..^ -^H^ /, '^1'-^ ^ ■%. ^-^/ .^^^^. -^o. > -N^~ '^,/Z%, ^">- %- s"'^.^^ ^ ^ 'O^. - "^ 55 5i * ENGLAND: THE ACCESSION OF aUEEN YICTORIA. AN HISTORICAL RESUME OF THE PARLIAMEJ^TAUY PROCEEDINGS AND THE SUCCESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RESOURCES AND SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. FOLLOWED BY VAEIOUS STATISTICAL TABLES TEOM OFFICIAL BECOEDS ; %\\ WniuuH Sttrhg PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION AND FREE TRADE AS PROPOUNDED BY THE VARIOUS SCHOOLS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. EDWi>- H. MICHELSEN, Phil.D. AUTHOS OF THE " OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND ITS RESOURCES," "LIFE OF NICHOLAS I.' ETC. ETC. EDINBUEGH : ADAM & CHAELES BLACK:, JN^OETH BEIDGE. MDCCCLIVr \ THE LIBRARY or CONGRESS WAtHINGTOr LONDON : M'iLLIAM STEVENS, PRINTER, 37, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. PREFACE. The History of England since the Accession of Victoria is particularly distinguistied by an unin- terrupted series of reforms which have been brought about in the social and commercial relations of the country. From the repeal of the Corn Laws to the reduction of the duties on tea^ raisins^ and other articles of minor import^ the prevailing spirit of the age manifested itself in a variety of unmistakeable phases. It was against that spirit that the late Sir Robert Peel had^ some twenty years ago^ created a strong and compact party in and out of Parlia- ment, by whose aid he attained a power and po- pularity seldom^ if ever, before enjoyed by any Tory Minister in this country; and although he might have kept the field much longer^ he had foresight and honesty enough to perceive the in- VI PREFACE. justice and untenableness of Ms position^ and with one sharp blow he crushed party^ principle, theory, and prejudice, in acknowledgment of the power of that spirit which advocated the cause of the poor against the rich, of free competition against monopoly, of labour against capital, and of commer- cial against landed interests. Lord Derby and his Ministers, it is true, also at last submitted to that spirit, avowing in Parliament that Free Trade had increased national prosperity, and procured employ- ment and cheap food to the labouring classes. But the avowal was made as a means of retaining office under its auspices, seeing that the spirit had fled from Protection^ and that the fighting for a dead body was as unprofitable as it was useless. Be this, however, as it may, the path to future re- form is now cleared of all obstacles, save the will of Ministers, who may carry any measures tending to enlarge the moral and physical welfare of the people, provided they propose them in right good earnest. The author has thought proper to append to the volume an historical sketch of the principles and theories propounded by the various schools of Poli- PREFACE. Vll tical Economy^ simply because the champions in the vast struggle between Free Trade and Protection had rested their arguments mainly on the practical appli- cation of those respective theories^ which will be found fully analysed in the section specially devoted to that part of the question. London, 1^^ October, 1854. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Fage NEW EPOCH.— DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PEINCIPLES . 1 CHAPTER II. THE lEISH AND CANADIAN AFEAIRS IN 1837 . . 10 CHAPTER III. COMMENCEMENT OF THE CHAETIST AaiTATION.^ — THE JAMAICA BILL.—FALL AND EECONSTEUCTION OF THE WHIG MINISTEY IN THE SESSION OF 1838 AND 1839 . 15 CHAPTER IV. MAEEIAGE OF THE QUEEN. — THE STOCKDALE-HANSAED DISPUTE IN THE PAELIAMENT OF 1840 « . 25 CHAPTER V. THE PAETIES, AND FALL OF THE WHIG- MINISTEY IN 1841 . . . . . .31 CHAPTER VI. THE PEEL CABINET OF SEPTEMBEE 1, 1841 . . 44 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. Page peel's financial and customs measuees of 1842 . 51 CHAPTEH VIII. THE COEN LAW AGITATION. — THE CHUECH AFFAIES OF SCOTLAND. — THE lEISH AGITATION IN 1843, AND THE BANK EEFOEM IN 1844 . . . ,64 CHAPTER IX. THE MAYNOOTH BILL, AND PEEL's EEFOEM OF THE CUSTOMS TAEIFF IN THE SESSION OF 1845 . . 75 CHAPTER X. THE CABINET CEISIS AT THE CLOSE OF 1845 . . 86 CHAPTER XI. THE PASSING OF THE COEN BILL AND EESIGNATION OF THE PEEL CABINET IN JUNE, 1846 . . . 93 CHAPTER XII. THE NEW WHIG CABINET UNDEE LOED JOHN EUSSELL, AND THE SOLUTION OF THE SUGAE QUESTION . 102 CHAPTER XIII. THE FAMINE IN lEELAND, AND PEOCEEDINGS IN PAELIA- MENT TILL ITS DISSOLUTION IN 1847 . . 108 CHAPTER XIV. THE GEEAT COMMEECIAL CEISIS IN 1847.-— OPENING OF THE NEW PAELIAMENT . . . . . 123 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XV. Page THE AGITATIONS ON THE CONTINENT OF EUEOPE.— -THE MINISTEEIAL PLAN CONCEENING- THE NAVIGATION LAWS IN THE FIEST MONTHS OE THE YEAE 1848 . 131 CHAPTER XVI. THE PAELIAMENT OF 1849. — THE EEPEAL OF THE NAVIGATION LAWS ..... 143 CHAPTER XVII. THE YEAE 1850. — PALMEESTON. — EFFECTS OF THE EE- PEAL OF THE NAVIGATION LAWS. — PAELIAMENT. — FEEE-TEADEES AND PEOTECTIONISTS . . . 152 CHAPTER XVIII. THE UNIVEESAL EXHIBITION OF 1851 — AND THE MID- DLE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTUEY . . . 163 CHAPTER XIX. THE YEAE 1851. — PAELIAMENT. — THE MINISTEEIAL CEISIS . . . . . . . 167 CHAPTER XX. KOSSUTH. — FEENCH COUP d'ETAT. — VISIT OF ME.WALKEE 172 CHAPTER XXI. THE YEAE 1852. — THE FEAE OF INVASION. — THE AMAL- GAMATED SOCIETY OF ENGINEEES . . . 175 Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXII. Page WARLIKE DISPOSITIONS. — AEMAMENTS . . . 180 CHAPTER XXIII. THE PAELIAMENT OF 1852 . . . . . 183 CHAPTER XXIV. THE REFOPvM BILL OF LOED JOHN EUSSELL . . 188 CHAPTER XXV. THE MILITIA BILL. — THE FALL OF THE EUSSELL MINISTET . . , . . . . 190 CHAPTER XXVI. THE DEEBY MINISTET ..... 194 STATISTICAL TABLES IN ILLUSTEATION OF THE CIVIL, POLITICAL, AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTET . . . . ... 205 APPENDIX. political economy and its peactical beaeings. — (an histoeical suevey) .... 249 ENGLAND TNDEE THE PEESENT EEiaK CHAP. I. NEW EPOCH. — DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PEINCIPLES. The turning point in the internal history of Eng- land must be sought in the Catholic Emancipation and Eeform Bills^ two measures which stand histo- rically and practically in close connection with each other. The old English notions^ systems, and insti- tutions rested upon the advantages of rank, race, and religion; but no sooner were they successfully attacked, than further changes seemed unavoidable The Catholic Emancipation, however, made deeper inroads in the structure of the old state edifice than even the Eeform Bill with all its popularity and ap- parent advantages. Old England was so thoroughly Z ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. Protestant in throne^ parliament^ and legislation^ that many of tlie anomalies arising from the former bill have not to this day been reconciled. The Reform Bill^ on the other hand^ assailed the old institutions more by its principle than by its application; it showed^ it is true^ that the composition of Parlia- ment ought to rest on a broader basis of national representation; but it did not define the precise character of the improvement in a practical point of view. The immediate result of that first step was the enactment of the new Poor Laws in 1834^ by which the influence of the landowners in the rural districts was supplanted by that of the State ; and the aristocratic writers^ with D^Israeli at their head, justly blamed the Tories for having supported a measure which tended to diminish their influence among the agricultural population^ and thereby faci- litate^ moreover^ the introduction of the subsequent great measures by which a new epoch was created for England^ and increased power given to the town population of the country. At the accession of Queen Victoria^ June 20^ 1837^ the two great parties in Parliament had already ex- changed their noms de guerre of Whigs and Tories ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 3 for Reformers and Conservatives. This transforma- tion may be explained from the course of events since the introduction of the Reform Bill. The name Heformer had become a title of honour to those who had advocated that great popular measure^ whilst the Tories^ ha\dng been compelled to yield to public opi- nion and assent to the bill as a fait accompli, now took their stand upon Conservative ground to protect state and church against further innovations or en- croachments. The Reformers, as is always the case with parties^ were composed of various heterogeneous parts. At their head stood the old Whigs with their aristocratic notions and family traditions. Many among them had promoted reform in Parliament from a pure sense of justice^, others from mere party spirit^ while some looked at the measure as a stepping stone to farther reforms^ by which the power of the Tories was to be gradually destroyed. But it was the middle classes in particular who had supported the Whigs in their parliamentary position^ and who now loudly claimed for their principal reward^ the establishment of an economical administration. The large towns had be- come conscious of their own power^ and insisted upon B 2 4 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. its acknowledgment. They showed impatience with the dilatory proceedings of the Whig Cabinet in regard to further reforms^ and having sent a considerable number of members to the House since the passing of the Reform Bill^ their influence in Parliament was not unimportant. At a later period^ they formed the elite of the commercial agitators. Again^ the Radicals^ though small in number^ were indefatigable in their zeal and eflbrts ; speculating upon the favour of the masses^ they demanded extension of elective rights in opposition to the influence of birth and money aristocracy. It had become customary with them to make annually a motion for election by ballot^ which was in return as regularly negatived. They then made common cause with the Chartists^ and no wonder they proved a stumbling block to a Govern- ment that declared itself against them in every ques- tion that involved a principle. A very useful but at the same time very question- able ally of the Whigs was the Irish party with Daniel O^Connell at their head. This extraordinary man had^ by his influence^ managed the return of most of the Irish members from the phalanx of Repealers, although this his tail, as his party was called, was ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 5 famous for blind devotion rather than cleverness or ability. Indeed, throughout his whole parliamentary career_, O^Connell showed great jealousy in that re- spect j he could not endure rivalry in debates, neither was it ever ascertained whether he advocated the re- peal for its own sake, or as a mere means to enforce concessions for Ireland. In the Conservatives he saw the sworn foes of Ireland^s liberty, and not with- out reason, though it was a Tory Cabinet that passed the Catholic Bill. He hailed that measure as the first move towards further reform in favour of his own country, while the Conservatives looked at it as a necessary evil, called forth by the emergency of cir- cumstances, but which ought not to be allowed to spread and take root. The compact and well- organised Tory party now opened the campaign against opponents composed of Whigs, Reformers, Radicals, and Repealers. Fore- most stood the men of the old school, who cheered with animation the call of ^' Church and state,''^ and frequently joined in the cry ^' No popery .^^ To them belonged the land and all rural wealth, and they found devoted allies in the Protestant population of North Ireland, and more especially in the influential clergy 6 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. of the establislied ctiurch. This nucleus of the Tory- camp was gradually joined by all those who thought Ministers too slow and cautious^ or^ vice versa, too rapid and reckless in their movements^ while Sir Robert' Peel^ with infinite art and tact^ knew how to raise that party within and without the walls of the House by skilful management of the elective laws^ as well as by gaining advantage from the blunders of his opponents. In 1833 the over-zeal of his party forced him to form a Cabinet^ and undertake the administration of the country^ but he was soon compelled to relinquish the reins into the hands of the Opposition. Since that failure he laboured indefatigably in the con- struction of his party. His zealous supporter in the upper House was the late Duke of Wellington^ in whom the Tories generally found a great advocate of their principles. The Queen had^ by a recent law^ just been declared of age^ and competent to govern the country in person. Her father^ the late Duke of Kent^ had belonged to the Whigs^ and it was rumoured that she had been brought up in the principles of that school. The Whig Ministry had found but little support at the ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 7 court of her uncle^ the late King William IV._, owing to the Tory principles of the late Queen Adelaide^ but the present change of the throne had opened to the Ministers a more extended sphere of operation. Lord Melbourne^ the Prime Minister^ though not with- out abilities^ was at that time somewhat advanced in years^ and was^ moreover^ naturally inclined to indolent habits. His social talents^ however, having made him a favourite and constant visitor at courts he no doubt exercised some influence on the liberal views of the Queen. Lord Palmerston^ Foreign Minister^ had previously served among the Tories in Canning's Cabinet^ but being now a member of the Whig Ministry^ he employed his eminent talents and activity with equal zeal for the furtherance of liberal principles^ which^ in addition to the share he notori- ously took in the publication of the ^^ Portfolio ^^^ had rendered him odious in the eyes of the absolute Cabinets on the continent. Lord John Eussell^ Home Secretary^ had always shown himself a thorough Whig in his writings^ as well as in his public career. He has capacity and goodwill^ but lacks that energy and firmness of purpose which are so requisite in pub- lic life. It was he who in the Grey Cabinet carried 8 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. the Reform Bill througli the lower House. The views of Lord Howick (now Earl Grey) were some- what tinted with Radicalism^ whilst his manners were rather repulsive. Labouchere and Parnell, both of moderate abilities, were intrusted with the finance department. Lord Mulgrave was Lord Lieutenant^ and Lord Morpeth Secretary of State for Ireland. Both noblemen, and more especially the latter, were of decided liberal views, and friends of O^Connell. Thus the Cabinet, though strongly cast, lacked nevertheless pre-eminent talent and active energy to carry out liberal measures in a House where the Opposition was arrayed in a compact body, and devoted heart and soul to the cause of Conservatism. We have already indicated the difficult position of Ministers opposite the country and their own party, and it will soon be seen the manner in which they gradually lost ground in public opinion. The change of the throne carried with it a dissolution of the old, and the convocation of a new Parliament. Both par- ties armed themselves with extraordinary zeal for the contest. The Whigs, at the hustings, pointed to their services through the Reform Bill, and even to the ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 9 liberal views of the young Queen^ whom they said the country ought not to deliver up to the tyrannical counsel of the Tories. This proceeding was not altogether constitutional^ but it was well calculated to win hearts for the cause. The sex and youth of the new Sovereign inspired the people with a sense of loyalty little short of chivalrous devotion and patriot- ism. Neither was O^Connell behind in these en- thusiastic demonstrations ; his heart overflowed with devotion to the Monarchy and he animated his coun- trymen with the same feeling at the monster meet- ings in Ireland. His influence at the Irish elections procured for Ministers a number of new adherents. Family connections also acquired for the Ministers an additional force of Liberal votes in Scotland. It was difl'erent, however^ in England and Wales. In the larger industrial towns^, it is true^ the elections fell upon the Liberal candidates^ but in the counties and agricultural boroughs the Conservatives had a de- cided majority. Their watch- word was_, ^^ The odious new Poor LawSy^ though the leaders of the party in both Houses had supported Ministers in the carrying of the measure. The final result of the elections was a slight majority for the Tory party. B 3 10 CHAP. II. THE IRISH AND CANADIAN AFFAIES IN 1837. The new Parliament was opened by tlie young Queen in person on the 20th November^ 1837^ in the presence of an immense concourse of people. The split in the camp of the Liberal party became already manifest at the answer to the Address. "Wakley^ of the Radical party, moved for a paragraph in favour of extension of suffrage, to which Lord John Eussell strongly objected, to the great annoyance of that section in the House ; and the motion was of course negatived by a large majority. Two questions, Canada and Ireland, engrossed the public mind duiing this session, and involved Ministers in numerous difficulties. A few years previously, a breach had taken place between the British Go- vernment and the provincial Parliament in Lower ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 11 Canada. Religious antipathies^ national hatred be- tween the French and the English population^ and^ above all^ the proximity of the United States^ in- spired the Canadians with a wish for political inde- pendence. That wish gave birth to numerous com- plaints and various demands which England could not concede without effectually dissolving her con- nection with Canada. The English Radicals, how- ever, saw in the Canadian malcontents a welcome aUy whom they thought right to support in Parlia- ment on every occasion. Government itself was not disinclined to make some liberal concessions by way of reconciliation; but the French population, headed by a certain Papineau, broke out into an open insurrection, which was however soon quelled, despite the support offered to them by the frontier inha- bitants of the United States. A second attempt at disturbance likewise failed, and the English Govern- ment at last resolved to move in Parliament for extraordinary measures. It was then enacted that the constitution of Canada should be suspended until November, 1840, and the administration of the colony be carried on in the interval by the governor and his council. Lord Durham was deputed to 12 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. Canada for that purpose. He caused the insurgents to be disarmed^ tlie leaders arrested^ and some of tliem banished to the Bermuda Islands. To inflict the punishment of transportation^ was a right to which the governor was certainly not authorised by law^ and the enemies of Lord Durham and the Ministers were not slow in pointing to that incident in their attacks on the Government^ who^ in their per- plexity^ disapproved of the decree and conduct of Lord Durham. The latter resigned his office in conse- quence, and at the same time issued a very violent pro- clamation against the unfair proceedings of the Go- vernment, who, however, had not sufficient courage to notice and punish the offensive language. In the following year Government brought in a bill for the re-union of the two Canadas, which, being met with a strong opposition, was withdrawn, and they contented themselves with providing Lower Canada with a pro- visional Administration. Ireland has been and is still the sore spot of all Governments. England's aristocracy and high churchmen have not yet forgotten the injuries in- flicted upon them by O^ Council, the ^^ lAherator of Ireland^ who already in 1 837 dared to pronounce ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 13 that '^the Catholic emancipation was only the first instalment of the debt due to Ireland/^ That arch- demagogne knew well how to organise and keep his lively countrymen in constant agitation by new societies and new operations. He called together monster meetings^ spoke to their passions^ descanted on the innate power of their men^ the virtues of their women_, and the beauty^ but also the poverty^ of their island. He was not less profuse in his per- sonal attacks against individual members of the Oppo- sition than in his claims and demands at the hands of the Legislature^ which was at that time very much occupied with the Church affairs of Ireland. Ireland was sighing under the burdens imposed upon her by a religious and political fanaticism. The minority of the population belonging to the established church of England^ was almost in exclusive posses- sion of the church estates throughout the island, and a number of Protestant clergymen might be seen who had no living from church and congregation, but whom the poor Catholic population were com- pelled to maintain from their private resources. It is true that Parliament had in 1834 greatly reduced the number of bishoprics, and made provisions that 14 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. the superfluous Anglican livings should remain unoc- cupied; the English clergy^ however^ did all that they could to save from this shipvrreck at least their church property. Government had repeatedly at- tempted to employ the excess of the clergy for ge- neral and more especially for educational purposes ; but the proposals were always met by strong opposi- tion from the Conservatives. It was in the upper House especially where every reasonable attempt at reform was negatived^ and the existing system was retained with all its defects and mismanagements. Many debates also took place during this session about the oath of the Irish members^ but without effective results. Indeed all the debates and pro- ceedings in Parliament concerning the Irish affairs during that session produced no other result than to bring out the views of the various parties in strong relief, and to throw a light on the diminished influence of Ministers in the upper Hou^e^ where^ in addition^ a bitter crusade was conducted against the foreign policy of the Government as regarded the civil war in Spain. The session closed on the 16th August, 1838. 15 CHAP. III. COMMENCEMENT OP THE CHARTIST AGITATION. — THE JAMAICA BILL. — FALL AND RECONSTEUCTION OF THE WHIG MINISTRY IN THE SESSION OF 1838 AND 1839. An agitation of a novel character was in the mean- while preparing in the country. The popular agita- tions by which the Reform Bill was carried in pre- vious years^ had rendered the masses accessible to radical reforms^ had shaken their traditional attach- ment to the constitution of the country^ and raised in their minds a desire for further rights and privi- leges. The Keform Bill itself was far from satis- fying the people at large^ as neither they themselves nor their interests enjoyed under it legislative re- presentation in Parliament. Nor were the new Poor Laws calculated to assuage the discontent of the masses^ who looked at them as the immediate 16 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. cause of the high prices of provisions. The vast number of operatives accumulated in the manufac- turing districts now wanted a much larger share in the fruit of labour. They cared therefore but little about the new agitation against the Corn Laws_, as diminution in prices appeared to them tantamount to a diminu- tion in the rate of wages. Their own demands were of a more political character ; they asked for ge- neral suflrage by ballot^ for annual elections^ and for the pay of the members in the House. These demands they embodied in the ^^ People's Charter/' whence they received the name of ^^ Chartists.'' In the autumn of 1838 the sphere of their operations had greatly extended in point and character. Large meetings were held in the open air by torchlight during the nighty which added solemnity to the cause^ and inspired the minds of the adherents with re- doubled enthusiasm. Government having forbidden such meetings^ a large assemblage of the working classes^ about 20^000 in number^ met together near Manchester^ and was presided over by Fielden^ the Chartist member of Parliament. This meeting was to be an introduction to a move on the part of the working classes to petition Parliament in favour of ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 17 the People^s Charter, One of the principal speakers at the meeting, a certain Stephens, thus explained the meaning of the term : — ^^ The principle of the People's Charter/^ said he, ^^is the right possessed by any one who breathes the free air of heaven, or walks upon the free ground of the earth, to have a comfortable dwelling, and to feel himself happy, like all his fellow creatures, in the possession of a wife and a family. The question about universal suffrage is after all but a knife and fork question. I understand by it, that every labourer in the kingdom shall have a right to possess a good coat, hat, safe dwelling, and enjoy a healthy meal ; that he shall not work more than his health will allow, and that he shall receive as much wages as will enable him to live comfortably, and enjoy those amusements to which every rational being is entitled.^^ These words may be regarded as indicating the view which the speakers held on the subject, and it may readily be conceived how such language was calculated to find favour with the masses. This same Stephens was arrested for his speeches before the close of the year, which act caused great excitement amongst the Chartists. Dis- turbances took place at Birmingham, and preparations 18 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. for similar outbreaks were being made in several other places^ wben^ at the beginning of 1839^ a so-called National Convention was convoked at London^ where a petition^ alleged to be signed by 1^200^000 persons^ was laid before the House on the 12th of July^ by Mr. Attwood^ but which was rejected by a vote of 235 against 189. The National Convention had in the meantime removed to Birmingham^ which called forth renewed disturbances^ and compelled the police^ after much trouble^ to arrest the Chartist leaders. On the 15th July more disturbances took place^, and were only quelled by the help of the military. An incident of a pecuHar character closed the Chartist agitations of that year. A justice of the peace^ named Frosty had induced the superstitious inhabitants of his district to a crusade to Newport, whence the flag of Chartism was to spread all over the country. Arrived at the gates of the town the whole crowd was dispersed by a few armed soldiers. Their leaders^ Frosty Williams, and Jones, were arrested, tried, and sentenced to death, which sentence, however, was afterwards com- ^muted to transportation for life. On the 6th of February, 1839, the new Parliament ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 19 opened under auspices the least favourable to Minis- ters. The confusion arising from stagnation in trade, the agitation of the Chartists, and the formation of the Anti-Corn-Law League was still further ag- gravated by the bad state of the public exchequer and a general feeling of distrust in the management of public aflfairs. It was only in the large towns that a number of zealous Reformers adhered to the existing Government. In the lower House the ministerial majority had become so small that the fate of the Cabinet measures depended wholly on chance and extraneous circumstances, though the Radicals had again joined the ministerial party in order to keep the Conservatives out of office. It was in that session that Lord John Russell observed in Parliament, that ^^the Reform Bill required further alterations/^ an observation with which he was so often reproached at a later period. In the upper House Lord Melbourne declared that the Corn Laws were under consideration, and that although the majority of the Cabinet were in favour of alterations no definite resolution had as yet been arrived at. At this time Ireland also proved a bone of conten- tion between the two parties. After many delibera- 20 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. tions and debates^ Parliament could not come to an understanding upon the details of the new municipal constitution which was to be granted to Ireland. The right of voting for the election of magistrates still rested^ in the larger towns of Ireland^ on the old aristocratic basis_, which gave preponderance to the Protestant portion of the community. Government wished to found that elective right upon a broader basis^ but failed to carry the measure through the upper House. After many fruitless attempts at com- promise^ Lord John Russell was compelled to an- nounce in the House that the bill had been given up. Much more important in its consequences was the Jamaica Bill. Ever since the slave-emancipation^ there existed continual bickerings between the mother country and the West India planters. Those of Jamaica in particular having represented in bitter terms the fatal results of the emancipation^ Parlia- ment was induced to pass an Act against the abuses of the existing prison system in that island. This Act was viewed^ however^ by the Legislatm'c there, as an encroachment upon their rights, and they most obstinately refused to make any alterations in the internal administration of the island. Government ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 21 then moved in Parliament the suspension of the Jamaica constitution for five years. The motion was strongly opposed by the Conservative party^ and the second reading of the bill was only carried by a majority of five. The consequence was that Ministers gave in their resignation. On the 7th of May the Queen ordered the Duke of Wellington to form a new Cabinet. He immediately named Sir Kobert Peel as future Prime Minister. The Queen told them both in plain terms that she reluctantly separated from her old Ministers^ while in the country itself a great reaction suddenly took place in favour of the old Cabinet. The Conserva- tives^ it is true^ were rejoiced at the change^ but in the larger towns it was admitted that an error had been committed in having allowed the fall of a Liberal Government. Neither was O^Connell be- hind in these lamentations^ he having never ceased to see in the Conservative party the sworn ally of the bigoted Orange lodges in Ireland. Sir Robert Peel could not conceal from himself the diflSculty of his situation. Though he was sure to command a ma- jority in the upper House^ he knew perfectly well that in the lower House he had no better chance than 22 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. his predecessors in the carrying of measures. He saw wisely in the present moment only a repetition of the attempt in 1835^ when the close union of the Whigs and Radicals compelled him in a few months to resign office. There can be no doubt that this consideration^ and not the occurrence we are about to mention^ was the real motive of Sir Robert PeeFs refusing to form a Tory Cabinet. He was not the man to play with half-chances^ which he saw were now not better cast than in 1835. On the 10th of May the formation of a Tory Cabinet was nearly completed^ when it became known that Sir R. Peel had made a request of the Queen with which she positively refused to comply. He wanted to remove from her court the Ladies-in-wait- ing^ composed of members of the leading Whig families^ which demand the Queen declined^ on the ground that it was not only contrary to custom but also repugnant to her feelings. His reason for mak- ing the request^ as he alleged^ was to show the coun- try that her Majesty placed unlimited confidence in the new Ministry. Be this^ however^ as it may^ Sir Robert declared that he could not under such cir- cumstances think of forming a Cabinet, and the ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 23 ^Tiigs tlierenpon announced in Parliament their in- tention of reconstructing the Cabinet. Mutual re- criminations revealed afterwards the true position of affairs^ nor did the Tories despise an attempt at forming a counter-party at courts headed by the Dowager-Queen Adelaide. The Whig Ministry was reconstructed with some modification. Lord Normanby was appointed Home Secretary in lieu of Lord Glenelg^ who had been guilty of several gross blunders in the Canadian affairs. Macaulay^ a Scotchman and a thorough Whig^ alike celebrated for his powers of oratory and literary attainments^ became Minister of War. In the lower House the previous speaker^ Abercrombie, resigned^ and Shaw Lefevre was elected in his place by 317 against 299 votes^ the latter number having voted for Goulburn^ the Tory candidate. The most important measure of the new Ministry was the temporary settlement of the Jamaica dis- putes. Government, adopting the previous suggestion of the Conservative party, now proposed that the colonial Parliament of Jamaica should once more be convoked, in order to give them another opportunity of introducins: suitable alterations in their internal 24 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. administration; and in case of peremptory refusal, the Governor should be empowered to make them himself according to circumstances. But even this proposal was met with energetic opposition in the lower House, while the upper House made still further modifications in the bill, which were at last consented to in the lower House. The question was thus for the present set at rest. Of the other proceedings of ParHament during this session we will only mention two notable facts. Macaulay, to the great scandal of the Tories, was bold enough to declare himself in favour of a motion for voting by ballot made by the Radical Grote. Rowland Hill^s plan of the penny postage was intro- duced by Government in the House, and adopted despite a numerous opposition, in which even Sir Robert Peel had joined. The session closed on the 7th of August. 25 CHAP. IV, MARRIAGE OF THE QUEEN. — THE STOCKDALE-HANSARD DISPUTE IN THE PARLIAMENT OF 1840. The new session began on the 16th of January, 1840. The Address from the Throne contained many interesting topics, among which was the announce- ment of the royal marriage. The pohtical topics in it gave rise to the ordinary attacks upon and de- fence of the ministerial policy, and were only distin- guished by an unusual want of tact and judgment on the part of the Tories in marking out a new field of battle against the Ministers. The union of the ministerial with the O^Connell party had roused in the Tories a suspicion against the orthodox feelings of the Ministers, and they expressed a fear lest the Sovereign herself might be infected with the religious malady. It was no doubt meant as a petty revenge c 26 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. for her having shown so much personal satisfaction with the Whig Ministry. With an emphasis truly comical, the Duke of Wellington found fault with the address because Ministers had omitted to state in it whether the future consort of her Majesty was really a Protestant according to the laws of the land. He actually persuaded the upper House to insert in the reply a few words to that effect. Lord Brougham was the only one who saw in the manoeuvre great danger for the public welfare, and entreated their Lordships not to indulge in personal vindictiveness. The new field of personalities seemed to the latter^ however, so interesting that, when in a few days the bill of naturalization was brought before them, their Lordships refused to sanction the clause in which the rank next to the Queen had been accorded to the Prince, and actually struck it out from the bill ; whilst in the lower House the Tories succeeded in reducing the allowance to the Prince from £50,000 to £30,000 sterling. All this was but a preliminary and indirect attack against the Ministers, who were about to be assailed in a more direct and decisive manner. On the 28th of January Sir T. Yarde BuUer moved for a vote of want of confidence in Government. The ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 27 parties were so nearly balanced in strength that the result was looked for with great anxiety. Nothing told against the Ministers so severely as the deficient state of the finances^ to which Sir Robert Peel pointed with unusual eloquence. The impossibility^ however^ of forming a new Administration was a circumstance greatly in favour of the existing Cabinet^ and after lengthened debates of three days^ duration^ the motion was lost by 308 against 287, Before we proceed to notice the changes in the home and foreign policy of the country^ which brought about the definitive fall of the Ministry in the follow- ing year^ we will briefly mention an event almost unparalleled in the annals of parliamentary history^ and which^ though it had already commenced in 1837^ was not terminated until the session of 1840. We allude to the Stockdale-Hansard dispute rela- tive to the printing privilege. In one of the Parliamentary Committee Reports on prison discipline^ it was observed that there were found upon some of the prisoners at Newgate obscene works published by a certain Stockdale. The latter brought an action for libel against Hansard^ the parlia- mentary printer^ in November^ 1836. Hansard c2 28 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. pleaded in his defence the authority of Parliament^ and the question naturally arose whether that autho- rity exempted him from responsibility in the publica- tion of libel. Lord Denman declared himself against that view. ^^ I know/^ he said^ ^' of no corporation in England that has the right to authorise the pub- lication and sale of a libel, and he that sells such a publication is himself responsible for the act/^ But the Committee of the House declared that Parliament possesses unlimited right to publish as much as it pleases of its own proceedings^ that Parliament con- stitutes its own and only tribunal as regards the ex- istence and extent of its privileges^ and that there is consequently no other tribunal in the realm that can control its actions. Hansard, in consequence of the decision of the House, not having thought it neces- sary to answer and appear any more before the Court, was judged in contumace, and a warrant of distress executed on his property by the Sheriffs of London. Matters had arrived at this stage when Lord John Russell, on the very first day of the session of 1840, moved that Stockdale, his attorney, and also the Sheriffs, should be arrested as offenders against the authority of the House. The motion was acted upon, t ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 29 and the parties arrested. Stockdale^ however^ having shown repentance^ and expressed his regret^ was libe- rated. B Lit no sooner had he recovered his liberty than he recommenced an action against Hansard. To put a stop to the conflicting decisions Lord John Russell introduced a bill for the protection of parliamentary publications. The motion having passed the lower House^ was accepted also by the upper House^ with a few modifications^ and all the prisoners were there- upon set free. As usualp the Irish affairs again occupied most of the time and labour of Parliament^ and as usual every- thing remained in statu quo. The strength of the par- ties had become so nearly balanced^ that neither was able to advance a step. We pass over all the unimport- ant discussions on the subject^ as also those on the state of the finances^ which clearly showed an increased deficit^ and we will only make some allusion to the Chi- nese war^ which had broken out about this time : w^e mention it simply because it afforded to party spirit food for bitter criticism^ more especially as the Govern- ment had not at first carried on the war with suffi- cient firmness^ nor assumed the most suitable position at the negotiations of peace. We shall not here in- 30 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. vestigate the question as to the justice or injustice of that war^ although its characteristic indication as the Opium War seems to us a perfect misnomer. During that session, Lord John Russell, after much opposi- tion, succeeded in passing a bill for the union of the two Canadas. A bill also passed for the appoint- ment of Prince Albert as Eegent, in case of the death of the Queen during the minority of the heir ap- parent to the throne. Parliament was prorogued on the 11th of August with the usual pomp and ceremony. 31 CHAP. V. THE PARTIES, AND FALL OF THE WHIG MINISTRY IN 1841. In the interval between the two sessions^ public opinion had been greatly excited by various events both at home and abroad. The treaty which had been concluded on the 15th Jnly^ 1840, between Eng- land^ Russia^ Prussia^ and Austria^ for the restitution of Syria to the Sultan^ had led to popular discontent in France. The diplomatic defeat which the Thiers Ministry had suffered was to be counterbalanced by artificial manoeuvres, calculated to frighten England into concessions. All the French tapage, however, was unable to save Syria for Mehemet Ali ; Lord • Palmerston^s victory was complete, and Thiers was obliged to hand over the portfolio to Guizot, his rival. The opinion of English statesmen of all parties was in favour of the ministerial measures, by which 32 ENGLAND UNDER ^HE PRESENT REIGN, alone^ it was believed, a general European war could be prevented. But the people at large were far from being agreed upon the point. The Liberals, as well as the Radicals, disapproved of the steps taken by Government. The former condemned the rupture with France as a concession to the so-called absolute powers, and as an injury inflicted on the progress of liberal notions generally, that party being accustomed to view, in the union of France and England, the guarantee of the constitutional principle adopted in both countries. The Radicals, on the other hand, had an aversion to war generally. War was with them only another term for increased taxes, decreas- ing revenue, and, above all, a preponderant influence of the aristocracy. These disputes were not without influence on the vital questions on which soon after the fate of the Cabinet depended. About the same time, two agitations, diametrically opposed to each other in character and principle, en- grossed public attention, but, strange to say, both found at a later period an exponent in one and the same man. The agitation conducted by Sir Robert Peel in favour of the restoration of the Tory influence had been of some years' standing, and was nearing ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 33 its successful issue ; while that of the Anti-Corn- Law League^ headed by Cobden^ was in its incipient career, and had as yet found but little sympathy among the people at large. The means employed by the two agitators were as different from each other as were the ends they had in view. Sir Robert PeePs efforts were particularly directed to the undeni- able errors of his opponents^ which he tried to turn to the advantage of his own party. He did so with all the skill of a man who had become great in party warfare^ who was slow but sure in aiming a blow. He was certainly not over nice in the choice of his means^ but_, having pronounced himself against the most important view^s of the Whigs, the Tories had some claim upon his leadership in the House, where, though he did not positively support all their preju- dices^ he listened passively to their opinions^ thereby inducing a belief at least that he tacitly approved of them. His first advice was to reconstruct the party by parliamentary election, i. e., to bring upon the elective registers in the towns and boroughs as many votes as possible^ — a scheme by which he really succeeded^ year after year, in strengthening the Opposition in Parlia- ment. Relying upon the gradually increasing strength c 3 34 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. of his party^ he refused^ in 1839, the temptation of constructing a Cabinet upon the as yet slender prospect of success : his hope lay in the future. The growing deficiencies in the revenue^ arising in part from his own opposition to some of the salutary measures brought forward by Government^ by which the cala- mity might possibly have been averted^ tended on the one hand to deprive the Ministers more and more of partisans^, and to promote his own views on the other. It was quite different with Cobden^s agitation. Hoping to succeed at last in having the Corn Laws repealed^ his parliamentary activity consisted in pleading, though in vain, session after session, for their repeal, whilst his labours out of the House were zealously employed in persuading the people of the iniquity of those laws. But here also the cause he pleaded for did not meet with rapid or enthusiastic success. The Anti-Corn-Law League had been founded as early as 1838 by merchants in Manchester, perhaps not without some selfish motive to lower the rate of labour by cheapening the prices of food — a cir- cumstance which prevented the cause from becoming popular in less time. The League had thus to encounter enemies from two opposite sides : the Aristocracy and ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN, 35 the Landed Interest on the one hand^ and the Chart- ists on the other. The former were either appre- hensive of losing their influence^ or laboured under the impression that protective duties are essential to national welfare. The Chartists^ on the other hand^ saw in the labours of the League only a combination to benefit the manufacturers at the expense of the work- ing classes. The members of the League^ though they were as yet too weak as an independent party^ were nevertheless of considerable importance as auxiliaries. O^Connell lent them his support^ as did also a consi- derable number of the dissenting clergy ; but the grand operations of the League^ as a great fact, began at a much later period. These various operations^ agitations^ and manoeu- vres appeared in the foreground of the debates soon after the meeting of Parliament on the 26th of January^ 1841^ when the campaign opened respecting the foreign policy of the Government. But as the leaders of the parties^ as we have already men- tioned^ approved of that policy^ the attacks led to no result. It was different^ however^ with the position of affairs at home. Various circumstances had conspired to render the present session one of the 36 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. most important in the annals of Parliament. The term of the New Poor-Law system^ which had been adopted in 1834^ was about expiring in 1841^ and a motion for its prolongation gave full scope to party feelings. The passions to which those laws gave rise were of a most acrimonious character. The land- owners^ whose patriarchal infjuence on the rural popu- lation had ceased with the introduction of those laws^ and the labouring classes^ who quarrelled with the principle of being relieved by the state only in cases of distress and utter helplessness^ now went hand in hand in opposition to that system^ and with them also a great number of those who had stigmatised the Poor Laws^ more especially when first brought into forcC; as cruel and barbarous. This united and vio- lent opposition led to long and extended debates^ which were only closed in favour of the new Poor Laws by the unanimous acknowledgment of the leaders of all parties that the old system had only tended to impoverish and demoralise the country^ and to impose taxes to an unbearable extent ; and that con- sequently to remedy the evil it was necessary to in- troduce new and more efficient laws into the system. A motion to reject the Government bill for the pro- ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 37 lona'ation of the Poor Law Commissioners was ne- gatived, and Government at last claimed a victory in that respect. With regard to Scotland^ the Kirk affairs there en- grossed the attention of the upper House to a consi- derable extent. The question turned mainly as to whether the right of appointing a minister does not exclusively belong to the community. The strict Presbyterians^ with Dr. Chalmers at their head^ de- cided in favour of the community^ and their influence on the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was so great^ that the latter divested of their dignity all those Presbyters who had installed church minis- ters without the sanction of the community. The subject was then brought before Parliament, where various means were in vain devised to reconcile the two parties. The disputes resulted in a complete separation of the parties^ the orthodox Presby- terians having resolved to found by their own means a non-intrusion Kirk. Of far more importance for the development of party prospects was the resumption of the Irish ques- tion. Both Lord Stanley (now Earl of Derby) and the Government brought in, almost simultaneously. 38 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. bills for the amendment of the laws on the qualifica- tions of Irish electors. Notwithstanding O'ConnelPs passionate appeals in favour of the ministerial plan, the Government was sev^eral times defeated, and at last compelled to adopt the plan submitted by Lord Stanley. The time was fast approaching when the Ministers would be forced to yield to the rule of their opponents. It must, indeed, appear strange to any one who is somewhat familiar with the principles of state affairs, that such a scientific and practical statesman as Lord John Russell should have refused to surrender the Government to the Opposition after so many parlia- mentary defeats in both the years 1839 and 1840. We must consider, however, that the Tories had then formed, as perhaps now, only a factious Opposition in the House, to whom the Ministers were perhaps un- willing to sacrifice the higher interests of the country. That this same party should when in power (as subse- quently in 1852) carry out the very principles pro- pounded by the Whig Cabinet, was a thing the least expected from them, but which will be more fully ex- plained in the sequel. The greatest enemy of the Whig Cabinet was al- ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN, 39 Avays its financial embarrassment, which had increased from year to year ; and the danger was still more aggra- vated by the circumstance that the Government was unable to devise means to remedy the evil^ simply be- cause the remedy was closely connected with radical measures affecting the financial and economical prin- ciples of the country^ measures which the Ministers did not possess sufficient power to carry through the House. The decrease above alluded to^ under the Whig ad- ministration^ is shown in the following table : — 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 Deficiency of Revenue. £654,860 345,227 1,512,793 1,593,971 2,101,370 Whilst the five preceding years exhibit a surplus of revenue in each year^ viz. : — 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 Surplus of Revenue. £614,759 1,512,093 1,608,155 1,620,941 2,130,092 40 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. At the eleventli hour^ however^ Ministers^ find- ing their position untenable^ made an attempt at a financial reform^ calculating^ no doubt^ on the popu- larity of the measure^ and the assistance of the Anti- Corn-Law League^, and no less, perhaps^ on the diffi- culties and embarrassments they were thereby pre- paring for the Opposition^ whose accession to power could be no longer doubted. On the 30th of Aprils the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer having made his financial statement to the House^ Lord John Russell announced his intention of moving in a Committee of the whole House^ on the 31st May^ for a revision of the Corn Laws. On the part of the Ministers it was undisguisedly stated that alterations in the existing Customs Tariff had become a matter of necessity^ both for the purpose of improv- ing the public revenue^ and for the better develop- ment of native industry. The discussions to which the motion gave rise were followed by a general movement throughout the country. The Anti- Corn- Law League redoubled its exertions : it formed branch societies^ — sent emissaries to all parts of the kingdom^ — and raised a popular cry^ ^^ Cheap Bread f^ whilst the Opposition in Parliament^ aided by the societies ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 41 established for the abolition of slavery^ raised against that measure a counter^ not less popular^ cry of ^^ Slave Suffar/^ the differential duty on which Ministers had proposed to abolish. The question of Free Trade then^ for the first time^ came before the House in the form of the sugar question. The approaching fall of the Cabinet might have been foreseen in the haughty words of Sir Robert Peel^ which contrasted remarkably with those by which he^ a few years later^ expressed the fiindamental principles of his policy : — '^^I do not intend/^ he addressed the Whigs^ '^to follow your example^ to oppose now the measure be- fore us^ and recommend it next year to Parliament. . . 1 am no general friend to the principle that our right policy consists in buying in the cheapest market. I prefer a sliding-scale to a fixed duty.^"* In the course of his speech^ he gave it to be un- derstood that he considered himself as the future Minister of the Crown^ although he contented him- self on that occasion with a general promise to re- store the balance between the revenue and expendi- ture. He certainly was not quite wrong when he con- cluded his speech by telling the Ministers that it was only the fear of losing office that prompted them to 42 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. the proposal of these measures. On this occasion^ Lord Palmerston made a very spirited speech on Cus- toms Duties^ in which he showed himself a staunch advocate of absolute Free Trade. At a division^ the Ministers lost by 36 votes (317 against 281). It was generally expected that they would at last have thought it advisable to resign. They still lingered in office^ however^ and Sir Robert Peel thought it then right to hasten the catastrophe by a direct motion of want of confidence in Ministers. The debates on the motion began on the 27th May^ and lasted during seven sittings. On a division^ the mo- tion was carried by a majority of one (312 against 311); and the Ministers then declared that under these circumstances the country must decide by a fresh election. Parliament was prorogued on the 22nd of June_, and dissolved on the succeeding day. The new Parliament was convoked for the 19th of August; and the election agitations commenced imme- diately after the dissolution of the old one. The new liberal measures in commerce which the Government held out in prospect increased^ rather than diminished^ the number of the Opposition. The foreign relations of the country^ to which some writers attribute the fall ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 43 of the Cabinet^ played but a secondary part upon the hustings; nor were attempts omitted on this occa- sion to stigmatise the Tory party as one prone to offer personal insults to the Queen. The result of the elections was a decided majority for the Tories of 70 to 80 votes. The paragraph in the address from the throne^ recommending the expediency of making alterations in the existing Corn Laws^ became the battle field on which the victory to be gained re- mained no longer doubtful. In the upper House^ the ministerial address remained in a minority of 72 votes^ whilst in the lower House^ though the for- mer Whig candidate^ Shaw Lefevre^ was re-elected Speaker^ a counter-address was moved by the Oppo- sition. After lengthened debates^ the ministerial address was also here rejected by a majority of 91 (360 against 269). On the 30th of August the Ministers declared their resignation in both Houses^ whereupon the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel were commissioned by the Queen to form a new Cabinet. * 44 CHAP. VI. THE PEEL CABINET OF SEPTEMEEE 1, 1841. The new Cabinet came into power on the 1st of September^, 1841. It consisted of persons wbo had either already served in a Tory Ministry^ or distin- guished themselves in the late debates against the Whigs. Nothing was now heard of the difficulties which Sir R. Peel was alleged to have met in 1839, concerning the personal attendants of the Queen. The Tories were again at the head of the Administra- tion_, which was chequered with various tendencies, though its outward appearance betokened a uniform principle. Sir R. Peel throughout his public career had always belonged to the Conservative party, where his talents secured him an honourable position. But he was a Conservative after a peculiar fashion of his own. His efforts and principles were always directed ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 45 against tlie abuses in legislation and public life^ and he never refused to give his aid in support of facts which could no longer be denied. Though only a second-rate orator^ his words and thoughts were clear and to the point ; as a statesman he was cau- tious^ almost to a fault ; he was neither too sanguine in his expectations^, nor too positive in promises. These qualities^ added to his financial talents^ had endeared him to his party and the nation at large. His faithful shield-bearer^ ever since the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Bill^ was the Duke of Wellington^ who had been by turns idolised and scorned by his countrymen^ but who occupied^ under all circumstances^ an important position. Though the Duke was not brought up a statesman^ nature had endowed him with a rich portion of com- mon sense^ or mother-wit^ which was still more sharpened by the various and extraordinary difficulties of his military career. He entered the new Cabinet without a portfolio^ and belonged to the moderate Tories. The Duke of Buckingham^ who was appointed Lord Privy Seal^ was neither distinguished for his oratory nor political abilities^ but he joined the Cabi- 46 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. net as the personification^ as it were^ of the Corn Laws^ of wMcli lie was a stauncli advocate. The proposals of the fallen Cabinet, which tended to modify those laws^ proved one of the stepping-stones by which Sir R. Peel had attained his present position; and it can- not be wondered that the Corn-Law party thought they had found their exponent in the new Cabinet. Of a very diflPerent cast was Lord Lyndhurst^ a skilful orator^ an eminent debater^ and one of the greatest lawyers of the realm, who (though of plebeian origin^ from North America) ruled hj his will the Tory party in the upper House. When in the Opposition it was his custom^ at the close of every session, to favour the House with an analysis of the ministerial proceedings during the session. These speeches were replete with biting criticisms and witty strictures on the views and doings of the Cabinet, to the great edification of his hearers. He became Lord Chancellor in the new Cabinet. Lord Stanley (now Earl of Derby) belonged formerly to the Whigs, and he it was who introduced the Catholic Emanci- pation Bill. Difi*erences however, on the application of Irish church property, had brought him over to the Tory camp. Passionate by nature, he bore a profound EXGLAXD UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 47 hatred_, ever since lie bad been Secretary for Ireland^ against O^ Connelly wbo bad indulged in malicious sarcasms against tbat baugbty nobleman. As a statesman^ be stands accused of many faults, nor bas be ever^ owing to tbe impetuosity of bis temper^ produced mucb eflPect as an orator^, tbougb be knows bow to lend a peculiar cbarm to bis speecbes. To bim was allotted tbe Secretarysbip for tbe Co- lonies. Sir James Grabam bad previously left tbe Wbig Cabinet on tbe same occasion as Lord StanleVj, and be now entered tbe Tory Cabinet witb bim as Home Secretary. Sir James is one of tbose practical and sbrewd men^ wbo^ witbout occupying tbe first rank^ know bow to render tbemselves indispensable to tbeir party. Lord Aberdeen was appointed Foreign Se- cretary^ a post be bad previously occupied under tbe Wellington Ministry. He possesses no extraordinary talents^ and was at an earlier period accused of par- tiality for continental absolutism. But little remains to be said of tbe otber members of tbe new Cabinet : suffice it to mention tbat tbe bigb cburcb party was not unrepresented amongst tbem. It is a fact^ tbougb tbe Tories would not admit it, 48 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. that there existed no uniformity in the leading ideas either in the Cabinet or in the party at large ; neither could Sir R. Peel boast of possessing the full and implicit confidence of his party. The High Church- men had- not yet forgiven him his apostacy in favour of the Catholic Emancipation Bill^ whilst the land- owners suspected in him a leaning towards a more liberal policy in commerce^ so much so that his party even muttered loud threats of deserting him should he ever take it into his head to attack the palladium of the Corn Laws. Sir Robert^ on his part_, viewed these threats as mere childish poutings^ conscious that he was indispensable to the party. He positively refused pledging himself for the maintenance of the Corn Laws^ and the whole of his conduct showed a reluct- ance to limit the free sphere of his pohtical opera- tions by any previous engagement or promise. He demanded obedience^ and would not allow questions. The English nation appears to have witnessed his re- elevation to office with satisfaction. It expected from him a better management of the public finances at home^ and a restoration of peaceable relations abroad. Differences with North America and France, war ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 49 in China and the East Indies^ were the inheritance left by the Whig Cabinet. Cobden^s agitation had gained much gronnd in Ireland. O^Connell saluted the return of the Tories to power with open hostility. New unions were founded^ new plans devised^ and the Repeal agitation extended far and wide ; while the agitator himself no longer hesitated to exclaim^ loudly and publicly^ that ^^ England^s weakness is Ire- land's strength/' so long as there was a chance of a war with France. The new Parliament met on the 16th of Septem- ber^ anxiously awaiting the measures to be brought forward by the new Minister. Sir Robert^ however^ contented himself for the moment with adopting the old budget of the last Cabinet^ and proposing to cover the deficit with new exchequer biUs and a trifling loan. The principal reason of the delay was that the Ministers had not as yet come to a perfect understanding on the new measures to be proposed^ owing to the heterogeneous elements of which the Cabinet was composed. Even his own party looked with dissatisfaction^ if not with suspicion^ at the delay. Sir Robert^ however^ remained true to his principle^ not to be shackled in his public labours D 50 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. by considerations apart jfrom public duties. He was independent of friend and foe^ and bis financial measures^ as also tbe renewal of tbe Poor Laws^ wbich lie moved for^ were consented to, and the House finally adjourned on tbe 7tb of October. 51 CHAP. VII. peel's financial and customs measures of 1842. The interval between the sessions was employed on all sides in preparation for the coining contest. The Ministers were fully engaged with the unsettled state of foreign affairs in which Lord Palmerston had left them. The difference with France was daily assuming a more threatening attitude, while the dis- putes relative to the Oregon territory were still further aggravated by the proceedings of the North American tribunal against Mac Leod^ a British officer. Neither were the Asiatic wars calculated to lessen the difficulties of the Cabinet. Public opinion in England had^ for the last forty years^ always been in favour of honourable peace^ and the endeavours of Lord Aberdeen were in consequence employed to procure peace without actually betray- D 2 52 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. ing the honour of the nation. Ministers^ however^ succeeded in their endeavours. France was at last pacified ; Lord Ashburton was sent on a special mis- sion to the United States to settle the question at issue; whilst^ in India and China^ war was continued with vigour and activity. The internal position of England^ indeed^ rendered a pacific policy not only advisable but even necessary. The exports had de- creased from J53,233,000 in 1839 to £47,381,000 in 1843; showing a decrease of six millions, of which three millions fell to the account of cotton manufactures alone, which amounted in 1839 to £24,550,000, and in 1842 to £21,679,000. Several mills had stopped working, and a great number of operatives had been thrown out of employment — a circumstance that led to disturbances in some of the manufacturing districts. Agricultural produce, too, had experienced a considerable decline; wheat had fallen in price from 70^. ^d, per quarter in 1839 to 57^. Zd. per quarter in 1842; oats from 25^. lid, to 19^. Zd. per quarter; barley from 39^. 6c?. to 27^. Qd, per quarter. The complaint of distress was thus of a general character, and the sympathies of the working classes were assailed by the two leading agitations of ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 53 the Chartists and the Anti-Corn-Law League^ — the one claiming for them increased wages^ and the other cheap bread. The manufacturers and merchants naturally sided with the League^ which as its pecuniary resources increased was enabled to employ expen- sive means for establishing branch societies, publish- ing millions of tracts, and sending emissaries through- out the kingdom to preach to the masses the necessity of abolishing the Corn Laws. The Chartists were thus left in the background, probably from want of proper means to carry on the agitation on a more extended scale. What the intention of Government was with re- gard to the Corn Laws no one. could tell; it remained a Cabinet secret, and the public only exhausted itself in conjectitres, although the withdrawal of the Duke of Buckingham from the Cabinet, early in 1842, seemed to have afforded some clue to it. It was rumoured that he was induced to that step by the measures intended to be introduced by the Govern- ment with regard to the Corn Laws, to which he could not give his consent. It was at all events a signal to friend and foe that some alteration was to be pro- posed. The address from the throne, on the 3rd of 54 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. February^ 1842^ (at which the King of Prussia was present^) announced that measures would be brought forward touching the Finances^ Commerce, and the Corn Laws of the country. On the 9th of February, Sir Robert Peel made Parliament acquainted with his plans. The attention of the country had been strained to the utmost, and all the avenues leading to the House were literally blocked up by an im- mense crowd of spectators, whilst a procession of the Anti-Corn-Law League tried to give a certain direc- tion to the views of the assembly. It must indeed have been a proud moment for an individual who owed everything to himself to have excited so much attention and curiosity throughout the country, al- though much more gratification of personal ambition was in store for him at a later period. In a speech which lasted for several hours, and which was listened to with breathless attention. Sir Robert dwelt on the causes of commercial distress, which he skilfully connected with the existing Corn Laws. He did not believe, he said, that low prices of corn had anything to do with the material welfare of the country at large, since England produced enough of it for her own consumption; and, added ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 55 he, as it would be dangerous to make her depend too much on the importation of corn from abroad^ pro- tection to native agriculture was highly necessary. He was therefore not inclined to make any alteration in the principle of the existing sliding scale, but merely some modifications in its application, by fixing the maximum of the duty at 20^. instead^ as hitherto^ at 35^. 8d, He closed his speech by assur- ing the House that in devising his plans he had the interests of all classes of society in view. It will be seen that Sir Robert was more circum- spect than bold in his proposals. But though he dared not to attack the principle of the existing laws^ or the mighty interests connected with them^ he did more than enough to alarm his agricultural friends. Neither was he more fortunate with the Opposition^ who demanded a fixed duty ; while the League depre- cated a duty of any kind. Though he was most vio- lently assailed by both parties in Parliament^ he car- ried his measures triumphantly through the House^ simply because there was no person to occupy his place with safety. The amendment of Lord John Eussell for a fixed duty of Ss. per quarter was nega- tived by 349 against 326 votes^ whilst Villier»^ motion 56 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. for the entire abolition of the Corn Laws was rejected by a majority of 303. Christopher^s motion for a higher sliding scale was also negatived^ the majority being 306 against 104^ and the original plan was consented to on the 5th of April. Before the Corn Bill had passed through all its stages^ Sir Robert brought in his new financial measure of a direct income tax of sevenpence per pound sterling on all incomes exceeding £150 per annum. He considered the increase or even introduction of new indirect taxes as injurious to the prosperity of the country^ and proposed on the contrary a diminution in the rate of customs duties. Neither the opposition of the Whigs to^ nor even the open discontent of the people in some parts of the country with^ the mea- sure had any effect on his resolution. He knew his position^ calculated correctly^ and carried his plan against all opposition^ high and low. The bill^ by which a new element was introduced in national economy^ passed both Houses and received the Royal sanction. The third financial measure had reference to the alterations in the Customs Tarifi*^ which he laid before the House on the 5th of May. The various ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 57 rates of duties^ prohibitions^ and exemptions which pervaded the British tariff had wrought a perfect con- fusion in its application for practical purposes. Some of the provisions for restricting the trade of particu- lar countries had been made in a spirit of hostility^ more especially as regarded France ; others were mani- festly made for the exclusive benefit of the treasury^ and again others for the encouragement of industry generally. The confusion was still further enhanced by the complicated regulations of the Navigation Laws. It is true that several modifications had been effected in the tariff since the year 1820_, and from that year to 1841 inclusive^ duties had been repealed to the estimated amou.nt of <£9jl90_,900"^^ whilst those imposed only amounted to <£3_,746^800; leaving a balance of £5^444^100 for the actual amount of re- ductions. Nevertheless^ these alterations were of such a contradictory character that it was evident the Legislature was guided by no definite principle. Thus^ in one year^ five articles on which the duties were reduced were in the year following subjected to an increased duty. On some luxuries the duties ^ See Appendix. D 3 58 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. were diminislied^ while on some necessaries they were increased — the produce from one colony was favoured^ whilst that from another was refused equal privileges — some exports were subjected to duty^ and some imports exempted. In shorty the whole tariff regu- lations betrayed a want of system and uniformity in the principle of taxation. The proposals which Sir Robert Peel now made were planned in a financial point of view. All duties which tended to check trade without benefiting the revenue he proposed to abolish. This category comprised the greatest number of arti- cles in the then existing tariff. Another category^ on which he proposed either to reduce or to repeal the duties^ embraced raw materials employed in manufac- tures^ or as necessaries of life. The plan was of a comprehensive nature_, and the extraordinary impres- sion it made throughout Em'ope will hardly be for- gotten by his contemporaries. The most remarkable part of his speech on that occasion was the conclusion^ in which he manifested a thorough bias for Free Trade. ^^I know/^ said he, ^^that many members who are zealous advocates for Free Trade are of opinion that I have not gone far enough. Neither do I believe that opinions now differ as regards the prin- ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 59 ciple of Free Trade. I think that all are agreed that we should buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest. But/^ continued he_, ^^ after mature consi- deration of the present state of the country^ and the effect of the change on the landed interests^ I think it advisable to make no further alterations in our com- mercial legislation.^^ The effect of the speech and plan was decisive. The alterations in the customs tariff were favourably received by the leading merchants and manufacturers ; whilst the League^ as well as the working classes, viewed the income tax and the reduction of the corn duties as at least the first steps towards cheapening bread and diminishing their own burdens, arising from taxes, &c. The Whig Opposition, therefore, at once » acceded to the plan, but nevertheless claimed the credit of having first suggested it. In proportion, however, as Sir Robertas new liberal plans found favour with the country and the Whigs, the indignation of the Tories and landowners rose with redoubled force. Their suspicions and appre- hensions were realised; they thought that he had betrayed their interests, and a powerful opposition against his measures was formed by his own friends 60 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. in both Houses of Parliament^ as well as by nume- rous meetings held in the rural districts. Notwith- standing this opposition,, his measures were carried^, and his proposed customs tariff, with a few modifi- cations^ became the law of the land. Sir Robert Peers position was singular in the extreme. He triumphed over his enemies by the help of his friends^ and scorned the ill-will of his friends by the aid of his enemies. He advanced step by step in his new career; and, while he inflicted injuries on the highest interests in existence, he created new mate- rial powers, and prepared new moral and physical engines for the future prosperity of England. In the meanwhile, the Chartists had found leisure and means to organise their body and to ramify their associations in several parts of the country, and whicli at that moment seemed to threaten danger to the tranquilhty of the nation at large. Stagnation in trade and commerce, the effects of which were felt by all classes of society, and more especially amongst the operatives, afforded to the Chartist leaders a fair opportunity of promulgating their doctrines among the masses, who held numerous meetings, day and night, canvassing their rights and devising the most direct ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 61 means of attaining tliem^ and thereby improving the condition of the working classes. After frequent dis- turbances and strikes, a giant petition, purported to be signed by upwards of three milhons of persons^ was brought in grand procession^ on the 2nd of May^ to the House^ and presented to Parliament — in the lower House by Duncombe^ and afterwards in the upper House by Lord Brougham. The petition con- tained the six principal points of the '^ People^ s Char- ter J^ The motion of the member for Finsbury to allow the petitioners, or their representatives, to plead for themselves was — as might be expected — negatived by a large majority, 287 against 49. votes. It may not be uninteresting to mention that the discussion turned chiefly upon one of the points prayed for^ by the Charter, viz., general suffrage, — and that the liberal Macaulay was amongst those who strenuously opposed it, though in the session of 1839 he voted in favour of Grote^s motion for vote by ballot. It is not our task to enumerate here the whole pro^ ceedings of the session of 1842. We must content ourselves with sketching the most important points of the parliamentary labours. The disturbances in the manufacturing districts, chiefly the result of the 62 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. Chartist agitations^ had considerably occupied the attention of Parliament^ and though they gave rise to repeated discussions on the subject no practical result ensued from the debate. The bill of Lord Ashley (now Earl of Shaftesbury) for limiting the labour of women and children in coal mines met with much greater success. Sir James Graham^s bill for the prolongation of the Poor Laws experienced much opposition^ but as public opinion was decidedly in their favour^ the bill passed notwithstanding. The close of the session was now approaching^ and al- though Sir Robert Peel had overcome the great ob- stacles in his way^ he was yet unable to averts or even soften in some degree^ the injurious effects of party spirit. The political parties were more at variance than ever^ and the agitations of the working classes were far from being terminated. Indications of an armed rise were visible in the manufacturing districts of the kingdom^ and Lord Palmerston, in his speech at the close of the session^ in pointing to the disturbed state of the country around them^ found many causes for censuring the policy of the Govern- ment. Sir Robert Peel^ on the other side/ analysed the injuries inflicted on the country by the erroneous ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 63 policy of the members of tlie late Government^ who^ he thought^ were now responsible for the sufferings of the people^ which he had partly succeeded in re- moving by his own more just and skilful policy. Nor did he with less pride point to the success of the army in the East since his accession to the Admi- nistration. The relations with France^ the United States^ and the Brazils were^ however^ still in an unsatisfactory position when the session was brought to a close^ on the 12th August. 64 CHAP. VIII. THE COEN LAW AGITATION. — THE CHUECH AFFAIRS OF SCOT- LAND. — THE lEISH AGITATION IN 1843, AND THE BANK EEFOEM IN 1844. The Corn-Law agitation^ wliicli had increased to an unparalleled extent throughout the whole of Eng- land^ again claimed public attention. Unions were formed^ public meetings held^ lectures delivered^ and millions of tracts distributed^ by which means the agitation penetrated into the circles of the rich and the poor^ and challenged the most quiet families to discussion on the justice of the Corn Laws. At the head of the movement stood the indefatigable Cobden^ assisted by Bright, Fox^ Wilson^ and others. Manchester was their seat and focus. The late measures of Sir Eobert Peel^ which they regarded as a step in advance towards the establishment of their principles^ encouraged them still more to per- ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 65 severe in their undertaking. The Corn-Law ques- tion did not^ however^ long remain limited to its own sphere^ but soon identified itself with the ques- tion of Free Trade generally^ and paved the way to political debates in the approaching Parliament of a more comprehensive character in commercial legisla- tion. Neither was the Chartist agitation doomed to be passed by in silence in the ensuing session. The monster petition having led to no beneficial results^ the indignation of the working classes rose with the increasing distress of their condition^ and vented itself in frequent outbreaks of a violent character^ which^ though easily quelled^ might have served as a signal for a general outbreak^ which Government thought could only be anticipated by salutary laws. The Irish aff*airs had also assumed a serious aspect. O^ Connelly availing himself of the unpopular position of the Tories in Ireland, made an attempt to obtain a separate Parliament for that kingdom. He in- fused new life into the National Loyal Association, (founded in 1840^) the focus of Irish agitations. Penny contributions constituted the donors mem- bers of the association^ while repeated meetings were held in all parts of the island^ by which a 66 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. general enthusiasm was roused amongst the Irish (a people accessible to rapid impressions)^ for liberty and independence^ such as they heard preached from the pulpits and propounded in the lecture halls of their country. O^Connell and his tail spent but little time that year in Parliament^ in order to have more leisure for carrying out their plans. We shall see^ by and by^ how that comprehensive agitation was checked in its progress by a single measure of the Government^ that was neither coercive in its nature nor fraught with bloodshed in its execution. In pacific and industrious Scotland a movement had also developed itself^ which^ although of a purely ecclesiastical character^ was destined to play an im- portant part in the political state of that country^ and which may^ perhaps^ not be without influence even on the future condition of England herself. We allude to the separation of the Secessionists from the Esta- blished Church in Scotland. It need scarcely be mentioned that the presbyterian church is in Scot- land what the high church is in England. The union of that church with the State had deprived her of many of her rights^ and more particularly of the right previously enjoyed by the congregation^ ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 67 of electing their own officiating clergy. A dispute about that privilege having thus arisen between the State and the Scotch Synod^ the year 1843 was destined to witness the separation of the parties so completely^ that by the side of the established church another party division was formed under the name of the Free Non-mtrusion Church, These gloomy prospects were still more darkened by the commercial crisis which manifested itself at the beginning of the year^ principally in the manu- facturing districts^ and which lessened to some extent the usual amount of public revenue. But for the happy turn of arms in the East^ and the full confi- dence of the nation in the power of Sir Robert Peel to avert the impending calamities^ his Cabinet must have succumbed under the heavy pressure of dangers at home and abroad. As it was^ however^ he felt himself strong enough to declare^ to the surprise of all^ at the very first sitting of Parliament^ which opened on the 3nd of February^ 1843^ that he had no intention of proposing any alterations in the internal or external legislation of the coun- try during that session; neither did he take any active part in the heated personal and virulent 68 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. debates that ensued between Cobden and the Pro- tectionists. In the meanwhile the League agitation increased to an enormous extent^ and as far as influence went it was only exceeded^ if at all^ by that of the Irish repeal, though in indefatigable activity they were well balanced. The session thus passed away in almost idle talk and bitter invectives^ and in some measure in the long and serious discussions in both Houses concern- ing the proclamation of the Governor- General of the East Indies^ Lord EUenborough^ respecting the gates of the temple of Somnauth^ which some fanatical members considered as an encouragement to Pa- ganism. Neither was this religious fanaticism less manifest in the plans of national education^ which Lord Ashley wanted to confide to the High Church clergy^ though the bill, which found many supporters^ miscarried in both Houses. Let us return to the Irish affairs. At the be- ginning of this year the agitations in Ireland had assumed such a formidable character^ that the Government was obliged to bring in a bill on the use of firearms in that country^ which, in spite of the ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 69 opposition of the Irish members^ passed both Houses. Indeed^, the banner of moral force, which O^Connell liad unfurled,, was about to give way to physical force by the impetuosity of theraasses. It is impossible to say whether O^Connell did not from the first specu- late upon physical display to intimidate Parliament into concessions ; but^ if such were really the case^ it was passing strange to see thousands of people^ whO; at the mere call of that arch agitator^ flocked together from all parts of Ireland to listen to speeches calculated to inflame their hearts and minds — it was passing strange to see them^ at the breaking up of those monster meetings^ return home in peace atid order more like well- disciplined troops than a multi- tude bent upon practical mischief. It would appear that O^ConnelFs intention was to organise the coun- try into a sort of military landwehr. Whether he actually promised himself a direct result from these demonstrations^ or used them merely as a vehicle for more indirect purposes^ who can decide with a man placed as he was in such peculiar circumstances ? Could a man of his penetration have been really in earnest when he said^ at one of these monster meet- ings^ that the Queen need only avail herself of her 70 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. prerogative to give to Ireland a Parliament of her own^ and tlius settle the whole business at once ? Could a man of his sagacixy and experience really have thought such a thing feasible in the present age ? Or was he^ with all his craft and cunnings not free himself from fanatical chimeras ? The Government had already^ in 1843^ increased the number of troops in Ireland^ and removed all the justices of the peace who had taken part in the agita- tion. O^Connell announced^ with unusual parade^, that a general meeting would be held on the 8th of October^ at Clontarf near Dublin. On the 7th the Government issued a proclamation against the meet- ing being held^ in consequence of which O^Connell postponed it. The military^ however^ were stationed on the spot on the succeeding day^ to keep in order the vast assemblage of people^ who^ being misin- formed^ flocked to the place. Six days afterwards^ O' Connelly together with his influential adherents, were arrested and accused of high treason. The details of the law suit do not belong to our history, and we will only observe that, notwithstanding all the subtle means employed to prolong the case, he was found guilty and condemned, but was soon after ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 71 released by the House of Lords_, on account of some teclinical informalities in the proceedings. This single blow seems to have at once put a stop to the whole agitation. O^ Connellys power was destroyed^ his energies paralysed^ and those who afterwards followed in his footsteps were but mere caricatures of the great agitator^ and have only given the coup cle grace to the Repeal agitation. Long before the final conclusion of O^ConnelFs case^ prolix debates on the Irish affairs had taken place in both Houses^ in which the Irish members and even O^Connell himself took part. A spirit of mildness^ if not of conciliation^ now pervaded the tenor of the debates ; there was no cry of triumph on the part of the Ministers^ nor of revenge on the part of the Irish members^ and O^Connell spoke only of recon- ciliation between kindred nations. The Govern- ment met him half way^ and measures were pro- posed to extend the elective franchise and reform the administration of the charitable institutions in Ireland^ to apppoint henceforth officers from both sects of the community instead of, as hitherto, only from the Protestant. Another measure was to abolish a number of penal laws against the Irish 72 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. Catholics^ whicli, though they were no longer of practical effect^ were at least theoretically existing amongst the laws of the land. The important and comprehensive measure of the Peel Cabinet^ in the session of 1844^ was the reform of the Banking system. The charter of the Bank of England requiring a renewal that year^ Sir Eobert took the opportunity of giving it a new aspect. As early as 1819 he had carried a measure against the excessive issue of paper money^ and he now completed the system by the introduction of a new law. The basis of the new plan was a fixed proportion between the issue of paper and the funds in hand ; he declared that experience had' shown that there was no gua- rantee against the excessive circulation of the paper currency, in the mere possibility of exchanging it for silver. He therefore proposed to divide the bank into two separate departments^ — one for the issue of bank notes^ and the other for the general business ; and also^ that each should publish a weekly summary of its transactions. This plan^ which after much opposition became law^ notwithstanding all the pre- dictions as to its fatal results in time of a commer- cial crisis, has proved beneficial to the country at ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 73 large^ simply because an assimilation was thereby created between the money transactions of the State and those of a private merchant. Also the sugar bill_, Avhich raised the duty on sugar of slave labour on the one hand^ and lowered that of free labour from our colonies on the other^ was of considerable influence on the position of the re- spective parties in the House. Lord John Eusseli had so far advanced in Free Trade views^ that he himself did not hesitate to move for the admission of slave-labour sugar at the same rates as free-labour sugar^ in apparent contradiction to the great measure of the Melbourne Cabinet^ as well as to the great horror of the pious folk of Great Britain^ while this half measure of Sir Robert PeeFs was generally viewed as a step taken towards Free Trade. During the session^ the opening of some private letters by the postmaster general at the instruction of Sir James Graham^ caused great excitement in the country^ and though it led to no particular result in Parliament^ it being founded on some old laws authorising in particular cases such violation of letter- secrets^ it practically put a stop to any further at- tempt of the kind. 74 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. Thus the year 1844 was one of progress and pa- cific development^ although the country had been violently agitated at home^ and menaced by hostile attitudes abroad. The dispute with France^ relating to the occupation of some of the South- Sea Islands^ was satisfactorily settled by Lord Aberdeen^ and the friendly relations between the two courts were strengthened by the personal visits which the Sove- reigns interchanged in the course of the year. The Emperor of Russia also made an unexpected visit to England^ which remained without any political result^ though he may have had some political motive (the division of Turkey) in view. New and more impor- tant steps of reform in the customs and financial departments were eagerly looked for in the coming session of 1845^ and with them also a remedy for the evils in Ireland. 75 CHAP. IX. THE MATXOOTH BILL, AND PEEL's EEFOEM OF THE CUSTOMS TAEIFF IN THE SESSION OF 1845. The year 1845 opened under the most favourable auspices : an abundant harvest, a return of pubHc confidence^ and the beneficial results of the new cus- toms measures to trade and commerce. These^ on the other hand^ had stimulated the most gigantic enter- prises in railways^ which afterwards led to great catastrophes. Parhament was opened on the 4th of February^ and the Address from the Throne contained two points of considerable importance — the renewal of the income tax, and the provision of more ample means for academical education in Ireland. Public opinion, however, had found means of guessing the proposal of the latter measure, before the opening of Parhament, by the withdrawal of Mr. Gladstone E 3 76 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. from the Cabinet^ a man who was well known to be in favour of high church principles^ if not even Puseyism. He afterwards admitted in the House that he was compelled to the step by the resolve of the Ministers to move for a more extended grant for the support of the Maynooth College. This was the only Catholic institution that received support from the State. It was founded in 1795 by the Irish Parliament^ for the purpose of p]^oviding the Irish church with native priests^ instead of importing them as heretofore from abroad. But the means allowed were too slender for the accomplishment of the object, and vastly contrasted with the luxurious wealth of the English universities. The Irish grant was, moreover, subject to an annual vote of renewal, which furnished ample scope for attacks on the Irish Catholics. On the 5th April, Sir Robert Peel introduced the Maynooth bill, by which an annual grant was pro- vided for that college. The excitement caused by the introduction of this measure almost passes description ; high churchmen and dissenters, more especially the Wesleyans, one and all raised the cry of alarm at the wickedness of the Ministers. ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 77 The dissenters had now forgotten the hardships that they had themselves endured from the esta- bHshed churchy and Sir Robert Peel^ who^ so long as he acted in the Opposition, had never hesitated to make bigotry the organ of his purposes^ may here have witnessed the fruit of his own example of fan- ning instead of stifling fanaticism for party purposes. Macaulay was not wrongs therefore^ when he after- wards said^ in supporting the measure^ ^^ Neither can I say that the right hon. Baronet does not deserve reproach from those who^ despite bitter experience^ have raised him to power for the second time to be for the second time again deceived in him — nor can I deny that it has always been the way of the right hon. Baronet to avail himself as leader of the Opposi- tion of passions for which he has no sympathy^ or of prejudices for which he entertained the profoundest contempt.^^ At Exeter Hall a sort of national assembly was convoked^ and the public press^ with a few exceptions^ teemed with articles on ^^ No popery/^ whilst a deluge of petitions^ signed by more than three millions of the population^ were prepared for presentation to Parliament. It may appear strange that the dissenters^ who had 78 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. themselves smarted under political and civil disabili- ties^ should have joined in opposing the public grants but we must not forget that apart from hostile feeling against the Catholic religion generally — a feeling that seems to be innate in all true Protestants — there was a great number who deprecated public or State sup- port of any church whatever^ — who were advocating the voluntary system as a general principle in church affairs^ and were continually referring to that system which is also adopted by the people in the United States^ in whom nobody can deny a true and orthodox sense of religion. There was also another party who preferred drawing the proposed grant from the vast revenues of the established churchy instead of from the public exchequer. By the bill introduced by Sir Robert Peel^ a sum of <£^30^000 was asked for the erection of a building, as also an annual grant of <£26^360 for the support of the college. It was at once opposed by the high Tory party^ headed by Sir Robert H. luglis, the representative of the University of Oxford. On the other hand^ the Whigs and the greatest number of the Radicals were for the bill^ and even Gladstone had now found reasons in his capacity as a single ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 79 member of the House to give his support to the bill. It was at last carried in the lower House by 317 against 184 votes^ and in the upper House by 181 against 50; although some of the bishops insisted upon a previous investigation as to the doctrines taught at Maynooth, to ascertain whether they Vi ere not identical with those of the Jesuits and with others propagated by the church of Rome against the legitimate principles of the English monarchy. Side by side with this bill was another^ introduced by Sir James Graham^ to establish three seminaries in dijfferent parts of Ireland (the souths west^ and north) . In these schools^ to which the youth of all sects were to have free access, no theology^ but exclusively useful and practical knowledge was to be taught. ^^Never/^ exclaimed Sir Robert Inglis^ ^^was there heard before^, such a gigantic system of ungodly edu- cation in any country of Europe.^^ It is true that the exclusion of religious education was objected to by the two extreme parties^ the orthodox Protestants on the one hand^ and the Catholics on the other^ both parties wishing to introduce religious instruction agreeable to their respective creeds. The bill passed^ nevertheless^ both Houses in its original form^ after 80 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. lengthy discussions and various attempts at amend- ments. We have dwelt at some length upon this subject^ because it forms an important section in the new- relation between England and Ireland, as well as in the relative position of the parties in Parliament. With the comprehensive support then granted to Catholic Ireland, England renounced her last claim to an established church in that island, and she thereby ceased to be a Protestant country in effect and character. The high Tory party found in this bill an additional cause to suspect the intentions and even to oppose the measures of the man whom they had not only chosen for their leader, but had also raised to one of the highest powers in the State. He was the Saturn of mythology who swallowed his own offspring. We now return to the great material questions by which PeePs Administration was particularly cha- racterised. Already on the I4th February, immedi- ately after the opening of Parliament, Peel laid before the House his budget and financial schemes for the year. In consequence of the operation of the income tax, there was an excess of revenue over expenditure ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 81 by about three millions and a half, and he anticipated a still larger excess at the close of the year ; but the increased expenses of the army and navy^ and the measures for the reduction of the Customs TariiT^ rendered it necessary to prolong the Income Tax for another term of three years. Beside the reductions in the sugar duty, (an article, by the bye, on which experiments were made from year to year,) he pro- posed to simplify the tariff, by admitting 430 articles, mostly raw materials, free of duty, out of the 813 contained in the tariflF, and to abolish moreover the duty on all exports, as also the excise duty on glass. He calculated the loss on sugar at . £1,300,000 On other articles .... 1,000,000 On Exports 120,000 Glass duty 642,000 J3,062,000 or three millions in round numbers, a sum that would nearly absorb or balance the surplus of revenue for the coming year. Of all these proposals none met with more opposi- tion than the renewal of the Income Tax. This tax having been originally introduced in time of war, was viewed by the people as a war tax, and one which E 3 83 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. ought not to be imposed in time of peace^ and it was only owing to the critical state of the finances that Parliament and the people consented to the burden in 1842 to last for three years (till 1845) . No sooner, therefore, had Sir Robert proposed its renewal, than the rumour spread, that it was meant to be perma- nent. Neither were the proposed reductions in the tariff calculated to give complete satisfaction to either party. The landed interest considered them as a boon intended for the manufacturers, whilst the free traders thought them far too short of what they ex- pected. The Whigs and Radicals, however, again supported the Minister, and enabled him to carry his measures through both Houses. Whilst Peel was thus advancing on the way he had paved for the establishment of a new system in com- merce and finance, the leaders of the Anti- Corn-Law League daily grew stronger in their determinations and labours to eradicate the corn monopoly by any means in their power. The extent of their power and influence, as well as the means at their disposal at that time, borders almost on the fictitious. Hun- dreds of thousands of pounds were in their exchequer, by means of which they put in motion the Press and ExYGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 83 other moral organs. New periodicals were esta- blislied_, pamphlets in countless numbers distributed throughout the country_, and open air meetings held two or three times a week. Neither were the leaders remiss in working upon the minds of the farmers themselves^ showing them by force of reasoning the injurious effects of the Corn Laws upon their own interests. Missionaries in the guise of lecturers on political economy were sent about to preach and enlighten the masses on the scientific principles of Free Trade. Another contrivance consisted in the purchase of houses and land^ the payment of taxes on which entitled the owners to the elective right. By these moral and physical means the League had grown to a power of vast influence^ not only on the public mind but also on the public press and public journals^ which one after another became converts to the prin- ciple. It was in Parliament alone that the majority still adhered to the Corn Laws; neither was there much prospect of converting that majority^ as interest and prejudice went hand in hand in favour of these laws^ though it cannot be denied that Villiers^ annual motion had by this time increased the minority for 84 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. the abolition of the Corn Laws to 132 (against 254) _, while Cobden^s motion for the appointment of a committee on the subject had likewise increased the minority to 121 (against 213)^ and it was clear^ there- fore^ that the principle had gained ground in the House^ though not to that extent as to command a majority. Indeed, the results of PeeFs measures could not fail to gain adherents to the cause of Free trade, trade and commerce, as well as the finances of the country, having assumed a more promising and secure aspect ever since the adoption of these liberal measures, notwithstanding the recency of their date. By way of contrast, we here mention the fate of another of O^Conneirs agitations. O^ConneU still held large Repeal meetings, but neither he nor his audience possessed the self-confidence of former times, and although he exhausted himself in violent ^ia^ri^e^ against the ^^ wicked ^^ Co/fe^e bill, and stiU announced the Eepeal as a fast approaching event, it was evident that his party, once so strong and daring, was now in the last days of its existence, and that its enfeebled actions were but the flickerings of an expiring Same. Among the measures of minor import, but which ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 85 are nevertlieless indicative of the progress of Libe- ralism generally^ we may notice the bill introduced by Peel for enabling the Jews to hold civic functions^ though, as may be supposed^ it met with various difficulties in its progress. The Parliament was prorogued on the 9th of August by the Queen in person^ who immediately afterwards proceeded on a tour to France and Ger- many. 86 CHAP, X. THE CIBINET CEISIS AT THE CLOSE OF 1845. In the autumn of 1845 it was ascertained beyond all doubt tbat the principal food of the working classes^ especially in Ireland^ had been totally destroyed by disease^ and that the country was in consequence about to be visited by a famine of the worst cha- racter. This gave a fresh impulse to the League agitation^ whose leaders saw in the event a providen- tial summons for the total repeal of the Corn Laws. The Ministers^ and more especially Sir E. Peel^ could not conceal from themselves the dangers of the moment. Having possessed himself of all the information regarding the state of the harvest^ the existing stocks on hand^ and the prospects of import from abroad^ he was enabled to lay before his col- leagues comdncing proofs of the necessity of taking ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 87 immediate steps for the repeal of the Corn Laws. There were two ways before them of accomplishing the act : either to do it at once on their own responsi- bility, in the hope of afterwards obtaining an act of indemnity fi^om Parliament, or to convoke the latter immediately to decide on the question. Peel was in favour of the latter step, but the majority of the Cabinet could not come to an understanding. After frequent meetings, they resolved to appoint a com- mission to inquire into and report upon the state of the corn market. Whilst the Cabinet was thus losing time in delibe- rations, an impulse from without decided Sir R. Peel to take his resolution without further delay. Lord John Russell, who naturally watched the steps of the Ministers with considerable anxiety, if not jealousy, was probably not ignorant of the split in the Cabinet on the question at issue. Although previously in- clined to a fixed duty, he now issued a circular letter to his party and to the nation at large, in which he stated the necessity of convoking Parliament without delay, and urging them for the total repeal of the corn duties. The letter appeared in the public jour- nals, and was dated the 22nd of November; it was 88 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. followed by others of a like nature from different Whig notabilities^ and at once determined the Premier to demand from his colleagues consent^ under the existing circumstances, for the immediate opening of all ports in the kingdom for the free ad- mission of foreign corn. Being met, however, with great resistance in the Cabinet, particularly from Lord Stanley (now Earl of Derby), rumours circu- lated in the public journals (in the Times as early as the 4th of December) that Sir R. Peel had tendered his resignation. On the 10th of December it was ascertained to be a fact. It seemed strange and in- credible, that a Ministry which enjoyed the fullest confidence of the House and the country, which grew more powerful every day, both at home and abroad^ by the brilliant effects of its sound and vigorous measures^ should at once become so weak as to find it expedient to tender its resignation, simply because the potato crop of the country was unpromising and diseased. No wonder, that far different and more weighty causes were at that time ascribed to such a catastrophe by the political wiseacres of the day; while in point of fact it plainly showed the shallow basis on which the whole Corn-Law system had rested. ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 89 since a bad potato crop sufficed to compel the liead supporter of that rotten system to resign office, not- withstanding the power he had exercised with so much tact and success in all other respects. The task of forming a new Cabinet could fall on no one else but Lord John Russell, who, though but little inclined at first to undertake it, as instructed by the Queen, afterwards consented to do so on receiving the solemn promise of Sir R. Peel to support him in Parliament as regarded the corn question. As, how- ever, the promised support was strictly confined to the abolition of the Corn Laws, Lord John Russell, on second consideration, relinquished the task, aware that he could not reckon on a working majority in the House on other questions apart from the Corn Laws. Sir R. Peel was thereupon again summoned by the Queen to resume office, which he did, after having persuaded his colleagues to consent to the repeal. Lord Stanley was the only one who resisted, and, having in consequence resigned, his place was filled by Gladstone, who now re-entered the Cabinet under different prospects. It is not necessary to describe the boundless rage and passion of the old nobility and the Tories par 90 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. excellence against Sir R. Peel. When the Whig journals first announced the strange intentions of the Cabinet^ the Tory organs treated the report as an bominable tissue of lies ; but no sooner did the ru- mour prove to be true^ than a general assault was made on Peel by the whole Tory press. Not only in the daily journals^ but also in pamphlets and at numerous meetings^ epithets were applied to him, too exaggerated^ at least as to PeePs motives, to be repeated here. Neither were they remiss in threats of punishing the political deserter, although they felt that their party was then too weak and dis- organised to think of forming a' new Cabinet of their own, should they even succeed in displacing the ex- isting one. The leadership of the Protection party now fell upon Lord George Bentinck, a man whose talents on the turf nobody would dispute, but who was then required to show that his Parliamentary powers were equal to the task he had undertaken. A considerable number of the old Tory party, however, remained true to Peel. They were so con- vinced of the correctness of his views and motives, of which he had given ample proof since 1840, that they still clung to him, though perhaps against their ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 91 own inclinations. They were^ moreover^ fully aware that the fall of Peel would be followed by the old onfusion and embarrassments in and out of the country ; and they therefore declared that the ques- tion was an open one^ and had nothing whatever to do with party principles and spirit. That Sir Robert found support in the old Whig party need hardly be mentioned. They triumphantly exclaimed that the very principles which had hastened the fall of their own Ministry in 1841 were being adopted by the man who had caused its fall^ though it was clear that^ but for the fear of being reproached with inconsistency^ they would not have hesitated to join the Opposition and have revenge in their turn. But it was the League that celebrated the most com- plete victory. With the adoption of their principles,, their task, aim^ and object were achieved. It is true^ Cobden seemed rather dissatisfied with the incom- pleteness of the measure^ but he had reason to rejoice at heart at the good tidings. The sympathies of the nation at large were in harmony with those of Par- liament. The majority in the rural and agricultu:ral districts were against Peel^ whilst those in the larger commercial towns were for him ; what he lost on the 92 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. one jhand in political connection was more than com- pensated by tlie support tie received from public opinion, while Cobden employed all Ms influence in favour of the measures^ and even threatened the re» nitent Lords with a democratic propaganda. 93 CHAP. XI. THE PASSING OF THE COEN BILL AND EESIGNATION OF THE PEEL CABINET IN JUNE^ 1846. Parliament was opened^ somewhat earlier than usual^ on the 19th of January. Immediately after the Address from the Throne^ in which suitable liberal measures were recommended in the commer- cial policy, explanatory speeches were made by Peel and RusseU, which were followed by skirmishing attacks from the Tory benches. On the 27th of January, Sir Robert explained his new propositions to a crowded House. Having admitted that his prin- ciples were for Free Trade, he declared that he wished to extend them to aU branches of commerce. Pro- visions of all kinds he proposed should be admitted free of duty ; corn should be subject to a low sliding scale for the next three years, and afterwards admitted 94 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. at a nominal duty of one shilling per quarter. The farmers were^ in return^ to be released from some of their heavy taxes ; among these were the exemption from supporting the native poor vv^ho had absented themselves from their homes for a period of five years. He also proposed that power should be con- ceded to Government to grant loans for the improve- ment of native agriculture. On manufactures he proposed to lower the import duties by one half, with the exception of coarse arti- cles of wool; linen^ and cotton^ which he thought might be admitted free. He made^ he concluded^ these propositions without any hope or prospect of meeting with immediate reciprocity by foreign coun- trieS; but he was sure that the more illiberal foreign tariffs might remain^ the more would England^s in- dustry rise in profit and extent^ and by degrees induce also foreign Governments to adopt the sound principles of this nation. The first discussion on these propositions lasted twelve evenings j 103 members (48 for and 55 against) took share in the debates^ the nucleus of which^ as may be supposed; formed the corn question. Peculiar stress was laid by the opponents on the inconsistency ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. 95 of Sir Robert Peel. Long passages were quoted from his former speeches^ whicli were in contradiction with his present views and arguments ; but Peel^ as well as Graham^ at once blunted the edge of the attack by freely admitting their previous errors^ and their pre- sent readiness to make amends for the past. The result of the protracted struggle was^ that on a divi- sion the first reading of the bill was carried by a majority of 337 against 240 votes. The bill was then brought before a committee of the whole House. On the 2nd March^ Villiers^ amendment for the imme- diate and total abolition of the Corn Laws was nega- tived by 265 against 78 votes. Other amendments met with the same fate^ and the debates on the second reading of the bill were resumed on the 20th March. Lord G. Bentinck^ though the leader of the Protec- tion party^ and very shrewd in statistical calculations, was far from being a fluent speaker^ or even a close reasoner. The deficiency in that respect was made up by his political lieutenant^ D^ Israeli^ who^ having a personal grudge against Peel, apparently for having refused him an appointment under Government, now turned against him all the bitter invectives and sar- casms that personal hatred and vindictiveness could 96 ENGLAND UNDER THE PRESENT REIGN. dictate. Peel^ however^ defended himself with all the energy of a man who was guided in his motives solely by the welfare of his country. ^^ Let it not be presumed/^ said he^ ' ^ that there was no need for such measures against the Irish famine. It is a mistake. Time will teach that these measures were not unne- cessary. But suppose even they were so^ it is my duty to guard a whole nation against the possible consequences of a famine and pestilence^ and under these circumstances the accusation does not touch me. Should I fall^ I shall have the satisfaction to think that I did not fall for having acted in a party spirit, — for having preferred party interests to the common interests of the country. I shall^, on the contrary, take with me the satisfaction that during my admi- nistration I have done all that tends to promote the welfare of England ^^ It is superfluous to enter into the details of the great parliamentary battle ; suffice it to say that in the progress of the debates, the Protection party were driven from position to position, though they availed themselves of every parliamentary latitude and for- mality to delay, if not frustrate, the passing of the bill. At one moment there seemed a probability of ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 97 their forming a coalition with the Irish brigade^ who were greatly opposed to the coercive bill which the Government had introduced against Ireland^ but as the measure was founded on urgent necessity^ the parties could not come to an understandings and the Corn Bill was at last read the third time on the 16th May^ at four o^ clock in the mornings and transferred to the House of Lords. The Tariff Bill met with much less opposition^ which^ being simply a continuation of the former bill on the question of commercial policy^ passed the lower House on the 19th of May. In the upper House the Corn Bill was introduced on the 18th of May for the first reading by the Duke of Wellington^ and the second reading was fixed for the 25th by the Earl of Ripon^ the same who (by a singular coincidence) ^ when Mr. Robinson^ had intro- duced the Corn Bill in the lower House in 1815. As the bill more particularly affected the private interests of the Lords^ (their rental from the produce of the soil amounting to sixty millions sterling,) it may easily be imagined that the excitement produced there was even greater than in the lower House^ and it is doubtful whether the bill would have passed the 98 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. Lords_, had not the Duke of Wellington reminded them in plain terms that the upper House cannot maintain its ground in opposition to the other two branches of the Legislature^ who had already declared themselves in favour of the bill. Both bills^ the Corn and Tariflf, were at last consented to without any alterations. Peel thus accomplished what no other Minister in England could have succeeded in doing. Notwith- standing the vast obstacles thrown in his way^ and the deep-rooted traditional prejudices he had to over- come^ he finally succeeded in introducing measures calculated to raise and give a new direction to the in- dustrial and commercial powers of the State. But with the passing of these two important bills his own independent power was exhausted^ and his strength in the remaining measures of the session became a mere matter of party support and combination. His posi- tion was perfectly isolated. He had left his own party vrithout attaching himself to any other. He was still a Conservative without having the confi- dence of the Conservative party^ and he had passed Whig measures without belonging to the Whig party^ who were seeking to regain power,, which they now ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 99 thought no difficult matter considering the dissen- sions in the Tory camp^ where nearly the whole phalanx was thirsting for revenge against the traitor Peel^ and besides even loudly announced their pre- ference of an open enemy^ a Whig Government^ to a treacherous friend^ a questionable Tory Administration. Some hesitation^ however^ still existed amongst the free traders^ who considered that Peel alone had the energy of carrying liberal measures far beyond the power or even the will of the Whig Government ; but^ having obtained the principal items of their claims^ they were rather indifferent as to the future Government of the country^ aware that without Peel the Protection party at least was too much broken ever again to aspire to power. In the Address from the Throne^ at the opening of the session^ Parliament was recommended to concert measures for the protection of life and property in Ireland. The sinking political agitation in that unhappy island had called forth a conspiracy amongst the peasantry, threatening death to the hard landlords and destruction to their lands. In the latter part of 1845 these combinations, and their fatal results, had increased to an alarming extent. The coercive bill, r 2 100 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. framed after tlie model of many previous ones^ hav- ing been introduced in tlie upper House^ passed in regular form. On its re-introduction into the lower House it met with unexpected obstacles. At the first reading O'Connell and his party opposed it as uncon- stitutional and even uncalled for^ the more especially as the Ministers had delayed its introduction for five months^ by which they clearly showed that neither was the state of Ireland so bad as to require extraordinary measures^ nor the Ministers in earnest as to the bill coming in force. There was indeed some truth in the argument, and more especially in the feeling abroad,, that^ having carried his principal measures, and conscious of the isolation of his position. Peel was anxious to bring his Government to an end, and that he had chosen the Irish bill as the most suitable instrument of political suicide. After long debates, the bill was lost at the second reading by a majority of 73 (292 against 219) , on the 25th of June, 1846, on the very same evening that the Corn BiU finally passed the upper House, and on the same day that the news arrived of the successful solution of the Oregon ques- tion in North America. On the 29th June, Sir Robert announced his ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 101 resignation to the House^ declaring that it was not to the interest of the country that the Ministers should continue in oflBce after they were unable to carry their measures. He dwelt with some pride on the success of his administration since 1841^ and paid a high compliment to Cobden^s unadorned eloquence, to which he chiefly attributed his conversion to a liberal policy as regarded the repeal of the Corn Laws. ^^ I know/^ he concluded^ ^^ that my name will be held in abhorrence by all monopolists ; but it will^ on the other hand^ be remembered with kind sympathies by all those who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow^ when- ever they recruit their exhausted bodies by cheap and wholesome food.^^ 102 CHAP. XII. THE NEW WHIG CABINET UNDEE LOED JOHN EUSSELL, AND THE SOLUTION OF THE SUGAE QUESTION. The fall of tlie Peel Cabinet again brought the Whigs into power. The extraordinary circumstances under which these changes took place are certainly unpa- ralleled in parliamentary history. A Ministry re- signed after having achieved the most brilliant vic- tories^ simply because they failed to carry a measure of secondary importance. It was replaced by one possessing less popularity and energy^ and less con- fidence of Parliament. Sir Eobert had^ it is true^ smoothed the way for a Whig Government^ and removed the principal barriers that separated the two parties ; but as the opposing party consisted of various heterogeneous elements^ the composition of a new Cabinet could but be imperfect^ and little in ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 103 unison witli the views of the ultra sections who sup- ported the Whigs when sitting on the Opposition benches. The new Ministry was thoroughly Whig in character, and even more aristocratic in its compo- sition than the ex-Tory one. Its leader was Lord John Russell ; Lord Lansdowne was President of the Council; Lord Palmerston^ Foreign Secretary; Sir George Grey^ Home Secretary ; Lord Grey^ Colonial Secretary; and Lord Minto^ Keeper of the Great Seal : the principal places being thus occupied by thorough Whigs of the old Aristocracy. Lord Pal- merston — even at that time the bete noire of conti- nental diplomatists,, and of the French Government in particular^ which had every reason to regret the change in that department — it was feared would not approve of the concessions which Lord Aberdeen had made^ both in the Slave and Otaheite questions^ for the sake of the enterde cordiale with Prance. The other mem- bers of the new Cabinet had also served under a Whig Ministry. Sir Charles Wood became Chancellor of the Exchequer ; Macaulay^ the Treasurer of the Navy ; Lord Morpeth^ President of Public Works ; Sir J. C. Hobhouse^ President of the Board of Control ; and LaboucherC; President of the Board of Trade. Lord 104 ENGLAND DURTNG THE PRESENT REIGN. John Uussell had tried^ but without success^ to enlist in his Cabinet three influential members who had served under Peel — Lord Dalhousie,, Lord Lincoln (now Duke of Newcastle)^ and W. S. Herbert. The Duke of Wellington^, however^ was induced to retain his office as Commander-in-Chief. Complaints were made that no representative of Free Trade had a seat in the new Government ; though it was subsequently rumoured that a place had been ofl'ered to Cobden, who had declined accepting it on the plea of ill health — a fact that gained some weight from his soon afterwards proceeding on a tour on the Continent. It cannot be said that much was expected from the new Government by any party. The Protectionists saw in it an open enemy, and the Radicals a very doubtful friend. In an unguarded moment, Lord John Russell had, at an earlier period, designated the Re- form Bill as the ^^ corner stone of political reform in England ^^ — a phrase that was now constantly cast in his teeth. The aristocratic liberalism of the Whigs but little harmonised with the ultra views of men like Duncombe, Wakley, Bright^ and others^ nor even with the notions of the real Tory party, who con- sidered that the landed interest was also insufficiently ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 105 represented^ whilst the commercial and industrial classes entertained very little confidence in a Whig Ministry, which never knew how to balance revenue with expenditure. All parties^ however^ promised to give the new Cabinet fair play^ and allow the Minis- ters to develop their views and intentions^ whilst Sir Robert Peel promised his support in all measures calculated to promote the public welfare generally. The foreign relations of the country possessed at that time a more peaceable aspect than the domestic. Sir E. Peel had already announced the satisfactory settlement of the protracted Oregon question before his resignation^ whilst the victories gained in the East by the British army had again restored the safety of our Indian possessions. Good understand- ing still prevailed with France; and it was with Brazil alone that difficulties^ relative to the slave trade, could not be surmounted. And though the home relations were not much disturbed by political causes, indications of a coming bad harvest once more cast gloomy shadows on the minds of the people^ more especially in Ireland^ where the Bepeal agitation still existed^ though to a much less degree than for- merly. O^ConnelPs partiality for the Whigs was r 3 106 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. rekindled with their accession to power, and lie became now as distinguished for his modesty and moderation as he had previously been for his pre- sumption and impetuosity. Young Ireland, however^ grew dissatisfied with a leader who talked of moral instead of physical force^ who wanted to persuade instead of compel England to concessions^ and the young party at once enlisted under the leadership of Smith O^Brien^ who rendered himself so ridiculous during that session as to foreshadow his future lot in the succeeding one. One of the most important topics that awaited a final solution was the Sugar question. We have already mentioned that this question was replete with difficulties of various kinds. Some people were for the establishment of a diff'erential duty in favour of the West India planters^ others insisted on the abso- lute exclusion of Slave-labour sugar^ whilst the Free Traders claimed an equal rate of duty for both — in- dependent of Free-trade principles. They argued^ that the West India planters had already received ample indemnification for the emancipation of their slaves ; and as to the religious principle involved in the admission of Slave sugar^ if adopted^ they said ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 107 it ought to be extended to Slave productions gene- rally^ — cotton not even excepted. Sir R. Peel seemed inclined to side with those who advocated the absolute prohibition of Slave sugar ; he did so less on religious than political grounds; he merely advocated the interests of our colonies. Lord J. Uussell laid his plan on the subject before the House on the 20tli of July^ by which the duty on Sugar generally^ was to be gradually lowered for five consecutive years. Many objections were^ of course^ taken by the differ- ent parties^ and more especially by Lord Gr. Bentinck^, on the part of the Protectionists. The bill^ however^ passed the House after much struggle^ in which Sir E;. Peel took considerable share, and declared that, perceiving the violent state of party spirit, he be- lieved it his duty to support the Government, al- though he did not agree with the principle involved in the bill. The Ministers thus succeeded in carrying their first measure. 108 CHAP. XIII. THE FAMINE IN lEELAND, AND PEOCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT TILL ITS DISSOLUTION IN 1847. What was to become of Ireland ? Political and agrarian agitations alternately ruffled the peace and impeded the prosperity of that unhappy country ; for no sooner had the political agitation somewhat abated than the latter broke out with alarming violence. In many parts of Ireland there was no safety^ either for person or property, and the evil was still further in- creased by the calamity of a famine. No efficient remedy could be devised for a country, the people of which did scarcely anything for their own material welfare by way of perseverance or industry. In the preceding year a vast number of agricultural labourers, who usually came to England at the harvest season for employment, remained at home, preferring, to the ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 109 earnings of their own industry in England^ the re- ception of alms from the Government^ which then offered support to the Irish poor. On the Govern- ment now devolved the task, not only of devising measures for the security of person and property, but also of providing food for millions of people in Ire- land, who were again about to be visited by all the miseries attending famine and pestilence. It ap- peared improbable that the present Government would venture to propose a coercive measure, which had been the means of destroying the previous ; yet, to the surprise of all, Labouchere stated to the House, on the 7th of August, the intention of the Govern- ment to move for a provisional renewal of the Irish Arms Bill, by which, possession of fire-arms in Ireland was only allowed under certain limitations. Lord J. Russell, however, announced afterwards the deter- mination of the Government to leave out the most objectionable clauses in the bill, and the second reading was carried by 56 against 23 votes ; but, on the 17th of August, he suddenly declared that, in consequence of the opposition the bill had met with, and the absence of the important clauses, the vital elements of the bill, the Government thought fit to 110 ENGLAND DURINO THE PRESENT REIGN. withdraw it for the present. This announcement was certainly not calculated to raise the firm charac- ter of the Ministry in public opinion. Thus no steps whatever were taken to restore public order in Ire- land^ though something was done to meet the evils of famine. A motion was brought in^ and carried^ by which the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was authorized to advance money in every county for the purpose of making roads and erecting public buildings^ in order to give employment to the distressed masses. This measure^ however, did not in the least degree meet the exigen- cies of the case, and consequently remained without producing any benefit or effecting its purpose. The session closed on the 28th of August, 1846, and it certainly was one of the most important in the modern history of England. In the course of the summer, there was reason to fear that the potato disease had reappeared in the young crop, and to a greater extent even, than in the previous season, and consequently that suffering Ireland was again on the verge of a complete famine. But even imagination fell far short of the horrible reality. Where misery reigned in the preceding year. ENGLAND DURINGJi THE PRESENT REIGN. Ill now was absolute want; where there was before, scarcity^ there was now actual famine^ with its in- evitable attendants — pestilential and other contagious diseases. Suffering was still further increased by the sad state of agriculture in that country^ by the in- sufficient means of communication, by poverty and desolation^ which had for a long time prevailed there; and partly also by the want of economical care and providence on the part of the inhabitants themselves. With the increased misery^ the crimes against person and property also multiplied^ whilst the political agitators of physical force endeavoured to turn these very calamities to account^ to promote their own plans. The extent to which aid had been accorded by Parliament in the preceding year^ and the manner in which it was distributed^ were not calculated to meet the evil in an efficient way ; nay^ owing to a fatal peculiarity in the Irish character^ that succour even tended to increase instead of diminish- ing the evil. No sooner had the Government an- nounced employment in the public works^ than a great number of Irish labourers violated their private engagements and sought in the new works employ- ment^, causing thereby not only an increased cost to 112 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. the Government,, but also a vast loss to the land- owners^ who were thus deprived of the necessary number of hands for agricultural purposes. It ap- pears that not only the common labourers, but in some cases even the small farmers themselves pre- ferred being employed in the public works to culti- vating their own lands. At the beginning of the year there were about 500,000 Irish poor employed on the public roads, at a cost of elevenpence a day, amount- ing to about eight millions and a half sterling a year. The number of applicants having vastly ex- ceeded the demand, the Government resolved to lend a part of the grant on security to private landowners, to enable them to employ some of the idle hands. Common misfortune brought about a reconciliation — which in better times seemed an impossibility — be- tween the Irish members of all colours in both Houses, and they united their efforts with those of other Irish landowners in assisting the Government to carry out the best means for averting the evil as much as possible. To convoke Parliament without delay, became a matter of urgent necessity, in order that comprehen- sive measures might be taken against the evils of a ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 113 scarcity^ wMcL. were also manifesting themselves in England and Scotland. Parliament was accordingly opened on the 19th of January^ 1847 j and,, on the 21st of that months Lord J. Kussell submitted the inten- tions of the Government with respect to the bad state of the harvest. He proposed^ in the first place, a total suspension of the Corn and Navigation Laws till the 1st of September, 1847 — a measure that was at once acceded to by the House. On the 25th of January he brought forward a series of resolutions for immediate relief in Ireland, as also for a steady improvement in her condition. To that effect, he proposed that cha- ritable committees should be established in every elec- tive district in Ireland, for the purchase of food and its distribution amongst the needy poor. The neces- sary funds were to be raised, partly from the public exchequer and partly by private subscription. By another resolution, the Government proposed to allow the loan, advanced to the landowners in the previous year, to stand over for the space of twenty-two years, during which time the half of the amount was to be repaid by instalments. In addition to the old loan, a fresh one, to the amount of j650,000, was to be advanced to them until December, 1847, for the pur- 114 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. chase of seed; as also another <56l^OOO^OOO^ for the improvement and cultivation of waste lands ; in which latter case^ if the owners refused the terms^ the Go- vernment was to be entitled to buy up the lands for a certain price. The Irish Poor Laws were also to be modified^ and out-door relief introduced in the Unions. By another resolution^ the Government provided for facilitating the disposal of overburdened estates. All these proposals were assented to^ although several members^ and particularly Sir U. Peel, doubted the efficacy of some of them ; whilst the ultra- Irish party^ represented by Smith O^Brien^ laid the misery and famine of Ireland at the door of the Union^ and were loud in their demands for more extensive relief. An incident of a peculiar character roused the par- liamentary interest for the affairs of Ireland to a con- siderable degree. At the beginning of the session^ Lord G. Bentinck had submitted to Parliament a comprehensive plan in favour of Ireland^ in opposi- tion to that introduced by the Government. He wanted the Government to advance fifteen millions sterling for the construction of raikoads in that country^ by which means not only 100^000 poor would find employment, but also the foundation for ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 115 the future prosperity of Ireland might be laid. Two sections of Parliament approved of the plan — the railway contractors^ with Mr. G. Hudson at their head (who probably suggested the scheme to the noble lord)^ and the Irish party, who generally agreed to anything that was to come from English pockets in favour of Ireland. The Ministers however stoutly resisted the scheme, and the second reading was ne- gatived by 322 against 118 votes. After the decided opposition which the scheme met with from the Ministers, it excited no small surprise, when, some time after, they proposed a measure exactly to the same purpose, though involv- ing a lesser sum than that of Lord Bentinck. The measure was nevertheless carried in both Houses, amidst the just complaints of Lord G. Bentinck, who claimed the parentage of it, while the incident in itself afforded another proof of the weakness which for years had characterised the Whig Administration. In taking a survey of what was done by England for her wretched and unhappy sister kingdom, Ire- land, during the years 1846 and 1847, it cannot be denied that there was on the one hand no lack of goodwill to afford proper relief to that suffering island. 116 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. whilst it showed on the other^ how difficult it is to do so efficaciously after misery has been allowed to reach an extreme point. The position of Ireland, par- ticularly in 1847; was unworthy of a civilised country^ and had no paralled in the present day ; but it cer- tainly was also the turning point for a change for the better. Common misfortune united all parties, and taught them to respect man in man, whilst pressing necessity showed them that lasting support was only to be found in industry and in the improve- of the soil, to which, in less calamitous times, the Irish had never turned their attention. Ireland will henceforth see better days, traces of which are not wanting after even a short lapse of only five or six years. It must also be borne in mind, that the miseries under which Ireland groaned were not of a recent date, but originated early in the last century, when the means were withheld by which the dire calami- ties which at last visited her might perchance have been averted. The man who represented old Ireland, Daniel O^ConneU, terminated his earthly career in those troublous times. He was about to visit the Holy ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 117 Fatlier at Rome^ but died at Genoa on his way thitlier. His body was brought to DubKn^ and in- terred in the presence of a mourning crowd. O^Con- nell had not escaped the common lot of all dis- tinguished characters — he was much beloved and much hated ; but even his bitterest enemies could not help admiring in him the active energy which led him on from stage to stage^ until he arrived at that point where the system of pacific agitation was no longer of avail with the masses^ to whose physical strength he had so often and so flatteringly alluded in his passionate harangues. His greatest fault was, no doubt, his egotism ; he could not endure a rival at his side, and would not have hesitated to annihilate any one who did not follow him with implicit obe- dience. He was doomed to see before his end a few ambitious heads wholly separating themselves from him, but there remained none after his death to carry on the work in the same sagacious manner in which he had begun it. It is a mistake to suppose that O^Connell enter- tained an irreconcilable hatred against England ; he had never ceased to regard her as his second father- land — as the land of his glory, of his intellectual ac- 118 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. tivity. His partiality for England was only surpassed by his excessive love for his native home^ and many apparent contradictions in his life can only be recon- ciled by this double sympathy in his character. We must return to the political affairs of England. It was generally expected that the special measures for the relief of Ireland would be accompanied by some steps for still further facilitating the importa- tion of corn from abroad. These anticipations were realised : towards the end of January^ 1848^ all parties^ the Protectionists not even excepted^ consented to sus- pend for the present the Navigation Laws as regarded the importation of corn. This measm*e naturally afforded a fair opportunity to the Free-trade party to move for a select committee to consider the effects of those laws generally. The motion was agreed to^ and two years after^ the Navigation Laws, which were once regarded as the pillars of England's greatness^ were wholly repealed and abolished. As the Session was fast approaching its end, and the seven years of the existing Parliament were about to expire^ all parties abstained from broaching new political questions — all were preparing and looking forward to the coming elections. Neither were the ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 119 subjects already before the House_, such as the limita- tion of labour hours in the manufactories^ the Public Education BiU^ &c.^ &c.^ brought to a final close that session^ despite the repeated discussions^ proposals^ and even enactments. Humane zeal^ added to a feeling of ill-will against the manufacturers^ had been the means of detecting flagrant abuses in the manu- factories and other estabhshments^ where the physical strength of the poor labourers had been taxed to a cruel extent. Due inquiries made in the coal and manufacturing districts led to the discovery that^ in consequence of overwork on the one hand^ and too low wages on the other^ not only powerful men and male adults met with untimely death or lingering illness_, but also women and children already bore the marks of early decay and emaciation — fatal in them- selves^ and transplanting sickly constitutions to fu- ture generations. But instead of seeking the causes of these abuses in the stern law which^ under the name of protection^ taxed labour and existence to the advantage of capital^, attempts were made to limit by law the labour of the working classes within certain hours of the day ; and the consequence was that this new interference in the liberty of labour proved not 120 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. only unavailable^ but was even fraught with new evils. Indeed Sir R. Peel and the whole Free Trade party were decidedly against these encroachments^ on the part of Government^ in the sphere of labour; and it is well known^ that no sooner was Free Trade fully introduced^ than the improved condition of the labouring classes became manifest*. Public Education was another question beset with difficulties. In Germany^ and some other countries^ the School is entirely separated from the Church; each moves in a sphere of its own, without encroach- ing on the authority and teachings of the other ; but in orthodox England not only a close connection is thought to exist between the two institutions^ but a decided superiority is even conceded to the church over the school^ which latter^ it is believed^ ought to be exclusively conducted by churchmen, and in which religion should form the chief branch of education. All proposals of Government to separate the two branches, and not restrict the pupils to religious in- struction in strict harmony with the doctrines of the established church, had always been met with the * Vide Appendix — Paupees. ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 121 most determined opposition by the orthodox parties in the country. Nevertheless^ since 1833^ several schools had been opened by way of experiment^ where re- ligious instruction was invested with a more general character^ and could therefore be enjoyed indiscrimi- nately by all Christian sects. But as the Catholics ob- jected to the use of the authorised version of the Bible^ their youth were excluded from religious instruc- tion^ and the consequence was that these schools gra- dually fell under the control of the established church. In 1847 the Government proposed the establish- ment of a Normal school for the instruction of teachers. After many debates, in which the dis- senters complained of the partiality shown by the State in the management of public schools^ the bill passed both Houses in its essential points. Less difficult in principle, though equally exposed to attacks and criticisms, was the bill for the erection of a bishopric at Manchester. It had long since been in contemplation to separate that diocese from that of Durham, Manchester having become of late the cen- tral point of the wealthy and populous manufacturing towns. But in order to prevent an increase in the number of bishops in the upper House, it was at first G 122 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. proposed to amalgamate the two bishoprics of St. Asaph and Bangor^ in Wales ; the proposal^ however^ having met with strenuous opposition, the Govern- ment at last resolved to erect a new bishopric at Manchester, but to withhold from the bishop a seat in the upper House until a vacancy had occurred in some other diocese (with the exception of those of Canterbury, York, London, Durham, and Winches- ter), when the same privilege was to be withheld from the successor to the vacant see, in favour of the Bishop of Manchester. This proposition was de- finitively called into force in 1847. Parliament was prorogued on the 23rd July, and immediately after, finally dissolved to make room for a new one. Its proceedings and enactments belong to the most remarkable section in English history. Elected for the purpose of preserving a rigid and restrictive principle in commerce, on which England had acted for centuries, it finished its course by adopting the very opposite maxims, and by sub- stituting different systems in trade, industry, and finance, whereby the entire aspect and character of England^s future career and prospects underwent a complete metamorphosis. 123 CHAP. XIV. THE GEEAT COMMEECIAL CEISIS IN 1847. — OPENING OF THE NEW PAELIAMENT. The new elections began under the most pressing circumstances. Independent of tlie Irish distress^ a monetary crisis manifested itself in England^ which put the whole of the commercial world in alarm and consternation. Much has been said and argued both in this country and abroad as to the causes of the crisis which so suddenly took place in 1847. We be- lieve that we shall not be mistaken when we look for them chiefly in the deficient corn harvests of the two preceding years. The immediate result of scarcity and dearness of provisions is invariably the observance of close economy^ and a consequent diminution in the consumption of those articles that do not strictly belong to the necessaries of life. A decreased de- G 2 124 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. mand naturally produces a decreased supply^ and with it also a diminution in labour and employment. The reciprocal effect of demand and supply was particu- larly felt in the English foreign trade {vide Ee- souRCEs,, Table V.)^ the scarcity of 1847 having pre- vailed throughout the whole of Europe in an almost equal degree of severity. The evil was further aggra- vated by the drain of precious metal previously^ in railway enterprise at home^ and now in return for the vast imports of corn and other necessaries from abroad (for corn alone^ more than thirty millions sterling was sent abroad during this year)^ which also caused a rise in the price of the precious metal. In the midst of these large transactions in provisions and specie^ favourable prospects of the coming harvest proved fatal to the corn merchants^ who had hazarded too much in speculation. In April the Bank of England was under the neces- sity of raising the rate of discount in order to pre- vent a further drain. In August the first significant bankruptcies occurred. They were followed by a considerable number of others^ which dragged after them several private banks^ and the whole of the failures involved an amount of not less than thirteen ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 125 millions sterling. Witli many of the fallen liouses^ and more especially with the colonial merchants^ pre- vious overtrading had considerably added to their present difficulties. On the other hand^ the opera- tions of the Bank of England were by no means calculated to remedy the evil. Instead of limiting the sphere of credit within its narrowest bounds^ she, on the contrary, extended it, in the month of Sep- tember, to such a degree, that before the lapse of another month she discovered to her great alarm that the credit had been abused for renewed and ha- zardous speculations. She now gave notice, that not only no further loans would be granted, but also that old bills when becoming due would no longer be re- newed. This operation had the desired effect, and the money market rose in consequence. On the 25th of October, the Bank resolved (with the consent of Government) to raise the rate of discount against the Bank Act of 1844 to eight per cent.; the result was that gold found its way back to the English market, and commercial relations gradually began to bear a more healthy character. That the Protectionists almost glorified in these commercial disasters may easily be imagined. They 126 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. ascribed them to the adoption of Free Trade princi- ples^ which, led^ they said^ to over-tradings by which the balance between the imports and exports was destroyed,, and gold to a large amount sent abroad to cover the debt of some fifty or sixty millions ster- ling due to foreigners on account of the excess of imports over exports. There were not a few, how- ever, who attributed the great failures of the com- mercial crisis to PeeFs Bank Act of 1844. The Act, they said, prohibits the bank from issuing a larger amount of paper currency in time of need, when an increased circulation might have averted the com- mercial pressure. Later investigations have never- theless shown that the Act only accelerated but did not cause the complete failure of those insolvent merchants, who might perhaps have found some means to prolong their giddy existence for a while, — an existence that was perhaps more dangerous to the mercantile community than the losses accruing from an open bankruptcy. In Ireland misery had reached its climax. The most strenuous efforts, and the expenditure of enor- mous sums of money, did but little towards the al- leviation of the sufferings of a people who lay as ENGLAIS^D DURIjN^G THE PRESENT REIGN, 127 helpless and prostrate as a bed-ridden invalid. Starva- tion and pestilence made immense ravages among the masses^ and wrought in some parts of the country a complete dissolution of society. The coercive bill of Peel having been negatived^ and the Arms Bill of Russell withdrawn^ there existed neither law nor power to check even in some slight degree the for- mation of secret conspiracies. In the counties of Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary a sort of Fehme (secret tribunals) were formed against the landowners. Mur- ders were committed in broad daylight, and the fear or sympathy inspired by the conspirators was so great that the perpetrators were rarely ever detected or brought to justice. Hundreds of families fled to England in order to save their lives ; nor were ex- cuses for, and even encouragement to, these violent deeds, wanting on the part of some of the Catholic clergy and the ultra patriots of Ireland. The result of the parliamentary elections was such as hardly to produce any change in the respective positions of the political parties. Macaulay, how- ever, was not re-elected, he being objected to by the orthodox Presbyterians of the city of Edinburgh for his having voted in favour of the Maynooth Bill. 128 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. The enlightened citizens of London^ on the contrary^ tried to establish a new liberal principle by electing Baron Rothschild as one of their representatives in Parliament. The validity of the election is still ob- jected to on account of the form of oath required to be taken on admission to Parliament^ which closes with the words ^^ by the true faith of a Christian/^ a phrase which a Jew cannot pronounce^ and which cannot be removed from the body of the oath without a special Act of Parliament. The new Parliament was convoked for the 18th of November_, and having constituted itself in due form and re-elected the previous Speaker^ Shaw Lefe\Te_, to the chair^ it was opened by royal commission on the 23rd of the same month. As might be expected, the two important questions — the commercial crisis and the Irish aflfairs — were particularly recommended from the throne, and formed the principal topics of discussion during the short session. We need hardly characterise the tone of the ensuing debates. One party held the Government responsible for the misery existing in Ireland, whilst the other insisted on mea- sures for the improvement of commerce and the money market. The Bank Act of 1844 was attacked ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 129 in SO violent a manner as to compel Sir Hobert Peel to address the House in a long speech in self-defence and in refutation of the reproaches bestowed on him for the enactment of the bill. The weakest part was played by the Protectionists^ and the loudest^ as usual, by the Irish members. On the 30th of November Sir C. Wood moved in the name of the Government for the appointment of a committee to inquire into the causes of the com- mercial crisis and the efl&ciency of the laws concerning the issue of paper currency. The same motion was repeated in the upper House by the Marquis of Lansdowne, and consented to by both Houses. To a Ministry who had come into power by their opposition to a bill proposing coercive laws in Ireland, the introduction on their part of a similar bill, though justified by circumstances, ought to have proved a very delicate if not dangerous proceeding. The Mi- nisters might be accused of either factious opposition or at least of gross inconsistency. Indeed, the fear of such an accusation was evident from the tenor of the new biU, which authorised the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to exercise a discretionary control in some districts of that country with regard to the possession g3 130 ENGLAND DUKING THE PRESENT llEIGN. of fire-arms by the inhabitants. The bill^ however^ passed both Houses^ and Parliament adjourned on the 20th of December^ 1847^ to meet again on the 4th of February, 1848. 131 CHAP. XV. THE AGITATIONS ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE. — THE MINIS- TERIAL PLAN CONCERNINa THE NAVIGATION LAWS IN THE FIRST MONTHS OF THE YEAR 1848. Although notWng positive had been done during the past short session^ public confidence was in some measure restored^ partly by the hope that the commit- tees of inquiry instituted during that session would recommend some salutary means for the alleviation of the commercial pressure^ and partly and especially by the cessation of the causes which had called forth the crisis. The only unpleasant question^ besides that of the Irish affairs^ was the uncertain state of relations with Prance^ on account of the so-called Spanish marriages, against which Lord Palmerston had pro- tested. At this time a letter which appeared in the public press from the Duke of Wellington^ on the 132 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. necessity of fortifying our coast opposite to France^ caused^ as may be supposed^ no slight sensation in the public mind^ and nothing was talked of for a long time but the immediate invasion of England by a French army. The letter was characterised by well-informed persons as untimely, if not indiscreet, on the part of the Duke, more especially at a period when steam power had considerably diminished the protection of the coast. It called forth numerous re- plies and criticisms, whilst Cobden, who had placed himself at the head of the Radical party, insisted on a diminution of taxes and expenditure, and was loud in his attacks against the Duke in the House ; the letter, however, did not remain without some results, as will be seen hereafter. On the 18th of February Sir Charles Wood laid his budget before the House. He showed that, owing to the commercial difficulties of the past year, the public revenue had diminished in many items, and that a deficit of about one million sterling was the consequence. He also stated that he did not think it advisable to make any reduction in the expenditure, since such reduction would principally afifect the army and navy, which, considering the con- ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 133 tinued armament on the part of the French^ he should not like to see in any degree weakened in force or extent ; but on the other hand that he thought it ex- pedient to raise the Income Tax from three to five per cent. The proposal was met with great disapproba- tion in the House^ whilst^ on its becoming generally- known^ a storm of indignation burst forth from the people. To assuage the public feeling in some degree, the Ministers, on the 21st of February, proposed to appoint a committee to inquire into the estimates of the army and navy, so that the House might have an opportunity of judging for itself whether it was possible to diminish the expenditure so as to bring it to balance with the income. After numerous de- bates, the proposal was accepted, and provision made for covering the current expenditure. The chief cause of the almost universal and unex- pected opposition lay no doubt in the unpopularity of the tax itself. However unavoidable direct taxation had become since the abandonment of indirect, the people of England were slow in becoming used to tlie change. The unequal distribution and collection of the Income Tax doubtless added to the people^s dislike of the tax ; neither were the times favourable 134 ENGLAND DmiNG THE PRESENT REIGN. for an increase of the same. Nevertheless^ the at- tacks on the Government were not founded in justice^ nor would opposition have assumed that stern cha- racter^ had the existing Government enjoyed^, in financial matters^ the same confidence as did Sir R. Peel^ and had not Government moreover given en- couragement to attacks^ by the vacillating manner in which it attempted to remodel the tax. Whilst all parties were arraying themselves against the Ministers^ the news arrived of the outbreak of the February revolution in Paris. The first impres- sion created by this intelligence was in England, as throughout Europe, astonishment at the rapidity and comparative ease with which the July throne had been demolished. The royal family fled to England, and sought and found a refuge where some of their previous actions had left an unfavourable impression on the public mind. The new provisional Govern- ment was at once acknowledged by the English Go- vernment, who took frequent opportunities of show- ing its sympathy with the French nation at large. England at the same time did not refuse her hospita- ble soil to many other exiles who also took refuge on her shores from different parts of the continent. ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 135 The Paris event, however, had no immediate effect upon England. All parties agreed that it would be far better to wait patiently for the issue, and watch the development of affairs in France. The rather confused notions of the Ministry in finance-affairs soon manifested themselves. On the 28th of February the Chancellor of the Exchequer withdrew the bill for the increase of the Income Tax, without proposing any other measure for covering the deficiency. No sooner was the bill withdrawn than the objections to the tax generally multiplied, and pro- posals were made to remodel the principle in its mode of collection, to diminish the rate on trade, and in- crease it on landed property. The task of defending the existing principle devolved almost exclusively on Sir Robert Peel, whilst Lord Gr. Bentinck insisted even on abolishing the tax altogether, and on a recurrence to indirect taxation as the best means of obviating all diJQBculties. After much struggle, the renewal of the tax for three years longer passed both Houses. The first symptoms of the influence of the conti- nental agitations manifested themselves towards the end of March in two directions : in Ireland, and in England amongst the Chartists. Por some years past 136 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. hardly anything had been heard of this latter party, although their views had been represented in Parlia- ment by Feargus O^ Connor (now confined in a lunatic asylum) . The re-introduction of the Social- ist theories in Paris inspired the Chartists with re- newed courage, notwithstanding the wide difference between their own views and those of the former. They now demanded with redoubled energy the grant- ing of the six points of the People^s Charter^ and called together meetings in all parts of the country for the purpose of preparing a giant petition to be presented to Parliament. The sympathy they evinced for the French Socialists, however, proved an obstacle in the way of arousing a like sympathy for themselves amongst the other classes of society, the E^adicals not even excepted. The pohce, therefore, had little diffi- culty in dispersing a large body of their supporters, who had met in London for the purpose^ as they alleged, of discussing the justice of the Income Tax, as also in quelling the first attempts at disturbances in the north of England and in Scotland. More danger, however, was apprehended when the Chartists announced their intention of presenting to Parliament, on the 10th of April, a petition purported ENGLAND DUUING THE PRESENT REIGN, 137 to bear more than five millions of signatures^ accom- panied by thousands of people, with their leaders at the head, who for that purpose had called together a large meeting to be held on that day at Kennington- common, near London. Since the days when Lord Gordon paraded the streets of the metropolis with his fanatical party, London had not been threatened with greater danger than by the proposed march of the Chartists, who it was feared would repeat here the late scenes of Vienna and Berlin. On the 6th of April the procession which was to join the meeting, and probably meant to intimidate the people and Parliament, was forbidden to take place, whilst the utmost means were taken by Go- vernment to guard against any disturbance. The whole way from Kennington-common to the House of Commons was almost barricaded, the military was kept on the alert, and most of the public buildings, more especially the Bank of England, were surrounded by protective inclosures and occupied by troops. More than 150,000 inhabitants of London were sworn in as special constables and provided with police stag's. The consequence was, that although the meeting was held and the petition presented to 138 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. the House in due form^ the attempted movement passed off harmlessly^ and the crowds dispersed and quietly returned to their homes without having pro- voked any breach of the peace. At a subsequent examination of the petition, it was found that the number of signatures did not exceed two millions, and that amongst them many fictitious and even obscene names had been inserted. The Government now thought of modifying the old insurrection laws— of framing them more in accord- ance with the spirit of the age. They had particularly Ireland in view, where, since the death of O'Connell, the physical party alone had "kept the field. At the head of that party stood Smith O^Brien, who was both morally and intellectually unfit for such leader- ship. He was not only by birth a Protestant, but was by repute even a deist, whilst his predecessor O^Connell, in showing himself devout and pious even to bigotry, had secured to himself the friendship of the Catholic priesthood in Ireland. Smith O^Brien^s adherents, however, were not few in number; the people, kept for years in suspense by mere promises, decimated by hunger and misery, and systematically taught to hate the Saxon, blindly followed the vio- ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 139 lence of the new agitator. Shortly after the Fe- bruary revolution^ the latter, accompanied by a few friends^ went to Paris to establish a connection with the French Government against England^ but they were obliged to content themselves with one of the many specious speeches of Lamartine. Returned home^ Smith O^Brien began to carry on his agitation on a larger scale^ and the language of the organs of his party became more bold and violent from day to day. They not only clamoured openly and loudly for the repeal of the union^ but for a complete separation from England. Though not so favourably placed as was once O^Connell^ Smith O^Brien might have given great trouble to the English Government. In the United States^ sympathy for Ireland was uni- versally manifested^ whilst an open outbreak in the latter island mighty perhaps^ have induced France not to remain a quiet spectator. However, whether it arose from indecision or incapacity, Smith O^Brien tried the last chance after all was lost. The Govern- ment was allowed not only to introduce exceptional laws for Ireland, but to adopt the most comprehensive steps for military interference in case of an outbreak. Smith O'Brien had calculated on the support of the 140 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. English Radicals^ and the defection of. the English troops, but the serious attitude assumed by the Go- vernment^ prevented the movement from ripening into an organisation^ and a few skirmishes with the police towards the end of July brought the whole affair to a final termination. Nearly all the ring- leaders were arrested^ tried^ judged, and transported beyond the seas. Thus England escaped this great threatened danger also, almost without bloodshed, owing to a firm and timely resolution on the part of the Government. The questions remaining to be solved were purely of a par- liamentary character. We have already touched upon the unsatisfactory aspect of the finances of the country, and the attacks to which the Ministers had exposed themselves in connection with them. The appoint- ment of a finance committee led to no result, and the Ministers, as before mentioned, were obliged to declare their intention of not pressing for an increased rate of the Income Tax. It was, indeed, a very hazardous experiment, considering the state of affairs. But if no increase was to be made in the tax, how was the balance to be restored between the revenue and the expenditure? There was a clear deficiency of one ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 141 miUion sterlings which could not be covered even by an attempt to diminish the estimates in some of the items of expenditure. How was the riddle to be solved ? On the 25th of August^ the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer explained the way in which the Government meant to restore the balance in the Exchequer. It was intended^, he said^ to diminish the army and navy estimates by =£820^000^ whilst he expected an increase in some of the sources of revenue^ which^ added to the Chinese war contribution of £800,000, would nearly cover the deficit. On the other hand, he continued, additional expenses would be in- curred in the course of the coming year, by which the deficit would be swelled to more than two millions, which the Government proposed to cover by a loan to that amount. In extenuation of the state of the finances, Sir Charles Wood attributed the deficiency to the unsettled state of Europe, by which English commerce had suffered to a certain extent. Much objection was raised, especially by the financial reformers, to the project of increasing the National Debt, but as there remained no other way of surmounting the difficulty, the proposal was at last 142 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. agreed to. We must resign the task of entering into tlie prolix debates relating to the West India colonies^ now the annual stereotyped subject of dispute between the various parties. Protectionists and over-pious zealots^ financiers and Free Traders^ combated regu- larly pele mele with each other. This combination of various interests rendered the subject dangerous for the Ministers to enter into. By the support of Sir Eobert Peel the Ministers^ however^ again escaped a defeat. Par more important were the proposals first made in 1848 for the repeal of the Navigation Laws. The committee which had been appointed by the House in the previous year had made its report in due course, which report showed the injurious effects of those laws on British trade and shipping. The Irish aff'airs and the finance measures had consumed more than half the usual duration of a parliamentary session before the Navigation Laws were brought under dis- cussion in the House, and after lengthy debates the bill was read the first time, the advanced season pre- venting its further progress that year. Parliament was prorogued on the 5th of September. 143 CHAP. XVI. THE PAELIAMENT OF 1849. — THE REPEAL OF THE NAVIGATI0J5 LAWS. Parliament was opened by the Queen in person^ on the 1st of February^ 1849^ recommending in the Address from the Throne the termination of the parliamentary proceedings concerning the Naviga- tion Laws^ which indeed formed the pathos of the whole session. The Protection party^ led by Lord Stanley (now Earl of Derby) ^ and D^Israeli (Lord G. Bentinck having died in the month of September preceding)^ immediately, in the reply to the Address, opposed the repeal of the Laws as likely to inflict in- juries on the landed and shipping interests of the country. There was no lack of talent in the opposi- tion party. Lord Stanley, in the upper House, was a sharp and energetic speaker, whilst D^ Israeli, in the 144 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. lower House^ developed so mucli spirit^ zeal, and par- liamentary generalship, that he more than fully sup- plied the place of the late Lord G. Bentinck. Their adherents consisted of the wealthiest squires and farmers of the country. On the 12th of February, 1849, Labouchere (President of the Board of Trade) moved for the second reading of the bill for the repeal of the Navigation Laws, and on the 14th, the House resolved itself into a committee on the subject. The Press and the five volumes of the Report of the com- mittee had already enlightened the people on the in- jurious effects of these Laws. The fruits of Free Trade and the repeal of the Corn Laws had been identified with the big and cheap loaf, while the reform pro- gress of Peel's period was yet too fresh in the memory of all Englishmen to leave any doubt as to the suc- cess of the bill. Landowners, farmers, ship-builders, ship captains, and hired sailors, made, it is true, a great demonstration throughout the country, hold- ing imposing meetings, at which the Duke of Rich- mond, G. F. Young, D^Israeli, and Lord Stanley shone as zealous patriots and speakers, and where D^Israeli especially, exhausted his wit to sketch in the blackest colours Peel and his measures. All, however. ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 145 was of no avail. On tlie 8tli of March^ D^Israeli moved for compensation to the farmers^ whicli demand lie afterwards^ when Chancellor of the Exchequer^ tried to introduce as an item in his budget. But no one was willing to compensate either the farmer or land- owner for losing the privilege of raising at will the price of breads or taxing the people for its consump- tion. The long and passionate debates on the Navi- gation Laws were at last brought to a close on the 25th of April_, by a majority of 61 votes (275 against 214)^ while in the upper House the bill was carried by a majority of 13 votes. After the repeal of the Navigation Laws the par- liamentary debates lost much in interest and excite- ment^ as the last shovelling was thereby put upon Monopoly and Protection. There yet remained busi- ness^ however^ for parliamentary discussion. The state of some of our relations abroad^ and the financial re- form agitation at home^ were still subjects of some interest in and out of Parliament. The State^ it was said; ought to diminish its expenditure^ and learn to keep its books in the economical sense of a private merchant ; meetings and petitions to that effect were held and prepared throughout the country. With re- 146 ENGLAND DUKING THE PRESENT REIGN. gard to Englancrs foreign policy^ Palmerston enjoyed the deepest confidence of tlie people. Popular opinion ascribed to his sagacity and firm attitude the preser- vation of peace in Europe and the absence of any evil effect of the continental revolutions on the tran- quillity of England. Indeed, England had been su- premely quiet during all the disturbances abroad_, and whilst the nations on the continent were suffering all the calamities consequent on revolutions, the English not only looked passively upon those sad spectacles, but actually drew advantages from them in a pecu- niary point of view. Refugees of distinction from all parts incessantly flocked to the shores of Great Bri- tain, bringing with them their property and treasures, and increasing thereby our trade and commerce to a considerable extent. Ireland and the Colonies still gave the Ministers great trouble. A sort of revolution had again broken out in Canada, where a large portion of the people were aiming at the annexation of Canada to the United States. Lord Grey, however, by considerable concessions in government, and other particulars, suc- ceeded in assuaging the popular movement, and re- storing a questionable loyalty in that colony. The ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT EEIGN. 147 most important event in the foreign relations of the country was the conquest of the Punjaub by the battle of Googerat, by which British India gained great advantage by the possession of the Indus. Parliament was also much occupied with Irish affairs^ andj as usual^ without much advantage. They were obliged to grant to Ireland bread and money on the one hand^ and deprive her of the Habeas Corpus Act on the other. Life and property, however, re- mained as heretofore unsafe, the deeply mortgaged lands uncultivated, and industry and education un- known to the population. The Celts, not unlike the savages in North America, are fast vanishing ; they either perish by famine, or emigrate to other lands, thus making room for Anglo-Saxon intelligence, in- dustry, and perhaps education and religion. These are the results of progressive Nature, assisted by civilised intercourse — not of parliamentary enact- ments or legislative restrictions. The debates as to the abolition of the malt and hop taxes had led as yet to no result ; neither was Lord John Russell more successful with his Jew Bill, which, though it passed the lower House on the 7th of May, by 278 against 185 votes, was rejected in the upper H 2 148 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. House on tlie 20th of June^ by 95 against 70 votes. D^Israeli played in tlie debates the part of a de- scendant from the Jewish race. As the complete emancipation of the Jews in England is prevented only by a phrase in the oath of allegiance, which ends with the words ^'^ on the true faith of a Chris- tian/^ the time cannot be far distant when the oath will receive a new form^ as is now the case in the declaration taken by the Quakers. Shortly before the prorogation of Parliament (1st of August) about one hundred liberal members met^ to mark to Lord Palmerston their acknowledgment of his efforts for the preservation of general peace. They presented to Lady Palmerston a costly bust of the noble Viscount. It was generally considered^ and even hinted at in the Speech from the Throne^ that his explanations in the Turco -Hung avian refugee question had saved Europe from a general war. The year quietly ran its course in England_, although the Protectionists still continued to hold large meetings^ showing or pretending to show that England was hastening towards ruin by the adoption of Free Trade. All the remaining incidents of that year were of a ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 149 pacific natui^e. The journey of the Queen through Ireland during the month of August was a continued triumphal procession^ evidencing that the Celts by nature are loyal^ if they are not artificially drawn aside into fanatical and demoralising party contests. Property^ agriculture^ industry^ and religion^ are the slow but sure weapons by which the Celtic race of Ireland will be exterminated by the Saxons or Orangemen^ whose influence is paramount. When Lord Clarendon dismissed three Orangemen from the magistracy in October^ 1849^ the incident was treated by the Press as an event of great importance,, whilst on the continent hundreds of such dismissals would not have excited half the attention of the Press or public. The same month was also distinguished by the meeting convened by Cobden (on the 9th of October) at the London Tavern, against the Austrian loan. It was his opinion that the people should con- sider well^ before they parted with their money— as if the bankers and merchants ever committed the folly of lending without due consideration ! These traits are certainly the weak side of the Free-traders in England. To preach caution and ethics to Mam- mon is to wish to control private property by legis- 150 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. lative enactments^ or to endeavour to force money into certain directions and pockets by dint of Cus- toms duties. Amongst the meetings of the season^ that held on the 17th of October^ at the Mansion House, under the auspices of his Royal Highness Prince Albert, as President of the Society of Arts, was of vast im- portance in the history of the arts and sciences. It was at that meeting that arrangements were made for the selection of the site for the Exhibition to be held in 1851. Towards the end of the session, Sidney Herbert brought forward a plan for alleviating the sufferings of the needlewomen by means of emigration. That it failed in answering its purposed end, is referable to the nature of every social system, however sub- lime and humane in its construction. Practical life only obeys the cold laws of arithmetic and calcu- lation, and these laws generate more charity and brotherly love, and even love for om* enemies, than all the benevolent societies taken together, provided they (the laws) are not crippled or fettered by the so-called higher political considerations. Witness the Factory or Ten Hours Bill which, though humanely con- ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 151 ceived^ remains still without force and effect^ simply because it did not agree in principle with the econo- mical rules of practical life. The summary gain of the year 1849 was presented to the public in the form of a letter written by Sir Robert Peel^ in which he stated his conviction^ that Protection would never again prevail in England. 152 CHAP. XVII. THE TEAE 1850. — PALMEESTON. — EFFECTS OF THE EEPEAL OF THE NAVIGATION LAWS. — PAELIAMENT. — FEEE-TEADEES AND PEOTECTIONISTS. During the latter part of the year 1849 and the be- ginning of the year 1850^ England played a peculiar part in her foreign policy^ more especially as regards the Hungarian war. Palmerston^ whilst apparently favouring the revolution and securing an asylum for the political refugees in Turkey^ also managed on the other hand to keep on friendly terms with the despotic courts on the continent. It was a task as difficult as it at first appeared inexplicable, but which afterwards deservedly gained for him the reputation of being one of the greatest diplomatists of the day. The attention of England was now mainly directed towards the effects produced by the repeal of the ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 153 Navigation Laws*. The Stanley-D^Israeli party tried to show that the repeal of these^ as well as of the Corn Laws^ had proved fatal in the extreme. The two leaders now mustered all their forces to give battle at the very opening of the session^ whilst a few of their party racked their brains to prove by statistical com- pilations^ in journals and pamphlets^ that England was on the verge of bankruptcy^ brought on by Free Trade; that her people were starving and demoralised^ her workhouses filled, ay^ overflowed with paupers; and that she owed some fifty or sixty millions sterling to merchants abroad for an excess of imports over exports^ which she either must cancel with bullion or vdpe ofi* the score by declaring herself insolvent. Reports of some strong allusions about to be made in the Address from the Throne as to the benefits which accrued from Free Trade^ still more sharpened the wit and increased the preliminary eff'orts of the leaders of the Opposition^ who frequently met at Lord Stanley^s. It was^ in shorty generally understood that the coming Parliament would assume a dramatic aspect from the very outset. ^ See Appendix as to Tonnage. H 3 154 ENGLAND BUHING THE PRESExNT KEIGN. Parliament was opened by Commission on the 31st J| of January^ 1850. The Address from the Throne spoke of the hopes entertained that other nations would soon follow the example of Great Britain^ and introduce measures of Free Trade and unrestricted competition ; and that^ though some reports spoke of agricultural distress^ the nation was upon the whole in a state of prosperity. " It is/^ the Address continued^ ^^a source of real joy to her Majesty to witness the abundance and cheapness of the necessaries of life, on which the existence of the poor labouring classes so much depends/^ The answer to the Address was moved by the Earl of Essex^ which was in fact an echo of the royal speech, wliilst the Earl of Stradbroke proposed an amendment, ascribing the agricultural distress in Great Britain, and parti- cularly in Ireland, to the recent laws of Free Trade and to the increase of local burdens. Lord Stanley supported the amendment with great zeal, although he wound up by stating that he would be content for the present with a moderate fixed duty. The amendment, however, was lost by a majority of 49 votes (152 against 103). In the lower House a similar amendment was also ne- ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 155 gatived by a majority of 119 votes (311 against 192). On the 19th of T^farch^ D^Israeli moved for a revi- sion of tlie Poor Laws in favour of the landowners^ as a compensation for the losses sustained by them in consequence of the repeal of the Corn Laws. After two nights^ debate^ the motion was lost by a majority of 11 votes (273 against 262). This small majority against the motion stimulated the party to repeated proposals of a similar tendency in favour of the agricul- tural classes^ but without success^ whilst the continued opposition they offered to the Government on nearly all the bills of the session^ and the assistance they invariably lent to any motion^ no matter from what quarter it emanated^ where there was any chance of de- feating the Government^ so soured the temper of Lord John RusseU that he^ on more than one occasion, threatened to resign. That Hume^s annual motion for the extension of the elective rights was again re- jected on the 28th of February by 242 against 96 votes is not to be wondered at, considering the indis- creet conduct of the working classes during that year^ Hume, H. Drummond, Cobden, and others, also moved in their usual way for a reduction of the army 156 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN, expenses and public expenditure generally. They did not succeed that year^ simply because the public ex- chequer had already undergone various experiments by the removal of many restrictions on trade and navi- gation. The Free-traders were therefore content with exempting tiles and wood for building purposes from import duties^ though they did not in the least sus- pect what a benevolent revolution those free tiles and wood would call forth in London. The vast masses of houses^ cottages^ and villas with splendid gardens, built with untaxed materials^ in the extreme suburbs of the metropolis^ have already afforded a fair oppor- tunity to large numbers of the working classes, of renting small houses for themselves and families, at a much cheaper rate than they paid for the couple of rooms they had hitherto occupied in the densest and most insalubrious parts of the city. The Protectionists, unable any longer to command the political sphere, now turned their attention to Sunday posts, labour, tea, malt, and even to literature and newspapers. Socialism began to flourish under their auspices, and for some time attempts were even made to re-introduce the mediaeval institutions of guilds and corporations in England. The free re- ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 157 lation between the employers and the employed was to cease^ or at least become reorganised. Societies of needlewomen^ tailors and shoemakers^ printers and compositors^ were formed for the purpose of abolishing free competition and Free Trade^ whilst Lord Ashley^s mischievous motion had masked itself under the form of Christian charity. He made a new motion on the 14th of March on the Ten Hours BiU. Throughout the whole year the working men were on the move^ complainings by petitions and at meetings^ of the violation of the bill. The meetings were followed by deputations and interviews with the Home Secretary. Time^ necessity^ and experience, how^ever^ healed the wounds without the assistance of the State physician. The Society for Female Emigration shipped their first portion of 813 persons to Port Phillip in the month of February. The efforts of the Society were directed to the alleviation of a class who had recently attracted public notice in the parliamentary reports ; but time and experience^ even with regard to this charitable Society^ have taught that the purest and noblest acts of humanity are by themselves unable to meet great social evils, which, if they are not remedied by the free development of social 158 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. interests generally^ are certainly of a most incurable cliaracter^ and beyond tbe reach of legislative pre- scription. The Restrictionists [alias Protectionists) carried their motion against the delivery of letters on Sundays^ while Lord Ashley^s motion^ supported by 3280 petitions containing 547,538 signatures_, passed the House on the 30th of May by 93 against 68 votes. We pass over the minor incidents and proceedings with which the session of 1850 so abounded ; they are but isolated facts, and have no connection with the internal history of England. We cannot, however, omit noticing the death of Sir Robert Peel (caused by injuries sustained in a fall from his horse) , which took place on the 2nd of July. This fatal accident is truly an historical event. It deprived England of one of her greatest and noblest statesmen. Parliament of one of its most energetic members. Free Trade one of its greatest authorities, and his party, whom he had served until 1846, for the space of twenty- three years, of its most spirited leader. The accident proved, however, afterwards, to be more of an indivi- dual than a national calamity. The reformer had been snatched ^away, but the reforms that he had brought about continued their onward course, progressing with ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 159 ever-increasing vigour. It was the fault of Ms dis- ciples and successors — the Peelites — that his system has not been carried out to a greater extent^ or fraught with still better results. Sir Robert Peel spoke his last words in the House on the 28th of June. ^^ I have supported the ministers/^ said he^ ^^ because I perfectly approve of their internal policy^ which I think has been liberal and conscientious. I agree with them^ and repeat it emphatically, that peace and the true interests of the country chiefly rest upon the principles of our commercial policy .^^ These words form both his own epitaph and legacy to England. Both Houses adjourned for two days_, as a mark of deep mourning for the great man. Peel had taken great interest in the Greek question^ which may be considered as the most important and exciting subject of the whole session. The Free- traders and Protectionists had respectively made an attempt, during that session, to bring the party ques- tion to an issue in the House, both in principle and parliamentary form. The latter had chosen the foreign policy of the Government as the battle-field for the fall of the Ministers, whilst the former, anxious to secure to the industrial classes the same elective 160 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. riglits as those enjoyed by the agricultural classes^ selected this topic as the best means of altogether destroying the opposing party. Both were unsuc- cessful^ simply because the forms in which the real question was couched were unpopular in the country. On the 17th of June^ Lord Stanley attacked Lord Palmerston^ and with him the Government^ for his harsh proceedings against the Greek Go- vernment in the Pacifico affair. He succeeded in having a censure recorded against Lord Palmerston by a majority of thirty-seven votes ; but in the lower House the conduct of the latter was approved by a majority of 46 votes (310 against 264). The de- bate in the lower House lasted for five nights^ dur- ing which Lord John Kussell^ in approving of the policy of the noble Viscounty said that he (Lord Pal- merston) ^^ was not a Russian or an Austrian^ but an English Minister^ and as such he had acted in full conformity with his own views. '^ The parliamentary campaign of the Liberals^ which opened on the 9th of July^ by the motion of Locke King to extend the elective right in towns to £10 householders^ equally resulted in failure^ the motion being rejected by 159 against 100 votes. The ques- ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 161 tion involved radical principles^ for which the Free- traders of Manchester and the other manufacturing places did not care much_, now that they had obtained, in a direct way, all that they had for years been con- tending for. Moreover, the agitations among the working-classes for higher wages and less time of labour, were but little calculated to favour a motion which might eventually place them in a position to legislate to the injury of their employers. The lower House was as yet, in a religious point of view, unprepared to extend emancipation to the Jews. Englishmen, although wise and humane in practical life, are much more scrupulous and hesitating in reli- gious and church questions than other civilised na- tions. It may be attributed to their education, and the peculiar state of Protestantism, as it appears in the whole history of their church and the dogmas of their Oxford Catechisms. However, Parliament and Rothschild can easily dispense with each other for the present, without damage to the British Christians or to the British Jews. Parliament was prorogued by the Queen on the 15th of August. The session was one of the longest and most active of its kind. One hundred and fifty- 162 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. five bills were taken into consideration ; ninety-five had been brought in^ seventeen adjourned or rejected^ and seventy passed into law. More than 1100 hours had been occupied in its sittings. The main result was the extension of the moral and practical sphere of PeeFs system^ and the estabhshment of a safe and sound policy despite the various and passionate at- tacks of the Protectionists. Improvements were intro- duced in the Australian Government^ free intercourse and civilisation enlarged at home and abroad^ the laws of the land amended^ the elective right extended in Ireland^ the marine made more perfect^ and many local burdens removed. The rise and progress of the Exhibitio7i of Industry of all Nations had roused and fostered a universal feeling of peace and harmony during the year^ not only in England^ but throughout the civilised world. In the autumn of that year^ however^ the political sky became overcast by the news of large armaments on the continent^ as also of the arrival of a papal bull to the believers in England and Ireland^ which was calculated to create feehngs of misgiving in the minds of the English Protestants^ and call forth the old watchword of ^^ No Popery ^^ throughout the country. 163 CHAP. XVIII. THE UNIYEESAL EXHIBITION OE 1851 — AND THE MIDDLE OE THE NINETEENTH CENTUEY. The nineteentli century^ whicli had commenced with barbarons wars^ and was completing its first moiety amidst agitations^ disturbances^ and revolutions on the continent of Europe^ was nevertheless destined to usher in its second half period by a universal festi- val of peace. It was the plan of the greatest soldier and politician on the continent^ in the beginning of the nineteenth century^ to exclude the iron^ coals^ and manufactures of Great Britain from the rest of Europe; whilst England^ on the other hand^ began the second half century with inviting all nations to rivalry and competition^ mutual instruction and per- fection^ in the various branches of industry and the 164 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. arts and sciences. From all parts of the civilised world might vessels have been seen steering towards the Metropohs^ for the focns in Hyde Park^ where^ after some discussion in Parliament^ the building for the reception and exhibition of the goods was erected. All had worked for this grand exhibition^ all had strained their ingenuity and invention to assist in adorning this first temple of peace. England had reason to look back with pride upon the past half century. The population had increased from 10^942;646 in 1801, to 17,735,871 in 1850. The exports of produce and manufactures had in- creased from £39,871,203 in 1800, to £63,596,025 in 1850. The shipping had increased from 1,996,802 tons in 1800, to 7,404,588 tons in 1850. In the year 1800 there was a deficiency of revenue to the amount of £18,604,291; and in the year 1850 there was a surplus of revenue over the expenditure by £2,578,806. The bullion in the Bank of England in 1800 amounted to £6,144,000, in 1850 to £17,010,000. ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 165 The rental of England and Wales in 1800 was es- timated at £20,000,000, in 1850 at £60,000,000. The imports of raw cotton amounted in 1800 to 56,010,732 lbs., and in 1850 to 757,379,840 lbs. The quantity of wool imported in 1800 amounted to 8,000,000 lbs., and in 1850 to 700,000,000 lbs. The export of cotton manufactures by the yard amounted in 1800 to 72,000,000 yards, and in 1850 to 1,358,000,000 yards. The export of twist and yarn in 1814 amounted to 7,328,760 lbs., and in 1850 to 131,000,000 lbs. The Exhibition of 1851 was opened by the Queen, with great splendour, on tlie 1st of May 1851. We pass over the magnificence and wealth accumulated in the building, and the vast number of persons of all climes who visited it, as these have been fully described in works devoted to the subject; and we will only notice that the building in itself presented a novelty to the world, being wholly constructed of iron and glass. In a financial point of view it fully answered the most sanguine expectation. During the six months of its duration in Hyde Park, the receipts, including the subscriptions, amounted to £505,107, 166 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. and^ after paying all the expenses in connection with, the undertakings there remained a surplus of £150^000^ which was subsequently expended in the purchase of land at Kensington Gore^ for the site of a new National Gallery^ &c. 167 CHAP. XIX. THE YEAR 1851. — PAELIAMENT. — THE MINISTEEIAL CEISIS. Parliament^ wliicli was opened on tlie 14tli of Fe- bruary, formed a curious contrast to tlie Industrial Palace, delineated in the preceding chapter. It ap- peared as if Old England, intimidated by Young England, had taken refuge in Parliament, in order to give vent to her feelings and carry out her old notions. Half the session passed away chiefly in apprehension of the Pope and the Jews. The only financial opera- tions of the session were, the reduction of the coflPee and sugar duties, and the abolition of the assessed taxes on windows. Until the 4th of July Parliament was fully engaged with the debates on the ^^ Ecclesias- tical Titles Assumption Bill,^^ the third reading of which was carried by 263 against 46 votes. Such a majority against Catholic titles and functions in a 168 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. country where all religious persuasions enjoy full liberty ; such a fear that the Pope at Rome would again bring under his rule the crown of England and the creed of the English; such a hatred against Popery^ which has so frequently agitated the mind of the people to the utmost extent^ would indeed be a perfect enigma in a civilised country like England — the asylum of the persecuted of all countries of the world — if the Protestantism of England^ if her high- church dogmas aud theology^ were not the weakest side of the country. The official Protestantism of England is only another name for episcopal Popery^ and the very similarity it bears in form and character with Catholicism^ sufficiently explains the great hatred, jealousy^ and even fear that exist between them. A motion of D^Israeli on the 13th of February, to take into consideration the losses and sufferings of the farmers whenever a financial change was to be made in the burdens of the country^ was negatived by a ma- jority of only 14. A proposal by Government for the further reduction of the timber duty from 15^. to 7^. 66?. per load was consented to without opposition on the 14th of Aprils as was also another on the 5th of July, for the farther reduction of colonial sugar to ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 169 lOs., and foreign to 14^. per cwt. for a period of three years. The call of no house was heard more frequently during that session than any other recorded. The second reading of the Jew Bill, brought in by Lord John Russell; was carried in the lower House on the 1st of May by 202 against 177 votes^ but rejected in the upper House on the 17th of July by a majority of 36 votes; and an attempt of Alderman Salomons (who had been elected member for Green- wich) to force himself into the House resulted in a peremptory order from the Speaker to force him out of it; but the penalties attending such an illegal attempt could not be carried into practical effect ^ chiefly owing to the popular feeling against them. An amendment by Hume to prolong the Income Tax for one year only^ instead of for three years, was carried against the Government by a majority of 14 (244 against 230 votes) ; as was also a motion of Locke King to equalise the elective right between towns and counties (to which Lord John Russell had objected); by a majority of 48 (100 against 58 votes). These several though harmless defeats induced Lord John Russell and the Cabinet to give in their resigna- I 170 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. tion. Lord Stanley (Earl of Derby) was called to form a new Cabinet^ but after several attempts declared bis inability to do so. Lord Jobn Russell^ wbo was again desired to reconstruct tbe Cabinet^ also signified his inability to accomplish the task^ owing to a differ- ence of opinion on the papal question between himself and Lord Aberdeen and Sir James Graham. After a second but fruitless attempt of Lord Stanley to form a Ministry, the Duke of Wellington advised her Majesty to send for Lord John Russell^ and instruct him to resume office with his old colleagues : in shorty to withdraw his resignation and allow the Cabinet to be composed of its previous members. This minis- terial crisis but too plainly showed^ on the one hand^ that the spirit and vital power had fled from the old parties^ and on the other^ that the modern party of Manchester and Liverpool was yet too young, and perhaps too radical in its principles, to be in- trusted with the a^dministration of the country, at that time so replete with conflicting elements, laws, institutions, and opinions. From the 20th of February to the 3rd of March, England had remained without a Government, and yet nobody perceived it. Everything passed on, as if nothing had happened to ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 171 arrest its progress. Self-government, or the sove- reignty of the people, is in England an established fact, — a reality that cannot be frustrated by the political creed of the servants of the crown, who must foUow the current of public opinion, however little in accordance with their own private views, — a fact of which the Derby Government of the succeed- ing year gave ample evidence. The session was closed on the 8th of August, during which the Russell Ministry suffered repeated defeats by majorities of from 1 to 50 and 60 votes. I 3 173 CHAP. XX. KOSSUTH. — FEENCH COUP D ETAT. — VISIT OF ME. WALKEE. Towards the latter end of tlie year 1851^ England felt a few shocks of political agitations. The revolu- tion in Cuba had called forth both hopes and appre- hensions, which vanished, however, with the rapid termination of the revolution. The arrival of Kossuth in England, in November, was of a more exciting character. The charms which reflected afar round his name, his deeds and vicissitudes, were still more enhanced by his rich and fiery eloquence in the Eng- lish language, as well as by the tenor of his addresses, which he knew well how to adapt to the English way of thinking. Southampton, London, and Manchester received him officially as the greatest hero and martyr of the day. Beyond these indications of sympathy, however, his career in England made no further ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 173 progress. The popular excitement soon turned into another channel — that of the French coup d^etat. On the 29th of September^ England had drawn a closer connection with France^ by the establishment of a submarine telegraph between the capitals of London and Paris^ and within two months afterwards^ France faced England^s shores in hostile attitude, as her old historical foe. A panic of war^ ay, invasion, aroused the peaceable inhabitants of the island from their golden dreams in the late festival of Peace, where, in their industrial and scientific intercourse with all the nations of the world, they had neglected their national defence by land and water. This panic was increased by the English coup d^etat, on the 22nd of December ; for such indeed was the dismissal of Lord Palmerston, for having ap- proved of the coup d^etat of Louis Napoleon, from the Cabinet. His dismissal was viewed by the English nation as a xeal invasion of continental diplomacy, which Palmerston had always opposed in the most decisive manner. Much has been said and ar- gued about the affair; but the real cause lay, no doubt, in the desire for peace and tranquillity which the Ministers were courting with heart and soul. By 174 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. his habitual remonstrances upon the domestic affairs of foreign states^ Palmerston had given much trouble to his colleagues, who became overwhelmed with complaints from foreign courts on the subject ; Spain went even so far as to expel the English Am- bassador from that court for venturing to give official counsel to the Spanish Government on some subject connected with their internal policy. Palmerston received a summary dismissal^ a compliment which he afterwards returned by upsetting the Cabinet alto- gether. We must not omit to mention the arrival, at the end of the year^ of a member of the United States Cabinet^ Mr. Walker^ at Liverpool and Manchester. In his sound speeches he pointed out the vast ad- vantages that have accrued from the liberal policy adopted in England, and which the United States are closely imitating, in harmony with their mutual interests and bond of kindred friendship. 175 CHAP. XXL THE YEAE 1852. — THE FEAE OF INVASION. — THE AMALGAMATED SOCIETY OF ENGINEEES. The year 1852 commenced with gloomy uncer- tainty and forebodings^ which vented themselves in various meetings^ petitions^ and schemes. The fear of a French invasion was daily gaining strength, and excited imagination soon connected with it a crusade against the Protestant church and religion. It was proved by the public press that neither the army nor the navy were in an efficient state to inspire England^ s continental neighbours with a wholesome fear of approaching her shores, whilst her relations with foreign courts generally, were not such as to enable her to place reliance upon their promises of peace and safety, England felt herself alone and isolated. The movements at home were ill calculated 176 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. to dispel the gloomy apprehensions which existed throughout the land. A sort of civil war^ in a social point of view, also began to be waged between the different classes against each other, and which, from its extent and obstinacy, threatened to destroy the prosperity of the country — so gloriously represented but a few months back at the Great Industrial Exhibi- tion. It was a combination of labour against capital, carried on by nearly the whole of the working classes in the realm. The movement was begun by the engineers and machinists, who attempted to dictate terms to their employers. This attempt may be con- sidered as the greatest social question ever submitted to the practical test of experience ; and, as the Go- vernment did not interfere in the contest, but allowed the various parties to exhaust their moral and phy- sical, and even intellectual resources, it affords the best practical evidence of the hollowness of the exor- bitant claims of all those who are ignorant of the mutual relations that exist between production and consumption, or the values of labour and capital. It has been said that, had it not been for the large capital of the capitalists, they never would have conquered, nor maintained their imaginary rights. But this very ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 177 assertion brings the question back to its starting- point. What are capitalists without capital? Are not employers capitalists to those whom they employ and pay wages ? Did not the labourers themselves engage in the struggle by means of capital against capital ? They wanted^ properly speakings to conquer large capital by small capital ! Having been sup- ported by a subscription capital of <£30^000j they intended to dictate terms to the owners of vastly greater amounts^ without considering that such an attempt^ without recourse being had to physical force^ plunder and theft — crimes which the educated engineers held in utter abhorrence — was^ both na- turally and morally^ utterly impossible. They were suffering under a social disease^ more prevalent in England than elsewhere^ and where a vast number of people were rendering themselves unhappy for the purpose of making their future condition more com- fortable. The English engineers and machinists^ the most important^ best educated^ and well paid class of workmen^ had^ at an early period, formed unions in their respective localities^ which were afterwards moulded into one ^^Amalgamated Society .^^ That I 3 178 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. Society consisted of one hundred and twenty unions^ counting more tlian twelve thousand members. It had its head-quarters in London ; the staff consisted of an executive council of seven members. The object of the, unions^ originally^ was of a purely humane character— to assist the sick and destitute members^ as also to provide for their funerals^ and^ to a certain extent^ afford support to the orphans and widows of the deceased members. The revenues of such an extensive Society soon surpassed its expenditure^ and created a sort of consolidated fund^ which prompted them to extend their thoughts to schemes far beyond the supply of mere immediate wants. They insisted upon increased wages and a diminution of the time of labour ; and as these conditions were refused by the employers^ they made a strike. In return^ the employers also formed themselves into a union^ and resolved not to employ any one who belonged to the ^^ Amalgamated Society .^^ They thus stood in hos- tile array against each other- — the one refusing to work and the other withholding employment, and ceasing business altogether^ rather than yield to the conditions prescribed by the opposite party. More than ten thousand labourers were thus thrown out of ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 179 employment and cast upon tlie funds of the Society for support^ wHcli rapidly disappeared, despite tlie continual supply from different Societies of various characters in the country. Want and necessity at last compelled the engineers to resume work_, and their pretended claims were thus set aside by the simple process of nature, supply and demand^ which act upon each other in the same manner as cause and effect. The loss, both to the employed and the employers^ during the fifteen weeks^ strike, has been estimated to exceed three millions sterling. 180 CHAP. XXII. WAELIKE DISPOSITIONS. — AEMAMENTS. During tlie conflict witli tlie working classes, England likewise suffered from the panic of the ^^ Attila of Socialism/^ as Louis Bonaparte was called. In England the conflict manifested itself in mere logic and argument^ while on the other side of the channel the sword and bayonet were used as the convincing agencies^ and the military became the dominant power in Erance. A Pretorian Government^ it was thought^ soon leads to foreign wars^ to conquests abroad in order to quiet the rapacious desires of the soldiery^ who would otherwise lend their assistance in spread- ing to a still greater degree the confusion and disorder so prevalent at home. It was moreover rumoured^ that Louis Bonaparte^ during his stay in England as a Erench refugee^ had more than once hinted at his ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 181 destiny^ which^, he said^ at some future period would impel him to attack England. A vast store of coals for steam-vessels had also been found in the depots of the late King Louis Philippe^ and the old reports and apprehensions of a French invasion were again re- newed with redoubled force and zeal^ recalling to mind the letter which the Duke of Wellington had addressed to the nation a few years back on the de- fenceless state of the English coast. That letter was now the daily topic of the press^ which dwelt with gloomy speculations on the possibility of the people one night being roused from their beds by the beating of Erench drums^ proclaiming England a Erench province^ enjoying universal suffrage under the auspices of a Catholic Government. It was fully believed by the English people^ that they would be called upon to defend their families^ treasures,, institutions^ Protestantism and Germanism against absolutism and ultra-montanism. The whole nation was accordingly on the alert ; rifle and target unions were formed amongst all classes throughout the country^ in anticipation of the coming war^ and every one was ready to receive the enemy of religion and civilisation in due military style. 182 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. It is true that the Cabinet and part of the aristo- cracy and manufacturers^ and the friends of peace, thought differently. Lord John Enssell had pur- posely rid his Cabinet of the violent Palmerston^, to soften the angry feelings of the continental courts^ and maintain peace at any price rather than involve the country in expensive wars. Public opinion^ how- ever^ compelled Lord John to order warlike prepa- rations. Men-of-war were put in commission^ war steamers were recalled from distant seas_, the arsenals and forts repaired^ new arms ordered^ and, in shorty everything was done to convince the people that nothing had been neglected for the defence of the country, so long, at least, as France based her power exclusively upon her military forces. 183 CHAP. XXIII. THE PAELIAMENT OF 1852. While the Conservative Ministry of Peel brought about new reforms and liberal measures^ the Whig Ministry of Eussell remained almost Conservative in principle and stationary in policy. To this cause may be attributed the fall of the latter^ which the indul- gence and weakness of the Opposition for some time had delayed. The Ministry of Lord John Russell was a family union of mediocre capacity^ unable to carry out PeeFs notions and plans of reform. In- cluding eight members of the upper House^ the Administration contained no less than thirty-nine members, belonging, more or less, to the same family, and closely united by blood or marriage. Peel had broken the old historical preponderance of the landed 184 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. aristocracy^ and raised the industry and commerce of the towns to political eminence. He laid down the principles^ the elements for further reforms^ which he would no doubt have carried out himself, had he re- mained in office^ but the Russell Ministry seemed only to have kept in view the past^ the preservation of all that had been effected by their predecessors^ without thinking of going a step further_, to make a bold advance in the way of liberalism. Great ex- citement had for some time prevailed among the people^ who were^ on the one hand^ desirous of Par- liamentary^ Chancery^ and Custom-house reforms, and incensed on the other, against a host of expen- sive evils which stood out in glaring contrast by the side of PeeFs reforms ; but the Government well knew how to keep back all these claims by fair promises of ^^ considering them in due time/^ and other pretences of the usual diplomatic stamp, until the anticipation of a coming war with Prance had nearly exhausted the patience of the nation, who now looked forward to the opening of Parliament with anxious curiosity, feeling certain that some great measures would be proposed and carried, at least as regarded England's ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 185 foreign relation s_, with wliicli the people and the press had connected the mysterious dismissal of Lord Palmerston. Parliament was opened on the 3rd of February^ for the first time in the new building. The speech from the throne was couched in vague terms^ and was deemed unsatisfactory^ considering the exciting cir- cumstances of the day. On the following day Lord John Russell explained^, in a long speech^ the causes that led to the dismissal of Lord Palmerston from the Cabinet ; he (Palmerston) had on several occasions^ he said^ been disobedient to the Queen^s and his own orders^ and he had moreover approved of the French coup d^etat in plain words to the Prench ambassador^ Count Walewsky, without previously consulting his col- leagues. Lord John Russell would not^ however^ take any notice of a paragraph in the ^^ Breslau Gazette/^ which was penned before the news of Palmerston^s dismissal was even known to the London press^ and which ascribes the incident to the influence of Prince Schwarzenburg. The defence of Palmerston was as lame as was the accusation of his opponent. He laid a stress upon his private views^ which had no- thing in common with his public duties_, and claimed 186 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. the same privilege of thinking for himself as his late colleagues did in like manner. It was believed, out of doors^ that both heroes of the evening had endea- voured to mystify the truth by a confusion of: words. Be this however as it may, the liberal portion of the population considered Palmerston a martyr to conti- nental intrigues^ and the English Cabinet guilty of allowing itself to be swayed by foreign influence. The Press, with a few exceptions, had always con- demned the French coup d^etaty and the incidents attending it, in the strongest terms, and Lord John Eussell was not slow in regretting and complaining of the severe tone assumed by the Press generally against Louis Bonaparte. Many of the Lords, and Lord Derby in particular, took the same course, and they even thought it their duty to defend the Presi- dent of the French against the Press of their own country. In return, the Press rose en masse in vindi- cation of its rights and privileges, which, it asserted, were beyond the power of the Cabinet. The English Constitution is neither an aristocratic nor a democratic, nor even a written law ; but it is typocratic, and written every day. The Press is the living expression of public opinion, which governs ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 187 everytlimg in England^ and the most talented and able articles that were ever published in the London journals belong to that time and the topics of that day. Many of the leaders in those journals will probably figure at some future period^ as historical records^ even though written for the interest of the present. 188 CHAP. XXIV. THE EEFOEM BILL OF LOED JOHN EUSSELL. On the 9th of February the Premier brought in his long-promised Reform Bill. On the one hand he lowered the money and property conditions of the elective right in towns to about the half of the pre- vious amount^ and on the other he re-constructed many of the rotten boroughs into elective franchises,, in order^ as he said^ to reconcile the landed interests with those of the towns. Old feudalism, in the dis- tribution of elective right, was thus to remain in force. New, populous, and flourishing towns were to be ex- cluded from that right, and poor deserted boroughs entitled to legislate for them. The bill, although it pretended to restore the balance between the interests of towns and country, which had been destroyed by PeeFs reforms, was, in effect, calculated to annihilate ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 189 it altogether. Ratepayers of 40^. and householders of £5 rental annually, are hardly to be met with in the English towns, whilst the elective right was to be restored to fifty-six rotten and decayed boroughs, although they were only inhabited by some few de- scendants of the gatekeepers and steeplewardens of yore. Among the number of these boroughs were : Old Sarum, containing one house and twelve inha- bitants, and Beer-alston, which seems to have vanished from the face of the earth, as no one could tell where it was situated. The almost endless witty sallies of the press on the subject, and the various articles and leaders on the ^^Kotten Boroughs of Lord John Eussell,^^ may be numbered among the classical creations of the comic literature of the age. 190 CHAP. XXV. THE MILITIA BILL. — THE FALL OF THE EUSSELL MINISTEY. On the 16th of February Lord John Russell brought in his Militia Bill. It provided for the increase of the regular troops to the amount of 4000 men^ and the artillery 1000 men^ besides the creation of a local militia consisting of 80^000 men in the first and 30^000 in the second class^ of which one-fifth was to be called into service every year. After long debates the resolution was consented to^ simply because it provided some actual defence against an invasion^ — the talk of the day. It may seem strange^ that the Russell Ministry^ that had suffered many defeats of greater importance without thinking seriously of re- signing office^ should now^ by an amendment of one little word^ ^^ regular ^^ instead of ^^locaP^ militia, as proposed by their previous colleague, Palmerston, and ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 191 which was carried by only eleven chance votes^ be- lieve that the time for leaving office had arrived in earnest. That amendment,, however insignificant in itself, greatly tended to fill to the brim the cup of bitterness that was preparing for the Government. The Irish press bribery^ the CaSre war^ the Chancery Eeform^ and many other questions of a troublesome nature were so many stumbling-blocks in the path of the ^Ministers ; over one of them they were sure to fall^ so that it only remained a matter of choice^ like the death of Seneca^ how and by what means it was best to meet their end. The motion of the Derby party censuring the Go- vernment^ or rather Lord Clarendon^ then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland^ for having granted gratuities to the Irish press (to the Editor of the ^^ World ^^)^ having met with failure on the 19th of February^ the amendment of Lord Palmerston^ which was to come on the following day^ the 20th^ relating to the Militia Bill^ was in consequence deemed of so little importance by most of the members^ that many of them actually absented themselves from the House^ little suspecting the result and its consequences. The amendment was adopted by a majority of 11 votes (136 against 192 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 125). Lord John Russell tlien declared that it amounted to a vote of want of confidence^ and that he held himself free from all responsibility of the bill^ which he said might as well be introduced in its new form by Lord Palmerston. The latter seemed surprised at the declaration^ and the House was thrown into confusion in anticipation of the consequences. It was feared that the moment had at last arrived when the Derbyites would be in- trusted with the administration of the country. Sir Benjamin Hall was almost the only one who spoke out his opinion in plain and bold terms^ on the situation of affairs. He was^ he said^ as little afraid of a Protectionist as of a French invasion. Let the Protectionists by all means come into power^ and we shall then see what they mean to do^ and how far they will carry out their principles. They can do no harm ; while on the other hand it is constitutional to expect that on withdrawing the Militia Bill^ Lord John Russell intends also to resign the Government. The meaning was clear enough; it said in other words^ let there be a Protectionist Government^ in order to get rid of Protection and its party. ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 193 Lord John Eussell now declared in plain terms, that, having lost the confidence of the House, the Ministers intended to resign. The fall of the Cabinet was partly, if not mainly, owing to the indifference of the Free Trade party, who having obtained, as they thought, all that they desired, considered their mis- sion at last terminated, no matter what party was to govern the country in future. Nothing was now left to be done but to intrust the large Protection party with the Administration. The leaders of that party had already, as early as 1851, turned their thoughts to preparations for office, and begun to qualify their opinions on Free Trade, so far as even to request some of the editors of their leading organs in the Press not to insert any articles bearing on Protection and its principles. ]94 CHAP. XXVI. THE DEEBY MINISTEY. The Derby Ministry was the penalty inflicted on Eng- land for having stopped midway in the path of mer- cantile,, financial^ and social reforms^ the outlines of which had been sketched by the late Sir Eobert Peel. It must indeed have been very humiliating to Lord John Russell and his colleagues to have again to repair to the Queen with their portfolios^ to resign office^ and recommend once more their opponents as successors. The nomenclature of the new Ministers filled the farmers mth joy and the Free Traders with alarrn^ whilst the people at large viewed it with more tact and judgment. They laughed and mocked at the names as they appeared in the ^^ Gazette ^^ and the public press^ and only wondered at the courage or madness of those men who ventured upon ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 195 the task of goyerning the country when they knew that the country was unwilling to be governed by them^ and that the time for sliding scales and pro- tective duties had past and gone. Derby and D^Israeli were alone considered eminent characters in the new Cabinet : the others were but of subordinate names and talents. The Derby Min- istry did not obtain power by the force of their own opinions^ but by the split between the Reformers and Free Traders in the opposite camp. This circum- stance^ if viewed in its proper lights sufficiently ex- plains the whole occurrence. England_, careless about her functionaries^ progresses and advances by rapid steps upon the high road of reform and civilisation. The process of her development is neither advanced nor checked by the influence of the State or Cabinet^ since the practical channels of culture, and the teachings of the press, remain free and unshackled under all circumstances of ministerial changes. The appearance of the Derbyites on the ministerial benches created but little sensation in the House. The new Ministers were repeatedly chal- lenged to issue a Protection programme for the guid- ance of the House and the country, but they always k2 196 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. avoided accepting the challenge on some pretext or other. The Free Traders re-organised their party^ and re-established the Anti-Corn-Law League^ to be prepared for the field against the Derbyites. The latter^ however^ never thought of giving battle. They knew they were in a minority as regarded their own principles^ but durst not renounce them at once^ for fear of oflPending the party whose leaders they were^ and who now expected a return to the old regime of Protection and Conservatism^ for which^, during the past ten years_, they had spent time^ money^ and in- fluence. The historical interest in the lamentable play in which the Derbyites and Parliament performed some curious parts^ during the summer of 1852_, can only be found in the evidence to be deduced^ that there is no chance of old theories,, however ably represented^ pre- vailing in a countiy where practical benefit is the only means by which popularity and general favour can be obtained. The Derbyites, with all their courage and passion for party purposes^ were unable to obtain a footing either as Protectionists or even under the modified appellation of Tory- Conserva- tives. D'lsraeli^ as Chancellor of the Exchequer^ ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 197 was even compelled to become tlie panegyrist of Peel and his reforms^ in order to assuage the indig- nant feelings of the House. In introducing his first budget^ he acknowledged that the benefits derived from the Free Trade system were undeniable ; look- ing^ however, at the wry faces behind him, he qualified the praise by observing that the system had been adopted too precipitately, and that, by doing so, great injury had been inflicted on the agricultural interests. There was so much shuffling in the speeches, so much of the ^^ Figaro here, Figaro there,^^ that, not being able to give a plain explana- tion to any party, the Ministers at last told the House that they would leave the principles of Free Trade and Protection to be settled by the country, in a new election of Parliament, and that they would be guided by the national decision before the end of that year. This implied, in other terms, that they no longer had any settled principles of their own, and that, rather than give up office on account of a mere bias for Protection, they would adopt any views by which a majority might be commanded in the House. This was a master-trick (though unconstitutional) worthy of a Metternich or Talleyrand. To their old 198 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. friends they said^ ^^ Do your best at the coming elec- tions to retm^n a Protectionist majority^ and we are ready to do away with all Free Trade measures^ against which we have been fighting all along. In case^ however^ the elections should turn against you^ what can it profit you if we do resign ? It is always better for you to have friends in power^, who at least have the will to confer benefits on you ; and, whilst in power^ they might find some opportunities of doing so^ but hardly ever when sitting on the Opposition benches.'^ After many delays, Parliament was dissolved in July^ and the elections for a new one commenced im- mediately afterwards, not only with all the excitement and interest consequent on such an event, but even with additional corruption, and bribes held out by some of the members of the Administration for the purpose of increasing the Tory, or rather Protection ranks. Upon the hustings, nearly all the members of the new Administration receded many steps from their previous principles ; they showed that neither the repeal of the Corn Laws nor the introduction of the other liberal measures had done that amount of harm which they had anticipated. There might have ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 199 been^ they added^ some fortunate extraneous circum- stances^, such as the discovery of gold in California and Australia^ &c., to counterbalance the evil effects of those measures ; but since it was really the case^ it was no longer of any use trying to recall past events^ and the only point the farmers now had to press foi% was the reduction of excise duty on their own productions, such as malt, hops, &c., as well as the preservation of conservative principles in religion, the church, and other social institutions of a like character. By these means they certainly rendered their position less awkward, both in the country and in Parliament. They turned the contest from Free Trade to other less offensive points, and persuaded the farmers to change the cry of ^^ Corn Laivs^^ for that of a less violent character, viz., ^' Reduced Taxes and Conserva- tive Principles generally .^^ The Derby Ministry hardly met with any opposition during the summer session, either in the items of the budget (which, by the bye, was in substance the same as that proposed by the late Government), or in the couple of bills they introduced, the Militia and Chan- cery Eeform bills, owing to the over anxiety of the Opposition to bring the session to a close, while the 200 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. Government continually appealed to the indulgence of the House for the short time they were sitting, before the final appeal was made to the country^ promising^ almost at every stage^ that the disso- lution of Parliament was about to follow^ and that as they^ the Ministers^ held office only provision- ally^ the session was not to be prolonged by any new motion or bill on their part, except those es- sentially necessary for the dispatch of public busi- ness. This last provision afforded them several opportunities of prolonging the session notwithstand- ing, under the plea of dispatch of necessary business. The new elections^ though no means^ fair or foul, had been spared to secure a Protection majority in the House, proved anything but satisfactory to the Ministers. The Protectionists as before, remained in a great minority, and although they enlisted some new members under the vague banner of Conservatism^ it was plain that they could not long hold ground in the House, and that nothing was left for the Derby Cabinet but either to resign place or principle. The latter they did, in preference, and the Address from the Throne at the opening of the new Parliament on the 4th of November, for the final settlement of the ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. 201 Free Trade question^ contained paragraphs^ thanking Providence for the prosperity of trade^ the cheapness of provisions, and the abundant employment of the labouring classes. These expressions were meant to save the Government from the humiliation of recant- ing their previous principles in plain terms. The House, however, on the motion of Villiers, insisted on the latter course, and after much quibbling with the terms, the Ministers and their followers (with the exception of fifty-two) crept through the yoke, and acknowledged in unequivocal terms that the country was prospering in consequence of the Free Trade prin- ciples which had been introduced within the last few years. Having thus set the question of Free Trade and Protection permanently at rest, the Ministers were allowed to bring in their budget, which however was delayed in consequence of the public funeral of the Duke of Wellington, which took place on the 18th of November, though his death occurred as early as the 10th of September. The most objectionable item in the new budget, as proposed by D^Israeli, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons, was the provi- sion for repealing the Malt Tax, amounting to about K 3 202 ENGLAND DURING THE PRESENT REIGN. five millions sterling, for the benefit of the farmers, xlfter many nights^ debate and recriminating speeches, the budget was lost, on the 10th of December, by a majority of 19 votes (305 against 286), in consequence of which the Ministers tendered their resignation. RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY, TABULAE ABSTEACTS. i\ ?tafcfeal CaMes ILLUSTRATION OF THE CIVIL, POLITICAL, AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY. TABLE I. Population of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1851. Years. Population. 1801 16,338,102 1811 18,547,720 1821 21,193,458 1831 24,306,719 1841 26,895,518 1851 27,452,262 206 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE II. Total Amount of the Eevenue and Expenditure of the United Kingdom^ with the Surplus or Defi- ciency of Hevenue^, from 1809 to 1853. Tears. Net Eevenue Paid into the Exchequer. Expenditure out of Revenue Paid into the Exchequer. Surplus of Revenue. Deficiency of Revenue. £ £ £ £ 1800 33,427,561 52,031,853 18,604,291 1801 31,851,465 51,140,097 19,288,631 1802 30,488,236 57,186,804 26,698,568 1803 34,404,178 47,389,447 12,985,269 1804 36,847,882 45,823,782 8,975,900 1805 44,278,384 56,159,263 11,880,878 1806 49,272,060 67,070,942 17,798,882 1807 53,896,980 65,421,802 11,524,822 1808 57,403,402 65,016,112 7,612,710 1809 60,751,973 70,645,218 9,893,245 1810 61,952,294 73,012,256 11,059,962 1811 67,449,645 77,961,400 10,511,755 1812 65,462,295 79,346,420 13,884,125 1813 63,203,192 88,925,507 25,722,315 1814 71,202,676 109,054,125 37,851,449 1815 72,151,281 106,901,336 34,750,054 1816 76,831,368 95,588,927 18,757,559 1817 64,292,490 63,440,597 851,893 , . 1818 48,122,636 49,317,435 1,194,799 1819 49,420,509 48,488,720 931,788 . . 1820 48,732,354 48,438,396 293,958 1821 50,926,468 50,259,032 667,436 1822 54,135,743 49,391,225 4,744,518 1823 52,755,564 48,454,817 4,300,747 1824 54,416,230 50,528,058 3,888,172 1825 52,347,674 49,298,518 3,049,156 1826 50,241,408 50,887,328 . , 645,920 1827 50,241,658 51,068,333 . , 826,676 1828 52,104,643 48,857,649 3,246,994 . , 1829 50,786,682 49,075,132 1,711,550 • • STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE II. — continued. 207 Years. Xet Ee venue Paid into the Exchequer. Expenditure out of Revenue Paid into the Exchequer. Surplus of Revenue. Deficiency of Revenue. £ £ £ £ 1830 50,056,615 47,142,943 2,913,672 . . 1831 46,424,440 47,123,298 698,858 1832 46,988,755 46,373,996 6i4,*759 1833 46,271,326 44,758,243 1,513,083 1834 46,509,856 44,901,701 1,608,155 1835 46,043,663 44,422,722 1,620,941 1836 48,702,654 46,572,562 2,130,092 1837 46,475,194 47,130,954 , , 655,760 1838 47,333,460 47,678,687 , , 345,227 1839 47,844,898 49,357,691 . , 1,512,793 1840 47,567,565 49,161,536 . , 1,593,971 1841 48,084,359 50,185,729 , . 2,101,370 1842 46,965,630 50,945,169 . . 3,979,539 1843 52,582,817 51,139,513 1,443,304 , , 1844 54,003,753 50,647,648 3,356,105 , . 1845 53,060,354 49,242,713 3,817,641 , , 1846 53,790,138 50,943,830 2,846,308 , . 1847 51,546,264 54,502,948 . , 2,956,684 1848 53,388,717 54,185,136 796,419 1849 52,951,749 50,853,623 2,098*126 1850 52,810,680 50,231,874 2,578,806 1851 52,233,006 49,506,610 2,726,396 1852 53,210,071 50,792,512 2,417,559 1853 54,430,344 51,174,839 3,255,505 II 208 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE III. Net Total Amottnt of all Taxes Repealed, Ex- pired, Reduced, and Imposed, from 1815 to 1853. Years. Eepealed, Expired, or Reduced. Imposed. Net. 1815 £ 222,749 £ 423,937 1816 3,228,792 320,058 1817 36,495 7,991 1818 9,504 1,356 1819 705,846 3,094,902 1820 4,000 119,602 1821 471,309 42,642 1822 2,139,101 . . 1823 4,050,250 18,596 1824 1,704,724 45,605 1825 3,639,551 43,000 1826 1,973,812 188,725 1827 4,038 21,402 1828 51,998 1,966 1829 126,406 . . 1830 4,093,955 696,004 1831 1,598,537 627,586 1832 747,264 44,526 1833 1,526,914 1834 2,064,516 198,394 1835 165,877 75 1836 989,786 3,991 1837 234 100 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE III. — continued. 209 Years. Repealed, Expired, or Eeduced. Imposed. Net. 1838 289 £ 1,733 1839 63,258 . . 1840 . . 2,155,673 1841 27,170 1842 1,596,366 529,989 1843 411,821 • • 1844 458,810 , , 1845 4,546,306 53,720 1846 1,151,790 2,000 1847 344,886 , . 1848 585,968 84 1849 388,798 , , 1850 1,310,151 , , 1851 2,679,864 600,000 1852 95,928 , . 1853 3,247,474 3,356,383* * This includes £2,000,000 estimated for the Succession Tax, but only a part thereof is chargeable to this year. 210 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE IV. Capital of the National Debt, from 1800 to 1853. Years. Funded. Unfunded. 1800 447,147,164 26,080,100 1801 497,043,448 20,588,100 1802 522,231,786 14,353,000 1803 528,260,641 17,862,600 1804 545,803,317 24,066,500 1805 573,529,931 26,089,400 1806 593,954,287 26,987,100 1807 601,733,073 31,669,900 1808 604,287,474 38,845,200 1809 614,789,091 39,066,100 1810 624,301,936 37,786,300 1811 635,583,448 40,907,800 1812 661,409,958 42,726,400 1813 740,023,535 44,654,800 1814 752,857,236 56,987,700 1815 816,311,940 41,441,900 1816 796,200,191 44,650,300 1817 776,742,403 56,729,400 1818 791,867,313 43,208,400 1819 794,980,481 36,303,200 1820 801,565,310 30,965,900 1821 795,312,767 31,566,550 1822 796,530,144 36,281,150 1823 791,701,614 34,741,750 1824 781,123,222 32,398,450 1825 778,128,267 27,994,200 1826 783,801,739 24,565,350 1827 777,476,892 27,546,850 STATISTICAL TABLES. 211 TABLE IV. — continued. Year«. Funded. Unfunded. 1828 772,322,540 27,657,000 1829 771,251,932 25,490,550 1830 757,486,996 27,271,650 1831 755,543,884 27,133,350 1832 754,100,549 27,278,000 1833 751,658,883 27,906,900 1834 743,675,299 28,521,550 1835 758,549,866 28,976,600 1836 761,422,570 26,976,800 1837 762,275,188 24,044,550 1838 761,347,690 24,026,050 1839 766,547,684 19,965,050 1840 766,371,725 21,076,350 1841 772,530,758 18,343,850 1842 773,068,340 18,182,100 1843 772,169,092 18,407,300 1844 769,193,645 18,404,500 1845 766,672,822 18,380,200 1846 764,608,284 18,310,700 1847 772,401,851 17,946,500 1848 774,022,638 17,786,700 1849 773,168,317 17,758,700 1850 769,272,562 17,756,600 1851 765,136,582 17,742,800 1852 761,622,704 17,742,500 1853 754,893,401 16,029,600 212 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE V. Statement of the Value of Imports into^ and of the Exports from^ the United Kingdom, during each of the Years from 1801 to 1853, both inclusive, calculated at the Official Rate of Valuation, and distinguishing the Amount of the Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom exported from the Value of the Foreign and Colonial Mer- chandise exported: also, stating the Amount of the Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom exported therefrom, accordiug to the Real or Declared Value thereof. Years. Value of Imports into the United Kingdom, calculated at the Official Rates of Valuation. Value of Exports from the United Kingdom, calculated at the Official Rates of Valuation. Value of the Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom Exported therefrom, according to the Real or Declared Value thereof. Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom. Foreign and Colonial Merchandise. 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 £ 31,786,262 29,826,210 26,622,696 27,819,552 28,561,270 26,899,658 £ 24,927,684 25,632,549 20,467,531 22,687,309 23,376,941 25,861,879 £ 10,336,966 12,677,431 8,032,643 8,938,741 7,643,120 7,717,555 £ 39,730,659* 45,102,330^^ 36,127,787* 37,135,746* 38,077,144 40,874,983 * The Declared Value of British and Irish Produce, &c., exported from 1801 to 1804, applies to Great Britain only, the Real Value of Exports from Ireland not having been made previous to 1805. The Exports from Ireland are, however, of small amount. STATISTICAL TABLES. 213 TABLE V. — continued. Years. Value of Imports into the United Kingdom, calculated at the Official Rates of Valuation. Value of Exports from the United Kingdom, calculated at the Official Rates of Valuation. Value of the Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom Exported therefrom, according to the Real or Declared Value thereof. Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom. Foreign and Colonial Merchandise. £ £ £ £ 1807 26,734,425 23,391,214 7,624,312 37,245,877 1808 26,795,540 24,611,215 5,776,775 37,275,102 1809 31,750,557 33,542,274 12,750,358 47,371,392 1810 39,301,612 34,061,901 9,357,435 48,438,680 1811 26,510,186 22,681,400 6,117,720 32,890,712 1812 26,163,431 29,508,508 9,533,065 41,716,964 1813 Eecords des troyed by fire. , . , , 1814 33,755,264 34,207,253 19,365,981 45,494,219 1815 32,987,396 42,875,996 15,748,554 51,603,028 1816 27,431,604 35,717,070 13,480,780 41,657,873 1817 30,834,299 40,111,427 10,292,684 41,761,132 1818 36,885,182 42,700,521 10,859,817 46,603,248 1819 30,776,810 33,534,176 9,904,813 35,208,320 1820 32,438,650 38,395,625 10,555,912 36,424,652 1821 30,792,760 40,831,744 10,629,689 36,659,630 1822 30,531,141 44,242,532 9,227,567 36,966,023 1823 35,798,433 43,826,607 8,603,905 35,357,041 1824 37,468,279 48,730,467 10,204,785 38,422,404 1825 44,208,803 47,150,690 9,169,492 38,870,945 1826 37,813,890 40,965,736 10,076,287 31,536,723 1827 44,908,173 52,221,934 9,830,821 37,181,335 1828 45,167,443 52,788,089 9,946,546 36,812,757 1829 43,995,286 56,217,962 10,620,165 35,842,623 1830 46,300,473 61,152,354 8,548,394 38,271,597 1831 49,727,828 60,686,364 10,745,126 37,164,372 1832 44,610,546 65,025,278 11,044,870 36,450,594 1833 45,944,426 69,987,357 9,833,753 39,667,348 1834 49,364,733 73,835,231 11,562,037 41,649,191 1835 49,029,334 78,360,059 12,797,724 47,372,270 1836 57,296,045 85,220,144 12,391,712 53,293,979 1837 54,762,285 72,544,071 13,235,497 42,069,245 1838 61,358,013 92,453,967 12,711,512 50,061,737 1839 62,048,121 97,394,666 12,795,990 53,233,580 1840 67,492,710 102,706,850 13,774,165 51,406,430 214 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE V. — continued. Tears. Value of Imports into the United Kingdom, calculated at the Official Rates of Valuation. Value of Exports from the United Kingdom, calculated at the Official Rates of Valuation. Value of the Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom, Exported therefrom, according to the Real or Declared Value thereof. Produce and Manufactures of the United Kingdom. Foreign and Colonial Merchandise. 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 64,444,268 65,253,286 70,214,912 75,449,374 85,297,508 75,934,022 90,921,866 93,547,134 105,874,607 100,460,433 110,679,125 109,345,409 123,136,835 £ 102,179,514 100,255,380 117,876,659 131,558,477 134,598,584 132,312,894 126,131,029 132,619,154 164,539,504 175,437,098 190,658,314 196,216,610 214,360,489 £ 14,723,373 13,586,422 13,956,288 14,398,177 16,279,318 16,296,162 20,040,979 18,376,886 25,561,890 21,893,167 23,732,703 23,329,089 27,767,733 £ 51,634,623 47,381,023 52,279,709 58,584,292 60,111,082 57,786,876 58,842,377 52,849,445 63,596,025 71,367,885 74,448,722 78,049,367 98,933,781 STATISTICAL TABLES. 315 TABLE VI. Statement of the Total Tonnage^ distinguisliing British from Foreign, entered and cleared at Ports in the United Kingdom, from 1801 to 1853 in- clusive (exclusive of the intercourse between Great Britain and Ireland and the Coasting Trade.) Years. Entered Inwards. Cleared Outwards. British. Foreign. Total. British. Foreign. Total. 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 Tonnage. 922,594 1,333,005 1,115,702 904,932 953,250 904,367 938,675 896,001 1,290*248 1,372,108 1,415,723 1,625,121 1,886,394 1,809,128 1,668,060 1,599,274 1,663,627 1,740,859 1,797,089 Tonnage. 780,155 480,251 638,104 607,299 691,883 612,904 680,144 283,657 759,287 1,176,243 687,180 599*287 746,985 379,465 445,011 762,457 542,684 447,611 396,256 469,151 582,996 759,672 Tonnage. 1,702,749 1,813,256 1,753,806 1,512,231 1,645,133 1,517,271 1,697'962 2,072,244 1,889,'535 2,119,093 1,795,188 2,070,132 2,648,851 2,351,812 2,115,671 1,995,530 2,132,778 2,323,855 2,566,761 Tonnage. 1,177,224 950,787 906,007 971,496 899,574 950,'565 860,632 1,271,952 1,398,688 1,340,277 1,558,336 1,715,488 1,562,332 1,549,508 1,488,644 1,539,260 1,546,976 1,657,270 Tonnage. 457,'580 574,420 587,849 605,821 568,170 631,910 282,145 699,750 1,138,527 602,941 751,377 399,160 440,622 734,649 556,511 433,328 383,786 457,542 563,571 746,729 Tonnage. 1,634*804 1,525,207 1,493,856 1,577,317 1,467,744 1,650,'315 1,999,159 2,874*893 1,150,065 1,739,437 1,998,958 2,450,137 2,118,843 1,982,836 1,872,430 1,996,802 2,110,547 2,403,999 216 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE Ml.— continued. Years. Entered Inwards. British. Foreign. Total Cleared Outwards. British. Foreign. Total. 1825 2,143,317 1826 1,950,630 18272,086,898 18282,094,357 18292,184,535 18302,180,042 18312,367,322 1832 2,185,980 18332,183,814 1834'2,298,263 1835:2,442,734 1836 2,505,473 1837i2,6l7,166 1838*2,785,387 1839 3,101,650 1840 3,197,501 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 3,361,211 3,294,725 3,545,346 3,647,463 4,310,639 4,294,733 4,942,094 4,565,533 4,884,210 4,700,199 4,938,386 4,934,863 5,055,343 Tonnage. 959,312 694,116 751,864 634,620 710,303 758,828 874,605 639,979 762,085 833,905 866,990 988,899 1,005,940 1,211,666 1,331,365 1,460,294 1,291,165 1,205,303 1,301,950 1,402,138 1,735,079 1,806,282 2,253,939 1,960,412 2,035,690 2,400,277 2,933,708 2,952,584 3,887,763 Tonnage. 3,102,629 2,644,746 2,838,762 2,728,977 2,894,838 2,938,870 3,241,927 2,825,959 2,945,899 3,132,168 3,309,724 3,494,372 3,623,106 3,997,053 4,433,015 4,657,795 4,652,376 4,500,028 4,847,296 5,049,601 6,045,718 6,101,015 7,196,033 6,525,945 6,919,900 7,100,476 7,872,094 7,887,447 8,943,106 1,793,842 1,737,425 1,887,682 2,006,397 2,063,179 2,102,147 2,300,731 2,229,269 2,244,274 2,296.325 2,419,941 2,531,577 2,547,227 2,876,236 3,096,611 3,292,984 3,429,279 3,375,270 3,635,833 3,852,822 4,235,451 4,393,415 4,770,370 4,724,027 4,785,428 4,742,345 4,882,490 5,051,106 5,212,980 Tonnage. 906,066 692,440 767,821 608,118 730,250 758,368 896,051 651,223 758,601 852,827 905,270 1,035,120 1,036,738 1,222,803 1,398,096 1,488,8 1,336,892 1,252,176 1,341,433 1,444,346 1,796,136 1,921.156 2,312,793 2,056,654 2,299,060 2,662,243 3,225,614 3,191,596 4,234,124 2,699,908 2,429,865 2,655,503 2,614,515 2,793,429 2,860,515 3,196,782 2,880,492 3,002,875 3,149,152 3,325,211 3,566,697 3,583,965 4,099,039 4,494,707 4,781,872 4,766,171 4,627,446 4,977,266 5,297,168 6,031,587 6,314,571 7,083,163 6,780,681 7,084,488 7,404,588 8,108,104 8,242,702 9,447,104 STATISTICAL TABLES. 217 TABLE VII. Statement of the Tonnage belonging to the United Kingdom (including Guernsey, Jersey, and Man), from 1800 to 1853. Years. Tons. Years. Tons. 1800 1,698,811 1827 2,181,138 1801 1,786,325 1828 2,193,300 1802 1,901,162 1829 2,199,959 1803 1,986,076 1830 2,201,592 1804 2,066,061 1831 2,224,356 1805 2,092,489 1832 2,261,860 1806 2,079,914 1833 2,271,301 1807 2,096,827 1834 2,312,355 1808 2,130,396 1835 2,360,303 1809 2,167,221 1836 2,349,749 1810 2,210,661 1837 2,333,521 1811 2,247,322 1838 2,420,759 1812 2,268,731 1839 2,570,635 1813 2,348,843 1840 2,768,262 1814 2,414,170 1841 2,935,399 1815 2,477,831 1842 3,041,420 1816 2,504,297 1843 3,007,581 1817 2,421,354 1844 3,044,392 1818 2,452,608 1845 3,123,180 1819 2,451,597 1846 3,199,785 1820 2,439,029 1847 3,307,921 1821 2,355,852 1848 3,400,809 1822 2,315,403 1849 3,485,958 1823 2,302,867 1850 3,565,133 1824 2,348,314 1851 3,662,344 1825 2,327,341 1852 3,759,278 1826 2,461,461 1853 4,030,204 218 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE VIII. l^EW VESSELS BUILT, Statement of the Number and Tonnage of Ships Built and Begistered in the Ports of the United Kingdom^ including the Channel Islands^ in each Year^ from 1800 to 1853^ both inclusive. Number Amount Number Amount Tears. of Vessels of Years. of Vessels of Built. Tonnage. Built. Tonnage. 1800 ' 1 1827 911 95,038 1801 , , 1828 857 90,069 1802 , , 1829 734 77,635 1803 , , 1830 750 77,411 1804 , , 1831 760 85,707 1805 , , 1832 759 92,735 1806 1807 > Cannot be stated. 1833 1834 728 806 92,171 102,710 1808 , , 1835 916 121,722 1809 , , 1836 709 89,636 1810 1837 1,005 135,922 1811 1838 1,147 161,459 1812 , , 1839 1,278 186,903 1813 J ' '- 1840 1,448 220,064 1814 706 86,075 1841 1,192 168,309 1815 912 102,903 1842 971 133,275 1816 852 84,676 1843 736 85,373 1817 758 81,210 1844 731 96,876 1818 753 86,911 1845 890 124,919 1819 775 88,985 1846 841 127,498 1820 635 68,142 1847 981 149,924 1821 597 59,482 1848 878 125,940 1822 571 51,533 1849 771 121,266 1823 604 63,788 1850 725 137,530 1824 837 93,219 1851 702 152,563 1825 1,003 124,029 1852 742 170,424 1826 1,139 120,534 1853 • • • • STATISTICAL TABLES. 219 fl t> o r^ -M O •4-J ?3 TS QJ -4-J ?H o & ^ s • 1— I lO 00 p^ f—i D o O -4-J h; o Ph o ^ < GO eg TJ Jh-^ q CS r^ o H ^ ^ W CJ ^ «+-< •fH o s 'r^ o H bn H ^ .B W a (D r^ h2 ^4H O H ;?; 1^ S Psi^ H -^ H GQ 'si <1 3 'S o 5 'S «o . «|©CC|««|(0 --g ^|H ^|rt ,.|H Mht HaC'^W- HT^ mIt? mM- H* r^-J- Hk CDCOCC)t^i>i>00000000000000 =^0000000000000 Annual Average Price per Imperial 3 -^OOOOCOCiiH-^^T^iOCOCO rH rH rH "^rHrHt>C30aiOa:>Cv! I— 1 rH rH rH i I.S ll 11 ll g o Q I 1 1 c biO o •^ to i 2 1 CDOTHVO'^lOrHOOi-HX>CDlO OO-^00CMi— l^l>QOr-( TpT^CO(M(MlOOiOGilOC5 1-^CD CO 1> C CZf" CO rH" tjT oT 00 rH" C^Oq^rHCiOOOCD-^O^OtJCOCO (N ^^XO COCOOOOqCO CO-^^rHrH TH'rH' T-T 3 o 6 OOCqOCO^(Mr-lOiOiXOCOC>^t> OCrHlCOl000lOC0lOrH CvlC£)X>^COaiCO(MJ>-rHOOO (MCOTf<(?QCO00rHCO CO ^^rHrH rH rH r-^ OrH(?^COTj(iOt01>OOO^OrH(M OOOOOOOOOOrHr-lrH QOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO L 3 220 STATISTICAL TABLES. Is 1 r>2* oooooi>coo (MlOxOlO'^r-lO 1 '^ofSs'* OOiH05C0i> * • • • «H <>;OOtH O (M Cq rH 05 CD rH rH Cq Annual Average Price per Imnerial '^05^1>CDiHC0<:0OrHl>'^iH(X)0000i0C0C0 .OiTf(iOOOCOCD^l>CD^COCOOOOOCOOCD^ cooX>COt>05XX>COi0^vr3COCDiOiOCDCDCO tH ^ Quantities admitted for Home Consumption in the United Kingdom. (Quarters.) '5 1 CCCqc0G0CX>l>Ol> 00 00 CD ^ C30 iO l> 00 Oi O CO O ^ ^ CO ^ococ CD'cD^r-TT^'i^f • (M rH (M IC O !M CO rH rH (T^ rH I> rfl CD O CD tH (>q O^CD r-l XO CO lO 00 CO 1> T-Tr-T rH r-T 5e Ho s 1 < 3 '3 coO'^rHcr>o^(>qi>ooooaicoOTH 00 l:^ CD r-l CO i> rH O CO XO lO i> • • • O ZD r-i 0^ r-H> i> CO ^ rH CD rH • • • CD ^ -^ r> 00 00 ^ O CD 00 00 CD CD O 05 XO O i-H Oi CO CD O:) Oi CD ^ O^CO^Cq^OO^CD^CD O ^ , 05 Cq CO^Cqi> CD (M^ ' co" cd" lo" co" o" lo" r-T * * arr> oTrH'vo cCOOOlOTflTHl>. 00 CD^ CD^ O^ 00^ G^ ^^ CD rH X> CD^ CD^ 00 (M^ rH^ CO^ 00 o CO*" r-T cT ^^ co" cvT lo" oT co" lo" cX(>q-!f(rH0000X>O'^CDCD COCDrHC^OO^irDiH C0iOC0t>CDCD Quantities imported in United Kingdom (Quarters.) 'oi § ■3 tH lOCOOvOCDO^O^OrH'^i^aitiOOiO (M O lO O l> Cq CD rH 05 O ^ 00 lO CD X rH CD CO^I> CD^(N^N X (?1^C0 O CD rH (M C0OtH^^(M 05 OOi>(NTHiOJ:^tO(?q05CDCDCi-^CDaiiH(M XCDOlOCOCDOi-^CS^COi^ai-^rHXCXCO iHi> CD^CD^Oi^iH^X CDO:>XVDl>COiDr-l^iHvO o CO ^ o^ CO x" o'^^x^gTio th o" ori> CD10 r4 iH iH r-T ^ C0-^V:)CDI>00CriOrHCqC0^lDCDi>X05O iHt-I!— irHrHTHrHcqcqcqcqcqfMcqcqcQcqoo XXXXXXCOXXXXXXXXXOOOO STATISTICAL TABLES, 221 ^2 o g^ O i> (M iH tH rH tH tH '-' - Ci +3 2 '^^-^^.^^^•^^-aP-Hg COCOTHOO^rHl>rHi?qir5lO w (?q o cq o CD o o o ^ 1> J> ^ Tfl t3H rH rH rH '^aorH(^^Tflcc)Ox>GO^^co iHOOOOOOiCCCOCO CO 00^^(M1>OCDCOOtHC<3(M cq i> i> la \o o^ O ^^ o^t> i> CO CO o"' CO -^"-i^ o" '^ ^''t-T cT crt> Oil>CX5CO(MCO'^C00000rHt^ ^^ CO N 00 CD CO^ CD O tH r-^ of Cq (N" (N t>- Ci VO O -G.00 O O CO Cq -i^ O CO lO t> ^^ 03^ O 00 TT (^r •T? x> oT CO*" cT oq" co" t> CO COOOOCDCqCqcOtJ^rHrHiOrH COi>rOTHC5fHT-iiC^ O Oi CM ^ rH T? (M lO O CD C<1^XC iO rH^t> 00 "^ CO" -^ 10" QCT r-T O iO" •C0CO'(MCDjH0D1>O5 f-i (M (?q CO ^ iH 1— 1 a>cooaiiooxooio(Mcq O00C0.X(M^(MC5iOCDC0(M oj j>. CO CM i—i o x> 00 CD cr^ \S i-T r-T tH O" ^^ '00 CD tH -^^ id30 rHOCDX>CDCD CO r-t ^ THI^f(^^(^fc^^ r-!^(MiO(MlCC01> O ooooGqooo:)coi>a:i 10 CO^ C^ O CO^ 10 X> 00^4> CM 4> i>ar 00" co" 00" r-T oT T^ ^OOC30X>OiO(M'^ O 00 1> iO iH o^ "^^^ <^ cf ^ c^" io ^ \S JU0(MiCCDl>C5 a>OCD'C?qO^'^t^?MCD'^CD O rH XO CO C^-t> <^ ^ "^^-t^ ^ ^^ CO 1> 1> CD CD r-T Ci ' fh" O" (^r O O O^C:iit^CD^»-OJ>£>COI>-rff CO ^ (M rH CM 10 CO^QO^^i> O C(Mi>.THVJOCO Cq -^CD3LO'^ii:)lOJ>CD rH Oi^Cq O^rH^ I>CO^CM '^ ■^"oTrH ^''Tp'a5'cM''o' o" 1X> !>. -^ ^ CD t> O CO CO O CO^ r-^^ CO^ ^ O^ 00^ aO^ CO •th' r-T tH (jf -^ CO ^"^^ VO ^Tf(xaCDViOCiCOT?l:>CDOiCO '^00C000Oc:)C:)CD^X>rH-=# 00 CD CO 10^ i-H^ Cq X> CD I> '^^ O^ ^ •^' ^^ ^^ o CO t-^ 10 cd" cq" 00 o? oT tMr-irHCDCM rHr-irH-^iiOCj:) Cq tH rH rH (M rH ^ ^ CO CD CO ^ CDi> O rH rH (M Oi CM O 4> CO^iOCO COOO CDCD 00" ^^ -^" 1> of CO" 00" 40 rHC0^-^rHOitOC:> rH cq tM CO T? rH rH CiOOOOOCOOi^OOCJOCD CqrHC0C0OO'^rHiX)aiCq(M TH^CMI>Xl-OrHCOCD(MCDi> cT tM^ co^ ctT co" ^ '^^ lo" cq" ^^ r=r o" i^COOOO^CO-^iOCDOOrHT? O CO rH fH (?:| VO CO^ 00^ (M 10 00 cf ih" sq" cq im" (m" 0000'^CD'^i>O:»CD CO'^^rHCDCqCDOO <:d 00 ^ (X) CO 10 00 lo CD ^''f> CD" t^ -^ CO -^" O: rH 00 C^O^OO CD I> r^ rH ^^ Cq -^ Tp rHCMco-^lc^cD^>.xo:lO^H(^^ cococococococococo^^^ 00 00 0000X00000000000000 COTfl\OCDJ>00050 0000000000000000 223 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE X. A Eeturn of the Aanual Average Gazette Price of Wheat^ Barley^ and Oats^ in each Year since 1800^ inclusive. Years. Wheat. Barley. Oats. s. d. s. d. s, d. 1800 113 10 59 10 39 4 1801 119 6 68 6 37 1802 69 10 33 4 20 4 1803 58 10 25 4 21 6 1804 62 3 31 24 a 1805 89 9 44 6 28 4 1806 79 1 38 8 27 7 1807 75 4 39 4 28 4 1808 81 4 43 5 33 4 1809 97 4 47 31 5 1810 106 5 48 1 28 7 1811 95 3 42 3 27 7 1812 126 6 66 9 44 6 1813 109 9 58 6 38 6 1814 74 4 37 4 25 8 1815 65 7 30 3 23 7 1816 78 6 33 11 27 2 1817 96 11 49 4 32 5 1818 86 3 53 10 32 5 1819 74 6 45 9 28 2 1820 67 10 33 10 24 2 1821 56 1 26 19 6 1822 44 7 21 10 18 1 1823 53 4 31 6 22 11 1824 63 11 36 4 24 10 1825 68 6 40 25 8 1826 58 8 34 4 26 8 1827 58 6 37 7 28 2 1828 60 5 32 10 22 6 1829 66 3 32 6 22 9 1830 64 3 32 7 24 5 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE X. — continued. 223 Years. Wheat. Barley. Oats. s. d. s, d. s. d. 1831 m 4 38 25 4 1832 58 8 33 1 20 5 1833 52 11 27 6 18 5 1834 46 2 29 20 11 1835 39 4 29 11 22 1836 48 6 32 10 23 1 1837 55 10 30 4 23 1 1838 64 7 31 5 22 5 1839 70 8 39 6 25 11 1840 m 4 36 5 25 8 1841 64 4 32 10 22 5 1842 57 3 27 6 19 3 1843 50 1 29 6 18 4 1844 51 3 33 8 20 7 1845 50 10 31 8 22 6 1846 54 8 32 8 23 8 1847 69 9 44 2 28 8 • 1848 50 6 31 6 20 6 1849 44 3 27 9 17 6 1850 40 3 23 5 16 5 1851 38 6 24 9 18 7 1852 40 9 28 6 19 1 1853 53 3 33 2 21 224 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE XI. Amount of Gold^ Silver^ and Copper Moneys Coined at the Koyal Mint. Years. Gold. Silver. Copper. £ £ £ 1800 , . . , 1801 450,242 53 1802 437,018 62 1803 596,444 72 1804 718,397 77 1805 54,668 183 1806 405,105 Ml. Cannot 1807 Nil. 108 be 1808 371,744 Nil. specified. 1809 298,946 115 1810 316,935 121 1811 312,263 Nil. 1812 Ml. 52 1813 519,722 90 1814 NH. 161 1815 Nil. 1816 , 1,805,251 1817 4,275,*337 2,436,298 Nil. 1818 2,862,373 576,279 1819 3,574 1,267,273 1820 949,516 847,717 1821 9,520,758 433,686 2.800 1822 5,356,787 31,430 43,355 1823 759,748 285,272 32,480 1824 4,065,075 282,070 ML 1825 4,580,919 417,535 9,408 1826 5,896,461 608,606 50,400 1827 2,512,636 33,020 19,712 1828 1,008,559 16,288 2,464 1829 2,446,754 108,260 1,568 1830 2,389,881 151 2,464 1831 587,949 33,696 7,392 STATISTICAL TABLES. 225 TABLE XL— continued. Years. Gold. Silver. Copper. £ £ £ 1832 3,730,757 145 448 1833 1,225,269 145 Nil. 1834 66,949 432,775 3,136 1835 1,109,718 146,665 2,688 1836 1,787,782 497,719 1,792 1837 1,253,088 75,385 4,592 1838 2,855,364 174,042 1,568 1839 504,310 390,654 5,040 1840 Nil. 216,414 3,136 1841 378,472 96,175 8,848 1842 5,977,051 192,852 1,764 1843 6,607,849 276,606 10,080 1844 3,563,949 626,670 7,246 1845 4,244,608 647,658 6,944 1846 4,334,911 559,548 6,496 1847 5,158,440 125,730 8,960 1848 2,451,999 35,442 2,688 1849 2,177,955 119,592 1,792 1850 1,491,836 129,096 448 1851 4,400,411 87,868 3,584 1852 8,742,270 189,596 4,312 1853 11,952,391 701,544 10,190 L 3 226 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE XII. Statement of the Average Price of Gold in England, in eacb. Year, from 1800 to 1850. Years. Average Price Years. Average Price of the 1 ear. of the Year. £ s d. £ s. d. 1800 3 17 9 1826 3 17 6 1801 1827 3 17 6 1802 , . 1828 3 17 6f 1803 . o 1829 3 17 9i 1804 4 1830 3 17 91 1805 4 1831 3 17 10^ 1806 . , 1832 3 17 9i 1807 o . 1833 3 17 9i 1808 . c 1834 3 17 9 1809 . 1835 3 17 9 1810 4 4 4 1830 3 17 9| 1811 4 15 8^ 1837 3 17 9 1812 5 10 1838 3 17 91- 1813 5 6 li 1839 3 17 11 1814 4 17 9f 1840 3 17 9J 1815 4 11 2 1841 ': 1810 4 Of 1842 1817 3 19 41 1843 1818 4 1 31 1844 1819 3 18 9f 1845 ^ 3 17 9 1820 3 17 lOi 1840 1821 3 17 lOi 1847 1822 3 17 8 1848 1823 3 17 6 1849 1824 3 17 6i 1850 1825 3 17 9i STATISTICAL TABLES. 227 c o (D ■+J QJ s % o O o Ph g 1 00OO00(NO00O0D00C0C0COr (^f (:o lo lo ccqOrH00t^00CDI> --OOCOOOOOCDrHaiCDOO^xO(MCDt^ CD CD O 00 rH a^ Od' T?" CO Oq" CD rH rH d" «r xOiOCDiOCDxOiOt>Tf(a5000:CDOxO rH 03 ^1 .s ; British West Indies and British Guiana. M British Possessions in the East Indies. ^ ll g lbs. Not specified. 1 Xi The United States. ^ : I ' \ ' A OrH(MC0-^>OCDJ>00a5O»-ICqC0'^ OOOOOOOOOOrHrHrHrHrH OO000000QO0O000O0000CZ)CX)O0X0O 228 STATISTICAL TABLES. X 1 ^CD00l>l0iOCNICOO^r-iir:)>OGvl00 • oT o" CO lo" co" c cCOCOOOOOO^CDCDCOt>COi^ ^l>CqoOX>rHCr)iOOO-^COOCD^X>i>.O^CDOOCD O" lO CD" OO' T-T rH (M" ' (?cri> C^T CO" CXT CD CO ocic<3t>ioiocoT?ai'^(Mj>t>cvioqcDooooo rH iH iH iH tH rH iH iH rH (M tH (^^ Cq Cq Cq (M (M CO '^a50oooi>iHiOcoi>co<:D'^oo:)QOCDi>i>''=? X>O(Mail0OC0r-l(Ml>O00t0a:)THrHCDCDCD CD 00^ X^ CD X> O^ "=f;,^^ "=^^ ^ Cvj^ C 00^ ^^ O^ t?^ O M o cvT c^r co" vo" o" (>d' <^^ oT oo" od" 0^'' 00 CO co'' '^'^ 00 CO lo j::vOrHI>(M0C'7fC0C0Q0ii::>rHC0C0^xO^X>00(M — 'CDO'^l>-i>.O^t>a5OOCX)C0J>rHCDC^t000 (OCOQOiS^Q^O^r^rA' t? pH rH rH iH I— 1 British West Indies and British Guiana. I>(MiiOTHCOCDO^o:)CDOOOtHO^i>lOOO(^l CiCqOlOlO^OOrHOsO-^lr^OOOrH-^OOCqCD rHaOCDOOi:-OOC5rHr>COaiOOOOO^(MCD^QO ^ r-T ^^ CO" CT O CD OO" lO ^" OT CO" rH lO Co" o" oT rH O" ^^ XJT^CO^'^^vOCOCOOiOtiCDaiiOCDOi-^tMO-^flOO '-•C0t^I>(MO00rH(?qO(MrHi>rH00CDTfi^OO xo" (>5'' cT rH t>^ CD i> o i> cd" oo''^''t> lo ^ CO (>f cq cq" rH rH rH r-i British Possessions in the East Indies. C0OOrHrHl0r>l01>l0(Ml0(7QlrHOrHC0V^^ TjrHCDCC0-*OOCDO(MCD (?CIt>lO^(M00rH(MrHO00rHlOCi00J>rHCDrH OT lo" c cd" CD ii:ri>r T^oTo'io'iooiCrCrH'ioooio ^l>.l:>OlOxC)(M(MiOC0(MO00C000iCXOi>iO — 'rHCiO-^OOrHOOlOOO^OaiairHOOTflOOrHi^^ Jt>:Dr^i>oocoQd'^'''^''cDOOO(^f^(^^lOlC^(^f CO CD )0 C-^co^ioi>(M^i>ooaicrHCDX>a505>O0iCD -^CiiOO^OOOiOOO^OSOCD O O UO 1> VO CD (M tr! o" oT T?" oT cd" cox>co^(MCDCDGq — <>1 iHrH^rHlO-^CDCDCOCOOO^^iHO rH rH rH 00 of O'xOt^ CD CO" OO" oTrH W J>rHrHO:>lO\^CDCD^(?QrHCq(>^aiCD(MrHOrH CDOOCDl>CDxOOOO-^»OO^O^CDl>OOi>CDCD(M G<3lOOOCiGOrH.!>GlOOO ^ tJT rH OO" XC o" OO" lO" 1^ -qH" oT o" rH CD" CO" OO" 2.rH'*l>.Ci'3^OCD -• M rH CO Ci 00 rHlOX>lO 00 rH 00i>rH00OCDrHT^ CO CS CD" ^" O" Oi" CT TjT co" ^" CO" OT O" OT OO" CO" rH cT oo rH(^q^Hc^^(^^(^^rH(^^(^q(^qco (?q(M(Mcoco(Mcvi •:3 CiX>COCD'^-=?lCCD(M(?qO5CO(MOiCDX00CO00 0^aiO:)lOlOJ>'=?CDrHCDCi0^0005lO(MlOXO (^SCi(MCDCD^I>l>rHCDCDoq00(MCOCOCDl>X> r^ 1>^ rH I0"r> CTHrHO^j:^cocoaooiocqioGOoocoioo — ^(MCD(^J^ai^OlOrHai00a5t>rH00001>lO "^^ rH" O OO" (^r O^ CO" rH (M" CnT oT O" CD rH 1> o" cT ari> lOlOCDCDCDOOOjOTftCiCOCOrHlOiOrHrHrHCO ;S lCCDI>XOiOTH5QCOTjl\OCDJ>OOCiOrH(MCO rHrHrHrHrHC CO r to 00 xa ccn> (N CO iO T? C5 O I lo (^r cT ' j> o o c ooi> c^J O CO co" t cq O O c CO CO ^ ' jt> lo . lO lO lo a:i X CO O lO tH lO o^co^ a 00 O rH^i o'co 1 =1 CO Tf( \0 5^ C^^ (M CD rar<:D't> H r> lo o j^CS^OO i> H cq CD r> 5X> T? T? rH O^ ^^ ^^ co" ic" co" t>J> CD Oi 00 o ^ '^ 00 (oTcqcD J> 00 CD CO^J> (M^ lO (M O X> O^ X O-^r-ICDC0t'*CD^00C0CSJ^ .r.^T^COrHOOCOCDailOa5CD COiHtOOrHCDCDOi^ -^^ r?" i-T o" i-T cd" oT i-h" i-T ijo" ttT lo o" 00 i> '*'' o i>r cS cc CCCDu0^ail>.^CD^:C0VO(M^C5!MX>ail>.CDi> ^^lO^O C C5 CD 0^-^^r-<^O^t> rH lO 00 O O^ CO O O^ rH (M" Co" CO" CO" \S CO lo" -;? CO" lO iH rH (M" rH Co" (M" T?Or>tMCD'^X>X>C0^^Jt^X>C01>l>C0C7iCDO C5X>.COOvOCDiOC50^ai^»i:)COCOOrH(Ma5CD i> (>^ CO^ l> CO^ rH rH rH CD ^^ rH^ ^^ 00 C5 ^^ CO O^ iO CD^ O CO" XO '^'^ lO" CtT X" CD" C0''c0''o't>^'^''rH CO O'-^'^OO CO CO"^" 0:)i-lrHC5G0^CDC0C5CDOCiOa)^'^(M^O^ (?q^ 00 l> i-O^ lO^ '^^ ^ lO^lO c co^ '^■'^ CO Oi c^ ^ t> c N iH r-T i-T r-T r-T ^ _r__r_r_r iH rH r-i rH lOrHlO(>^^aiO5C0CiaiCDCDC0'*rHlOCMCD CD)— l^l>.COCOCOlOO(Ml>(M-^rHCDiHTf 00^ o^ 00^ P.-^ '^ ^^ ''t *^^^-^ ^^ *"! '^^ '^ *^^^ "^ CT Cf Ci C (>f rH 00 GrHOOX>OCOCO^COOC01>(M O-^Oi^OQ^rH^OCO^O-t^^CD^^i-OCirHOO 00 CD ©q" rA' \S rH o t> i> t> (^f lO oo" oo" ^^ co" ^" o" oo" cir5^. ^i>aia5CD00lOCO0000J:>.rH(M (M O CO CD c^ToT O 00^ 00 00 iCiOO:>aiCDi-H>.OJ>CDr:^CiX>.OOr-ICOT?voO^ (MC0(MI>CDi--C000rHt>0qOiTf(CDCD^rH(?q[T7 CD^ CD^ O^ 05^ ^^ CD C5^ r-i^ O^ O^ CO^ CD^ ^^ oq 00 00^ '^^ lO^ CD^ lO^ rH T-T CD" CD" CT CT ^"t-^ OT -^^ CD'' tjT go" tjT ph" oT rH O" 00 CO" 00v0(M0^OCqcq0^001>.OrHX>r-iC0CDC0l0lOlO CD'^CQCO^^COO^CD'T'CDGSlOOCvlCOCiOiOCO CD^(M^iO0:irH0000C0^C0rHN00C0(MT?Tf(00 C5OX>-^Ot>-l>'*(MCl^rH^XOCi^rH0000rHt>CDC0OC0rH (Ji r-i t— I CD rH CD" r-^ <0 ^ r-^ oT rH^ (M" xo" ^^ t> CD" CD" i-^ OO" oT oT CD O" CiooO'=7r>x>(Mr>ooio-?fcoaicooc:> (Ma5ioa:^aii>cD(MCDOT-n>a5a^t>.(McoiorH vO(M(^ICDOOOO^TffOiO(MOq l>^Hc:lrHooo:)OCD^>(^^(^QT-^ O 00 CD 1> GO I> lO 0^X> lO CD^-^ CO ic" iO rH l>r !> CD' O" O" OO" OO" O" OlOr-HlOCOCiiO'^COCOrHlO Cq rjf CD CD Tf< )lO^ 00^ (^J^ 0^1> (M CD^ CT T?" a^ <0 r-^ r-^t::^QC ^ ^ t^ <:D CD0000(MC0rHQ0lOrHl>i-H(?^ (MiMCMCO-^C^-^CO^xOiLOCD C0rHQ0O(?Q(>^^CD a:iC:ooiOrHCDTf(C5 CO(MT?OrHC^XOI> OT dT l> ^^ CO 00 O rH t?05t?OxCCOCOiO OtJlOCqtOrHCDCD^ r-\ ^ O ttT co" CD" lO OO" OCDOCOOiOSCDiO -*C0CDCDTf(lOX>CD '«?lOCDt>000iOrHC000iO»HCqC0 COCOCOCOCOCO^flTfiTjtT^^Tff^TftTfl'^lOlOiOxO 0000000000000000000000000000X0000000000 230 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE XIV. Statement of the Quantities of Wool (Sheep^ Lamb^ and Alpaca) Imported into tlie United Kingdom from various Countries^ from 1800 to 1853. Years. Total. Years. Total. lbs. lbs. 1800 1827 29,115,341 1801 7,371,774 1828 30,236,059 1802 7,669,798 1829 21,616,649 1803 5,904,740 1830 32,305,314 1804 7,921,595 1831 31,652,029 1805 8,069,793 1832 28,142,489 1806 6,775,636 1833 38,076,413 1807 11,487,050 1834 46,455,232 1808 2,284,482 1835 42,604,656 1809 6,758,954 1836 64,239,977 1810 10,914,137 1837 48,379,708 1811 4,732,782 1838 52,594,355 1812 6,983,575 1839 57,379,923 1813 , . 1840 49,436,284 1814 15,492,311 1841 56,170,974 1815 13,640,375 1842 45,881,639 1816 7,517,886 1843 49,243,093 1817 14,061,772 1844 65,713,761 1818 24,749,570 1845 76,813,855 1819 16,100,970 1846 65,255,462 1820 9,775,605 1847 62,592,598 1821 16,622,567 1848 70,864,847 1822 19,058,080 1849 76,768,647 1823 19,366,725 1850 74,326,778 1824 22,564,485 1851 83,311,975 1825 43,816,966 1852 93,761,458 1826 15,989,112 1853 119,395,445 STATISTICAL TABLES. 231 > X pa = a O ?3 O CO Ir CD GO ?^ ^ 2 CO •—I c» O M ^ O O o ^ EH a < o EH ^ S 00 g --I P5 o •ri ?-i 2 ^ f^ P-I-T3 ^ s .1 rH M 15 A^ A^^ rM nS^ 'S .d 00 CO O tC CO lO 00 -^ CO (M CM O O 00 ill 1 00 tH 00 t> -^^ CO^ CD 00 CqoToO'rHl^ f§ CQ CO CO O tH T? o W i-H iH r-i r-4 m HlN H| C?5 Oi l> CO bfl 1^ 00 O^CO^CO^C0^X> CO s Ph S ^ 5g i> cT i>^ cT r-T lo (>i' cq ^ xo lO CO g'w 1 (^ fl • CO O CO CO rH CO o ^O^Ci^00 iiO ^1 O O 2 . • TjTfH CO VOIO •;3 a ^ rH (M CO rH ^ a •a r-|N hIn W( O rH VO CO 'c3 c3 ^ iH rH rH 00 CO CO lO o (M ^ a:i o «o^^ 1 1 o oo" oo"o"i> co^oToi' o (M (M 00 iO '^ '^ (M H ft; >> . r^bl H ^ CO CO ciJ 1«^ O CO CO c^i 00 i> CO =5 1:^ s -^ m CS 1 CO ^ o T-i CO ^ lo 00 cT oo" CO CO KS ^ CO ^ lOX> CO OO r-4 ^\IS\ rt|Cl rH](M mH- H|ej n^in- «H- 'i lit) t> 05 00 (M Oi J— 1 ^1 00 (M ^ 00 ^ CO iC a 1 00 lO -^ iO fH CO rH tH Co" O O" C^ •?: f§ C5 05 rH lO tH CO CD tH iH- iH iH tH ^ ■sg>. .H|ffj rti(M «Iffl WH- '+-' . i> 1> '^ X> rH i> O Of^ i^ "-1 ^ CO 05 O 00 rH CD r> •si 1^3 00 O lO CO i> «o co"o5"oo"i> ^"co" c3 ^ ^ cvj CO CO lo vo cq gg) w| 00 o s> lO ^ lO 05 OS CO 05 H S ^3 (M" \o c^ToToi'io lo" o ^ -^ COI> OOO O CO tH iH ^ iH cq 00 -^ i^ CD 'iH ^ rH rH iH iH ^ A • 00 00 00 00 00 00 1! tH tH iH fH iH iH -5^ R R R R S i •^ o OS 00 r:5 rH ^ R R R R R 232 STATISTICAL TABLES. C oS tH c/^XOifMCDlOCOXOOCDCOCOCiiO-^COas^COkO 'S(MeOCDTHOlOTf(COiHt>OlOI>OOC:>OOOiO ^oO'^cooocDai^ix>ooo I OO" C CO ^ -^ CD Ci G^t>^ CO" r-H \S ^ ^ l> C0OrHCOTHO00CDrHNI>VO OS O a h|n hIn rt|« H|eq h|« i-i|e< b i> lo" its" oo" cTi^ii^' (?f o't^^ o" x" cTxC (?cri> Qo CO cT O O u H|e< h1») rH|N rt|NwH- r^|C^"l5^ -^ISlr^TJ- h|0^ ^ T? X CO^ CO io^t> o^ C icT ^^ (^T^TfilOiXiX00C0T?CO(MiH(MCqCDC0TfllOC0 5Sr-l CO ^ Oi IC >h; -^ 00 O O ^ OcO C0X> rH ^ Hn Hn Hn <-f]si Hs'Hn Ci001>C^CDlOOOiHOOXJ>"^0 rH(MTfiOOO(?:)OiOOOOlLOOOVOCO I>lO-l>TflC0t>THCDCCC0-^r-lC<103 ^^ I— I •^ F-ii« m|n r-dcq ph|n <>; 00 oi cq o (M '^ rH 00 N O t- |^0^0^0^1> 00^ I o 00 cT oT of f^''* Xl> O CD ^fH rH (M 05 0:1 rH10< HN-^iN -ilN '^Iw Hw '-'l« "^iw -^iw iooTHT?(Mcoi>t>XicaiaiOOi OrH05^(MOrH(MrHX00v0Ol> Cq rH CO X ^^ CO^ 05^ 00 ^^ O^ 00 05^ O O CO CO oT o" ^"^ of of T?" x" j> i> x" od'io cooa5i>o:i(Mi>o:iT-Ho:)xocDJ>x e^COr-i-^T-^iO^GiCD'^COiOOOGit^OCD^r-it:^ '^-^a5a5aia5oqcoa)COooair>x>ir5i:'-cocoo:)TH §: 05 CO X^ '^^ rH 10 00 iH CO (N -^^ r> 05^ 10^ 00 CO O^ X» c^ I (^rt> O" Oq" (M" CO" 00 (^ri> oT x'^ of 10" OT of G cSOifM-^X^i— I^O:)^X>XOilO(M00COrHlftJ> ^r-l(M00O5^O5(M00O3O3(?q00O5O3T?05^-5?ocoTHt>i>cqoxio-!f(xi>oo'*i>a5co^ r^CO(Mr-lOXOiOO'*COi-ICNi-ICO(Ml>'^l>iOt> ^ )lO T? rH 00 00 00 00 i> (M tH 00 '^^t^^ CO (M 10^ (M X O ^ CO of i> ic 00 ^^ of co" ^^ of cT o" 10 x" x" of CO x" cT .CO(M0505Gq(MCNIi0^03(MCOlO'*CO^COOCO CO cq c/JCO o ltff ^^ 1> X tH i-i X X x> o X> rH of l> o ^ CO CO 05 O rH Cq X X X COt> O !M CO CO^CO o^ of r-T VO I— I Oi (M T? oq cq I— I (M CO (M G c lO) o:> r '^fl^OO r lif of CO O CO CO cq (>5 X X O Oi CO (?q COJ> X 00 I O oq CO . CO ^ CO I 00 cq 0:1 " oT o" o" CO o X 00 CO cq X Oi o (M Oq CO 00 00 QO CO CO ^J> (M o:) tH xi> -^ o^ tH CO CO (yj^ r-T of co''(?4'r> t> rH O X r-H CO CO CO CO (M iH (M CO ^ XO CO CO 00 CO CO 00 X X X X STATISTICAL TABLES. 333 COiOQOOCCDOCD co^ c. X CO CO O lO X Ci rH (MrHC. I— I OS (M co" uo o" c^ ) -^|e» XC0CDC0 00(MX>CO'r"^DrHCOC5 OiOO;riCDCDX>COX> X O O (M 00 X CD lO X lO T? t> Oi CD cq^ cq" ■^" ^" co" ^^ G4' l> lO CO X CD O CO op rHr>XOlOrHC:CDCO lOt>XI>i— lOCDCOlO re^X> CO X lO 05 O rH Cs x" CD i> ^^ 3 O CO '^ O CD CO XO O^ T-H^ CO^OO Cvrx"x> I— 1 "^ "^ CD lO tH tH rH fH C vo T? CD Oi 00 C5 X Cq ^ OXiCCD05I>COJ>.0 CDCDC5 oa5oc:)co^ocox> X> lO O (M CTi (M X O) CD X O lO O (M^ X^ t> Cx> X O ^ Oi CO TjH rH CO '"1 CO ^^ co^ CD T-T O" v*^" CD X CD Ci l>(Mcr^air-lCiGa5 P-l|r> o '^ 00 ^ G<1 iC C5 Gvl^ (M" CD CD*" CO" CO" -^ lO '^ lO I— I tH rH j-l »— I (M 0^1 CO lO CO Ci CD T-^ i-M^ Cvf T-^ oT x" (M I— I CQ echt ^[-rt wH- Ml'^ i-tt '^k mH- «hr CD^ X^ l> i^^ C5^ (M^ (M^ -i^^ CO^ J> t> 1> lO CO" X> X> co" lO C5C50lO-^iOCDCC0CDOcqcqO (M^ CD^ 00^ CO^ lO rH CD^ rH X^ X"X> lO" CO" X" CD"i> r-T rH c:>0(Mi>cocvn>xcr5 OT CD r-l CO X X 05 tH t^ Oi CO ^ lO ^ CD C7i O CO X CO o CD ^ X> CO CD o o t^ o CD (M i> 01 ^ O "^ -rt^ or) X (>J CO o CD -^ r> ^ 05 C5 1^ xa> XO CD )lO CD !>. lo lO ^ i> «H- H|M «H- rt|C^ «h* o lO lO '^ rH CO (M r^ ^ (M fN X> CO lO T? t> (M c:> Gi J^ i^ CO 10 1> lO CD a) r- O CD (N r-l (M Oi I— i CO >o CO CO h^ CO (M Oi X lO CD CO r— (M rH I— 1 rH iH tH (M C^l rH tH rH Ol MlN ^\Ci «H- ^o:>Oc:a5i>oocD C0CDO(Ml>»OGviasiO CO^iH^ffq CO rHCDCq XO) C^ C^ cS C cooicoco-^^^^^ iH lO Oi 1> ^ t^ rH X (M (M C lo" o" CD 1> CO CO X X X o:) CO CO X X O iH Cq CO ^ ^ ^ ^ '^ ^ ' X X X X X , i! ;^ CD X> X Ci O ^ T^ tJ< -r< vrs ' X X X X X T^ ' '^ ^ ^ io , s 5^ X CU QO ^J r^ .2 ^ f3 ^ I tH »H C ^ ^ O O rt . ^ w c^ _o o o 5 O CS ^' ^- =f^ ^• en 2; ^H Pa OT«M ca fe s Q "^ >^ CD a> 00 ^ ' O _rP5 ^W »a) •> H 1"*^ ^ ^ '"^ P-i a> g 234 STATISTICAL TABLES. 1 «+-i CD O §^ ^ ^ ■4-3 TS -<$ ;_4 xn ^ .S2 ^ I-H o CO 1 H "^ and rs of O '^ ,o c2 "Ph o pq :& ?3 o S^ O ^ -^ ^ 15 1 s ^ (D 3 g •I-H ^ i-H > ^ 1 CD ho • 1—) X 02 k1 \^ Cur 'Ti . d an Yeai < g § P! H ^ 1 ^ O Q^ ^5 ^ GO •r-t ^ QJ r^ S fl of Cod me hav o O o ^ § ,id » 00 13 o <1 CO a? U) « ^ o "^ s n ^ S P H fl . p <» .« a> -^ 'S^ 5S 1 %^^l s boo '^ O'.Sg' 2 ft 00 00 GO t> T-l rH -a^s ^ l> Oi 00 CX) 10 6 oT CO^O^O^IM^O^ li % Ci'of ^"tC TiT i ^ tH tH (M tH iH Q sj 'S3 -^ -In rH r> iHl> 00 s:; rH Oi CO CO CO S.2 e "^ (;d -^^10 co^o as ft^ ^^ co^xo'co'^io 00 \ mH- «H-«N- ft XO CO xo vo 10 oj CO 1> Oi CO tH 00 'i^y^ % ■g <>^ 10 1^ rH CO T-l 'd 5 ^ '!?" CO" G. i r^NH« s CD iH 3 ft ^ CO CD • • • >— 1 tH • • • oTxo" o ^ CD Cs H s CO ^ 1^5 CD1> cq (N oq (M (M f^ 00 00 00 00 00 r-l tH rH r-t rH «^ d" • ^ cq •^ C30 . P^ <^ R 5 R 5 11 -J >-i 1||| .... 113 ?^ iH XO c3 05000'^cX)(M(MlOOr-ICOOCOI>CO Ooocoff^coioaicooi05 (N^lC^ CO O f-H^-t> (M^CDCi^rHrHl><:OxC CQ •>> ^ CO o" CD T-H o" '^^ ^ HrHrHrHiHCrq(MC:)OCiCD^(M CD CO Oi VO 00 C5 wHt eck -ht '-OTHVO(>qCDCiCiCDiOCiCOOO OOTHcoi>oooC5CDooiocoa5(?qoocot-i i-H^ lO CO^ CO^ 00^ lO CQ ^^1> lO (M^ O CD O^ (M^ O^ 00 -^^ CO c 1> Oi CO iH rH rH (M ©^ Oq rH r-t (^3 (M l>iO O CD 1> 00 '^ (M lO CO CO r— I lO lO ^ICT hIc< k|c^ r^ h|c^ f-ilc^ ^iw h1« Hiirj CCv|J>CDC0C0rH00O00r-IC0 TJHr-IC0vOX>CDCqCDl>.t>OlOlO00C0C0(M 1-) 00 00 C7i^-t> ^ ^^-"^ <^i '^ "^ ^ *^ '^^ "^ "^^ f"! CD CD OO" (N CO*" CD iO Co" CD X> o" O" CD" arx> CD" liO 1> rH t> O 00 CO ^P ^ )-l 00 O CO (M^ 00 lO lO CD CD CD CD" CD CD (?q (M X lO i>X> CD CD^lo'iC l^rH-^^COrHO(MOCO OS r-lGa:)CDr- llO'^asOit^CDCS^OT-l r-f lo CO o:) CD^ c<3 T? t> rH o^ 00^ c:> Cq rH r-rt> O" OO" (M" t? OO CD" ^"lO CO" t-T CD^l^ CvT CO" OOOOOCOOuOiQ^COCDOOOOCi05X>t>0 00 CO CO "^ CO co> Cq 00 CD ^ O C5 05 00 00 05 00 Ci O T (M (M CO ( 00 00 00 C ICO^lOCDl^OOOiOrHCqcO'^ JCOCOCOCOCOCOCO^'^^'^'^' )O0O0O0G0O0O0OOO000O0O0O0 flrC3 (r-4rHrHrHr-lr-irHrHrHrHr-(r~+ 5-+^ g lO ■ bx: ■^'^ J-! ^ ' Ti 00 ■ rt rH ' O) ^-3 M Ph P. < ^ r^ ^^ S 236 STATISTICAL TABLES. § boo o ^ § o o c? ^ o Oi CD (?q rH 00 Cq X> ZD ir£ cq c -^ fl o 2 ^ o ^^-S^ & a? r^ oj o S O o "^ fl-^ .2 l> g . _^ T3 ac£ ZDdOO DO § o « ^^ C«w 0«M C C3 O ,< O M o (-1 ^ ^ >? QJ O . .2 C +3 1^ ^ 00 J3 ft. ^ .25 5 -S 3 3^. =* g o o'-' oj-*^ ^M S J3 o) S"^ 1;^ STATISTICAL TABLES. 237 TABLE XVII. EDUCATIOjS". Comparative View of the Number of Day Schools and Sunday Schools^ with the Scholars attend- ing them^ in England and Wales, in the Years 1818, 1833, and 1851, together with the Popula- tion and Proportion of Scholars thereto in each of those Years. Day Schools. No. of Schools. No. of Scholars. 1818. 1833. 1851. 1818. 1833. 1851. 19,230 38,971 46,042 674,833 1,276,947 2,144,378 Sunday Schools. No. of Schools. No. of Scholars. 1818. 1833. 1851. 1818. 1833. 1851. 5,463 16,828 23,514 477,225 1,548,890 2,407,642 Population. 1818. 1833. 1851. Estimated. 11,642,683 Estimated. 14,386,415 17,927,609 338 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE XVII.— continued. Peopoetion of Scholaes to Population. Day Scholars. Sunday Scholars. 1818. 1833. 1851. 1818. 1833. 1851. One in 17-25 One in 11-27 One in 8-36 One in 24-40 One in 9-28 One in 7-45 Statement of the Number of Existing Schools^ in England and Wales, Established at each Period. No. of Schools. Date of Estabhshment. Total. Private. Public. Before 1801 . . 1801—1811 1811—1821 1821—1831 1831—1841 1841—1851 Date not specified 3,363 1,042 2,207 3,482 7,467 22,214 6,267 2,876 599 1,120 1,265 3,035 5,454 1,169 487 443 1,087 2,217 4,432 16,760 5,098 Total . . 46,042 15,518 30,524 STATISTICAL TABLES. 239 TABLE XVIII. Number of Emigrants from the United Kingdom to various Destinations. Years. To the North American Colonies. To the United States. To the Australian Colonies and New Zealand. To other Places. Total. 1800 "^ Cannot to ( be 1819 ) specified. 1820 17,921 1,063 18,984 1821 12,470 724 13,194 1822 11,282 1,067 12,349 1823 8,133 . . 727 8,860 1824 7,311 899 8,210 1825 8,741 5,551 485 114 14,891 1826 12,818 7,063 , 903 116 20,900 1827 12,648 14,526 715 114 28,003 1828 12,084 12,817 1,056 135 26,092 1829 13,307 15,678 2,016 197 31,198 1830 30,574 24,887 1,242 204 56,907 1831 58,067 23,418 1,561 114 83,160 1832 66,339 32,872 3,733 196 103,140 1833 28,808 29,109 4,093 517 62,527 1834 40,060 33,074 2,800 288 76,222 1835 15,573 26,720 1,860 325 44,478 1836 34,226 37,774 3,124 293 75,417 240 STATISTICAL TABLES. TABLE XVIII.— continued. Years. To the North American Colonies. To the United States. To the Australian Colonies and New Zealand. To other Places. Total. 1837 29,884 36,770 5,054 326 72,034 1838 4,577 14,332 14,021 292 33,222 1839 12,638 33,536 15,786 227 62,207 1840 32,293 40,642 15,850 1,958 90,743 1841 38,164 45,017 32,625 2,786 118,592 1842 54,123 63,852 8,534 1,835 128,344 1843 23,518 28,335 3,478 1,881 57,212 1844 22,924 43,660 2,229 1,873 70,686 1845 31,803 58,538 830 2,330 93,501 1846 43,439 82,239 2,347 1,826 129,851 1847 109,680 142,154 4,949 1,487 258,270 1848 31,065 188,233 23,904 4,887 248,089 1849 41,367 219,450 32,191 6,490 299,498 1850 32,961 223,078 16,037 8,773 280,849 1851 42,605 267,357 21,532 4,472 335,966 1852 32,873 244,261 87,881 3,749 368,764 1853 34,249 228,152 63,460 2,946 328,807 STATISTICAL TABLES. 241 fl •iH o ^ 02 H M ^ ^ Hi «<-! 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X X pq Eh CD rt >H • p-1 rd ISH o W C3 1— 1 0) h^ P^ a P^ • iH O pi H S Ph s H, c:) ^w ^ O P^ r^ O ?3 • 1— t w ^ w ^ P^ ^ -^ o 54H O ^ 0) M w PO o § 13 o o r^ . on tH cq r^ C5 rH ^ on o 1^ 1— 1 tH CD (M o O J^ ^ o CD CO (M rH iH rH iO o a O on on iO lO rH r^ lO 05 CO CD 1^ 1-H o iH CO ^ (N CO CO (M CO CO t>r co" CD" oo" o6' -^' O O O CD CO O r-l CsJ (N rH r-i T-( 00 CO (M rH lO rH XO O ■ CO CO C<1 T? 00 X> lO ^ 00 tH ^ |> CD i> Ci CO CO T— i CO tH CO CD lO CD Oi O) C5 '^ I> X> 1> XO ^ CO O O rH (M 00 ^ T? lO lO lO lO xo 00 00 00 00 00 00 STATISTICAL TABLES. 243 X pq $ I— I M o p ^ H CD 5 .5 00 •^ .,^ d ^ -d Eh m n o o O .3 ^ n 12; Hi O a •7:3 rd ^ C^ I— I pq S o H o Cm 00 O rH MN i* O 05 XO CO t* 1 ^ ^ $^ g g eS O 1 g g" §" § § : H ^ 05^ CO 00^ 05^ t^ ^ t>r o" CD 00^ CO '^ lO CO CD l> 00 ;^ -^ H0< M .^ "^„ ""l o ni fi C<3^ CO »o O CO CO bq lo T^ xo" co" vo ■^^ r-l iH rH i-l r-M r.,* HO. H,« S 1 i ^^ i ^^ \ a g g ^ S§ fe : tn o Ti ;3 cc^ CO 05 (M 00 ^ r^ ^ i:^ CO !>. t^ -^ o d o" oo" ^" io CO : J^ CD J- CO t> ^ P i-H^ O^ t^ rH rH m ^ t>^ t-^ tC oT o" r d At termi- nation of each year. m CO r^ 00 00 CD c^ 1^ r^ 03 O CO "^ O Ci t^ rH :H T^^ ^^ co^ ;o o^ »o g •^'' o" co" CO t> tC .i^^.. 1 ro GO CO t^ 00 CO CD At \ com menc men of ea( year o o CO ^ o ci t>. rH K5 -^ ""e" CO CO O ^ Co" '^ KD co" co" tC CD 05 O r-i (M* CO ^ Tfi ira lo xo io 00 00 00 00 GO 00 2 ly eS 00 t>. l> -^ ■* O CO Oi_ O CO CO CO^ 00 t:^l> T ^^ O lo ir ^ (M O CD t^ *>• rH r^O © 2J GO lO ^ c/: I— I 01> CD i-( T-t Kti CO CO -^ LC 00 CO O CD Cj^ Oq_£>. CD_^ lO_ r-H_ Cq35r-rc4" OT O lO ,-1 o o oi o cq -"^ cx) 'S lO O r-H i-H O C/Jl>. 00 «0 OS 00 00 lO CD Ol O CO CD O t^ CO C^^O^CO'^"^ C CD (M l>- t>. 00 ^ iO 00 ^ CD cr o" lO O Oi '^ rH ■^ 00 CO (M rH 00 c^COl>. i^D CO O CO >^0 CD CO (M CO -HH '^ Oi 1^ c^cToTc^r Oi o: 00 CD r-i 00 r>oo^OJ^(M CO i-ri-rr-rcf 00 O? O r-H C<1 CO • H'S'KWbWhI^H* ^t^ CO vo O 05 • COCO O OO o =^ rH i-l (M r-H C<1 05 (M ; CtX O Oi 00^ CO 00^ CO O t^ «3 00 H 05 i-H (M COi^ i^d :t^oa "^ lO T-H doo »o 1^ «r rH ^"^1 cc" "^ 00 00 »fi O rH i-H rH rH « 2 " CD -SJ t^ lO i« -3 « - „ ^ « CI rl -•>--" cb5 fcH<=> ^(« © h STATISTICAL TABLES. 245 43 iO ^ ^ r-3 r— 1 C3 J3 •— ' ^ _: GO •^ rH ?H 02 .^?3 a Q^ M >-l SJ Ti -^ .a &D r3 id f^-g 00 ^ f^ r^ ^ s ^s 1^ -JJ -M .g^-a m ^. D 10 QC 00 . ^_, CO *:^ ,__, ^s § (N ^ » ^ *>• 00 (M i-H • 00 CO CO Tt< §ft ^* . CO -?t^ (D^ ^ r-i Ol CO «^ • 1— 1 H^ r3 (M CO M iO iO t>. ^ »>. h uO (M t>» C^l (>1 r-^ • CO 1— 1 CO CO ^ llfi ti OS t>. «o ^ CO rH T*< 00 Oi uj © rH rH CO «o iO ^2 3 03 CO > CO OT M ;-i a; th c3 a c .•\ ^ ^ .:^'' .-^^.^^