Chapter XXXII: Part 32

Peel, the most influential member of the ministry next to the Premier, had already, since the Clare election, arrived at the conclusion that the solution of the question could no longer be postponed, and that only one form of solution was possible. The election of Catholics, while still unable to sit in Parliament, would deprive Ireland of its representation. So important an event as O'Connell's election could not possibly pass unnoticed and the question be left unmoved. With the present House a high-handed repression of the Association was impossible; were it attempted by a new House a civil war was inevitable: there remained but a third course--to give way. Early in August 1828, Peel had stated this opinion forcibly to the Duke, and told him that he considered that an attempt to settle the Catholic question was a lesser evil than to continue to leave it open; at the same time he wished himself to resign, and to leave the bringing in of the measure to other hands. Although aware of the penalty he should be called upon to pay for this change of opinion, the attacks to which he should be subject, and the loss of friends, he was at length persuaded by Wellington, who felt it impossible to carry on the Government without him, to retain his place. Peel's representations had had their effect upon the Duke's mind, and he was by degrees becoming convinced that further obstruction was impossible. During the autumn he learned to see that his choice lay between the reconquest of Ireland, the repeal of the Union, or the emancipation of the Catholics. He could not hesitate which of the three to choose. But though his own mind and that of his colleague were made up, great difficulties lay in the way of the execution of their plans, the chief of which was the temper of the King, who had now begun to declare that he, like his father, was troubled with conscientious scruples. At length, in January, the King consented that the question should be brought before the Cabinet. The two ministers found little or no opposition, and it was determined to take in hand the final settlement of the question. Accordingly, in the royal speech at the opening of Parliament (Feb. 5), it was stated that measures must first of all be taken to establish authority by the destruction of the Association, and that then the whole condition of Ireland should be taken into consideration, with a view to altering the laws so as to remove civil disabilities from his Majesty's Catholic subjects. The speech came as an unexpected blow to the high Tories, but immediate discussion was postponed at the request of the ministry till the actual Bill could be introduced in its completed form. Meanwhile the preliminary measure for the destruction of the Association was brought in. Its necessity was however forestalled by the clever tactics of the Irish, who dissolved their Association before the Bill obtained the force of law. Having declared his change of opinion, Peel, who throughout acted as honourably as circumstances would allow, thought it incumbent on him to resign his seat for Oxford, which he no doubt owed chiefly to his supposed anti-Catholic views. The events of the election proved that he was right, the seat was contested by Sir Robert Inglis, who was elected by a considerable majority. Peel found a seat at Westbury.

[Sidenote: Opposition of the King.]

[Sidenote: Introduction of the Bill. March 5, 1829.]

[Sidenote: The Bill passed. April 1829.]

The coast seemed now clear for the great measure, but the King made a final stand. The very day before the Bill was to be introduced (March 4), he sent unexpectedly for Wellington, Lyndhurst, and Peel, declared he had been misunderstood, withdrew his sanction, and asked what they now intended to do about Ireland. In fact he had been incessantly worked on by the Tory Lords who had access to him; and, weak and miserable, apparently thought that the fear of offending him might even yet postpone the measure. Peel at once declared that nothing remained for him but to resign. The Duke and the Chancellor expressed the same intention, and they left the presence of the King, who bade them a most friendly farewell, in the belief that the ministry was at an end. Late at night Wellington received a letter, in which the King said that he was convinced of the impossibility of forming another ministry, and begged them to remain. Knowing his weak character, it was only on receiving express leave to declare that the measure was brought in with his consent that they agreed to remain, and it was with the assertion that he was acting in full accordance with the King's wishes that Peel began his speech. The proposed Bill was of a sweeping but simple character. It substituted a new form of oath for the old oaths of supremacy, allegiance, and abjuration; thus, if a Catholic bound himself to support the State and not injure the Church, he could sit in either House of Parliament, had a perfect equality with his Protestant neighbours, and was eligible for all offices, civil, military, or municipal, with the exception of the office of Regent, of Lord Chancellor, of Viceroy of Ireland, or royal commissioner of the General Assembly of Scotland. From offices connected with the Church, or participation in Church patronage, he was naturally excluded. The second point of the Bill was the position to be occupied by the Roman Church. It was to be left as a dissenting community, unendowed and unrestricted, but the use of episcopal titles, the increase of monks, and the introduction of more Jesuits, were forbidden. This Bill for the remission of all restrictions was to be coupled with another for the establishment of certain securities, the chief of which consisted in the raising of the franchise to £10. In a long and careful speech Peel explained his views, and vindicated his change of policy. The same course was pursued by Wellington in the Upper House, where he alleged that the chief grounds for his present conduct was his horror of civil war, which he regarded as inevitable. "I am one of those who have probably passed a longer period of my life engaged in war than most men, and principally, I may say, in civil war, and I must say this, that if I could avoid by any sacrifice whatever even one month of civil war in the country to which I am attached, I would sacrifice my life in order to do it. There is nothing which disturbs property and wellbeing so much, which so deteriorates character as civil war, and that, my Lords, would have been the event to which we must have looked, that the means to which we must have had recourse." As was natural, there was a strong opposition, but in both Houses Canningites, Whigs, and Ministerialists combined to swell the majority; on the first reading it numbered 188, on the second 180. Not one amendment was carried in Committee, and the Bill finally passed by a majority of 178 in a House of 452. In the House of Lords it was as favourably received, and on the 10th of April it was passed on the third reading by 213 to 209. There was yet one more struggle, in which the King played a pitiful part. Lord Eldon relates two interviews he had with him, in which George seemed inclined to deny that he had ever authorized his ministers to bring in the Bill, and to represent himself as forced to consent by repeated threats of resignation. Lord Eldon was honest enough to say, after he had seen written evidence of the fact, that the King's consent had been given, and that it could not now be withdrawn, and the interview closed in the midst of petulant and childish exclamations of anger on the part of the King. Lord Eldon probably hoped that in spite of what he had said there might be still some delay, but the royal assent was at once given, and the Bill became law on the 14th of April.

[Sidenote: O'Connell agitates for the repeal of the Union.]

The Bill for the disfranchisement of the forty shilling freeholders passed at the same time as the Catholic Emancipation Bill, and received the royal assent with it. The conduct of O'Connell, who quietly allowed the passing of this Bill, caused much surprise. "The forties" had been his best supporters, he had pledged himself in the strongest language to support their claims, but he quietly allowed them to be disfranchised. It was strange how little commotion so sweeping a measure produced. A few of the more advanced reformers of England regarded it as an enormous price paid for a still greater advantage. But in fact the quarrel had been rapidly assuming the form of a division of races, and the English Catholics, without whom the measure could not have been carried, were far more anxious for the equality of their Church than for the enlargement of Irish liberty. To O'Connell the question assumed a different shape. Although he repeatedly declared that the passing of the Bill would quiet Ireland, he by no means intended that such should be the case. With him the question was far more Irish than Catholic, as was soon made evident by his conduct. He presented himself to take his seat in Parliament (May 15), and offered to take the new oath, but as he had been elected while the old law was in force, it was held that he was still under its requirements. With excellent temper and ability he argued his case, which was however given against him, and a new writ for Clare was issued. His return was unopposed (July 30), yet he allowed himself the utmost freedom of language, abused with all the powers of his invective the English Government, and gave it clearly to be understood that he meant to continue the struggle till it should end in the repeal of the Union. These preliminary operations took so much time that it was not till the next session that he could take his seat. From this time onwards it is impossible to regard him as the champion of a good cause; he sank into the position of a demagogue, exciting the people for an impracticable object, which he must have known no English statesman or English Parliament could possibly grant.

[Sidenote: Wellington's foreign policy.]

The interest of this Catholic Bill had been so absorbing that little else had been thought of, but when that obstacle was once cleared away, there was room to consider what was equally important, the foreign policy of the Government, in which there was much to excite the anger of the Liberal party, and to raise a belief that where Wellington could act without pressure his sympathies were in accordance with the system of Castlereagh rather than with that of Canning. While holding strictly to the principle of non-intervention, he appeared to use it so as to throw its advantages almost entirely upon the side of arbitrary power. It was the affairs of Portugal, of Greece, and of France which chiefly required his attention.

[Sidenote: Affairs of Portugal.]

[Sidenote: Miguel usurps the throne. May 1828.]

[Sidenote: Queen Maria acknowledged in England. Sept. 1828.]

John VI. had at length come back from South America to attempt to establish his power in Portugal in 1821. During his absence Brazil declared itself independent, and put Don Pedro, John's son, upon the throne with the title of Emperor. On the death of John in 1826, Don Pedro was called to the throne of Portugal also. He had to choose between his South American and his European dominions. He preferred to remain in Brazil. He therefore gave a constitution to his Portuguese subjects, and then abdicated in favour of his young daughter Maria. For a while his sister acted as Regent, but in February 1828 Don Pedro thought it better to quiet his ambitious brother Miguel by appointing him Regent, and guardian of his niece, to whom he was to be ultimately married. Miguel always declared his intention, as was of course his duty, to uphold the constitution, which had been supported by English troops sent, it will be remembered, by orders of Canning, but had been opposed by a strong party of absolutists, and had not produced any marked improvement in the condition of the country. The priests, the nobility, and the soldiery were deeply infected with dislike to the constitution. In January 1828, just after Wellington had assumed the reins of power, Miguel had visited England for the purpose, it was understood, of studying the working of the constitution, and had voluntarily declared that if he violated the constitution in his own country he should be a perjured usurper. After some delay he accepted the constitutional oath, but with circumstances which made it doubtful even then whether he intended to keep it. So obvious were the signs of his intention to usurp the throne, that when Wellington determined to recall the English troops as though their duty was now completed, the English ambassador on his own authority retained them. Their retention was but temporary. On the 2nd of April they were recalled, although the Chamber of Deputies had been suddenly dissolved in the middle of March; for Wellington, clinging to the narrowest interpretation of the principle of non-intervention, held that the troops were sent to guard Portugal against foreign invasion, and not to be used in party quarrels. Their departure was almost immediately followed by open riots in favour of the absolutists. Restrained for a short time by the threat that all the ambassadors would leave his Court, on the 3rd of May Miguel began to throw away disguise. He summoned the three ancient estates of the realm instead of the new constitutional Parliament, and signed the decree as King Miguel I. This act of usurpation was followed by the withdrawal of all the ministers except those of Spain and Rome. A violent reaction set in, the uneducated masses, the aristocracy, and the clergy had it all their own way, and raised a general cry against the Freemasons, as they were pleased to call the Liberal party. While Miguel was planning his usurpation of the throne the act of abdication on the part of Don Pedro was finally completed, and the young Queen set sail for Europe. She was at first intended to visit her uncle the Emperor of Austria; but the news of what had happened in Portugal induced her guardians to bring her to England, where she was received with all the honour due to a queen both by the ministers Wellington and Aberdeen, and by King George himself. Meanwhile the government of the reactionists in Portugal had been marked by much violence and contempt of law. In the beginning of October, in the prisons of Lisbon alone, there were 2400 prisoners, of whom 1600 were confined for political crimes. The total number of prisoners throughout the kingdom amounted to upwards of 15,000, among whom were forty-two members of the Chamber of Peers and seven members of the Chamber of Deputies; and so unrestrained was the wickedness of Miguel that he even attempted the life of his sister, the late Regent, because she refused to give up to him some of her jewels.

[Sidenote: Wellington's adherence to the principle of neutrality.]

The withdrawal of the troops from Lisbon on the one hand, and the recall of the English minister and the acknowledgment of the young Queen on the other, appeared to be in accordance with the strictest rules of neutrality. At the same time it was obvious that that neutrality as yet had been entirely in favour of Don Miguel. The principle had yet to be put to harder trials; a number of Portuguese refugees of the constitutional party were assembled in England, headed by the Marquis Palmella, the Portuguese ambassador, and General Saldanha, late constitutional War Minister. Besides their continental dominions, the Portuguese possessed the islands of the Azores; and although the islands had declared for Donna Maria, and therefore might be supposed to be under the protection of the English, Miguel had been allowed to capture Madeira, and had attempted, though unsuccessfully, a similar attack upon Terceira. In expectation of a repetition of this effort, application was made to the Portuguese in England for assistance. A body of between 3000 and 4000 men, the relics of an insurgent army which had attempted in vain to prevent Miguel's usurpation, had been kept together at Plymouth, but the representations of the usurper had been listened to, and the Duke had ordered that they should be distributed throughout England. Rather than submit to this, Palmella proposed to send them to Brazil; but Wellington, mistrusting their intentions when once they had left England, declared his intention of placing them under the escort of the English fleet. On receiving the application from Terceira, Palmella, seeing an opportunity for employing his countrymen usefully, determined to send them thither, but unarmed, to avoid any breach of the neutrality of England; and, in spite of the avowed intention of Wellington to prevent this step by force, in the beginning of January 1829 the expedition actually sailed under Saldanha. Some English frigates were sent to prevent a landing, and fired upon the leading vessel. Saldanha then retired to Brest. Thus in the eyes of the Liberals not only had the Duke been impartial, but he had fired upon an expedition fitted out in favour of a sovereign acknowledged by and at peace with England, and who intended to make good her possession of an island of which she was at the moment actually Queen. Such an interpretation of the duties of neutrality, especially considering the bitter tyranny under which Portugal was groaning, afforded good grounds for the anger of the English Liberal party.

[Sidenote: Non-intervention in the affairs of Greece.]

In the affairs of Greece the same determination under no circumstances to draw the sword was obvious. While the French sent an army to the Morea and rescued the peninsula from the Turks, and while Russia pursued her victorious course towards Constantinople, the English clung tenaciously to the peaceful side of the Treaty of London. Their negotiations were so far successful that Russia consented not to act as a belligerent in the Mediterranean, but the power of Turkey was none the less annihilated from the north. Meanwhile Wellington seemed chiefly bent in restraining the French from advancing beyond the Morea, and in curtailing as far as possible the limits which the powers intended ultimately to fix for the new kingdom of Greece.

[Sidenote: The Revolution in France.]

[Sidenote: Supposed influence of Wellington in Polignac's appointment.]

In respect to France the effect of the sympathies of the English Government were perhaps rather fancied than real. The reactionary tendencies of Charles X.'s minister, M. de Villèle, and the contest in which he had engaged with the press had excited so much discontent, that the ministry had been compelled to resign in January 1827. There were in France three parties, the moderate royalists, of which Villèle was nominally representative, the ultra-royalists, and the liberals. On Villèle's retirement a colourless and inefficient ministry was called to office, and found itself opposed by a coalition between the liberals and the ultras. At the beginning of 1829 the most important and able of the ministers, De Peyronnet, retired. It was supposed that his resignation would break up the ministry, unless it was much strengthened by the admission of some new element; the arrival from London of Prince Polignac, a friend of Wellington and a strong royalist, was thought to mean that the English minister was using his influence to insist that the required strength should be derived from the introduction of a strong royalist element, and that an attempt should be made to rule France upon more strictly monarchical principles. The ministry however for the moment continued unchanged, but found itself in a complete minority in the Chamber of Deputies, and was defeated in an attempt to reform the departmental and municipal governments. Its plan ostensibly aimed at reducing the power of the prefects, who were government nominees, by the establishment of municipal councils, but in fact it secured the ascendancy of the more aristocratic part of the nation in the local government by rendering a high qualification necessary for the electors to these councils. So obviously inefficient had the ministry proved itself to carry on the business of the state, that immediately on the close of the session it was dismissed. But the King had no idea of replacing it by a more liberal Cabinet; his thoughts turned rather towards repression, and he summoned the ultra-royalists to his ministry. While the new appointments were received with absolute distrust and dislike in France, they met with nothing but praise from the London journals; so clear did the connection between the Cabinets of the two countries appear, that the nickname of the Wellington Ministry was given to Polignac's administration.

[Sidenote: Increasing opposition to the French ministry.]

It was a time of much depression both in trade and agriculture, and general discontent became prevalent. The mistrust with which the ministry was regarded was strengthened by the repeated and not always successful press prosecutions which were undertaken. It was even feared that, as the Chamber of Deputies was certainly hostile to the ministry, some attempt would be made to set aside the charter and to obtain a more favourable Chamber by unconstitutional means. But things had not yet reached that pass. The old Chamber was quietly opened on the 2nd of March with a speech in which the King, in the usual language of a constitutional ruler intending to have recourse to unconstitutional means of repression, after expatiating on the excellent condition of the country, went on to assert that if obstacles to the Government should arise, which he as yet did not foresee, he should find strength to overcome them in the loyalty of his people. The covert threat was not lost upon his audience; the address moved in the Lower House expressed the prevailing mistrust. Concurrence between the sovereign and the interests of his people was, it declared, the necessary condition for the good working of the charter; that sympathy was now broken, the administration had acted, and was continuing to act, as though the people were disaffected. The King was intreated to choose between his faithful Parliament and these evil counsellors. Charles did not refuse to receive the address, but stated in reply to it, that though grieved to hear that sympathy between himself and his people no longer existed, he had no intention of receding from his former view. The next day the Chamber was summarily prorogued, the first instance since the restoration of so strong a measure, and in May dissolved, a new Parliament being summoned for August. The elections went constantly against the Government, in spite of an attempt to rouse the love of glory in the people by an expedition to Algiers, and of a personal address by the King, who begged the electors to rally round him for the support of the royal prerogative. "It is your King who requires this of you, it is as a father he summons you, do your duty and I will do mine," were his closing words.

[Sidenote: Unconstitutional conduct of the French ministry.]

Their ill success in the elections reduced the ministers to a dilemma. They must either resign or again meet a hostile Parliament, or (a third alternative) proceed in some unconstitutional way. To all outward appearance they intended to pursue the second course, and the deputies actually set out on their journey towards Paris. Polignac and his friends had hoped to purchase leave to carry on the Government in their own way by introducing a popular budget, while the eyes of the people were dazzled by the military successes in Algiers. Finding this out of the question, at the last hour they determined upon an unconstitutional act. On the 21st of July, three ordinances were introduced to the Council, with an explanatory memorial. This memorial declared that the charter contained no promise of protection to the periodical press, and that the periodical press had been injurious, especially to the military affairs in Algiers, and that it must therefore be suppressed; while the highest duty of Government (its own preservation) authorized the setting aside of the charter, when all efforts to secure a favourable house had been exhausted in vain. The three ordinances suspended the liberty of the periodical press, dissolved the Chamber of Deputies, and altered, to suit the views of the Court, the structure of the chamber hereafter to be chosen.

[Sidenote: Outbreak of the Revolution.]

[Sidenote: Abdication of Charles X.]

The ordinances were kept a profound secret, and were given to the _Moniteur_ to publish at midnight on the 25th of July. Their effect was an immediate outbreak, headed by the opposition newspaper editors. A protest, signed by forty-four of them, was issued on the 26th, declaring that the Government had forfeited its right to obedience. There was a panic on the Exchange, and all things promised a revolution, the success of which could scarcely be doubtful, as the army was deeply infected with disaffection, and there were not more than 6000 trustworthy troops, under the command of Marmont, himself inclined to constitutional views. However, the ministry seem to have persuaded themselves that the effervescence was temporary, and on the 27th an attempt was made to suppress the protest of the press; the printing offices were closed, and while the police hammered at the doors unaided by the lookers-on, the papers were distributed by thousands from the upper windows. The case even came before one of the courts of law, as one of the printers was sued for breach of contract for refusing to print; the Tribunal of Commerce declared that the ordinance, being against the charter, could not be binding. So highly-strung a state of public feeling could not last long. Some deputies had assembled to discuss how they should act; the electors of Paris sent to them, and begged them to assume the command of the movement, asserting that the insurrection was already begun, the armourers' shops had been cleared, and that other signs of immediate revolution were visible. The deputies postponed their reply till the following morning; by that time the people had taken the law into their own hands. On all sides barricades were being rapidly thrown up; the Hôtel de Ville was seized, the tricolour flag hoisted, and the tocsin rang, while the troops were distributed in various parts of the town. Marmont, who knew the temper of the army, despatched a messenger to the King at St. Cloud to urge upon him the necessity of concession. The ministry was in permanent session in the Tuileries, and a state of siege having been declared, Marmont became head of the Government. With him the populace tried to treat. Himself inclined to peace, he could only answer that his orders were to use force. He however offered to send another messenger to St. Cloud; the reply brought was to concentrate his forces, and to act with masses. The answer, which implied the suppression of the revolt at all hazards, was quite useless--the soldiers had rapidly deserted; those who kept to their allegiance had not been supplied with food, and weary and dispirited, were gradually withdrawn. The uproar continued all night, and fresh barricades were hourly springing up. On the 29th the same scenes continued, the troops constantly fraternizing more and more with the mob, and in the afternoon Marmont found himself obliged to march with all the troops he could collect to St. Cloud to secure the safety of the King. It seems that up to that evening Charles and his courtiers still believed that they had only an émeute to encounter, but the next day, as no good news arrived, the King found himself gradually deserted, and at three in the morning of the last day of July himself drove off. When he heard that Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, had accepted the post of Lieutenant of the kingdom, he made a final effort to save his dynasty by abdicating in favour of his grandson, the Duke of Berri. The step was entirely fruitless; he was recommended to withdraw quietly. He took the advice, repaired to Cherbourg, and arrived at Spithead on the 17th of August. After some residence at Lulworth, Charles accepted the hospitality of the English King, who had offered him the use of Holyrood House.

[Sidenote: Death of George IV.]

In the midst of this revolution, George IV., who had for some years been seriously ill, and who since the trial of his wife had withdrawn himself much from public observation, died. His danger had been hidden from the people, probably at his own request. But on the 26th of June he died, a victim to a complication of diseases which had rendered his later years miserable.

[Sidenote: Review of Wellington's administration.]

[Sidenote: His isolated position.]

Throughout the last session of the reign Wellington had occupied a position which could not long be maintained. There was no doubt that an earnest effort might immediately have driven his administration from office. He had broken with the old high Tories by the Catholic Emancipation and by his financial policy. He had quarrelled with the Canningites by insisting upon the resignation of Huskisson. He had indeed made some approaches towards the Whigs, and admitted both Scarlet and Lord Roslin to office, but his views rendered it impossible that any real union with them should be thought of. He thus stood absolutely alone, allowed to remain in office chiefly because men thought him the only minister fit to deal with the vacillating and unprincipled King, and because a speedy change on George's death was expected. Consequently the session was passed in somewhat meaningless discussions, and in attacks to which the arbitrary and self-confident character of Wellington laid him open. Though the settlement of Greece was finally completed, his foreign policy, as we have seen, which seemed to aim at little else than at keeping things exactly as they were, met with little approbation. Attacks against the press in which he engaged seemed at once somewhat to lower his dignity, and to give openings for the assaults of the Liberals. His financial measures, although he effected a saving of upwards of a million in the payment of the Civil Service, diminished but little the weight of taxation, while continued disturbances in Ireland, and widespread discontent and misery among the working-classes, especially in the silk trade, threw gloom over all the country.

WILLIAM IV.

1830-1837.

Born 1765 = Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, 1818.

CONTEMPORARY PRINCES.

_France._ | _Austria._ | _Spain._ | _Portugal._
Charles X., 1824. |Francis II., 1792.|Ferdinand VII., 1813.|Miguel, 1828.
Louis Philippe, |Ferdinand, 1835. |Isabella II., 1833. |Maria, 1834.
1830.

_Prussia._ | _Russia._ | _Denmark._ | _Sweden._
Frederick-William | Nicholas, 1825. |Frederick VI., | Charles XIV.,
III., 1797-1840. | | 1808-1839. | 1818-1844.

POPES.--Pius VIII., 1829. Gregory XVI., 1831.

_Lord Chancellors._ | _First Lords of the Treasury._
|
April 1827. Lyndhurst. | Jan. 1828. Wellington.
Nov. 1830. Brougham. | Nov. 1830. Grey.
Nov. 1834. Lyndhurst. | July 1834. Melbourne.
April 1835. In Commission. | Nov. 1835. Wellington.
Feb. 1836. Cottenham. | Dec. 1834. Peel.
| April 1835. Melbourne.
|
_Chancellors of the Exchequer._ | _Secretaries (Foreign and Home)._
| Nov. 1830 { Palmerston.
Jan. 1828. Goulburn. | { Melbourne.
Nov. 1830. Althorp. | July 1834 { Palmerston.
Nov. 1834. Wellington. | { Duncannon.
Dec. 1834. Peel. | Nov. 1834 { Wellington.
April 1835. Spring Rice. | { Wellington.
| Dec. 1834 { Wellington.
| { Goulburn.
| April 1835 { Palmerston.
| { Russell.

[Sidenote: Character of William IV.]

It was perhaps fortunate that George IV. was succeeded by a man of very different character, whose simplicity and geniality speedily made him as popular as his brother had been the reverse. The little care with which he preserved the outward forms of dignity shocked the older Tories; the freedom with which he admitted men of both parties to his table and his Court seemed to promise a reign conducted on constitutional principles and without party bias on the part of the Crown. The popularity of the King was at the time of great importance, because the excitement of the days of July in France spread rapidly over Europe, especially in Belgium and Poland, and met with great sympathy in England. Had an unpopular monarch been upon the throne the Crown might easily have been involved in the quarrel with the people.

[Sidenote: Effect of the July Revolution in Belgium and Poland.]

In Belgium the revolutionary spirit assumed the form of a national desire on the part of the French-speaking Belgians to sever themselves from the Dutch kingdom to which they had been attached by the Treaties of Vienna. There was good ground for their discontent. The King of the Netherlands, a clever but injudicious man, had failed to fulfil his engagements, and had ruled entirely in the interests of the Dutch part of his kingdom. The liberty of the press granted by the constitution had been superseded by a royal ordinance, intended to be temporary, but still remaining in force; a judicial system by which the judges were the nominees of the Crown had superseded the enactments of the constitution, by which the judges were elective and irremoveable; the King had twisted the clause recommending to his care the interests of education to mean that education should be entirely in the power of the Crown; the French language had been proscribed in all public acts, and business had to be carried on in Dutch; an undue proportion of the taxes was laid upon Belgium, and Protestants were chiefly employed both in public and educational offices, though absolute equality of religions had been guaranteed. There is no need to explain the grievances of the Poles. Destroyed as a nation, divided recklessly among their powerful neighbours, it was only too natural that they should at once accept any hope of freedom.

[Sidenote: Effect of the July Revolution in England.]

In England the Revolution in France met with universal sympathy and admiration. Among those classes which of late years had been in a constant state of discontent, it was accepted as an example to be at once followed. But the orderly and self-restrained manner in which the change in France had been effected had a far different and more important effect than this. It seemed to show the possibility of great and thorough changes being carried out without the excesses which had hitherto accompanied revolutions, and had frightened the well-to-do middle classes from any co-operation with the more eager and innovating working-men. It seemed possible that the great question, which had been almost crushed by the French wars and by the lengthened tenure of office by the Tories, might be revived and brought to a successful conclusion without opening the flood-gates of social anarchy. Parliamentary reform was at once taken up by the Whigs and by the great middle class of England, who determined to try whether they could not win it in some less objectionable form than it had assumed in the hands of radical demagogues.

[Sidenote: Position of Wellington's ministry.]

In the midst of this renewed excitement both on the Continent and in England, the ministry of Wellington, cut off from its old friends and disowned by those whose policy it had been enforced to adopt, stood as representative of the bygone system. The minister, though he had already so frequently yielded to the pressure of circumstances, was regarded as the friend of Polignac, the fallen French minister. His foreign policy read by this light seemed to be directed entirely to uphold the principles which had actuated the Tory Government at the time of the Vienna Treaty. He was known to be at heart an enemy of all change, and his conduct was therefore watched at this crisis with extreme anxiety. It was felt at the time, and has since been confessed, that his ministry during the last session had existed only by the toleration of its enemies. With the death of the King the chief necessity for retaining the Duke in his position had disappeared, and the time seemed to have arrived for sweeping away the Government, which was merely obstructive and bent at the best in keeping things exactly as they were. The dissolution which necessarily followed the accession of the new King afforded the Duke's enemies the opportunity they required. In the midst of much excitement, for the reformers had already begun to cover the land with associations, the elections took place, with a result disastrous to Government. There was a loss of at least fifty Government seats. While the Liberals made extreme and successful efforts in places where the elections were open, the Tory proprietors of boroughs, in their hatred to Wellington, whom they regarded as their betrayer, brought in anti-ministerial nominees. The temper of the people was shown by the election of Brougham, voluntarily and without expense, to the representation of Yorkshire, by the loss of their seats by two brothers and a brother-in-law of Peel, undoubtedly the most important member of the Government after the Premier, and by the fact that of the eighty-two representatives of English counties not more twenty were ministerial. Such a change no doubt offered much hope for the peaceful and parliamentary character of the constitutional advance which it seemed now impossible to avoid.

[Sidenote: Danger from O'Connell's agitation for repeal,]

[Sidenote: and from rick-burning.]

[Sidenote: Death of Huskisson.]

But there were still great dangers threatening the country. In Ireland O'Connell was spending all his energies in preaching the necessity of repeal, and heaping fierce and unmeaning words of hatred upon the ministry. He had re-established the Association under the name of "The Friends of Ireland," and when the Irish Government declared this illegal, it assumed a new form as the Society of Irish Volunteers. The lower classes were in a state of wild excitement, and their belief in their leader was not checked by the inconsistency with which he now extolled the Revolution in Belgium and in France, though hitherto, in his love of Catholicism, the Catholic and Jesuit-loving Bourbons had been the main subjects of his praise; nor did even the want of courage with which he refused to give satisfaction for the insults he had heaped on Lord Hardinge injure him with his followers. In October it was found necessary in Tipperary to take means for suppressing an outbreak by the use of the soldiery. In England events bearing a strong resemblance to the opening of a revolution began to be visible. The breaking of machines both in manufacturing and agricultural districts, and worse than that, in the South of England rick-burning, became constant. No efforts and no rewards could arrive at a true knowledge of the perpetrators of this crime. The farmers were kept in a constant state of nervous anxiety. A certain number of people were apprehended and hanged on the charge, but any man was still liable to find his ricks, in spite of all his care, suddenly and mysteriously bursting into flames. In London, too, the old demagogues began to make their appearance. Hunt and Cobbett were again haranguing crowds and filling their minds with hopes of social equality. Meanwhile the ministry took no step to declare its intention, and made no advances towards strengthening itself by union with any other party. It seemed indeed possible for a moment that the Duke would again yield, readmit the Canningites to his party, and produce some very moderate reform. If such a plan existed, it disappeared after the death of Huskisson. On the 15th of September a number of guests, among whom were the Minister, were asked to attend the opening of the first great railway in England, running between Manchester and Liverpool. The train, in which the guests were, stopped for water at Parkside. Several gentlemen left their seats, and a mutual friend brought Huskisson to the carriage where Wellington sat to attempt a reconciliation. The door was open as the old friends greeted each other warmly. Suddenly a train came up upon the other line, there was a cry of "Get to your seats;" flurried and unable, apparently, to pass the open door, Huskisson fell across the line, and was so severely injured that he died the same evening. The rest of Canning's followers, although their great leader had been an enemy to reform, at once made it plain that they had joined the Opposition.

[Sidenote: Parliament. Nov. 2, 1830.]

[Sidenote: Resignation of the ministry.]

It was thus, with unusual anxiety as to the conduct to be expected from the ministry, that the opening of Parliament on the 2nd of November was awaited. The worst enemies of the Duke could scarcely have hoped for a more ill-judged production than the King's speech. There was no sign that the very critical state of the country was even acknowledged. The change of dynasty in France was mentioned and accepted, the unpopular policy of the Government with regard to Miguel praised, the civil war in Belgium spoken of in terms of severe reprobation, and a determination expressed to uphold the present political system; the disturbed temper of the people in England and Ireland was mentioned with indignation, and the firm purpose of Government declared to repress it by every means in their power. Of recognition of the necessity of listening to what had now become the expressed wish of the nation there was not a word. If anything could be wanted to strengthen the impression caused by the speech, and to make it clear that the ministry was more conservative than ever, it was afforded by Wellington's words in the debate on the address in answer to Lord Grey's recommendation that some plan of reform should be undertaken. He declared his belief in the perfection of the legislative system. It possessed the full and entire confidence of the country; he was not therefore prepared to bring forward any measure of reform, and might declare at once that "as long as he held any station in the government of the country, he should always feel it his duty to resist such measures when proposed by others." It was a challenge to the reformers which was speedily answered. On the same night Brougham announced his intention of bringing forward a motion for reform on the 16th, and on that night the fate of the ministry must have been decided. In the interval before the critical day the excitement of the people was so great that the King's visit to the City had to be postponed, because Wellington was afraid to accompany him unless under a strong armed escort. But before that day arrived the ministry found an opportunity for resigning. Among the topics of the speech was the reform of the Civil List. On the 15th Sir Henry Parnell brought in a motion for a Select Committee; the ministry opposed it on the ground that no further economy was possible, and being beaten by a majority of twenty-nine, after taking one day to consider, announced on the 16th that their resignation had been accepted, and thus saved themselves from defeat on the more momentous question of reform. During the formation of the new ministry Brougham's motion was postponed, and it was almost immediately known that he had passed into the Upper House as Lord Chancellor, and that the first business of the new Government would be the production of a Reform Bill.

[Sidenote: Formation of Lord Grey's ministry.]

At such a crisis it was impossible that any statesman except Lord Grey should be intrusted with the formation of a Cabinet. Now nearly seventy years of age, he had been the prominent leader in every attempt at parliamentary reform for the last forty years. He found no difficulty in selecting his ministers. As far as talents and debating power went the Liberal party was very strong; it was not yet discovered that the long absence of the party from office, and its consequent ignorance of the routine and traditions of official work had rendered most of its members rather weak administrators. The Chancellorship of the Exchequer was given to Lord Althorp, a most amiable and excellent man, a steady partisan of reform and retrenchment, but of an easy and not very vigorous character. Lord Lansdowne was President of the Council; Lambton, now become Lord Durham, Grey's son-in-law, was Lord Privy Seal; the Secretaryships were supplied from the ranks of the Canningites; Palmerston, Melbourne, and Goderich were respectively Foreign, Home, and Colonial Secretaries. Charles Grant was President of the Board of Control. Holland, Auckland, and Graham were also in the Cabinet. In office, but not of the Cabinet, were Lord John Russell as Paymaster-General, and Mr. Stanley, subsequently Lord Derby, as Secretary for Ireland.

[Sidenote: Difficulties attending reform.]

The duty which this ministry undertook was by no means a light one; for though it was plain that reform in some shape or other could no longer be delayed, its introduction was beset with difficulties, of which the greatest was by no means the opposition to be apprehended from the open opponents of the measure. Any advance towards a fair representation was certain to meet with the strongest opposition from men who regarded any change as revolutionary, and saw a diminution of their own interests in the slightest attacks upon the system of nominee boroughs. But such bigoted and selfish opposition might certainly sooner or later be overcome. A far greater danger was to be found in the exaggerated hopes which had been fostered for many years among the suffering artisans, who had been taught by their leaders and demagogues to ascribe all their miseries to the want of fair representation. No measure which a ministry, aristocratic in its character as the present ministry was, could introduce, no measure which could satisfy the intelligent middle classes, to whom social change was almost as abhorrent as to the Tories, could fail to cause disappointment to the hopes of the lower classes; and when they found how little practical relief they would gain by the measure, there was only too much danger lest the revolution of which the opponents of the measure were so fond of talking might really come into existence. Signs of popular discontent were, as has been already mentioned, clearly to be seen. Rick-burning still continued its course in the South, and trades unions in their most aggravated form, and accompanied by murder, had made their appearance in the manufacturing districts. Extreme measures, such as the issuing of a special commission in the disturbed districts, were urged upon the Government; but Lord Grey replied that he considered the regular powers of the Government, if properly used, were sufficient for all purposes. In fact, the ministry understood that the contest was not an ordinary parliamentary one; it was scarcely to be expected that of its own free will the House of Commons should accept a Bill which must exclude many of its members from their seats; it was as the spokesmen of a great national wish that the ministers regarded themselves, and they intended to rely upon the nation for their support. Not only did they therefore refrain from any exceptional measures for the suppression of disturbance, they also allowed to pass unquestioned the legality of the numerous political unions which, following the example of the Union of Birmingham, of which Mr. Attwood was the president, had sprung into existence all over England, and which aimed at bringing into some sort of harmony the demands of the wealthy and poorer classes. The ministry had in fact determined to use all expressions of the national temper, even when verging upon breaches of the Constitution, to forward what they conceived to be the great healing measure which the evils of the times demanded. The struggle thus assumed a far more dignified form than that of an ordinary political question. In its first stage it was the people, as usual with aristocratic leaders, who demanded and insisted upon their will being heard by the Lower House. When that House had been reconstituted, and become favourable to the popular claims, it was the people speaking by the voice of their constitutionally chosen representatives, supported by an irresistible and probably unconstitutional action from without, which engaged in a life and death struggle with the aristocracy, clinging tenaciously to their ancient privileges.

[Sidenote: Reception of the Reform Bill. March 1, 1831.]

On the 3rd of February, when the Parliament reassembled, the intention of the ministry to produce a measure of parliamentary reform in both Houses was made known. The day for its introduction was fixed for the 1st of March. The interval was passed in Parliament in the ordinary business of the session, and in the introduction of a budget which, betraying as it clearly did a tendency towards the policy of Huskisson in favour of the manufacturing industries, was received with an opposition which showed the temper of the House, and which would probably under ordinary circumstances have caused the fall of the ministry. But it was understood that it was upon reform and upon no other question that the fate of the Government depended. Without the walls of Parliament agitation was vigorously at work. Petition after petition for and against the approaching measure was prepared, and the whole country was upon the tiptoe of expectation when on the appointed day Lord John Russell made his statement as to the character of the Bill. Although it has since been found necessary more than once to enlarge it, at the time the completeness of the Bill surprised even the friends of Government, while it seemed to its opponents little better than an ill-timed jest. As in all Bills for reform of the representation, there were two points to be regarded: in the first place, to secure that the representatives of the people should be really representatives and not nominees; in the second place, to secure by the arrangement of the franchise that they should as far as practicable represent all classes of the nation. On the first of these points the Bill was complete, with very few exceptions rotten boroughs were entirely swept away; it is on the second point that subsequent legislation has been found necessary. The Bill as originally presented destroyed at once sixty rotten boroughs, but with regard to the franchise and the distribution of seats, as will be seen subsequently, it showed considerable favour to the counties, that is to the landed interest and to the middle classes, excluding entirely the artisan class, which, when its members are prosperous and possess property, is one of the most valuable elements in the constitution of the nation. As Lord John Russell read the list of disfranchised boroughs, he was greeted with shouts of laughter and ironical cries of "Hear" from the members who represented them. The debate on the first reading continued for seven nights; the chief objection raised was that the balance of the Constitution would be changed and the power of the House of Lords diminished. It was, however, passed without division, the struggle being deferred to the second reading. Although its deficiencies were obvious enough to the advanced reformers, the importance of securing the one great step in advance which it promised in the annihilation of rotten boroughs caused its general acceptance, and "The Bill and nothing but the Bill" became the watchword of the Liberal party in England. There was considerable disturbance, as was to be expected, throughout the country, and in anticipation of a strong opposition many of the political unions came to the formal determination that, if necessary, they would refrain from paying taxes, and would even march to London; they issued lists showing the numbers on which they could count, and it began to be plain that, if constitutional means failed, the Bill would be carried by unconstitutional pressure.

[Sidenote: The second reading of the Reform Bill. March 21.]

[Sidenote: Dissolution of the Parliament. April 22.]