Chapter XLIII: {william IV. 1832–1833} (2)

Another monopoly with which the government had to deed was that of the East India Company, their charter approaching its termination. The arrangements which government proposed should be adopted with the company were explained in a committee of the whole house by Mr. C. Grant, on the 13th of June. He stated first that the political government of India was to be continued in the hands of the company for some time longer; the reasons for it being the good which that government had done. That there were evils in the system of administration in India he would admit; but he argued, that they were more than counterbalanced by the security of life and property, which had been secured to the natives by the rule of the company. The next great question was, he said, the company’s monopoly of the trade with China. Public opinion had decided that it should no longer exist; and it was only justice to the expression of the public opinion in this case to state that it was not the clamour of the moment—that it was the voice of an enlightened community formed during a succession of years. After detailing various facts, to show that from the competition of private traders the monopoly of the company could not long continue, even if parliament did not interfere, Mr. Grant said that government proposed the monopoly should cease in April, 1834, and that the trade to China should then be open to all the merchants of this country. In consideration of the East India Company surrendering all its rights and privileges, Mr. Grant said it was proposed that the government of India should be continued in the hands of the company for the period of twenty years, and that an annuity of £630,000 per annum should be granted to them, to be charged on the territory of India. At the end of twenty years, he said, if the East India Company should be deprived of the government of India, then the payment of their capital might be demanded; and if not, the payment of the annuity was to be continued for forty years. He explained further, that certain alterations were likewise to be introduced in the frame of the government of India; and he said that he should further have to call the attention of the house to the state of the ecclesiastical establishments in that country. He concluded by moving the following resolutions:—“That it is expedient that all his majesty’s subjects should be at liberty to repair to the ports of the empire of China, and to trade in tea and in all other productions in the said empire, subject to such regulations as parliament shall enact for the protection of the commercial and political interests of this country: That it is expedient that, in case the East India Company shall transfer to the crown, on behalf of the Indian territory, all assets and claims of every description belonging to the said company, the crown on behalf of the Indian territory, shall take on itself all the obligations of the said company, of whatever description; and that the said company shall receive from the revenues of the said territory such a sum, and paid in such a manner as parliament shall enact: That it is expedient that the governments of the British possessions in India be entrusted to the said company, under such conditions and regulations as parliament shall enact, for the purpose of extending the commerce of this country, and of securing the good government, and promoting the moral and religious improvement of the people of India.” These resolutions were agreed to without any opposition; and on the 5th of July they passed the lords without a division, although they were sternly opposed by Lord Ellenborough, who denounced the whole scheme as being a crude and ill-digested plan, the offspring of unfounded theories, formed by men who knew nothing, and desired to know nothing of India. A bill was subsequently brought into the house of commons founded on the resolutions, and, after some unsuccessful motions of amendment, was carried. In the upper house Lord Ellenborough renewed his opposition, and moved, “That all provisions in the bill, which went to alter the existing laws in the East Indian presidencies, should be omitted.” This amendment, however, was not pressed to a division; and the bill was finally passed. One of the greatest advantages which the public gained by this important measure, was that which opened a rich field for the enterprise and industry of our merchants by destroying the monopoly of the trade in tea. Facilities for conducting this branch of commerce, together with a considerable relief from taxation on the article of tea, was given try a subsequent bill for regulating its importation. It must be confessed, indeed, that the adoption of this measure by parliament was highly beneficial to the interests of the community at large. By it the long and complicated account between commerce and territory was settled; the pernicious union of imperial and economical functions in the body of proprietors of East India stock was at an end; every office under the company was thrown open to British subjects without distinction, and the whole of India was opened to European enterprise and European capital. A grand feature of the bill, also, was that which provided for extending the influence and utility of the Anglo-Indian church.

ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES.

{WILLIAM IV. 1832–1833}

At the commencement of this session, the minds of reflecting persons were fixed with intense anxiety on the subject of West India slavery. The excitement attending the reform act, indeed, had not been neglected by the friends of emancipation. Meetings were held and petitions got up: and government found themselves under the necessity of framing a measure for the gradual abolition of the trade in the bones and the sinews of man. The subject was brought before the commons by Mr. Stanley on the 14th of May, when he explained the ministerial scheme in a committee of the whole house. Government, he said, impelled by the force of public opinion, resolved to propose a plan which would insure the extinction of slavery, and manumit not only future generations, but likewise the existing generation, providing at the same time against the dangers of a sudden transition. It was proposed, he said, to place the slave for a limited time in an intermediate state of apprenticeship. He was to enter into a contract, by which his master would be bound to give him food and clothing, or in lieu thereof a pecuniary allowance; for which consideration he, on his part, was to give his master three-fourths of his time in labour, leaving it to be settled between them whether that should be for three-fourths of the week or of each day. The remaining fourth of his time, Mr. Stanley said, the slave would be at liberty to transfer his labour elsewhere; but if he were inclined to give it to his master, then his master would be obliged to find him employment according to a fixed rate of wages. It was a difficult point, he said, to settle the scale of wages; and he could devise no better mode than that of compelling the planter to fix a price on the labourer at the time of his apprenticeship, and by enacting that the wages to be paid by the master should bear such a proportion to the price fixed by him, that for the whole of his spare time he should receive one-twelfth of his price annually. In this manner, he said, the slave and his master would both act in reference to each other: if the master fixed a high price on his negro, he would have to pay him proportionate wages; and if a low price, then upon the payment of that price by any other person on his behalf, the negro would be free. This measure, he continued, must necessarily occasion loss to many of the West Indian proprietors; and, as it was not fitting that they alone should lose by the destruction of this species of property, the legality of which had at least been recognised by parliament, ministers proposed to advance to the West Indian body a loan to the amount of ten years’ purchase of their annual profits on sugars, rum, and coffee, which would amount to £15,000,000. It was for parliament to say in what manner, and upon what condition, that loan should be repaid to the country; it might be considered equal to one-fourth of the proceeds of the slaves’ labour; and with that sum and the other three-fourths of his labour, the planter, at the end of twelve years, would have received a just compensation for the price of his slave, and for all the expense to which the slave might have put him for food and clothing. It was right, however, to state that during that time the planter would have to pay interest for his loan, and to that amount, perhaps, he might be the loser. In conclusion, Mr. Stanley said, he would call upon the house to aid the local legislatures in the West Indies in establishing schools for the religious and moral education of the slave population. He moved the following resolutions:—“That it is the opinion of this committee that immediate and effectual measures be taken for the entire abolition of slavery throughout the colonies, under such provisions for regulating the condition of the negroes as may combine their welfare with the interest of the proprietors: That it is expedient that all children born after the passing of any act, or who shall be under the age of six years at the time of passing any act of parliament for this purpose, be declared free, subject, nevertheless, to such temporary restrictions as may be deemed necessary for their support and maintenance: That all persons now slaves be entitled to be registered as apprenticed labourers, and to acquire thereby all the rights and privileges of free men subject to the restriction of labouring under conditions, and for a time to be fixed by parliament, for their present owners: That, to provide against the risk of loss which proprietors in his majesty’s colonial possessions might sustain by the abolition of slavery, his majesty be enabled to advance by way of loan, to be raised from time to time, a sum not exceeding in the whole £15,000,000, to be paid in such manner, and at such rate of interest, as shall be prescribed by parliament: That his majesty be enabled to defray any such expense as he may incur in establishing an efficient stipendiary magistracy in the colonies, and in aiding the local legislatures in providing for the religious and moral education of the negro population to be emancipated.” The consideration of these resolutions was adjourned to the 30th of May. On that day the first resolution, after considerable debate on the character of the planters, and on the subject of the compensation to be given to them, was agreed to without a division. Sir Robert Peel said that he would have preferred a declaratory resolution, it appearing to him that the co-operation of the colonial legislative was indispensable to tire success of the measure. He doubted the policy of using the words “immediate and effectual measures shall be taken for the entire abolition of slavery throughout the colonies;” they were calculated to raise expectations unwarranted by the measure; it was a great evil in establishing a preliminary resolution. The first impression of any man upon reading this resolution, and especially the first impression of an illiterate and ignorant man would be this:—“You never meant to subject me to coerced labour for twelve years.” The second resolution also passed without a division; but the third, which involved the principle of the compulsory apprenticeship, was met with a direct negative by Mr. Fowell Buxton, on the ground that it was unnecessary and impracticable. It was founded on this assertion—that emancipated negroes would not work, or, at least, would not work more than was necessary to supply the mere wants of life. This opinion he showed by facts was ill-grounded; and he proved to demonstration that the negroes, if free, would work more cheerfully than while enslaved. He moved that the resolution be rejected. He was supported by Mr. Halcomb and Buford Howick, the latter of whom said that it was not necessary as a groundwork for future proceedings; and that, on the other hand, if the house agreed to it, they would pledge themselves to a system of apprenticeship of which they did not yet know the full effect. This was dealing rather hardly by the house; government should avoid calling upon the house, at this stage of the proceeding, distinctly to pledge themselves to do that of which they had not yet heard a satisfactory account. It was easy to talk of apprenticing negroes; but the plan was neither more nor less than a subversion of the existing relations of society in the colonies, and organising an untried system, the adoption of which must be attended with difficulties. His objection to the provision was, that the labour of the negro was, for the greater part of his time, to be obtained by direct compulsion; his opinion was that the negroes would be in a worse condition at the termination of the experiment than they were at the present moment. Ministers replied that the question was not, as it had been represented, merely one of gradual or immediate abolition; no matter what might be the period of apprenticeship, whether ten or twelve years, from the moment the bill passed, slavery in the British colonies, in its offensive and essential features, was for ever annihilated. The bill recognised the rights of property; it conferred freedom from corporal punishment; it respected the domestic ties of the negro in their tenderest relations; and it ensured to him a considerable portion of the fruits of his own labour: with these great enactments surely it was not too much to say that slavery, in its obnoxious features, could not be said to exist. Mr. Buxton, having been assured that the resolution did not bind the house to any particular period of compulsory labour, withdrew his motion to reject it, and proposed to insert words declaring that the labour was to be for wages. He withdrew this likewise; but Mr. O’Connell insisted on dividing the house on the original resolution, when it was carried by three hundred and twenty-four to forty-two. The fourth resolution, respecting the compensation to planters, was attended with still greater difficulty. The original proposal was a loan of £15,000,000, for which they were to pay interest; but ministers found such stern opposition from the West India planters, that they were compelled to convert this loan into an absolute payment of £20,000,000. Mr. Stanley, after admitting the difficulty of ascertaining what the amount of compensation ought to be, moved that “Towards the compensation of the West India proprietors, his majesty be enabled to grant a sum not exceeding £20,000,000, to be appropriated as parliament may hereafter think fit.” This proposition called forth much opposition and many amendments; but it was finally earned by a majority of two hundred and ninety-six against seventy-seven. The fifth and last resolution was carried by a majority of two hundred and ninety-six against seventy-seven; and the whole were then sent to the peers, who agreed to them on the 25th of June. On the motion for going into committee on the bill brought in pursuant to the resolutions, Mr. Buxton again discussed the question of compulsory apprenticeships. He moved, that it be an instruction to the committee that they shall not, for the sake of the pecuniary interests of the masters, impose any restraint or obligation on the negro which shall not be necessary for his own welfare, and for the general peace and order of society; and that they shall limit the duration of any temporary restrictions which may be imposed upon the freedom of the negroes, to the shortest period which may be necessary to establish, on just principles, the system of free labour for adequate wages. He was supported by Lord Howick and Mr. Macaulay, who before had opposed him on the same question, but who now declared that he had an insurmountable objection to the transition state, which was to be interposed between the cessation of slavery and complete freedom. If it could be proved, he said, that any restraint was proposed, the effect of which was to improve the morals of the negro, to promote his habits of industry, and to enable him better to discharge the duties of a freeman and citizen, he would give his assent to such a restraint; but he thought that the restraint was not laid upon the negro, as it ought to be, with the sole view of improving his character: one of the objects was, not his own advantage, but as a compensation to the planter. In reply, Mr. Stanley said that the compensation was of two sorts: one was a sum to be paid down now for the remission of one-fourth of the labour of the slave, and the whole would be paid by the end of twelve years, when the negro would be completely free. The sum to be paid to the colonies was taken with reference to the estimated value of the slave, and to the interest of money: taking that value at £30,000,000 for 800,000 slaves, would give £37 10s. for each. It was not extravagant to say that such a sum was about the average value of a slave. He went on to say that one-fourth of the labour of the negro was to be taken from the master, and placed at the disposal of the negro himself; but for the remaining three-fourths he was to be maintained by the master. Now the maintenance, taken at a moderate average, was calculated at fifty shillings each; this for 800,000 negroes would be £2,000,000 per annum, and the one-fourth of this would be £500,000; and this at the end of twelve years would make a great difference in the sum to be paid to the master. Calculations would show that if the value of £30,000,000, or £37 10s. each were taken, and the interest of money calculated at six per cent., the sum to be paid to the master would be £27,000,000; but if the value of the slaves were taken at £24,000,000, and the interest of money at six per cent., £15,000,000 would be the sum to be paid to him. Besides this, the allowance for the advances for the support of the slave would, at ten per cent., amount to £3,406,000; at eight per cent., to £3,786,000; and at six per cent, to £4,900,000. This would show that the apprenticeship materially came into the account, in estimating the compensation to the master for his loss; and the compensation would not be made in a state of slavery, but in a state of comparative freedom. Mr. Stanley said that if the West India proprietors were asked what they thought of the plan of apprenticeship, they would say that they could not go on without it; and that without the application of such a principle in the bill, the colonies would go to ruin, and the proprietors be reduced to beggary. In fact, he said, if Mr. Buxton’s motion should be carried, he must be prepared to see the whole frame of civilization in the colonies destroyed, and a state of things brought about which, however they might in time settle down into some improvement, must at least begin in barbarism. On a division, Mr. Buxton’s amendment was lost by a majority of only seven, one hundred and fifty-one having voted for it, and one hundred and fifty-eight against it. The result of this division convinced government that they must make some concession on this point; and on the following day Mr. Stanley resolved to reduce the period of prodial apprenticeship from twelve years to seven, and of non-prodial from seven to five years. This was adopted, and clauses were added, empowering the commissioners for the management of the national debt to raise the money by a loan, specifying the manner in which the operation was to be conducted after which the bill passed. In the upper-house some amendments were added to the bill, which did not affect its substance, and these were finally agreed to by the commons. Thus the dark spot of slavery was wiped out of the British annals; we had no slaves at home, and now it was nobly resolved that we should have none abroad—that wherever Britain’s power was felt, mankind should feel her mercy also.

FACTORY BILL.

During the former session, Mr. Sadleir had introduced a bill for shortening and regulating the employment of children of certain ages in cotton and other factories, and protecting them against maltreatment, to which it was alleged they had long been exposed. Evidence had been taken regarding the subject matter of the bill before a committee of the house of commons, and in this session a similar measure to that of Mr. Sadleir’s was introduced by Lord Ashley. The bill was opposed by the great body of the manufacturing capitalists, many of whom had been sent into the house by the reform act, and who possessed powerful interest out of it. Mr. Patten moved an address to the king to name a royal commission, for the purpose of collecting evidence anew, founding his motion on the ground that the evidence taken before the committee was partial, defective, and untrue. Lord Ashley, and others, contended that this motion was not only uncalled for, but would be detrimental: fresh inquiry was needless, inasmuch as the house was in a condition to legislate on the subject, not only in consequence of the information obtained from the committee of last year, but also of that furnished by the other house of parliament. Mr. Patten’s motion was negatived, and the bill was read a second time; and then ministers, alarmed at the probable success of a measure which, as it stood, would seriously interfere with the manufacturers of the country, arrayed themselves more openly against it. Lord Althorp opposed the motion for going into committee, and moved, “That the bill be referred to a select committee, with this instruction—that the committee should make provision in said bill, that no children who had not entered into their fourteenth year should be allowed to work for more than eight hours a-day; and that in the intervals of their labour, care should be taken for their education, and that inspection of the mills should take place, in order to secure the operation of the above provisions.” This motion was rejected, and Lord Ashley’s bill was carried into committee, by one hundred and sixty-four to one hundred and forty-one. Government, however, did not give up its opposition. The bill had adopted ten hours as the maximum of labour daily, which extended to all persons under eighteen years of age; and when the second clause, which involved the principle, was moved in committee, Lord Althorp opposed it. He proposed as an amendment, that instead of the word “eighteen,” the word “thirteen” should be inserted; expressing, at the same time, his intention of following that up by substituting “eight” instead of “ten”. The amendment was carried by a large majority, and Lord Ashley abandoned the bill to the chancellor of the exchequer, in whose hands its enactments were considerably mitigated. As altered, the bill provided that the labour of children in factories under thirteen years of age should be limited to eight instead of ten hours a-day; that the provisions of Sir J. Hobhouse’s bill should be extended to other mills besides cotton mills; and that persons under eighteen years of age should not be required to work more than sixty hours in the week. It also provided that it should be illegal to employ any children under nine years of age; that inspectors should be appointed to see that the provisions of the bill are duly enforced; and contained provisions for introducing a general system of education amongst the children in all the manufacturing districts. In the committee Mr. Wood proposed an amendment, to the effect, that at the expiration of six months after the passing of the act, no child under eleven years of age should be permitted to work more than eight hours a-day; that no child under the age of twelve years should be permitted, after the expiration of eighteen months from the passing of the bill, to work for more than eight hours a-day; and that after the expiration of two years from the passing of the bill, no child under the age of thirteen years should be permitted to work more than eight hours a-day. This amendment was opposed by Lord Althorp, on the ground that it would postpone the operation of the measure, but it was carried against him and it formed a part of the measure.

THE CORN LAWS.

The people had long been taught to consider the corn laws as unjust monopolies, which enriched the landowner, by depriving the poor of “cheap bread,” and they firmly expected that reforming ministers and a reformed parliament would forthwith abolish them. Ministers, however, were not inclined to take up the question, and parliament was not yet prepared to respond to the general demand. On the 17th of May, Mr. Whitmore moved the following resolutions:—“That the present system of corn laws, founded on a high and ever-varying scale of duties, while it fails of conferring permanent benefit on the agricultural interest, tends to cramp the trade, and impair the general prosperity of this country; that an alteration of these laws, substituting in their stead a moderate duty, fixed at all periods except those of extreme dearth, while it indemnified the agriculturists for the peculiar burthens which press upon them, would, by restoring the commercial relations between this kingdom and foreign countries, increase the manufactures, and render more equal the price of the produce of the country.” Lord Althorp objected to the resolutions principally on account of the time at which they were brought forward, considering the many important questions which yet remained for the consideration of parliament; he therefore moved the previous question, which was carried by three hundred and five against two hundred and six. A few days previously certain resolutions relative to the same question were negatived in the house of lords without a division; and in the commons, on the 18th of June, a motion for leave to bring in a bill to alter the corn laws was rejected. The corn laws, therefore, were yet retained in the British code.

RESOLUTIONS AGAINST BRIBERY, ETC.

The result of the elections showed that the first reformed parliament had no small quantity of bribery to deal with. The prevention of this evil, therefore, was an object which a reformed house of commons was especially bound to secure. On the 6th of February, Lord John Russell moved the same resolutions which had been adopted by the preceding house, and which diminished obstacles that stood in the way of effectually questioning a corrupt election. According to the resolutions which had hitherto been adopted as the standing orders of the house on this subject, the return of a member could be questioned only within fourteen days after the assembling of parliament, or after his return, if the house were then sitting; and it was the practice of persons who made use of bribery to secure their elections, not to make any payments till that period was passed, in order to avoid the penalties attached to such conduct. In the hope of checking this evil, Lord John Russell moved, “That all persons who question any future return of members to serve in parliament upon any allegation of bribery or corruption, and who shall in their petition specifically allege any payment of money or other reward to have been made by any member, or on his account, or with his privity, since the time of such return, in pursuance of, or in furtherance of, such bribery and corruption, may question the same at any time within twenty-eight days from the time of such payment; or if this house be not sitting at the expiration of the said twenty-eight days, then within fourteen days after the day when the house shall next meet.” This resolution was agreed to, many members regretting that it did not go further, and maintaining that a bribery-oath should be administered to the members as well as to the electors. Subsequently petitions were received from Liverpool, Warwick, Stafford, Hertford, Londonderry, Carrickfergus, and Newry; and in all these cases it was proved that gross bribery had been resorted to at the elections. Writs were suspended for Warwick, and bills were brought in for the disfranchisement of Stafford, Hertford, and Carrickfergus, while several individuals were ordered to be criminally prosecuted. As the session was drawing to a close, the bills were not persevered in before its termination. An attempt was made by Mr. Grote, one of the members for the city of London, to establish voting by ballot; that alone, in his estimation, being the only means of securing purity of election. This, however, was negatived, after a long and earnest discussion, by two hundred and eleven against one hundred and six. Another discussion relative to the constitution arose on a motion by Mr. Tennyson, for leave to bring in a bill to shorten the duration of parliaments. In support of his motion, Mr. Tennyson enforced the ordinary topics, that the septennial act had been passed to meet a temporary emergency; that it had originally been an exception from the rules of the constitution; that the consequence of it had been general corruption both among the electors and the representatives; and that it rendered the members too independent of their constituents, and in so far defeated the object of a representative government, and prevented the operation of the public opinion. There was a difference of opinion, he said, as to the number of years which ought to be fixed for the duration of parliaments, some being in favour of five, others of four, and others of three years. He thought they were bound to consult the general wishes of the people, and it appeared to him that they were in favour of triennial parliaments. At the same time, in the bill which he proposed to bring in, he intended to leave the term of future parliaments unfixed, so that it might form a subject of debate in committee. His bill contained two clauses, one to repeal the septennial act, and the other to determine the period of each parliament’s existence. The resistance of the proposition was left to ministers themselves, and Lord Althorp’s mode of getting rid of it was by moving the previous question. He was ready to acknowledge, he said, this was a question which he would support, if parliament were in the same situation as heretofore; but things were now changed, and he believed that the feelings and opinions of the people were fairly represented in that house. He did not think, therefore, that the same necessity existed for abridging the duration of parliaments, as before the passing of the reform bill. The motion was supported by Messrs. Cobbett, Kennedy, Shiel, and other members, and opposed by Lord John Eussell and Mr. Stanley. On a division, the previous question was carried by a majority of forty-nine, two hundred and thirteen having voted for it, and one hundred and sixty-four for the motion.

BILL TO REMOVE THE CIVIL DISABILITIES OF JEWS.—PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

At this period the Jews alone were the only class of the community whose religion affected their rights. Towards the close of the session Mr. Goulburn brought in a bill to remove their civil disabilities, and it passed the commons, but was thrown out on the second reading in the house of lords. The session was closed on the 29th of August by his majesty in person, who in his speech touched upon the various important measures that had this session occupied the attention of parliament. It may be mentioned that government had recently appointed a commission for inquiring into the state of corporations, and for digesting into one body the enactments of the criminal law, and inquiring how far, and by what means, a similar process might be extended to the other branches of our jurisprudence. It may also be mentioned that two important acts had been passed for giving constitutions upon sound principles to the royal and parliamentary burghs of Scotland, a change by which the whole system of self-election was entirely abolished. His majesty embraced all these topics in his speech. On the subject of Ireland his majesty expressed his regret that coercive measures had been necessary; but he had not found it desirable, except in a very limited degree, to use the powers confided to him, and he hoped that the time was not far distant when repressive laws might be no longer unavoidable.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

{WILLIAM IV. 1832–1833}

During this year a prospect of the close of the dreadful calamities which had so long weighed down the people of Portugal dawned upon them. At its commencement Oporto still continued to be the scene of operations; the regent occupying that city, and Don Miguel maintaining his positions and his battery on the left bank of the river and to the north of the city itself. The operations continued to consist of partial bombardments across the river, or engagements of detachments, occasionally varied by more regular attacks and sallies to destroy works already erected, or prevent new ones from being raised. There was not much blood shed, and the results of the operations made no decisive or permanent change in the relation of the armies to each other. At the beginning of March, indeed, a battle was fought, in which it was stated that the Miguelites lost fifteen thousand men, and their adversary only one hundred; but still it left matters where it found them—Oporto was still besieged. At length, however, a decisive blow was struck at the power of Don Miguel on the seas. While the operations on land were going forward, Don Pedro was involved in a dangerous quarrel with his admiral, Sartorius, which resulted in his giving up the command of the fleet, and with his being replaced by another British officer, Captain Napier. Under his command an expedition sailed to the Algarves, the most southern province of the kingdom, having on board two thousand five hundred men, commanded by the Duke of Terceira, for the purpose of invading that part of the country. The cities of Tavira, Faro, and Lagos were soon captured, and in the course of a week the whole province of Algarves was in possession of Don Pedro. But a still heavier blow awaited Don Miguel. Admiral Napier, having disembarked the troops and witnessed their success, set sail to return to the mouth of the Tagus to watch the squadron of Don Miguel, or bring it to battle. He fell in with it on the 2nd of July, off Cape St. Vincent, and a battle ensued, in which the squadron of Don Miguel was annihilated. He had now only the land to trust to, and there he was soon defeated. Having regained the province of Algarves, the Duke of Terceira marched towards Lisbon, and having reached the left bank of the Tagus he was encountered by an army said to have consisted of five thousand men, under the command of Talles Jordao. The battle was brief, and the victory complete: Jordao was routed, his army scattered, and he himself killed. The effect of the battle was to put Don Pedro’s troops in possession of Lisbon: they entered unmolested on the 24th of July, and Donna Maria was immediately proclaimed Queen of Portugal. As soon as Don Pedro received intelligence of what had taken place at Lisbon, he sailed from Oporto to assume the government. The war was now transferred to Lisbon; and a series of battles took place between the troops of Don Pedro and those of Miguel, and the year closed before the contest was decided. Donna Maria, however, ruled in Portugal, and a British minister again presented himself at the court of the rightful sovereign of the country. The English government at the same time strictly adhered to the neutrality which it had imposed on itself; but, taught by experience, it did not trust to assurances of the same line of conduct from other powers, and especially from the court of Madrid. It prepared itself, indeed, for all events, by sending a powerful squadron under Admiral Parker to the Tagus, with orders to take an active part for Don Pedro the moment a Spanish force should appear in Portugal to assist Don Miguel.

Early in this year Greece received her youthful monarch. Otho was welcomed by the various chiefs and populace with all due marks of respect and obedience; and awakening from the torpor of ages, Greece took her place among the civilized nations of Europe. The kingdom was divided into ten departments:—1. Argolis and Corinth; 2. Achaia and Elis; 3. Messene; 4. Arcadia; 5. Laconia; 6. Acarnania and Ætolia; 7. Locris and Phocis; 8. Attica and Beotia; 9. Eubcea; 10. the Cyclades. The local government of each department was assisted by a council; and at the head of each circle or district into which they were subdivided, was placed an eparch, with a distinct board. The first acts of the government were to disband the irregular troops, to organise a new and regular army, and to endeavour to provide something like an administration of justice. The disbanding of the irregular troops, however, did not contribute to the internal tranquillity of the country; on the contrary, it threw large numbers of savage men out of employment, and many of them formed themselves into bands for the purposes of plunder. One of these bands sacked the Turkish town of Arta, in Epirus slaughtering the inhabitants, and setting their houses on fire. The massacre lasted three days; after which the marauders, laden with booty, took refuge in the mountains.

While Turkey was thus shorn of one of her European provinces, she was doomed to see a rebellious, but victorious vassal make himself master of her Asiatic territories. Ibrahim Pacha, who had during the last year opened a way across Mount Taurus, lost no time in descending into the plains of Caramania. Here he fought a great battle with the Turkish troops, under the command of the grand vizier, Redschid Pacha, whom he utterly defeated and took prisoner. Constantinople was almost at his mercy; there was no obstacle between Ibrahim and the shores of the Bosphorus; and he seemed to be only waiting for the arrival of fresh troops, which were on their march through Syria to join him, to traverse Anatolia and assail the capital. The danger, however, was averted by the exertions of the British government, assisted by that of France. The Egyptian army retired from Asia Minor; and the Russians, whom the Sultan had called in for its defence, and from whom he was in no less danger than from the sword of Ibrahim, left Constantinople. By a treaty which was concluded between the Sultan and Mehemet Ali, the former gave up the whole of Syria, granting at the same time an amnesty to all its inhabitants for the conduct which they might have followed during the expedition of Ibrahim. The Pasha of Egypt became by this treaty more powerful than the master from whom he had revolted; his rule extended from the limits of Asia Minor to the mouth of the Nile. A treaty was subsequently concluded between the Porte and Russia, in which the preponderating power of the latter was fully established. Russia was to aid the sultan in repressing all disturbances, and the sultan was to shut the Dardanelles, in particular circumstances, against all other nations. Both England and France complained that such a treaty had been concluded without their concurrence, and each of them had a fleet near the Sea of Marmora; but their remonstrances were unheeded, and their fleets returned. The popular and prophetic belief of the Byzantines, namely, that “the Russians in the last days should become masters of Constantinople,” seemed to be rapidly approaching its fulfilment.

The Belgian question had its origin in events antecedent to the formation of the present British cabinet, so that ministers were compelled to follow a course which had been adopted by their predecessors. When the revolution first broke forth in the Netherlands, the king called on his allies for troops. These were refused by the English government; but his next request, for the assembling of a conference, was granted. By subsequent acts of that assembly, the principle of separation between the two countries was established; and the task imposed on the present government was to settle the terms on which a separation should take place, so as to provide for the interest and security of all parties. The difficulties encountered in performing this task arose from the obstinacy of the Dutch monarch. By the armistice which his majesty had invoked in November, 1830, the citadel of Antwerp was to be evacuated in fifteen days; but the possession of that fortress enabled him to harass the Belgians, and to intercept their trade on the Scheldt, and therefore he refused to give it up. England and France, failing to obtain the co-operation of the other three powers, were obliged to have recourse to force: Antwerp was besieged by the French troops, and an embargo was laid on Dutch vessels by Great Britain. These vigorous measures disconcerted all the calculations of the Dutch monarch and of his partizans. At the beginning of this year Antwerp, supposed to have been impregnable, surrendered to Marshal Gerard. This event, together with the embargo laid on Dutch vessels, produced the convention of the 21st of May, by which the Belgian question was settled. This convention provided, “That immediately on the ratifications being exchanged, the embargoes laid on by Great Britain and France should be removed, and the vessels and cargoes restored, and that the Dutch garrison which had defended the citadel of Antwerp should return to Holland with all their arms and baggage: That Holland should not recommence hostilities against Belgium so long as a definite treaty had not settled their mutual relations; that the navigation of the Scheldt should be free, which was explained in a supplementary article to mean, that it was to be placed on the same footing as it had been prior to the 1st of November, 1812: That the navigation of the Meuse should be opened, subject to the provisions of the convention of Mayence of the 31st of March, 1831, relative to the navigation of the Rhine: That the communications between the frontier of North Brabant and Maestricht, and between that fortress and Germany, should be unimpeded: That the contracting parties should occupy themselves immediately with the definitive treaty, to which Austria, Prussia, and Russia should be invited to become parties.” The King of Holland having agreed to these articles, the principal point of discussion remaining was that of compensation: in the meantime Europe was secured against the danger of a general war, arising from the differences which had existed between Holland and Belgium.