Chapter XVIII

1835.

First cargo of ice to India--Election riots at Halifax and in
Scotland--A female sailor--The new temporary Houses of
Parliament--The King and others hissed--Question of admitting
ladies--A political skit--Deaths of Hunt and Cobbett.

The chronicle of this year must be made up of odds and ends, for there is no one thing of absorbing interest to record. And first, we find a paragraph in The _Times_ of January 11th (quoting the _Mechanic's Magazine_), headed

"EXPORTATION OF ICE TO INDIA.

"Lord William Bentinck has presented to Mr. Rogers, supercargo of
the ship _Tuscany_, a handsome silver vase, bearing the following
inscription: 'Presented by Lord William Bentinck,
Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in India, to Mr. Rogers,
of Boston, in acknowledgment of the spirit and enterprise which
projected and successfully executed the first attempt to export
(_sic_) a cargo of American ice into Calcutta.' The quantity of
ice landed by the _Tuscany_ was about one hundred tons, and the
selling price being 6-1/2 cents per lb., it is calculated that
the owners received $12,500 upon an investment which, including
the cost of all the extra precautions for preserving the ice, did
not exceed $500."

Owing to the resignation of the ministry in November, 1834, Parliament was dissolved, and a General Election took place--which, after the manner of the times, conduced to riotous behaviour in several places. At the close of the poll at Halifax, on January 14th, the yellow, or Reforming party, attacked various houses, public and private. In some, they contented themselves with breaking windows only; in others, they entered the premises, broke all the window frames, window shutters, inside and out, and other wood-work, and completely demolished every article of furniture within their reach. The mob, three hundred in number, entered the house of Mr. J. Norris, simultaneously, through the dining-room windows, library windows, and by breaking down the principal door. All the windows were broken to pieces--the window frames, in many places; and the whole furniture in the dining-room and library, and all the pictures, with the exception of six or eight, which were badly injured, were destroyed; whilst the plate was stolen, the bookcase was smashed, and quantities of books were taken from the shelves and torn to pieces. These, with music books and prints, were scattered over the lawn in front of the house, and in the garden, until the place looked as if it had been covered with snow. A grand piano was smashed to atoms, together with other musical instruments; a marble mantelpiece was broken, and the place was wrecked.

A similar attack on the vicarage was repelled. At Shaw Lodge, the residence of Mr. J. Holdsworth, the mob entered the house, and demolished all before them. At the Field, Mr. J. Staveley's house was attacked and entered, and all the furniture, pictures, etc., were smashed, as well as the windows and window frames of the house and warehouse adjoining. Many other houses were attacked and received different degrees of damage, and the mob did not disperse till the arrival of a troop of lancers.

In Scotland, serious rioting took place at Jedburgh and Hawick, polling places for the County of Selkirk, when Captain Elliot, the ministerial candidate, was defeated by Lord John Scott. On the morning of January 17th, the second day of polling, the Jedburgh mob, having learned the probable success of the Conservative candidate, began to assume a surly aspect. Lord John Scott, on making his appearance, was loudly hissed; and, when leaving the town, a few ruffians assaulted him, by throwing pieces of ice, etc., but, fortunately, without doing him any injury. In the afternoon, when the certain defeat of Captain Elliot's party became evident, symptoms of restlessness were displayed by a great part of the crowd, and several voters and others, in the interest of his lordship, could only with great difficulty reach the polling place; later in the evening the conduct of many of those assembled became more outrageous, and several of the friends of Lord John Scott were struck and abused by the mob; but the streets were quiet at night.

At Hawick, the mob was much more riotous. On the 16th, the first day of polling, notwithstanding the strong constabulary force sworn in for the occasion, the crowd got very noisy, and used every sort of annoyance to the voters for Lord John Scott, such as pushing, spitting, throwing stones and snowballs, and tearing clothes, etc., while they cheered the voters for Captain Elliot. As the day advanced, the rabble got worse and worse, insulting and maltreating all voters, and others friendly to his lordship's cause, in defiance of the strenuous efforts of the sheriff and a number of the justices of the peace, the bailies and others. The Sheriff ultimately found it necessary to read the Riot Act.

On closing the poll for the day, the mob surrounded the Tower Inn (where Lord John's voters were), and, whenever any person attempted to leave the inn to go home, he was immediately attacked and abused; in consequence of which a great number were compelled to remain at the inn during the night. The doors of the inn were frequently attempted to be forced open, most of the windows were broken; and, in the course of the night, the windows of the houses of many of the inhabitants were riddled with stones. An additional number of constables were sworn in on Saturday.

The mob appeared more desperate than on the preceding day, and every means of intimidation were practised to prevent Lord John's voters coming forward; in one case where a voter in that interest was going to the booth in a carriage, the crowd attempted to upset it--and, upon his voting and returning from the booth, he was seized, in spite of the efforts of the constables, and abused and maltreated. The Riot Act was again read, and the town became quieter, especially when a troop of the Scot's Greys arrived. Captain Elliot, the defeated candidate, in his address after the election, thanked the populace for their orderly conduct!

I have given these as specimens of ante-ballot elections in time when William IV. was King.

Most of us know the ballad of _Billee Taylor_, how he was impressed and taken to sea--and how

"Soon his true love followed 'arter
Under the name of Richard Carr,
And her lily white hands she daubed all over
With the nasty pitch and tar."

And some of us may probably know the true history of Mary Ann Talbot, who fought both in the army and navy, and was wounded both in the ankle and in the thigh, a little above the knee, in the action of the "Glorious First of June." She lay in Haslar Hospital without her sex being discovered, afterwards was taken prisoner by the French; then shipped to America as steward, and when going a voyage to the Mediterranean, was impressed, and discovered her sex rather than serve again in the navy.

But her story belongs to the latter part of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries. Here is one, happening in this year, and is thus reported in all the newspapers of the time, and in the _Annual Register_.

"MANSION HOUSE, 10th Feb.--The Lord Mayor having observed a
statement in the _Observer_ newspaper relative to a female who
for some time past had performed the duties of a seaman, directed
an inspector of police to make inquiries into the circumstances,
in order that, if the girl required assistance, it might be
rendered to her, without subjecting her to annoyance. The
inspector now appeared before the Lord Mayor, accompanied by the
girl, the captain of the vessel in which she came to London, and
several gentlemen who felt an interest in the remarkable details
of the case.

"Captain McIntire, of the _Sarah_, from Belfast, stated that he
met the girl, whose name is Ann Jane Thornton, at St. Andrew's,
in North America. She was dressed in sailor's clothes, and had
all the appearance of having been brought up to that employment.
He engaged her at nine dollars a month to act as cook and
steward, and considered that she was what she seemed to be, until
a few days before the arrival of the vessel in the port of
London. It appeared that some of the crew had suspected her sex
before she was seen washing in her berth, from the circumstance
of her having repeatedly refused to drink grog.

"The Lord Mayor: It has been reported that she was ill-treated by
her captain and the crew. I wish to be particularly informed upon
that point. Captain McIntire said he would call upon the girl to
say whether he had not uniformly treated her with kindness, and
whether, when her sex was discovered, the degree of kindness and
care was not increased. The girl declared that Captain McIntire
had acted towards her with humanity, and had desired her to
complain to him if any of the crew attempted to treat her
harshly. She had been, in the course of the voyage, struck by
some of the sailors, because she could not work as hard as they
did--a thing she found it difficult to do in a gale of wind, but
she did not tell the captain, as she determined to endure as much
as possible, without grumbling.

"The Lord Mayor: Is it possible that this mere girl, for she
cannot be more than sixteen or seventeen years of age, performed
the duties of a seaman?

"Captain McIntire: It is, my lord. She performed them to
admiration. She would run up to hand (_sic_) the topgallant sail
in any sort of weather, and we had a severe passage. Poor girl!
she had a hard time of it, she suffered greatly from the wet, but
she bore it all excellently, and was a capital seaman.

"The Lord Mayor: Is the account of the romantic pursuit of the
person she is said to be attached to correct? Is it true that she
went to America after the captain who was said to be her
sweetheart?

"McLean said that the account she had given him corresponded with
that which had appeared before the public; but she would,
herself, mention the particulars.

"Captain McIntire said that he had no doubt of the correctness of
her statement. She was not at all given to loquacity. On the
contrary, she did the duty of a seaman without a murmur, and had
infinitely better use of her hands than of her tongue.

"This description of the female sailor seemed to be accurate. Her
hands appeared as if they were covered with thick brown leather
gloves, and it was only by repeated questioning the Lord Mayor
got from her the facts, of which the following is the substance--

"Ann Jane Thornton stated that she is in the seventeenth year of
her age. Her father, who is now a widower, took her and the rest
of his family from Gloucestershire, where she was born, to
Donegal, when she was six years old. He was owner of stores in
that part of Ireland, and in good circumstances, and was always
affectionate to her. She regretted that she had quitted her home,
for her departure, of which she had given no previous notice to
her father, must have caused him many a sorrowful hour. When she
was only thirteen years old, she met Captain Alexander Burke,
whose father resided in New York, and was the owner of vessels
there; and, before she was fifteen, they became strongly attached
to each other. Soon after, Burke was obliged to go to New York,
and she took up the resolution to follow him. She quitted her
father's house accompanied by a maid-servant and a boy, and,
having procured a cabin-boy's dress, she exerted herself to
obtain a passage to America. The servant-maid and boy took leave
of her immediately upon her embarking, the latter being charged
with a message to her father, informing him of her intention. By
degrees she became reconciled to the labours of her new
employment, but she beheld with joy the shores of New York, where
she thought her labours would terminate. The moment she landed,
she went off in her cabin-boy's dress to the house of Captain
Burke's father, and said that she had worked under the captain's
orders, and wished to be engaged by him again. It was by the
father of the young man she was informed that his son had died
only a few days before. America, however, was no place in which
to look for sympathy. In the belief that the sea (which no doubt
her affection for Burke recommended to her) was a more probable
mode of existence than any she could adopt in the dress of her
sex, she applied for and obtained a situation as cook and steward
in the _Adelaide_, and, subsequently, in the _Rover_, in which
latter vessel she sailed to St. Andrew's, where she fell in with
Captain McIntire. The captain of the _Rover_ had agreed to take
her to Belfast, but he received an order from the owners to sail
for the West Indies, and, as she was resolved to return to her
father as soon as possible, she refused to accompany him. For
thirty-one months she had been engaged in these remarkable
adventures, and participated in the most severe toils of the
crews of which she formed part.

"The Lord Mayor: And are you not weary of so harassing a life?

"Girl: Yes. I am anxious to get home. I hope and believe that my
father will forgive me for the sorrow I have caused him. I have
had my own sorrows, too.

"The Lord Mayor: How did it happen that you fancied the sailor's
dress, well knowing that by assuming the appearance of one you
pledged yourself to perform such terrible duties?

"Girl: I couldn't think of any other way, and I did the duties as
well as I could. I underwent a good deal. I travelled from East
Port in North America to St. Andrew's by myself, a distance of
seventy miles through the woods. I walked all the way.

"The Lord Mayor: And without sustaining any injury?

"Girl: I received none. I knew the sailor's clothes would carry
me through safe, and at St. Andrew's I met Captain McIntire.

"The Lord Mayor: I will give directions that you be taken care
of until I can hear from your father, to whom I shall write
to-night. You have done him great wrong by abandoning him under
any pretence, but you have suffered bitterly for your
disobedience.

"The information which the Lord Mayor received from Ireland was
that, soon after the girl had left her home, her father had
emigrated, with many others, to Canada, for the purpose of
seeking his fortune among the numberless adventurers who ran away
from Irish turbulence and starvation at that period, and that he
had sent back no intelligence to Ireland since his departure. In
Donegal, however, a sister of the young woman was found to
reside, who expressed great joy at hearing of her relation. The
Lord Mayor gave the girl adequate means of defraying her expenses
to Donegal."

Parliament was to meet on February 19th, and there was but scant time to prepare and furnish places for them to meet in. As these temporary premises have long since been consigned to limbo, and as even very little tradition remains of them, I may be pardoned for giving a short contemporary account of them, which contrasts forcibly with the beautiful palace in which our legislature is now housed.

"The approaches to the House of Lords are very limited; the
Peers, as well as the King, must enter by the Royal doorway and
gallery throughout the session, and both parties must enter the
body of the house by the same doorway--namely, that at the end of
the Royal Gallery, formerly opening into the Painted Chamber, now
the House of Lords. Facing this doorway is the woolsack, and a
very small one it is compared with its predecessor; and,
immediately behind it, and to the right of the doorway, is
stationed the throne, against that end of the House which abuts
upon the Thames; this, like the woolsack, is of very diminished
proportions, when contrasted with the grand and gorgeous affair
in the former House of Lords, as may be inferred when it is
stated that it is the identical throne constructed for George
IV.'s Council Chamber in a room in Carlton House.

"The present House of Lords is remarkably narrow, as may be
imagined from the fact that the cross benches (the arrangement of
the old house being followed, though somewhat in miniature) will
not conveniently accommodate three or four peers each. There are
side galleries for the peers, approached by staircases in the
body of the House, but in line with the bar. All the furniture,
the forms, etc., are covered with crimson and brass binding, as
was the case in the former House. There are six richly gilt
chandeliers, suspended by long lacquered chains, for the purpose
of lighting the House. Both Houses are to be heated by steam
apparatus, similar to that used in King's College Chapel, etc. In
the Lords the conductors appear in the House, but are neatly
enclosed with iron casings: in the Commons the heat ascends
through a large grating in the centre of the floor of the House.

"There is a large gallery for strangers in the House of Lords,
that is, that it projects well into the House, instead of being
out of the House, as was the case with the accommodation formerly
accorded by their Lordships. The front row of this gallery is
arranged for the Press, separated from the rest of the gallery by
a high partition, or backboard, and approachable at the end of
the gallery by a passage for the exclusive advantage of the front
row.

"The arrangement of seats in the Commons differs materially from
that which characterized St. Stephen's. Here, all is remarkably
open. There are no places under the gallery; all the members'
seats, to the very end of the House, and even in the members'
side galleries (there being no woodwork, only two iron rails in
front) are as visible to all the House as the Treasury or
Opposition benches, so that there will no longer be the
opportunities of retreating into recesses or behind curtains, and
there indulge in high-sounding sleep, or in still more
unparliamentary, because far more modern, exclamations and
imitations, when midnight may have approached, to give notice
that the 'crowing' of the cock or the 'braying' of patient
steeds may be expected. These things may again distinguish the
assembly, but those who contribute to such distinction must now,
at least, be _seen_ by strangers as well as members. This may not
be without its good effect in awing even the most refractory into
something like respect for others, if they have no great deal for
themselves. The woodwork is entirely of oak, and the seats are
covered with green leather. The Speaker's chair is constructed
like the old chair, which was after a design furnished by Sir C.
Wren, though that chair is introduced in the celebrated picture
of Oliver Cromwell desiring the 'bauble' to be removed. The Royal
arms are not at the top, as that would have intercepted the view
of the gallery behind the Chair, which will be chiefly
appropriated to the press, and under the Speaker's control."

At the opening of Parliament, the Dukes of Cumberland and Wellington, several of the bishops, and some members of the House of Commons, were soundly hissed; nay, the King himself, when he opened Parliament on the 24th, was served the same, and two men were taken up for the said offence--one of them not only having groaned in a violent manner, but having called out, "There goes a d--d villain." Both had to find bail to keep the peace, self in £40, and two sureties in £20, which, not being forthcoming, they were locked up in default.

Whilst on the subject of this new Parliament, I may mention that on March 12th, the Hon. C. Berkeley gave notice that on May 1st he should move that a portion of the Strangers' Gallery in that House be set apart for the accommodation of ladies--which elicited "great laughter." But his motion never came off, for, on the date fixed, the House was in its Easter vacation, but was referred to a committee to report on. On April 9th Sir Robert Peel and his ministry resigned, and was succeeded by Lord Melbourne as Prime Minister.

Anent this, on June 1st, two men were charged at Bow Street, with causing a great mob by halloaing forth an harangue, entitled, "The political form of Matrimony between the Whigs and the people"; a portion of which is as follows:--

"Now, there was a man in the House of Incurables, whose name was
Melbourne, and that man was perfect and upright. There was a day
when the Reformers came to present themselves before the King and
Bobby;[17] and Billy[18] said unto Bobby, 'Whence comest thou?'
And Bobby answered, 'From going to and fro from St. Stephen's.'
And Billy said, 'My servant Melbourne is perfect and upright, and
one that feareth the King and supporteth the rights of the
people.' And Bobby said, 'Do they serve the people for nought?
Put forth thine hand and touch his office, and he will mock the
people to their face, place for place, pension for pension--yea,
all that the Whigs have, will they give for their pensions.' And
Billy then said to Bobby, 'His office is in thy power.' And a
messenger came unto Melbourne and said, 'Thy Ministry is
dissolved, and Bobby is chosen in thy stead, and I alone am left
to tell thee.' Then Melbourne arose and rent his wig, and shaved
his head, and fasted three days in sackcloth and ashes.
'Pensionless came I unto office, and pensionless shall I go out.
Billy gave, and Billy taketh away; and blessed be the name of
Billy.'"

[Footnote 17: Sir Robert Peel.]

[Footnote 18: The King.]

Lord Melbourne, however, remained Premier during the whole of the King's reign. Whilst on politics, I may mention that two noted Radicals died this year--Henry Hunt in February, and William Cobbett on June 18th.