Chapter III: Part 3

Accordingly during the sessions of 1823, 1824, and 1825, different Acts were introduced by Mr. Huskisson for doing away with the discriminating duties; but in order that foreign nations might not impose new, or increase old discriminating duties, at the very moment when we were abandoning ours, a power was reserved to the King in Council to enforce the payment of additional duties upon the ships of all foreign countries, in the event of the treatment which British ships should meet with in their ports, not being reciprocal to that, which their ships were to meet with, in the ports of the United Kingdom.

In 1826 a new rule of navigation, exclusively applicable to the Mediterranean, was established. Goods, the productions of Asia and Africa, which should find their way to ports in Europe within that sea by internal routes, and not by the Atlantick Ocean, were made importable from those ports in British ships: thus erecting the Mediterranean and its surrounding shores, as it were, into a fifth quarter of the globe.

Mr. Huskisson also revised and altered the list of "enumerated articles." When that list was first constructed it was intended to consist of commodities of extensive importation; in process of time some of the articles contained in the list had nearly ceased to be imported, while their places were supplied by other articles which were omitted. The list was therefore reconstructed upon the principle of its original intention.

In 1825 the general consolidation of the Laws of the Customs was effected by Mr. Hume,[3] under the favouring auspices of the Board of Trade and Treasury. The difficulty and vastness of this undertaking was only surpassed by its importance. From the reign of the first Edward up to the present times, these laws had accumulated to the enormous number of fifteen hundred--frequently contradictory, and made without reference to each other, they were only understood by the initiated few, and required the devotion of a whole life to their study, at once to comprehend, and to obey them. They were unintelligible to the merchants, while they perplexed and harassed all their proceedings. This chaos of Legislation was compressed by Mr. Hume into Eleven Acts (a sort of Code Napoleon), with an order, a clearness, and a precision whereby even the least talented of our mercantile men are now enabled to consult the laws of the Customs with facility, and to take them with safety for their guide. These effects, upon which for their advantages to commerce Mr. Huskisson several times expatiated with exultation, would alone make this consolidation a most important era in our fiscal policy; but advantage was likewise taken of the opportunity to introduce into the Laws themselves some memorable changes, in conformity with the spirit of those principles of commercial intercourse, on which the Government had determined to act. Not only were duties of importance considerably reduced, but those on numerous minor articles were lowered. During the war the rates of the Tariff had been so increased, for the single purpose of revenue, that they had become for the most part inapplicable to a state of peace, and required general revision. This revision was regulated by the following principles: First, those duties were reduced, the heaviness of which tended to lessen, rather than to increase their total product. Secondly, the duties on raw materials, and on various articles useful in manufactures, were lowered to little more than nominal sums. Thirdly, protecting duties of extravagant amount were reduced to that point, at which the consumer was fairly entitled to relief, either by the increased industry of the home manufacture, or by access to other sources of supply. And, lastly, the comforts and the tastes of the publick, and the advantage of their retail suppliers, were consulted by the removal of duties which prevented the introduction, or most unnecessarily abridged, the use of many articles without benefit to any party whatever.

By the system founded on these principles, there has not only been distributed amongst a numerous population a great increase of employment, but its diffusion has been greater in proportion, than its increase. It is also very remarkable, that those trades which have been prominent in complaining of foreign competition have neither suffered more in diminution of profits, nor increased less in extent of business, than those which have been able to hold foreign competition at defiance.

Besides this consolidation of the Customs' Laws which took place in 1825, an Act was passed in the session of that year, whereby many commercial advantages were conferred on the Colonies, beyond those contained in Mr. Robinson's two acts of 1822; Mr. Huskisson laying down as the fundamental principle on which his alterations were founded--a principle deduced from past experience with respect both to _Ireland and to our Colonies_--that "so far as the Colonies themselves were concerned, their prosperity was cramped and impeded by a system of exclusion and monopoly; and that whatever tended to increase the prosperity of the Colonies could not fail, in the long run, to advance, in an equal degree, the general interests of the parent state." By these Acts, not only articles of first necessity, but goods of all descriptions, with very few exceptions, were allowed to be imported from all countries, either in British ships, or in ships of the country of their production; and the goods of the Colonies were allowed to be exported in any ships to any foreign country whatever. The only part of the Colonial system which was persevered in, was that which excludes foreign ships from carrying goods from one British place to another; "so that by this arrangement was preserved the foundation of our Navigation Laws--all intercourse between the mother-country and the Colonies, whether direct or circuitous, and all intercourse of the Colonies with each other, being considered as a coasting trade to be reserved entirely and absolutely for ourselves."

The admission of foreign ships, however, was not unconditional: it was made to depend upon reciprocal or equivalent liberality towards our trade and navigation on the part of the countries profiting by the advantages of it; but a power was given to the King in Council to relax the rigour of the Law, if occasion should, in any particular cases, seem to require it. By the same act, the privileges of warehousing were extended to the chief trading ports of the Colonies; a measure, which was well adapted to promote the creation of _entrepôts_ in those places, for the general barter trade of that quarter of the globe.

Independently of all these measures of internal legislation, Treaties of Commerce, founded on the principles of reciprocity, were negotiated with Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, the Hanse Towns, three of the new States of Spanish America, and lastly with France. In the case of Prussia, the power with whom the first of these Treaties was made, it may be said that, it was fairly forced upon this country. It certainly was not the wish of our Government unnecessarily to stir the question. But "the Prussian ship-owners were all going to ruin," and the Prussian Government very wisely resolved not to give to British ships privileges which the British Government denied to Prussian ships. When once foreign powers began to adopt that course, against which we could not justly remonstrate, it has been already shewn that the only safe and wise way was to meet it with concession. Prussia having therefore thus attained her object, to have manifested any unwillingness to treat other powers on the same footing, would have been inconsistent with the principle of our navigation law, which, acting upon the principle "divide et impera," was more anxious for an equal distribution of foreign shipping, than for its diminution.

PORTUGUESE APPEAL FOR AID AGAINST SPAIN (1826).

=Source.=--_The Political Life of George Canning_, by A. G. Stapleton. London, 1831. Vol. III. p. 219.

_The King's Message._

"George R.--His Majesty acquaints the House of Commons that His Majesty has received an earnest application from the Princess Regent of Portugal, claiming, in virtue of the ancient obligations of alliance and amity between His Majesty, and the Crown of Portugal, His Majesty's aid against an hostile aggression from Spain.

"His Majesty has exerted himself for some time past, in conjunction with His Majesty's Ally, the King of France, to prevent such an aggression, and repeated assurances have been given by the Court of Madrid of the determination of his Catholick Majesty, neither to commit, nor to allow to be committed, from his Catholick Majesty's territory, any aggression against Portugal; but His Majesty had learned, with deep concern, that notwithstanding these assurances, hostile inroads into the territory of Portugal have been concerted in Spain, and have been executed under the eyes of Spanish Authorities, by Portuguese Regiments, which had deserted into Spain, and which the Spanish Government had repeatedly and solemnly engaged to disarm, and to disperse.

"His Majesty leaves no effort unexhausted to awaken the Spanish Government to the dangerous consequences of this apparent connivance.

"His Majesty makes this communication to the House of Commons with the full and entire confidence, that his faithful Commons will afford to His Majesty their cordial concurrence and support in maintaining the faith of treaties, and in securing against foreign hostility the safety and independence of the kingdom of Portugal, the oldest ally of Great Britain.

"G. R."

MR. CANNING AND THE PORTUGUESE APPEAL (1826).

=Source.=--_The Political Life of George Canning_, by A. G. Stapleton. London, 1831. Vol. III. p. 222.

"Some years ago," said Mr. Canning, "in the discussion of the negotiations respecting the French war against Spain, I took the liberty of adverting to this topick. I then stated that the position of this country in the present state of the world, was one of neutrality, not only between contending nations, but between conflicting principles; and that it was by neutrality alone that we could maintain that balance, the preservation of which I believed to be essential to the welfare of mankind. I then said that I feared that the next war which should be kindled in Europe, would be a war not so much of armies, as of opinions. Not four years have elapsed, and behold my apprehension realised! It is, to be sure, within narrow limits that this war of opinion is at present confined: but it is a war of opinion, that Spain (whether as Government, or as nation), is now waging against Portugal; it is a war which has commenced in hatred of the new institutions of Portugal. How long is it reasonable to expect that Portugal will abstain from retaliation? If into that war this country shall be compelled to enter, we shall enter into it, with a sincere and anxious desire to mitigate, rather than exasperate--and to mingle only in the conflict of arms, not in the more fatal conflict of opinions. But I much fear that this country (however earnestly she may endeavour to avoid it), could not, in such case, avoid seeing ranked under her banners, all the restless and dissatisfied of any nation with which she might come in conflict. It is the contemplation of this new _power_ in any future war, which excites my most anxious apprehension. It is one thing to have a giant's strength, but it would be another to use it like a giant. The consciousness of such strength is, undoubtedly, a source of confidence and security; but in the situation in which this country stands, our business is not to seek opportunities of displaying it, but to content ourselves with letting the professors of violent and exaggerated doctrines on both sides feel that it is not their interest to convert an umpire, into an adversary. The situation of England, amidst the struggle of political opinions, which agitates more or less sensibly different countries of the world, may be compared to that of the Ruler of the Winds, as described by the poet:

"'Celsâ sedet Aeolus arce,
Sceptra tenens; mollitque animos et temperat iras;
Ni faciat, maria ac terras caelumque profundum
Quippe ferant rapidi secum, verrantque per auras.'

"The consequence of letting loose the passions at present chained and confined, would be to produce a scene of desolation, which no man can contemplate without horror: and I should not sleep easy on my couch, if I were conscious that I had contributed to precipitate it by a single moment.

"This, then, is the reason--a reason very different from fear--the reverse of a consciousness of disability,--why I dread the recurrence of hostilities in any part of Europe: why I would bear much, and would forbear long; why I would (as I have said) put up with almost anything that did not touch national faith and national honour;--rather than let slip the furies of war, the leash of which we hold in our hands,--not knowing whom they may reach, or how far their ravages may be carried. Such is the love of peace which the British Government acknowledges, and such the necessity of peace which the circumstances of the world inculcate.

"Let us fly," said Mr. Canning, in conclusion, "to the aid of Portugal by whomsoever attacked; because it is our duty to do so: and let us cease our interference where that duty ends. We go to Portugal not to rule, not to dictate, not to prescribe Constitutions, but to defend and to preserve the independence of an ally. We go to plant the standard of England on the well-known heights of Lisbon. Where that standard is planted foreign dominion shall not come."

THE LIFE OF CONVICT-SERVANTS IN AUSTRALIA (1827).

=Source.=--_The London Magazine_, 1827. Vol. VIII. p. 518.

_Extract from "Two Years in New South Wales," by P. Cunningham, Surgeon, R.N._

"The convict-servants are accommodated upon the farms in huts walled round and roofed with bark, or built of split wood and plaster, with thatched roofs. About four of them generally sleep and mess in each hut, drawing their provisions every Saturday, and being generally allowed the afternoon of that day, whereupon to wash their clothes and grind their wheat. Their usual allowance I have already stated to be a peck of wheat; seven pounds of beef, or four and a half of pork; two ounces of tea, two ounces of tobacco, and a pound of sugar, weekly; the majority of settlers permitting them to raise vegetables in little gardens allotted for their use, or supplying them occasionally from their own gardens. Wages are only allowed at the option of the master; but you are obliged to supply them with two full suits of clothes annually; and you also furnish a bed-tick (to be stuffed with grass), and a blanket, to each person, besides a tin-pot and knife; as also an iron-pot and frying-pan to each mess. The tea, sugar, and tobacco, are considered _bonuses_ for good conduct, and withheld in default thereof.

"To get work done, you must feed well; and when the rations are ultimately raised upon your own farm, you never give their expense a moment's consideration. The farm-men usually bake their flour into flat cakes, which they call _dampers_, and cook these in the ashes, cutting their salted meats into thin slices, and boiling them in the iron-pot or frying-pan, by which means the salt is, in a great measure, extracted. If tea and sugar are not supplied, milk is allowed as a substitute, tea _or_ milk forming the beverage to every meal. Though not living so comfortably as when everything is cooked and put down before them, yet it is more after their own mind, while the operations of preparing their meals amuse their leisure hours and give a greater zest to the enjoyment of those repasts. When the labour of the day is over, with enlivening chit-chat, singing, and smoking, they chase away _ennui_, and make the evening hours jog merrily by. Indeed, without the aid of that magic care-killer, the pipe, I believe the greater portion of our 'pressed men' would 'take the bush' in a week after their arrival in our solitudes, before time had attuned their minds to rural prospects and industrious pursuits.

"Convicts, when first assigned, if long habituated to a life of idleness and dissipation, commonly soon become restless and dissatisfied; and if failing to provoke you to return them into the government employ, wherein they may again be enabled to idle away their time in the joyous companionship of their old associates, will run off for head-quarters, regardless of the flogging that awaits them on being taken or on giving themselves up--the idle ramble they have had fully compensating them for the twenty-five or fifty lashes they may receive, in case they should not be admitted among the list at head-quarters. Many, too, start off for want of something for their fingers to pick at,--the leader of one batch of runaways from a friend of mine, exclaiming to those he left behind, on bidding them adieu, 'Why, I may as well be dead and buried in earnest, as buried alive in this here place, where a fellow has not even a _chance_!' The chance here wished for, not being the _chance_ of bettering his condition by good conduct, but by emptying the full pocket of some luckless wight! If they can be coaxed or compelled to stop, however, for a _twelvemonth_ or so, the greater portion, even of the worst, generally turn out very fair and often very good servants; cockneys becoming able ploughmen, and weavers, barbers, and such like soft-fingered gentry, being metamorphosed into good fencers, herdsmen and shepherds; a little urging and encouragement on the part of the master, and perseverance in enforcing his authority, generally sufficing.

"The convict-servants commence labour at sunrise, and leave off at sunset, being allowed an hour for breakfast, and an hour or more for dinner. It is long before you can accustom the greater portion to steady labour, the best of them usually working by fits and starts, then lying down for an hour or two, and up and at it again. To get your work readily and quietly done, the best method is certainly to task them, and allow them to get through it as they please; but as it is an object to accustom them to _regular_ industry, it will eventually serve your purpose better, and benefit them more, to keep them at constant work. Even some of the free-men who have served their time are perpetually skipping about, seldom remaining long in one situation."

AN INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE IV. (1827).

=Source.=--_The Diary and Correspondence of Charles Abbot, Lord Colchester._ London, 1861. Vol. III. p. 472.

March 27th. Heard from the Duke of Newcastle a fuller account of his interview with the King, at Windsor, on Saturday last. (The former account I had received from Lord Falmouth.)

He arrived at Windsor at two, and requested an audience. At the end of two hours, when he was exhausted and almost asleep, the door of his apartment was opened, and the King was announced.

The King received him very graciously; believed he understood the subject of his visit; entered at great length into the whole history of the Roman Catholics, from the reign of James II. down to the present time. Professed himself a "Protestant, heart and soul." Declared he never would give his assent to any measures for Roman Catholic Emancipation. And, when pressed by the Duke as to the new form of his administration, he assured the Duke "that the First Minister should be for the Protestant side of the question," and, as to Ireland, that the Chancellor there should be Protestant also. He added that the present audience would be necessarily known to everybody; but "he must keep faith with his Ministers." He said, "the courage of his family had never been questioned." When assured that, in choosing Protestants for his Ministers, his choice would be supported by a large and powerful body of Peers, and pressed for an assurance that his choice would be made accordingly, he said, again and again, "Do you doubt me? But it is not I who fail in my duty. It is you in Parliament. Why do you suffer the d----d Association in Dublin?"

The Duke of Newcastle clearly saw that the Chancellor had lost his former influence with the King. It was evident that the King knew the Duke of Rutland's opinions upon the present subject. The King's sentiments were strongly expressed, but there was reason to apprehend that considerations of ease and repose might outweigh his principles.

The Duke told the King plainly that the support or opposition of himself, and of those for whom he was acting, would depend on the choice that the King should finally make in forming his Administration.

In parting, the King very graciously told him "he never need ask an audience _in form_, he was always welcome," and hoped he would come and fish there in the summer.

(_N.B._--The King did not finish the audience without talking to the Duke about his _tailor_.)

THE TREATY OF LONDON (1827).

=Source.=--_The Political Life of George Canning_, by A. G. Stapleton. London, 1831. Vol. III. p. 286.

The treaty was signed on the 6th of July, 1827, by Prince Lieven, Lord Dudley, and Prince Polignac.

In execution of this treaty instructions were sent in common to the Representatives of the three Powers at Constantinople, directing them to present a joint declaration to the Divan; stating that their respective Governments had for six years been exerting themselves to induce the Porte to restore tranquillity to Greece; that these efforts had been useless, and that a war of extermination had been prolonged, of which the results were on the one hand shocking to humanity, while on the other they inflicted intolerable injuries on the commerce of all nations. That on these accounts it was no longer possible to admit that the fate of Greece, concerned exclusively the Ottoman Porte, and that the Courts of London, of Paris, and St. Petersburgh, therefore, felt it to be their duty to regulate by a special treaty the line of conduct which they had resolved to follow. That they offered their mediation between the Sublime Porte and the Greeks to put an end to the war, and to settle by an amicable negotiation the relations, which ought for the future to exist between them.

That for the purpose of facilitating the success of the mediation, they proposed to the Sublime Porte to suspend by an armistice all acts of hostility towards the Greeks, to whom a similar and simultaneous proposition was to be addressed.

Lastly, that before the end of a month, the Ottoman Porte must make known its definite determination.

That it was hoped that that determination would be in conformity with the wishes of the allied courts; but if the Porte refused to comply with the request, or returned an evasive and insufficient answer, or even maintained a complete silence, the allied courts would be compelled to have recourse to the measures which they should think most likely to be efficacious to put an end to a state of things, incompatible with the true interests of the Porte, with the security of the commerce, and the assured tranquillity of Europe.

In the event of no answer, an evasive answer, or a refusal on the part of the Porte, before a month had elapsed, the Divan was to be informed that the Allied Courts would interfere themselves to establish an armistice; but that, in the execution of this resolution, they were far from wishing to put an end to their friendly relations with the Porte.

The result of these representations was forthwith to be reported to the Admirals, commanding the several fleets of the Allies, who were instructed to make a similar requisition for an armistice, to the Greek Government; and in the event of either that Government, or the Porte refusing, or delaying, to consent to the establishment of an armistice, coercive measures were to be taken to enforce it.

If the Porte should be the refusing party (for after the propositions made by the Greeks there was little chance of their not consenting to the armistice), the Allied Squadrons were to unite, and the Admirals were to enter into friendly relations with the Greeks on the one hand, and on the other, to intercept all ships, freighted with men and arms, destined to act against the Greeks, whether coming from Turkey, or from the coast of Africa.

But whatever measures they might adopt towards the Ottoman navy, the three Admirals were especially instructed to take extreme care (_soin extrême_) that they should not degenerate into hostilities. The fixed intention of the three Powers was to interpose as conciliators (_conciliatrices_), and any hostile step would be contrary to the pacifick character, which they were desirous of assuming.

The settlement of this treaty, and of these instructions to the representatives of the three Courts, at Constantinople, and to the commanders of the Allied Squadron, were Mr. Canning's last acts on the subject of Greek affairs.

THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO (1827).

=Source.=--_The Gentleman's Magazine_, Vol. 97, 1827, p. 453.

TURKEY AND GREECE.

In our last number (p. 360), we stated that the combined squadrons of England and France (to which that of Russia, under Count Heyden, has been since added) had compelled Ibrahim Pacha to assent to an armistice, until the result of the negociations at Constantinople should be known; when he promised that "his fleet should not move from Navarino, until he received full instructions from Constantinople." It appears, however, that Ibrahim, whether in obedience to, or in opposition to the Ottoman Government, treacherously broke the conditions of the armistice. In the first place he attempted to make sail from Navarino to Patras, and on being ordered back by Adm. Codrington, landed his troops, and wreaked his barbarous vengeance on the miserable Greek inhabitants of the Morea. In short, it was discovered that the Turkish soldiers were desolating the country with fire and sword, and even butchering the women and children. Capt. Hamilton, of the Cambrian, communicated the circumstances to Adm. Codrington, in a letter dated Kitries, October 18. He says: "I have the honour of informing you that I arrived here yesterday morning, in company with the Russian frigate Constantine, the captain of which ship had placed himself under my orders. On entering the Gulf, we observed by clouds of fire and smoke that the work of devastation was still going on. The ships were anchored off the pass off Ancyro, and a joint letter from myself and the Russian captain was despatched to the Turkish commander. The Russian and English officers, the bearers of it, were not allowed to proceed to head-quarters, nor have we yet received any answer. In the afternoon, we, the two captains, went on shore to the Greek quarters, and were received with the greatest enthusiasm. The distress of the inhabitants driven from the plain is shocking! women and children dying every moment of absolute starvation, and hardly any having better food than boiled grass! I have promised to send a small quantity of bread to the caves in the mountains, where these unfortunate wretches have taken refuge. It is supposed that if Ibrahim remained in Greece, more than a third of its inhabitants will die of absolute starvation."

Under these circumstances the commanders of the allied forces signed an agreement on the 18th of October to enter and take a position in the port of Navarino, as a commodious means of "renewing to Ibrahim Pacha propositions, which, entering into the spirit of the treaty, were evidently to the advantage of the Porte itself." After the first part of this arrangement had been executed on the 20th by their anchoring close to the Turkish line of battle, the allied flags of truce were fired upon, and many British lives destroyed, in the very act of peaceable remonstrance with the Infidels. The necessary retaliation for this outrage brought on a general action, and the total destruction of a fleet which was armed with 1,800 pieces of ordinance.

The particulars of this brilliant victory are admirably detailed in the official despatches addressed to J. W. Croker, Esq., by Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, dated Navarino, October 21. They appeared in a _Gazette Extraordinary_ of the 10th of November, of which the following is a copy:

"H.M.'s Ship _Asia_,

"Port of Navarino, October 21.

"Sir,

"I have the honour of informing his Royal Highness the Lord High Admiral, that, my colleagues Count Heyden and the Chevalier de Rigny having agreed with me that we should come into this port, in order to induce Ibrahim Pacha to discontinue the brutal war of extermination which he has been carrying on since his return here from his failure in the Gulf of Patras, the combined squadrons passed the batteries, in order to take up their anchorage, at about two o'clock yesterday afternoon. The Turkish ships were moored in the form of a crescent, with springs on their cables, the larger ones presenting their broadsides towards the centre, the smaller ones in succession within them, filling up the intervals. The combined fleet was formed in the order of sailing in two columns, the British and French forming the weather or starboard line, and the Russian the lee line.

"The _Asia_ led in, followed by the _Genoa_ and _Albion_, and anchored close alongside a ship of the line bearing the flag of the Capitana Bey, another ship of the line, and a large double banked frigate, each thus having their proper opponent in the front line of the Turkish fleet. The four ships to windward, part of the Egyptian squadron, were allotted to the squadron of Rear-Adm. de Rigny; and those to leeward, in the bight of the crescent, were to mark the stations of the whole Russian squadron; the ships of their line closing those of the English line, and being followed up by their own frigates. The French frigate _Armide_ was directed to place herself alongside the outermost frigate, on the left hand entering the harbour; and the _Cambrian_, _Glasgow_, and _Talbot_ next to her, and abreast of the _Asia_, _Genoa_, and _Albion_; the _Dartmouth_ and the _Musquito_, the _Rose_, the _Brisk_, and the _Philomel_ were to look after six fire vessels at the entrance of the harbour. I gave orders that no gun should be fired, unless guns were first fired by the Turks; and those orders were strictly observed. The three English ships were accordingly permitted to pass the batteries and to moor, as they did with great rapidity, without any act of open hostility, although there was evident preparation for it in all the Turkish ships; but upon the _Dartmouth_ sending a boat to one of the fire vessels, Lieut. G. W. H. Fitzroy, and several of her crew, were shot with musketry. This produced a defensive fire of musketry from the _Dartmouth_, and _La Syrene_, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral de Rigny; that was succeeded by cannon-shot at the Rear-Admiral from one of the Egyptian ships, which, of course, brought on a return, and thus very shortly afterwards the battle became general. The _Asia_, although placed alongside the ship of the Capitana Bey, was even nearer to that of Moharem Bey, the commander of the Egyptian ships; and since his ships did not fire at the _Asia_, although the action was begun to windward, neither did the _Asia_ fire at her. The latter, indeed, sent a message, "that he would not fire at all," and therefore no hostility took place betwixt our two ships for some time after the _Asia_ had returned the fire of the Capitana Bey.

"In the meantime, however, our excellent pilot, Mr. Peter Mitchell, who went to interpret to Moharem my desire to avoid bloodshed, was killed by his people in our boat alongside.

"Whether with or without his orders I know not; but his ship soon afterwards fired into the _Asia_, and was consequently effectually destroyed by the _Asia's_ fire, sharing the same fate as his brother Admiral on the starboard side, and falling to leeward a mere wreck. These ships being out of the way, the _Asia_ became exposed to a raking fire from vessels in the second and third line, which carried away her mizen-mast by the board, disabled some of her guns, and killed and wounded several of her crew. This narration of the proceedings of the _Asia_ would probably be equally applicable to most of the other ships of the fleet. The manner in which the _Genoa_ and _Albion_ took their stations was beautiful; and the conduct of my brother Admirals, Count Heyden and the Chevalier de Rigny, throughout was admirable and highly exemplary.

"Captain Fellowes executed the part allotted to him perfectly, and with the able assistance of his little but brave detachment, saved the _Syrene_ from being burnt by the fire vessels. And the _Cambrian_, _Glasgow_ and _Talbot_, following the fine example of Capitaine Hugon, of the _Armide_, who was opposed to the leading frigate of that line, effectually destroyed their opponents, and also silenced the batteries. This bloody and destructive battle was continued with unabated fury for four hours, and the scene of wreck and devastation which presented itself at its termination was such as has seldom been witnessed. As each ship of our opponents became effectually disabled, such of her crew as could escape from her endeavoured to set her on fire; and it is wonderful how we avoided the effects of their successive and awful explosions.

"I contemplate, as I do with extreme sorrow, the extent of our loss, I console myself with the reflection that the measure which produced the battle was absolutely necessary for obtaining the results contemplated by the treaty, and that it was brought on entirely by our opponents.

"When I found the boasted Ottoman's word of honour made a sacrifice to wanton savage devastation, and that a base advantage was taken of our reliance upon Ibrahim's good faith, I own I felt a desire to punish the offenders. But it was my duty to refrain, and refrain I did; and I can assure his Royal Highness, that I would still have avoided this disastrous extremity if other means had been open to me.

"Total killed, 75; total wounded, 197.

"_Killed and wounded on board the French ships_: Killed, 43; 79 severely wounded; 65 wounded.

"Accounts have been received from Constantinople of a date subsequent to the arrival of the above news at that city. The Divan appeared to be in a state of consternation; and the Ambassadors of the three allied powers were urgently pressing the subject of their intended negociations. The haughty tone of the Porte seems to be in some measure subdued; and, contrary to general expectation, there has been no popular commotion excited against the resident Christians."

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION (1828).

=Source.=--_Memoirs of Sir Robert Peel_, by Stanhope and Cardwell. London, 1856. Pt. I. p. 35.

_Extracts from Lord Anglesey's Letter to Lord Francis Leveson Gower._

"I will give you my opinion upon the state of things and upon the great question.

"I begin by premising that I hold in abhorrence the Association, the agitators, the priests, and their religion; and I believe that not many, _but that some_ of the Bishops, are mild, moderate and anxious to come to a fair and liberal compromise for the adjustment of the points at issue. I think that these latter have very little, if any, influence with the lower clergy and the population.

"Such is the extraordinary power of the Association, or rather of the agitators, of whom there are many of high ability, of ardent mind, of great daring (and, if there was no Association, these men are now too well known not to maintain their power under the existing order of exclusion), that I am quite certain they could lead on the people to open rebellion at a moment's notice; and their organization is such, that, in the hands of desperate and intelligent leaders, they would be extremely formidable. The hope, and indeed the probability of present tranquillity, rests upon the forbearance and the not very determined courage of O'Connell, and on his belief, as well as that of the principal men amongst them, that they will carry their cause by unceasing agitation, and by intimidation, without coming to blows. I believe their success inevitable--that no power under heaven can arrest its progress. There may be rebellion, you may put to death thousands, you may suppress it, but it will only be to put off the day of compromise; and in the meantime the country is still more impoverished, and the minds of the people are, if possible, still more alienated, and ruinous expense is entailed upon the empire.

"But supposing that the whole evil was concentrated in the Association, and that if that was suppressed all would go smoothly; where is the man who can tell me how to suppress it? Many, many cry out that the nuisance must be abated; that the Government is supine; that the insolence of the demagogues is intolerable; but I have not yet found one person capable of pointing out a remedy. All are mute when you ask them to define their proposition. All that even the most determined opposers to emancipation say is that it is better to leave things as they are than to risk any change. But will things remain as they are? Certainly not. They are bad; they must get worse; and I see no possible means of improving them but by depriving the demagogues of the power of directing the people; and by taking Messrs. O'Connell, Sheil, and the rest of them from the Association, and placing them in the House of Commons, this desirable object would be at once accomplished.

"July 3rd. The present order of things must not, cannot last. There are three modes of proceeding:

"1st. That of trying to go on as we have done.

"2nd. To adjust the question by concession, and such guards as may be deemed indispensable.

"3rd. To put down the Association, and to crush the power of the priests.

"The first I hold to be impossible.

"The second is practicable and advisable.

"The third is only possible by supposing that you can reconstruct the House of Commons; and to suppose that is to suppose that you can totally alter the feelings of those who send them there.

"I believe nothing short of the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and Martial Law will effect the third proposition. This would effect it during their operation, and perhaps for a short time after they had ceased, and then every evil would return with accumulated weight.

"But no House of Commons would consent to these measures until there is open rebellion, and therefore until that occurs it is useless to think of them. The second mode of proceeding is then, I conceive, the only practicable one, but the present is not a propitious time to effect even this.

"I abhor the idea of truckling to the overbearing Catholic demagogues. To make any movement towards conciliation under the present excitement and system of terror would revolt me; but I do most conscientiously, and after the most earnest consideration of the subject, give it as my conviction that the first moment of composure and tranquillity should be seized to signify the intention of adjusting the question, lest another period of calm should not present itself."

IRISH UNREST (1828).

=Source.=--_Memoirs of Sir Robert Peel_, by Stanhope and Cardwell. London, 1856. Pt. I. p. 35.

_Irish Police Reports, January and February, 1828._

_Sligo._--Generally quiet; 1 murder; 7 outrages.

_Mayo._--Perfectly quiet; 1 murder; 1 outrage.

_Roscommon._--Rockites rather busy; apprehensive of their
extending their operations; 2 murders; 11 outrages.

_Clare._--Quiet; apprehensive of Ribbon spirit extending; 9
outrages.

_Leitrim._--Much disturbed; the sway of the Rockites
formidable; magistrates supposed to be deficient in energy; 36
outrages.

_Galway._--Perfectly quiet; 1 murder; 6 outrages.

_Antrim._--Disturbed; robberies of fire-arms; not
insurrectionary; 3 murders; 7 outrages.

_Armagh._--Quiet; 1 outrage.

_Cavan._--Strong political feeling ready to develop itself; 9
outrages.

_Donegal._--Not tranquil; 2 murders; 4 outrages.

_Down._--Quiet; 2 outrages.

_Fermanagh._--Tranquil; 6 outrages.

_Londonderry._--Generally quiet; 1 murder; 4 outrages.

_Monaghan._--Disturbed; party violence runs high; 1 murder; 6
outrages.

_Ulster_ may be considered tolerably tranquil, with the
exception of some baronies in the counties of Donegal and
Monaghan.

_Tipperary._--Whiteboy system prevails very generally; no
organized insurrectionary system founded upon political
feeling; 4 murders; 75 outrages.

_Cork._--Generally quiet; 1 murder; 4 outrages.

_Waterford._--Quiet; 3 outrages.

_Kerry._--Quiet; 3 outrages.

_Roscrea._--Dissatisfied spirit excited by inflammatory
speeches.

_Limerick._--Satisfactory state; 9 outrages.

_Wicklow._--Western division disturbed; considered necessary
to increase the constabulary force by ordering three men
to Dunlavin, and three more to another disturbed point;
Talbotstown the most disturbed; 3 outrages.

_Kildare._--Nothing to notice.

CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION (1829).

=Source.=--_Annual Register for 1829_, p. 94.

_Duke of Wellington's Speech._

[The attitude of the Ministry was set forth in a brief speech by the Duke of Wellington at the close of the debate. While there is little in the utterance beyond a personal explanation of the secrecy maintained, it is inserted as being the final word on the great question which had for so many years troubled the heart of England.]

The debate was closed by a brief reply from the Duke of Wellington. The apprehended danger to the Irish Church from the admission of a few Catholics into Parliament, he treated as futile, considering that the throne would be filled by a Protestant. Moreover, a fundamental article of the Union between the two countries was the union of the two Churches; and it was impossible that any mischief could happen to the Irish branch of this united Church, without destroying the union of the two countries. "A different topic," said his grace, "to which I wish to advert is a charge brought against several of my colleagues, and also against myself, by the noble earl on the cross-bench, of a want of consistency in our conduct. My lords, I admit that many of my colleagues, as well as myself, did on former occasions vote against a measure of a similar description with this; and, my lords, I must say, that my colleagues and myself felt, when we adopted this measure, that we should be sacrificing ourselves and our popularity to that which we felt to be our duty to our sovereign and our country. We knew very well, that if we put ourselves at the head of the Protestant cry of 'No Popery,' we should be much more popular even than those who had excited against us that very cry. But we felt that in so doing we should have left on the interests of the country a burthen which must end in bearing them down, and further that we should have deserved the hate and execration of our countrymen. Then I am accused, and by a noble and learned friend of mine, of having acted with great secrecy respecting this measure. Now I beg to tell him, that he has done that to me in the course of this discussion which he complains of others having done to him--in other words, he has, in the language of a right hon. friend of his and mine, thrown a large paving-stone, instead of throwing a small pebble. I say, that if he accuses me of acting with secrecy on this question, he does not deal with me altogether fairly. He knows as well as I do how the Cabinet was constructed on this question; and I ask him, had I any right to say a single word to any man whatsoever upon this measure, until the person most interested in the kingdom upon it had given his consent to my speaking out? Before he accused me of secrecy, and of improper secrecy too, he ought to have known the precise day upon which I received the permission of the highest personage in the country, and had leave to open my mouth upon this measure. There is another point also on which a noble earl accused me of misconduct; and that is, that I did not at once dissolve the Parliament. Now I must say that I think noble lords are mistaken in the notion of the benefits which they think that they would derive from a dissolution of Parliament at this crisis. I believe that many of them are not aware of the consequences and of the inconveniences of a dissolution of Parliament at any time. But when I know, as I did know, and as I do know, the state of the elective franchise in Ireland--when I recollected the number of men it took to watch one election which took place in Ireland in the course of last summer--when I knew the consequences which a dissolution would produce on the return to the House of Commons, to say nothing of the risks which must have been incurred at each election--of collisions that might have lead to something little short of a civil war--I say, that, knowing all these things, I should have been wanting in duty to my sovereign and to my country, if I had advised his Majesty to dissolve his Parliament."

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S SUPPOSED DESIGNS ON THE CROWN (1830).

=Source.=--_The Life of the Duke of Wellington_, by J. R. Gleig.

_Letter from Col. Fairman to the Editor of the "Morning Herald," April 6, 1830._

"Dear Sir,

"From those who may be supposed to have opportunities of knowing 'the secrets of the castle,' the King is stated to be by no manner in so alarming a state as many folks would have it imagined. His Majesty is likewise said to dictate the bulletins of his own state of health. Some whisperings have also gone abroad, that in the event of a demise of the crown, a regency would probably be established, for reasons which occasioned the removal of the next in the succession from the office of high-admiral. That a maritime government might not prove consonant to the views of a military chieftain of the most unbounded ambition, may admit of easy belief; and as the second heir-presumptive is not alone a female, but a minor, in addition to the argument which might be applied to the present, that in the ordinary course of nature it was not to be expected that his reign could be of long duration, in these disjointed times it is by no means unlikely a vicarious form of government may be attempted. The effort would be a bold one, but after the measures we have seen, what new violations should surprise us? Besides, the popular plea of economy and expedience might be urged as the pretext, while aggrandisement and usurpation might be the latent sole motive. It would only be necessary to make out a plausible case, which, from the facts on record, there could be no difficulty in doing, to the satisfaction of a pliable and obsequious set of ministers, as also to the success of such an experiment.

"Most truly yours,

"W. B. F."

NOTE.--_Colonel Fairman was an Orangeman. After the Emancipation Bill became law, the Orangemen gave vent to their wrath upon the Duke of Wellington._

HEAVY TAXATION OF THE WORKING CLASSES (1830).

=Source.=--William Cobbett's _Rural Rides_, ed. by Mr. Pitt Cobbett, 1885.

"Leicester, 26th April, 1830.

"At the famous city of Lincoln, I had crowded audiences, principally consisting of farmers, on the 21st and 22nd; exceedingly well-behaved audiences, and great impression produced. One of the evenings, in pointing out to them the wisdom of explaining to their labourers the cause of their distress, in order to ward off the effects of the resentment which labourers now feel everywhere against the farmers, I related to them what my labourers at Barn-Elm had been doing since I left home; and I repeated to them the complaints that my labourers made, stating to them, from memory, the following parts of that spirited petition:

"That your petitioners have recently observed that many great sums of money, part of which we pay, have been voted to be given to persons who render no services to the country; some of which sums we will mention here; that the sum of £94,000 has been voted to disbanded _foreign_ officers, their _widows_ and _children_; that your petitioners know that ever since the peace this charge has been annually made; that it has been on the average, £110,000 a year, and that, of course, this band of foreigners have actually taken away out of England, since the peace, one million and seven thousand pounds; partly taken from the fruit of our labour; and if our dinners were actually taken from our table and carried over to Hanover, the process could not be more visible to our eyes than it now is; and we are astonished that those who fear that we, who make the land bring forth crops, and who make the clothing and the houses, shall swallow up the rental, appear to think nothing at all of the swallowings of these Hanoverian men, women, and children, who may continue thus to swallow for half a century to come.

* * * * *

"That your petitioners know that more than one half of their wages is taken from them by the taxes; that these taxes go chiefly into the hands of idlers; that your petitioners are the bees, and that the tax receivers are the drones; but that your petitioners hope to see the day when the checking of the increase of the drones, and not of the bees, will be the object of an English parliament.

"That, in consequence of taxes, your petitioners pay sixpence for a pot of worse beer than they could make for one penny; that they pay ten shillings for a pair of shoes that they could have for five shillings; that they pay sevenpence for a pound of soap or candles that they could have for threepence; that they pay sevenpence for a pound of sugar that they could have for threepence; that they pay six shillings for a pound of tea which they could have for two shillings; that they pay double for their bread and meat, of what they would have to pay if there were no idlers to be kept out of the taxes; that, therefore, it is the taxes that make their wages insufficient for their support, and that compel them to apply for aid to the poor-rates; that, knowing these things they feel indignant at hearing themselves described as _paupers_, while so many thousands of idlers, for whose support they pay taxes, are called _noble Lords_ and _Ladies_, _honourable Gentlemen_, _Masters_, and _Misses_; that they feel indignant at hearing themselves described as a nuisance to be got rid of, while the idlers who live upon their earnings are upheld, caressed, and cherished, as if they were the sole support of the country."

Having repeated to them these passages, I proceeded: "My workmen were induced thus to petition, in consequence of the information, which I, their master, had communicated to them; and, gentlemen, why should not your labourers petition in the same strain? Why should you suffer them to remain in a state of ignorance, relative to the cause of their misery? The eyes sweep over in this country more riches in one moment than are contained in the whole county in which I was born, and in which the petitioners live. Between Holbeach and Boston, even at a public house, neither bread nor meat was to be found; and while the landlord was telling me that the people were become so poor that the butchers killed no meat in the neighbourhood, I counted more than two thousand fat sheep lying about in the pastures in that richest spot in the whole world. Starvation in the midst of plenty; the land covered with food, and the working people without victuals: everything taken away by the tax-eaters of various descriptions: and yet you take no measures for redress; and your miserable labourers seem to be doomed to expire with hunger, without an effort to obtain relief. What! cannot you point out to them the real cause of their sufferings; cannot you take a piece of paper and write out a petition for them; cannot your labourers petition as well as mine, are God's blessings bestowed on you without any spirit to preserve them; is the fatness of the land, is the earth teeming with food for the body and raiment for the back, to be an apology for the waste of that courage for which your fathers were so famous; is the abundance which God has put into your hands to be the excuse for your resigning yourselves to starvation? My God! is there no spirit left in England except in the miserable sandhills of Surrey?"

RAILWAY CARRIAGES (1830).

=Source.=--_The Gentleman's Magazine_, Vol. 100, p. 552.

_Railway Carriages--June 14._

The directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway made their first public exhibition upon the line, and the experiment proved most successful. The Arrow steam engine drew a carriage with twelve inside passengers, another with thirty outside, and seven carriages loaded with thirty-four tons of rough stone. The journey from Liverpool to Manchester (rather more than thirty miles) was performed in two hours 23½ minutes, including stoppages for water, which occupied 13½ minutes. They left Manchester again for Liverpool about half-past four o'clock, at the rate of about 25 miles the hour, drawing two very large carriages with upwards of fifty passengers, and performed the whole distance in one hour 46½ minutes, including 12 minutes watering and to set down a passenger.