 
 calculated to produce submission from the Turks, they greatly 
 mistook the character of that people. About noon, on the 
 twentieth of October, the combined fleets prepared for action, 
 without professing hostile intentions, and steered into the bay ; 
 the British squadron leading; the French, under admiral de 
 Rigny, following it; and the Russians bringing up the rear. 
 The Mahometans, who were on the alert, and had drawn up 
 their flotilla in a crescent with springs on the cables, imme- 
 diately made up their minds that the allies came to attack 
 them; and the Capitana Bey observed to his colleagues— 
 ‘The die is now cast: I told you the English would not be 
 trifled with :’ such being the disposition on both sides, a con- 
 flict was inevitable. With regard to the respective strength of 
 
284 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXY. 
 
 the antagonists, that of the allies amounted to twenty-six ships; 
 carrying 1324 guns; and that of the Turks to seventy-nine 
 ships of war, armed with 2240 guns, beside those in the for- 
 midable batteries on shore: but as the Mussulmen had only 
 three two-deckers, and their opponents had ten sail of the line, 
 the latter can hardly be said to have fought at a disadvantage. 
 The fire commenced on the enemy’s side; for when the 
 British admiral despatched one of his pilots to the flag-ship of 
 the Turkish commander, expressing an earnest desire to avoid 
 all effusion of blood, the messenger was wantonly shot at, and 
 killed; nor was it long before the same vessel fired also into 
 the Asia, which promptly returned the compliment: the con- 
 flict then became general; and though at sea it would probably 
 have been quickly decided, it now raged four hours, and was 
 carried on with great obstinacy and slaughter. ‘The English 
 bore the brunt of the engagement, and sustained the greatest 
 loss; the French nobly emulating their skill and valor; while 
 the Russians, who had to contend against the batteries, dis- 
 played equal courage, though their fire was not so well 
 directed: the first named had seventy-five killed, including 
 captain Bathurst of the Genoa, and one hundred and ninety- 
 seven wounded: the Russians had fifty-seven killed, and one 
 hundred and thirty-seven wounded, the Azoff, bearing count 
 Heyden’s flag, losing more than any other single ship: of the 
 French, forty-three were killed, and one hundred and seven- 
 teen wounded ; making the sum total six hundred and twenty- 
 six put hors de combat. The scene of wreck and devastation 
 on the side of the ‘Turks was such as had never been witnessed 
 since the battle of Lepanto: of about one hundred and twenty 
 men of war and transports, no less a number tlian sixty-two 
 were burnt, sunk, or driven on shore; while it was computed 
 that near six thousand men perished in the action: the allies 
 took no prizes, and detained no prisoners; but they saved 
 many ‘Turkish sailors, swimming in the bay or floating on 
 spars. Ibrahim Pasha, who was absent on a military excur- 
 sion, returned in time to see the shattered and smoking remains 
 of his fleet, as it was said, with a certain degree of com- 
 placency ; for the catastrophe, afflicting as it might be to his 
 father and the sultan, extricated him from the dilemma in 
 which he was placed, between his sovereign’s orders and the 
 mandate of the three greatest European powers: when the 
 battle was over, the admirals entered into a fresh correspond- 
 ence with the Turkish commanders; and as it was agreed that 
 hostilities should cease, the allied fleet quitted Navarino on the 
 
A.D. 1828. GEORGE IV. 285 
 
 twenty-fifth. Most of the ships were crippled; and while 
 they went generally into their own ports to refit, de Rigny, 
 proceeded to Smyrna in the Trident, in order to protect the 
 Europeans settled at that place. The sultan received the news 
 of this disaster without dismay or loss of temper, though he 
 demanded reparation for what he called a flagrant violation of 
 the law of nations; but with a remarkable approach to the 
 usages of civilised society, he permitted the christian ambas- 
 sadors to depart in safety, instead of sending them, as usual, 
 to the Seven Towers: and this he did even though news 
 arrived that colonel Fabvier, a French officer, and lord Coch- 
 rane, had landed on the isle of Scio, the scene of so many 
 Turkish barbarities, and compelled the pacha with his troops 
 to retire into the fortress :| but he declared that intercourse with 
 their: respective courts must cease until the latter should give 
 satisfaction for these wrongs, and abandon all further inter- 
 ference in the affairs of Greece. 
 
 Throughout a great part of christendom, the report of the 
 victory at Navarino diffused joy and gladness: but in Great 
 Britain, the feeling of exultation was confined to a minority ; 
 for the tories generally exclaimed against this aggression on 
 the forces of an ancient ally, as a wanton act of perfidy, and as 
 forwarding the designs of the Russian autocrat ; while ministers, 
 ashamed of having calculated so ill the consequences of their 
 interference, appeared thunderstruck by an event for which 
 they ought to have been prepared, afraid to take a manly line 
 of defence, and uncertain what course to pursue. After 
 virtually pronouncing an opinion on the victory, by rewarding 
 the officers who had achieved it, they despatched admiral sir 
 John Gore to the Mediterranean for the purpose of collecting 
 information; and thus gave their opponents a handle for 
 taunting them with inconsistency: before the question, how- 
 ever, could be debated in parliament, lord Goderich’s miserable 
 and disjointed administration had fallen to pieces. 
 
 When the houses assembled on the twenty-ninth of January, 
 the principal topic in the speech delivered by royal commis- 
 sioners was an allusion to the late naval conflict; and, for the 
 first time, a British victory was characterised as ‘an untoward 
 event :’ nor can it be denied that it was a case of some per- 
 plexity, and might have been still more so, had the Ottoman 
 government possessed the power necessary to support its 
 demands: even as it was, that influence became weakened 
 which Great Britain had long enjoyed in Turkey, and which 
 was so beneficial to her commercial interests: but the men 
 
286 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 now in power hated Greece and her cause; nor were they so 
 blinded, even by admiration of despotic principles, as not to 
 perceive the advantages which might accrue to Russia, in her 
 future projects, from the destruction of the Ottoman navy, and 
 from that diminution of confidence which the sultan would 
 henceforth feel toward his great western allies: but of all 
 European states, none perceived more clearly or felt more 
 deeply the progress of Russian interests than the court of 
 Vienna: the designs of the autocrat on Poland, his successes 
 in Persia and the regions about the great Caucasian chain, but 
 more especially the patient, steady aim of conquest with which 
 his race have ever regarded the Byzantine throne ;—in short, 
 the whole scheme of Russian policy was weighed in all its 
 bearings by prince Metternich, and became the chief pivot on 
 which Austrian diplomacy might be said to turn. United to 
 Russia by the ties of a common interest, as far as war against 
 continental freedom is concerned, Austria still viewed the 
 increasing power and aggrandisement of her mighty neighbor 
 with extreme apprehension ; and schemes for counteracting the 
 ambitious projects of Pozzo di Borgo unceasingly occupied the 
 penetrating and sagacious mind of Metternich. To events 
 arising from this source of danger, as it regards the Austrian 
 empire, Italy may perhaps look for the future recovery of her 
 freedom; since the Italian provinces are to Austria what 
 Treland is to Great Britain. But on what shall Austria herself, 
 and the other German states, rely for protection against the 
 leviathan of the north? On what, but the friendship and firm 
 coalition of Great Britain and France? What other combina- 
 tion, humanly speaking, would avail to preserve the balance 
 of European power, threatened in that direction ? 
 
 In both houses of parliament, the language held by the 
 royal commissioners regarding the victory of Navarino was 
 loudly denounced by opposition, as indicating intentions on 
 ‘the part of the Wellington cabinet to abandon the line of 
 Mr. Canning’s policy: but the usual addresses to the throne 
 were carried without a division, ‘The formation of the new 
 ministry did not escape discussion ; and on this occasion, Mr. 
 Brougham, alluding to the unusual phenomenon of a military 
 premier, made use of an expressive phrase, which has pene- 
 trated to every region where the English language is spoken. 
 ‘No man,’ said the learned gentleman, ‘values more highly 
 than I do the services and genius of the noble duke as a 
 soldier; but I do not like to see him at the head of the 
 financial department of this country, with the full confidence 
 
A.D. 1828. GEORGE LV. 287 
 
 of his sovereign, enjoying all the patronage of the army, 
 church, and state; while he is also entrusted with the delicate 
 function of conveying constant and confidential advice to his 
 royal master: this condition of affairs strikes me as being very 
 unconstitutional. Iam indeed told, that the noble duke is a 
 person of great vigor in council; and that his talents are not 
 confined to the art of war: it may be so; but that does not 
 remove my objections to his possession of so immense a mass 
 of civil and military patronage. It is said, that the noble duke 
 is incapable of speaking in public as a first minister of the 
 crown ought to speak : nowI conceive that there is no validity 
 in that objection; for I happened to be present, when the 
 noble duke, last year, had the modesty and candor to declare, 
 in another place, his unfitness for the situation of first minister ; 
 and I really thought I never heard a better speech in my life, 
 or observed less want of capacity in any one who might be 
 called on to take part in a debate: this therefore is not a 
 reason with me for objecting to the appointment: my objection 
 rests on the unconstitutional grounds which I have before 
 stated, and on the experience of the noble duke being wholly 
 military. Let it not, however, be supposed that I am inclined 
 to exaggerate: I have no fear of slavery being introduced into 
 this country by the power of the sword: it would demand a 
 stronger man even than the duke of Wellington to effect that 
 object: the noble duke might take the army and the navy, the 
 mitre and the great seal—I will make him a present of them 
 all: let him come on with his whole force, sword in hand, 
 against the constitution; the people will not only beat him by 
 their energies, but laugh at his efforts. There have, indeed, 
 been periods when the country heard with dismay that ‘the 
 soldier was abroad ;’ but such is not the case now: let the 
 soldier be ever so much abroad in the present age, he can do 
 nothing: another power has arisen; another person, less im- 
 portant, nay, even insignificant in the eyes of some persons, 
 has produced this state of things—the schoolmaster is abroad ; 
 and I trust more to the schoolmaster armed with his primer, 
 for upholding the liberties of this country, than I fear lest the 
 soldier in full military array should destroy them.’ All this 
 was fine rhetoric, and did no discredit to Mr. Brougham’s 
 genius; nor can the liberties of our glorious constitution ever 
 be watched too closely: but if there be a man covered with 
 military glory, who has shown himself alive to the true 
 liberties of his country, and to the preservation of its consti- 
 tutional rights, that man is the duke of Wellington. We are 
 
288 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 not engaged now in canvassing particular parts of his policy, 
 foreign or domestic; but the manner in which he has descended 
 from a station, more exalted than that of monarchs, to take his 
 stand among the supporters of the British constitution, to 
 reform many of its abuses, and to extend its privileges, will 
 demand the admiration of all ages: it is an example which has 
 rarely been surpassed, and it stands prominent for the imita- 
 tion of future warriors. . 
 
 Much time was subsequently wasted in personal explanations, 
 and angry discussion on the circumstances which led to the 
 dissolution of the late cabinet; when the conduct of Mr. 
 Huskisson and his party, in holding office under the new 
 ministry, met with severe animadversion: a circumstance, 
 however, which personally concerned that gentleman, soon 
 paved the way to his dismissal, and to the resignation of his 
 friends: this occurred during an election at Liverpool, where 
 the honorable secretary affirmed, in one of his speeches, that 
 he had obtained guarantees from the duke of Wellington 
 before he jomed his administration. On the appearance of 
 this assertion in the public papers, the duke instantly took fire, 
 and contradicted it with indignant and contemptuous vehe- 
 mence, in the house of lords ; asking what right Mr. Huskisson 
 had to set himself up above any other member of the cabinet ? 
 The rebuke was met by that gentleman with a pitiful submis- 
 sion; his explanation of the meaning which he assigned to the 
 word guarantee,—that of securing the co-operation of his 
 friends, the earl of Dudley, lord Palmerston, and Mr. C. Grant 
 in the cabinet,—was accepted ; and there the afiair rested for 
 the present. 
 
 While these explanations were going on, that committee of 
 finance, which had been so disastrous to the late administration, 
 was appointed, on the motion of Mr. Peel, now the acknow- 
 leged leader of the commons: he introduced it with an able 
 and comprehensive statement; whence it appeared, that a 
 reduction of £48,608,000 had taken place in the funded and 
 unfunded debt since 1815; while the actual sum of unredeemed 
 debt amounted to £777,476,000: this being the total encum- 
 brance, Mr. Peel next looked at the revenue and expenditure ; 
 and after going through their various items, he stated the 
 income of last year at £49,581,000; the expenditure having 
 been £49,487,000; leaving an excess of income equal to 
 £94,000. As to the expenditure of the present year, the esti- 
 mates were not yet completed; but, without binding himself 
 down to extreme accuracy, they would be less than those of 
 
boeweos ..* GEORGE IV. 289 
 
 the preceding year by £1,168,260. After this general state- 
 ment, he declared that his colleagues and himself would 
 willingly listen to any suggestions of the committee, for the 
 appointment of which he was about to move; and he took 
 that opportunity of pressing one subject particularly on its 
 notice—a simplification of the public accounts, in imitation 
 of France and America: a plan for the attainment of such an 
 object would confer a lasting obligation on the state. The 
 motion passed without any opposition, except that of Mr. 
 Hume ; who, having taken great pains to prepare a statement 
 of the different branches of inquiry, declared that their proper 
 investigation by one committee would occupy a period of two 
 or three years; in proof of which, he instanced the last ap- 
 pointed, which was called sir Charles Long’s committee; and 
 which had been occupied five years with the customs and 
 excise only: the finance committee made thirteen or fourteen 
 reports; yet not one of them referred to many departments, 
 into which he contended inquiry ought to be made; such as 
 the crown lands, the hereditary revenues, the civil list, the 
 expenses of our law courts and colonies: he therefore suggested 
 the appointment of ten or eleven committees of finance, and 
 described the different subjects which deserved attention: this 
 plan however of dividing labor received no countenance, except 
 from Mr. Brougham, who thought it might be judiciously 
 adopted to a certain extent, by the committee dividing itself 
 into separate lists of seven members, if necessary: twenty- 
 three persons were then named: their labors were multifarious 
 and important; and among several suggestions for the national 
 advantage, one of the first related to a discovery that the 
 public was regularly losing large sums by the system on which 
 government annuities had been granted. Mr. Herries had 
 submitted to them a statement of the finances, which lord 
 Althorp described as ‘able, clear, and satisfactory ;’ whence it 
 appeared that those annuities had been sold at a considerable 
 loss: the evidence of this was found in certain calculations 
 made by Mr. Finlaison, who was said to have communicated 
 the fact to lord Bexley in 1819, and subsequently to lord 
 Goderich ; stating the rate of this loss to be £8000 a month, 
 and to arise from a false calculation of the duration of life, as 
 given in Dr. Price’s tables: either these were originally inac- 
 curate ; or human life, in consequence of increased comforts, 
 conveniences, and scientific aid, was extended to a longer 
 period ; and the truth of this statement soon appeared evident to 
 the committee: nothing, however, could be done to alter those 
 ENG, XVII. U 
 
290 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 annuities which had been sold; though a bill was immediately 
 brought in, to suspend the operation of the act under which 
 they had been granted, until a more correct system should be 
 arranged : in a report on the ordnance department, the abolition 
 of the office of its lieutenant-general was recommended ; but 
 this proposition did not obtain the assent of ministers. Mr. 
 Canning’s widow was now raised to the peerage; and when 
 the estimates of the year were presented, it was proposed to 
 grant a pension of £3000 a year to his second son, as a_pro- 
 vision for the family.6 The grant was confirmed by a large 
 majority in the commons, though vehemently opposed by lord 
 Althorp, sir Matthew Ridley, Messrs. Hume, Bankes, P. 
 Thompson, D. W. Harvey, and others ; all of whom admitted 
 the splendid talents of the late premier; though some objected 
 to the grant on the score of economy, and several on the ground 
 of its not having been deserved: this opposition, however, was 
 generally thought illiberal and unjust; for Mr. Canning had 
 spent, not only his life, but his fortune, in the public service. 
 ‘It should be known,’ says an acute observer, ‘in justice to 
 those who hold the higher offices under the crown, that their 
 salaries fall short of the expenses to which they are subjected, 
 by the manners of our country, and a mischievous convention. 
 Their gorgeous scale of living has the double effect of giving 
 an example and impulse to extravagance through every depart- 
 ment of the public service, and of securing (perhaps by design) 
 to private wealth a monopoly of administration. A man vigi- 
 lantly prudent might perhaps have lived within his income in 
 Mr. Canning’s situation; and it is known that he had no 
 prodigal or expensive tastes ; but it is also known that he had 
 that utter carelessness of money, through which fortune is not 
 less effectually dissipated.’? 
 
 Connected with financial arrangements, was a measure re- 
 garding the currency. The act of 1826 had prohibited the 
 issue of any notes under five pounds in England; but the small 
 notes of Ireland and Scotland had been spared ; and it was now 
 found that those of the latter country were getting into exten- 
 sive circulation through the northern counties. As the object 
 of parliament had been to substitute a metallic for a small paper 
 currency, and on this account had restricted English bankers, 
 it would have been both partial and inconsistent to have 
 
 6 The elder was engaged in the naval service of his country ; and 
 his life, therefore, was not thought safe: indeed, no long time 
 elapsed before he was accidentally drowned. 
 
 7 Wallace’s History of George LV. vol. iii. p. 327, 
 
A.D. 1828. GEORGE IV. -" . 291 
 
 allowed free circulation to the notes of Ireland or Scotland: a 
 motion therefore was made to prohibit the introduction of 
 small Scotch notes, to be enforced by a fine summarily levied: 
 the bill was opposed by those who had been hostile to the 
 measure of 1826, but was carried by large and increasing 
 majorities in all its stages: during the discussion it was stated, 
 that £22,000,000 of gold was at this time circulating, and 
 £8,000,000 of silver; also that a large quantity of specie was 
 ‘kept in reserve, 
 
 The budget was opened by the new chancellor of the 
 exchequer with a clearness and simplicity that disarmed 
 opposition. After various statements, he declared, that the 
 total ordinary revenue of the year 1828 might be estimated at 
 £50,381,530; to which must be added £3,082,500, to be: re- 
 ceived from the trustees of military and naval pensions, together 
 with miscellaneous payments of £438,000; making a grand 
 total of £53,902,030: the expenditure would amount to the 
 sum of £50,104,522, which, being deducted from the revenue, 
 left a surplus of £3,797,508: from this, however, was to be 
 taken the advances to public works £708,000; so that the 
 clear surplus was only £3,088,708, instead of £5,000,000, to 
 be applied as a sinking fund. To supply this deficiency by 
 any increase of taxation, was generally acknowleged to be, 
 under present circumstances, out of the question; so that it 
 was agreed almost in silence to limit the sinking fund to the 
 amount of such balance as might remain after the expenses of 
 the year were liquidated. 
 
 One of the most important questions debated during the 
 session was a new settlement of the corn laws: the act now 
 introduced was constructed on a graduated principle of ascend- 
 ing and descending duties, like that of Mr. Canning; but the 
 medium price, or pivot, which was before taken at sixty 
 shillings, was raised by the duke of Wellington to sixty-four : 
 even this compromise did not satisfy the agriculturists in either 
 house, whilst it increased the objections which the advocates 
 of a frée trade in corn had raised against the previous bill. 
 Mr. C. Grant, who introduced the measure in the house of 
 commons, hardly attempted its vindication ; but declared that 
 it was the best that could be framed in the existing conflict of 
 interests and opinions. In this contest agriculture was very 
 improperly considered as opposed both in its nature and objects 
 to manufactures; while, in fact, it is itself a manufacture, and 
 the most advantageous of all manufactures ; for its profits are 
 certain, and its employment healthy: moreover, all grain 
 
292 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 raised beyond the seed sown, adds the whole extent of such 
 produce to the wealth, and the people employed in its produc- 
 tion to the strength of the state. The grand object of every 
 good government is to provide employment for industry ; and 
 the first point to be attended to in this respect is the manufac- 
 turing of the raw material produced by the country ; for this is 
 real wealth: hence agriculture must always prove the most 
 useful kind of manufacture to every state. The fruits and 
 productions of the soil, raised by labor and capital, are dis- 
 seminated and divided among all classes, who exchange their 
 labor for that of the agriculturist, until sustenance is obtained 
 by all: it is this internal commerce which is so beneficial, and 
 so important, from the rapidity of the exchange, and the 
 stability of it, as far as every description of produce is con- 
 sumed by the inhabitants of a country ; and by no other means 
 can manufacturers and tradesmen be so extensively injured as 
 by an oppression of the agricultural interest. On the contrary, 
 it is but fair to observe, that a large party in the country took 
 a very different view of this subject; considering that protec- 
 tive and prohibitory duties were delusive to the agriculturist, 
 who was thus taught to rely upon acts of parliament instead of 
 depending on his own energy, skill, and capital; whilst they 
 were particularly injurious to farming laborers, who are worse 
 fed, worse clothed, worse housed, and worse educated than 
 any other class in England. This party, looking to the 
 harvests and the commerce of future years, to our vast increase 
 of population, whose prospective industry would demand for its 
 support extended markets ; looking also to the high destinies of 
 Great Britain and the mighty power of its industrial resources, 
 felt that a time was approaching, when she must either 
 succumb in the contest with rival nations, or triumph successful 
 over all, and become the grand mart of the whole earth. 
 
 The measure of greatest public interest, however, carried at 
 this time, was the repeal of the test and corporation acts. 
 The grievances of the dissenters, whom those enactments were 
 originally intended to exclude from offices of trust and power, 
 had become almost nominal, through the act of indemnity 
 which was annually passed to relieve such as were subject to 
 penalties ; but the very semblance of a political disqualification 
 is always viewed by loyal subjects as a degradation, if not an 
 injury ; and as the progress of liberal opinions seemed favorable 
 to the attempt, a bill to repeal those obsolete laws, and to sub- 
 stitute a declaration in place of the sacramental test, was 
 brought into the house of commons by that great advocate of 
 
A.D. 1828. GEORGE IV. 293 
 
 civil and religious liberty, lord John Russell. Ministers were 
 not blind to what would be the ulterior consequences of this 
 measure, if successful ; but it was useless to strive against the 
 spirit of the age: after an abortive project of sir T. Acland for 
 suspending instead of repealing the acts in question, as well as 
 the rejection of Mr. Peel’s proposition to take more time for 
 consideration, lord John’s motion was carried by a majority of 
 237 to 193, and against the influence of the cabinet ; so that it 
 became evident that its members must resign either their 
 opinions or their places. They chose the former alternative: 
 Mr, Peel said, he could not think of pressing his sentiments 
 against those of the majority ; government itself took up the 
 measure ; when it came into the house of lords under the pro- 
 tection of the premier, and was advocated with remarkable 
 energy and talent by lord Holland: thus approved, it was 
 generally supported by the spiritual peers, though strongly 
 and consistently opposed as a revolutionary measure by the 
 ex-chancellor Eldon, who declared that, much as he had heard 
 of ‘ the march of mind,’ he never expected to see it march into 
 that house, with the duke of Wellington and the bishops at its 
 head.8 After some vain attempts in committee to narrow the 
 principle of this bill, it passed through all its stages, and finally 
 received the royal assent.9 
 
 The necessity of repealing these laws, as a consequence of 
 granting the claims of Romanists, had been strenuously main- 
 tained and deprecated by the determined opponents: of the 
 latter measure: it was therefore with utter dismay that they 
 saw the former carried, anticipating, as they did, its probable 
 effects on the subject of catholic emancipation: nor was it long 
 before that harassing question was again brought forward, with 
 increased weight, by sir Francis Burdett, whose motion for a 
 
 8 In a letter to his daughter, unmindful of the advance of in- 
 tellect or reason, and anticipating nething but ruin from a measure 
 which has tended wonderfully to mollify the spirit of dissent, the 
 worthy old gentleman says, ‘the administration have, to their 
 shame be it said, got the archbishops and most of the bishops to 
 support this revolutionary bill. I voted as long ago as the year 
 1787, 1789, and 1790 against a similar measure; lord North and 
 Pitt opposing it as destructive of the church establishment.’— Life, 
 vol. iii. p. 37. 
 
 9 ‘The amendments,’ says lord Eldon, ‘ that were carried in the 
 house of lords were poor things—all that were good and necessary 
 for the maintenance of church and state were negatived: so that 
 the bill is, in my poor judgment, as bad, as mischievous, and as revo- 
 lutionary as the most captious dissenter would wish it to be.’—Life, 
 vol. iii. p. 45. 
 
294 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LX¥. 
 
 committee was carried by a majority of six: its deliberations, 
 however, went no farther than to ‘the expediency of con- 
 sidering the laws affecting Roman catholics, with a view to such 
 an adjustment, as might conduce to the peace and strength of 
 the empire, and to the stability of the established church.’ 
 Instead of forming resolutions in detail, it was determined to 
 seek a conference with the lords, in order to ascertain whether 
 their sentiments on the subject had undergone any change ; 
 this proposal was accepted, and the conference held on the 
 nineteenth of May ; when the resolution of the commons, after 
 being read in the upper house, was ordered to be taken into 
 consideration on the ninth of June. The debate lasted two 
 days; but the proposition of the marquis of Lansdowne, ‘ that 
 their lordships should concur in that resolution,’ being 
 strenuously opposed by Wellington, and the law lords Eldon, 
 Colchester, Redesdale, and Manners, as well as by the bench 
 of bishops, was lost by a majority of fourty-four. 
 
 Early in this session, Mr. Brougham had directed attention 
 to the state of our common law and its courts, in a speech 
 which occupied six hours, and was remarkable for its variety 
 of details: but though most men concurred in the opinion, 
 that no subject was more worthy of attention than the improve- 
 ment of our law; yet the unbounded extent of Mr. Brougham’s 
 inquiry, in which the attorney and solicitor-general pointed 
 out several fallacies and errors, seemed to preclude the possi- 
 bility of effecting any good: in addition to this, it may be 
 observed, that there is always found an antipathy in one party 
 to what is proposed by the other: two commissions, however, 
 issued ; one to inquire into the state of the common law, and 
 the other to take into consideration the law of real property. 
 
 At the opening of this session, lord Londonderry, in his 
 ardent admiration of the military premier, had announced the 
 determination with which that premier would ‘cut off the 
 unsound parts of his government, if it should be attacked with 
 the dry rot; nor did a long period elapse before this predic- 
 tion was verified. In the course of the session, bills were 
 introduced into parliament, to disfranchise the corrupt boroughs 
 of Penryn and East Retford: Penryn first engaged the atten- 
 tion of the commons; a bill transferring its elective privileges 
 to Manchester, being sent up to the house of lords; while the 
 case of East Retford was allowed to stand over, since the 
 decision of the commons respecting it might be materially 
 affected by that of the peers on the former question. On the 
 nineteenth of May, when the East Retford bil! was again 
 
A.D. 1828. GEORGE IV. 295 
 
 moved, there seemed to be so great a certainty that the Penryn 
 bill would be rejected by the lords, that ministers, who had 
 pledged themselves, only in case of two boroughs being thrown 
 on their hands, to give the elective franchise to a town, con- 
 sidered themselves in fact as having but one borough ‘to deal 
 with: accordingly, all, with one exception, voted against trans- 
 ferring its privileges to Birmingham; favoring the claims of 
 the adjoining hundred, though not without exciting strong 
 suspicions of patronising ‘a job,’ for the benefit of a great 
 borough proprietor. Mr. Huskisson, who had declared that 
 he would vote, at all events, for the transfer to Birmingham, 
 felt himself bound to redeem his pledge, and to divide against 
 his colleagues: this, no doubt, was an awkward occurrence ; 
 but as the intentions of government were somewhat obscure, 
 few persons would have thought it important enough to affect 
 his connexion with the administration: Mr. Huskisson himself 
 however, in general a sound and sagacious politician, took a 
 different view of the subject ; and coming home from the house 
 of commons about two o’clock in the morning, he addressed a 
 letter to the duke of Wellington, marked ‘ private and confi- 
 dential ;’ in which he said, his duty led him, ‘ without loss of 
 time, to afford his grace an opportunity of placing his office in 
 other hands: the duke received this communication about 
 ten; and without loss of time availed himself of the oppor- 
 tunity thus offered, by laying Mr. Huskisson’s letter, as a 
 resignation, before his majesty. For such prompt, straightfor- 
 ward conduct that gentleman was not prepared; and dis- 
 appointed perhaps that his services were not solicited by the 
 minister, he declared to lord Dudley, with whom he happened 
 to be in conversation when his grace’s answer arrived, that he 
 had never intended to resign; and his letter was marked 
 ‘ private :’ in consequence, lord Dudley immediately waited on 
 the premier, and attempted to pass the matter off as a mistake ; 
 but his grace maintained that it was to all intents and purposes 
 a resignation; declaring, emphatically, ‘it is no mistake; it 
 can be no mistake; it shall be no mistake.’ Mr. Huskisson 
 had the weakness, after this decided repulse, to offer explana- 
 tions through Jord Palmerston ; but without any better success : 
 he then, with almost incredible pertinacity, addressed a written 
 appeal to the duke, which led to a ‘correspondence, and to the 
 humiliating failure which he deserved. The premier was in 
 fact glad of an occasion to relieve himself from a colleague. 
 with whom he had several causes of pique, and with whose 
 political principles his own did not wholly coincide: he was 
 
296 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 therefore inexorable; and the dismissal of Mr. Huskisson was 
 followed by the resignation of lords Dudley and Palmerston, as 
 well as of Mr. Charles Grant. Their places in the cabinet 
 were supplied by sir George Murray, who succeeded Mr. 
 Huskisson; sir Henry Hardinge, who was made secretary at 
 war; and Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald, who took Mr. Charles 
 Grant’s place at the board of trade; while the seals of the 
 foreign secretary were committed to that determined enemy of 
 continental freedom, the earl of Aberdeen. It is not meant to 
 deny that this nobleman’s views may be directed to advance 
 what he considers the political interests of his own country ; 
 but the Castlereagh school never produced a British statesman 
 more indifferent to the oppression which any nation may 
 undergo from the tyranny of despotic power. When, alas! 
 will the period arrive, in which we shall see the cause of 
 humanity inseparably connected with the policy of christian 
 governments ? when shall we see potentates and statesmen 
 uniting to repress injustice, and to establish peace among men ? 
 
 No farther change took place in our administration during 
 the year, except that the duke of Clarence, from some dis- 
 agreement with the premier, connected with the promotion of 
 naval officers, and the large expenses incurred by his royal 
 highness in costly journeys and marine exhibitions, resigned 
 his post of lord high admiral ; when a board was appointed on 
 the old system, with lord Melville at its head; to the general 
 dissatisfaction of the naval and military professions. In Ireland, 
 a change of government became necessary toward the close of 
 this year. Parliament was prorogued on the twenty-eighth of 
 July ; when two interesting subjects of foreign policy were in- 
 troduced into the speech of the commissioners ;—war between 
 Russia and ‘Turkey—and the suspension of our relations with 
 Portugal. It may reasonably be supposed, from the character 
 of Mr. Canning’s policy, that the victory of Navarino, in his 
 hands, would have had the effect of softening the barbarian 
 councils of ‘Turkey, by the only argument which its savage 
 rulers comprehend ; while his fearless energy, and his connexion 
 with the liberal and enlightened portion of Europe, would 
 have controlled the ambition of Russia. It is certain, that no 
 statesman ever occasioned greater trouble and apprehension to 
 that power; nor could any one take a more effectual method to 
 thwart its views, than by placing Great Britain in a position 
 to hold the balance in a struggle of political interests and 
 opinions: but the duke of Wellington paralysed every effect 
 of victory, and encouraged Turkish obstinacy, by what may be 
 
A.D. 1828. GEORGE IV. 297 
 
 called an apologetic course of proceeding ; while his foreign 
 policy in general had neither the influence nor energy necessary 
 to keep down Russian pretensions: so that Nicholas, detaching 
 himself from the treaty of London, soon declared war against 
 the Porte on his own account, for objects which were said to 
 be wholly national.1° , 
 
 In Portugal affairs had taken a turn still more strange: the 
 infatuated Don Pedro, supposing that a few months of foreign 
 travel, together with a short residence in a German court, 
 could erase the characters of malignant cruelty and perfidy in- 
 herent in his brother's disposition, named him regent of the 
 kingdom; but not before Miguel had spontaneously sworn 
 allegiance to him, as natural sovereign, as well as to the con- 
 stitutional charter; and had also engaged on oath to deliver 
 up the crown to Donna Maria II., as soon as that princess 
 should be legally intitled to it. Under such circumstances, he 
 quitted Vienna; andon his way to Lisbon, spent several weeks 
 in England, where he met with a very distinguished reception 3 
 being abundantly caressed, not only by that small party in this 
 country who had an object in disturbing the affairs of Portugal, 
 but by all the members of government, and the aristocracy in 
 general. During his sojourn in London, he resided at the 
 house of earl Dudiey in Arlington-street, which was assigned 
 for his accommodation; and there he held: several levees, 
 giving audiences to foreign ambassadors and ministers: he was 
 twice sumptuously entertained at the admiralty by the duke of 
 Clarence; and, after visiting the king at Windsor, he pro- 
 ceeded to Plymouth, where he embarked, on the 20th of 
 January, in a Portuguese frigate. At his departure, this ac- 
 complished pet,11 who was viewed with some suspicion, ad- 
 dressed a letter to the king, declaring that if, on his return to 
 Portugal, he attempted any thing against the rights of his 
 brother or niece, or against the constitution, ‘ he should be an 
 usurper, and a perjured wretch ;? which character was scarcely 
 drawn by his pen, before he hastened to assume it. On his 
 arrival at Lisbon, his mother, a monster possessed by an innate 
 and insane thirst of blood, resumed her influence over him; 
 and after a series of intrigues and atrocities, the Cortes were 
 
 10 The chief pretext for the Russian declaration of war was the 
 imperious behaviour of the Porte, in its delay to fulfil the treaty 
 of Ackerman. 
 
 11 His common amusement, before he took to the killing of men, 
 was to ride through the streets of Lisbon, armed with an iron rod, 
 with which he killed the dogs that abound in that noisome city. 
 
298 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVs 
 
 dismissed, the charter was abolished, and Don Miguel pro- 
 claimed absolute king. Immediately, all the dungeons in the 
 realm were filled with victims; thousands, who preserved 
 their loyalty, and acknowleged the sanctity of an oath, ended 
 their days in those loathsome dens, or perished on the scaffold ; 
 while immense numbers were banished to the desert coasts of 
 Africa, or voluntarily abandoned their country, to endure all 
 the sorrows of unmerited exile. Had Mr. Canning lived, this 
 desperate assassin, who even attempted the life of his sister, 
 would assuredly not have been sent back without some humane 
 restrictions placed on his savage propensities: but the duke of 
 Wellington was content to restore him on his bare parole ; and 
 lord Aberdeen thought that the insult which he had com- 
 mitted against the majesty of the British nation, his act of 
 usurpation, and his abolition of the chartered liberties of his 
 country, were all sufficiently avenged by the suspension of our 
 diplomatic relations with Portugal: Don Pedro, by his ministers 
 at Vienna and London, entered solemn protests against the 
 violation of his hereditary rights and those of his daughter, 
 whom he had despatched with a royal cortége to Europe. Her 
 destination, in the first instance, was Vienna; but, on touching 
 at Gibraltar, and learning the events which had occurred in 
 Portugal, she took counsel with the principal officers in her 
 suite, and by their advice directed her course to England ; 
 there, however, as she was much less acceptable to our tory 
 ministers, she received much less notice than her uncle Miguel 
 had obtained: yet the rights of this young princess to her 
 throne were incontestable on every principle of legitimacy, had 
 been admitted by the Portuguese nation, recognized by the 
 European courts, and repeatedly sworn to by the wretch who 
 now usurped them. With regard to George IV. at this period, 
 he appeared almost as insensible to the dignity, as averse to 
 the fatigues of royalty: he rarely met his parliament, or held 
 a court; but, secluding himself totally from the view of his 
 subjects, endeavored to banish politics from his thoughts, and 
 to ward off ministerial changes, which might interfere with his 
 ease or his voluptuous amusements: events, however, were 
 nigh at hand, which, by threatening to disturb his tranquillity, 
 occasioned the greatest revulsion which had yet taken place in 
 his political principles. 
 
 No sooner had the present ministers assumed the reins of 
 government, than Irish agitation, which gratitude or prudence 
 had partially suppressed during the two previous administra- 
 tions, instantly revived in all its force; for Wellington had 
 
a 
 
 A.v. 1828. GEORGE IV. 299 
 
 ever been one of the most energetic opponents of catholic 
 claims ; and Peel was considered as representing the embodied 
 resistance of the high church and tory party of England. In 
 these two leaders, every protestant of the empire, averse to 
 emancipation, firmly confided: accordingly, against them and 
 their government the agitators raised a cry of war; while they 
 proceeded to reorganise the catholic association: their efforts 
 were openly seconded by the popish priesthood ; and the first 
 display of this united power, to use the expression of Mr. Sheil, 
 ‘made the great captain start.’ It was exhibited in a contested 
 election for the county of Clare, when Mr O’Connell adopted 
 the novel experiment of offering himself, though a catholic, as 
 a candidate {for the representation; broaching a new, but un- 
 founded opinion, that even under the existing law he was not 
 precluded from sitting in the house of commons; and pledging 
 himself, if he should be returned, to make the experiment. 
 In this instance, although the protestant candidate, Mr. Vesey 
 Fitzgerald, was an advocate for emancipation, his speeches were 
 considered only as a mockery, while the government to which 
 he belonged was based on the principle of exclusion; and 
 though he was supported by the great mass of landed _pro- 
 prietors and moderate men of all parties, yet the peasantry 
 were impelled by their priests to vote for the grand agitator ; 
 who, in face of a protest, was declared duly returned, and who 
 promised to demand his seat in the ensuing session. 
 
 This proof of catholic determination and power was only a 
 prelude to farther manifestations of both: the association, 
 when the restraining act expired, was reoryanised on its old 
 construction ; and the name of agitators applied to its leaders 
 as a term of reproach and contumely, was accepted by the 
 whole body as a title of honor. A plan was now formed and 
 executed, with the aid and agency of the priests, to break that 
 link which united the catholic forty-shilling freeholders with 
 their landlords: certain tests were framed, and resolutions 
 adopted, to reject every candidate who should decline a pledge 
 to oppose Wellington’s administration, and to vote for parlia- 
 mentary reform, as well as for a repeal of the sub-letting act : 
 and while the peasantry, at the command of their masters, 
 ceased, as it were mechanically, from habitual outrage and 
 lawless violence, they assembled in large companies, regularly 
 trained for the exertion of physical force, and anxious for its 
 display whenever it might be required. ‘The state of Ireland 
 at this period was vividly, yet faithfully delineated, in the 
 following description, given by one of her most eloquent sons : 
 
300 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 —‘ Does not a tremondous organisation,’ said Mr. Sheil, ‘ ex- 
 tend over the whole island? have not all the natural bonds, 
 by which men are tied together, been broken and burst 
 asunder? are not all the relations of society, which exist else- 
 where, gone? has not property lost its influence? has not 
 rank been stripped of the respect which should belong to it ? 
 and has not an internal government grown up, which, gradually 
 superseding the legitimate authorities, has armed itself with a 
 complete domination? Is it nothing, that the whole body of 
 catholic clergy are alienated from the state; and that the 
 catholic gentry, peasantry, and priesthood, are all combined 
 in one vast confederacy? So much for catholic indignation 
 while we are at peace; and when England shall be involved in 
 war—I pause: it is not necessary that I should discuss that 
 branch of the division, or point to the cloud, which, charged 
 with thunder, is hanging over our heads.’ 
 
 As the year advanced, the state of the country assumed a 
 new and still more fearful aspect ; for the protestants, becoming 
 irritated by virulent language of the principal agitators, alarmed 
 at the menacing attitude of their followers, and disgusted by 
 the apparent apathy of the British government, began to unite 
 in self-defence: provincial Orange lodges were now re-opened, 
 with the grand lodge in Dublin as the centre of operations ; 
 while new associations, under the title of Brunswick clubs, 
 including in their lists the most influential classes, contributed 
 to break up society into parties, for the more extended indul- 
 gence of mutual animosity: the protestant clubs had an exten- 
 sive sway throughout the northern counties, as the catholic 
 association was dominant in those of the south: to the former, 
 therefore, where the organisation of the Romanists proceeded 
 more slowly, an apostle of agitation was sent, in the person of: 
 Mr. Lawless: that itinerant orator, traversing the difierent 
 districts from parish to parish, not only collected together the 
 catholics in their chapels, where he inflamed them by every 
 possible incentive, but entered the towns at the head of 
 immense multitudes; until at length the protestants also came 
 out to prevent his progress, and serious riots took place: then 
 the association, beginning to fear that it had gone too far, by 
 exciting in one part of the country a spirit difficult to be con- 
 trolled, and creating in another successful opposition, instead 
 of that silence which is produced by dismay, issued a proclama- 
 tion, exhorting the peasants to desist from meeting in large 
 bodies ; and the ominous obedience shown to this mandate left 
 nothing for a subsequent proclamation of the lord lieutenant to 
 
A.D. 1828. GEORGE IV. 301 
 
 effect: the assemblies had disappeared before he ventured to 
 call them in question. Amid this fearful state of illegal orga- 
 nisation and impending anarchy, the only remarkable declara- 
 tion which ministers substituted for active measures, consisted 
 in a private letter sent by the duke of Wellington to Dr. Curtis, 
 catholic primate of Ireland; in which, while he expressed 
 great anxiety to witness the settlement of the question, and 
 confessed that he saw no prospect of such a consummation, he 
 observed, with a kind of studied obscurity, ‘if we could bury 
 it in oblivion for a short time, I should not despair of a satis- 
 factory result.’ Dr. Curtis having communicated this enig- 
 matical epistle to the lord lieutenant, the opinion pronounced 
 by his excellency was decidedly of an opposite nature. ‘I 
 differ,’ said he, ‘from the duke, with respect to burying thie 
 question for a short time in oblivion ;—first, because the thing 
 is utterly impossible; and next, if it were possible, I fear 
 advantage might be taken of the pause, by representing it as a 
 panic achieved by the late violent re-action ; and by proclaim- 
 ing, that if government peremptorily decided against conces- 
 sion, the catholics would cease to agitate: then all the miseries 
 of Ireland would be re-acted. I therefore recommend that the 
 measure should not for a moment be lost sight of; that anxiety 
 should continue to be manifested ; that all constitutional means 
 should be adopted to forward the cause, consistent with patient 
 forbearance and submissive obedience to the laws; that the 
 catholics should trust to the justice of that cause, and to the 
 growing liberality of mankind; but should not desist from 
 agitation.’ For this advice, which was afterwards made public 
 with the lord lieutenant’s consent, he is said to have been 
 recalled in displeasure by the premier: but dates, together 
 with subsequent explanations and events, seem to indicate 
 other motives for this determination; and lord Anglesey 
 himself is reported to have divined the true reason of his 
 dismissal. ‘1 know the duke,’ he said; ‘his mind is made up 
 to emancipate the catholics; and I am recalled, because he 
 would have no one to share his victory:’ at all events, the 
 latter part of the old year was employed by administration in 
 testifying their repugnance to a measure which it was their 
 first act in the new year to introduce. 
 
 On the fourth of December, the earl of Liverpool expired at 
 Combe Wood, after various fluctuations in his health ; though 
 not the slightest prospect of recovery had appeared since his 
 first attack. Seldom has it happened, that a minister, undis- 
 tinguished by great brilliancy of genius or parliamentary 
 
302 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 eloquence, acquired so much weight, or conciliated so much 
 favor, by the mere force of personal character: he possessed 
 indeed a sound and cautious judgment, with a mind well 
 adapted to business, and stored with that political knowlege 
 which is requisite for a statesman; but it was in his unques- 
 tionable integrity, his open and manly conduct, his honest and 
 prudent resolves, that the country chiefly trusted; for he was 
 never suspected of governing merely to serve party purposes, 
 of speaking for the pleasure of victory, or of intriguing for the 
 acquisition of power. One trait in his character deserves 
 peculiar notice: in his distribution of ecclesiastical patronage, 
 and careful selection of those whom he raised to offices of 
 dignity and responsibility in the church, he put to shame all 
 his predecessors, and set a splendid example to future ministers ; 
 showing, what few seem ever to have suspected, that more 
 influence is to be gained by one single appointment made from 
 pure, disinterested motives, than by fifty pieces of preferment 
 lavished on parliamentary retainers, or those whose only claims 
 are the ties of kindred and affinity. 
 
 The judicial annals of this year were marked by a case so 
 unparalleled in atrocity, that the criminal has obtained an un- 
 usual, though unenviable distinction, of introducing a new verb 
 into our vocabulary. An Irishman, of the name of Burke, 
 cohabiting with a female named Helen M‘Dougal, coalesced 
 with one Hare, who let lodgings for low travellers in the city 
 of Edinburgh, to murder persons by wholesale, and dispose of 
 their bodies to the teachers of anatomy. In that den of ini- 
 quity, according to the confession of the principal actor, six- 
 teen persons, some in their sleep, others after intoxication, and 
 several in a state of infirmity from disease, were suffocated by 
 these demons in the human shape; one of the men generally 
 throwing himself on the victim to hold him down, while the 
 other, ‘ burked’ him, by forcibly compressing the nostrils and 
 mouth, or the throat, with his hands. Hare being admitted as 
 king’s evidence, Burke and his other partner in guilt were 
 arraigned on three counts; charging them with the murder of 
 an unfortunate girl of the town, named Patterson; of a poor 
 idiot, known by the appellation of daft Jamie; and of .an 
 elderly woman, named Docherty; on the last of which Burke 
 was found guilty; while the woman, Helen M‘Dougal, was 
 acquitted. The murderer was convicted on the twenty-fourth 
 of December; but as the law of Scotland humanely allowed a. 
 longer space of time to elapse between conviction and execu- 
 tion than that of England, he did not suffer till the twenty- 
 
A.D. 1828. GEORGE IV. 303 
 
 eighth of January ensuing: nevertheless, popular indignation 
 did not abate; and when the monster was brought out to 
 undergo his sentence, the shouts and execrations of the crowd 
 which surrounded the gallows, and filled the neighboring streets, 
 were quite appalling. 
 
 On the first of October this year, the London University was 
 opened by the celebrated Charles Bell, professor of physiology 
 and surgery, who delivered the first lecture of the courses 
 dedicated to medical science; and on the twenty-fifth of the 
 same month, a circumstance of great interest to the mercantile 
 world took place in the opening of St. Katharine’s Docks, 
 below the Tower, with much pomp, and a large assemblage of 
 spectators: the vessels which entered those spacious receptacles, 
 amid the: discharges of artillery and the shouts of assembled 
 multitudes, had their yards manned, and their rigging orna- 
 mented with the flags of all European nations, as well as other 
 devices. The amount of capital, raised’ by shares, for this 
 great undertaking, was £1,352,800 ; but the whole expense to 
 its final completion was calculated at about £1,700,000: in 
 clearing the ground, 1250 houses or tenements were pulled 
 down; no less than 11,300 inhabitants having to seek accom- 
 modation elsewhere. The area thus obtained is about twenty- 
 four acres; of which eleven and a half are devoted to wet 
 docks: the canal leading to them from the river is 190 feet 
 long, and forty-five feet broad; sunk to such a depth, that 
 ships of 700 tons burden may enter at any time of the tide: 
 the first stone was laid on the third of May, 1827; and more 
 than 2500 men were daily employed. 
 
 The only foreign politics that require additional comment 
 are those of France and Greece. The ministry of M. de 
 Villéle had fallen last year, because its members lent them- 
 selves to the designs of the court and priesthood, instead of 
 consulting the growing spirit and intelligence of the nation ; 
 nor could several good measures which they had carried, or 
 the royal favor, on account of which they had attempted and 
 executed many bad, support them against a general impression, 
 that neither civil nor religious liberty was safe in their hands. 
 At the head of the new ministers, forced on the court by the 
 liberal party, was M. Roy, a gentleman possessing considerable 
 knowlege of finance; but the cabinet was composed of men, 
 moderate both in talent and opinions; and was tolerated by 
 the king only as a necessary evil, though it contained much 
 more of the materials of the old ministry than was agreeable 
 to the party which raised it to power. ‘The priests and jesuits 
 
304 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXV. 
 
 were now striving in France for the absolute control of public 
 education, as the most effectual means of recovering their 
 power ; while a seasonable jealousy of these attempts, and an 
 ardent determination to resist them, was widely diffused ; so 
 that ‘no jesuitism’ became as awakening a cry in France, as 
 ‘no popery’ used to be in Great Britain: the new ministers, 
 therefore, in their first acts, endeavored to allay the fears of 
 the nation on these points ; and in so doing, alienated from them- 
 selves still more the good will of the monarch. In his majesty’s 
 speech to the chambers, he took a different view from our 
 cabinet of the transaction at Navarino; and after observing 
 that the exertions of Ferdinand in Spain, to stifle the germs of 
 civil discord, promised soon to restore the French army of 
 occupation to its native land, he declared, that the rigorous 
 blockade of Algiers, instituted on account of the insults and 
 aggression of that state against French commerce, should not 
 terminate until complete satisfaction was obtained. 
 
 In the autumn of this year, the French government sent a 
 strong military force to the Morea, under general Maison ; 
 who, while the oppressor and the insidious patron of Greece 
 were engaged in mortal conflict, expelled the cruel Ibrahim 
 from a country which he had desolated, and reduced the 
 Turkish fortresses of the Morea, which were obstinately 
 defended by their garrisons: before the end of November, the 
 ancient Peloponnesus, freed from foreign control, was left to 
 the direction of its provisional ‘government; at the head of 
 which the count Capo d’Istria had been installed as president. 
 In his inaugural address, he told his countrymen that its first 
 care should be to repress insubordination, deliver them from _ 
 anarchy, and conduct them by degrees to national and political 
 regeneration: he also set himself sternly against the piratical 
 habits by which independent Greece had disgraced herself ; 
 and he had sufficient authority to make the fleet, which was 
 placed at his disposal, carry his orders into effect: as yet, 
 neither he nor the government had enjoyed leisure to frame 
 any system of finance; but he had obtained a loan from 
 Russia, and looked forward confidently to the assistance of 
 England and France. Under present circumstances, however, 
 the most important subject was that relating to the boundaries 
 of the new kingdom; and although this was a question which 
 the allied powers, parties to the treaty of London, would have 
 to settle with the Ottoman Porte, the commission of the 
 national assembly addressed a declaration to those powers; in 
 which it was proposed, that the northern mountains of 
 
, al 
 
 A.D. 1828. GEORGE IV. 305 
 
 Thessaly, and the course of the river Voiussa, should form its 
 boundary on the north, to the exclusion of Macedonia: these 
 limits, as they justly observed, seemed to be pointed out by 
 Nature herself; and where boundaries do not coincide with 
 some great natural features, but are lines arbitrarily laid down, 
 they actually tempt an usurper by that dangerous facility 
 which they offer to violation: these considerations, however, 
 were ultimately lost sight of. If any result was desirable for 
 western Europe from the independence of Greece, it was the 
 creation of a strong barrier against the encroachments of the 
 northern leviathan, after the partition of Poland; and if 
 Russian influence over the new state was feared, that influence 
 would be more easily exerted over a small than over a large 
 territory ; which latter might easily preserve its liberty with 
 the aid of external alliances: but the spirit of our tory govern- 
 ment seemed adverse to the independence of any nation, 
 except its own; and though there were considerations that 
 especially recommended the interests of Greece to so admirable 
 a scholar as our secretary for foreign affairs, no sentiment 
 appeared able to conquer his rooted antipathy to the general 
 cause of freedom. 
 
 ENG. XVII. >. 
 
306 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 GEORGE IV. (conrinvep.)—1829. 
 
 Agitations in Ireland—Election of Mr. O’Connell for Clare—Difi-. 
 culties of the cabinet— Determination of the government to con- 
 cede the catholic claims—Opening of parliament—Suppression 
 of the catholic association—Rejection of Mr, Peel at Oxford— 
 Debates and passing of the emancipation bill—Disfranchisement 
 of the Irish forty-shilling freeholders—Financial statements— 
 Motion for parliamentary reform—Prorogation of parliament— 
 Affairs of the continent—Agricultural and commercial distress 
 —State of affairs in Ireland—Conflagration of York Minster— 
 Opening of new Fleet market and Post-office—New police— 
 Meeting of parliament in 1830—Distress of the nation denied 
 by ministers—Speeches, &c., on occasion of the address—Mo- 
 tions for inquiry, &c.—Debates on reductions and taxation, &c. 
 —Committee on East Indian company’s charter—Debate on 
 the currency—The budget—Beer bill—Reform of parliament— 
 Debates on subjects connected with it—Bill for amending the 
 law of libel—Alterations in courts of justice—Illness of the 
 king—Bill to authorise a stamp for the sign manual—Death 
 ef George IV. 
 
 In Ireland the recommendation of the late lord-lieutenant 
 was strictly followed ; and when his successor, the duke of 
 Northumberland, arrived in Dublin, he found agitation per- 
 vading the whole country : Brunswick clubs, despairing of any 
 effectual aid from government, were beginning to buckle on 
 their armor, and take the field against the new order of 
 liberators ; while the denunciations of both parties, breathing 
 defiance and revenge, augured nothing less than the horrors of 
 civil war. The situation of the prime minister now became 
 one of great and peculiar difficulty : the whole tenor of his 
 political life, as well as that of his principal supporters, had 
 been marked by hostility to the catholic claims; every indi- 
 vidual having distinctly pledged himself to resist them; 
 grounding his declarations, not on circumstances which might 
 change, but on the nature of the Romish church, which 
 abhors the very notion of change: if the duke therefore saw 
 reasen to alter his own opinions, he would naturally find much 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IV. 307 
 
 difficulty in producing a similar change in those of honorable, 
 
 disinterested, independent members of the legislature; nor 
 
 would he find the sovereign more tractable ; since his reluctance 
 to yield on this point was deep-rooted and vehement: it is 
 
 well known, that to obtain his majesty’s consent cost the 
 
 premier months of management, vigilance, and perseverance ; 
 
 and probably nothing but that indolence and love of ease, 
 
 which a dissolution of the ministry would have interrupted, 
 
 overcame the repugnace he had ever manifested to entertain 
 
 this question ; in the meantime, O’Connell’s election for Clare, 
 
 the disturbances which afflicted Ireland, the efforts of a large 
 
 party in England, and the delay of public business, which a 
 
 continual agitation of this subject in parliament occasioned, 
 
 made it necessary for his grace to decide on some mode of 
 action. His choice was threefold; either to fall back on old 
 
 tory principles, and take his ground, as at Waterloo, with a 
 
 determination never to yield—or to grant emancipation with a 
 
 free and liberal hand—or, lastly, to retire from the helm of 
 state for a season, and permit a whig government to carry 
 
 the measure. It may be truly alleged, that to put off con- 
 
 cession much longer, without drawing the sword and re-con- 
 
 quering Ireland, was impossible; and even how such a 
 
 conquest could be obtained against an increasing majority in 
 
 the house of commons, with more than a third of the nation 
 
 favorable to emancipation, and another third tired of the 
 
 subject, or insensible to its result, is very difficult to conceive: - 
 there can be little doubt, however, that the latter course would 
 
 have been at once the wisest and most honorable; for it was 
 
 hardly fair to steal the crown of victory from those statesmen, 
 
 who, during the whole of their political career, had ably and 
 
 eloquently advocated the catholic cause; nor was it prudent in 
 
 his grace to subject his own party not only to imputations and 
 
 aspersions, but ultimately to disunion, by the course which he 
 
 pursued. 
 
 Having determined, however, to carry the question by his 
 own might, he first gave intimation of this intention in the 
 king’s speech, delivered by commission on the fifth of Feb- 
 ruary: the suppression of the catholic association was there 
 alluded to as a measure which ought to precede any review of 
 the condition of Ireland, or any consideration of the disabilities 
 under which Roman catholics were laboring. The advocates 
 of exclusion, perceiving at once the tendency of this recom- 
 mendation, complained of treacherous desertion and surprise, 
 charging the duke with a perfidious concealment of his 
 
308 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 designs up to the last moment; while they loaded Mr. Peel 
 and Mr. Goulburn, men distinguished as Irish secretaries by 
 their anti-catholic sentiments, with the most bitter execrations, 
 on account of their supposed apostacy. On the tenth, a bill 
 was introduced by the former of these gentlemen, to augment 
 the powers of government, for the purpose of suppressing the 
 association ; and this passed without opposition; for although 
 its provisions were somewhat arbitrary in their nature, the 
 friends of the Romanists voted in favor of it, as part of a 
 measure intended to terminate in emancipation: the associa- 
 tion, however, rendered all such enactments unnecessary, 
 by announcing its own dissolution before the bill was complete. 
 On the fifth of March, for which day a call of the house of 
 commons had been ordered, Mr. Peel moved that they should 
 go into committee respecting the laws which imposed dis- 
 abilities on the Roman catholics; but he no longer rose as 
 member for the university of Oxford: that station, from which 
 Mr. Canning had been rejected, Mr. Peel had reached and 
 retained by his uncompromising hostility to the catholic claims : 
 actuated therefore by the most honorable feelings, he resigned 
 his trust into the hands of those from whom he had received 
 it, before he advocated a measure which they conscientiougly 
 abhorred : the only matter of surprise is, that he should have 
 incurred the mortification of certain defeat, by consenting to 
 be put in nomination, with a view to re-election, by a small 
 party of his adherents. 
 
 Mr. Peel began by stating, that he rose, as one of the king’s 
 ministers, to vindicate the advice which a united cabinet had 
 given to his majesty, and submit to the house measures for 
 carrying such recommendation into effect: he was aware of 
 the difficulties with which the subject was surrounded, in- 
 creased as they were by the relation in which he himself stood 
 to the question ; but having come to the sincere conviction, 
 that the time had arrived when an amicable adjustment of 
 the disputed claims would be accompanied with less danger 
 than any other course that could be suggested, he was prepared 
 to act on that conviction; unchanged by any expression of 
 contrary sentiments, however general or deep; unchanged by 
 the forfeiture of political confidence, or by the heavy loss of 
 private friendship. He had long felt, that with a house of 
 commons favorable to catholic emancipation, his position as a 
 minister opposed to it, was untenable; and he had more than 
 once intimated his desire to resign office, and thus remove one 
 obstacle to a settlement of the question: he had done so on 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IV. 309 
 
 the present occasion; though at the same time he notified to 
 the duke of Wellington, that, seeing how the current of public 
 opinion lay, he was ready to sacrifice consistency or private 
 friendship, and to support the measure, provided it were 
 undertaken on principles from which no danger to the pro- 
 testant establishment need be apprehended: he was aware 
 that he was expected to make out a case for this change of 
 policy ; and he was now about to submit to the house a state- 
 ment, which proved to his own mind, with the force of demon- 
 stration, that ministers were imperatively called on to recom- 
 mend the measure, however inconsistent it might appear with 
 their former tenets. 
 
 The argument, by which this case was to be made out, said 
 Mr. Peel, resolved itself into the following propositions: first, 
 matters could not remain in their present state; the evil of 
 divided councils being so great, that something must be done, 
 and a government must be formed with a common opinion on 
 the subject: secondly, a united government once constituted 
 must do one of two things; it must either grant farther 
 political rights to the catholics, or recall those which they 
 already possess: but thirdly, to deprive them of what they 
 already have, would be impossible; or, at least, would be 
 infinitely more mischievous than to grant them more; and 
 therefore no case remained to be adopted, except that of con- 
 cession. 
 
 Having illustrated these propositions at great length, and 
 with great ability, Mr. Peel proceeded to develop the course 
 which it was intended to pursue. The principle or basis of the 
 projected measures was the abolition of civil distinctions, and 
 the establishment of equal political rights; with a few special 
 exceptions: the chief of these were the continued disqualifica- 
 tion of Roman catholics from holding the offices of lord chan- 
 cellor, or keeper of the great seal, or lord lieutenant of Ireland ; 
 from receiving any appointments in protestant universities or 
 colleges ; and from exercising any right of presentation, as lay 
 patrons, to the benefices and dignities of the church of England : 
 an oath also was to be exacted from all who should become 
 members of parliament, civil officers of state, or members of 
 corporations, by which they were to promise allegiance to the 
 crown, as well as to abjure every design of subverting the pro- 
 testant establishment in church and state. To these indispen- 
 sable provisions some others less important were added; such 
 as prohibitions against carrying the insignia of office to places 
 of Roman catholic worship; and against the assumption, by 
 
310 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 prelates of that communion, of the same episcopal titles as 
 those which belong to the church of England: also certain 
 precautions against the increase of monastic institutions, parti- 
 cularly that of the jesuits, intended chiefly to allay the alarm 
 still existing in some minds against that once formidable order : 
 a more effective and important check, however, on the conse- 
 quences which might result from admitting Roman catholics in 
 Ireland to civil power, was meditated in a law for raising the 
 qualification of the elective franchise, in counties, from forty 
 ‘shillings to ten pounds; by which means, that privilege would 
 be limited to persons really possessed of property, and less 
 liable to be misled by the priests. 
 
 The motion was not very powerfully opposed ; the principal 
 speakers against it being sir Robert Inglis and Mr. Estcourt, 
 ‘the two members for Oxford university ; the former of whom 
 had been Mr. Peel’s successful competitor for its representa- 
 tion. The chief argument used, was an assumption, that the 
 grant of equal privileges to Roman catholics would be the 
 destruction of our protestant establishment. With regard to 
 Ireland, it was said, that discord and agitation were not new 
 features in the condition of that country ; that they were not 
 a result of the penal laws; nor would they cease on the 
 removal of civil disabilities. With respect to the divided state 
 of the cabinet, it was asked, why did not the duke of Wellington 
 and Mr. Peel, instead of changing their own line of policy, 
 rather attempt to bring over their colleagues to their views ;— 
 especially as the right honorable gentleman confessed that he 
 still thought there was danger in granting catholic emancipa- 
 tion? Against the fear of civil war, it was said, that reliance 
 ought to have been placed on public opinion and the moral 
 determination of the British people: at best, too, the evil day 
 would only be postponed, and resistance to ulterior struggles 
 rendered more difficult. Ministers were also met with taunts 
 on the intimidated spirit from which concession was wrung, 
 and which was rendered evident in their ridiculous provisions, 
 called securities, If Mr. Peel, it was said, and other newly- 
 made converts, thought they could no longer resist, because 
 they had not a majority in the house of commons, why did 
 they refuse to accept a majority? why had not parliament 
 been dissolved ? such a course was right at any time, when 
 a measure strongly affecting the constitution was contemplated ; 
 but it was peculiarly necessary in the present instance. The 
 marquis of Blandford even maintained, that if the house sanc- 
 tioned the present audacious invasion of our constitution, it 
 
A.D. 1829, GEORGE IV. 311 
 
 would break the trust reposed in it by the people of England, 
 who were surprised with the unexpected announcement now 
 made by ministers; constituted as the house was, it did not 
 express that just alarm which was felt by the people for the 
 safety of protestant institutions. 
 
 The motion, on the other hand, was supported by sir 
 G. Murray, colonial secretary, Mr. C. Grant, Mr. North, and 
 Mr. Huskisson ; while the opposition members who spoke con- 
 tented themselves with general observations of approbation and 
 congratulation. The positions were repeated and enforced, 
 that the pacification of Ireland was necessary to the safety of 
 the empire; and that without emancipation pacification could 
 not be effected ; since all classes had identified themselves with 
 this question, and Ireland had thence fallen into a state in 
 which it could not possibly remain: it must now either 
 advance or recede ; for every tie which held society together 
 in that island had been loosened or broken: a certain state of 
 things, indeed, not deserving the name of society, might be 
 maintained by means of the sword; but such an one as would 
 bave no analogy to the British constitution. The only inti- 
 midation, to which ministers could be accused of yielding, was 
 the fear of continuing such a state of affairs, and aggravating all 
 its evils by gradual accumulation, instead of restoring mutual 
 good-will and the peaceful empire of the law: no other inti- 
 midation existed: none was felt in Ireland; for what was the 
 force of an unarmed multitude, when measured against that of 
 the state? But when it was considered, what effects might 
 arise from disunion—since a spirit of resentment was growing 
 up, which excited men against each other,—there appeared a 
 prospect of intimidation, such as did not admit of contempt ; 
 for no army could avail to put down a system of: private 
 outrage and revenge: the protestant body, at least the body 
 which arrogated to itself that title, knew the state of enthral- 
 ment under which they had held the catholics; and that an 
 unarmed multitude must submit: but were we to destroy one 
 part of the people by rousing and inflaming the other? It 
 was rather the duty of government to protect the whole, to 
 ensure for them the greatest degree of protection, and to give 
 them all the privileges which they had a right to enjoy. 
 
 Regarding a dissolution of parliament, it was said, that the 
 present house was as capable of discussing this. question as 
 any which had sat for the last twenty-five years: it was in fact 
 a question fit for consideration at all times, when brought 
 forward by any member; and was particularly so when it 
 
312 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXvI. 
 
 came with a recommendation from the throne, as necessary for 
 the peace and safety of the united kingdom. A dissolution of 
 parliament, Mr. Peel observed, must leave the catholic asso- 
 ciation and the elective franchise in Ireland just as they were ; 
 for the common law was inadequate to suppress them: then, 
 whatever might be the majority returned for Great Britain, 
 Ireland would return eighty or ninety members in the interest 
 of the association, forming a compact and united band, against 
 the force of which it would be impossible to carry on the local 
 government of the country. It had been said, indeed, increase 
 the army, or the constabulary force; but a greater force could 
 not be employed there. He would state one simple fact: 
 above five-sixths of the infantry had been engaged in aiding the 
 government of Ireland; not so much by repressing violence, 
 as by interposing between two hostile parties: under such 
 circumstances, a re-action must ensue, which would gradually 
 lead to this alternative; namely, to a plan of narrowing the 
 civil government, and resting it on the apex, instead of its 
 proper position on the base. It was also denied that there 
 was anything so peculiar, in the nature of the proposed mea- 
 sure, as to require a special appeal to the people; since it was 
 incorrectly called a violation of the constitution: that consti- 
 tution was not to be sought for solely in the acts of 1688: 
 its foundations had been laid much earlier—laid by catholic 
 hands, and cemented by catholic blood: but even taking the 
 compact of 1688 to be the foundation of our rights and 
 liberties, the most diligent opponent of the catholic claims 
 would be unable to point out in the bill of rights a single 
 clause by which the exclusion of Roman catholics from seats 
 in parliament was declared to be a fundamental or indispensable 
 principle of the British constitution: that bill merely regarded 
 the liberties guaranteed to the people, and the protection of 
 the throne from the intrusion of popery. ‘To the objection, 
 that the measure contemplated was an unconditional conces- 
 sion, without adequate security for the protestant establishment, 
 it was answered,—that principles of exclusion were not the 
 kind of securities to which the established religion trusted, or 
 ought to trust: the real securities of protestantism would re- 
 main, unaffected by this bill, in the unalterable attachment of 
 the people; who, though divided on minor subjects, would 
 unite in resisting the errors of popery: the combined force of 
 habits and circumstances was not so easily to be shaken: the 
 house also, it was said, should look at that great security 
 which it would derive from the generous gratitude of the Irish. 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IV. 313 
 
 Neither were the actual securities devised so nugatory as they 
 had been represented: Mr. Peel said, that when he looked at 
 the petitions sent from all parts of the country, he could not 
 help being struck with one extraordinary coincidence ;—these 
 petitions united in praying for three special securities—the 
 extinction of the catholic association, the correction of the 
 elective franchise in Ireland, and the abolition of the order of 
 jesuits: now the bill which he proposed happened to contain 
 all these securities; and if the necessity of obtaining them 
 were so great as the petitioners contended, let him be answered 
 this question :—would the protestants ever have had the least 
 chance of procuring them, unless his majesty had recommended 
 the disabilities of the Roman catholics to be taken into consi- 
 deration, with a view to adjustment ? 
 
 On a division, the motion was carried by a majority of 348 
 votes against 160; which preponderance not only made mani- 
 fest the fate of the question in the commons, but indicated an 
 overwhelming weight of ministerial influence, to be exerted, 
 probably with no less success, in the house of peers: resolu- 
 tions, proposed by Mr. Peel in the committee, were imme- 
 diately agreed to; and a bill founded on them was introduced, 
 and read for the first time, on the tenth of March. 
 
 On the seventeenth, the honourable secretary moved the 
 second reading of this bill; when he was strongly attacked on 
 the desertion of his principles by sir Edward Knatchbull, one 
 of the members for Kent. Mr. Goulburn admitted that he 
 had adopted new opinions on this subject, because nothing else 
 could possibly be done in the present state of: Ireland; and 
 contended, that the measure proposed was calculated to give 
 more complete ascendency to the protestant establishment, by 
 diminishing the irritation, and removing the prejudices of its 
 opponents: this method however of giving permanent security 
 to the protestant establishment, by granting political power to 
 the church of Rome, was strongly condemned by Mr. G. 
 Bankes, who, declared that it was but a stepping-stone for the 
 catholics to reach everything they might desire. Lord Pal- 
 merston and sir George Murray supported the measure with 
 much eloquence and animation; but the speech which on this 
 occasion claimed and deserved the greatest attention from the 
 house, was that of Mr. Sadler, a man of distinguished abilities, 
 rare honesty, and benevolent disposition, who had lately been 
 returned to parliament for the borough of Newark, by the duke 
 of Newcastle’s interest. Mr. Sadler not only argued at great 
 length against the principle of the bill, and its dangerous ten- 
 
314 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 dency toward the protestant church; but showed its utter 
 futility in remedying the evils which oppressed Ireland, or 
 repaying the wrongs which she had suffered from so many 
 generations. ‘Ireland,’ said he, ‘degraded, deserted, op- 
 pressed, and pillaged, is turbulent; and you listen to the 
 selfish recommendations of her agitators: you seek not to 
 know, or, knowing, you wilfully neglect, her real distresses : 
 if you can calm the agitated surface of society, you heed not 
 that fathomless depth of misery, sorrow, and distress, the 
 troubled waves of which may still heave unseen and disre- 
 garded ; and this, forsooth, is patriotism! Ireland asks of you 
 bread, and you offer to her catholic emancipation ; and this, I 
 presume, is construed to be the taking into consideration, 
 as his majesty recommended, the whole state of Ireland.’ 
 Mr. Sadler made an eloquent apostrophe to the memory of 
 Mr. Canning, declaring his own repentance in having aided the 
 too successful attempts to hunt down that illustrious victim ;— 
 aman, whom England and the world recognised as an orna- 
 ment ; whose eloquence was, in these days at least, unrivalled ; 
 while the energies of his capacious mind, stored with knowlege 
 and elevated by genius, were devoted to the service of his 
 country. ‘This,’ said the honorable member, ‘ was the states- 
 man, with whom the present ministers could not act, for a 
 reason which vitiates their present resolutions, and furnishes 
 the most disgraceful page in the annals of our country; but 
 peace to his memory! my humble tribute is paid when it can 
 be no longer heard or regarded; when it is drowned’ by the 
 voice of interested adulation, now poured into the ears of the 
 living. He fell; but his character is rescued: it rises and 
 triumphs over that of his surviving,—what shall I call them ? 
 Let their own consciences supply the hiatus.’ 
 
 Mr. R. Grant maintained, that it was in vain to speak of 
 applying to the evils of Ireland such cures as it was supposed 
 might be found in the establishment of poor-laws, or the com- 
 pulsory residence of absentees: even if the expediency of these 
 measures were assumed, this was not the proper time for their 
 application: the question at present was, how existing discon- 
 tent might be allayed—how the raging pestilence might be 
 stopped. It was only after this had been done, that preven- 
 tives could be rationally suggested ; for although the evils of 
 Ireland had been traced to many causes, these causes themselves, 
 even where they existed, were but the effects of political dis- 
 tinctions, founded on the difference of religious creeds: the 
 house had been told, for instance, to seek for the source of such 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IV. 315 
 
 evils in the local oppression practised in Ireland, rather than 
 in the general restrictive laws: of local oppression, no doubt, 
 plenty had always existed; but it had ever florished, while the 
 followers of one creed were armed with power to oppress the 
 adherents of another deprived of all power. The same mis- 
 chiefs too, it was said, had existed before the reformation, when 
 there was but one religious faith in Ireland: true; and they 
 existed, because even then the same system of excluding the 
 natives from political power had been long followed, though 
 on different grounds. Of all declaimers against the bill, no 
 one was so furious as sir Charles Wetherell, who had refused 
 to draw it up in his official capacity as attorney-general : still 
 in office, under a minister who was understood to have made 
 implicit submission to his word of command the tenure by 
 which office was to be held, and knowing that nothing but the 
 difficulty of supplying his place prevented his discharge,! he 
 furiously hurled on the measure, its framers, and its advocates, 
 fragments of the most frantic declamation and personal hostility. 
 Such yituperation called up Mr. Peel; who, after complaining 
 of this outrageous conduct, reverted to the grounds on which 
 he had first proposed the bill ; again urging the state of Ireland, 
 and the absolute secessity of doing something; the inability 
 of his opponents to do any thing better, though they vehe- 
 mently opposed the measure now offered ; the impossibility of 
 any government standing, which should set itself, on avowed 
 principles, against concession ; and the folly of treating the 
 question as one which had any connexion with religion: the 
 catholics were never excluded, at any time, on account of their 
 religious creed, but for a supposed deficiency of civil worth ; 
 and the religious test was applied, not to detect the worship of 
 saints, or any other tenet of their faith, but merely to discover 
 whether they were Roman catholics; to discover, not the re- 
 ligionist, but the bad and intriguing subject: he complained 
 grievously, that an unfair application had been made of his 
 unhappy phrase, that the proposed measure was ‘a breaking 
 in upon the constitution of 1688 ;? by which he meant no more 
 than that there would be an alteration in the words of the bill 
 of rights; and if this were to break in upon the constitution, 
 
 1 In the event of the attorney-general’s office becoming vacant, 
 ministers could not pass over sir Nicholas Tindal, the solicitor- 
 general, while his elevation would have occasioned a vacancy in 
 the representation of the university of Cambridge; and after the 
 eine of Mr. Peel at Oxford, they did not wish to run the risk of 
 another. — 
 
316 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 then had such ‘ breaking in’ frequently taken place. After 
 feelingly lamenting the loss of private friendship and of public 
 confidence, which he had sustained by proposing these mea- 
 sures, the honorable secretary expressed his conviction that 
 the time would come, though he might not live to see it, when 
 full justice would be done by men of all parties to the motives 
 which had actuated him; when this question would be fully 
 settled, and others would see that he had no other alternative 
 than to act as he had acted. The result of the division was 
 353 for the second reading of the bill, and 180 against it: 
 during its progress through the committee, several strong 
 amendments were proposed, but all were rejected ; and on the 
 thirtieth of March, it was read a third time and passed. 
 
 Next day, Mr. Peel, with an unusually large escort of 
 members, presented the bill.at the bar of the lords, where it 
 was read for the first time, on the same evening, without op- 
 position. Here its opponents cherished some hopes that its 
 progress might be ultimately arrested: but they were destined 
 to be disappointed; for a great number of peers, who had 
 hitherto opposed the measure, were now either satistied that 
 the moment had arrived when the claims of the Roman 
 catholics could no longer be resisted with safety, or were at 
 least prepared to sacrifice their opinions to ministerial dictation. 
 The second reading was moved by the duke of Wellington, on 
 the second of April, ina speech replete with nervous eloquence 
 and comprehensive reasoning: nor did the character of his 
 grace ever shine with greater lustre than when he gave utter- 
 ance to that solemn, pathetic, and beautiful declaration, which 
 had so striking an effect on the present occasion. ‘ It has been 
 my fortune,’ he said, ‘to have seen much war,—more than 
 most men; I have been constantly engaged in active duties of 
 the military profession from boyhood until I am grown grey ; 
 my life has been passed in familiarity with scenes of death and 
 human suffering ; circumstances have placed me in countries 
 where the war was internal, between opposite parties of the 
 same nation: and rather than a country I loved should be 
 visited with the calamities which I have seen, with the un- 
 utterable horrors of a civil war,—I would run any risk; I 
 would make any sacrifice ; 1 would freely lay down my life.’ 
 
 The archbishop of Canterbury, dreading the ulterior designs 
 of the papists more than any consequences which might result 
 from a refusal of their claims, moved an amendment, that the 
 bill should be read a second time that day six months: the 
 debate was continued by adjournment through four successive 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IV. 317 
 
 nights: the spiritual lords who spoke, beside the mover of the 
 amendment, were the archbishops of York and Armagh, the 
 bishops of London, Salisbury, Darhach and Oxford; all of 
 whom opposed the bill, except the last, whose position was 
 peculiarly painful ; for whether it was, that he had been con- 
 vinced by the arguments of his friend and pupil, Mr. Peel, or 
 that a sense of gratitude induced him to lend aid to his minis- 
 terial patrons,—he had to refute his own powerful speech, 
 made in the preceding session; and this change of sides, but 
 more especially the defence of his altered sentiments, subjected 
 him to the bitterest reproaches of party spirit. Among tem- 
 poral peers, the principal defenders of this bill were the lord 
 chancellor, the marquis of Lansdowne, viscount Goderich, the 
 earl of Westmoreland, and lord Plunkett: but no one had a 
 more difficult task to perform than lord chancellor Lyndhurst ; 
 for up to the time he had been distinguished by his learned, 
 earnest, and eloquent refutations of all plans for concession ; 
 which plans were now repeated, and which refutations he also 
 was called on to confute: even so late as. last year, he had 
 declared his conviction, that emancipation, though accompanied 
 by weighty securities, was pregnant with danger to our consti- 
 tution and establishment; and he now declared his equally 
 conscientious conviction, that emancipation, without any se- 
 curities at all, would be conducive to the safety and prosperity 
 of that same constitution and establishment. The marquis of 
 Anglesey, who, three months before, had been recalled from 
 his government of Ireland because he held out hopes of con- 
 cession to its catholic population, now entered the ministerial 
 phalanx which combated for that measure ; insisting principally 
 on the military points of view in which the question ought to 
 be placed. ‘ Every man,’ he said ‘ acquainted with the state 
 of Ireland, would agree with him, that in a time of profound 
 peace, under our exclusive laws, 25,000 men was but a scanty 
 garrison for that country ; but in the event of war, or even the 
 rumor of war, that would be an improvident government which 
 did not immediately add to it a force of 15,000 men: 40,000 
 indeed would scarcely be sufficient under such circumstances, 
 It could not be questioned, that both France and America 
 wished to do us injury ; and in case of collision with either of 
 those powers, the first object of both would be to place arms 
 in the hands of the discontented Irish: he argued on the sup- 
 position that the exclusive laws were in existence ; for if not, 
 those arms would not be received; or if received, would be 
 turned against the donors. Suppose, however, that we were 
 
318 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 actually at war, having the European powers combined against 
 us—a contingency by no means unlikely ; it would then be 
 madness in any administration not to throw at least 70,000 
 men into Ireland: but let this bill pass; and then, if war 
 should be declared, we should be able within six weeks to raise 
 in that country 50,000 able-bodied and willing-hearted men, 
 who would find their way to any quarter of the globe, whither 
 we might choose to direct them.’ 
 
 The duke of Richmond, the earls of Winchelsea, Harewood, 
 Mansfield, Falmouth, and Enniskillen all strongly opposed the 
 bill; while the chief justice, lord Tenterden, declared against 
 it, as a violation of our constitution, and as threatening ruin to 
 our protestant church, which he valued, not only for the purity 
 of its doctrines, but because, of all churches that ever existed, 
 it was most favourable to civil and religious liberty: neither 
 did he see any countervailing benefit likely to be gained by so 
 fatal a sacrifice. After ably commenting on the various acts 
 made to exclude papists from parliament, as well as from vari- 
 ous offices of the state, his lordship declared his opinion, that 
 the anticipated tranquillity of Ireland, as a result of this bill, 
 would never be realised. Earl Grey spoke at great length ; 
 repeating the argument, that an exclusion of catholics had not 
 originally formed any part of our protestant government, since 
 they had been found in parliament from the reign of Elizabeth 
 down to that of Charles II.; that the exclusion, when it did 
 come, was adopted to guard against political dangers of a tem- 
 porary nature, which had long since disappeared ; that it formed 
 no essential part of the revolution settlement, or of the bill of 
 rights; also that the coronation oath was never intended to 
 restrain the king from consenting to such alterations as parlia- 
 ment in its wisdom might enact: he also entered at great length 
 into that important part of the question, which related to its 
 bearing on the act of union with Scotland. As to the effect of 
 this bill on the state of Ireland, he would not venture to say 
 that it would at once bestow tranquillity, and remove all dan- 
 gers; but he was sure that, without such a measure, it was 
 impossible to have tranquillity, or to be free from peril: by the 
 exclusive system they had produced more than one rebellion in 
 Ireland, to be extinguished in blood ;—but had tranquillity 
 ensued? By no means: on the contrary, the condition of that 
 country had been growing worse and worse every year, requir- 
 ing a large military establishment to keep the people obedient 
 to the laws, even in a state of peace. Was this the mode, he 
 asked, of making Ireland a useful portion of the empire? Was 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IV, 319 
 
 this the way we should be preparing for war? But it was 
 urged—if you pass this bill, catholic ascendency is virtually 
 established on the ruins of the protestant church: that church 
 unfortunately was placed in a situation which could not be 
 freed from difficulties of one sort or another ; the great obstacle 
 to its triumph had always been, that it had never been the 
 church of more than a small minority of the Irish people; and 
 that it had been so, was, in his opinion, a consequence of those 
 very laws which they now sought to repeal: take them away, 
 and the number of its disciples would immediately increase ; 
 not from the spirit of conversion, for any open attempt in that 
 way would be most impolitic, but from its superior reason, and 
 its more wholesome tenets: which would come more fairly 
 into play, as soon as it should be relieved from that invidious 
 situation in which it now stood: take away the false protec- 
 tion of exclusive laws, and superior excellence would prevail 
 in the conflict of argument. 
 
 Lord Eldon, obeying a general call made to him by the 
 house, spoke at great length, and with evident sincerity, on 
 this important question ; stating his belief, that ministers, who 
 had introduced the bill, were actuated by a sense of duty to 
 their country, though he lamented their conduct: neither 
 could he acquit the duke of Wellington and Mr. Peel of 
 wilfully deceiving the people, and bringing them into a state of 
 apathy, by leading them into a persuasion that no measure of 
 the kind would be brought forward, at least this session. 
 With regard to the latter gentleman, his lordship feelingly 
 observed ;—‘ I mention him without the slightest degree of 
 irritation : and if there be any unfavorable impression on his 
 mind toward me, from thinking, that the old maxim, idem 
 velle atque idem nolle, is the foundation of all trae friendship 
 both in public and private life; I solemnly declare, that I 
 suffered the most excruciating pang I ever endured, when I 
 _ found that I differed on this question from one, whose con- 
 currence in my opinions for the last fifteen years I found the 
 most effective support.’ On lord Lyndhurst, however, the 
 ex-chancellor was more severe; for that noble person had 
 endeavored to excuse his own inconsistency by fixing on lord 
 Eldon a charge of similar frailty. With regard to the measure 
 itself, he did not rest any part of his opposition to it on the 
 terms of the coronation oath; neither would he contend that 
 to alter any of the laws passed at the revolution was beyond 
 the power of parliament: this, however, looking at the 
 thirteenth, twenty-fifth, and thirtieth of Charles II. he main- 
 
320 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CH. LXV. 
 
 tained,—that the exclusion from parliament, produced by the 
 last of those statutes, was in conformity with the true con- 
 struction of the acts of 1688, and with the act of union 
 between England and Scotland in the reign of Anne: these, 
 he said, were meant to'be the governing principles of our 
 glorious constitution of 1688, until a strong necessity for 
 altering it should be made apparent. His lordship went on t6 
 show the futility of the securities demanded, and of the 
 measure itself, as it regarded the tranquillisation of Ireland ; 
 being followed by lord Plunkett, who said, that he had 
 reserved himself for the purpose of hearing the unanswerable 
 arguments against the bill, which lord Eldon’ on former 
 occasions had threatened to produce, whenever this measure 
 came fairly before the house: as that noble lord, however, 
 had brought forth nothing but the ¢pse dixit of his own 
 authority, unsustained either by ingenious argument, by 
 historical deduction, or by appeal to public and authenticated 
 documents, he felt himself so far absolved from the necessity 
 of refuting anticipated arguments, that he would apply his 
 observations more particularly to the position—that this bill 
 was calculated to subvert our protestant constitution: after 
 the noble and learned lord had dilated at great length on this 
 topic, the duke of Wellington closed the debate by a general 
 reply to the principal objections made against the measure. 
 The apprehended danger to the Irish church, from the ad- 
 mission of a few Roman catholics into parliament, he treated 
 as absurd, considering that the throne would be filled by a 
 protestant: besides, a fundamental article of the union between 
 the two countries was an union of the two churches; and it 
 was impossible that any mischief could arise to the Irish 
 branch of this united church, without destroying the union of 
 the kingdoms: he next adverted to the charge of inconsistency 
 brought against himself and his colleagues; observing that he - 
 well knew the sacrifice they would make in adopting this 
 measure, and how much more of popularity they might gain 
 by placing themselves at the head of the protestant league, 
 with the cry of ‘ No popery!’ but they felt, that in so doing, 
 they would have left on the interests of their country a 
 burden to bear all down; and that they would have deserved 
 the hatred and execration of their fellow citizens. With 
 regard to the secresy of which he had been accused, his grace 
 begged leave to say, that his noble and learned friend had 
 done that to him which he complained of others having done 
 to himself; or, to use the words of a right honorable and 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IV. 321 
 
 mutual friend, ‘he had thrown at him a large paving-stone, 
 instead of a small pebble: in this he had not acted fairly, 
 since he knew how the cabinet was constructed with regard to 
 this question; and could he declare, that the prime minister 
 had a right to say a single word to any person whatever on 
 the measure, until the person most interested of all in the 
 kingdom had consented to his speaking out? Before his 
 lordship accused him of improper secresy, he ought to have 
 known the precise day on which he was permitted to open 
 his mouth: with regard to what had been observed respect- 
 ing a dissolution of parliament, he declared his opinion, that 
 noble lords were mistaken in their notion of the advantages 
 anticipated from such a measure ; and were not aware of the 
 consequences and inconveniences of a dissolution at that par- | 
 ticular time. ‘ But,’ said his grace, ‘ when I knew the state of 
 the elective franchise in Ireland—when I recollected the 
 number of men it took to watch one election that took place 
 there last summer—when I foresaw the consequences which a 
 dissolution would produce on the returns to the house of 
 commons, to say nothing of the risks at each election, and the 
 collisions that might have led to something like a civil war— 
 knowing, I say, all these things, I should have been wanting 
 in duty to my sovereign and to my country had I advised his 
 majesty to dissolve his parliament.’ The second reading was 
 determined by the votes of 217 peers against 112: on the 
 seventh and eighth of April, the bill passed through a com- 
 mittee, in which many amendments were moved, but none 
 carried ; on the tenth, it was read a third time, after another 
 debate, notwithstanding the persevering resistance of its op- 
 ponents; especially of lord Eldon, who fought stoutly to the 
 end; declaring ‘that he would sooner lay down his existence 
 that very night, than awake to the reflection that he had con- 
 sented to an act which would stamp him as a violator of his 
 oath, a traitor to his church, and a traitor to our constitution :’ 
 the third reading was carried by a majority of 213, against 
 109; three days afterwards, the bill received its final con- 
 firmation in the royal assent, very reluctantly extorted from a 
 sovereign who seems to have given it chiefly to relieve him- 
 self from a troublesome and annoying question.? 
 
 2 ‘The universal talk,’ says lord Eldon to his daughter, ‘ is about 
 the manner in which the king, at his levee, received the voters for 
 the catholic question—very uncivilly ; markedly so toward the lords 
 spiritual who so voted—and the civility with which he received the 
 anti-catholic voters, particularly the bishops......consent to the bill 
 
 ENG. XVI. XY 
 
322 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 If any man had fondly imagined that the removal of dis- 
 abilities from Roman catholics would prove an immediate or 
 sufficient cure for the disorders of Ireland, he must either 
 have been very ignorant of the state of the country, or have 
 wilfully deceived himself: protestant ascendency was too 
 deeply and extensively rooted in all its institutions to admit of 
 such a remedy; nor was it likely that the Roman catholics, 
 having acquired means to break their chain, would remain 
 long without trying their efficiency. One fault was, that the 
 measure itself had been gained by agitation, not granted 
 generously as a boon: but no method of granting it would 
 have completely satisfied the Irish ; and all the benefit which 
 ought to have been expected from it, was the allaying of heats, 
 and the assuaging of animosities, until other measures could be 
 introduced, which might have the effect of ameliorating the 
 condition of the country, by establishing such security for life 
 and property, that no person would be afraid to lay out his 
 capital there, or to exert his industry: it is only in the bosom 
 of national tranquillity that national prosperity and wealth can 
 be produced. 
 
 Kmancipation having been gained, Mr. Peel brought in a 
 bill to disfranchise the Irish forty-shilling freeholders, and 
 raise the qualification to ten pounds: this was part and 
 parcel of the general measure, and it met with no serious 
 opposition even in Ireland; for the association was 
 extinct, the peasantry were tired of the privilege, and the 
 landlords were not very anxious to retain those instruments of 
 bribery and corruption, which had recoiled on themselves: 
 the measure, however, was one of great importance; for it 
 has preserved some balance in the Irish representation, by 
 keeping a portion of it still in the hands of protestant land- 
 owners, and has accordingly been a favorite subject of reproba- 
 tion among agitators of all degrees. ‘The great leader of that 
 class presented himself, on the fifteenth of May, to redeem his 
 pledge, by offering to take his seat for Clare: on the success 
 of this application he had staked his professional reputation, 
 and he attempted to secure it by two pleas: the first resting 
 ouly on a legal quibble, that the act of union, though it 
 forbade a Roman catholic to sit in parliament, imposed no 
 penalties on him for doing so; the second more plausible, as 
 
 he certainly did; but with a language of reluctance, pain, and 
 misery, which, if it had been represented, would have prevented a 
 great deal of that ratting which carried the measure.—Life, vol. 
 lii. p. 88. 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IV, 323 
 
 founded on the enactments of the new statute; although this 
 was expressly limited to ‘such persons, professing the Roman 
 catholic religion as should, after its commencement, be 
 returned members of the house of commons.’ Both these 
 pleas were overruled, after long debates, and an elaborate 
 argument of Mr. O’Connell himself at the bar of the house: 
 but if the provision, which excluded the great agitator from 
 his seat, was designed, as report went, in a paltry spirit of 
 hostility against the man, it had no other effect than that of 
 sending him back to be re-elected by his constituents; and 
 inflaming him with resentment against those whom he viewed 
 in the light of persecutors: in place therefore of that gratitude 
 with which all catholics were to receive emancipation, their 
 champion now loaded ministers with the most opprobrious 
 epithets, as men who, having beer false to their own party, 
 could never be true to any other: in a similar spirit, he 
 announced his ulterior design to effect a repeal of the, union 
 by that system of agitation which had already proved so 
 successful ; and this purpose he deliberately followed up by 
 the most inflammatory harangues, and various other methods 
 of popular excitement. 
 
 Almost the whole interest of this session was absorbed in 
 the one great question. During its discussion in parliament, 
 it occasioned a duel between the duke of Wellington and the 
 earl of Winchelsea; the latter of whom received his adver- 
 sary’s fire; but nobly declining to aim at such a life as that 
 which he had within his power (for he was an extraordinary 
 marksman), he discharged his own pistol in the air. After 
 its final settlement, it produced very important consequences, 
 by driving a large body of ultra tories, through pique, 
 into the ranks of the reformers: these were unjustly indignant 
 at the duke and his satellites for precipitating a measure 
 which could not have been long stayed; since the numerical 
 majority of Irish catholics, inflamed against a dominant 
 minority, was so great, that nothing less than a complete 
 conquest of the country would have kept them in subjection : 
 but how could that conquest have been effected, when a 
 majority of the British hoyse of commons was in favor of 
 emancipation? As the commons of England hold the strings 
 of the purse, how could the sinews of war have been supplied 
 without their concurrence? It may be said perhaps, that 
 resort should have been had to a dissolution of parliament: 
 but it is certain, that this measure had lost its interest with a 
 very large portion of the nation; while not a few were 
 
324 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 anxious to close at all hazards a question, which had long dis- 
 turbed tranquillity, and become a serious obstacle to the trans- 
 action of public business: besides, the whigs were a powerful 
 body ; and being, as they would have been, joined by the 
 moderates and every other party, except that of the high 
 church tories, they would inevitably have earried the 
 elections in their favor; so that, as the duke of Wellington 
 observed in his place, there would have been all the hazard of 
 a collision approaching to a civil war, without any probability 
 of a result favorable to the adversaries of emancipation. 
 
 On the eighth of May, the chancellor of the exchequer 
 opened his budget with the gratifying intelligence, that the 
 revenue of the preceding year had so far exceeded his esti- 
 mate, as to have left a clear surplus of nearly £6,000,000 
 for the sinking fund: but for the present year, as the house 
 was anxious to abolish the absurd system of defraying the 
 expense of military and naval pensions, or the ‘ dead weight,’ 
 as it was called, by postponing its burdens, he estimated the 
 gross revenue at £51,347,000, and the expenditure at 
 £48 333,593 ; by which means he left only a clear sinking- 
 fund of £3,000,000 for diminishing our public debt. After 
 this financial statement, which produced but little discussion, 
 the prorogation of parliament was preceded by no measure 
 of importance, except an abortive motion for parliamentary 
 reform: it was introduced by the marquis of Blandford, one 
 of those members of the ultra tory faction, who, in disgust at 
 the conduct of the present ministry and parliament, had been 
 converted into reformers, quite as suddenly and inconsistently 
 as the men of whose apostacy they complained had become 
 liberal and tolerant. ‘After what had happened,’ said his 
 lordship, ‘the country demanded some statutory provision 
 to secure its agriculture, its manufactures, and its trade; 
 but more especially to secure protestant interests against the 
 influx and increase of the Roman catholic party : one mode of 
 securing this, and at the same time of purifying the represent- 
 ation, would be to abolish the borough-market, which had 
 now been thrown open to eatholies.’ 
 
 The noble mover of "this question was in a situation similar 
 to that of the lamb in the fable, which called on the wolf, 
 little knowing how near he was to the fold: the motion was 
 made rather in the. nature of a notice than with any design 
 of having the topics which it embraced fully discussed at this 
 late period of the session: it was, however, hailed and sup- 
 ported by some of the old reformers, though on very different 
 
~ ap. 1829. '- GEORGE IV. 325 
 
 grounds from that dislike of free trade, and apprehension of 
 catholic influence, which animated the mover; while Mr. W. 
 
 Smith, in voting for the resolutions, expressed great satisfac- 
 
 tion that the relief bill had produced one effect which its best 
 
 friends had not anticipated ;—the transformation of many 
 
 among the highest tories of the land into something very like 
 
 radical reformers. On the twelfth of this month lord chan- 
 
 cellor Lyndhurst moved the second reading of a bill which he 
 
 had brought in, for expediting business in the courts of 
 equity, and which proposed that the crown should have 
 
 power to nominate another equity judge; he took this occa- 
 sion to mollify the resentment of his aged predecessor, by 
 
 extolling highly his judicial labors, whilst he kept his failings 
 
 in the background : a pardonable course towards an old states- 
 man, who, whatever those failings may have been, was at least 
 
 free from all hypocrisy, and whose extraordinary power of 
 intellect was only equalled by the integrity of his prin-» 
 ciples.3 This bill was read a third time on the twenty-first ; 
 but the session being far advanced, the subject was deferred to 
 
 another year. 
 
 Parliament was prorogued by commission on the twenty- 
 fourth of June; about which time the legal arrangements, 
 rendered necessary by the dismissal of sir Charles Wetherell, 
 were completed. Sir James Scarlett, who had filled the 
 office of attorney-general under Mr. Canning, readily con- 
 sented to cast aside his whig principles, and serve under the 
 duke of Wellington; and that the impropriety of again pass- 
 ing over the head of the solicitor-general might be avoided, 
 the latter was promoted to the first seat in the court of 
 common pleas; chief-justice Best being removed into the 
 house of peers, under the title of lord Wynford, and 
 Mr. Sugden, an eminent chancery barrister, made solicitor- 
 general: but the most important change was, the retirement 
 of the duke of Clarence from his popular administration of the 
 admiralty, and the return of viscount Melville as first lord ; 
 whose conduct in his former administration had been marked 
 -by numerous transgressions of the most serious character, 
 
 3 A subscription was opened this year among his friends and 
 admirers to found the Eldon Law Scholarship, at Oxford ; which 
 soon amounted to the sum of £7800: one of his admirers, Charles 
 Francis, esq., founded also and endowed, at his own expense, ‘ the’ 
 Eldon School at Vauxhall, for 150 boys; ‘ to perpetuate his memory, 
 and to commemorate his able, zealous, and constant defence of our 
 protestant reformed religion against every innovation.’ 
 
326 ay HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 especially on the coasts of Spain; and whose partiality to 
 his countrymen was proverbial: he was succeeded at the 
 board of control by lord Ellenborough, who had held the 
 privy seal, which was now given to lord Rosslyn, lord Grey 
 being objected to by the king. F 
 
 The foreign affairs which require notice, as affecting Great 
 Britain, were principally those in the East, where Turkey, 
 now at the mercy of the Russian autocrat, was obliged to sue 
 for peace. The terms granted were as follow:—the Pruth 
 to constitute the European limit, as before; but Silistria to 
 be dismantled: an alteration to be made in the Asiatic boun- 
 daries; so that the whole eastern coast of the Black Sea, 
 from the Kuban to the harbor of St. Nicholas, together with 
 _ the fortresses of Anapa and Poti, should remain in possession 
 of Russia: the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia to 
 be confirmed in their rights; but the Hospodars to be nomi- 
 nated only for life, and no Turks allowed to dwell there: free 
 trade on the Black Sea, and navigation through the Straits 
 for vessels belonging to Russia, as well as all other countries 
 at peace with the Porte: the sultan to defray the expenses of 
 the war; and, finally, to accede to the treaties concluded at 
 London, regarding the Greeks. ‘Thus, while Russia cautiously 
 but secretly advanced nearer and nearer to the grand object 
 of its ambitious sovereigns, Greece came to be admitted into 
 the list of European states, and fresh prospects unfolded them- 
 selves for the East. On the twenty-second of March, a 
 protocol had been signed for the purpose of fixing the un- 
 determined limits of the new kingdom; but it was now 
 agreed to circumscribe its territory within a much narrower 
 space: instead of adopting any boundary marked out by 
 nature, —even that which would have comprehended the 
 gulf of Volo on the east, and Arta on the west; and which 
 would have left the Grecian state, though still too small, yet 
 compact and defensible,—it was now proposed to draw the 
 line still farther to the south, commencing on the east at 
 Zeitoun, near Thermopyle, and running across the country in 
 the direction of Vlachori, till it reached the river Aspropo- 
 tamos, whose course it was to follow as far as the sea; thus 
 excluding, not only Thessaly, but Acarnania also; and leaving 
 the whole western frontier of northern Greece open to, or 
 rather inviting the attacks of, its barbarian foes: and this 
 determination was made without the wishes of the people 
 being consulted, or any communication made to the Greek 
 government. It seemed as if British statesmen were only 
 
A.D.. 1829. GEORGE IV. 327 
 
 anxious to leave a perpetual cause of strife, war, and blood- 
 shed, which might afterwards turn to the account of Russia. 
 
 The session of the states-general of the Netherlands, in the 
 present year, was less tranquil and satisfactory than any that 
 had been held since the restoration: though the king himself 
 was not unpopular, his government had produced general 
 dissatisfaction by some obnoxious measures; particularly by 
 dismissing judges who were supposed to be too obstinate; by 
 great partiality in its official appointments; and by exercising 
 much severity against the press, when it happened to criticise 
 the policy of administration. As soon as the states-general 
 met, the second chamber occupied itself in discussing an im- 
 mense number of petitions recommending improvement in 
 the existing system; but though some amelioration was made, 
 government rejected the proposal, that cases of alleged abuse 
 of the liberty of the press should be tried by a jury: it also 
 successfully opposed itself to the introduction of grand juries, 
 and the extension of jury trials to the provincial courts and 
 other criminal tribunals: on the other hand, a body in the 
 chamber resisted and censured all its measures; and the 
 session ended with more excitement than had been shown . 
 at its commencement. In France, the session closed, after 
 much embarrassment; and a new ministry was formed, under 
 the presidency of prince Polignac; all the members of which 
 belonged to the extreme right, or that section which was 
 known to the public as advocates of irresponsible power in 
 politics, and of spiritual dominion in matters of religion. 
 Nothing eould exceed the unpopularity of these appoint- 
 ments; more especially that of M. Bourmont, who claimed 
 the confidence of his monarch for having betrayed Napoleon 
 at Waterloo; and of Labourdonnaye, who had signalised 
 himself by recommending a frightful system of proscription, and 
 had formally classified those descriptions of people on whom 
 he demanded vengeance. Incessant prosecutions of the press, 
 for having boldly denounced these ministers and their policy, 
 tended only to increase the general indignation; and asso- 
 ciations were formed to resist the payment of taxes, in case 
 ministers should attempt to rule without a chamber: prosecu- 
 tions then increased in number; divisions arose in the cabinet 
 itself, and M. de Labourdonnaye retired: nevertheless, the 
 expression of public opinion against the administration con- 
 tinued as strong and unanimous as ever. 
 
 In Portugal, the wretch Miguel began to show his true 
 , colors: after premature attempts at insurrection, in favor of 
 
328 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 Donna Maria, had failed in Oporto, the usurper made use of 
 this occurrence to multiply arrests in the capital: every in- 
 dividual, whom any creature of government disliked, or any 
 private enemy chose to denounce by an anonymous accusation, 
 was instantly consigned to the horrid dungeons of the Limoeiro, 
 or of St. Julian: while sentences of exile pronounced by a 
 special commission on the conspirators of Oporto, were 
 arbitrarily converted into capital punishment by the tyrant: 
 in comparison, however, with death, the eondition of the 
 prisoners, with whom the jails and fortresses were crowded to 
 suffocation, was scarcely to be envied: though all were un- 
 condemned, and most of them innocent, the whole were 
 delivered over to the merciless authority of apostolic mis- 
 creants, who seemed to find no gratification so great as that 
 of inventing new modes of misery. Among the incarcerated 
 were many affluent persons, who charitably contributed to 
 support the poorer prisoners, whom their tyrants were willing 
 to leave in utter starvation: to deprive the latter of this 
 alleviation of misery, government ordered the former to be 
 removed from the dungeons of the city, and immured in the 
 fortresses of St. Julian, Belem, and Bugio: without being 
 brought to trial, every one was cut off from communication, by 
 speech or writing, even with the members of his own family : 
 many died by famine and suffocation ; and suspicion was strong 
 that in some instances poison had seconded the usurper’s 
 jealousy: no rank, sex, or character was respected: a child, 
 five years old, was kept in solitary confinement five days, and 
 subjected to all the tortures of a prison, in order to extort 
 evidence against its father and mother; a refugee Spanish 
 bishop, who had been a member of the Cortes of 1812, and 
 had since lived in obscurity and peace at Lisbon, was thrust 
 into the dungeons of St. Julian, where he died within four 
 days, in consequence of the brutal treatment he received 
 from Telles Jordao, a brutal wretch worthy of the worst times 
 of the inquisition, to whom was entrusted the government of 
 that fortress for the very purpose of torturing its inmates. 
 All these acts of the usurper were encouraged by his execrable 
 mother, who took advantage of a season, during which her 
 son was confined by an accident, to infuse her own diabolical 
 spirit into the police, removing a minister who had sufficed 
 even for Miguel, and replacing him by a minion of her own. 
 The same sanguinary scenes were acted at Oporto, where the 
 rage of the tyrant was backed by the bigotry of the priests ; 
 who in their sermons and publications applauded the work of 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IV. 329 
 
 death and devastation, as an acceptable offering to the Divine 
 Majesty : one Jose ‘Agostino, a monk and court preacher, pub- 
 lished a pamphlet, called ‘The Beast Flayed,’ urging the 
 necessity of multiplying sacrifices, and recommending that 
 the constitutionalists should be hanged up by the feet, and 
 ‘the people joyfully treated daily with fresh meat from the 
 gallows.’ ‘To crown the atrocities of Don Miguel, he who 
 had conspired against his father, who had usurped the throne 
 of his brother, who had laughed at promises made, and oaths 
 sworn, in the face of Europe, now attempted to assassinate his 
 own sister, because she had been Don Pedro’s regent, and had 
 been faithful to his constitution: irritated by the absence of 
 one of her servants, whom he suspected to have been sent to 
 England for the purpose of making known the dreadful state 
 of the country, this modern Nero burst into her room with 
 a pistol, to which a bayonet was affixed, and attempted to 
 strike her; but her chamberlain, the conde Camarido, who 
 threw himself before the royal assassin, received the blow: he 
 then fired at the princess ; but the ball missed her, and killed 
 a servant by her side: other domestics, however, interfered, 
 and she was hurried away from his fury. 
 
 The necessities of the government increased, notwithstanding 
 a forced issue of paper money; and recourse was had to the 
 most rigid and ruinous expedients to fit out an expedition 
 against Terceira, one of the Azores, and the only spot within 
 the dominions of Portugal which remained true to its rightful 
 monarch: thither the count Villa Flor, who, with the marquis 
 Palmella and nineteen other general officers, had been con- 
 demned in his absence, had contrived to escape, and taken the 
 chief command ; but though the expedition sailed from Lisbon 
 in the middle of June, and the troops succeeded in effecting a 
 landing, they were totally defeated by the islanders under 
 Villa Flor. In the mean time, the tyrant’s interest was) sup- 
 ported at Madrid by the great influence of his mother over the 
 family of Ferdinand; who himself regarded Miguel with 
 peculiar complacency, from the circumstance of his having 
 destroyed a constitutional government: in the course therefore 
 of the present year, he acknowleged his title to the throne of 
 Portugal, although the other sovereigns of Europe had the 
 grace to keep aloof from any communication with his govern- 
 ment: the Portuguese refugees, indeed, and the ministers of 
 Don Pedro, insisted that they ought to do more, and drive him 
 from his throne by positive interference: these applications 
 were addressed particularly to the British ministry, on the 
 
330 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 strength of treaties subsisting between the two countries; but 
 lord Aberdeen, though he admitted to their fullest extent the 
 obligations created by those treaties, maintained that they 
 gave no countenance to the demand of an armed interference 
 on our part, in order to remedy the consequences of an internal 
 revolution: considering that no distinction ought to be made 
 between the two claimants of the Portuguese crown, ministers 
 professed their resolution to observe a strict neutrality in regard 
 to all military operations: when therefore a considerable num- 
 ber of Portuguese exiles resident on our southern coast ap- 
 peared to have some design of fitting out an expedition, the 
 Brazilian minister was informed that government would not 
 permit such a scheme to be carried on in British harbors; and 
 that for security’s sake these refugees must remove farther 
 from the coast: the envoy then declared, that those troops 
 were about to be conveyed to Brazil; and accordingly, four 
 vessels, having on board 652 officers and men, under the com- 
 mand of count Saldanha, set sail from Plymouth; but the 
 British ministry, suspecting their intention of landing at 
 Terceira, despatched an armed force, under captain Walpole 
 of the Ranger, to cruise before that island, with instructions to 
 use force, if necessary, to drive them from the coast; also to 
 keep them in sight, until convinced, by the course they were 
 steering, and the distance to which they had proceeded, that 
 they had no intention of returning to the western isles. ‘The 
 suspicions of our government were in this instance justified ; 
 for the Portuguese armament appeared off Terceira, and was 
 discovered by captain Walpole standing right in for Port 
 Praya: two shots were then fired for the purpose of bringing 
 them to, but without effect; when the ship, on board of which 
 was Saldanha himself, appeared determined to push in at all 
 hazards, a shot from point-blank distance was fired into her, 
 which killed one man, and wounded another: the vessels then 
 lay to, and an angry correspondence ensued; but the Portu- 
 guese were driven off, and watched by the British commander, 
 until they arrived within 500 miles of Scilly ; captain Walpole, 
 after this noble exploit, in which without doubt he was a 
 reluctant agent, then returned to his station; and count Sal- 
 danha proceeded to Brest. 
 
 Such an occurrence excited much notice in Europe, and was 
 brought under discussion in the British parliament; being 
 represented as a direct act of hostility in favor of the detest- 
 able usurper against the acknowleged queen of Portugal, then 
 residing in England; it was considered as an armed interference 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IY. 331 
 
 ’ for Miguel, at the very moment when we pretended that the 
 duties of neutrality prevented our interference altogether; and 
 it was asked,—if we were not bound by treaties to assist the 
 queen in recovering her crown, whence arose our right to 
 prevent her from making any attempt by means of her own 
 subjects? Why, when recognising her right, refusing to 
 admit the title of Miguel, and pretending to maintain a strict 
 impartiality, had we interfered by force against a lawful 
 sovereign ? 
 
 In answer to this, it was alleged, that the warlike armament 
 lately attacked, had been fitted out in an English port: whether 
 the observance of neutrality between two competitors for the 
 crown of Portugal, one claiming it by direct succession, the 
 other by a vote of the Cortes, and in actual possession, was 
 right or wrong, appeared in this case a matter of indifference ; 
 but as it had been decided on, no other course could justly 
 have been taken; and if Miguel’s armament had been fitted 
 out in a British port, it would have met with a similar inter- 
 ruption. In fact, if ministers were to be attacked, the object 
 of attack ought to have been their maintenance of neutrality 
 toward a perjured tyrant, who had voluntarily sworn to our 
 government that he would obey the laws, and preserve the 
 constitution of his country ; not their adoption of proceedings, 
 which that maintenance of neutrality rendered imperative: in 
 the mean time, negotiations had been going on at Rio Janeiro 
 between Don Pedro and the ministers of England and Austria, 
 to effect some arrangement of affairs ; while a deputation had 
 been sent by the Portuguese constitutionalists, to point out the 
 true state of those affairs, and urge him to adopt active 
 measures: Pedro, however, refused to accept propositions 
 from foreign negotiators, which involved any sacrifice of his 
 daughter’s claims; while he assured the Portuguese, that he 
 would act so as to show his determination to maintain the 
 rights of their queen, without entering into any compromise 
 with the usurper of her throne: he did not, however, strengthen 
 the hopes of his friends, at this time, by the resolution which 
 he adopted of recalling his daughter from England to Brazil ; 
 and the British government itself remonstrated with him on 
 the impolicy of that step: but he had ulterior objects in view, 
 which they could not penetrate. 
 
 The history of Spain this year furnishes but few events of 
 importance: in the early part of it, Ferdinand lost his queen ; 
 and before its close, he contracted a third marriage with a 
 princess of Naples, the celebrated Christina; to the great dis- 
 
332 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 satisfaction of the adherents of his brother, Don Carlos: con- — 
 spiracies in Catalonia, supposed to have been excited by the 
 count d’Espagne for the sake of private advantage, were fol- 
 lowed by cruel executions; but the rest of the country remained 
 tranquil: its finances, however, were in so dreadful a state of 
 exhaustion from a long continuance of misgovernment and ex- 
 clusion, that Cadiz was declared a free port, in the hope of 
 alluring back foreign commerce to one of its old and favorite 
 abodes: but at this very time, the Spanish government, which 
 had been driven from the English money market by its faith- 
 less conduct respecting the Cortes bonds, ran the risk of losing 
 its credit with all European states, by a discovery of its fraud 
 in the celebrated case of the French loan. It would lead us 
 too far from our limits to detail the affairs of the South 
 American states; but those provinces, though lost to Spain, 
 were as yet far from the attainment of internal tranquillity : the 
 struggles of anarchy, for the cause of republicanism, abetted 
 by superstition on one” side, and infidelity on the other, were 
 now beginning. 
 
 Toward the end of this year, the attention of the British 
 nation was withdrawn from foreign transactions to the general 
 and increasing distress of its own population among the agri- 
 cultural, manufacturing, and commercial classes: the un- 
 doubted existence of this distress was: assigned to various 
 causes, according to the conflicting tenets or interests of the 
 reasoners: free trade, a metallic currency, and the low prices 
 of agricultural produce, were each insisted on as the origin of 
 those evils which afflicted the country ; while the prohibitory 
 system in commerce, an unrestricted paper currency, and high 
 protective duties for the corn-grower, were proposed in turn, 
 with equal confidence, as remedies. Whatever causes aggra- 
 vated the general suffering at this period, its chief origin might 
 be traced to the enormous pressure of our national debt, arising 
 from a reckless war expenditure, which bore heavily on pro- 
 ductive industry: to the evils which affected the agricultural 
 classes, were to be added the fatal effects of the poor laws, 
 tending to ruin the farmer by the same system of expenditure 
 which demoralised the laborer ; also that reduction of the cir- 
 culating medium completed last year, which, by almost doubling 
 taxation and crippling industry, contributed to augment the 
 general perplexity and dissatisfaction. With regard to our 
 manufacturing and commercial interests, the competition of © 
 other nations, since the peace, had destroyed those high profits 
 which counterbalanced the exactions of the revenue: neither 
 
A.D. 1829. GEORGE IV. 333 
 
 had trade yet recovered itself, or commercial enterprise re- 
 gained its elasticity, since 1826, when speculation, with its 
 consequent panic, occasioned such immense pecuniary losses : 
 nor can it be denied, that the new system of trade and com- 
 merce increased the evil, by throwing numerous hands out of 
 employment, in its transition state from restriction to com- 
 parative freedom. ‘To these more serious causes of calamity 
 were added a bad harvest and a severe winter; all which con- 
 tributed to bring the productive classes of the community, and 
 especially the lowest orders, into a state of suffering and misery, 
 which every one, except the minister and his adherents, 
 together with those who lived on the produce of the taxes, 
 acknowleged to be real: unfortunately, the wretched artisans, 
 ignorantly ascribing the reduction of wages, not to the neces- 
 sities of trade, but to the avarice of their employers, had 
 recourse to their usual correctives, voluntary idleness and 
 destruction of property. The example was set by the silk- 
 weavers of Spitalfields and Bethnal-green, and the mischief 
 done had not been equalled for sixty years: the same spirit 
 showed itself at Macclesfield and Coventry; nor did the 
 manufacturing districts of Yorkshire escape the contagion: in 
 all these places, machinery to an immense amount was 
 destroyed ; and the artisans who showed a disposition to labor 
 in their vocation rather than to riot, were subjected to violent 
 outrages from their fellow-workmen, until the arrival of troops, 
 and the apprehension of many active rioters, restored some 
 degree of tranquillity. Lawless and mischievous as these pro- 
 ceedings were, a great load of deplorable misery lay at the 
 bottom: labor nowhere received its adequate remuneration ; 
 and so low were the wages received in many branches of 
 manufacture at this period, that a report, drawn up at Hud- 
 dersfield by a committee of masters appointed to investigate 
 the condition of working people, stated, ‘that within the 
 several townships engaged in fancy business, there were 
 13,000 individuals, who had not more than twopence half- 
 penny per day to live on; out of which they had to pay for 
 the wear and tear of their looms.’ It never can be too often 
 or too strongly insisted on, that the first and greatest object of 
 statesmen and legislators is to discover, not only the means of 
 employment, but the adequate reward of labor: this is the 
 grand method of rendering a nation contented, prosperous, and 
 powerful: without this, most difficult will be its improvement 
 in those principles which form the best foundation of its hap- 
 piness. 
 
334 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 With regard to Ireland, that unfortunate country had been 
 thrown into such a state of excitement by the harangues of the 
 member for Clare, that scenes of violence and outrage, like 
 those from which the emancipation bill was to relieve it, soon 
 presented themselves: the feelings of parties still continued in 
 full force; hostile meetings, with a considerable loss of life, 
 took place in the counties of Armagh, Leitrim, Cavan, and 
 Monaghan, where nothing but the presence of a military force 
 prevented open war; while in Tipperary, matters proceeded 
 to such a length, that the magistrates expressed ai unanimous 
 opinion, that nothing but a revival of the insurrection act would 
 secure the peace of the country: this however could not be 
 effected; for it had not been suspended, but had actually 
 expired, and parliament was not sitting. 
 
 It certainly was soon perceived, that catholic emancipation 
 had failed to lay the spirit of discontent ; and that the pacifi- 
 _cation of our sister island still remained to exercise the ingenuity 
 of British statesmen. Ireland never has been, nor is she likely 
 soon to be, cordially united with her conquerors: so feeble 
 indeed is the connexion, that it would long ago have been dis- 
 solved, but for the superior might of England: yet if Ireland 
 has always been a drag on this country; if she has been a 
 source of weakness rather than of strength; an angry foe 
 instead of an attached friend ;—she has been what the general 
 conduct of England made her: even during the period when 
 the religion of the two nations was the same, the state of 
 affairs was but little better; for a spirit of tyranny and rapacity 
 was ever at work, transferring the rich lands of that unfortunate 
 country to her ruthless invaders; and the fiery disposition of 
 her sons was purposely roused by insults and injuries to rebel- 
 lion, in order that they might be plundered with a greater 
 show of propriety: the reformation never obtained a footing 
 among her native inhabitants ; and instead of allowing to others 
 that freedom which we claimed ourselves, we employed our 
 troops to turn the priests out of their churches and livings, 
 which parliament transferred to the clergy of its own communion, 
 though their adherents did not amount to one-tenth of the 
 population. When this transfer, however, was effected, a large 
 portion of the landed property still belonged to the catholic 
 nobility and gentry; so that their spiritual guides were not 
 wholly left to depend on the contributions of a starving 
 peasantry: but the Irish having taken part with the Stuart 
 dynasty, nearly nine-tenths of the intire property of the realm 
 were confiscated under Cromwell and William II., and given 
 
A.D. 1830. GEORGE IY. 335 
 
 to protestants: these, looking up to England for support, con- 
 sidered the poor natives, hutted on their estates, rather as 
 implacable foes than as tenants and dependents: hence the 
 little sympathy that has ever existed between the upper and 
 lower classes. Indeed, most of the landholders soon quitted 
 the country, letting their estates to middlemen, by whom they 
 were sublet, on the most exorbitant terms, to the wretched 
 peasants, who have been brought to as low a state of misery as 
 any serfs in Europe: in the mean time, a comparatively small 
 party, under the banners of an Orange confederacy, have held 
 a tyrannical sway over the land, perverting or denying justice, 
 and perpetuating the most intolerable abuses. 
 
 When the foundation of this system was laid, the population 
 of Ireland did not exceed 2,000,000; but it has now risen to 
 8,000,000, of which no less than 6,500,000 are catholics; so 
 that all arrangements derogatory to their character and interests 
 daily become more offensive: besides, by their own exertions 
 they have acquired political power, and are enabled to return 
 a large body of representatives to parliament. Of these cir- 
 cumstances the great agitator has taken advantage ; urging the 
 people to remonstrate, to proclaim their wrongs, and to demand 
 full participation in all those salutary institutions, which they 
 were taught to expect when they consented to the union: at 
 the same time, while he stimulates them to claim equal privi- 
 leges and equal laws, he represses outrage, and teaches them 
 to agitate within the pale of the law, and by legal means. 
 
 Against these their claims there exist many and strong 
 antagonist forces. There is that in the very nature of popery 
 which seems to forbid protestants to arm it with power, or to 
 advance its interests; there is the influence of great families, 
 enriched with Irish spoil, who have by length of time acquired 
 a title to this property; there is a tory faction in England, 
 desirous of punishing the Irish people for contributing so 
 effectually to extinguish their privileges and reform the British 
 legislature ; nor are they less anxious to uphold in full vigor a 
 church establishment, which has always proved most fruitful 
 in advantages to the scions of our aristocracy. Thus the 
 whole empire has been kept in a perpetal ferment, to the 
 grievous injury of all classes; nor has any definite. plan 
 of remedial measures yet been proposed, without being 
 found impracticable or insufficient. One party, ascribing all 
 the evil to popery, declares that a leaf must be taken out of 
 William the Conqueror’s book; and that a system, so false 
 and anti-social, so incompatible with civil and religious liberty, 
 
336 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 must be extirpated: another asserts, with equal confidence, 
 that the grand nuisance is a protestant establishment ; which, 
 being repudiated by the great mass of the people, ought to be 
 cut down to the immediate wants and necessities of those who 
 respect its doctrines: others ascribe the existing misery to 
 absentee landlords, and a want of provision for the destitute 
 poor: true, says a different set; a body of men more 
 indifferent to the welfare of their tenantry and laborers does 
 not exist, than the Irish landed proprietors; but to charge 
 these persons with all the evils which afflict the country, is as 
 absurd as to lay them at the door of the established church: 
 their root lies far back ; for it has been the custom, from time 
 immemorial, to divide the paternal inheritance, whether 
 freehold or leasehold, among every surviving member of the 
 family ; which division and subdivision of property cuts the 
 land into patches, and rapidly breeds an agricultural popula- 
 tion, clothed in rags, fed on potatoes, and worked like slaves ; 
 in order, therefore, to produce any degree of comfort, the first 
 step must be to clear away the present occupants of the soil, 
 rather than to stereotype the evil by a system of parochial 
 settlements ;—ejection and emigration consequently are the 
 best modes of relief: not a few advise the outlay of capital in 
 Treland, and the employment of ‘her redundant population in 
 works of general utility; forgetting, that before this can be 
 done, tranquillity must be established by some other means; 
 since no capitalist will expend his money, or exert his industry, 
 where life and property are insecure: where ‘ his yard-measure 
 is a sword, and his ledger only a return of killed and wounded.’ 
 
 Thus, encompassed with evils, the unhappy country has 
 clung, with a species of unerring instinct, to its great agitator, 
 who accelerated the first grand measure which opened a 
 prospect of independence to catholic Ireland: even from their 
 miserable pittance, the half starved peasantry joyfully con- 
 tribute a portion to remunerate their benefactor, for his loss of 
 time, and sacrifice of professional emoluments; and while his 
 power, greater than that which any subject of this empire ever 
 before possessed, is met by scoffs and insults in some quarters, 
 and by alarm and terror, or indignant denunciation in others, 
 he proceeds on his course ; flinging back the reproaches of his 
 adversaries, and taunting them as the instruments which raised 
 him to this height. ‘ Recall this power,’ he says, ‘ which you 
 have given me, by the concession of justice to my country: 
 then shall I sink back into the ranks of the people, and become 
 as harmless as the lowest peasant.’ 
 
A.D. 1830. GEORGE IV, 337 
 
 Under such evils, mixed up as they are with the very form 
 and constitution of society in Ireland, the most important busi- 
 ness of the empire is interrupted; a military force is kept up 
 in the country as large as that which is necessary for the 
 protection of British India; and the very existence of an 
 administration depends on the countenance which it may 
 receive from a body of Irish agitators. To predict how long 
 such a state of things can last, or to point out how it can be 
 altered, is not necessarily demanded of the historian: he has 
 fulfilled his duty, when he has fairly and impartially laid the 
 case before his readers: but as it is impossible to remedy these 
 evils by force of arms, in the present disposition of the British 
 house of commons and of the Irish agitators, the great aim of 
 our legislators should be the discovery of a different mode of 
 cure. ‘This in fact is now the grand problem in our national 
 policy. While to its solution the abilities of statesmen are 
 steadily directed, all party feeling should be laid aside, all ani- 
 mosity forgotten: it is only to be effected in a time of peace ; 
 and if war should overtake us in circumstances which might be 
 called a premium for invasion, Ireland would probably be lost. 
 
 Our domestic annals this year were marked by the con- 
 flagration of York Minster, that glory of English architecture : 
 great part of the choir, with the organ, fell a sacrifice to the 
 devouring element ; but the noble east window was fortunately 
 preserved with little damage: the fire was traced to a man 
 named Martin, brother to the celebrated artist of that name, 
 who was subsequently tried for the crime at York, and found 
 to be insane: but a meeting was immediately held, and a 
 sufficient subscription raised by the nobility and gentry of this 
 great aristocratic county, for the purpose of restoring its 
 magnificent cathedral, after the original plan, under the direc- 
 tion of Mr. Smirke. London received additional beauty and 
 convenience from the opening of the new Fleet, or Farringdon 
 
 -market ; forming a handsome quadrangle of 232 feet by 150, 
 and standing on a surface of one acre and a half: the purchase 
 of its site, and the expense of buildings, was estimated at about 
 £280,000. The new Post-Office also, one of the finest edifices 
 by which the capital is ornamented, was opened in September 
 for the transaction of business, and an improved system was 
 adopted for sorting, arranging, and delivering letters. A still 
 more important alteration however took place this year in the 
 police establishment of our metropolis, for the institution of 
 which the public owes a large debt of gratitude to Mr. Peel.é 
 
 6 Now sir Robert Peel. 
 ENG, XVII. 2 
 
338 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 In the admirable regulations drawn up for the instruction of 
 this domestic force, the grand object attended to was the pre- 
 vention of crime: the whole metropolitan district was formed 
 into five local divisions, each division into eight sections, and 
 each section into eight beats; the limits of all being clearly 
 defined, and distinguished by letters and numbers: the force 
 itself was divided into conipanies, each having one superinten- 
 dent, four inspectors, sixteen serjeants, and 144 police con- 
 stables; being also subdivided into sixteen parties, each 
 consisting of a serjeant and nine men: accurate rules were laid 
 down for the commencement and regulation of their duty ; and 
 during the late times of change produced by the imperative 
 nature of circumstances on our institutions, nothing has contri- 
 buted more to the repression of tumult, and to the security of 
 person and property, than this corps: several years however 
 elapsed before the corporation of the city of London could be 
 persuaded to follow such an example, and give up their vested 
 interests in the old system of watchmen. 
 
 _ It was not without some excitement of publie indignation 
 that, when parliament assembled on the fourth of February, 
 the royal speech contained only a very qualified admission of 
 the existence of national distress. In the latter part of the 
 preceding year, our premier had made an extensive tour 
 through various districts of the country ; but having been con- 
 fined almost wholly to the mansions of his noble hosts, where 
 a splendid hospitality awaited him, he had very little oppor- 
 tunity of witnessing the misery under which the lower orders 
 were at this time groaning: accordingly, as he may be said to 
 have seen none, he very confidently asserted that none existed ; 
 and as it is not usual to dispute the word of a military premier, 
 the other members of administration, somewhat in the manner 
 of a Turkish divan, bowed their heads submissively to the 
 dictates of their chief. . 
 
 In the house of commons, however, this incorrect and inju- 
 dicious assertion produced so much indignation, that sir 
 Edward Knatchbull, a county member of the high tory party, 
 proposed an amendment to the address, assuring his majesty, 
 
 ‘that distress was general among all the productive classes of 
 the community ;’ and being supported by 105 votes, he left 
 ministers, who had but 158, in a weak majority of 53: the 
 amendment, proposed in the upper house by earl Stanhope, 
 being vitiated by his notions on the currency question, was 
 supported by a minority of only nine. The cession of the 
 catholic claims had produced a sort of approximation between 
 
A.D. 1830. GEORGE IV. 539 
 
 the duke and the whig party, who became unwilling to abandon 
 him to tory vengeance, though their friendship was bit luke- 
 warm and self-interested; without it, however, the ministerial 
 forces must have been routed at the very opening of the 
 campaign. Lord Blandford, next day, when the report was 
 brought up, moved what he called ‘a wholesome admonition 
 to the throne,’ by way of appendage to the address; but this 
 vindictive effusion, though seconded by Mr. O’Connell, and 
 teeming with denunciations against our corrupt borough system, 
 was repudiated by all true reformers, and found only eleven 
 votes in its favor: fair warning, however, was given to minis- 
 ters, that they must enter into a closer connexion with the 
 whigs, if they wished to reckon on their support: sir Francis 
 Burdett, in his speech, said, that ‘when the prime minister of 
 England was found so shamefully insensible to the suffering 
 and distress which were painfully apparent throughout the 
 land ; when, instead of meeting such an overwhelming pressure 
 of calamity with some measure of relief, or at least, some 
 attempt at it, he sought to stifle every important inquiry ; 
 when Hie called that a partial and temporary evil, which was 
 both long-lived and universal ;—he could not look on such a 
 mournful crisis, in which public misfortune was insulted by 
 ministerial apathy, without hailing any prospect of change in 
 the system that produced it. What should we say to the 
 ignorance that could attribute our distresses to the introduction 
 of machinery, and the application of steam,—that noblest 
 among human inventions, to which men of science and_intelli- 
 gence mainly ascribed our prosperity? He felt high and 
 unfeigned respect for the premier’s abilities in the field; but 
 he could not help now thinking, that his grace had done him- 
 self only justice, when he said, a few months before he accepted 
 his present office, that he should be fit to inhabit an asylum of 
 a certain nature, if he were ever induced to take such a 
 burden on his shoulders; in fact, both he (sir Francis) and 
 many honorable members around him, had long treated this 
 illustrious individual with much tenderness, because they felt 
 that he had conferred immense benefits on his country: he 
 was the only man in England who could have accomplished 
 what he had done; but his praise had been in proportion, and 
 his recompense commensurate, in returns of confidence and ap- 
 probation: the time, however, was now come, when it would 
 be necessary for him to do more.’ 
 
 _A motion for inquiry into the state of national distress by a 
 committee of the whole house of peers, was made by lord 
 
340 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 Stanhope; when the earl of Eldon found himself in the strange 
 and unusual situation of an opposition lord, condemning the 
 language employed in the king’s speech, while he accused his 
 ancient colleagues of coming down to parliament with a decla- 
 ration that there were ‘other causes’ for the distress of the 
 country, which they did not deem it expedient to specify ; 
 and which they left for each man’s sagacity to guess at as he 
 might. The duke of Wellington, while he still denied that 
 the existence of distress was so extensive as had been repre- 
 sented, and supported his opinion by the augmented consump- 
 tion of various articles, by the increase of buildings, by the 
 state of our saving banks, and by the advancing traffic on rail- 
 roads and canals, maintained that the power of redress was 
 beyond the reach of parliament; and he defied noble, lords 
 opposite to do anything on the subject, which should be at 
 once politic and satisfactory, expedient and efficacious: was it 
 then right for parliament to interfere, where it was utterly im- 
 possible to do good? The noble mover might recommend a 
 committee ; but to what end would they follow his counsel, if 
 he could lead them no farther? and not one step farther could 
 he go. 
 
 The marquis of Lansdowne had no hesitation in declaring 
 what he confidently thought were the causes of distress: though 
 fully aware that much of it might have been produced by tran- 
 sition from a state of war to peace, yet he could not help re- 
 collecting, that a very great part of the difficulties, out of 
 which we now had to extricate ourselves, was to be ascribed to 
 that fatal perseverance with which, during so many years, we 
 had persisted in contracting permanent money engagements in 
 a depreciated currency: that was the root of the present evil; 
 but, in saying so, he did not forget, that unfortunate as those 
 engagements were, they nevertheless were engagements, which 
 the honor of parliament was bound to respect, and which we 
 must find means to discharge: it was, however, one thing to 
 see the cause, and another to point out a remedy: the only 
 one which he saw at present likely to unite all opinions, was 
 retrenchment, qualified by a diminution of taxation. Lord 
 King proposed, as an amendment, the appointment of a select 
 committee; but this was received with as little favor as the 
 original motion ; which was lost, on a division, by 118 against 
 25. ; 
 
 But the most remarkable debate arose in the house of com- 
 mons, on a similar motion made by Mr. Davenport. In the 
 course of its discussion, which lasted four nights, the leading 
 
A.D. 1830. GEORGE IV. 341 
 
 members of all parties delivered their opinions, which were in 
 miany respects contradictory, on the extent as well as on the 
 causes of the evil. ‘The opponents of the motion considered 
 the ultimate views of its supporters as directed to the restora- 
 tion, or at least to a modification, of our paper currency ; and 
 that to grant it, would be a public announcement that some 
 such measure was intended: most members seemed to think, 
 that, even if errors had been committed, to undo now what 
 had been done, would occasion more harm than good: if there 
 were any particular measures, it was said, which individuals 
 thought likely to be beneficial, let them be brought forward, 
 and let each be discussed on its own merits: thus the subject 
 would assume a manageable form ; but by launching forth into 
 an investigation which included every question, the house 
 would only cause fruitless excitement, and awaken hopes that 
 would end in disappointment: the result, therefore, was a 
 complete ministerial triumph, and a signal defeat of those who 
 advocated a paper currency and high prices; comprehending 
 not only the ultra tories, but several great landed proprietors 
 noted for opposite political sentiments. Lord Althorp, with 
 the leading members of the whig party generally, as well as 
 Mr. Huskisson and his political disciples, sided with the minis- 
 try ; and the original motion was abandoned, after an amend- 
 ment, proposing a select committee, had been thrown out by 
 the enormous majority of 255 to 87. 
 
 When this question was set at rest, the real amount of busi- 
 ness transacted in parliament was not very important; though 
 the present session was distinguished by a length of debate, 
 on many topics, beyond all precedent: the absurd and mis- 
 chievous practice, which had lately grown up, especially in 
 the lower house, of suffering the least competent members to 
 make long speeches on every trivial occasion, fruitlessly con- 
 sumed the time that should have been devoted to action ; many 
 important questions were postponed to a period too late for 
 settlement ; the accumulation of business outgrew the powers 
 of ministerial industry or capacity ; and, what was still worse, 
 the character of the house itself began to be deteriorated by 
 the retirement of many respectable members, who were 
 unwilling to sacrifice their own health, and the comfort of 
 their families, to that insane ardor for speaking which now 
 pervaded the assembly. 
 
 Throughout the discussions with which this session com- 
 menced, members who opposed government, as well as most 
 of those who supported it, had insisted on the necessity of 
 
342 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 reducing taxation, and curtailing the public expenses. Minis- 
 ters had declared themselves willing to adopt every practicable 
 saving ; and any backwardness in that respect was a disposi- 
 tion, in which the whigs could not possibly support them; yet 
 they found themselves under a necessity of resisting various 
 propositions, which were brought forward as measures of 
 proper and salutary retrenchment. The opposition ‘raised 
 against the army, navy, and ordnance estimates was more than 
 usually loud; the number of men proposed for land service 
 being 88,164 (after the intended reduction of 7000); and that 
 for the navy 20,000 seamen, with 9000 marines: Mr. Hume 
 and other members, after animated debates, were defeated, in 
 their proposal for a farther reduction, by large majorities ; but 
 the opposition was less unsuccessful in several attacks on the 
 details of expenditure. On the twelfth of February, sir James 
 Graham, who had acquired considerable reputation as a 
 speaker, moved for a reduction of salaries paid to official per- 
 sons; and the foundation of his motion was, that, subsequently 
 to the Bank restriction act, all had been augmented on the plea 
 of an increase in the expenses of living; therefore, as the re- 
 striction had been removed, and we had returned to cash pay- 
 ments, these salaries ought now to be diminished: from this 
 rule he meant indeed to exclude the privy purse and royal 
 establishment, since they stood on arrangements entered into 
 at the beginning of the reign, and ought not to be violated : 
 but the motion was opposed by Mr. Dawson, secretary of the 
 treasury, on the ground, that government had done all that as 
 yet was possible in the way of retrenchment, and still felt a 
 desire to proceed in a spirit of practical economy ; he therefore 
 met the question by proposing a resolution himself—for a 
 humble address to his majesty, praying that he would be 
 graciously pleased to lay before the house an account of the 
 progress which had been made in an inquiry into the various 
 departments of the civil government instituted in the year 
 1821; such being one of those convenient resources that 
 ministers keep in reserve, to dispose of questions which they 
 find it difficult or disagreeable to grant; and by aid of this 
 wind they now steered between the Scylla and Charybdis of 
 aristocratic displeasure and general discontent. On the twelfth 
 of March, sir James, who was rising fast to popularity on inde- 
 pendent principles, brought forward a motion to consolidate 
 the treasurership of the navy with some other office, and was 
 supported by 90 votes in a house of 278: this encouraged him, 
 on the twentieth of the same month, to propose an abolition of 
 
A.D. 1830, GEORGE IV. 343 
 
 the office of lieutenant-general of the ordnance; when he was 
 defeated by a still less majority of 200 to 124. In fact, all 
 attempts to prove the necessity of either office, as a separate 
 and expensive &ppointment, were opposed to the common 
 sense of the house, as well as of the country ; and the resolu- 
 tion thus manifested of clinging to such places for the mere 
 purposes of party influence, disgusted many independent mem- 
 bers, and contributed to alienate their confidence from the 
 existing government. But an exposure still more injurious to 
 the system of corruption, accompanied too by a signal defeat 
 of ministers, had been already effected through a motion of sir 
 Robert Heron, on the twenty-sixth of March: this went to 
 strike out a sum from the navy estimates, which had been 
 granted in pensions to the sons of two cabinet ministers—the 
 honorable Messrs. Dundas and Bathurst—as reduced commis- 
 sioners, after a service of only four years. ‘It was well 
 known,’ said sir Robert, who imputed no blame to the young 
 men themselves, ‘that their fathers were noblemen who, for 
 a great number of years, occupied, with little intermission, 
 some of the most important situations in the government: 
 viscount Melville, at the present moment, presided as first 
 lord of the admiralty ; and earl Bathurst was lord president of 
 the council, one of the tellers of the exchequer, and joint clerk 
 of the crown: their grandfathers were also men of high con- 
 sideration; one of them for many years filled the situation of 
 lord high chancellor of England; and the other was a sort of 
 viceroy of Scotland, holding places which produced great 
 emolument, and performing services that were rather equi- 
 vocal. Now, that these gentlemen, gorged with public money, 
 should require for their families, or even condescend to accept, 
 miserable pensions, and that too in a time of such public dis- 
 tress, did appear to him most paltry: the places given to Mr. 
 Dundas and Mr. Bathurst were offices held during pleasure ; 
 and it was therefore in the power of government to dismiss 
 them without pensions: what then must the country think of 
 ministerial professions, when pensions like these were granted, 
 not only without precedent, but without any adequate services 
 performed ?’ This scandalous job, which served to advance 
 the cause of parliamentary reform in no small degree, was 
 feebly defended by the chancellor of the exchequer and Mr, 
 Peel: but it did not admit of a single real argument in its 
 justification ; and, on a division, the grant was disallowed; for 
 ministers could obtain only 121 votes against 139: their 
 ominous defeat was followed by decreasing majorities during 
 
344 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. -CH, LXVIL 
 
 the remainder of this session; showing that public confidence 
 was fast deserting those who were so unwilling to redeem their 
 pledges ; and who clung with such callous hearts to corrupt 
 practices, which the public voice had now determined to 
 denounce. : 
 
 On the ninth of February, committees were appointed by 
 both houses to take into consideration the charter of the East 
 India company; in proposing which, it was declared, that 
 government was free from all preconceived impressions, and in 
 future proceedings would be guided by the result of this 
 inquiry. A long debate also took place on a motion of Mr. 
 Attwood, proposing to make silver a legal tender, as he main- 
 tained it had been before the bank restriction act of 1797, and 
 to restore the circulation of small notes: the question under- 
 went an able and full discussion; but the notion of a double 
 standard seemed so objectionable, and any scheme for depreci- 
 ating the currency appeared pregnant with such dangerous 
 consequences, that Mr. Attwood consented to withdraw his 
 motion without dividing the house. 
 
 On the fifteenth of March, the chancellor of the exchequer 
 produced his annual exposition of the finances, which presented 
 no remarkable features, except a repeal of the beer and leather 
 duties; by which ministers desired to show their wish of 
 alleviating the pressure of taxation on the lower classes. This 
 remission of duty on beer, estimated at £3,000,000, was pro- 
 posed to take place on the tenth of October following; and 
 the reason given for such delay was, that the repeal should 
 take place conjointly with an opening of the trade, when the 
 time arrived for renewing the licenses of public houses. The 
 measure without doubt proceeded from good motives; but the 
 unfortunate junction alluded to, by encouraging the increase of 
 public houses to an indefinite extent, has introduced immorality 
 and crime into every corner of the land, where they were 
 before almost unknown; and has probably occasioned more 
 evil than any act passed during the whole period to which 
 these pages refer. The demands of the public service, in- 
 eluding the charge of our national debt, remained at 
 £47,812,000; and the available income being estimated at 
 
 7 Denounced, as it has been, by the united voices of the clergy, 
 magistrates, and moral men among all elasses, as filling our poor- 
 houses and prisons with inmates, it is extraordinary that no chris- 
 tian legislator moves for its repeal—that no one among its pro- 
 
 moters seems anxious to relieve his conscience from so heavy a 
 burden, 
 
A.D. 1830. GEORGE IV. 845 
 
 £50,470,000, a probable balance of about two millions and a 
 half only would be left for the sinking fund. In the revenue 
 of last year, a deficiency of more than half a million below the 
 estimate was acknowleged; but still a clear surplus of four 
 millions had been applied to the redemption of the debt: to 
 compensate for the loss of revenue from the repeal of beer and 
 leather duties, it was proposed to make a small but salutary 
 addition to those on ardent British spirits ; and also to effect a 
 yearly saving of £778,000, by the conversion of four per cent. 
 stock into three and a half: these measures were subsequently 
 carried into effect; and two motions by Mr. Hume and Mr. 
 Poulett Thomson, for a general revision of the whole system 
 of taxation, with a view to its reduction, were defeated. 
 
 A crude and unintelligible bill for the reform of parliament, 
 brought forward by the marquis of Blandford, the title of 
 which professed, not to prevent, but to regulate abuses, was 
 negatived without a division; also in the case of East Retford, 
 the proposal for transferring its franchise to Birmingham was 
 ultimately rejected, and the privilege extended to the adjoin- 
 ing hundred. During the debate, Mr. Peel expressly dis- 
 claimed the imputations which had been thrown out, that this 
 selection had been made with a view to increase the influence 
 of the duke of Newcastle, whom the intervening catholic bill 
 had now thrown into the ranks of opposition ; but the circum- 
 stance was suspicious ; and though due credit was given to the 
 honorable secretary, that the resolution did not proceed on 
 any bargain or understanding with the noble duke; yet there 
 was a large portion of the house and of the country, which 
 could not be brought to believe that a secret partiality for the 
 aristocratic influence in boroughs had not influenced ministers 
 in their determinations: the cause of parliamentary reform 
 therefore advanced another step. - 
 
 On the third reading of the East Retford bill, a first 
 attempt was made in the British parliament to introduce a 
 principle, new to the representation of this country ;—that of 
 taking the votes of electors by ballot, which would protect 
 them from all undue influence, whether of fear or corruption : 
 for this motion, which was made by Mr. O’Connell, only 
 twenty-one voices were raised; but among them were those 
 of lords Althorp, Nugent, and Ebrington: the idea seems to 
 have originated in certain proceedings of the duke of New- 
 castle regarding the borough of Newark; where his grace was 
 possessed of large property, partly held under a crown lease ; 
 and where he had always been able to control and decide the 
 
346 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 elections. Ina late contest, the usual result took place, and 
 Mr. Sadler, the duke’s nominee, was elected in opposition to 
 serjeant Wilde: in consequence, a petition was presented to 
 the house, stating that the successful candidate’s return had 
 been obtained through a prevailing belief, founded on ex- 
 perience of former elections, that such of his grace’s tenants 
 as should vote against his nominee would be expelled from 
 their occupancies; that many, who gave their votes to the 
 opposing candidate, had, since the election, received notice to 
 quit their holding, whether the same was house or land, and 
 whether it constituted part of the crown estate, or of his 
 grace’s private property: it was added, that the duke neither 
 denied that such notices had been given, nor disclaimed them ; 
 but justified his conduct on a claim of right ‘to do what he 
 would with his own’—a concise and significant sentence, which 
 quickly ran through the land, aiding and accelerating the 
 cause of reform more than the longest speech ever uttered in 
 parliament. 
 
 Mr. Poulett Thomson, in moving that the petition should 
 be referred to a select committee, informed the house, not 
 only that the use thus made of crown property affected the 
 constitutional character of our representation, but that its 
 original investment was a base ministerial job, which had 
 caused a great pecuniary loss to the country: the duke of 
 Neweastle’s principal influence at Newark arose from about 
 960 acres of land surrounding the town; and these he held by 
 a lease, granted in 1760, at a rent of only thirty-six pounds! 
 the lease had: been renewed in 1815, nine years after its ex- 
 piration, at a rent of £2060, which fully attested the inade- 
 quate payment previously made: but it was still too low ; 
 since the estimated value was £3500, or at least £3000. 
 The pecuniary loss, therefore, was worthy of attention; but 
 that was a trifle, compared with the political purposes to 
 which this property had been applied: the noble lessee himself 
 never gave a lease for more than one year, in order to keep 
 the voters completely under his power ; and the petition stated 
 the manner in which this power had been employed: if the 
 allegations were true, the house was bound to interfere ; for 
 though he did not mean to impugn the just and natural influ- 
 ence of a landlord over his tenant, he asked, whether the 
 power arrogated in this case did not rather resemble the 
 tyranny of a slave-driver than the proper influence of a British 
 landowner? ‘There was not, in the present case, any objec- 
 tion arising from. interference with the rights of private pro- 
 
A.D. 1830. ’ “GEORGE IV. 347 
 
 perty: this was a species of property, against the future abuse 
 of which the house might guard, though they could not inter- 
 fere with the existing lease ; for they could address the crown, 
 praying that it might not be renewed: with a view to have 
 the allegations sifted, he moved that the petition be referred 
 to a select committee. The indignation of Mr. Hobhouse was 
 particularly excited, and his eloquence exerted on this occasion : 
 * suppose,’ said he, ‘the king’s government should send to the 
 duke of Neweastle, and let him know, that, when his lease 
 expired, it should no longer be renewed: suppose that such 
 an intimation was given to his grace, and it was understood or 
 alleged that his ejectment would take place in consequence of 
 a vote given against administration on some great and leading 
 question: if this were done, would it not be denounced as an 
 attack on our dearest privileges ; as an invasion of the most 
 sacred birthright of Englishmen,—the liberty’ to assert and 
 maintain their opinions? Compare then the conduct of 
 government in such a case with that of the peer: here were 
 these poor men, because they dared to vote against his candi- 
 date, banished from their homes, driven from their happy 
 firesides, and deprived of all the comforts of life. Could such 
 conduct, on the part of the noble duke, bear any comparison 
 with the case of government depriving him of these crown 
 Jands, for giving a vote against them ?” 
 
 Mr. Sadler rose to declare the petition a mere election 
 paper, made up of wanton allegations and unfounded state- 
 ments: while he vindicated his patron’s character for human- 
 ity and consideration, as regarded the inhabitants of Newark. 
 Mr. Peel, however, defended at large the principle of the 
 whole transaction, as well as the mode by which the land in 
 question had been acquired: he could see no valid distinction 
 between this property, and that which descended to a man as 
 a freehold from his ancestors. ‘The lease,’ he said, ‘ which 
 his grace possessed of this crown land, gave him a right to 
 deal with it as with any other portion of his possessions during 
 that period ; and in dealing with the property of the crown as 
 with his own, it was obvious that he committed no breach of 
 privilege: now the petitioners intirely confined themselves to 
 the crown possessions held by the noble duke, praying that a 
 lease of them might in future be refused to him; they did not 
 even refer to his other property, with regard to which he had 
 dealt precisely in the same manner: it was plain, therefore, 
 that if, in the management of his own private possessions, he 
 had committed no breach of privilege, he had committed none 
 
848 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 by dealing in a similar manner with the property of the crown. 
 He would not say that the duke of Newcastle did not dis- 
 possess these tenants; but without entering into that question, 
 he would say, that superior to the privileges of that house 
 were other considerations, to which they were bound in duty 
 and conscience to defer—namely, the rights of property : here 
 was no allegation that menaces had been employed ; there was 
 only the fact that seven tenants had been dispossessed: now, 
 if they were to control the rights of property, under the idea 
 that those rights had been exercised in controlling an election, 
 a precedent would be set, which might be not merely incon- 
 venient, but positively dangerous ; for nothing could be more 
 dangerous than to say, they would not suffer any tenant to be 
 dispossessed, who had voted in opposition to his landlord’s 
 wishes: it was in vain that honorable gentlemen exclaimed 
 against the influence which any peer derived from the posses- 
 sion of property; there was no difference between that and 
 the influence which any other great landed proprietor enjoyed ; 
 nor could any specieS of reform exclude such influence: pro- 
 perty, he contended should always have an influence in that 
 house, no matter whether it was in the hands.of peers or com- 
 moners.’ ‘The motion for referring the petition to a select 
 committee was negatived by a majority of 194 against 61; but 
 although the legal right in the present instance could scarcely 
 be denied, the judicious exercise of it was another considera- 
 tion; and as the people of England generally entertained an 
 opinion on this point at variance with that of Mr. Peel and his 
 colleagues, there can be no doubt but this transaction also 
 accelerated the march of reform. 
 
 Of all the numerous plans for altering our system of repre- 
 sentation, whether suggested by an honest desire to obviate a 
 necessity of sweeping innovations, or springing from the designs 
 of restless demagogues, there were none against which so little 
 could be said as the proposition for conferring the elective 
 franchise on populous manufacturing towns. When proposed 
 to be effected, as in the case of Penryn and East Retford, 
 merely by applying to this purpose privileges which became 
 disposable through the gross delinquencies of corrupt boroughs, 
 it assumed its most innocent form; not adding even to the 
 number of our representatives: though lord John Russell 
 therefore failed in his motion for transferring the elective fran- 
 chise of East Retford to Birmingham, he did not hesitate to 
 bring the subject again before parliament, by moving for a bill 
 to confer that privilege, independently of all other considera- 
 
A.D. 1830. GEORGE IV. 349 
 
 tions, on Leeds, Birmingham, and Manchester: and he founded 
 this measure on the known practice of parliament, which ex- 
 tended such rights to unrepresented places, when they had ac- 
 quired importance by their wealth and population. ‘It was 
 true,’ he said, ‘ the proposal hitherto had been, that the franchise 
 should not be conferred till the house had a forfeiture to dispose 
 of; but it was now plain, that if the towns in question were to 
 wait for such a transfer, there was no probability of their ever 
 obtaining it; so numerous were the difficulties started in both 
 houses of parliament: it also seemed not very reasonable, that 
 the fitness of Leeds or Manchester to be represented should be 
 said to depend on the good or bad conduct of the electors of 
 Penryn or East Retford: their claims must rest on circum- 
 stances in their own situation; and if that situation was such 
 as to render it just and desirable that they should be repre- 
 sented, where was the sense of saying, that what was just and 
 reasonable ought not to be done, because the electors of some 
 other place had refused to do what was wicked ?’? His lordship 
 _ then entered into various details, to show how great bad been 
 the increase of the towns in question; declaring ‘ that he could 
 see no reason why so many citizens and so much wealth should 
 remain unrepresented, when the principle, as well as the 
 practice of our constitution, had pointed out a method of ad- 
 mitting them into parliament. _ He knew it would be said, that 
 there was no limitation to this principle: he confessed it ; and 
 he saw no reason why, if Sheflield, or any other town, should, 
 at some future period, attain to the same rank, it should not 
 obtain the same privilege; but it was not probable that the 
 principle could ever be applied to more than four or five towns 
 in the whole realm: parliament had not always been so fasti- 
 dious in regard to the possible extension of a principle; wit- 
 ness the disfranchisement of the Irish forty-shilling freeholders : 
 he did not mean even to augment permanently the numbers of 
 the house; for he should propose, that in future cases of dis- 
 franchisement, the privileges should not be transferred. The 
 whole measure seemed to him incapable of alarming the most 
 timid person, and ought to be received joyfully by the deter- 
 mined adversaries of dangerous innovation: moreover in look- 
 ing at the state of other countries, he felt still more strongly 
 the conviction of its good policy: we could not shut our eyes 
 to the fact, that a collision between royal authority and popular 
 resistance was rapidly approaching in France, though all must 
 regret that some compromise was not contemplated to save 
 society from its consequences: it was for.us then to profit by 
 
350 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH. LXVI. 
 
 the warning, and awaken in time to a perception of the nice 
 mechanism of our own representative government: it behoved 
 those who, like himself, were lovers of liberty without disorder, 
 and of peace without slavery, to watch anxiously at such a 
 period ; endeavoring so to accommodate our system to altered 
 times and circumstances, as to render it worthy of the respect 
 and affection of our people. The constitution itself supplied 
 us with the means; we had only to use its own renovating 
 principles: its fabric was not, as many seemed to imagine, that 
 of a Grecian temple, perfect and complete in all its parts, 
 which could not suffer alteration without the destruction of its 
 symmetry ; it was more like a Gothic structure, susceptible of 
 enlargement, consistently with the integrity of its ornaments 
 and the security of its duration. 
 
 The moderate views on which this bill was founded were 
 enforced by lord Sandon, Mr. Brougham, Dr. Lushington, and 
 Mr. Huskisson ; but although, as the latter gentleman prophe- 
 tically observed, the time was fast approaching when ministers 
 would be compelled to come down to the house with some 
 measure, or to resign their situations, and nothing was more 
 unwise than for a government to delay important propositions 
 till driven forward by overwhelming majorities,;—ministerial 
 apathy and old prejudices prevailed; so that the motion was 
 negatived by 188 votes against 140. 
 
 Instead of setting themselves resolutely and soberly to work 
 in reforming abuses, the high conservative party sat mourning 
 over what they called. sacr tfices already made, ‘and trembling 
 at the consequences which they anticipated: their condition 
 may be estimated from a few passages in the correspondence of 
 their great leader at this time with his brother lord Stowell. ‘It 
 is impossible,’ says the ex-chancellor, ‘ to contemplate what is 
 passing, and to which you refer, without apprehensions of a 
 very serious kind: what is so passing is a renewal, but more 
 frightful, of the prospects of 1791-5. The occurrences of those 
 days, involving the crown and house of parliament, by express 
 mention, in revolutionary projects, and the language—No 
 king—pave them a treasonable character which enabled 
 government to deal with them by law. ‘This is now in their 
 resolutions, declarations, and petitions, carefully avoided ; 
 which are more difficult to be dealt with, because more difficult 
 to be met by the existing laws: they are of course more dan- 
 gerous. ‘The sacrifice too of the test act, and the passing of 
 the Roman catholic emancipation bill, added to the intimida- 
 tion effected by the unpunished, or rewarded, threats of the 
 
A.D. 1830. GEORGE IV. 351 
 
 Irish association of O’Connell and Co., have established a pre- 
 cedent so dangerous, so encouraging to the present attempts at 
 revolution under the name of reform, that he must be, in my 
 judgment, a very bold foo] who does not tremble at what seems 
 fast approaching. Look, too, at France. What the duke of 
 Wellington will do, I pretend not to guess. What will be 
 said now about the fact, that all the occasional laws against 
 sedition have been suffered to expire? Heaven save us now! 
 Sor in man there is no sufficient help.’8 
 
 Owing to the praiseworthy efforts of Mr. Peel, a bill was 
 passed this session for the limitation of capital punishment in 
 eases of forgery: its principle went to remit that penalty, 
 where the complainants, by due caution, could have protected 
 themselves ; and to retain it in other cases, such as forgeries of 
 the great or privy seal, wills, warrants on the public funds, and 
 orders for the payment of money. An amendment, proposed 
 by sir James Mackintosh, confining the infliction of death to the 
 forgery of a will only, was carried in the commons; but the 
 bill was altered again by the lords; and, being brought back 
 to its original principle, ultimately passed both houses. A 
 long discussion took place in the commons, respecting the con- 
 duct of the attorney-general, in filing ex officio informations 
 against the proprietor of a London newspaper; when the 
 general impression on the house seemed to be, that the prose- 
 cutions complained of were harsh and vindictive; and that sir 
 James Scarlett, notwithstanding his whig education, and a 
 political life spent in opposition, was inclined to be a very 
 harsh attorney-general, and was preparing to secede from his 
 former friends and principles: he made one expiring, but futile 
 attempt, to obtain popularity, by a bill to alter the laws of libel, 
 as they existed in what were called the six acts; one of which 
 provided, that a second conviction for any seditious or blas- 
 phemous libel might be punished with transportation; and 
 another demanded, that every person who published a news- 
 paper should enter into a recognisance of £300 in London, and 
 £200 in the country, with two sufficient securities, in order to 
 guard against the circufation of such libels; and to ensure a 
 fund, available toward the payment of any penalty awarded 
 against their authors: by the bill now introduced, the punish- 
 ment of transportation was to be repealed, but the securities 
 raised to £400 in London, and £300 in the country. It was 
 objected, that the repeal proposed was no boon; since it was 
 known from the first that the power granted by the act would 
 
 8 Life, by Horace Twiss, vol. iii. p. 106. 
 
352 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LXVI. 
 
 never be exercised ; while the latter proposition was calculated 
 to impose additional shackles on the press: when the bill 
 therefore was in committee, a majority rejected this clause, on 
 the motion of lord Morpeth; but, on the third reading, sir 
 James, having brought down, or opportunely found, a more 
 numerous attendance of ministerial members, moved and carried 
 its restoration. 
 
 Committees of the house of commons, and the law commis- 
 sioners, having found much to blame in arrangements for the 
 distribution of justice in Wales, an act passed this session, 
 abolishing the separate system of Welsh judicature, and 
 annexing it to that of England. By the same bill, the 
 number of puisne judges was increased from twelve to fifteen ; 
 a new one being added to each of the courts of king’s bench, 
 common pleas, and exchequer: but in Scotland, a different 
 system was pursued; for while the high court of admiralty 
 and commissary court were abolished, the remaining court of 
 session was diminished, by the subtraction of two from its 
 fifteen lords ordinary, or working judges; on whose ability 
 to get through their work it depends, whether the eight 
 other judges, who sit, four and four, in two courts of review, 
 shall have judgments brought before them. 
 
 These, and some other objects of importance, among which 
 may be reckoned lord Lyndhurst’s bill fors improving our 
 courts of equity, which was again opposed by lord Eldon, 
 engaged the attention of parliament, until it was interrupted 
 by the sovereign’s decease. His majesty’s health had been 
 for a considerable time in a precarious state; but the first 
 bulletin was not issued till the fifteenth of ‘April, when it was 
 announced that he was laboring under a bilious attack, ac- 
 companied by an embarrassment in his breathing. The dis- 
 order was afterwards ascertained to have been an ossification 
 of the valves of the heart, the symptoms continuing to vary ; 
 so that the patient enjoyed temporary intervals of com- 
 parative ease, though such an accession of bodily debility 
 ensued as rendered the slightest exertion painful: in con- 
 sequence, a message was sent down, on the twenty-fourth of 
 May, to both houses, stating that his majesty found it incon- 
 venient to sign public documents with his own hand, and 
 requesting parliament to provide means for the temporary 
 discharge of that function of the crown, without detriment 
 to the public service: a bill was accordingly passed, allowing 
 the sign manual to be executed with a stamp; such instru- 
 ment to be used in the presence of the king, by some person 
 
A.D. 1830, GEORGE IV. . 353 
 
 authorised by his majesty’s word of mouth ; the same person 
 being also required to sign a declaration to that effect, 
 in presence of certain high officers of state; nor was any 
 document to be stamped, before its indorsement by three 
 privy councillors had taken place. This arrangement, so im- 
 portant to the public business, caused much discussion, and 
 was the first true indication of the king’s real condition to the 
 people; from whom he had of late so intirely secluded him- 
 self, that even his death excited less sensation than usually 
 follows the departure of a monarch. About the end of May, 
 a favorable turn of the disorder gave rise to hope, and 
 his majesty attended to public business; but this feeling 
 soon passed away ; for his chest became affected, blood was 
 mingled with the expectoration, and general debility rapidly 
 ensued. . | 
 
 Some short time before the final catastrophe, his majesty’s 
 physicians delicately but candidly intimated to him, that all 
 farther endeavors to avert the stroke of death would be un- 
 availing; when he calmly answered, ‘God’s will be done!’ 
 and subsequently received the holy sacrament from the hands 
 of the bishop of Chichester: soon after, his voice became 
 faint and low; for several days his words were scarcely arti- 
 culated; his sleep was broken and disturbed; and he. was 
 constantly in need of assistance. ‘Thus lay, George IV. in 
 the magnificent palace of the kings of England, surrounded 
 by luxuries and splendor unknown to the greatest of his pre- 
 decessors, when the angel of death approached, on the night 
 of Friday, the twenty-fifth of June: he had slept little 
 during the evening, and from eleven to three was in a restless 
 slumber, opening his eyes occasionally when he suffered more 
 than usual pain from a cough, which appeared to be occa- 
 sioned by the impeded flow of blood through the left side of 
 the heart; in consequence of which it was thrown back on 
 the lungs so as to produce congestion: nothing, however, oc- 
 curred till three o’clock which indicated any particular change, 
 when the king beckoned to the page in waiting to alter his 
 position: he was immediately obeyed ; the couch, constructed 
 for the purpose, was gently raised, and the sufferer lifted to 
 his chair: but at that moment a blood-vessel burst: the effect 
 was apparent to his attendants, who hastened to apply the 
 usual stimulants, and to call in the physicians; when the 
 royal patient himself perceived that his dissolution was at 
 hand, and exclaimed,—‘ O God, I am dying!’ A few seconds 
 afterwards, in a whisper scarcely audible, he added— This is 
 
 ENG. XVII. 2A 
 
354 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. CH, LXVI. 
 
 death !’—and when the medical men entered the apartment, 
 George IV. had ceased to breathe. 
 
 In estimating the character of this monarch, who was born 
 with an amiable disposition, whose mind was highly cultivated, 
 whose charity was great, and whose manners were perfect, 
 let us not, while we acknowlege the imperfections which 
 obscured those fine qualities, forget the powerful temptations 
 to which he was peculiarly exposed ; and if we see anything 
 to blame in his conduct as a prince, let us at least confess that 
 he betrayed no desire unduly to extend the prerogative, or to 
 curtail the just rights of his subjects. As regent, his name 
 will ever be associated with the most splendid triumphs that 
 adorn our annals; and although some of those triumphs may 
 be said to have arisen out of peculiar circumstances and the 
 spirit of the times, yet his reign was illustrated by the bril- 
 liant progress of intellect, and by a general improvement in 
 the liberal arts, of which he was a munificent patron. 
 
 As soon as the king’s decease was known, his next brother, 
 William Henry, duke of Clarence, was proclaimed by the 
 title of William IV.; nor did the new monarch fail to acquire 
 great popularity, by the simplicity of his habits and manners, 
 as well as by the condescending familiarity of, his intercourse 
 with the people ;—qualities, which lost none of their attrac- 
 tion by a comparison with the secluded and misanthropic kind 
 of life which his predecessor had lately led. No immediate 
 alteration took place in the government; for his majesty, 
 after the usual oaths for the security of the church of Scot- 
 land, having signed such instruments as are requisite at the 
 commencement of a new reign, re-appointed the judges and 
 other great officers of state to the places which had become 
 vacant, and signified to the members of the cabinet that he 
 was anxious to retain their services: a revolution, however, 
 had taken place in the feelings of their most important 
 political supporters, which, added. to national distress, and the 
 disturbed state of public sentiment, soon occasioned, not only 
 their retirement from office, but the greatest organic change in 
 the British constitution that has taken place since the revolu- 
 tion of 1688. 
 
 END OF VOL. XVII. 
 
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